As you all know, the pedagogy workshops will take place on July 29 and 31. Based on the class size I've worked out the following protocols for them:
3-4 people per workshop
4 workshops on the 29th; 4 on the 31st
20-30 minutes per workshop
On the day of the presentation, groups will go in the order listed below. If you wish you may use any of the equipment available in the room. There is an in-house computer and projector that you can use to display any electronic file. I display my notes each class by bringing them on a flash drive (the computer in the cabinet has USB ports on the front of it), or by emailing them to myself as an attachment. There is also a hookup that you can connect to your own laptop computer, although I haven't tested that myself. The in-house computer is hooked to the internet, so if you want to display online content, you can do that. Those of you who bring laptops to class probably know already whether wireless is available in the room. There is a DVD player and a VCR if you want to show a film clip. There may or may not be an overhead projector (I can't recall). And don't forget about the almighty blackboard. You are by no means obligated to use the equipment in your presentations.
SIGNUP FOR THE WORKSHOPS IS VIA EMAIL; WORKSHOPS WILL BE ASSIGNED ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS. DEADLINE FOR SIGNING UP IS MAY 29TH.
I will upgrade the workshop list with the names of those who have signed up for them as your messages come in. If you have specified a workshop already and I have acknowledged your email, but you don't see your name here, please send me a message and I'll correct it.
Pedagogy Workshop Categories
July 29
RELIGION AND DEVOTIONAL LIFE (full)
Willie S.
Shivana R.
Hailey V.
Dan S.
CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT (full)
Karen M.
Sonya S.
Claudia S.
Nicole T.
THE ELIZABETHAN SONNET and/or LYRIC (full)
Ryan B.
Shayan A.
Stef M.
Scott C.
July 31
TRAVEL AND COLONIZATION (full)
Reagan
Jen
Alex
Amanda S.
THE FAERIE QUEENE Book 3
Jessica P.
James B.
Joseph K.
Sonya V.
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH
Danielle L.
Elizabeth L.
Myra M.
Brent T.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Lecture Notes, Thursday, May 15, 2008: Religion and Devotional Life
15 May 2008
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
Lecture notes
RELIGION AND DEVOTIONAL LIFE
Outline
*info on the pedagogy workshops
*techniques of research
*some tips for reading early material
*practice: Anne Askew
*Book of Common Prayer (1559)
For complete and up-to-date info on the pedagogy workshops, go here.
Techniques of research
*accessing the MLA database and EEBO via McMaster University Libraries
From the McMaster University Libraries main page, click on the databases tab.
EEBO
To access EEBO: use "eebo" as a title keyword search term on the databases tab. That will take you here:
http://library.mcmaster.ca/search/see.php?in1=Title&f=goba&ss1=eebo&x=28&y=11
Click on the link to go to EEBO's site. You'll have to enter your MacID and password. EEBO is the singlemost helpful resource to find early print material. So if you think you might like to write a paper (especially the term 2 research paper) on a comparison between one of our readings and other early printed texts, this is the place to find those other resources. Hundreds of texts that have not seen modern edited editions can be found on EEBO. The advantage here is that you get online access to the complete printed work.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) is specifically helpful for students of early literature. The database covers works from 1473 AD-1700.
MLA bibliography
To access the MLA database: use "mla" as a title keyword search term on the databases tab on the library's main page. That should take you here:
http://library.mcmaster.ca/search/see.php?in1=Title&f=goba&ss1=mla
Click on "MLA International Bibliography", the second entry. (NOT the directory of periodicals!) That will take you to the MacID login page, and then on to the database. The MLA bibliography is the singlemost handy tool an English major can have. It will direct you to much of the scholarship that's available on any given literary work. That means articles in journals, book chapters, and entire books. If you need secondary resources, especially if you're interested in researching where current critical opinion stands on a given text, this is the place for you. Critical work on a primary text also comes in handy if you're having trouble formulating an opinion on the text you're working with.
Many, but not all, of the items you'll find through the MLA are available online. Clicking the "Get it" button under the item listing will take you to a page that will tell you whether it's online or not. McMaster has print copies of many of the books and journals that are listed on MLA; those that aren't available can usually be ordered via RACER (the interlibrary loan ordering service).
One more helpful tool:
JSTOR: accessible by searching "jstor" via the databases tab. That search will take you here:
http://library.mcmaster.ca/search/see.php?f=goba&ss1=jstor&in1=Title
Click on the title to enter your MacID and go on to JSTOR. Like the MLA bibliography, JSTOR is a resource for secondary sources on literary texts. Helpful if you need something fast, since all of the items listed via JSTOR are available online. JSTOR's search engine operates a little bit differently than the MLA database's engine, so you might find items on JSTOR that weren't listed on your MLA search.
Some tips for reading early material
*one word at a time
*sound it out
*put it all together
*translate into the language of your own understanding
Practice: Anne Askew
Pages 21 and 22 from the pdf file.
We used pages 21 and 22 from the Latter Examinacion of Anne Askew to practice reading a very eary printed text (the font is called "blackletter").
To practice your blackletter reading skills and take a look at the complete text of the first and latter examinations of Anne Askew, click here.
The Book of Common Prayer (1559)
We read sections 15-17, available here.
A handy record not only of the system of belief, but of the role of the individual in society:
Aunswere. My dutye towardes God is, to beleve in him, to feare him [=to hold him in awe], and to love hym with all my harte, with al my mynde, with al my soule, and with all my strengthe. To worship hym. To geve hym thanckes. To putte my whole truste in hyrn. To call upon hym. To honour hys holy name and hys woorde, and to serve hym truely all the dayes of my lyfe. Question. What is thy dutye toward thy neighbour? Aunswere. My dutye towardes my neyghbour is to love hym as my selfe: And to do to all men as I would they should do unto me. To love, honour, and succour my father and mother. To honour and obey the Kyng, and his minysters. To submitte my selfe to al my governours, teachers, spiritual Pastours and Maisters. To order my selfe lowly and reverently to all my betters. To hurte no body by worde, nor dede. To be true and juste in all my dealyng. To beare no malice nor hatred in my harte. To kepe my handes from pickyng and stealyng, and my tongue from evil speakyng, liyng and slaunderyng. To kepe my body in temperaunce, sobernes, and chastitie. Not to covet nor desire other mennes goodes. But learne and labour truely to get myne awne livyng, and to do my dutye in that state of life, unto whiche it shal please God to cal me. Question. My good child know this, that thou art not able to do these thinges of thy self, nor to walke in the commaundementes of God, and to serve hym, wythout hys specyall grace, whyche thou must learne at al tymes to cal for by diligent prayer. Let me heare therfore, if thou canst saye the Lordes praier.
Communion (a core distinction between Protestant and Catholic):
Question. HOW many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church? Answer. Two onely as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord. Question. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament? Answer. I meane an outward and visible signe of an inward and spirituall grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himselfe, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. Question. How many parts be there in a Sacrament? Answer. Two; the outward visible signe, and the inward spirituall grace. Question. What is the outward visible signe or forme in Baptisme? Answer. Water: wherein the person baptized is dipped or sprinkled with it, In the name the Name of the Father, and of Sonne, and of the holy Ghost. Question. What is the inward and spirituall grace? Answer. A death unto sinne, and a new birth unto righteousnesse: for being by nature borne in sinne, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace.
From Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century)
I answer that, The presence of Christ's true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on Luke 22:19: "This is My body which shall be delivered up for you," Cyril says: "Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Saviour's words with faith; for since He is the Truth, He lieth not."
Now this is suitable, first for the perfection of the New Law. For, the sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ's Passion, according to Hebrews 10:1: "For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things." And therefore it was necessary that the sacrifice of the New Law instituted by Christ should have something more, namely, that it should contain Christ Himself crucified, not merely in signification or figure, but also in very truth. And therefore this sacrament which contains Christ Himself, as Dionysius says (Eccl. Hier. iii), is perfective of all the other sacraments, in which Christ's virtue is participated.
Secondly, this belongs to Christ's love, out of which for our salvation He assumed a true body of our nature. And because it is the special feature of friendship to live together with friends, as the Philosopher says (Ethic. ix), He promises us His bodily presence as a reward, saying (Matthew 24:28): "Where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered together." Yet meanwhile in our pilgrimage He does not deprive us of His bodily presence; but unites us with Himself in this sacrament through the truth of His body and blood. Hence (John 6:57) he says: "He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him." Hence this sacrament is the sign of supreme charity, and the uplifter of our hope, from such familiar union of Christ with us.
