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16 August 2026 3 5 pm ENG 2025 PI ELIT1002 Dr K Warnapala p1gi — Transcript

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0:05[music]
0:10[music]
0:15Welcome back to the external course on
0:17Augustine literature. Uh this will be
0:20our final uh component for Augustine
0:23literature. Then we move on to uh
0:26romantic uh literature. Um okay. So I
0:29think I was talking about Absilon and
0:31Actifil last time and I uh uh kind of uh
0:36talked about this idea that um it is a
0:39rehashing of the biblical story. Uh that
0:43um Absalom the illegitimate son who
0:46rebels against his father who tries to
0:49usurp his throne. Uh that's all uh a
0:53biblical story. But now what happens is
0:56what Dryen does is he uses it as a kind
0:59of what you'd call an extended metaphor
1:02uh for the political events that
1:04unfolded in his time. So uh I think once
1:08again we have talked about this in
1:09detail this idea of the conspiracy to
1:12kill king Charles II
1:15uh and uh how there was a kind of a
1:18anti-atholicism
1:21um kind of a environment at that time uh
1:26and uh there was this bill which we call
1:30the exclusion uh bill once again all of
1:33these are very familiar I'm just kind of
1:36trying to uh take you there for you to
1:39kind of remember what we have talked
1:40about before. Uh so what Brighton's poem
1:44does is it tries to kind of use the
1:48biblical story to enact the political
1:51drama that is happening in his English
1:53society. uh and uh um absilom and
1:58acitaphil is a kind of a uh a way of um
2:05uh dealing with uh something uh as
2:09volatile as that in a much more
2:12palatable safe way. Uh okay, let me get
2:16on to our first slide.
2:22Yes. So I think I talked about it. this
2:24idea that what he does is he actually
2:27becomes victorious over this uh uh theme
2:30because uh uh it's a very difficult
2:35theme as I was earlier telling you um uh
2:38king who has certain sexual weaknesses
2:41now uh Dryen will have to gloss over
2:44them uh but kindly remember this was a
2:47time when the king had the sexual
2:49license to behave the way he wanted uh
2:52after all he is the king uh but then uh
2:56there is also a sense that uh uh people
3:00were critical of him. So how do you kind
3:02of also suggest that the king has the
3:05prerogative to behave in such a way yet
3:09uh kind of also be aware of the uh
3:13problems in such a behavior. So in a
3:16sense what he does is he he uh he uh
3:20kind of balances it out because um his
3:24critique falls on the king's enemies
3:26particularly the of Shasbury
3:29and uh now also remember he had to
3:32criticize his son whom the father still
3:35liked. He had to ensure that the king's
3:38feelings were not wounded. Uh he had to
3:41praise also without sound being
3:43survived. Now what does that mean? I
3:46mean uh he didn't want to sound slavish.
3:50Uh for instance he is a poet. He's a
3:53well-known poet. Uh so uh he doesn't
3:56want to be too biased. So how does he do
3:58that? So uh this idea that he had to
4:01criticize in a very artistic way. So
4:04what he does is he creates this
4:07wonderful political satire
4:10uh which blends
4:12uh dignity with criticism. Right? So uh
4:17I think I talked about this uh before. I
4:20mean it's a very controversial
4:23um uh theme. Therefore he has to now
4:27have a poetic style to match it. uh and
4:31uh we see right that uh he kind of
4:34brings in this heroic couplet uh and the
4:38heroic couplet kind of uh uh shows uh
4:43the strength of Dryen uh and um so what
4:48he does is he's kind of very critical.
4:50He's humorous at times. He's harsh. He's
4:53even indecent. uh but he kind of um uh
4:59kind of creates a poem that is uh on the
5:03one hand satire on the one hand uh
5:07polished argumentative verse
5:10and uh uh now what is he doing with this
5:15form of the couplet? He makes it the
5:16heroic couplet in the sense that now the
5:19descriptions are all exalted. That means
5:22they're exaggerated. they are all
5:24exalted above the level of the common uh
5:28imagination. Uh so the so the theme the
5:32themes are kind of u uh above ordinary
5:37uh for instance which is why he's kind
5:39of taking on a uh story from the Bible
5:42from the Old Testament. [snorts] Uh so
5:45now the rebellion of a son against the
5:48father is um kind of allegorized here as
5:52the rebellion of Abselum against king
5:55David. Uh and he's also now going to
5:58talk of other things as well. He's going
6:00to kind of talk about um
6:04the potential uh corruption and
6:07immorality
6:09that uh power carries with it. Right? So
6:11that that becomes a kind of a larger
6:14theme. Uh so uh what we have in this uh
6:19poem is a kind of an argumentative verse
6:23uh where he will now kind of uh uh have
6:28a debate in a sense as to why Charles's
6:33illegitimate son is uh kind of uh
6:37asserting his claims on the kingship and
6:41he's suggesting that um you have to go
6:45by legality and true inheritance. So
6:48he's obviously not on the side of the uh
6:51son. He kind of suggests that the legal
6:55um succession should lie with James the
6:58second. Uh so
7:03uh so it's really important for you to
7:04kind of know the context. uh and also
7:07the other thing is that uh this parallel
7:12where he writes the poem about a
7:15biblical story would have been easily
7:18recognizable by the audience. For
7:21instance, this was a uh time when uh
7:25people knew the parallels. uh so they
7:28knew that Dryen is obviously making
7:32parallels between certain incidents of
7:34the Old Testament and contemporary
7:36English politics. So it's very well
7:38known so it's nothing new. Uh so people
7:40would have been very attuned to it. It's
7:42just that because we are so cut off from
7:44that context we need to um kind of uh
7:49know the uh background before we
7:52understand the poem. uh so um yeah I I
7:55won't spend too much of time on the poem
7:57but I I hope it's very clear to you that
8:00if you look at the very first lines of
8:02um epsilon and active I think according
8:05to the syllabus we are only looking at
8:07lines 1 to 86 here. So we are just
8:10looking at an extract. Uh we realize
8:12that his tone uh is more often an amused
8:17tone than an outrage tone. Uh for
8:20instance um look at his first line in
8:23pious times before priest craft did
8:25begin before polygamy was made a sin
8:27when man on many multiplied his kind one
8:31to one was cursorly confined. So he's
8:33kind of suggesting that sexual
8:35promiscuity was the norm then that there
8:38was there were no monogamous kind of
8:40unions. It was always polygamous. uh so
8:45uh he doesn't kind of begin in a very uh
8:49uh harsh satirical way. There is a kind
8:52of a control uh to his um poetry, right?
8:58Uh and then he as you I think you would
9:01realize this that he he justifies
9:06um
9:07the king's excessive likeness to his
9:11son. Uh for instance uh he says um no
9:16true succession could see the tend of
9:18all these numerous progeny was none so
9:21beautiful so brave as Abselon. Uh so
9:25this idea that he didn't have any
9:26legitimate heirs. So obviously his
9:29illegitimate, the most beautiful of his
9:31illegitimate would have really kind of
9:34uh created a soft spot in the king
9:37because the king also sees a lot of
9:38similarities between himself and uh the
9:42illegitimate son because what does he
9:43say? He says so beautiful, so brave, so
9:46absolon with secret joy indulgent David
9:50be his youthful image in his son
9:54renewed. Uh what does that mean? It
9:57means that when he looked at his son, he
9:59saw himself. Uh so therefore
10:04uh I mean uh he justifies the softness
10:08of the king upon his son. So what Dryen
10:12does is he kind of excels uh in these
10:16portraits. And what he does is he uh uh
10:19kind of um very cleverly takes the focus
10:23away from the father and from the son
10:27that he wants to critique but he has to
10:29be very careful about because the father
10:32has obviously a soft spot for the son.
10:35Uh so what he does is he kind of uh um
10:39in a very clever way uh starts to
10:43criticize the people here. Uh for
10:47instance um look at what he says.
10:51But life can never be sincerely blessed.
10:54Heaven punishes the bad and proves the
10:56best. The Jews a headstrong moody
11:00murmuring race as ever tried the extent
11:03and stretch of grace. God pampered
11:06people whom devoted with ease. No kung
11:09king could govern nor no God could
11:12please. So he's kind of suggesting that
11:15these are pampered people. What does
11:17that mean? Why are they pampered? This
11:19idea I think uh it's very clear that
11:22Dryen was against a commonwealth. Dryen
11:26was very much pro monarchy. Uh he's
11:29saying that when liberty is given to
11:32people when they are pampered there is
11:34no way that people the king can govern
11:37nor can these people be pleased by God.
11:39So he's kind of saying that these are a
11:41bunch of ungrateful people. So he he
11:44obviously
11:46uh is against any kind of a popular
11:50rebellion. Uh so Dryen's politics become
11:54very clear here. Uh he's not um for uh
11:58for these kinds of uh uh moves towards
12:02liberty. Uh now look at what he says.
12:05This is these Adam wits too fortunately
12:08free began to dream they wanted liberty
12:12and when no rule no precedent was found
12:15of men by laws less cir circumscribed
12:18and bound they led their wild desires to
12:22woods and caves and thought that all but
12:25savages were slaves. Uh so uh this idea
12:30that these men don't see loyalty and
12:33virtue as uh something to kind of admire
12:37and to stick by. Instead they want
12:40excessive freedom. So when there are no
12:42rules around they start to act like wild
12:45animals. So obviously we realize that
12:47Dryen's judgment I mean it it can be
12:51problematic for us because we I mean
12:53generally people believe that a a
12:56monarchy um doesn't give freedom right
13:00to people. I mean um it's always a kind
13:03of a uh uh anti-popular idea but you can
13:08see that Dryen uh through his verse
13:12uh takes on the role of uh spokesperson
13:17for the king. So what he does is he
13:19places the blame um for the rebellion
13:23not not only on um Shsbury but also on
13:28the people because he's saying that
13:30these people are a worthless bunch of um
13:35I mean losers. That's what he's saying.
13:38So he's and he's also suggesting that
13:40this rebellion is doomed to failure. Uh
13:43because you know these people really
13:46have no plan. uh in place. So uh he's
13:50very anti- uh rebellion here uh Dryen uh
13:55and he's uh very much uh for the
13:59monarchy. So um I think I won't spend
14:03too long on it but just remember that
14:05this is a kind of a long poem. It it is
14:07the total of 1031 lines. So we are just
14:10reading a a little bit but what you see
14:14here is actually Dryen's achievement as
14:17a satist
14:19because uh uh he kind of polishes his
14:24style here and his illusions how he kind
14:30of brings in all these biblical
14:31illusions how he's so indirect
14:34uh and uh um I mean uh it becomes a kind
14:39kind of a wonderful representation here.
14:42Let me get on to the next slide.
14:48Um, so in a sense when we read this
14:51poem, we realize that we don't just get
14:53a glimpse of David and Abselum and all
14:56of that and Charles and his son, but we
14:59get a glimpse of the debates of the
15:01period as well. And the debate of the
15:03period was should you uh kind of uh um
15:09sustain a monarchy or should you go for
15:12a commonwealth because this is the time
15:14when um there are all these plots by the
15:17parliament to take control. So this is
15:20not just a characteristic sketch. This
15:22is not just about what's going on in
15:25this context but the larger debates.
15:27should people move, should England move
15:29to a commonwealth or should England
15:32solidify its monarchy? Uh so um and he
15:36also brings in other things like the
15:37dangers of personal ambition here. What
15:41happens when men become too ambitious
15:43for their own good and the dangers of
15:45unregulated passion? I don't know I I
15:47have talked about this before. this idea
15:49of how Charles who kind of represents
15:52David uh perhaps has been a little too
15:55unwise in his kind of uh um in the way
16:00he has conducted his personal life. Uh
16:03so what we have in this poem is a
16:05portrait of a divinely sanctioned king
16:08but also a very humanly problematic
16:11king. Uh and we see how wonderfully
16:14Dryen kind of balances out both. uh and
16:18we see Dryen clearly coming to a
16:21conclusion that there is a need for
16:23established authority and stability. So
16:26he's in fact blaming the plot for the
16:29lack of rules
16:31uh for the lack of um you know kind of
16:34an authority over people. I mean this
16:37idea that um
16:40uh people are [laughter] left to their
16:42uh means to do whatever they want. uh so
16:45he draws on the Bible uh and it's very
16:48appropriate because he sees artistic
16:51possibilities in the Bible and what he
16:53does is he reveals not just a religious
16:55truth uh but he also kind of reveals
16:59this civic truth right uh of uh you know
17:03what happens to um people who kind of
17:07defy uh king kingship uh so um so
17:13Abselum and becomes a kind of a
17:15contribution therefore to this debate on
17:19um on public issues uh in the form of
17:23versatile and I think I talked about it
17:25this idea that neocclassical poetry was
17:27about that uh they these were not
17:31private kind of intimate poetries was
17:34these were very much public
17:38um kind of uh issues that were being
17:42discussed through the form of poetry
17:51Okay. So I come to the next poem in the
17:54syllabus. So I hope that uh uh it is
17:57very clear to you what we have talked
17:59about and I don't want to spend too long
18:01on it because we have a lot of other
18:02poems to discuss. Okay. So we now come
18:06to portrait of Zimri uh which is um uh
18:13once again a really nice poem. It's it's
18:16very short. It's very kind of precise
18:19uh and uh extremely uh amusing as well.
