TEMA 1: THE OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIODS , Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga TEMA 1: THE OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIODS y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! TEMA 1: THE OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIODS TEMA 1: THE OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIODS THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD: The old English period is not really definite because of differences between experts. It goes from the 5th to the 12th century but some historians claim that it finished in the 11th due to the Norman invasion produced in that century. The language was basically Germanic and there were 4 fundamental languages but only one became predominant and it was Wessex (West Saxon). It was the dialect used in the land of Wessex. It had a more complex grammar than the ordinary English and also it is more different from the actual English, very suitable for poetry. The literature in the old English period in general came after the poetry. The poetry was basically epic as in Greece or Rome. It was pagan in origin but it was influenced by the Romans and they contributed to the English Christianization. Most of these poems were anonymous but some of them had also an author, two of the more prominent authors were: Caedmon and Cynewulf. • Caedmon was a monk so his works have a religious motif. He wrote a poem called Hymn which was the only composition completely attributed to him. F 0 B 7F 0 2 0Cynewulf had a few poems with his signature but we don’t know anything about him. His works (Juliana, Elena, Christ and The fates of the apostles) are called the Cynewulf poems. More poems are related to him but we are not sure of it. His poems were very powerfully descriptive and the technique very complex, and also a rich and complex language. The other great part of the old English period poems are anonymous. Some very famous anonymous poems are Beowulf, Widsith and The battle of Maldon. All of them are epic anonymous poems which deal with the deeds and feelings of a particular hero or warrior. BEOWULF It is a very long poem which contains more than 3000 lines. The manuscript was found in the 18th century but supposedly the poem was from the X Century. It is written in Wessex language and probably it existed in the oral form of an ancient tale before written. It is Germanic also in the culturally way because of the place and the mixture of Christians and pagan elements. It is full of digressions (reflexions in the middle of the story were something is explained, interrupting the story). One of the stylistic traits is repetition of the same idea with different words, the author wanted to point out that Beowulf was a brave and fair warrior and the monster was very scary and heartless. Each line is very rhythmical so it was made to be read orally. Story: Beowulf was the king of Geatas but first he was a warrior. He travelled to Denmark with a group of warriors to rescue Hrothgar (king of Denmark) from Grendel, who was a horrific and terrible sea monster, but first he had to find Grendel’s mother to save her too. After defeating the monster and saving the king, he had to fight with Grendel’s mother because she wanted to revenge her son but Beowulf won. He arrives to his kingdom with all the Glory and he is named king. He was a king for 40 years. He also had to kill a dragon (other mythological creature) because this dragon was causing damage to his country. In the middle of the battle he is mortally wounded and this ends up with his funeral. Style: It is one of the best pieces of English literature. The language is powerful and very expressive. There are a lot of repetitions to emphasize something. It is a very rhythmical poem and has an elegiac tone. THE ELEGIES: The elegies are poems which praise the death of a person. There are expressions of grief for the lost of somebody. They are meditations so the writer was obviously a very meditative person about life and death because we can see that every poem has a poetical voice. They can also be called monologues. The finest pieces are The Wanderer, The seafarer, The wife’s lament and The husband’s message. These poems appeared in one manuscript at the end of the X century in the Exeter Book. They may be written by the same author. They really show personal feelings and ideas of the person speaking. They came after the old British poems, after translations of Latin poems. Christianity had a very powerful influence. There are a lot of Christian elements. England became a Christian country through the influence of Irish. Latin texts were translated to English. Alfred the Great was very influential. He wrote prose and he made a lot of translations from Latin. Wulfstan wrote Lifes of the saintes and his homilies were really well written. He also made translations from the Bible. The Venerable Bede wrote the history of English people in Latin. He wrote very important works of literature such as Historia Eclesiastica gentis anglorum. Anglosaxon Chronicle started probably in the 9th century and it is a collection of stories of England written in old English by Aelfric, a member of the church. A lot of copies were distributed in England. Some themes are the battles or the adventures. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD: Middle English Period started about 12th Century but other claims that it started on the 11th. This is a period that mark the middle age in terms related with historical and social elements such as the Norman Conquest. The Normans had their own language and culture. Their language, French, was linguistically influential to the English language including new terms and also Latin. In those times there was a transition from the old English period related with the linguistics to the English of our times. The dialect spoken in those times in England is going to be the base of our own English. It started being closer and more similar than the Beowulf poem. Symbolism is a fundamental element of meaning. The poem has a deep meaning although this deep meaning is not totally understood. The main theme is chivalry virtues: honour, justice, repentance, etc as the most important medieval themes. They are also associated with sympathy, not ruthless. He is a brave warrior but never an assassin. A true medieval Knight always protects the weak and always seeks justice even if his life is in danger. There is also important the game as a quest not as a pastime but as a test. Repentance (arrepentimiento) and forgiveness are also very deep in the poem as he regrets keeping the girdle. All of them are Christian values as all medieval characters had same characteristics, the Christian abilities invades the whole poem. Going back to the symbolism, the death and rebirth relates with Christian beliefs. Also the Green Knight is a symbolic figure which represents pure pagan tradition but other stands for Christ because he challenges the knights to follow him going trough temptations and also forgives him when he has done a bad action. Green is also a colour related with hope and life. In medieval literature coexists two kinds of woman. Woman as temptation, as an element of disruption on man live; and woman that can be an inspiration for the man, she encourage the man, she makes the man perfect as a knight, the man is better with the woman. In medieval times we have platonic love, not sexual love. The physical beauty appears as a mirror of the soul. Platonic is related with Christian virtues. PIERS PLOWMAN: was also another significant poem, the author supposedly was William Lunglan. It is a narrative and alliterative poem, but it is not rhymed. Allegory (representation of abstract concepts with concrete things) is completely over in the poem. The own Piers narrates the story. His life is presented as a journey full of troubles and sorrow but it´s also a pursuit of Christ and the Eternal Life so he appears as a model of Christian who is a sinner but also seeks for the Heaven. There are three different characters: Dowel, Dobet, Dobest (=allegoric). PROSE A great amount of the prose of the Middle English literature is written in Latin (other is written in Middle English) and many of the prose texts deal with many different questions such as religion and science. Some of the prose writings are also didactic. However, they are all written in Latin as the major language of these time, because all cultivated people needed to know how to speak and write Latin. One of the finest works is Guide for anchoresses. Is a didactic work written by three sisters who decided to live a retired life of the world and it is based on biblical sources, Saint Augustine, and in the St. Benedict’s rules. It extols the virtues of poverty, goodness, humility, purity and not to wish for material elements. There is an analogy between anchorite and anchoress with birds. There is also the image of the soul as a brittle and fragile glass. TEMA 2: GEOFFREY CHAUCER. BACKGROUND AND LITERACY FEATURES OF THE AGE TEMA 2: GEOFFREY CHAUSER. BACKGROUND AND LITERACY FEATURES OG THE AGE GENERAL APPROACH TO CHAUCER AND HIS WORKS Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London (1340 - 1400). He was a diplomat and a courtier. As he was a diplomat he travelled a lot by Europe (Flandes, France, Spain, Italy...) so he had the chance to meet a lot of people such as Dante, Boccaccio or Petrarch and he became a very cultured person. Chaucer was influenced by Italian literature (The Canterbury Tales are written following Boccaccio’s style). He became a member of the Parliament. Besides that book, he also wrote: • The book of the Duchess, about a dream vision of the goodness of the duchess. • The house of the Fame, about a dream vision of the good and bad things of fame. • Parliament of Foules, different birds talk about politics. • The Legend of Good Women, about a dream vision of women who are models of different things such as Cleopatra or Dido. Troilus and Criseyde, the story of two lovers in the Trojan War. The siege of Troy THE CANTERBURY TALES. FEATURES AND THE PROLOGUE They were written in the 14th century in English and they are mostly written in verse. They are the result of a contest which consists on find out who is the best. It takes place in “The Tabard Inn”. The stories are told by pilgrims. Canterbury was an important centre of