Thirdly, it belongs to the perfection of faith, which concerns His humanity just as it does His Godhead, according to John 14:1: "You believe in God, believe also in Me." And since faith is of things unseen, as Christ shows us His Godhead invisibly, so also in this sacrament He shows us His flesh in an invisible manner.
Some men accordingly, not paying heed to these things, have contended that Christ's body and blood are not in this sacrament except as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ's words. Hence Berengarius, who had been the first deviser of this heresy, was afterwards forced to withdraw his error, and to acknowledge the truth of the faith.
Matrimony
"signiflyng unto us the mistical union that is betwixt Christ and his Churche: which holy state Christe adourned and beautified with his presence and firste myracle that he wrought in Cana of Galile"
John 2:1-11
[1] And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:[2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.[3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.[4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.[5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.[6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.[7] Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.[8] And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.[9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,[10] And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.[11] This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Concept of marriage between Christ and the faithful:
Emblem book of Francis Quarles: Emblems, divine and moral, together with Hieroglyphicks of the life of man
I used the example of Quarles's book to show how the soul in the period we're studying is gendered female, and is imagined (if everything goes well) to be destined for a marriage with Christ in the afterlife. Quarles's emblem book illustrates the pitfalls and perils and triumphs of that journey. You can look at the complete book here.
Reflected also in the ceremony:
Loke mercifully upon these thy servauntes, that both this man may love his wife, accordyng to thy worde (as Christe did love his spouse the Churche, who gave himselfe for it, lovyng and cherishing it, even as his owne fleshe).
Purposes of marriage:
duely consideryng the causes for the which matrimony was ordeined. One was the procreation of children, to be brought up in the feare and nurtoure of the Lorde, and praise of God. Secondly, it was ordeined for a remedy agaynste sinne and to avoide fornication, that suche persones as have not the gifte of continencie might mary, and kepe themselves undefiled membres of Christes body. Thirdly, for the mutual societie, helpe, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, bothe in prosperity and adversitye, into the whiche holy state these two persones present, come nowe to be joyned.
Gender asymmetry in the marriage ceremony
Man’s vow:
I N. take the. N. to my wedded wyfe, to have and to hold from thys day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for porer, in sickenes, and in healthe, to love and to cheryshe, tyll death us departe; according to Gods holy ordinaunce, and therto I plight the my trouth.
Woman’s vow:
I N. take the. N. to my wedded husbande, to have and to holde, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickenes, ad in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us departe, accordynge to godes holy ordinaunce: and therto I geve the my trouth.
End bit, duties of husbands:
Ye housbandes love your wives, even as Christ loved the Churche, and hath geven hymselfe for it, to sanctifie it, purgyng it in the fountaine of water, throughe the worde, that he might make it unto hym selfe a glorious congregacion, not havyng spot or wrincle, or any suche thyng, but that it shoulde be holy and blameles. So men are bounde to love their owne wyves, as their owne bodies. He that loveth his owne wife loveth hym selfe. For never did any man hate his owne fleshe, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Londe doeth the congregacion, for we are membres of his body: of his flesh and of hys bones.
Duties of wives:
Saincte Paule (in the forenamed Epistle to the Ephesians) teacheth you thus: Ye women, submit youre selfes unto youre owne housbandes as unto the Lorde: for the housbande is the wyves headde, even as Christe is the headde of the Churche. And he is also the savioure of the whole bodye. Therefore as the Churche or congregacion, is subjecte unto Christe. So likewyse lette the wyves also be in subjection unto their owne housbandes in al thinges. And againe he sayeth : Let the wife reverence her housbande. And (in his Epistle to the Collossians) Sayncte Paule geveth you thys shorte lesson, Ye wyves submitte youre selves unto youre own housbandes, as it is convenient in the Lorde.
But also consider the final paragraph:
Saincte Peter also doeth instructe you verye godly, thus saiynge, Let wyves be subject to their owne housbandes, so that if anye obey not the woorde, they may be wonne withoute the woorde, by the conversacion [=behavior] of the wyves, whyle they beholde your chaste conversacion coupled with feare, whose apparell let it not be outward, with broided [braided] haire and trymmyng about with golde, eyther in puttinge on of gorgeous apparell, but let the hidde manne whiche is in the harte, be without all corruption, so that the spirite be milde and quiete, whiche is a precious thynge in the sighte of God. For after thys maner (in the olde tyme) did the holy women whiche trusted in God apparell them selves, beynge subject to their owne housbandes, as Sara obeyed Abraham callyng hym Lorde; whose daughters ye are made, doynge well, and beyinge not dismayde with any feare.
Woman’s role in determining the shape of the ceremony:
This prayer next folowyng shal be omitted where the woman is past chide birth.
The Visitation of the Sick
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/Visitation_Sick_1559.htm
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
Lecture notes
RELIGION AND DEVOTIONAL LIFE
Outline
*info on the pedagogy workshops
*techniques of research
*some tips for reading early material
*practice: Anne Askew
*Book of Common Prayer (1559)
For complete and up-to-date info on the pedagogy workshops, go here.
Techniques of research
*accessing the MLA database and EEBO via McMaster University Libraries
From the McMaster University Libraries main page, click on the databases tab.
EEBO
To access EEBO: use "eebo" as a title keyword search term on the databases tab. That will take you here:
http://library.mcmaster.ca/search/see.php?in1=Title&f=goba&ss1=eebo&x=28&y=11
Click on the link to go to EEBO's site. You'll have to enter your MacID and password. EEBO is the singlemost helpful resource to find early print material. So if you think you might like to write a paper (especially the term 2 research paper) on a comparison between one of our readings and other early printed texts, this is the place to find those other resources. Hundreds of texts that have not seen modern edited editions can be found on EEBO. The advantage here is that you get online access to the complete printed work.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) is specifically helpful for students of early literature. The database covers works from 1473 AD-1700.
MLA bibliography
To access the MLA database: use "mla" as a title keyword search term on the databases tab on the library's main page. That should take you here:
http://library.mcmaster.ca/search/see.php?in1=Title&f=goba&ss1=mla
Click on "MLA International Bibliography", the second entry. (NOT the directory of periodicals!) That will take you to the MacID login page, and then on to the database. The MLA bibliography is the singlemost handy tool an English major can have. It will direct you to much of the scholarship that's available on any given literary work. That means articles in journals, book chapters, and entire books. If you need secondary resources, especially if you're interested in researching where current critical opinion stands on a given text, this is the place for you. Critical work on a primary text also comes in handy if you're having trouble formulating an opinion on the text you're working with.
Many, but not all, of the items you'll find through the MLA are available online. Clicking the "Get it" button under the item listing will take you to a page that will tell you whether it's online or not. McMaster has print copies of many of the books and journals that are listed on MLA; those that aren't available can usually be ordered via RACER (the interlibrary loan ordering service).
One more helpful tool:
JSTOR: accessible by searching "jstor" via the databases tab. That search will take you here:
http://library.mcmaster.ca/search/see.php?f=goba&ss1=jstor&in1=Title
Click on the title to enter your MacID and go on to JSTOR. Like the MLA bibliography, JSTOR is a resource for secondary sources on literary texts. Helpful if you need something fast, since all of the items listed via JSTOR are available online. JSTOR's search engine operates a little bit differently than the MLA database's engine, so you might find items on JSTOR that weren't listed on your MLA search.
Some tips for reading early material
*one word at a time
*sound it out
*put it all together
*translate into the language of your own understanding
Practice: Anne Askew
Pages 21 and 22 from the pdf file.
We used pages 21 and 22 from the Latter Examinacion of Anne Askew to practice reading a very eary printed text (the font is called "blackletter").
To practice your blackletter reading skills and take a look at the complete text of the first and latter examinations of Anne Askew, click here.
The Book of Common Prayer (1559)
We read sections 15-17, available here.