18:25Okay. So um now let us ask uh before we
18:31go on to the context here what are the
18:33strengths of this Saturday portrait. Uh
18:36so keep that question in mind and let me
18:38just quickly refer to the context here.
18:42Now the uh the context is here
18:46uh a reference to the Duke of
18:50Buckingham.
18:52Now this is also extracted from abselom
18:56and archite. So this is uh lines 545 to
19:00568 of that poem that we uh looked at uh
19:05we looked at the extract. Now we are
19:08looking at the second extract. Now as I
19:10was earlier telling you, you already
19:12know that uh um this poem has all these
19:16biblical uh um events which parallel the
19:21uh actual events of Charles II. Uh now
19:26uh
19:27there was this other character that is
19:31also discussed in this uh poem. uh so
19:34when monmouth revolted against Charles
19:37II
19:38uh and when he was instigated by
19:40Shazbury
19:42uh now that is Abselon's revolt against
19:45David right instigated by Akitaphel now
19:49uh there was also
19:52this uh individual called the Duke of
19:54Buckingham who was apparently another
19:57coworker of Monmouth
20:01and now this Duke of Buckingham in this
20:06poem becomes Zimri.
20:09Uh so what he does is because he's
20:12partial towards the king um the king,
20:16he's going to satize the uh Duke of
20:21Buckingham. Why? Because he is a
20:24supporter of the Duke of Monu. So now uh
20:28what we are going to have once again is
20:30this allegorical rendering of a
20:33character called Zimbri.
20:35So uh so Zimbre is actually Duke of
20:39Bahin. He was and [clears throat] Zimbre
20:41was in the biblical context a central
20:44follower of Akitell who was inconstant
20:48who had rigidly
20:51extremist views.
20:53Uh so now that Zimbre becomes a ideal
20:59persona to uh discuss the Duke of
21:02Buckingham. Uh so now what happens is
21:06though the poem is actually based on a
21:10political event uh Dryen for some reason
21:14begins [clears throat] an absolutely
21:16uh vindictive personal attack on um
21:20Buckingham here. Actually, you're going
21:23to be reading Matt Flecken, which is
21:24even going to be worse. But what happens
21:27here is Dryen will ridicule Zimry or
21:32Duke of Buckingham's character. Now, the
21:34Duke of Buckingham was uh also a poet.
21:39He was a dramatist. He was a politician.
21:42Uh and apparently he kind of had a
21:45brilliant mind, you know, but he was
21:47kind of inconsistent. He was
21:49extravagant. He was wasteful. He
21:52squandered away his wealth. Uh he was
21:55banished from court on account of his
21:57own fault and foolishness.
22:00Uh and uh so um he tried several
22:04occupations. He had several lifestyles.
22:08Uh so dry now we'll bring in all of that
22:13uh including his likes and dislikes, his
22:15attitudes, the way he spends money and
22:19we'll try to kind of create a man who is
22:22fickle, inconsistent, excessive,
22:24irrational, irresponsible,
22:27um kind of morally problematic, you name
22:31it. All those weaknesses are here. Uh
22:35and um uh so uh apparently uh Buckingham
22:40tried to form parties against the king
22:42because the king kind of know took him
22:44out. He was just not uh um uh kind of
22:48you know being what the king wanted. Uh
22:51but what's interesting is that though he
22:53tried to kind of be something uh that he
22:58was not uh he was unable to become a a
23:03leader of any one of them. So even
23:05though he tried to create rebellion
23:08tried to kind of create factions he
23:10still could not become the leader. So
23:12once again shows how ineffective Zimry
23:14is or Buckington was uh and apparently
23:17inherently wicked. But then the the
23:21comicness to it is that he lacked the
23:24means to put his wickedness into
23:26practice. So he is wicked. He's bad. But
23:29he doesn't even know what to do with
23:30that badness in him. Uh okay. So let me
23:34quickly read that uh and let us analyze
23:37it because it's important uh that we do.
23:40So
23:42um okay. So uh
23:46let me read this out. Some of their
23:48chiefs were princes of the land. In the
23:50first rank of these did Zimry stand, a
23:53man so various that he seemed to be not
23:56one but all mankind's epitome.
24:00Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong,
24:03was everything by starts and nothing
24:06long. But in the course of one revolving
24:09moon was chemist, figler, statesmen and
24:11buffoon. Then all for women, painting,
24:15rhyming, drinking. Besides 10,000 freaks
24:18that died in thinking, blessed mad man
24:21who could [clears throat] every hour
24:23employ with something new to wish or to
24:26enjoy. Railing and praising were his
24:29usual themes and both to show his
24:32judgment in extremes. So over violent or
24:35over civil that every man within was
24:38good god or devil. In squandering wealth
24:41was his peculiar art. Nothing went
24:43unrewarded but deserved. beggared by
24:47fools whom still he found too late. He
24:49had his just and they had his estate. He
24:53laughed himself from court, then sought
24:55relief by forming parties, but could
24:57never be chief. For spite of him the
25:00weight of business fell on Abselum and
25:03wise Akitell. Thus wicked but in will of
25:07means be left. He left not faction but
25:10of that was left. End quote.
25:15Now uh uh what's going on? How does uh
25:20uh portrait of Zimri begin? Uh I mean
25:24just look at the opening. How how does
25:27he kind of begin this? Uh what is he
25:31suggesting here?
25:34Does he begin by kind of castigating
25:38um
25:40Zimri Buckingham or does he kind of
25:42begin in a different way?
25:48Now once again we know right this is a
25:50mock heroic epic. It's a political
25:52satire. So uh how does he now launch a
25:57personal attack against uh Buckingham?
26:00How does he ridicule
26:02uh Zimry?
26:06Now what happens is he's going to once
26:09again just the way you had in a lot of
26:11neocclassical poetry he's going to use
26:13things like clarity simplicity order
26:16good sense decorum to do whatever he
26:20wants to do right so what we have is a
26:22kind of a simple uh narrative here uh
26:26once again in coupless but then we
26:29realize that beneath the surface of
26:34something very polished and in control.
26:36There lies a very strong tone of irony
26:40coupled with humor. So each couplet
26:43presents a self-contained idea or a
26:46description, right? Which helps to
26:50project Zindra in a uh in a particular
26:53way and we've got to see how he uh uh
26:58kind of projects in. Uh now um look at
27:02the beginning some of their chiefs the
27:05princes of the land in the first rank of
27:08these did Zimri stand
27:11uh what's he saying he's saying from all
27:14the chief princes Zimri came first so
27:17then what's the uh impression we have we
27:20kind of suddenly get an impression that
27:22we are going to be reading about uh
27:24great uh greatness but that we are going
27:27to be reading about somebody who is
27:29extreme extremely um intelligent,
27:33poised. Uh but then suddenly we realize
27:37that uh it's not the case because he's
27:42saying these uh these leaders were royal
27:46princes and in their top leadership is
27:49Zimri. Uh and then again he kind of um
27:53uh
27:54uh praises Zimry a man so various that
27:58he seemed to be not one but all
28:00mankind's epitome. Man so various means
28:03a man who is of many talents and
28:05interests and for that reason I mean you
28:08realize he's the best of the best. So
28:11you want to see perfection in this man.
28:13So I suddenly realized that um oh my god
28:17here I here I am reading about somebody
28:20who is so grand, so perfect.
28:24But then look at what he does. He
28:27immediately
28:29uh kind of uh inflates a balloon and
28:33deflates that balloon. Uh so uh suddenly
28:36we realize oh my gosh this is not about
28:39a man um
28:42of uh kind of exalted status. Uh look at
28:47what Dryen says. Stiff in opinion always
28:50in the wrong was everything by starts
28:52and nothing wrong. So uh this idea that
28:56he's an he he just had ideas. He's
28:58everything by stars but then nothing
29:00wrong. He just cannot carry out
29:02anything. He cannot sustain an idea. He
29:04just has ideas uh kind of uh uh popping
29:08up and in the course of one revolving
29:12moon was chemist Fidler statesman and
29:15buffoon a man um this idea that umh he
29:20he was a chemist he's a violinist he's a
29:23politician and he's a fool's fool uh and
29:26uh then all for women women painting
29:29rhyming drink drinking so he's kind of
29:32suggesting that he's a very uh morally
29:36um kind of a flawed man. Uh and again he
29:40says besides 10,000 freaks that died in
29:43thinking this idea that he he here is a
29:46man who suddenly has 10,000 ideas but
29:49when those ideas are about to be born
29:52they have already died. Uh so you
29:55realize that uh he's kind of uh
29:59describing an a deeply problematic,
30:02extremely foolish, wrongheaded, morally
30:06lax kind of a man who's only up for
30:09womanizing and drinking and who is so
30:12ineffectual
30:14uh that you know he he he cannot kind of
30:17carry out anything. And why does he want
30:19to uh create Zimbra this way? Because
30:23remember Zimry is a central follower of
30:26Akitell. So this idea that Buckingham
30:30was very much for
30:33Monmouth. He was not for James II. So
30:37because uh Dryen is against Monmouth, he
30:40will now uh attack everybody who is
30:43around him. He's suggesting that these
30:45are the people that are around you and
30:47these are the people uh that are around
30:50England and these are the people who are
30:52struggling to gain power and if this
30:54kind of fool gets into power uh the
30:57dilemma of the country. So that is what
30:59he's basically saying. Uh so um he's
31:03kind of uh suggesting that Zenry is the
31:08worst of all humankind. And he goes on
31:11right he says he's stiff in opinion.
31:13that means he's not flexible.
31:16Um,
31:18and he also calls him blessed madman who
31:22could every hour employ with something
31:24new to wish or to enjoy. So he's kind of
31:28saying that Zimri is fickle, he's
31:31inconsistent, he's excessive. Uh he's,
31:35as I was earlier telling you, he takes
31:36on a variety of roles and activities yet
31:40there's no center. Um because he says
31:43railing and praising were his usual
31:46themes and both in extremes so over
31:48violent over city that every man we
31:51think was God or David. So uh actually
31:54what happens is through this uh uh
31:59uh portrait there is a suggestion of a
32:01disorder anarchy an injustice uh driving
32:06suggesting that these people are loose
32:08and lawless figures and these are the
32:10kinds of people who are trying to rebel
32:12against the king and uh uh and they
32:15untrustworthy.
32:17They're extreme. They have no substance
32:20to them. There is no stable personality.
32:22they squander wealth and therefore they
32:25should not be uh in any way given the
32:29responsibility of uh kind of rule. So
32:31it's a very effective satiric device,
32:34right? Uh because though he wants to
32:38politically reject the faction that is
32:41trying to contest the power uh of the
32:44king, the faction that's threatening the
32:46king. And how he does it is by uh kind
32:51of sat satizing and ridiculing the
32:55foolishness of these people around the
32:59uh the rebels. So the rebellion is led
33:02by people like this. Uh so you can see
33:05right this man is deeply opiniated. He's
33:08wrongheaded. He's foolish. He's
33:10experimental. He's imaginative only. Uh
33:15so it becomes a very effective uh poem.
33:19Uh and uh so uh I mean you can see that
33:25this is a kind of a very vindictive
33:27attack definitely. But I think it's uh
33:31Dryen's way of suggesting that um here
33:35here are people who uh really should
33:38have nothing to do with uh uh kingship.
