Week 12 Brit Lit Notes PDF

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British Literature Notes Before 1800 11/12/2019  Timeline to Know o 1603-1625: James I  Most of our texts in class take place during this time period o 1625-1642: Charles I  Not a great ruler  Led to the Civil War o 1642-1649: Civil War  War between two sides: Parliamentarian v. Royalist  P: Puritans  R: Anglicans  Charles I is executed o 1649-1660: Interregnum/Protectorate  1624-1660: All the theaters are closed under the Puritans  Literary scene was disrupted because of this  I: Literally means ‘between the reigns (of the two kings)’  Oliver Cromwell’s Government o 1660-1700: Restoration Charles II  Monarchy returns!  Son of disposed King Charles I  Spent his time in France, brought back French culture to England  Unapologetically a man whore  His court was one of luxury with the fancy French culture  Bougie, but aristocratic  Like Marie Antoinette  Got rid of protectorate government, basked in the monarchy  Theaters reopened, dramatic changes  Very first actresses, they were legal in other parts of Europe o First actress played Desdemona in Othello  From rough stage in first theaters to the Proscenium  How did that change the theater? o The impact of a curtain o Creates a voyeuristic experience o Building of the fourth wall and the ability to break it o Silence in the theater is now a thing o Opera is introduced  The idea of a musical performance becomes a new experience and a bigger part of theater o The Cast List is introduced  We know who was in the play and attended the play! o Scenery is integrated

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Shakespeare normally had a blank stage, leaving the background to the audience’s imagination  A dialectic theater  John Dryden is responsible for all these changes After the long time without plays, they started reshowing them o Depending on the writer they generally rewrote them to appeal to the times o Ben Jonson’s plays were kept the same the most out of anybody else’s o Shakespeare’s were changed… A LOT  They liked the play, HATED the language

 John Dryden o The first official poet laureate (*Ben Jonson) that has the official title o Considered by many to be the first serious English literary critic  “The Essay of Dramatic Poetsie”  Responsible for what it looks like today o “All for Love”  The first heroic drama: A decisive hero with flaw written in heroic couplets and iambic pentameter.  Relationship to Epic Poetry  As important as an Epic  Tied into Patriotism, National Foundations, Mythological Events, Big Grand Matters  Writers seek to attain the glory of an Epic o The Virgilian Wheel: You start off writing small stories to build up to the Epic  Written in blank verse, metered verse that doesn’t rhyme!!!  Majority of Shakespeare’s plays are written in blank verse  Dryden was very interested in Neo-Classicism  The Greco-Roman world of the past, the classics  The Unities: To conform, to be written about one event in one place in one day. Any play that doesn’t do this is bad! o That’s why they hated Shakespeare’s plays  Today’s Reading: All for Love o A very watered-down version of Antony and Cleopatra o There is more contention between Antony and Cleopatra o Concrete differences between the two texts:  Less references to male genitals  This really matters for the Ethos of the text  Dryden’s work was unsurprisingly very sexual contrary to the bulk of it being oversexualized, he saw an honor in his work, so he was less inclined to pander to gay sensibilities

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o Puritan v. Anglican values in action o Expectations v. Reality  Charles II’s court was very sexual, but tried to appear the same as if nothing bad had transpired prior to the Restoration Cleopatra  Sounds posh and English o Dryden is a lot more readable, making him more comprehensive than Shakespeare o This was the preferred version until the 1800s (~1813) when Shakespeare’s came back to theaters  Weaker character o Cleopatra is more waiting hand and knee for Antony in this version o Damsel in distress o Cannot get a word in, Antony talks at her, not to her o (See Page 74) o Can be interpreted as a proto-orientalism society o Less like orientalism, NOT SEXY o Appealing, but submissive o Puts Egypt in a lower position of the hierarchy  Introduced at different times Cleopatra’s relationship with Octavia is more defined  Empathy is shed for Octavia  The way the family is supposed to work  Shun the mistress, stay by the side of the woman who has your children Servants have more of a voice- their POV is fleshed out  Antony and Cleopatra do not show up until later in the play  We have more of a story established by their world being destroyed by two rulers and all its negative repercussions  They ALL see it coming and want to stop it  This is not Antony and Cleopatra, it’s just Antony, the male hero  “A mirror is for princes” type genre o What does that mean? If you staged the rise/downfall of any royal, the point was to show the repercussions of their actions. It’s not just teaching a lesson, Dryden is much more interested in a didactic meaning, especially Charles who gets distracted from his responsibility as the ruler head Patriarch and King. It’s aimed is to teach Monarchs how to Monarch. o Do not be distracted by your sexual relationships that you forget to govern!