A handy record not only of the system of belief, but of the role of the individual in society:
Aunswere. My dutye towardes God is, to beleve in him, to feare him [=to hold him in awe], and to love hym with all my harte, with al my mynde, with al my soule, and with all my strengthe. To worship hym. To geve hym thanckes. To putte my whole truste in hyrn. To call upon hym. To honour hys holy name and hys woorde, and to serve hym truely all the dayes of my lyfe. Question. What is thy dutye toward thy neighbour? Aunswere. My dutye towardes my neyghbour is to love hym as my selfe: And to do to all men as I would they should do unto me. To love, honour, and succour my father and mother. To honour and obey the Kyng, and his minysters. To submitte my selfe to al my governours, teachers, spiritual Pastours and Maisters. To order my selfe lowly and reverently to all my betters. To hurte no body by worde, nor dede. To be true and juste in all my dealyng. To beare no malice nor hatred in my harte. To kepe my handes from pickyng and stealyng, and my tongue from evil speakyng, liyng and slaunderyng. To kepe my body in temperaunce, sobernes, and chastitie. Not to covet nor desire other mennes goodes. But learne and labour truely to get myne awne livyng, and to do my dutye in that state of life, unto whiche it shal please God to cal me. Question. My good child know this, that thou art not able to do these thinges of thy self, nor to walke in the commaundementes of God, and to serve hym, wythout hys specyall grace, whyche thou must learne at al tymes to cal for by diligent prayer. Let me heare therfore, if thou canst saye the Lordes praier.
Communion (a core distinction between Protestant and Catholic):
Question. HOW many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church? Answer. Two onely as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord. Question. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament? Answer. I meane an outward and visible signe of an inward and spirituall grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himselfe, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. Question. How many parts be there in a Sacrament? Answer. Two; the outward visible signe, and the inward spirituall grace. Question. What is the outward visible signe or forme in Baptisme? Answer. Water: wherein the person baptized is dipped or sprinkled with it, In the name the Name of the Father, and of Sonne, and of the holy Ghost. Question. What is the inward and spirituall grace? Answer. A death unto sinne, and a new birth unto righteousnesse: for being by nature borne in sinne, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace.
From Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century)
I answer that, The presence of Christ's true body and blood in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon Divine authority. Hence, on Luke 22:19: "This is My body which shall be delivered up for you," Cyril says: "Doubt not whether this be true; but take rather the Saviour's words with faith; for since He is the Truth, He lieth not."
Now this is suitable, first for the perfection of the New Law. For, the sacrifices of the Old Law contained only in figure that true sacrifice of Christ's Passion, according to Hebrews 10:1: "For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things." And therefore it was necessary that the sacrifice of the New Law instituted by Christ should have something more, namely, that it should contain Christ Himself crucified, not merely in signification or figure, but also in very truth. And therefore this sacrament which contains Christ Himself, as Dionysius says (Eccl. Hier. iii), is perfective of all the other sacraments, in which Christ's virtue is participated.
Secondly, this belongs to Christ's love, out of which for our salvation He assumed a true body of our nature. And because it is the special feature of friendship to live together with friends, as the Philosopher says (Ethic. ix), He promises us His bodily presence as a reward, saying (Matthew 24:28): "Where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered together." Yet meanwhile in our pilgrimage He does not deprive us of His bodily presence; but unites us with Himself in this sacrament through the truth of His body and blood. Hence (John 6:57) he says: "He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him." Hence this sacrament is the sign of supreme charity, and the uplifter of our hope, from such familiar union of Christ with us.
Thirdly, it belongs to the perfection of faith, which concerns His humanity just as it does His Godhead, according to John 14:1: "You believe in God, believe also in Me." And since faith is of things unseen, as Christ shows us His Godhead invisibly, so also in this sacrament He shows us His flesh in an invisible manner.
Some men accordingly, not paying heed to these things, have contended that Christ's body and blood are not in this sacrament except as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ's words. Hence Berengarius, who had been the first deviser of this heresy, was afterwards forced to withdraw his error, and to acknowledge the truth of the faith.
Matrimony
"signiflyng unto us the mistical union that is betwixt Christ and his Churche: which holy state Christe adourned and beautified with his presence and firste myracle that he wrought in Cana of Galile"
John 2:1-11
[1] And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:[2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.[3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.[4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.[5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.[6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.[7] Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.[8] And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.[9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,[10] And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.[11] This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Concept of marriage between Christ and the faithful:
Emblem book of Francis Quarles: Emblems, divine and moral, together with Hieroglyphicks of the life of man
I used the example of Quarles's book to show how the soul in the period we're studying is gendered female, and is imagined (if everything goes well) to be destined for a marriage with Christ in the afterlife. Quarles's emblem book illustrates the pitfalls and perils and triumphs of that journey. You can look at the complete book here.
Reflected also in the ceremony:
Loke mercifully upon these thy servauntes, that both this man may love his wife, accordyng to thy worde (as Christe did love his spouse the Churche, who gave himselfe for it, lovyng and cherishing it, even as his owne fleshe).
Purposes of marriage:
duely consideryng the causes for the which matrimony was ordeined. One was the procreation of children, to be brought up in the feare and nurtoure of the Lorde, and praise of God. Secondly, it was ordeined for a remedy agaynste sinne and to avoide fornication, that suche persones as have not the gifte of continencie might mary, and kepe themselves undefiled membres of Christes body. Thirdly, for the mutual societie, helpe, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, bothe in prosperity and adversitye, into the whiche holy state these two persones present, come nowe to be joyned.
Gender asymmetry in the marriage ceremony
Man’s vow:
I N. take the. N. to my wedded wyfe, to have and to hold from thys day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for porer, in sickenes, and in healthe, to love and to cheryshe, tyll death us departe; according to Gods holy ordinaunce, and therto I plight the my trouth.
Woman’s vow:
I N. take the. N. to my wedded husbande, to have and to holde, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickenes, ad in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us departe, accordynge to godes holy ordinaunce: and therto I geve the my trouth.
End bit, duties of husbands:
Ye housbandes love your wives, even as Christ loved the Churche, and hath geven hymselfe for it, to sanctifie it, purgyng it in the fountaine of water, throughe the worde, that he might make it unto hym selfe a glorious congregacion, not havyng spot or wrincle, or any suche thyng, but that it shoulde be holy and blameles. So men are bounde to love their owne wyves, as their owne bodies. He that loveth his owne wife loveth hym selfe. For never did any man hate his owne fleshe, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Londe doeth the congregacion, for we are membres of his body: of his flesh and of hys bones.
Duties of wives:
Saincte Paule (in the forenamed Epistle to the Ephesians) teacheth you thus: Ye women, submit youre selfes unto youre owne housbandes as unto the Lorde: for the housbande is the wyves headde, even as Christe is the headde of the Churche. And he is also the savioure of the whole bodye. Therefore as the Churche or congregacion, is subjecte unto Christe. So likewyse lette the wyves also be in subjection unto their owne housbandes in al thinges. And againe he sayeth : Let the wife reverence her housbande. And (in his Epistle to the Collossians) Sayncte Paule geveth you thys shorte lesson, Ye wyves submitte youre selves unto youre own housbandes, as it is convenient in the Lorde.
But also consider the final paragraph:
Saincte Peter also doeth instructe you verye godly, thus saiynge, Let wyves be subject to their owne housbandes, so that if anye obey not the woorde, they may be wonne withoute the woorde, by the conversacion [=behavior] of the wyves, whyle they beholde your chaste conversacion coupled with feare, whose apparell let it not be outward, with broided [braided] haire and trymmyng about with golde, eyther in puttinge on of gorgeous apparell, but let the hidde manne whiche is in the harte, be without all corruption, so that the spirite be milde and quiete, whiche is a precious thynge in the sighte of God. For after thys maner (in the olde tyme) did the holy women whiche trusted in God apparell them selves, beynge subject to their owne housbandes, as Sara obeyed Abraham callyng hym Lorde; whose daughters ye are made, doynge well, and beyinge not dismayde with any feare.
Woman’s role in determining the shape of the ceremony:
This prayer next folowyng shal be omitted where the woman is past chide birth.
The Visitation of the Sick
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/Visitation_Sick_1559.htm
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Lecture Notes, Tuesday, May 13 2008: Thomas More's Utopia
Lecture Notes
13 May 2008
Thomas More’s Utopia
Lecture Outline
* “Eutopia” vs. “Outopia”
*the meaning of More’s Utopia
*what does Utopia assume about people? – in other words, what are the “natural” qualities of humanity?
*Satire?