33:42Uh let me move on to the next slide.
33:46Yeah. So uh now the biblical reference
33:50this is I just put this up for your
33:52knowledge in case you get confused if
33:54you kind of search more on this. Now the
33:56biblical reference actually has two
33:58zimres. Uh one is an adulterer
34:02uh and the other commits treason against
34:05the king. Uh now in a sense both become
34:09very applicable because there is a
34:11reference to uh the Duke of Buckingham's
34:15affair with the countest at that time.
34:17So in a sense he's bringing in Zimri
34:21because the the illusion of Zimry
34:24becomes uh very apt to talk about
34:28Buckingham uh because Buckingham was um
34:32such a man. Uh so I hope it's very clear
34:36to you
34:38how Zimbre is portrayed and how clever
34:44is uh because you he begins with
34:47supposed praise uh and suddenly he kind
34:52of suggests that um uh this is um
34:57a total uh kind of disaster literally.
35:01Um so uh uh he kind of brings in
35:05exaggeration,
35:06he brings in irony, he kind of um he
35:11brings in this idea of inongruity
35:14uh and then suggests that um this man is
35:18entirely uh problematic. For instance,
35:21when he uses a word like epitome. Now
35:24epitome means the the epitome means the
35:26perfect example of some characteristic
35:29or quality uh because he says the zindry
35:32is mankind's epitome. Uh so some so that
35:36becomes inongruous means it becomes
35:39something we cannot comprehend. Uh so a
35:43lot of exaggeration, irony,
35:46uh everything is brought here to kind of
35:50uh further
35:52um Dryen's argument that a monarchy
35:55needs to prevail. Uh and that that
35:58monarchy cannot be uh contested by
36:02people of this caliber. Uh public
36:05figures who are not guided by reason.
36:09public figures who lack social and moral
36:12responsibility and you see that Zimri is
36:16such a man.
36:19Okay, let us move to the next poem.
36:37Okay, we come to Mac Fleck. No. Uh, it's
36:40apparently written in uh uh 1682.
36:45Uh, now a lot of critics have suggested
36:47that they can't pinpoint the date, but
36:49that this seems the most plausible date
36:52for the poem. And if you look at your
36:55collection uh given to you, you'll
36:58realize that uh we have the entire poem
37:00here. So it's written in 218 lines once
37:04again of rhyming couplets. Uh and uh let
37:08me kind of tell you the context here.
37:11Now this is a a satire in which Dryen
37:15[clears throat] uh takes to I mean he
37:18kind of criticizes this poet and
37:20dramatist called Thomas Shadwell
37:24uh and he is the TS that is uh uh
37:29indicated in in the subtitle but you
37:32realize that it's not um it's taken off
37:35here. [snorts]
37:36uh now um now who is uh Thomas Shadwell
37:42now uh actually this uh poem has been
37:47seen as kind of specially cruel on the
37:50part of Dryen because he's going to be
37:52very far harsh here. Uh apparently um
37:57people kind of uh critics I'm sorry uh
38:01trace this poem to Dryen's u uh uh
38:06apparent quarrel a public quarrel that
38:10he had with Shadwell over political
38:12matters. uh and uh also Shadville was
38:17his rival in the sense that not just a
38:19rival in politics but a rival in his
38:21professional life as well because he was
38:24a writer uh and uh apparently a talented
38:28writer. So a lot of critics have said
38:30that Dryen was too harsh and that uh
38:35Shadwell is undeserving of this kind of
38:39castigation by Dryen. uh that um it's
38:43very puzzling why he would kind of be so
38:46harsh, so bitey. Uh so um what Dryden
38:51does is I mean uh he kind of um
38:56uh I mean there's there's a kind of a
38:59personal element to this. Some critics
39:01have said that uh I mean he was a very
39:04balanced man but then in this poem that
39:08there might have been certain personal
39:11pressures or tensions or factions that
39:14led him to write in this way. So it
39:16could kind of be things like personal
39:18jealousy or suspicions or some kind of a
39:22quarrel. Uh now um so uh uh so the
39:27context is this that a disagreement
39:29between Dryen and this man and this man
39:32Shadwell was a follower of Ben Johnson.
39:34Uh now Shadwell is from 1642 to 1692 and
39:39he was the author of 18 plays and he
39:42also had a small body of poetry as well
39:45but then they had um differing views on
39:48poetry. So what Dryden does is he draws
39:52on uh this man called Richard Fleckno
39:56who lived from 1600 to 1678 who was an
39:59English dramatist and poet that again
40:02driving criticized and he's going to
40:04create Mac Fleckno here uh to kind of
40:08attack uh his enemy Thomas Shville. Now
40:12um uh we have to also talk about uh uh
40:19the political differences
40:21uh whether they had anything um to kind
40:24of protest over now. Uh Shadwell was
40:29apparently protestant
40:32uh and he supported uh Earl of Shsbury
40:36in the dispute over who should succeed
40:38King Charles II to the English throne.
40:41So obviously you know where Dryen uh
40:43stands right in this issue. Uh so
40:46Shsbury of uh once again I'm just
40:49repeating just for you to kind of
40:51internalize all this knowledge. We know
40:53that Shsbury champions
40:56um the illegitimate son of Charles the
40:59Duke of Monmouth while Dryen supports
41:01the Catholic brother of Charles James
41:04the the he he will become James I. So uh
41:08so there is a obviously a political
41:11difference between the two. Then there
41:13is also
41:16uh a kind of a professional uh diff.
41:21So uh apparently Dryen attacked Shsbury
41:26uh in his satire in one of his satires
41:30uh and uh
41:33um Shadwell
41:36uh kind of um wanted to attack Dryen. So
41:41he wrote a poem [laughter]
41:43uh kind of as a response to uh drive nan
41:49as a response to uh support his
41:52protestant interest. So there is a
41:54tension between the two. So the tensions
41:56are not just uh political the tensions
41:59are also personal. It is also about uh
42:03both men being uh poets, both men being
42:07literary men. Uh so um now what is he
42:11going to do? He's going to take on
42:15this minor poet. So Richard Fleckeno was
42:18not a very known poet. He's a minor
42:19poet. Uh and he's going to set the scene
42:23as if uh Richard Fleckeno has appointed
42:27Shadwell to succeed him as the ultimate
42:30poet. So a minor poet wants to pass on
42:33his mantle to a another poet and he's
42:36arguing that Shadwell is the best. Uh so
42:42Shadwell will become the successor to
42:44Richard Fleck. Richard Fleckno the minor
42:46poet. So it's actually an insult. He's
42:48kind of saying that you can only succeed
42:50a man like Richard Fleckno. Now once
42:53again what is he doing? He cannot um
42:57write in a direct way. So he's now going
42:59to um kind of create um a very epic kind
43:05of a situation. Uh so that's how he's
43:09going to now ridicule uh Shadwell and uh
43:12Fleckno. So uh how does the poem open?
43:16The poem opens in a place called Augusta
43:20which is ruler called Fleckno. So it's
43:23opens in a kind of empire uh where the
43:27ruler is Fleckeno who is forced to
43:29determine who will assume his place as
43:32the leader of the empire. So the
43:36so you can see once again this idea of a
43:39mock epic right once again a trivial
43:42incident is given epic proportions. Uh
43:46so um now remember that when you say
43:49something like Augusta what comes to
43:51mind? Augusta.
43:54Augusta immediately recalls
43:59uh the reference to Augustus,
44:03right? Uh and Augustus is
44:07um
44:09once again tied to uh who who is
44:13Augustus tied to? Julius Caesar. Julius
44:16Caesar's choice was this person called
44:21Octavius. who is later called Augustus
44:23as his successor. All right. So, uh,
44:27Dryen therefore once again goes to the
44:30mock heroic mode, goes to mock epic
44:33proportions in order to parody the
44:38various poets here, not just Richard
44:41Fleckno but mostly Thomas Shadwell. uh
44:44and um he's kind of going to conclude
44:47that Fleckeno is the one who most
44:50resembles
44:52>> [clears throat]
44:52>> uh Richard Flecken. So Matt Fleckeno
44:54most uh um well represents Richard
44:59Fleckeno. So now what is he doing? He's
45:01comparing the
45:04once again Thomas Shadwell to um that
45:08kind of um inferiority, right? So he's
45:12kind of uh literally um
45:17using a kind of a Greek uh mythological
45:21story in order to uh ridicule Mac
45:26Fleckman. That's what you have here.
45:29Okay, let me move to the uh next slide.
45:38Uh so now who is Fleckno? Fleckeno is
45:42the fictional
45:44uh role of the king of nonsense. So he's
45:47the king of nonsense in Augusta. And
45:50what has happened now? The time has come
45:52for this aging king to select his
45:55successor. And who does he choose? He
45:58chooses obviously Thomas Shag.
46:02So uh critics have called this very
46:05excessive. They have said that this um
46:08poem lacks balance, that it is too harsh
46:11and and that it is a petty manifestation
46:13of a personal and professional
46:15resentment that Dryen had. Uh and it is
46:18kind of considered one of his most um uh
46:22virulent satise in the sense that it is
46:25uh totally uh over the top. It is very
46:29harsh. It's very excessive. It also at
46:32certain points becomes uh it it becomes
46:35excessive.
46:45Uh now what is the style? Uh
46:50as you know the style is um mock epic
46:53uses the elevated style of classical
46:55poetry.
46:57uh he posits the place thing or
47:01character as extraordinary. So Richard
47:03Fleckno as Augustus sees almost uh yet
47:07in reality we know that all of these is
47:10insignificant. It is trivial. Um and
47:14what he does is he po he he sets the
47:17poem in London and refers to uh London
47:20as Augusta. It's a as I was telling you
47:23a mockery of Augusta Caesar. uh and the
47:26entire poem is what how the this king of
47:30nonsense tells um the audience why he
47:34has selected Shadwell to succeed him and
47:37that kind of gives Dryen the opportunity
47:41to completely
47:43um destroy his opponent here uh and his
47:48opponent being Thomas Shadwell.
47:53Okay, let me read a little bit.
47:55Obviously, I can't read everything and I
47:57can't go through everything line by
47:59line, but I just want to kind of give
48:00you a rough idea of what's going on
48:02here. Uh, okay, let us look at the
48:05beginning. Um,
48:08all human things are subject to decay
48:10and when faith summons, monarchs must
48:13obey. This fleck no found who like
48:15Augustus young was called to empire and
48:18had governed long in pros and vers was
48:22owned without dispute though all the
48:24realms of nonsense absolute. This aged
48:28prince, now flourishing in peace, and
48:30blessed with issue of a large increase,
48:33worn out with business, did at length
48:35debate to settle the succession of the
48:38state, and pondering which of all his
48:41sons was fit to reign and wage immortal
48:44war with wit. Cry his resolve, for
48:47nature, pleased that he should only rule
48:49who most resembles me. Shadwell alone my
48:53perfect image bears mature in dullness
48:56from his tender years. Shadwell alone of
49:00all my sons is he who stands confirmed
49:03in full stupidity. The rest to some
49:07faint meaning may pretends but Shadwell
49:10never deviates into sense. Some beams of
49:13wit on other souls may fall, strike
49:15through and make a lucid interval. But
49:18Shadwell's gene genuine night admits no
49:21ray. His rising fugs prevail upon the
49:25day. End quote. Um now, uh I I don't
49:30know whether I told you this right, but
49:31uh this idea that Shadwell never
49:33recovered from this attack that he could
49:35never get back to his original um sense
49:39of self. I mean Dryen really destroyed
49:42him and his reputation. But look at you
49:45can see right how does he begin? Once
49:47again very mock heroic like begins with
49:52a very general kind of a statement about
49:56uh human life in decline. All human
49:58things are subject to decay and when
50:00faith summons monarchs must obey obey.
50:03So he's saying that death is inevitable
50:05for everybody including the lives of
50:07kings. Uh and then after mocking me
50:11comparing Fleckeno uh to Augustus
50:15uh look at what he's saying. He's kind
50:17of saying how uh Fleckeno is blessed
50:20with the issue of large increase. Uh
50:25so he says this king is very um
50:28fruitful. He has a lot of children. Uh
50:32now what does that mean? Fleckno who
50:35governed for so long in pros and verse
50:40was known for realms of nonsense
50:43absolute. So this king of nonsense has a
50:46lot of uh issue means a lot of progeny.