pilgrimage because of Thomas Becket’s tomb was there (he was killed in the cathedral in the 12th century, he became a saint and made Canterbury become a very important place). The pilgrims decide to create a game to spend time. The original idea was that each pilgrim would tell two stories, one at the beginning of the journey and the other when returning. But the book has not two stories of each pilgrim so we think the book is not completed. Characters in the book were tied by one same aim – to arrive at Canterbury. Chaucer presents himself as one of the pilgrims and tells two stories – The tale of Sir Tipas and The Tale of Melibeus. Each of these tales has its own set of sources, but some sources are shared by several tales. One of the main sources is Boccaccio, because they both have the same concept of life. Others are Ovid’s poetry, the Bible, Petrarch, Dante, John Gower’s works (he was a moral poet). There is also influence of religious encyclopedias and Boethius – while he was in prison waiting for his execution he wrote Consolation Philosophical. The general prologue introduces the characters. They are important because they decide not only the tales but also the themes and the tones they are going to use. They fix the type of tale. Chaucer is the writer of a great psychology work. It has a lot of humour as well. There is an open, free exchange of stories and also ideas. There is a variety of styles because of the differences between the characters. Each character speaks according to his social status, his age, etc. There were three types: those who pray-the clergy, those who fight-the nobility, and those who work-the labourers. The vocabulary also differs according to the character – the skill in rhetorical forms, eg. (One visible example is that in some tales the character refers to a woman as “lady” and other user “wenche”). Chaucer shows a great skill in this. He anticipates realism because of the deeply knowledge of the mentality of all kinds of citizens. The audience who Chaucer was directed to was quite varied and general. The stories written in verse are decasyllable. The historical context by the time the book was written was turbulent. The hundred-year war was taking place and religion had a very marked presence. Chaucer carries out a very harsh criticize through this satire, against the abuses of some members of the clergy which do not behave as it is expected. Christian culture is combined with the classical view of world. The story of the Miller is the opposite to the Knight’s , is to annoy him and has a complete different vision of the world based on cunning and lies, using bawdy expressions. Everything is earthly and has to do with deceit and tricks. It’s not a causality that the story of The Miller comes just after the Knight’s. THE KNIGHT´S TALE In Chaucer’s time, chivalry was on decline but the knight is a kind of survivor of those times of glory. He is a representation of the virtues and values. His style is elegant, very accomplished. He tells the story of two knights, Ancite and Palamon, who were like brothers and were taken prisoners of Theseus (Greek culture influence). Theseus was married to Ypolita whose sister Emelye was very beautiful. The two men fell in love with her, despite they had not even spoken to her. As they both wanted to get Emelye’s affection and love, they became rivals. Theseus organises a tournament, but he does not want any of them to die. The one who wins marries Emelye. Ancite prays to Mars, the god of war, who helps him. Palamon does the same but he asks for help to Venus, the goddess of love. Both deities respond well. Emelye, who does not want to marry any of them, prays Diana, the goddess of virginity. Both got what they wanted. Ancite wins the tournament but he is hit by his horse which kills him. Palamon marries Emelye with the help of Venus. Besiege: asediar Ox/Oxen: bueyes Plow: arado Beseech: suplicar Slay/Slain: matar Banner: bandera,pancarta Bawdy: obsceno Cunning: astucia Host: anfitrion Courtier: cortesano Vessel: vasija Brittle: quebradizo Pageants: cabalgata Output: produccion Denouement: desenlace TEMA 3: ELIZABETHAN LITERATURE. EVOLUTION OF THE LITERARY FORMS THEATER AT THE ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN PERIOD Theater was the main entertainment for everyone. There were also other kind of entertainments, all of them very cruel such us bear-baiting and bull- baiting where one animal was placed on the arena to fight. The dramatists wrote the play but the companies of actors were also important those days. There wasn’t anything as copyright but they had to get any kind of profit so the dramatists sold their plays to the theater companies to put it on stage. Some of the dramatists were also actors and sometimes would ask for help because of their amount of work. Talking about the theater itself, it was crowded with people from all social classes. It shape was round and open with different floors and an arena similar to a bullring. The main acting area was the main forward-jutting platform marked proscenium, half surrounded by the arena where people stood to see the play, they behave badly and were very noisy. On the other hand there was the auditorium sits protected by a roof, meant for wealthy people. A flag signaled a performance while it was played. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He married Anne Hathaway very young and went to London to become an actor. We don’t know practically anything about how personally Shakespeare was, only biography data. He came from a wealthy family, it was believed that his father was one of the richest person of the village. It is almost sure that Shakespeare received a great education. He went to the Stratford upon Avon grammar school. Ten years after getting married it happens the lost years where we don’t anything and then he is living in London and in a important social scale. In those times an artist needed a patron, a support, in his case he was The Earl of Southampton. He dedicated his early artistic life to the writing of poetry like Venus and Adonis or The rape of Lucrece, very dramatic sonnets. PERIODS OF SHAKESPEARE WRITING: - The first phase of literary Shakespeare’s outputs was Titus Andronicus, an extremely violent play related with the same historical character. Also stand out comedies historical pieces and his poems. - Most of his comedies belong to the second phase. But also some historical pieces and one of the most well-known tragedies of the Elizabethan era: Romeo and Juliet. - Then come the dark period where the entire very well known tragedies belong, not so many comedies. To this period belong tragedies with lot of historical characters such as Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra… and Hamlet. This last one is not completely historical but a mixture between real event and fantasy. - Finally the last phase where Shakespeare doesn’t write comedies as they are known, they are very sorrow plays but with happy endings. In this age Shakespeare was not as merry as in his beginning and also was more mature and an older man. In this period he only writes an historical piece, Henry the VIII. HAMLET Shakespeare’s Hamlet comes from a volume of stories wrote by Saxo Grammaticus towards the end of 12th Century, a Collection of stories called “historiae danicae” (Danish stories) which had an historical element and a legendary element, a kind of mixture between folklore and historical events. That is true that a Prince called Amblodi lived in Danmark around 9th Century and appeared as Hamlet in Saxo Grammaticus work. The main essence of hamlet already existed in Saxo’s work. In the 16th Century a man called Belleforest wrote a series of stories under the collective title ‘histories tragiques’. He wrote about tragically stories from different ambits and languages that relates to the apparition of the character of hamlet in the name of ‘History of Hamlet’. It was translated into English and arrived into Shakespeare’s hands. The story begins when Hamlet arrives to Danmark to his father’s funeral but also occurs the wedding of his uncle Claudius and his mother Gertrud. This is scandalous for Hamlet as is was incest for him and in his own view he was far a worse man than his father was. The marriage was in a rush. Not enough, he receives another blow, his father’s ghost visit. He tells him he has been murdered by the new king, his brother and hamlet’s uncle. This revelation devastates Hamlet. He has to accomplish a mission, he has to act. He has, according to his father’s ghost, to revenge his murder. Hamlet character is closely related with doubt. His is puzzled with his father’s apparition, he is not sure how to interpret that. He has to find out the meaning of it. He become disappointed with his mother and becomes disappointed with all women and a misogynist. But in this complicate situation he has to carry out revenge, in order to find the truth, revenge in those times was the real justice. Hamlet asks some actors to play what his father told him had happened. It is called the play inside the play. There are some paradoxes as in the fiction he recreate to believe is the real thing that happened. Then he discovers how Cludious is shocked about how Hamlet knows the truth. Here comes the question about if Hamlet is mad of just distressed. He doesn’t believe in anything anymore, he lost faith as the play goes on. Much more as a tragedy of revenge is a very special personal kind of tragically revenge, a step beyond revenge’s tragedies. There is a delay in Hamlet, related to the structure of his revenge (no delay no play), from the drama point the delay is completely necessary. The delay shows the psychological state of mind of Hamlet and also a way of showing the social situation. Shakespeare uses this delay to write a extraordinary play charge with lot of elements, it makes Hamlet different from the hero of the revenge tragedy. Hamlet is not a prototype, he is an individual, completely apart from everyone, not for what he does but for what he says. The power of the Word. What hamlet says is a powerful poetical text which at the same time shows Shakespeare’s psychological insight and philosophical person. Shakespeare can be thought a poet not only when writing poetry but constantly in his text. There is an enormous intensity in Hamlet word that bear a great Darkness cause he is suffering from melancholy and