*the great chain of being and its social implications
*microcosm and macrocosm
“Eutopia” vs. “Outopia”
*two different source words in Greek that could be referenced by “utopia”
* Eu-topos means “good place”
* Ou-utopos means “no place”
*a joke? Is “Utopia” a good place that can never be? (see the other place names in More’s book) or is it a place that should never be? Is this work satirical?
The meaning of More’s Utopia
From Wikipedia article on More:
“The novels principal message is the social need for order and discipline, rather than liberty.”
From http://www.apostles.com/utopeuth.html
(from their “About” page:
Mission Statement
Apostles.com is dedicated to providing information on the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, current events of interest to Catholics and other Christians, and important issues of concern to all people of faith. )
“It is important to remember that More did not agree with everything in Utopia. There is no doubt that More was opposed euthanasia, yet it was practiced by the Utopians.
“Utopia is an imaginary society where people have designed the best society they could conceive of with the use of natural reason. However, they have been denied the truths of divine law. As Peter Ackroyd points out in his recent biography of More (The Life of Thomas More, Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 1998.), "That is why they encourage euthanasia, condone divorce and harbour a multiplicity of religious beliefs- all of which actions were considered dreadful by More himself and by Catholic Europe. This may be no ideal commonwealth, after all, but a model of natural law and natural reason taken to their unnatural extreme."
From the BL’s website on Utopia and art,
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/utopia/more1/celebration1/celebration.html
* "The Utopian's attitude towards death reflected their attitude towards religion and reason. It also reflected the pursuit of pleasure and the common good; a less individualistic society meant individual death mattered less. English people in the 16th century would have been familiar with death in a way that modern people, for the most part, are not."
Reception
*enormously popular, initiated an entire genre of literature still enormously popular today, especially in its darker twin format, dystopia, and most popular of all, “false utopia”
*Bacon’s New Atlantis; Erewhon (“nowhere”) but also much of science fiction (Star Trek; Blade Runner; Logan’s Run; Brazil; 1984)
*Vasco de Quiroga, 1537-1565 governed as Bishop of Michoacán, instituted Utopian principles following More’s book
Read more about Vasco de Quiroga here.
Vasco de Quiroga image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vasco_de_Quiroga.jpg
What does Utopia assume about people? – in other words, what does it presume are the “natural” qualities of humanity?
*The two books of the Utopia cover the current state of England from a Utopian perspective (represented by Raphael Hythlodaye), and the description of Utopia itself. What perspective on England does Utopia offer?
*describes Europe as a dystopia:
pg 20L: on the death penalty for robbery: “no penalty that can be devised is sufficient to restrain from acts of robbery those who have no other means of getting a livelihood. “
Pg. 21 L: many Western states destroyed by their own standing armies
Pg. 21 R: cannibal sheep
Pg. 22 L: buying foreign livestock and raising and selling it in England: “I think the whole mischief of this system has not yet been felt.”
Pg. 23 R: the example of the Polylerites (people of much nonsense): those who are convicted of theft are “sent unguarded to do public works” – tip of the ear cut off.
Pg 26 L: reason why Raphael won’t advise kings:
“doubtless Plato was right in foreseeing that if kings were not philosophical themselves, they would never approve of the advice of real philosophers; from their youth they are usually infected and saturated with wrong ideas…. So if I gave clever advice to some king, and tried to uproot the seeds of evil and corruption from his mind, do you not think that as a result, I would be immediately banished or ridiculed?
Beginning of description of Utopia, page 30 R:
“here we have the right of private property, while there everything is held in common.”
31 R, after describing how happy the Utopians are,
“I doubt that such well being could be achieved where private property exists. For when everyone aims to have as much property as possible, even where there is a great abundance of wealth, it is all still shared by a few, while the rest are in poverty. And it generally happens that the one class deserves the lot of the other, for the rich tend to be greedy, unscrupulous and useless, while the poor tend to be well behaved, simple, and by their daily labor more useful to the community than to themselves. I am utterly convinced that no just and even distribution of goods can be made, nor any perfect happiness be found among humans, unless private property is utterly abolished. While it lasts, there will remain a heavy and intolerable burden of poverty and anxieties for the greatest and best part of mankind. I admit that this can be relieved to some extent, but I maintain it cannot be removed.”
32 L: opposing view, from More’s narrator:
“Life can never be happy or satisfactory, where all things are held in common. How could a sufficient supply of goods be kept up? Each person would spend less time working. If personal gain does not motivate the individual, he becomes lazy and relies on the industry of others.”
BOOK 2
Pg 34 L: the people from the city all spend 2 years working in the country, and are then rotated back into the city (to provide food via agriculture)
Pg. 35 R: Every ten years they actually exchange their houses by lot
39 L, on work: “The constitution of the state has one objective: that so far as public needs permit, as much time as possible should be withdrawn from the service of the body and devoted to the freedom and culture of the mind. It is in this that they deem the happiness of life to consist.”
42 L, on travel: “Now you can see how there is no chance of evading work, and no pretext for idleness – no wine shop, no ale house, no house of prostitution, no opportunity of corruption, no unlawful places of resort. Everything is open to everyone, and everyone is bound either to perform the usual work or to be taking lawful and respectable recreation.
46 L, on virtue: “They define virtue as a life according to nature, for which God intends us. Humans, they say, in following the guidance of nature in desiring one thing and avoiding another, obey the dictates of reason. Reason first of all inspires in humans a love and veneration of the Divine Majesty, to which we owe both our existence and our capacity for happiness; secondly, it urges and admonishes us to lead lives as free from care and as full of joy as possible, and because of our natural fellowship with other people, to help them to also obtain that end.
*Pleasure as a key foundation of Utopian society – pleasure defined as of the soul and of the body (pg. 48 R).
“To the soul they ascribe intelligence and the delight that is bred of contemplation of the truth; to this is added the pleasant recollection of a well-spent life, and the confident hope of happiness to come. Bodily pleasure they divide into two categories. The first is that which fills the sense with perceptible sweetness…The second category of bodily pleasure, they say, is that which consists in a calm and harmonious state of the body; this occurs when a person’s health is not interrupted by any disorder.”
Pg. 50 L: In any other case they think it makes no sense for a person to be hard on himself.”
Pg 54 R, on law and politics: “in their opinion a just law must be easily understood.”
55 L, on treaties: “What is the use of a treaty, they say; did Nature herself not sufficiently bind one person to another?”
57 L and R on warfare: they first try to encourage the enemy to kill its own leader; sow the seeds of dissension by trying to encourage a relative of the king in his hopes for the throne; they hire a foreign militia to fight for them.
Satire?
39 R: on colonization: “Wherever the natives have a lot of unoccupied waste land, they found a colony as a branch of the parent stem, under their own laws, joining with the native population, wherever they are willing to dwell with them. When they do join with them, the two groups easily grow into the same way of life and manners, to the great advantage of both peoples. By their arrangements they make the land sufficient for both, which previously seemed barely adequate for the one. If the natives refuse to live according to their laws, they drive them out of the territory that they define for themselves. If they resist, they fight against them; for they think the most just cause for war is when people does not use its soil but keeps it void and vacant, and still forbids the use and possession of it by others, who by the law of nature ought to be supported by it.”
43 R on gold:
“their chamber-pots are made from gold and silver, as are certain other containers for the humblest of uses….those who are to be shamed on account of some offence must wear gold earrings, finger rings, chains around their necks, and gold circlets on their heads.” (Anemolian ambassadors)
52 R-53, on choosing mates (included in the section on “Slavery”):
“In choosing mates they favor seriously and strictly a custom that seemed to us very foolish, and extremely ridiculous. The woman, whether a maiden or a widow, is shown naked to the suitor by a worthy and respectable matron, and similarly the suitor is presented naked before the maiden by a discreet man. We laughed at this custom and condemned it as foolish, but they on the other hand marveled at the notable folly of other nations.” (Pony analogy)
pg 61 L and R on the Christian convert
“Only one of the Christians got into trouble, while I was there. As soon as he was baptized, in spite of our protests, he began to speak publicly of Christ’s religion with more zeal than discretion, and began to be so heated in his preaching that he not only declared that he preferred our religion to any other, but also condemned all others as profane in themselves. He loudly declared the followers of other religions impious and sacrilegious, and said that they were worthy of eternal punishment. After he had been preaching in this style for some time, they arrested him, not for despising their religion, but for stirring up strife among the people. They tried and convicted him, and sentenced him to exile. Among their most ancient principles, is a rule that no one shall be attacked for his religion.”