50:50What does that mean? This aged prince
50:53now flourishing in peace and blessed
50:55with issue of a large increase. Uh what
50:58does that mean? this idea that uh he has
51:01a lot of progeny who are equally like
51:04him. So what Dryney is saying is that
51:06Dryney is saying that uh there are lots
51:09of bad uh poets out there. Uh so uh he
51:15is not um short of uh progeny. [snorts]
51:20Uh so literally uh the line suggests
51:23that he has many children but it's
51:25suggesting that he has uh many followers
51:29uh who cannot write who are writing
51:31nonsensical
51:33uh things. Uh so now what is u flecker
51:38doing now he's worn out with business
51:40he's tired because of age did length
51:43debate to settle the succession of the
51:46state and pondering which all of his
51:47sons was fit. So he looks around at all
51:50his sons. Uh and uh now this is the
51:53point at which Dryden comes and attacks
51:56Thomas Shadwell, right? Because here
51:58Dryen
52:00um this is called a conceit, a literary
52:03conceit. I hope you I should have put up
52:06that word here. C O N C E T. Uh please
52:10look it up. So this he takes on this
52:13literary conceit of the succession of
52:16the king. And now a succession of a king
52:20is a matter of immense importance. Isn't
52:22that so? Especially during that time
52:25when kingship was very much around. Uh
52:28so usually a successor needs to be a man
52:31of good sense uh intelligence, decorum,
52:35imagination, critical thinking. So he's
52:38saying McFleen looks around and thinks
52:40who is the one who most resembles me.
52:44uh and uh he realizes that the best is
52:48Shadwell alone. My perfect image bears
52:52mature in dullness from his tender
52:54years. Shadwell alone of all my sons who
52:58stands confirmed in full stupidity. So
53:01he's mature in dullness. He's confirmed
53:04in full stupidity. So he's kind of
53:06saying that this man has no intellectual
53:09and rational capacity uh and therefore
53:12becomes the best person to carry out the
53:17task of taking on the role of successor
53:21to uh Richard Fleckeno. So uh you can
53:25see here it's it becomes worse and
53:28worse. Uh for instance uh Dryen says
53:34Shadwell never deviates into sense. Some
53:37beams of wit on other souls may fall but
53:40Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray.
53:43So this idea that Shadwell is always in
53:46darkness. Other people have at least a
53:47glimpse of light. The glimpse of light
53:50suggests some kind of knowledge, right?
53:53That there's some light that breaks upon
53:55people. the kind of a uh a light
53:57suggests something of a something of
54:00insight. Remember we are looking at this
54:03age of enlightenment, right? Uh so he's
54:06kind of suggesting that Shadwell's
54:08dimness um is um I mean everpresent and
54:13that it even obscures the light of day.
54:16So you realize that he attacks him uh
54:20and he even attacks his body because he
54:23says besides his bootly fabric fills the
54:26eye
54:27he's kind of suggesting that this man is
54:30really large. So you can see that
54:34Dryen is kind of losing his sense of um
54:38um balance here. he becomes extremely
54:42cruel. Uh and um and now what we have is
54:48in the if you look at um
54:51after about 30 or 40 lines you realize
54:55that uh Dryen is talking about how
54:58Shadwell uh comes up the themes to
55:01accept his reign. So he has to now cross
55:04the river themes to kind of come and
55:06come to the castle. [snorts] Uh so it's
55:09kind of once again making uh fun of uh
55:13uh Shadwell here. Uh so uh what we have
55:17is u uh
55:21for instance um
55:25this line which begins close to the
55:27walls which fell august bind the fair
55:30austa much to fears inclined an ancient
55:32fabric raised uh to inform the sight
55:35there stood a y and barbec hide a
55:38watchtower once but now so fate orains
55:41of all the pile an empty name remains
55:44from its Old ruins brothel houses rise
55:47scenes of lewd loves and of polluted
55:49joys where their vast courts the
55:52mother's trumpets keep and undisturbed
55:54by watching silent sleep. Now these a
55:57nursery wrecks its head where queens are
55:59formed and future heroes bred uh end
56:03quote. So what do we have here? We are
56:05we we are given a description of um
56:08Shadwell's reign over the city of
56:10Augusta. So Augusta is London, right?
56:12And uh he kind of continues that mock
56:16epic kind of sarcasm here. He he's
56:19suggesting that um u Shadwell's reign is
56:24in a kind of a brothel district. Uh so
56:27he's what he's doing is he's kind of
56:29suggesting that people who read Shadwell
56:33and people who I mean remember Shadwell
56:35was also a dramatist. uh he kind of
56:38associates the prostitute with
56:41Shadwell's production. So he's kind of
56:43saying these are all lowly uh and uh um
56:48I mean it goes on and on. I don't have
56:50time once again to look at everything
56:53but we have even a picture of uh uh M
56:57fleck no walking up um
57:02to uh kind of um assume rain and when
57:06he's kind of walking I mean so actually
57:08what you have is a coronation here right
57:10so he's going for his coronation and
57:13when he's walking through the streets
57:15the the streets are we are told
57:18scattered
57:19limbs of mangled poets lay. Um
57:24uh so you can see it becomes extremely
57:28uh insulting
57:30uh and uh
57:33I will read a little bit in case you're
57:35confused. So this is a description of
57:37the coronation.
57:39Now Empress Fame had published the
57:41renown of Shadwell's coronation through
57:44the town. Roused by report of fame, the
57:47nations meet from near bun hill and
57:49distant weightling street. No Persian
57:51carpet spread the imperial way but
57:53scattered limbs of mangled poets lay
57:57from dusty shops neglected authors come.
58:00Marters of pies and relics of the bum.
58:03Much he would surely augle be their lay,
58:05but loads of shaded almost choked the
58:08way. Built stationers for yman stood
58:11prepared and herring was captain of the
58:13guard. The holy prince in majesty
58:16appeared high on a throne of his own
58:18labors reared. At his right hand a young
58:21ascenia sat roses are the hope and
58:23pillar of the state. His brows thick
58:26fogs instead of glorious grace and
58:30lamant dullness played around his face.
58:33Um
58:35as hannibal did to the altars come sworn
58:38by his sire mortal f to roam. So
58:41Shadwell swore, nor should his bow be
58:43vain, that he till death true dullness
58:46would maintain, and in his father's
58:49right and realm's defense, never to have
58:52peace with wit, nor truce with sense."
58:56End quote. So the coronation is now
58:59where is it? Um I mean you can see he
59:03he's becoming he brings in once again I
59:05think I talked about this word with when
59:07I did Galiva's travels brings in all
59:10these cat scatological references the
59:13coronation is near this pissing alley so
59:17where people are kind of urinating there
59:19is kind of um excrements that they have
59:23to kind of step over so it's kind of
59:26suggesting
59:27um I mean u uh this idea of a
59:31destructive reign. So what Dry is
59:35suggesting is that there's a destruction
59:38of true poetry because Shadwell takes
59:40the throne. How he wows to maintain true
59:43dullness and he says that I will forever
59:46fight and wage war with wit and sense.
59:50What are wit and sense?
59:54What are wit and sense?
59:58Wit and sense are intelligence. Right?
59:59So you all know that. So there is a
1:00:02suggestion that the this is a
1:00:05representation of darkness and uh that's
1:00:08how he kind of begins to rain. So
1:00:13uh towards the end of the poem we have
1:00:17uh Fleckeno um speaking. He speaks and
1:00:21what he does is he asks for heaven's
1:00:23blessing on his son. Uh let me read that
1:00:26bit again a little bit for you. Heavens
1:00:28bless my son. From Ireland, let him
1:00:30reign. To farados on the western man. Of
1:00:34his dominion may no envy known and
1:00:36greater than his fathers be his throne.
1:00:39Beyond love's kingdom let him stretch
1:00:41his pen. He paused and all the people
1:00:43cried, "Amen."
1:00:45Then thus continued, "My son advanced
1:00:48till new impudence, new ignorance.
1:00:51Success let others teach. Learn thou
1:00:53from me. pants without birth and
1:00:56fruitless industry.
1:00:58Uh end quote. Uh so uh Richard Fleckeno
1:01:01is now talking to his son that whom he
1:01:04um he now wishes to um hand over
1:01:08succession to and he says learn from me
1:01:10son because learn pans without birth and
1:01:14fruitless industry. So it's kind of
1:01:16suggesting that you don't need to put
1:01:18effort here to do anything. Uh so it's
1:01:22really uh becomes comic right he offers
1:01:26his advice to Shadwell. He encourages
1:01:30him to make sure that all his issue
1:01:33means all his writing uh be all his own.
1:01:36He says you know kind of um produce
1:01:40verse. Uh now look at what he says. He
1:01:43says um
1:01:51write thy best and chop and in each line
1:01:54sir for farmer's orary will be thine.
1:01:57Sir far former though unsought attends
1:01:59thy quill and dust thy northern
1:02:01dedication spill. Nor let false friends
1:02:04seduce thy mind to fame by arrogant
1:02:06Johnson's hostile name. Let father fleck
1:02:09no fire thy mind with praise and uncle
1:02:11or be thy envy raised. Thou art my
1:02:14blood. When Johnson has no part, what
1:02:16shall have we in nature or in art?
1:02:21Where did his wit on learning fix a
1:02:23brand and railed at art he did not
1:02:26understand?
1:02:28Leave writing place and choose for thy
1:02:30command some peaceful promise in
1:02:33acrostic land. So he's kind of giving
1:02:35away advice. is offering advice as to
1:02:38how he should write. He says produce uh
1:02:42verse like me. Don't produce verse.
1:02:46So he's saying write like mine like um I
1:02:49mean don't kind of emulate people like
1:02:52Ben Johnson. Rely on talents like mine.
1:02:55So it's kind of um showing how uh how
1:03:00he's uh completely a fool here. Uh and
1:03:05how does this uh poem end? The ending is
1:03:08very important
1:03:09uh because um uh as as Richard Fleckeno
1:03:14speaks. Let me read that bit.
1:03:19There thou mayest wings display and
1:03:22altars raise and torture one poor word
1:03:2410,000 ways. Or if thou would thy
1:03:28different talent suit, set thy own song
1:03:30and sing them to thy loot, he said. But
1:03:33his lad's words were scarcely heard. For
1:03:35Bruce and Longwill had a trap prepared,
1:03:39and down they sent the yet declaming
1:03:41bar, sinking, he left his drugged robe
1:03:44behind. Born upwards by a subterranean
1:03:47wind, the mantle fell to the young
1:03:49prophet's part with double portion of
1:03:52his father's art.
1:03:55um end quote. What is he saying there?
1:03:58There is a suggestion of a betrayal,
1:04:00right? Because uh the poem concludes by
1:04:05uh Mleeno preparing a trap for Richard
1:04:09Fleckno in the sense that Richard
1:04:10Fleckno is not dead. Uh he has now only
1:04:13to choose a successor. But you realize
1:04:16that uh he's kind of uh uh taken down uh
1:04:22through a trap door. So he's literally
1:04:24disappears. The suggestion is that he is
1:04:26killed. But what happens is his his
1:04:29robe, his monarchical robe comes flying
1:04:32up and settles upon um Matt Fleckeno.
1:04:36And how does uh Dryen see that? This
1:04:39idea with a double portion of his
1:04:41father's art. this idea that if Richard
1:04:44Fleckeno was um was stupid now Mac
1:04:49Fleckeno will be doubly stupid. Uh so um
1:04:55we realize that right I mean it's
1:04:56extremely funny but we realize it it is
1:04:59vicious uh but it kind of uh I mean
1:05:03leave aside the viciousness here we we
1:05:05need to kind of admire Dryden's art here
1:05:08right he displays his talents he's so
1:05:12clever he's so sharp uh and uh uh you
1:05:18can see how he's kind of using this mock
1:05:21heroic
1:05:22uh kind of illusion uh to completely
1:05:27um destroy his opponent here. Uh and um
1:05:35so this idea of Shadwell kind of uh
1:05:40ousting illegitimately the power of his
1:05:44father, right? So there's a suggestion
1:05:45of a betrayal as well. So Shadwell's
1:05:48dullness is emphasized at the end. But
1:05:51then his dullness is coupled with a
1:05:54sense of absolute um
1:05:58kind of cruelty and corruption. Right?