there is a lot of bittery in what hamlet says. The main reason of his misogyny is his mother, who has let him down. He kills Polonious by mistake but he doesn’t regret it. Hamlet shows completely mentally distress, which is not the same of being mad. He is dramatically alone, solitary with his own doubts, his hesitations. This all come because he has lost Communications with those who loved him. The revenge Revenge in those times was in many cases the way in which somebody makes justice. It was the proper thing to do. Revenge, an action which brings many tragic consequences, it is necessary in many cases. It is so rich in indications in psychological sight. Hamlet is far more as a tragedy of revenge. In Hamlet, there are many elements that are not in any other revenge. The revenge’s delay in Hamlet He starts hesitating; regarding the apparitions (is the devil or some kind of imagination?). That delays his revenge. There is a long delay in Hamlet. That is not something just appeared in Hamlet. No delay = No play (from an operative point of view, delay is necessary). It is a necessary instrument in revenge plays. Hamlet delay is a mixed with dramatic, social, poetical devices. Is a mixed of showing the psychological impressions, the corruption in the court and how does affect Hamlet. That confines an extraordinary play with so many elements. Hamlet as a hero of the revenge tragedy An original way Shakespeare deals with the revenge. Shakespeare makes Hamlet different from the hero of the revenge tragedy. Hamlet is totally individualized apart from the rest of the heroes. Not especially because of what he does but because of what he says, the word. What Hamlet says is a powerful poetical text which at the same time shows that shakes, he has an enormous psychological insight and philosophical person. Everlasting philosophical questions------- death (when he talks to himself particularly, especially through his soliloquies): “To be or not to be- that is the question. Whether this nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them? To die, to sleep-(…)) Shakespeare is not only a poet when he wrote poetry. He was a poet constantly, always. We cannot establish a division between their plays. Hamlet was written to be stayed. In the poetry which appears through the play (not only in the words of Hamlet) we can see intensity, beauty. These words that Hamlet utters showed darkness because he’s suffering from melancholy. There are lots of bitterly in what Hamlet says. Misogyny He has been letting down by his mother. He’s disappointed. He finds out that his mother hastily married with another man after his funeral. Ophelia is a renaissance young woman. Polonius is his father. She’s not socially in the same level as him. She’s many steps bellow Hamlet. Polonius asks her not to show herself very familiar to Hamlet, to remain more or less distant from Hamlet affection. So Hamlet takes that in a wrong way. This leads him to believe that women are not constant, like the weather. In Astrophel and Stella, he introduced several variations, perhaps the most original variations, he was very experimental; which includes 108 sonnets and 11 songs, he want to open a philosophical point of view: • Astrophel → aster (astro) + philo (amor) → amante de la estrella. He wrote a long composition of pastoral literature called The Countess of Pembroke´s Arcadia, it´s made of 5 books, it was a influence for others authors (Shakespeare for example), there is a lot of violence involves in this composition. The Defense of poetry (The defense of poesy / An apology for Poetry). He wrote his work in order to defend himself but it´s more than this, it´s a literary and a philosophical critique. Sydney shows that poetry was superior to philosophy and history and it was the best known genre. DONNE AND THE METAPHYSICAL POETS TEMA 4: JOHN DONNE AND THE METAPHISICAL POETS METAPHYSICAL POETRY AND POETS: Samuel Johnson: He was a critic of the 18th century who called this kind of poetry “metaphysical poetry” but it is not only applied to metaphysical poetry, can also be cynical and sensual; earthly elements are combined with spiritual elements. Characteristics: Metaphysical poets of the 17th wanted to create poetry free from the conventions and thought that Elizabethan poetry was too soft and was within the classical frame models. They looked for new concepts and metaphors and tried to create conceits (complex and new metaphors). Abstract and metaphysical themes are mixed with the earthly; sublime is mixed with the trivial. Some have abrupt beginnings quite often poets write their poems in form of reflexions and meditation and sometimes the poetical voice address directly to you, also he addresses his beloved (this erotic element is very strong). They also mix philosophical words with everyday life words. JOHN DONNE: SATIRICAL, LOVE, PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS POETRY: John Donne (1572-1631) Son of the great-nice of St Thomas Moro. John’s uncle was a Jesuit and his brother died in the prison of Newgate (he had been hosting a catholic priest). He became protestant and even a priest. His father was an ironmonger. He studied law at Oxford and was one of the first writing satires following the classical ones. They are dramatic monologues where the author talks about love, dead, politics…. it combines a lyric tone with Platonic idealism. 