67 R, the narrator’s response to Raphael’s story:
“When Raphael had finished his story, I couldn’t help thinking that many of the manners and laws of that people are absurd – not only their way of waging wars, their ceremonies, their religion, and their other institutions, but most of all that which is the chief foundation of their whole structure, the way in which they live communally and share goods, without any money dealings. By this alone all the nobility, magnificence, splendor and majesty, the true glories and ornaments of a commonwealth, are utterly overthrown. Yet since I knew Raphael was wearied from telling his tale, and I was not certain that he could brook any opposition to his views…Therefore I praised the Utopian way of life, and also Raphaels’s account of it, and took him by the hand and led him into supper….I cannot agree with all that he said, but I readily admit that there are many things in the Utopian commonwealth that are worth wishing for in our own states – much as there may be little hope of ever seeing them realized.
The great chain of being and its social implications (microcosm and macrocosm)
Image source: http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/history/carnegie/aristotle/chainofbeing.html
A great chain of being from 1579, Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana
For info on the philosophical meanings and consequences of the Great Chain of Being concept of the social order, see Peter Suber's webpage on the topic:
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/courses/re/chain.htm
Note for the purposes of this course that the chain connects all life and even inanimate objects -
everything in creation - in a hierarchical order that is stable and constant. The social order was thought to mirror the order of the great chain of being.
Microcosm and Macrocosm
The social order (a part of the entire world) mirrors the order of all of creation (the whole).
In the same way, a family (with the husband at its head, and the wife and children and servants underneath) echoes the order of the whole.
The animal kingdom (ranging from lions to worms and insects) is also arranged according to such an order.
The social order (king to beggar), family, and animal kingdom are microcosms. The whole of creation is a macrocosm.
It is part of early modern belief systems that a part of a system can be expected to display the same hierarchical pattern as the whole. This is the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm.
Read more about the relationship between the Great Chain of Being, and the parts of the whole in the section on the Great Chain of Being, here. Note that this entire page is worth reading and is helpful if you're struggling with some of the core ideas of the period.
The following hierarchy is taken from jackytappet's website:
http://jackytappet.tripod.com/chain.html
God
Angels
Kings
Queens
Archbishops
Dukes/Duchesses
Bishops
Marquises/Marchionesses
Earls/Countesses
Viscounts/Viscountesses
Barons/Baronesses
Abbots/Deacons
Knights / Local Officials
Ladies-in-Waiting
Priests Monks
Squires
Pages
Messengers
Merchants/Shopkeepers
Tradesmen
Yeomen Farmers
Soldiers/Town Watch
Household Servants
Tenant Farmers
Shepherds/Herders
Beggars
Actors
Thieves/Pirates
Gypsies
Animals
Birds
Worms
Plants
Rocks
*See Utopia page 19, left column, where the narrator tells Raphael that he should become a counselor to “some great prince”, because “from the prince, as from a never failing spring, flows a stream of all that is good or evil over the whole nation.”
13 May 2008
Thomas More’s Utopia
Lecture Outline
* “Eutopia” vs. “Outopia”
*the meaning of More’s Utopia
*what does Utopia assume about people? – in other words, what are the “natural” qualities of humanity?
*Satire?
*the great chain of being and its social implications
*microcosm and macrocosm
“Eutopia” vs. “Outopia”
*two different source words in Greek that could be referenced by “utopia”
* Eu-topos means “good place”
* Ou-utopos means “no place”
*a joke? Is “Utopia” a good place that can never be? (see the other place names in More’s book) or is it a place that should never be? Is this work satirical?
The meaning of More’s Utopia
From Wikipedia article on More:
“The novels principal message is the social need for order and discipline, rather than liberty.”
From http://www.apostles.com/utopeuth.html
(from their “About” page:
Mission Statement
Apostles.com is dedicated to providing information on the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, current events of interest to Catholics and other Christians, and important issues of concern to all people of faith. )
“It is important to remember that More did not agree with everything in Utopia. There is no doubt that More was opposed euthanasia, yet it was practiced by the Utopians.
“Utopia is an imaginary society where people have designed the best society they could conceive of with the use of natural reason. However, they have been denied the truths of divine law. As Peter Ackroyd points out in his recent biography of More (The Life of Thomas More, Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 1998.), "That is why they encourage euthanasia, condone divorce and harbour a multiplicity of religious beliefs- all of which actions were considered dreadful by More himself and by Catholic Europe. This may be no ideal commonwealth, after all, but a model of natural law and natural reason taken to their unnatural extreme."
From the BL’s website on Utopia and art,
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/utopia/more1/celebration1/celebration.html
* "The Utopian's attitude towards death reflected their attitude towards religion and reason. It also reflected the pursuit of pleasure and the common good; a less individualistic society meant individual death mattered less. English people in the 16th century would have been familiar with death in a way that modern people, for the most part, are not."
Reception
*enormously popular, initiated an entire genre of literature still enormously popular today, especially in its darker twin format, dystopia, and most popular of all, “false utopia”
*Bacon’s New Atlantis; Erewhon (“nowhere”) but also much of science fiction (Star Trek; Blade Runner; Logan’s Run; Brazil; 1984)
*Vasco de Quiroga, 1537-1565 governed as Bishop of Michoacán, instituted Utopian principles following More’s book
Read more about Vasco de Quiroga here.
Vasco de Quiroga image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vasco_de_Quiroga.jpg
What does Utopia assume about people? – in other words, what does it presume are the “natural” qualities of humanity?
*The two books of the Utopia cover the current state of England from a Utopian perspective (represented by Raphael Hythlodaye), and the description of Utopia itself. What perspective on England does Utopia offer?
*describes Europe as a dystopia:
pg 20L: on the death penalty for robbery: “no penalty that can be devised is sufficient to restrain from acts of robbery those who have no other means of getting a livelihood. “
Pg. 21 L: many Western states destroyed by their own standing armies
Pg. 21 R: cannibal sheep
Pg. 22 L: buying foreign livestock and raising and selling it in England: “I think the whole mischief of this system has not yet been felt.”
Pg. 23 R: the example of the Polylerites (people of much nonsense): those who are convicted of theft are “sent unguarded to do public works” – tip of the ear cut off.
Pg 26 L: reason why Raphael won’t advise kings:
“doubtless Plato was right in foreseeing that if kings were not philosophical themselves, they would never approve of the advice of real philosophers; from their youth they are usually infected and saturated with wrong ideas…. So if I gave clever advice to some king, and tried to uproot the seeds of evil and corruption from his mind, do you not think that as a result, I would be immediately banished or ridiculed?
Beginning of description of Utopia, page 30 R:
“here we have the right of private property, while there everything is held in common.”
31 R, after describing how happy the Utopians are,
“I doubt that such well being could be achieved where private property exists. For when everyone aims to have as much property as possible, even where there is a great abundance of wealth, it is all still shared by a few, while the rest are in poverty. And it generally happens that the one class deserves the lot of the other, for the rich tend to be greedy, unscrupulous and useless, while the poor tend to be well behaved, simple, and by their daily labor more useful to the community than to themselves. I am utterly convinced that no just and even distribution of goods can be made, nor any perfect happiness be found among humans, unless private property is utterly abolished. While it lasts, there will remain a heavy and intolerable burden of poverty and anxieties for the greatest and best part of mankind. I admit that this can be relieved to some extent, but I maintain it cannot be removed.”
32 L: opposing view, from More’s narrator:
“Life can never be happy or satisfactory, where all things are held in common. How could a sufficient supply of goods be kept up? Each person would spend less time working. If personal gain does not motivate the individual, he becomes lazy and relies on the industry of others.”
BOOK 2
Pg 34 L: the people from the city all spend 2 years working in the country, and are then rotated back into the city (to provide food via agriculture)
Pg. 35 R: Every ten years they actually exchange their houses by lot
39 L, on work: “The constitution of the state has one objective: that so far as public needs permit, as much time as possible should be withdrawn from the service of the body and devoted to the freedom and culture of the mind. It is in this that they deem the happiness of life to consist.”
42 L, on travel: “Now you can see how there is no chance of evading work, and no pretext for idleness – no wine shop, no ale house, no house of prostitution, no opportunity of corruption, no unlawful places of resort. Everything is open to everyone, and everyone is bound either to perform the usual work or to be taking lawful and respectable recreation.