1:06:01Because betrayal suggests uh uh almost
1:06:04um uh kind of uh authority against the
1:06:08king and also here there's a suggestion
1:06:10of reicide as well. So you kill the king
1:06:12and get the throne. So um he's
1:06:15suggesting that uh here is a uh poet who
1:06:20is worse than the man who uh kind of was
1:06:25ready to give up his power. Um so it
1:06:30becomes u a very strong uh poem here
1:06:34shows Dryen at at its best.
1:06:44Okay, I want to um
1:06:47go to uh the next poem and that is uh
1:06:51this poem by uh satrical uh by Jonathan
1:06:55Swift um called the satrical elegy on
1:06:58the death of the late famous general.
1:07:00Now I'm not going to be I'm not going to
1:07:02talk about uh Swift here because you
1:07:05already know about Swift, right? We have
1:07:07talked about him in detail when I did
1:07:08his uh uh longer fiction. Now I'm going
1:07:13to get directly into the uh poem. Uh now
1:07:18the background is uh 1765.
1:07:22Uh and uh this was written upon the
1:07:25death of uh this uh English general
1:07:30called John Churchill who was also
1:07:33called the Duke of Malbero. Uh and uh
1:07:37now um sorry Jonathan Swift has said
1:07:43uh I quote I confess my belief that he
1:07:46has not one good quality in the world
1:07:48beside that of a general and even that I
1:07:50have heard denied by several great
1:07:53soldiers. Uh so now who was uh John uh
1:07:57Churchill?
1:08:00Now this was written in uh uh 1722
1:08:05uh and it's written upon the death of
1:08:07this general right uh and uh now um it's
1:08:13written in 1722 but published in 1765
1:08:17remember that right because that's when
1:08:18it appears now who is this man now
1:08:22Churchill was uh a man who had a very
1:08:26problematic um career a problematic
1:08:29diplomatic and military career. So what
1:08:32happens is because of that he becomes
1:08:34the object of a a satirical elegy by uh
1:08:40swift. Uh now I'll talk about what an
1:08:43elegy is but u uh it's interesting
1:08:47because uh uh this is also a kind of a
1:08:52very unsympathetic uh portrait. Uh and
1:08:56uh now uh
1:08:59this man was apparently
1:09:02uh a wig general. So I have already
1:09:05talked about who the wigs and the Tories
1:09:07are. So I'm not going to repeat it here.
1:09:08You should now kind of remember all of
1:09:11the um references I have given you.
1:09:16Uh so uh
1:09:19he was apparently a war propheteer. What
1:09:21is a war propheteer? uh a man who
1:09:25deliberately prolongs a war for profit.
1:09:28Uh now we see this happening in all
1:09:31cultures, all context especially when a
1:09:33war takes place, right? People want to
1:09:35prolong because war can war is a very
1:09:37lucrative um business for uh many uh now
1:09:42therefore um now swift is I hope you
1:09:46remember a very staunch story. So once
1:09:50again, he's now attacking his opponent
1:09:52here, right? Uh and he's very angry and
1:09:56um uh he wants to kind of uh once again
1:10:00use satire. And here uh he's uh using a
1:10:06very sharp, bitter, angry kind of a
1:10:09satire to um completely dismantle uh
1:10:14this man. And let me um uh read uh read
1:10:17this very quickly.
1:10:24His grace impossible. What? Dead of old
1:10:29age too and in his bed.
1:10:33And could that mighty warrior fall and
1:10:35so inglorious after all? Well, since
1:10:39he's gone, no matter how, the last loud
1:10:42trump must wake him now. And trust me,
1:10:45as the noise grows stronger, he'd wish
1:10:48to sleep a little longer. And could he
1:10:51be indeed so old, as by the newspapers
1:10:53we are told, three scope, I think, is
1:10:57pretty high.
1:10:59To time in conscience, he should die.
1:11:02This world be cumbered long enough. He
1:11:04burnt his candle to the snuff. And
1:11:07that's the reason some folks think he
1:11:08left behind so great a stink. Behold his
1:11:12funeral appears. No widow's size nor
1:11:15orphan's tears. Want at such times each
1:11:18heart to pierce attend the progress of
1:11:20his hers. But what of that his friends
1:11:23may say he had those honors in his day.
1:11:26True to his profit and his pride he made
1:11:29them weep before he died. Come hither
1:11:32all you empty things. You bubbles raised
1:11:34by breath of kings who float upon the
1:11:36tide of state. Come hither and behold
1:11:39your faith. Let pride be taught by this
1:11:42rebuke. How very mean a things a duke
1:11:45from all his illgot honors flung turn to
1:11:49that dirt from whence he sprung.
1:11:54Um end quote. Uh I hope uh you uh kind
1:11:59of uh read this uh uh poem. Now let us
1:12:03first look at the form before I start
1:12:06analyzing it.
1:12:10Uh now uh the context is a single
1:12:15speaker right uh apparently meeting a
1:12:20friend on a London street who tells him
1:12:23of the news of the Duke's death and then
1:12:26the speaker's comments and then he's
1:12:28also going to see the funeral procession
1:12:30come into view which is why the
1:12:33beginning is his grace impossible what
1:12:35death then of old age and in his bed so
1:12:38you can you can you kind of get that
1:12:40conversational style there, right? Uh so
1:12:44it's it's about a man who is who who
1:12:46kind of gets the news on the street and
1:12:49kind of reacts to it uh through um
1:12:52through this. Uh okay, let let me
1:12:55quickly get on to the form
1:12:59now. What is an allergy?
1:13:02Because it's called a satirical on the
1:13:05death of a late famous general. What's
1:13:08an allergy? Allergy is usually a
1:13:11lamenting of the diseased. A lament, a a
1:13:14poem of mourning. You mourn the dead. Uh
1:13:18but usually I think we all know right?
1:13:21Usually when somebody dies, we we try to
1:13:25somehow extract the best of that person.
1:13:28I mean that is um something to do with
1:13:31human civility, right? even the worst
1:13:34possible man. Uh he may even be a killer
1:13:38but we try to kind of see some grace
1:13:40some uh some um some point of rede
1:13:44redemption in that man when we are
1:13:46talking about him when he has died
1:13:48because there's always a kind of a
1:13:50respect that we pay to the dead uh
1:13:52because the dead has in a sense left us
1:13:55the dead is no longer in the realm of
1:13:58the the the people who are alive. Uh so
1:14:02um I mean we have that in our culture as
1:14:04well right so uh usually an elergy is a
1:14:08poem of praise it's almost like a poetic
1:14:11obituary
1:14:12uh and what we have here is a satirical
1:14:15energy uh because now you if an elegy is
1:14:19something that is pleasing uh a
1:14:22satirical energy will be a parody
1:14:25uh of that a parody of a eulogy or a
1:14:28kind of an a um a narrative about
1:14:32somebody. Uh so in this poem this poem
1:14:35is divided you see right if you look at
1:14:37your
1:14:39extracts given to you it's divided into
1:14:42two parts
1:14:45and the rhyme is again in the form of
1:14:47couplets right and once again the heroic
1:14:49couplet gives that idea of a width and a
1:14:51finality to it I won't discuss it again
1:14:54h so the first line and a concluding
1:14:57second line a first line and a
1:14:58concluding second line that's how it
1:15:00goes uh and what What is the agenda
1:15:04here? What is Swift trying to do here?
1:15:07Uh he's kind of um
1:15:11uh revealing this pompous
1:15:13self-importance of the aristocracy.
1:15:16Uh he's kind of um suggesting that this
1:15:21man was too full of himself that he was
1:15:23morally deficient. He lacked something.
1:15:25He was not human. And he had he was also
1:15:29devilish.
1:15:31uh and he was very unscrupulous man, a
1:15:33man of diabolical proportions. Uh and uh
1:15:38therefore he will kind of um
1:15:43make this a satirical eulogy but he will
1:15:46end with something very uh generalizable
1:15:49which I will uh point to.
1:15:54Okay, let us move to the next slide.
1:16:00Now if you look at the first the first
1:16:04stanza we see right he begins with an
1:16:07expression of surprise uh we have three
1:16:10exclamations his grace impossible what
1:16:13dead so there is a break in the sentence
1:16:16right but what's interesting is that the
1:16:19usually when somebody you hears of
1:16:21somebody dead I mean usually it should
1:16:24be of grief right the reaction should be
1:16:27grief But what we have here is a tone of
1:16:30unbelief.
1:16:32Uh and uh and uh what's interesting is
1:16:37that uh it it is in a sense satisfying
1:16:41for the uh the the speaker of the poem.
1:16:44He is satisfied but then we realize he's
1:16:46not satisfied about the mode of death.
1:16:49He's satisfied that the man is dead but
1:16:51not about the mood how he has died but
1:16:54because look at what he says of old age
1:16:56and in his bed and could that mighty
1:16:59warrior fall so inglorious after all.
1:17:03Well since he's gone no matter how the
1:17:06last loud trump must wake him now so
1:17:08he's kind of the speaker is saying it's
1:17:10okay I mean he's gone anyway but I would
1:17:12have preferred if he had died
1:17:14differently than dying a benign death.
1:17:17What is a benign death? A benign death
1:17:19suggests some a man dying um of old age
1:17:22in his bed, you know. So it kind of this
1:17:25idea of a peaceful death, right? And
1:17:27obviously the speaker does not want to
1:17:29grant the the subject of this poem a
1:17:34peaceful death. So he belittles the mode
1:17:38of death of this man and he belittles
1:17:41the place of death as well because he
1:17:45has died not at wow war but at home. So
1:17:50there is a suggestion of damnation and
1:17:53hell because he says it's okay now who's
1:17:55going to wake him up? The last loud
1:17:57trumpet will wake him up. There's a
1:18:00suggestion that uh the loud trumpet is
1:18:03indicative of the day of judgment by
1:18:05God. So God will judge, God will raise
1:18:08him and will decide whether he goes to
1:18:11hell or heaven. Uh so there's a lot it
1:18:14becomes really interesting. There's a
1:18:16belittling of uh aging here. Uh and uh
1:18:21let me move to the next.
1:18:26And he's compared to a dead candle. Uh
1:18:30because uh we are told this world he
1:18:33cumbered long enough. He burnt his
1:18:35candle to the snuff. And that's the
1:18:38reason some folks think he left behind
1:18:41so great a stinking. So this idea that
1:18:43that he lived a full life. He lived his
1:18:46life to the fullest. He lived uh till he
1:18:49dies of old age. So he has uh been
1:18:53compared to a candle that uh burns till
1:18:56it comes to the uh snuff. Uh but the
1:19:01speaker is suggesting that it has left a
1:19:03stink. This man uh when he dies still
1:19:06leaves residue of his evilness behind in
1:19:10the world. Uh and then we are given an
1:19:13image of the funeral procession.
1:19:17Uh but what is he saying? He says,
1:19:19"Behold, his funeral appears, yet no
1:19:22widow's size, no orphan's tears."
1:19:25There's a suggestion that there is no um
1:19:28wife or child with him. Uh which is
1:19:30suggestive here of a lack of evidence of
1:19:33grief. Nobody will come with him. Why?
1:19:37Because uh
1:19:41I mean that he he there was nobody who
1:19:43could kind of tolerate him to be around.
1:19:46So the suppose the praise is undercut by
1:19:51criticism because what is he saying now
1:19:53there's a kind of a bit of a praise here
1:19:55right uh but what of that his friends
1:19:58may say he had those honors in his day
1:20:02uh so the friends will say why would why
1:20:04does he need anybody now to accompany
1:20:05his death because in life he had all the
1:20:08honors that he wanted so it's a supposed
1:20:10praise right but then what happens is it
1:20:12is undercut by criticism because he says
1:20:15true to his prophet and his pride. He
1:20:18made them weep before he died. So he um
1:20:23the speaker is suggesting that uh this
1:20:26man the late famous general is an agent
1:20:30of death and cause for grief of others.
1:20:33So it becomes a very uh um negative
1:20:38portrait right and let us quickly look
1:20:40at stanza 2.
1:20:46Suddenly there is a shift. There's a
1:20:48shift of tone. There's a shift of
1:20:51perspective. We move away from the Duke.