1597-98 He became the secretary of an important person so it was an important chance to become a prominent courtier, he ruined it because he married his niece against his will (she was also niece of St. Thomas). He supposedly finished writing his sonnets in 1818 and began in 1609; they were called the holy sonnets. He meditates on sickness, death, sin, and the love of God. He also wrote a book of poetry called The Anniversaries in 1611. The subtitle is An Anatomy of the World. It was to commemorate the death of a young girl called Elizabeth Drury whose father was the patron of John. There are also poems very metaphysical. They deal with the vanity of the world, the decay of the material…Contrast with the permanence of God and spiritual values. In 1615 decided to become a priest after long meditations and hesitations; he was doctor in Divinity form Oxford. He wrote a serious of sermons which are also meditations about his life etc. in 1617 his wife died and he was desolated, the both had had 12 children. The lost of his wife increased his meditations about the nature of dead. He wrote “devotions” subtitled “meditations”; they are moving and are on death, sickness and salvation. He became very ill in 1631 and one day left his bed to go to church to give his last sermon entitled Death’s Duel. Other metaphysical poets are: George Herbert (1593-1633); Richard Crashaw (1613-1649); Henry Vaughan (1621-1695) and Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). John Donne had a complex personality: there’s a combination of sexual power and spiritual values. His major themes were God and women. Some biographers think that when he was young was socialite, a courtier…but he was more than that. He also was a serious student. In 1595-96 he wrote his elegies, they are about love and they were very sensual. They show an irreverent attitude towards some authority figures. There is a cynical expression and sensual explicity. Ovid wrote a series of elegies in which he treated love and desire and the influenced Donne’s elegies. One of these elegies is called “to his Mistress going to Bed”, involves some metaphors that compare her body to America to convince her to get undressed. The mother of George Herbert was John’s patron for some time. George Herbert had a very successful career in the court but being young he left everything and devoted his life to be a priest. He was very generous and thus, was very loved ( he helped everyone spiritually and materially).TEMA 5: THE SECOND HALF OF THE XVIITH CENTURY. TEMA 5: THE SECOND OF THE XVII CENTURY. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND JOHN MILTON The 17th century was characterized by a tremendous political conflict (around the middle of the century) between the loyalists (or royalists) and the republicans. Charles 1st was against some members of the parliament who didn’t want an absolute monarchy. The puritans (republicans) were always complaining against the theaters and they were a strong social and political force. Charles 1st was beheaded and England became a republic which lasted 20 years. Theaters in England were closed for 18 years during the republic by Lord Cromwell. Milton was a puritan and was given some political posts but he was critical as well. It is in the puritan times when Milton is going to write political literature and poems and is going to work in the administration. In 1665 the Great Plague took place. It was an infectious illness and 20% of London’s population died. All the theaters were built outside London because of the fear of the plagues. In 1666 there was a big fire in London and burnt down a great part of the city because houses were made of wood. John Milton was born in 1608 and died in 1674. He was a prose polemicist of political literature. His father was a musician. He was a really erudite scholar who studied at Cambridge Univ. He was absolutely competent and fluent in Latin and wrote some works in this language such as “Poemata” in 1645 and “The Christian Doctrine” (a work attributed to Milton). He traveled to Italy and became acquainted to the Renaissance. With this Italian influence he wrote “L’ Allegro” and “”Il penseroso”. He was against Roman Catholicism and developed a profane believe. He heard about disturbs happening in London and felt bad and came back. He supported the republican forces in England and the Reformation. He wrote “Of Reformation” in 1641 which although was a religious work, has also to do with politics because there were very close themes at this time. He wrote “treatise on Civil Power” in 1659. Lycidas: elegiac poem for a friend of his. PARADISE LOST It’s an epic poem because it deals with a war between God and his faithful angels and Satan and his followers. It’s a big poem written in blank verse (no rhyme) but has a very powerful musicality. The main theme is rebellion from a religious point of view. The rebellion of Satan against God and also the rebellion of Adam and Eve against God’s will. This battle is narrated in books 5 and 6. It tells