46 L, on virtue: “They define virtue as a life according to nature, for which God intends us. Humans, they say, in following the guidance of nature in desiring one thing and avoiding another, obey the dictates of reason. Reason first of all inspires in humans a love and veneration of the Divine Majesty, to which we owe both our existence and our capacity for happiness; secondly, it urges and admonishes us to lead lives as free from care and as full of joy as possible, and because of our natural fellowship with other people, to help them to also obtain that end.
*Pleasure as a key foundation of Utopian society – pleasure defined as of the soul and of the body (pg. 48 R).
“To the soul they ascribe intelligence and the delight that is bred of contemplation of the truth; to this is added the pleasant recollection of a well-spent life, and the confident hope of happiness to come. Bodily pleasure they divide into two categories. The first is that which fills the sense with perceptible sweetness…The second category of bodily pleasure, they say, is that which consists in a calm and harmonious state of the body; this occurs when a person’s health is not interrupted by any disorder.”
Pg. 50 L: In any other case they think it makes no sense for a person to be hard on himself.”
Pg 54 R, on law and politics: “in their opinion a just law must be easily understood.”
55 L, on treaties: “What is the use of a treaty, they say; did Nature herself not sufficiently bind one person to another?”
57 L and R on warfare: they first try to encourage the enemy to kill its own leader; sow the seeds of dissension by trying to encourage a relative of the king in his hopes for the throne; they hire a foreign militia to fight for them.
Satire?
39 R: on colonization: “Wherever the natives have a lot of unoccupied waste land, they found a colony as a branch of the parent stem, under their own laws, joining with the native population, wherever they are willing to dwell with them. When they do join with them, the two groups easily grow into the same way of life and manners, to the great advantage of both peoples. By their arrangements they make the land sufficient for both, which previously seemed barely adequate for the one. If the natives refuse to live according to their laws, they drive them out of the territory that they define for themselves. If they resist, they fight against them; for they think the most just cause for war is when people does not use its soil but keeps it void and vacant, and still forbids the use and possession of it by others, who by the law of nature ought to be supported by it.”
43 R on gold:
“their chamber-pots are made from gold and silver, as are certain other containers for the humblest of uses….those who are to be shamed on account of some offence must wear gold earrings, finger rings, chains around their necks, and gold circlets on their heads.” (Anemolian ambassadors)
52 R-53, on choosing mates (included in the section on “Slavery”):
“In choosing mates they favor seriously and strictly a custom that seemed to us very foolish, and extremely ridiculous. The woman, whether a maiden or a widow, is shown naked to the suitor by a worthy and respectable matron, and similarly the suitor is presented naked before the maiden by a discreet man. We laughed at this custom and condemned it as foolish, but they on the other hand marveled at the notable folly of other nations.” (Pony analogy)
pg 61 L and R on the Christian convert
“Only one of the Christians got into trouble, while I was there. As soon as he was baptized, in spite of our protests, he began to speak publicly of Christ’s religion with more zeal than discretion, and began to be so heated in his preaching that he not only declared that he preferred our religion to any other, but also condemned all others as profane in themselves. He loudly declared the followers of other religions impious and sacrilegious, and said that they were worthy of eternal punishment. After he had been preaching in this style for some time, they arrested him, not for despising their religion, but for stirring up strife among the people. They tried and convicted him, and sentenced him to exile. Among their most ancient principles, is a rule that no one shall be attacked for his religion.”
67 R, the narrator’s response to Raphael’s story:
“When Raphael had finished his story, I couldn’t help thinking that many of the manners and laws of that people are absurd – not only their way of waging wars, their ceremonies, their religion, and their other institutions, but most of all that which is the chief foundation of their whole structure, the way in which they live communally and share goods, without any money dealings. By this alone all the nobility, magnificence, splendor and majesty, the true glories and ornaments of a commonwealth, are utterly overthrown. Yet since I knew Raphael was wearied from telling his tale, and I was not certain that he could brook any opposition to his views…Therefore I praised the Utopian way of life, and also Raphaels’s account of it, and took him by the hand and led him into supper….I cannot agree with all that he said, but I readily admit that there are many things in the Utopian commonwealth that are worth wishing for in our own states – much as there may be little hope of ever seeing them realized.
The great chain of being and its social implications (microcosm and macrocosm)
Image source: http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/history/carnegie/aristotle/chainofbeing.html
A great chain of being from 1579, Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana
For info on the philosophical meanings and consequences of the Great Chain of Being concept of the social order, see Peter Suber's webpage on the topic:
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/courses/re/chain.htm
Note for the purposes of this course that the chain connects all life and even inanimate objects -
everything in creation - in a hierarchical order that is stable and constant. The social order was thought to mirror the order of the great chain of being.
Microcosm and Macrocosm
The social order (a part of the entire world) mirrors the order of all of creation (the whole).
In the same way, a family (with the husband at its head, and the wife and children and servants underneath) echoes the order of the whole.
The animal kingdom (ranging from lions to worms and insects) is also arranged according to such an order.
The social order (king to beggar), family, and animal kingdom are microcosms. The whole of creation is a macrocosm.
It is part of early modern belief systems that a part of a system can be expected to display the same hierarchical pattern as the whole. This is the relationship between microcosm and macrocosm.
Read more about the relationship between the Great Chain of Being, and the parts of the whole in the section on the Great Chain of Being, here. Note that this entire page is worth reading and is helpful if you're struggling with some of the core ideas of the period.
The following hierarchy is taken from jackytappet's website:
http://jackytappet.tripod.com/chain.html
God
Angels
Kings
Queens
Archbishops
Dukes/Duchesses
Bishops
Marquises/Marchionesses
Earls/Countesses
Viscounts/Viscountesses
Barons/Baronesses
Abbots/Deacons
Knights / Local Officials
Ladies-in-Waiting
Priests Monks
Squires
Pages
Messengers
Merchants/Shopkeepers
Tradesmen
Yeomen Farmers
Soldiers/Town Watch
Household Servants
Tenant Farmers
Shepherds/Herders
Beggars
Actors
Thieves/Pirates
Gypsies
Animals
Birds
Worms
Plants
Rocks
*See Utopia page 19, left column, where the narrator tells Raphael that he should become a counselor to “some great prince”, because “from the prince, as from a never failing spring, flows a stream of all that is good or evil over the whole nation.”
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Lecture Notes, Thursday, May 8, 2008: Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots
Lecture Notes English 3I06/ The Age of Elizabeth I
8 May 2008
A Tale of three Queens:
Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots
Lecture Outline
*The Tudor and Stuart royal lines
*Lady Jane Grey and the culture of death
*Queen Elizabeth and warrior culture
*Mary Queen of Scots and the sonnet tradition
The Tudor and Stuart royal lines
*Family tree
For a fullsized version of the family tree, click here.
*the six wives of Henry VIII
interactive learning tool for 7-10 year olds:
http://www.brims.co.uk/tudors/wives.html
Lady Jane Grey and the culture of death
*Edward VI’s Device for Succession
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S04myNs_C8
Jane Grey’s death and martyrdom
*From A Certain Prayer of the Lady Jane in the Time of her Trouble (pg. 133-4 in your antho)
“I beseech Thee; which, with Solomon, do cry unto Thee, humbly desiring Thee, that I may neither be too much puffed up with prosperity, neither too much depresssed with adversity; lest I, being too full, should deny Thee, my God; in being too low brought, should despair and blaspheme Thee, myLord and Saviour. O merciful God, consider my misery, best known unto Thee; and be Thou now unto me a strong tower of defence, I humbly require Thee. Suffer me not to be tempted above my power, but wither be thou a deliverer unto me out of this great misery, or else give me grace patiently to bear Thy heavy hand and sharp correction.”
To her Sister Lady Katherine Immediately Before she Suffered (pg 133)
“Live still to die, that you (by death) may purchase eternal life. And trust not, that the tenderness of your age shall lengthen your life. For as soon (if God call) goeth the young, as the old and labour always to learn to die, defy the world, deny the devil, and despise the flesh, and delight yourself only in the Lord.”
*memento mori
Death and the Bride
Death and the Shepherdess
Death and the Bride and Death and the Shepherdess are both from The Danse Macabre of Women. You can find a copy in Mills Library here.