1:20:55We move away from that that ironic
1:20:59biting sarcastic tone to a more
1:21:03generalized tone. Uh let us look at what
1:21:07kind of a tone it is. Come hither all
1:21:10you empty things. You bubbles raised by
1:21:12breath of kings. He says what's he
1:21:15saying? He says come everybody. You
1:21:17empty little beings who are bubbles
1:21:21raised by the breath of kings who float
1:21:24upon the tide of state. Come hither.
1:21:26Behold your faith. What's he saying?
1:21:28He's saying you know what? You think
1:21:30you're powerful because you know you
1:21:32have been probably propped up by the
1:21:35bubbles of the kings. Uh so the powerful
1:21:38and their vanity are being talked about
1:21:41here. You are so vain and you think you
1:21:43are powerful because you have aligned
1:21:45yourself with the king. Uh but [snorts]
1:21:47what is he saying? He says come hither.
1:21:50Behold your faith. Let pride be taught.
1:21:53How very mean things are due from all
1:21:56his ill got honor flown. He says look at
1:21:58what you are. You think you are a duke
1:22:00and you think you're powerful but
1:22:02finally what are you? Look around you.
1:22:06What happens to you? What is he doing?
1:22:08He's arguing for their insignificance
1:22:10and their mortality. What's he saying?
1:22:13He's saying look at you. You will all
1:22:16turn to that dirt from when you sprung.
1:22:21This idea that finally you will become
1:22:23dust. So don't kind of bloat yourself up
1:22:28and think that you are uh far superior
1:22:32to uh what you actually are.
1:22:39So uh what is uh this poem doing there?
1:22:42Therefore uh what is it doing? It's
1:22:46undermining the general's heroism. Isn't
1:22:48that so? It is satarizing an
1:22:51individual's weakness and its final in
1:22:54the circumstance are satarizing the
1:22:56weaknesses of humanity as a whole
1:22:59because it examines vanity, examine
1:23:02self-importance, examines pride and it
1:23:05examines things like political patronage
1:23:07and he's saying these are useless. These
1:23:09are all empty because finally you've got
1:23:12to submit to the nature of life and what
1:23:15is the nature of life? The nature of
1:23:17life is a cycle of life and the cycle of
1:23:20life is that if you are born you die. Uh
1:23:24so this idea that finally you you go to
1:23:28dust. So mortality is what he ends with.
1:23:31So though he he begins with a criticism
1:23:34of an individual he later on goes on to
1:23:38a criticism of the powerful. He he
1:23:40criticizes the monarchy.
1:23:43uh and uh he kind of creates this poem
1:23:49uh and it's interesting because this is
1:23:51uh this was possible because uh at this
1:23:54time the constitution limited monarchy
1:23:57why because there was a parliament right
1:23:59that was kind of controlled by political
1:24:01parties so he can kind of do this so you
1:24:03always think of the context a man at
1:24:06that time uh saying this could have been
1:24:09risky uh but you realize that Um I mean
1:24:13he takes uh he takes liberty and he does
1:24:17so right. So it's an absolutely
1:24:19wonderful poem. He goes from something
1:24:22like satarizing an individual to
1:24:24satarizing humanity as a whole.
1:24:28Okay. Let us quickly move uh to our next
1:24:31poem.
1:24:34Yes. So we are looking at uh the next
1:24:36one which is a beautiful young nymph uh
1:24:40going to bed. Uh this is also by
1:24:42Jonathan Swift and this is um in 1731.
1:24:48Now um when we talked about Galiver's
1:24:51travels, I think we talked about his uh
1:24:54vision that he ends up with with right
1:24:57this his vision of something savage,
1:24:59harsh, how so sarcastic he becomes, how
1:25:03antihuman he becomes by the end of the
1:25:05novel, right? He he starts to talk with
1:25:08horses.
1:25:09uh that same vision comes into this poem
1:25:12as well because this is this poem is
1:25:14reflective of that later vision. And
1:25:17what do you have here? We have a poem
1:25:22uh of uh a young woman, a poem about a
1:25:26young uh woman which is actually a
1:25:30portrait of a London prostitute getting
1:25:32ready for bed who is not so young. So uh
1:25:36it becomes inongruous. He titles the
1:25:39poem beautiful young nymph going to bed.
1:25:41But when we start reading we realize
1:25:42there's nothing beautiful, there's
1:25:44nothing young, there's nothing nymphish
1:25:46about her. In fact, it is a very tragic
1:25:48depiction of a woman. Uh so um at at the
1:25:53beginning we realize just like what we
1:25:55had in his text his novel that he's
1:25:58misogynistic that means he is very
1:26:01satirical and harsh towards the female.
1:26:04Uh and what we have is once again that
1:26:06same issue we had in the novel about a
1:26:10um uh a portrait of a monstrous decaying
1:26:14female. And here we have the monstrous
1:26:17decaying female body.
1:26:20Uh what is the background for this poem?
1:26:22Now the background was rampant
1:26:23prostitution. I think I might have
1:26:25talked about this before. Apparently
1:26:27there were approximately 50,000
1:26:30prostitutes in London. And I think we
1:26:33all know that prostitution is a
1:26:35profession that most women because of
1:26:37lack of options get into. So the fact
1:26:40that there was uh total poverty that
1:26:42they were born into poverty, there was
1:26:44lack of education, there were no work
1:26:47skills given to women. Women had no um
1:26:51no uh possibility for self- advancement
1:26:56only through uh marriage and even then
1:26:58marriage was very restricted because you
1:26:59could not marry out of your class. you
1:27:01had to marry within your class. Uh so we
1:27:04are looking at very restrictive
1:27:06limitations placed upon the female body.
1:27:09Uh so um let us look at what he's doing
1:27:12here with this woman. Uh now a lot of
1:27:15critics have said that this is a parody
1:27:17of a previous poem written by a man
1:27:20called a poet called John Dunn who you
1:27:22must have heard of called to his
1:27:24mistress going to bed. So this becomes a
1:27:27sat satirical
1:27:30uh kind of a parallel to that poem.
1:27:41Okay. So what is the form again? three
1:27:43separate portraits, right, of uh a woman
1:27:47called Korina who's preparing for bed,
1:27:50then she has a dream, then she wakes up
1:27:53and the poem concludes with the
1:27:55speaker's reflection. Uh and once again,
1:27:58if you look at it, it's very clear. It's
1:28:00in heroic couplets. And what's
1:28:03interesting is that there is a a strange
1:28:05kind of a um a technique that Swift
1:28:10adopts here. He takes on this mode of
1:28:13ironic praise versus satellitic
1:28:16descriptions. So he will contrast now
1:28:19between the nymph. Nymph is I think you
1:28:21all know what a nymph is, right? Like
1:28:22this angelic kind of a uh like a little
1:28:26fairy fairylike creature uh and uh a
1:28:30prostitute who is in her middle age uh
1:28:33where there is nothing uh desirable
1:28:36about her.
1:28:48Now, what do we have here? I'm going to
1:28:50just read a little bit uh and then start
1:28:53analyzing.
1:28:55Karina, pride of Drury Lane, for whom no
1:28:58shepherd's size in vain. Never did Coven
1:29:00Garden so bright a battered strolling
1:29:02toast. No drunken rape to pick her up.
1:29:05No cellar wear on tick to suck.
1:29:07Returning at the midnight hour for
1:29:10stories climbing to her bower. Then
1:29:12seated on a three-legged chair takes off
1:29:15her artificial hair. Now picking out a
1:29:18crystal lie, she wipes it clean and lays
1:29:21it by. Her eyebrows from her mouse's
1:29:24height stuck on with art on either side.
1:29:27Pulls off with care and first displace
1:29:29them then in a playbook smoothly lays
1:29:31them. Now dextrously her her plumpers
1:29:34draws that serves to fill her hollow
1:29:37jaws. Untwists a wire and from her gums
1:29:40a set of teeth completely comes. Pulls
1:29:43out the rags contrived to prop her
1:29:45flabby dugs and down they drop.
1:29:47Proceeding on the lovely goddess on
1:29:49lacers next to steel ribed bodice which
1:29:52by the operator's skill press down the
1:29:54lumps the hollow fill. Up goes a hand
1:29:57and off she slips the bolsters that
1:29:59supply her hips. With gentle touch she
1:30:02next explores her shankers issues
1:30:04running source effects of many a sad
1:30:06disaster and then to each applies a
1:30:08plaster but must before she goes to bed
1:30:11rub off doss of white and red and smooth
1:30:14the furrows in her front with greasy
1:30:16papers stuck upon. She takes a ber's ear
1:30:19she sleeps and then between two blanket
1:30:21creeps with pains of love tormented lies
1:30:25of all she chances closes her eyes.
1:30:30What do we have here? We have a detailed
1:30:33description of Korina's careful and
1:30:36unskilled undressing. Now, you all know,
1:30:38right, that a woman undressing is
1:30:40supposed to be very erotic and very kind
1:30:44of um very evocative. But here, I mean,
1:30:47when she's taking off all her clothes,
1:30:51what is she removing? She's removing all
1:30:53these artifices. We realize that her
1:30:55eyes are fake, her hair is fake,
1:30:58eyebrows are fake, teeth, curves,
1:31:01bodies, her bum, butt, everything. Uh so
1:31:05what we have is a representation of the
1:31:08aging female body and when you read it's
1:31:10yeah it is comic but there is a tragic
1:31:12element to this as well because there is
1:31:14her deteriorating body that is mended by
1:31:18artificial replacements. Uh it's an
1:31:21abandoned body. Uh, and then we see that
1:31:24so she finally she's so tired. She goes
1:31:28up to her apartment at midnight and then
1:31:31she takes off her things and she gets to
1:31:32bed and she has a dream and what is the
1:31:35dream about? She sees a dream of people
1:31:38hitting her, flugging her. So suggests
1:31:41her past, her predicament, right? Uh,
1:31:44this is not a desirable life that she
1:31:47has led. And she wakes up and what does
1:31:50she have to do? She finds that her rats
1:31:52have eaten her wig and she's so
1:31:55distraught and she starts to kind of um
1:31:59put it together. For instance, let me
1:32:00read this. Karina wakes a dreadful
1:32:03sight. Behold the ruins of the night. A
1:32:05wicked rat her plaster stole half eat
1:32:09and dragged it to his hole. The crystal
1:32:12eye last was missed and puss had on her
1:32:15plumpers pissed. A pigeon [laughter]
1:32:17picked her issue peace and shock her
1:32:19dresses filled with fees. Uh very funny
1:32:22once again. Uh but um what you have is
1:32:27it's a life of hardship. So she has to
1:32:30put it together. She has to resume her
1:32:33life. She can't say, "Oh my god, all my
1:32:35stuff is gone and let me just not go to
1:32:37work today." She can't afford to. She
1:32:39has to. That's how she can live. Uh so
1:32:44um let me get on to the next slide.
1:32:48So what do we have here? We have a kind
1:32:51of a uh
1:32:55uh uh uh woman being object to or being
1:33:00subject to laughter. She is the object
1:33:02of laughter. Beautycomes an artifact. Uh
1:33:07a female who is victim of her own body,
1:33:09right? because she needs to keep up
1:33:11appearances. But then there's also the
1:33:14tragic here as well. It's not just comic
1:33:16because the body becomes a sight of
1:33:18torture, deceased, sors. She has to put
1:33:21plasters all over her body. There's a
1:33:24suggestion of the woman as a victim of a
1:33:26society that kind of promotes
1:33:28prostitution. Right? So there is an in
1:33:32this poem uh a kind of a critique of
1:33:36men. There's a critique of society and
1:33:38its fixation on beauty. But there's also
1:33:41a critique of what you call
1:33:44pastoral poetry, the idealization of
1:33:46women. Because here you don't have that
1:33:49you have the truth uh with regard to a
1:33:52woman. Right?
1:33:54So what you have here is the reality uh
1:33:57of the human body, the body without
1:34:00ornamental attributes. Uh so this is
1:34:03very much keeping with swift isn't that
1:34:06so? Because even in his novel he talked
1:34:08about human illusions and he's doing the
1:34:10same here. There's a critique of human
1:34:12illusion because Kore is both a victim
1:34:16as well as a victimizer. Uh because um
1:34:20she is a victim but we are told that
1:34:21even the clergy are her kind of client.
1:34:25So there is a kind of once again a
1:34:27critique of religion as well. But uh
1:34:30once again not entirely comic. That's
1:34:33important for you to remember. There is
1:34:35a tragic element to this poem
1:34:38definitely.