the Downfall of Satan and Adam and Eve due to the rebellion. The purpose is to “justify the ways of God to Men”. The first edition was of 10 books and several years after, the 2nd edition appeared into 12 books with a small summary (called the argument) at the beginning of each one. It has been suggested that the musicality of the poem has to do with the fact that he was blind and also because of his father, who was a musician. It has some influences of the New Testament and although the main source is the Bible it does also have many other sources, for example the classical ones as Homer, Ovid’s metamorphosis and Chaucer. It begins in media res with Satan and Hell as setting. After the rebellion they were banished from Heaven and sent to hell. Satan is exhorting his devils to destroy God’s creation. We can see he is a master of rhetoric and persuasion. “Better to reign in hell than to serve in Heaven”. He is portrayed as a beautiful and youth angel, he was one of the favorites of God, he is attractive. William Blake considered that Milton was on the side of Satan because has elements of the romanticism portraying him as brave, attractive…etc. God creates the Earth after the battle while they are in the Garden of Eden. God is a physical presence and has a direct relationship with them but after the sin, the cease to see God. It is also a way to justify God’s silence. The main theme arise some issues as marriage, politics, monarchy, the Trinity, the nature of angels, the free will and predestination. Gulliver starts his journey as an optimistic person and returns as a very pessimistic person about human nature as Jonathan Swift has this same perspective. The novel is divided in four parts travels: F 0 B 7F 0 2 0His first travel is to the land of Lilliput. A land where everybody is small. This deals with the perspective issue as Gulliver see them very petty and ridiculously small that don´t take them serious. Here comes one more time the question of realism, the Lilliputians are not real but they show off the pettiness the flaws of human nature. F 0 B 7F 0 2 0In his second travel he arrive to Brabdignac. Now Gulliver is the small one because the habitants are giants. Gulliver notices his own pettiness. F 0 B 7F 0 2 0Then he arrived to the land of Laputa. Laputa relates the figure of England. The habitants are scientists who live in a marfil tower isolated from everybody. Swift satirizes here the science and the scientists, he ridiculous things such the belief that the science is the answer of everything. Swift also criticised the England’s political problems. F 0 B 7F 0 2 0Finally he arrives to the country of Houyhnhnms. The houyhnhnms are extraordinary intelligent horses who combine intelligent with being a good “person” they unite all good virtues. The other Group of beings is the yahoos which are very stupid humans. The houynhnhms try to show Gulliver that human reason is very inadequate for a good conduct in life. So this relates with the idea of the changing from being an optimistic person to have a pessimistic view of human panorama. DANIEL DEFOE In the 17th there were several writers who also worked as journalists. This was the case of Daniel Defoe. Daniel Defoe went to Newgate prison to interview prisoners to know about their lives, this is fundamental to understand his work. Two of his most famous works are Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders. ROBINSON CRUSOE Robinson Crusoe was a sailor who suffered shipwreck, he survived and then marooned and isolated in a desert island. Daniel Defoe got the inspiration of Robinson Crusoe in the real story of Alexander Selkirk. Robinson Crusoe stayed 28 years in the island. Defoe makes the character to count the days and to note down everything he does as a diary. Robinson Crusoe is a new kind a hero. He has a great capacity of endurance and hard work, he is a very practical man so he is a characteristic English man who doesn´t despair and that is how he manages to survive, at the same time he is a very religious man, a characteristic English protestant which means he was a persistent man a self made man. He believe he could survive with his hard work and the help of god. It is more realistic novel than Gulliver´s travels but it is not completely, this regards the question of how he manage to survive along 28 years, but is realistic in the way the author provides lot of real and concrete data which gives an idea of credibility. It could be an exaggeration thinking he survived 28 years but the real story of Alexander shows how sometimes fiction beats the reality. Another feature which make it not a complete realistic novel is the fact that Robinson lives alone, just with Friday he lives isolated from society, society is one of the main features for a novel being realistic as he can describe the time and issues through society, the character is described though his relation among society. He is no totally alone. There were natives in the island. MOLL FLANDERS Supposedly was a real person, this closed relate to Daniel Defoe’s journalist work, he met a woman prisoner in Newgate, she was a pregnant woman who meant at those time rejecting the execution, the baby born was Moll