Rene d’Anjou
Source: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourPopup.asp?TourID=159
Cadaver tomb with flesh (1400s)
Cadaver tombs are a good example of church art that survived the purgation of decoration from the churches of England. We might speculate that somehow these images of death continued to be useful or merely a part of the background to a culture that is fascinated by the idea of decay and continues to celebrate a good death as a sign of moral rectitude.
For more examples, visit the Churchmouse at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/cadavertombs/cadavertombs.htm
Holbein’s Danse Macabre, 1538
Death and the Rich Man
Holbein was the court portrait artist for the Tudors under Henry VIII. He painted many of the portraits of the royal family that you'll see today. He also published an enormously popular series of woodcuts that depict the fall of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from paradise, and the rise of death as a prime mover in society. Holbein's Dance of Death was enormously popular and reprinted many times. You can buy or borrow the book in an edition by Dover:
http://morris.mcmaster.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?view=items&aspect=basic_search&uri=full%3d3100001%7e%21405597%7e%210&menu=search&profile=endeca#focus
The Dover edition features an English translation of the French images.
Some good info on it is available here.
An 1892 reprint of the woodcut images and accompanying text in French can be viewed here.
Holbein, The Ambassadors, 1533
*ars moriendi
For some fabulous info on the art of dying, visit here.
*Jane Grey as Protestant martyr
Idea of death as a battle, pg. 134, A Certain Prayer:
“plague me what way Thou wilt. Only, in the meantime, arm me, I beseech Thee, with Thy armour, that I may stand fast, my loins being girded with verity, having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and shod with the shoes prepared by the gospel of peace; above all things, taking to me the shield of faith, wherewith I may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; and taking the helmet of salvation, and the sword of Thy spirit, which is Thy most holy word; praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication, that I may refer myself wholly to Thy will”.
*Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (aka Acts and Monuments)
If you go to EEBO and search "Acts and Monuments", I recommend taking a look at the 1583 edition.
*The debate with Fecknam (in your books, 135-8)
Queen Elizabeth and warrior culture
*Elizabeth’s response to imprisonment, pg. 293, Written on a Wall at Woodstock
*the combination in Elizabeth of female virtue and warrior strength, at times combined with the Protestant tendency to wish to strongly differentiate the Protestant faith from the Catholic
*also true of her in images
The sources of these images of Elizabeth with commentary may be found at Marilee Cody's excellent and comprehensive website, here. This is a terrific site to begin with if you're interested in investigating Elizabeth in portraits.
Portrait with Verses, 1565
Elizabeth at Prayer, 1569, from the frontispiece of her personal prayer book
Compare to this image of St. Birgitta at prayer, from a 1492 manuscript:
Or Judith and Holofernes, an illumination from a medieval manuscript:
Allegory of the Tudor Succession, 1575
Note Elizabeth on the Right with Peace (stepping on the sword) and Plenty (holding the cornucopia):
Source: http://ladysarafina.home.att.net/allegorytudor.JPG
For more portraits, see http://ladysarafina.home.att.net/elizabethan_portraits.htm
Compare to the 1590-5 copy:
The Doubt of Future Foes, 294
Armada Portrait, 1588
Three versions of the Tilbury speech:
An interesting essay topic would be to examine how these 20th- and 21st-century depictions of Elizabeth have been derived from the historical and literary records. From the Tilbury speech, for example, we have three radically different representations here.
Tilbury speech with Glenda Jackson
With Helen Mirrin
With Anne-Marie Duff
But other ways to image Elizabeth, and ways in which she imaged herself:
The Pelican Portrait, 1575 (Source: Marilee Cody's website, URL above)
Compare to the Golden Speech, 1601
And the Sieve Portrait, 1583 (Image and commentary from Marilee Cody)
Background: roundels on curtain Aeneas and Dido; the Sieve is inscribed with Latin phrase meaning, “The good falls to the ground while the bad remains in the saddle”; the globe pictures ships passing into the West, and the phrase, “'I see all and much is lacking”; the portrait itself is inscribed with “'Weary I am and, having rested, still am weary.”
Mary Queen of Scots and the sonnet tradition
*the Petrarchan tradition
*some background on Petrarch and the Petrarchan mode
For more info on Petrarch and the sonnet form, go here.
*1555 Louise Labé’s Oeuvres including 24 sonnets, published in France
To read some samples of Louse Labé's poetry in English translation, go here.
To view some facsimile pages from her Works and read more, go here.
*Mary’s sonnets in French related to this tradition?
*Mary’s life as Theatre of God’s Judgements
A biographical page of Mary's life and some primary sources relevant to the Tudor dynasty is available here.
A fun page that treats Darnley's death as a murder mystery for you to solve is available here.
A critique of the casket letters and a link to transcriptions of the letters can be found here.
8 May 2008
A Tale of three Queens:
Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots
Lecture Outline
*The Tudor and Stuart royal lines
*Lady Jane Grey and the culture of death
*Queen Elizabeth and warrior culture
*Mary Queen of Scots and the sonnet tradition
The Tudor and Stuart royal lines
*Family tree
For a fullsized version of the family tree, click here.
*the six wives of Henry VIII
interactive learning tool for 7-10 year olds:
http://www.brims.co.uk/tudors/wives.html
Lady Jane Grey and the culture of death
*Edward VI’s Device for Succession
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S04myNs_C8
Jane Grey’s death and martyrdom
*From A Certain Prayer of the Lady Jane in the Time of her Trouble (pg. 133-4 in your antho)
“I beseech Thee; which, with Solomon, do cry unto Thee, humbly desiring Thee, that I may neither be too much puffed up with prosperity, neither too much depresssed with adversity; lest I, being too full, should deny Thee, my God; in being too low brought, should despair and blaspheme Thee, myLord and Saviour. O merciful God, consider my misery, best known unto Thee; and be Thou now unto me a strong tower of defence, I humbly require Thee. Suffer me not to be tempted above my power, but wither be thou a deliverer unto me out of this great misery, or else give me grace patiently to bear Thy heavy hand and sharp correction.”
To her Sister Lady Katherine Immediately Before she Suffered (pg 133)
“Live still to die, that you (by death) may purchase eternal life. And trust not, that the tenderness of your age shall lengthen your life. For as soon (if God call) goeth the young, as the old and labour always to learn to die, defy the world, deny the devil, and despise the flesh, and delight yourself only in the Lord.”
*memento mori
Death and the Bride
Death and the Shepherdess
Death and the Bride and Death and the Shepherdess are both from The Danse Macabre of Women. You can find a copy in Mills Library here.
Rene d’Anjou
Source: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourPopup.asp?TourID=159
Cadaver tomb with flesh (1400s)
Cadaver tombs are a good example of church art that survived the purgation of decoration from the churches of England. We might speculate that somehow these images of death continued to be useful or merely a part of the background to a culture that is fascinated by the idea of decay and continues to celebrate a good death as a sign of moral rectitude.
For more examples, visit the Churchmouse at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/cadavertombs/cadavertombs.htm
Holbein’s Danse Macabre, 1538
Death and the Rich Man
Holbein was the court portrait artist for the Tudors under Henry VIII. He painted many of the portraits of the royal family that you'll see today. He also published an enormously popular series of woodcuts that depict the fall of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from paradise, and the rise of death as a prime mover in society. Holbein's Dance of Death was enormously popular and reprinted many times. You can buy or borrow the book in an edition by Dover:
http://morris.mcmaster.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?view=items&aspect=basic_search&uri=full%3d3100001%7e%21405597%7e%210&menu=search&profile=endeca#focus
The Dover edition features an English translation of the French images.
Some good info on it is available here.
An 1892 reprint of the woodcut images and accompanying text in French can be viewed here.
Holbein, The Ambassadors, 1533
*ars moriendi
For some fabulous info on the art of dying, visit here.
*Jane Grey as Protestant martyr
Idea of death as a battle, pg. 134, A Certain Prayer:
“plague me what way Thou wilt. Only, in the meantime, arm me, I beseech Thee, with Thy armour, that I may stand fast, my loins being girded with verity, having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and shod with the shoes prepared by the gospel of peace; above all things, taking to me the shield of faith, wherewith I may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; and taking the helmet of salvation, and the sword of Thy spirit, which is Thy most holy word; praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication, that I may refer myself wholly to Thy will”.
*Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (aka Acts and Monuments)
If you go to EEBO and search "Acts and Monuments", I recommend taking a look at the 1583 edition.