1:34:40Okay, let us move to uh Alexander Pope
1:34:44and uh
1:34:48try to end this lecture. Okay, so we
1:34:51come to um uh in pope I need to do uh
1:34:55the rape of the lock right can one and
1:34:57two according to your syllabus. So um
1:35:00now um
1:35:03the context is once again
1:35:07uh the consolidation of Protestant
1:35:09England. Uh I think I have talked a few
1:35:13a little about this when I talked
1:35:14introduced the Augustine age. We are
1:35:16looking at the period after restoration
1:35:181660 to 1700.
1:35:21Um
1:35:23um now uh what's interesting is that uh
1:35:29uh pope falls into this period of um
1:35:341700 to uh
1:35:3917
1:35:4040 right? Why?
1:35:43uh because Alexander Pope was from
1:35:47uh 1688 to 1744.
1:35:51Uh so that so the so the his kind of uh
1:35:56uh
1:35:59in this period of the reign of queen an
1:36:03so she rules from 1702 to 1714.
1:36:07Uh and uh he was a supporter of the
1:36:10Tories. You all know right? Tories are
1:36:12the royalist. Brighton was one as well
1:36:15and they supported the established
1:36:17church. Now what's interesting about
1:36:20Pope is that despite religious um
1:36:24difference
1:36:26uh with Anglican tourist he was partial
1:36:29to uh tries. Why?
1:36:34Why?
1:36:35Because um
1:36:38what do we know about him?
1:36:41He is
1:36:43a Catholic. His both his parents were
1:36:46Catholics. But then we know that he is
1:36:48living in Protestant England, right? And
1:36:51he's supporting Tories who were uh
1:36:54anti-atholic and who were mostly uh
1:36:58protestant. So uh it's very interesting
1:37:01about the position of Pope. He is in a
1:37:04situation of repressive anti-atholic
1:37:07legislation in parliament. That's the
1:37:10context that he is uh placed in a a
1:37:16England which was anti-atholic
1:37:19not just in sentiment but they also
1:37:22acted and enacted legislation that was
1:37:26anti-atholic.
1:37:28Uh so that's really important for you to
1:37:31remember his positionality.
1:37:36So he has as I was already telling you a
1:37:38Catholic background. His father was a
1:37:40cloth merchant and he was based in
1:37:43London till a state law relocated them
1:37:47to Burkshire. Uh now um apparently Pope
1:37:51had a physical disability what you call
1:37:53the tuberculosis of the bone. So he was
1:37:56a kind of a humpbacked
1:37:58uh character. He was short he was
1:38:00humpbacked. Uh he was largely
1:38:02self-educated.
1:38:04He had a very disrupted education. Uh
1:38:07and his writing is definitely influenced
1:38:10by Dryen. Uh he is very much a
1:38:14neocclassical writer. He has translated
1:38:17uh Homer's Iliad uh and Odyssey. Uh and
1:38:23uh
1:38:26he has written Dansiad and Dansiad is
1:38:29also considered a very important word
1:38:32where he lampoons or laugh. Lampooning
1:38:34means to laugh. He lampoons critics and
1:38:37scholars. Uh and because he lampuned or
1:38:41laughed at a lot of his contemporary
1:38:44u writers, uh he created many enemies.
1:38:48And apparently, this is why I had this
1:38:50because I thought it was extremely funny
1:38:52and interesting to note that he had to
1:38:55always have load two loaded pistols
1:38:58within him to leave the house because
1:38:59people were out to kind of kill him. Uh
1:39:02so you can just imagine how much of um
1:39:05anger his uh poetry would have uh
1:39:09created
1:39:12and evoked.
1:39:17So uh when you look at Alexander Pope we
1:39:20have to talk of this issue of
1:39:22marginalization because on the one hand
1:39:25health marginalizes him. He's an
1:39:27outsider because he's a humpback hunch
1:39:30humpbacked kind of an individual. His
1:39:33religion marginalizes him because he as
1:39:35a Catholic he is living in dominant
1:39:37Protestant England. As a Catholic he
1:39:40cannot hold city coffee or attend
1:39:42university. This is the kind of
1:39:44legislation that was passed. It was very
1:39:46unfair, very biased. Taxes were double
1:39:50for Catholics.
1:39:52uh and because of his uh physical
1:39:54health, he was frail, he was vulnerable,
1:39:57he was very prone to anxiety, he was
1:39:59very prone to resentment.
1:40:02But what's interesting is that through
1:40:04his reputation as a poet, he was able to
1:40:07gain authority and respect beyond the
1:40:10Catholic community because he was um uh
1:40:14I mean um and he still leaves, right? uh
1:40:17he's kind of considered um
1:40:21uh one of the greatest poets ever alive.
1:40:23is kind of considered uh the greatest
1:40:26English poet and the foremost poet of
1:40:28the earliest um early 18th century we
1:40:32are looking at the 1700s right and he's
1:40:36known for as I was telling you Dansiad
1:40:38and what we are going to be looking at
1:40:39the rape of the lock he also wrote
1:40:42essays uh he wrote essays on criticism
1:40:45he translated
1:40:47uh so um we are not looking at a kind of
1:40:52ordinary writer We are looking at a kind
1:40:54of a master of his craft and he was also
1:40:58considered a master of the heroic
1:41:00couplet as well. But you can see a kind
1:41:04of a man who occupied the fringes of
1:41:08society
1:41:10yet poetry kind of brought him to the
1:41:13center.
1:41:18Okay, I want to um quickly go through
1:41:21the context for the rape of the lock. So
1:41:23the rape of the lock is written in 1712
1:41:26and it is first published in two kantos
1:41:29and then expanded to five. So we are
1:41:31looking at the first two consider the
1:41:33greatest mock epic poem in English and
1:41:38uh it is based on a true account
1:41:42a true account of a uh a squable or a
1:41:45fight between two prominent Catholic
1:41:49families
1:41:51uh over what
1:42:01What were they kind of fighting on? Uh
1:42:03on the a very trivial
1:42:07uh incident over the theft of a lock of
1:42:10hair by uh a man called Lord Petra.
1:42:18A lock of hair uh of who? Of whose hair?
1:42:23of the beautiful uh woman a woman woman
1:42:26called Arabella Fermo. Uh so um now this
1:42:31becomes really uh huge in a sense right
1:42:36uh so it's based on a true account and
1:42:40uh this incident apparently sets off a
1:42:43battle between these families. So it's
1:42:46almost like a kind of a Romeo Juliet
1:42:48kind of a scene between the Petri family
1:42:51and the Furma family and a man called
1:42:54John Carol who was a friend of Pope and
1:42:58a mutual friend of both the waring
1:43:00families
1:43:02persuades
1:43:04Alexander Pope to saturize the absurdity
1:43:08and the silliness of the dispute.
1:43:12So uh Alexander Pope is commissioned to
1:43:16write this poem just to kind of show how
1:43:20absurd people can get.
1:43:26So what's the structure here?
1:43:30The the um the structure you uh is uh
1:43:34this mock epic right? uh so I mean pope
1:43:37was already very known for mock heroic
1:43:40themes uh and uh therefore now what will
1:43:44he do he'll kind of take on um a very
1:43:47melodramatic kind of a tone excessive
1:43:50tone uh and he will use all conventions
1:43:55of epic poetry to describe what is by
1:43:59comparison a totally trivial event and
1:44:02actually extremely stupid event right I
1:44:05um if I can say so. Uh so you all know
1:44:09what an epic is. I have just put this
1:44:11out because in case you know you um
1:44:15uh forget epic is an event of national
1:44:18or historic importance right usually
1:44:20heroes gods narrated in Polish language
1:44:24uh wonderful images serious moral
1:44:28issues. Uh now what's he going to do? He
1:44:31will parody this incident.
1:44:34uh and he will use serious elevated
1:44:39style of classical epic poems such as
1:44:42Iliad by Homer because he was very uh he
1:44:46was very kind of familiar with it to
1:44:48poke fun at these two families. Uh so
1:44:51he's going to take on um a very topical,
1:44:56very social kind of a theme, but he's
1:44:58going to elevate it to kind of grand
1:45:01proportion. So it kind of shows once
1:45:03again the technique of pope how
1:45:05wonderful he was uh and how successful
1:45:08he was. So he will kind of satarize the
1:45:12stupidity of
1:45:14uh human weaknesses
1:45:17by kind of creating this kind of a uh
1:45:20poem.
1:45:24So what is the setting for the poem?
1:45:28Uh the setting is London, right? And the
1:45:31the time is kind of like 1700. Uh and he
1:45:37will what will he do? He will uh uh take
1:45:42us to one day uh and he will hone in on
1:45:46the residence of this woman called
1:45:48Belinda.
1:45:49Now remember this is [laughter] uh
1:45:51considered Pope's masterpiece, right? So
1:45:54um I don't have time to kind of go
1:45:56through go line by line but what you
1:45:58have is um pope looking at the events of
1:46:03one particular day on which Belinda this
1:46:05beautiful woman who is kind of glorified
1:46:09for her beauty uh I mean that's the day
1:46:13that her hair is cut a lock of hair is
1:46:15cut uh so what we have is this woman uh
1:46:20we begin with a woman who's who's asleep
1:46:22then She wakes up. She's at a dressing
1:46:25table. Uh then she's playing cards. Then
1:46:28she flirts with gentlemen. And we are
1:46:30not going to look at all the Kantos,
1:46:31right? We are just going to look at
1:46:32Kanto one and Kanto 2. So the Kanto one
1:46:36is the beginning of the poem. Uh she
1:46:40wakes up and prepares for an evening
1:46:42party. And canu is the boat ride on the
1:46:45themes where she will go to this party
1:46:47where she will flirt and drink coffee
1:46:50and finally get her hair cut right. Uh
1:46:54so u so this kind of satarizes the uh
1:46:59the triviality of aristocracy all of
1:47:02that as well and the structure is a kind
1:47:06of a dedicatory letter to Arabella. So
1:47:08he's kind of dedicating this poem to
1:47:11Arabella in verse. So what's the
1:47:14technique? He will juxtapose the serious
1:47:17and the trivial. Uh he will actually I
1:47:20mean we don't have it in these two cans
1:47:22but he's going to call the balance
1:47:24cutting of hair or snipping a little
1:47:28lock of hair as a rape. So that is why
1:47:31this poem is called the rape of the
1:47:34lock. So already [snorts] when you kind
1:47:36of uh attribute rape to the cutting of a
1:47:40lock of hair it becomes comically
1:47:43excessive. Uh so uh so the framework if
1:47:47you uh read this you realize that uh uh
1:47:51it's it's kind of very fanciful
1:47:55uh the entire poem. Uh once again I I'll
1:48:00just kind of uh read a little bit. Uh
1:48:03I'll begin with the beginning. So uses
1:48:06very lofty extravagant descriptions
1:48:10uh at the beginning. Um begins with an
1:48:13invocation to amuse. Right? A muse is
1:48:16somebody who inspires somebody to write.
1:48:19What dire offenses from am.
1:48:22But mighty contest rise from trivial
1:48:24things. I sing this verse to carol. Muse
1:48:27is due this evening. Belinda may about
1:48:30safe to view. Slight is the subject, but
1:48:33not so the praise if she inspire and he
1:48:36approve my lays. Say what strange motive
1:48:39goddess could compel a well-bred lord to
1:48:41assault a gentle bell. Oh, say what a
1:48:44strange cause yet unexplored could make
1:48:46a gentle bell reject a lord in t so bold
1:48:50can little men engage and in soft
1:48:52bossome dwell such mighty rage. So you
1:48:55can see begins with this very dignified
1:48:58subject. You know, how can a a man
1:49:01assault a young woman? Then you realize
1:49:03that the assault is just a cutting of a
1:49:05lock of hair.
1:49:07And then from the third stanza onwards,
1:49:09what you have is this Arabella getting
1:49:13uh up and kind of having a lot of
1:49:17invisible guardians around her who are
1:49:20called ses who kind of uh guard her
1:49:25chastity and her reputation. So very
1:49:28very comic and excessive.