Flanders. This novel really tends to be a biography, Defoe claims to write exactly what he was told by Moll Flanders’ Mother. She started his journey escaping to Virginia, and working in a house. Moll Flanders came back to England and even she married a rich man she became an outlaw she became a pickpocket a thief and a trickster. One of the main features that make it a realistic novel is that Moll Flanders acts among a society a concrete time in the 17th Century. She was a woman who finds a hostile society which forces her to survive being an outlaw. She is also a very active woman in his sentimental life. He married a highwayman, she only try to survive and really never examines his morality. Finally she escape to America with his new husband, she never examines herself. CAN DANIEL DAFOE BE CONSIDERED THE FATHER OF ENGLISH NOVEL? Some believe that in fact was Daniel Defoe but others claimed that is was Samuel Richardson (Pamela, Clarissa, Sir Charles Grundison). The experts support Daniel Defoe because the realistic characteristics that surround his work, the description of a specific society in a specific time. Others believe that this adjective fits more with Samuel Richardson. This struggle is because they claimed that Moll Flanders is considered to be an episodic novel, the novel is written in episodes not in chapters. An episode is auto sufficient with a beginning and an end, its rounded and coherent by itself. But in the whole novel exists this seems incoherent. Moll Flanders appears like a great mother and in another seems like she has forgotten she had child. On the other hand, chapters are not closed and need the following chapter for keeping the story as in Richardson’s Pamela. THE EPISTOLARY NOVEL. SAMUEL RICHARDSON The creator of Pamela or Clarissa had a great rivalry with Fielding with who maintained a struggle answering each other with the publications of each other work. Pamela (1740): Is an epistolary novel. She is a good a devoted woman with works in a house and she is always seduced by Mr. B but she always rejects him. She, by constantly rejecting Mr. B, makes him want her more. In the second part of the book She ascendant from being a servant to the lady of the house she became an upper-class person. She does not fall in the seduction of Mr. B. Henry Fielding answers to Richardson with the writing of Shamela a parody of Pamela. A young lady which virtue is Sham, she tries in this time to seduce Mr.B. Fielding try to show that Pamela was a fraud. Clarissa (1748): Is one of the largest works in English. She is a tragic heroin. She suffers abuse and people treat her badly. Sir Charles Grandison (1753): Is written as a response for Fielding masterpiece Tom Jones. Tom Jones is kind of a picaresque character, he is not bad but he is kind a ruffian, Fielding provides in this response a definition about what a proper man must be. THE PICARESQUE NOVEL. THE INFLUENCE OF CERVANTES. HENRY FIELDING Henry Fielding had a long rivalry with Samuel Richardson. They were different kind of writer and different kind of men. Their vision of the world completely differed. Henry was born in Somerset in 1707. He belongs to a high class family. He started working in a law court. He wrote satirical poetry and drama, even though he was a serious man. Humour is going to play a fundamental part in his literary production. He wrote a satire about Sir Robert Walpole, father of the first Gothic novel. “Stage Licensing act” was approved and appeared to vanish Fielding’s career as a dramatist. He rather becomes a barrister, people who either defend of show the guilt of a person during trials. With Shamela started his career as a novelist (1741). One year later he published Joseph Andrews, Fielding shows his conception about novels. His masterpiece, Tom Jones, followed his career as a novelist but he is at the same time still working in the law court. Henry Fielding is the English novelist who has been deeper influenced by the Spanish novel. He was a follower of Cervantes and all the picaresque Spanish novel. TOM JONES: is the great comedy of Henry Fielding. It was published in 1749. Greatly influenced by the Spanish picaresque novel. Cervantes as the main source for his writing. JOSEPH ANDREWS: Tom Jones is a novel in the manner of Cervantes. This is because the very narration of the novel, divided in episodes but Also the theme of the mock- heroic ,as in Don Quixote, he is a hero but there also a ridiculous part in the character. Joseph Andrews is a good nature footman. Joseph Andrews seems very attractive to the ladies in the novel, he is a good young man, he shows a good heart and a model of Christian virtues. He is presented as the proper kind of young man, he doesn´t fall into women temptations. The ridiculous elements of the mock-heroic come with his companion Parson Adams. The heroin will be Fanny goodwill, she and Joseph had grown up together. Through these adventures there are digressions of beauty, chivalry, literature, religion which were fundamental issues at those times. It was a common denominator in those times novels too. Joseph Andrews try to seem as a cult person in his speech but at the same time this trying makes him ridiculous.