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o Intended to show the shortcomings of the people in charge Actions and words are more dramatic, less deep Different antagonist We aren’t rooting for their power as a couple in this version Pompey is not present in this version by Dryden  The loss of different characters leads to different events happening More concise language  Easier to read  Dryden’s political views are very fickle, he follows whoever is in charge, but he does lean more towards Parliamentarian due to life as a Laureate o It was all about doing it for the job o See John Milton, Paradise Lost, for the opposite end of the spectrum…….

British Literature Before 1800 Notes 11/14/19  Interesting Grammatical Rule o Enobarbus’s House v. Enobarbus’ House  If it doesn’t have that “es” sound at the end, the first one is right  Jesus and Moses are exceptions which show plurals through the second one  Learned from Chicago Manual Style  Last Time o All for Love Play  Distinct stylistic changes to original text, Antony and Cleopatra  Very watered-down imitation made to fit the time  Takes place during the Restoration Era under the King Charles II  This was the preferred version of Shakespeare’s play for 100+ years  Octavia and Cleopatra switched personalities o Pro wife, anti-mistress culture o Octavia is a very outspoken woman who calls her out o Cleopatra is primmer and more proper, very subservient to Antony  Dryden writes this play to show King Charles II how to be a good King, by not letting his many affairs drag him down from what he needs to prioritize  Relationship between King Charles II and Antony  Back to the Reading! o Antony breaks up with Cleopatra  Dollabella said Antony was done with her, Cleopatra freaked out, but none of it was true

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“…I know that was tender, and each accent smooth, To mollify that rugged word, “Depart.”  “Oh, you mistake: he chose the harshest words…”  Antony tells Dollabella to use gentle sounds and gentle words but Dollabella misinterpreted what he had told him  Antony sends Dollabella because he was worried others might be too meant to her… Dollabella tries to woo Cleopatra  Cleopatra is not really responding to these advances  She generalizes all men like Dollabella  “You flatter me. / But’tis your nation’s vice: all of your country/ Are flatterers, and all false. Your friend’s like you.”  She may be the victim, but she has the moral high ground  She has no agency here as opposed to Shakespeare’s interpretation because of her moral high ground  Women cannot have both high ground and agency because she chooses not to use her agency  This parallels Charles II and his mistresses because even though they are not married to him they still represent him  “You’ll be damned if you do, damned if you don’t” -Eleanor Roosevelt Q: Why does Dryden make this the chief conflict of the story? A: This text takes out all the intercultural business and only focuses on the domestic and sexual space in interpersonal conflicts. This could reflect how Charles handles these matters while holding the position of King. He could also be showing personal as political, showing what is going on between them, during this time period between Antony and Cleopatra. England didn’t want to engage in those questions as much. What would it have been like if we hadn’t read Antony and Cleopatra before All for Love?  Drama for the sake of drama, entertaining at least  Without knowing how Dryden changed Cleopatra’s character drastically, this text would be emotionally unburdened from the original The Death Scene  Significantly shorter than Shakespeare’s text for both characters  Antony dies quicker, and still has sword issues…  “My fortune jades me to the last, and Death, / Like a great man, takes state, and makes me wait / For my admittance”  Antony is in a sexually submissive position at this moment  Death is waiting to decide if he goes to heaven or not which tries to establish a world of heteronormativity  It has to be a male death, not a lady’s Epilogue

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Dryden’s way of interpreting the story between Antony and Cleopatra He wrote it to just to show how he felt about the story, he didn’t care about how people felt about it Dryden packages it with modesty topos  It’s not good, but I tried  If you do not clap, it’s your fault not mine He is doing this under the guise of creating parallels between King Charles II and Marc Antony and the way they act around females they are attracted to Dryden calls out women because they are powerful (though he may not like it) and for that reason they are threatening  Cleopatra is depicted as a corrupting force towards Antony  This is a very misogynistic interpretation of how women are in Dryden’s text as opposed to Shakespeare’s  Women cannot be smart AND pretty Theater slowly becomes more fashionable, part of the ‘bougie culture’ of the time period A great man’s death is more trustworthy than that of an old woman who holds a court position...