1:49:34So um I just want to quickly summarize
1:49:37Kanto one. Uh so uh as I was telling you
1:49:42the opening statement is an offense
1:49:44against a lady causing her to reject the
1:49:46man. And he says oh so we have to talk
1:49:49about this. But then when we start
1:49:51reading we realize this is actually
1:49:52really funny because Belinda we find
1:49:54she's sleeping late. She's in a London
1:49:57home. She's warned by the selves of a
1:50:00future calamity. We are told I saw a
1:50:02lome dread event in pen ear to the man
1:50:05this morning sun descent. This to
1:50:06disclose is all thy guardian can beware
1:50:08of all but most beware of man. So the
1:50:12sil like it's an invisible kind of a
1:50:14angel guards her and he warns her and
1:50:18she kind of rises and prepares herself.
1:50:22So remember she's waking up at noon and
1:50:24she's preparing herself for a party in
1:50:26the evening.
1:50:29Now what is canerto 2? Can two is
1:50:32entirely this uh traveling of the themes
1:50:36and when you read canu I am I know I'm
1:50:40kind of skipping here but um uh I have
1:50:44um I want you to kind of read this
1:50:46carefully. It's it's it's really uh
1:50:49accessible as well. you can kind of
1:50:52easily understand what's going on here.
1:50:55Uh but um Canto is where you know this
1:51:00boat arrives and they embark on this
1:51:02pleasant uh kind of boat trip. They are
1:51:05chatting, they are gossiping and Belinda
1:51:08sits down with uh she's sitting she's
1:51:11sitting and she's kind of uh being
1:51:14watched over and we are told that even
1:51:17the sun cannot outshine her uh because
1:51:21um I mean she's accompanied by these
1:51:24ladies and they're called nims and
1:51:26there's couple of gentlemen and one of
1:51:29the gentlemen the gentlemen are the one
1:51:32is the baron who admires Belinda's luck
1:51:35of hand is determined to steal it. So
1:51:39the extreme beauty of Belinda once again
1:51:41is emphasized in canto 2. You have it in
1:51:44can one as well. She's admired. Uh she
1:51:47smiles graciously on everybody. U please
1:51:51um read this. So there is a kind of once
1:51:54again this mock tradition of uh
1:51:56describing warriors. Uh so so the way
1:52:00the uh the nims and way everybody kind
1:52:04of gets onto the boat is kind of
1:52:07paralleled with the tradition of
1:52:08warriors who embark on a battle. Uh so
1:52:12once again this idea of a mock epic
1:52:14style here.
1:52:18So how do we analyze this? Uh now um
1:52:26look at what uh Pope himself has said.
1:52:29He has said in a letter um in the
1:52:32preface he has said that his poem was
1:52:34intended only to divert a few young
1:52:36ladies who have good sense and a good
1:52:37humor enough to laugh not only at their
1:52:40sexist little unguarded folly but at
1:52:42their own. So he assures her that the
1:52:45character of Belinda resembles you in
1:52:47nothing but in beauty. So he's he's kind
1:52:50of writing saying that you know you
1:52:52might think I'm writing about you but I
1:52:54don't. So he's very cautious because
1:52:55poets had to be cautious. They couldn't
1:52:58um anger people because we are looking
1:53:00here at the aristocracy. So the mockery
1:53:02in this poem is directed at women. the
1:53:06vanity and the triviality of women
1:53:09because you know these women are into
1:53:12powders, perfumes, curls, clothing, they
1:53:15are blushing you know this idea of and
1:53:18also you the way she dresses up uh
1:53:21there's an elaborate ritual of dressing
1:53:23in her dressing room and she's looking
1:53:26at her own image in the mirror and she's
1:53:28seeing that as a heavenly image of a
1:53:31goddess. Uh so
1:53:34uh I mean she's kind of getting love
1:53:37letters and there's a suggestion that
1:53:39this is a woman who's who's used to
1:53:42flattery, who's used to being at the
1:53:44center of um um attention, who is also
1:53:49graceful and beautiful but extremely
1:53:52frivolous. So I think the vanity and the
1:53:55triviality and the frivvility of women
1:53:57seems to be one of the um topics here.
1:54:03uh and obviously the satic incorporation
1:54:06of the epic right because the invoc he
1:54:08begins with an invocation to the muse
1:54:10and the muse is his friend remember that
1:54:12John Carol who asked him to write this
1:54:14poem so this is an imitation of an
1:54:17elevated style of the epic because
1:54:18usually an epic would begin by uh kind
1:54:22of invoking the muse thanking the muse
1:54:25and the muse could usually be like a god
1:54:28or a goddess uh but what's interesting
1:54:31is that in an epic it's usually a battle
1:54:33between nations or battle between
1:54:35warriors but here it becomes a battle
1:54:37between the sexes between the lord and
1:54:40the lady. So once again trivializes the
1:54:44uh the the the the
1:54:47topic and you have a cluster of visions,
1:54:51guardians, angels, warnings. Those are
1:54:54all elements of epic poetry. But
1:54:57[snorts] here he's kind of using them to
1:55:00suggest how silly uh you know women's
1:55:03social behavior is because here it's a
1:55:05battle of vanity. It's an absurd kind of
1:55:08a battle here because she is um and we
1:55:12realize that Binda is actually receiving
1:55:14an absurd amount of attention.
1:55:17Therefore, she's very proud as well.
1:55:19She's arrogant. So uh once again a kind
1:55:22of an exhibition of female pride and
1:55:25shows how vain society is as well.
1:55:31Uh yeah this is what I was talking about
1:55:33the female vanity because Ariel one of
1:55:36the names here dresses her in the dream
1:55:38as the fairest of mortals. Uh now Ariel
1:55:42is a guardian self says thy own
1:55:46importance no he says now further feeds
1:55:49her ego and then her own self adoration
1:55:52as well so it's not just people around
1:55:54her belinda at a dressing table we are
1:55:57told a heavenly image in the glass
1:55:59appears to that she bends to that her
1:56:02eyes she rears
1:56:05uh so she's kind of almost narcissistic
1:56:08she's uh she's um flattering her own
1:56:12self. She's um uh kind of admiring and
1:56:16in love with her own uh image. Uh
1:56:22so once again this idea of um uh I mean
1:56:26the guardian seals you realize that all
1:56:28of these are uh conventions of the epic
1:56:31poem but uh Pope uses it to kind of um
1:56:37vilify and uh satize uh human
1:56:41triviality.
1:56:43Um
1:56:47and as I was earlier telling you the
1:56:48dressing table ritual becomes really uh
1:56:52I mean um interesting because uh uh it's
1:56:56equated to a religious ritual because
1:56:59her maid Betty we are told the inferior
1:57:02priestess performs the sacred rights of
1:57:04pride. So this um um maid is kind of
1:57:08helping her to kind of get dressed and
1:57:11he's helping her to put up her hair.
1:57:12It's almost like um kind of um
1:57:17uh like a priestess at the altar of a
1:57:20goddess. So you can see how you know
1:57:22women are kind of laughed at.
1:57:25There is a mimicking of Roman and Greek
1:57:28kind of um
1:57:32conventions. Uh actually the cosmetics
1:57:35are elevated. Um because um let me read
1:57:39that. And now unveiled the toilet stands
1:57:41displayed. Each silver v in mystic order
1:57:44laid first robed in white. The nymph
1:57:46intent ads with head uncovered the
1:57:48cosmetic powers. A heavenly image in the
1:57:51glass appears. Trembling begins the
1:57:53sacred rights of pride. Unnumbered
1:57:55treasures open at once. Various
1:57:57offerings of the world appear. From each
1:57:59she nicely calls a curious toil. decks
1:58:02the goddess with glittering spoil. The
1:58:04casket of India glowing gems unlock all
1:58:08Arabia breathes from yonder box. The
1:58:10tortoise here and the elephant you knife
1:58:12transform to combs the speckled and the
1:58:14white. Here files of pins extend their
1:58:17shining rose puffs powders patches by
1:58:20this ba do now awful beauty puts on all
1:58:25its arms. The fair each moment rises in
1:58:29her charms.
1:58:31So you can see it's equated to battle
1:58:34wearing of armor because there it's a
1:58:36parody of I don't know if you've heard
1:58:37of Achilles you must have right in Greek
1:58:40and Roman legend Achilles's arming scene
1:58:43in the Hill Iliad now awful beauty puts
1:58:46on all its arms so you can see this uh
1:58:50kind of epic kind of uh tone here so
1:58:53it's this is an evidence of mock epic
1:58:56right the comparison between the vain
1:58:58trivial Belinda and the mighty epic hero
1:59:02Achilles. I mean there's no comparison
1:59:04at all. So it becomes comic
1:59:09uh again female vanity right with
1:59:11varying vanities from every part they
1:59:14shift the moving toy shop of their heart
1:59:16where wigs with bigs with swad not swad
1:59:18not strive. So everybody's kind of
1:59:21adoring
1:59:23and looking at Belinda every eye was
1:59:26fixed on her alone we are told. So
1:59:29there's a suggestion of society being
1:59:31blinded to any fault by her beauty. So
1:59:33if to her sh some female errors fall
1:59:36look on her face and you'll forget them
1:59:39all. Uh so there's a sense that you know
1:59:42she is the focus of attention here.
1:59:47Vanity of society as well right because
1:59:49female vanity itself is a product of a
1:59:52shallow society. So the flattering of
1:59:54female beauty I talked about it. And
1:59:56what we have is a world of the
1:59:58privileged here. I mean uh they go to
2:00:01the theater, they go for a carriage
2:00:04drive, they have gilded chariots, they
2:00:06go for card games, balls, masquerades.
2:00:10There's a suggestion of a glorious
2:00:12glamorous empty kind of a society. Uh
2:00:17the main concern seems to be of social
2:00:19standing. So he pop is satarizing that
2:00:22as well through Belinda.
2:00:26uh there is a suggestion of an inability
2:00:28of society to distinguish between the
2:00:30trivial and the meaningful right the
2:00:32satic juosition again the comparison
2:00:34between female virtue and the china
2:00:38because Ariel wonders at one point
2:00:40whether the nymph shall break Diana's
2:00:42law or some frail china jar receive a
2:00:45flaw or stain her honor or her new bade
2:00:48this is in caner two please read this
2:00:50carefully satises a social class with an
2:00:54exaggerated sense of self-importance. So
2:00:58this idea of a woman losing her
2:01:01virginity is equated to the a ceramic
2:01:06jar kind of breaking that this is how uh
2:01:09shallow this uh culture is.
2:01:14Uh yeah so I come to the end of my
2:01:17lecture here. I mean we realize that
2:01:19there's a critique of materialism too.
2:01:21When you look at Belinda's dressing
2:01:23table, there's Indian gems, Arabian
2:01:26perfumes. I read this here. Tory shells,
2:01:28combs, luxury items of all possible
2:01:32things. Uh why? Because remember this is
2:01:36the time of empire. This is a time of
2:01:37trading. Exotic items were coming into
2:01:40England. So it's a suggestion that this
2:01:42is being lapped up by the wealthy elite.
2:01:47Uh yes. So I kind of come to the end of
2:01:49my uh lecture. I hope um it's very clear
2:01:54to you how Pope's portrayal of Belinda
2:01:58uh is a critique of the society of the
2:02:02time. So he's kind of bringing in the
2:02:04great battles of the epic to kind of
2:02:07show the flirtatious gambling trivial
2:02:11um almost foolish kind of a life that
2:02:15these people lead. So finally it becomes
2:02:18almost a a a moral
2:02:22uh a satire here, right? it becomes a
2:02:25moral satire because uh this idea that
2:02:29uh uh these people are morally lacking
2:02:33in um rational thinking. So it becomes a
2:02:37wonderful
2:02:39um satire here and please read it very
2:02:42carefully. Uh and I hope that um you
2:02:45were very aware of the way pope brings
2:02:48in all the conventional epic subjects of
2:02:50love and war. uh there's an invocation
2:02:54uh all of that uh and then he completely
2:02:57deflates that epic uh tone that high
2:03:01seriousness of the traditional topic
2:03:04that you have in the opic and epic and
2:03:06he kind of creates a lot of ironic wit
2:03:10uh and uh humor but it's it's never
2:03:14harsh if you read it you realize that
2:03:15it's not a very harsh castigating kind
2:03:18of a humor it's almost a affectionate
2:03:20kind of a humor
2:03:23Okay, thank you. And with this we come
2:03:24to the end of the Augustine um
2:03:28um section or component of your um
2:03:33syllabus. Thank you.

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