*The debate with Fecknam (in your books, 135-8)
Queen Elizabeth and warrior culture
*Elizabeth’s response to imprisonment, pg. 293, Written on a Wall at Woodstock
*the combination in Elizabeth of female virtue and warrior strength, at times combined with the Protestant tendency to wish to strongly differentiate the Protestant faith from the Catholic
*also true of her in images
The sources of these images of Elizabeth with commentary may be found at Marilee Cody's excellent and comprehensive website, here. This is a terrific site to begin with if you're interested in investigating Elizabeth in portraits.
Portrait with Verses, 1565
Elizabeth at Prayer, 1569, from the frontispiece of her personal prayer book
Compare to this image of St. Birgitta at prayer, from a 1492 manuscript:
Or Judith and Holofernes, an illumination from a medieval manuscript:
Allegory of the Tudor Succession, 1575
Note Elizabeth on the Right with Peace (stepping on the sword) and Plenty (holding the cornucopia):
Source: http://ladysarafina.home.att.net/allegorytudor.JPG
For more portraits, see http://ladysarafina.home.att.net/elizabethan_portraits.htm
Compare to the 1590-5 copy:
The Doubt of Future Foes, 294
Armada Portrait, 1588
Three versions of the Tilbury speech:
An interesting essay topic would be to examine how these 20th- and 21st-century depictions of Elizabeth have been derived from the historical and literary records. From the Tilbury speech, for example, we have three radically different representations here.
Tilbury speech with Glenda Jackson
With Helen Mirrin
With Anne-Marie Duff
But other ways to image Elizabeth, and ways in which she imaged herself:
The Pelican Portrait, 1575 (Source: Marilee Cody's website, URL above)
Compare to the Golden Speech, 1601
And the Sieve Portrait, 1583 (Image and commentary from Marilee Cody)
Background: roundels on curtain Aeneas and Dido; the Sieve is inscribed with Latin phrase meaning, “The good falls to the ground while the bad remains in the saddle”; the globe pictures ships passing into the West, and the phrase, “'I see all and much is lacking”; the portrait itself is inscribed with “'Weary I am and, having rested, still am weary.”
Mary Queen of Scots and the sonnet tradition
*the Petrarchan tradition
*some background on Petrarch and the Petrarchan mode
For more info on Petrarch and the sonnet form, go here.
*1555 Louise Labé’s Oeuvres including 24 sonnets, published in France
To read some samples of Louse Labé's poetry in English translation, go here.
To view some facsimile pages from her Works and read more, go here.
*Mary’s sonnets in French related to this tradition?
*Mary’s life as Theatre of God’s Judgements
A biographical page of Mary's life and some primary sources relevant to the Tudor dynasty is available here.
A fun page that treats Darnley's death as a murder mystery for you to solve is available here.
A critique of the casket letters and a link to transcriptions of the letters can be found here.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Eliza is the Fairest Queen - Epideictic
Listen to "Eliza is the Fairest Queen". To download, right click and choose "Save Target As" (Windows).
While you're reading some of the poetry and speeches written by Queen Elizabeth I, I thought you might like to hear a bit of music in praise of her. This song is epideictic in form - "epideictic" is a type of oratory or rhetoric. Literally, "epideictic" translates from the Greek as "fit for display". An epidiectic poem is written for the purpose of praising or blaming the subject. Obviously Johnson's song lyrics are praising Queen Elizabeth. (You really only ever want to blame royalty from a distance.)
You can read more about epideictic here.
The music is by Pantagruel. If you're at all interested in Renaissance music that's got a bit of a kick to it, I highly recommend them. The original lyrics to Eliza is the Fairest Queen, below, are interlaced with lyrics from another song in this piece.
Eliza is the Fairest Queen ~ Edward Johnson 1572-1601
Eliza is the fairest Queen
That ever trod upon the green.
Eliza's eyes are blessed stars,
Inducing peace, subduing wars.
O blessed be each day and hour
Where sweet Eliza builds her bower.
Eliza's hand is crystal bright,
Her words are balm, her looks are light.
Eliza's breast is that fair hill,
Where virtue dwells, and sacred skill.
O blessed be each day and hour
Where sweet Eliza builds her bower.
While you're reading some of the poetry and speeches written by Queen Elizabeth I, I thought you might like to hear a bit of music in praise of her. This song is epideictic in form - "epideictic" is a type of oratory or rhetoric. Literally, "epideictic" translates from the Greek as "fit for display". An epidiectic poem is written for the purpose of praising or blaming the subject. Obviously Johnson's song lyrics are praising Queen Elizabeth. (You really only ever want to blame royalty from a distance.)
You can read more about epideictic here.
The music is by Pantagruel. If you're at all interested in Renaissance music that's got a bit of a kick to it, I highly recommend them. The original lyrics to Eliza is the Fairest Queen, below, are interlaced with lyrics from another song in this piece.
Eliza is the Fairest Queen ~ Edward Johnson 1572-1601
Eliza is the fairest Queen
That ever trod upon the green.
Eliza's eyes are blessed stars,
Inducing peace, subduing wars.
O blessed be each day and hour
Where sweet Eliza builds her bower.
Eliza's hand is crystal bright,
Her words are balm, her looks are light.
Eliza's breast is that fair hill,
Where virtue dwells, and sacred skill.
O blessed be each day and hour
Where sweet Eliza builds her bower.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Textbook available for someone to borrow
I have an extra copy of the Broadview Anthology that I could loan to a student in the course. The condition is that it has to be returned to me at the end of the summer course, since it has to go back to the bookstore, which means it should come back in approximately the same shape it's in now. If you would like to borrow this book, just email me (mesmith@mcmaster.ca or smithmk2@gmail.com) and I will bring the book to the next class for you to have.
Lecture Notes, Tuesday, May 6 2008: Introduction to the Course
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For a printer-friendly version of these notes, click here.
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English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth I
6 May 2008
Introductory Lecture
Lecture Outline
*communication
*course outline overview
*whirlwind tour of the 16th century: Elizabeth’s inheritance and legacy
*400 years: a long time ago, or no time at all?
Communication
*email: as noted on the course outline – use smithmk2@gmail.com as a default, since McMaster email is not as reliable as one might like
*course website: link is available via WebCT, or go directly to:
http://elizabethrex.blogspot.com/
For a complete course outline including a print version, see the post before this one.
Course Outline Overview
Key points for future reference:
*If for any reason you can't reach me at the McMaster email address, don't hesitate to use the gmail account. Or, just use the gmail account anyway.
*Re: assignments: watch in the next few days for details on the workshop topics you'll be able to choose from. I'll post them online and bring a signup sheet to class. The details of the assignment will be configured in a way that's appropriate for our relatively small class size. If there are people in the class with which you definitely want to work, let me know now.
*I will also try to post term 1 essay topics ASAP.
Whirlwind Tour of the 16th Century: Elizabeth’s Inheritance and Legacy
Protestant Reformation
*A timeline can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_English_Reformation
Note I advise using wikipedia with caution. It can be cheesy and/or wrong at times, but it can also be a useful way to access more in-depth materials. The timeline I'm linking to here is okay.
*Major break between Henry VIII and the Catholic Church, 1533-35
*Made more plausible by the existence of an alternative to Catholicism with the European Protestant Reformation, begun by Marin Luther in 1517 with his protest document, the Ninety-Five Theses
*Edward VI becomes King after Henry VIII’s death, 1547 at age nine; rules 1547 until his death on 6 July 1553; under Edward, Protestantism becomes more confirmed with the establishment of the Book of Common Prayer (which we’ll read a bit about on May 15)
*Lady Jane Grey (the Nine Days Queen), daughter of the younger sister of Henry VIII, succeeds to the throne; is executed nine days later when support for her rule erodes
*Mary I (“Bloody Mary”) gains the throne; restores Catholicism and persecutes prominent Protestants
*17 November 1558, Mary dies at age 42; Elizabeth I, her younger sister, takes the throne, restores Protestantism with some modifications (lesser penalties for dissenters, maintenance of some elements of Catholic church hierarchy and ceremony – see Broadview intro pages XLIX-L)
*Elizabeth rules for the next 45 years, until 1603
Tenents of (English 16th Century) Protestantism
*a greater emphasis on the individual’s relationship with God and the Bible
*a de-emphasis of the role of clergy in mediating the relationship with God
*a focus on the trinity rather than on the Saints and auxiliary figures (especially Mary)
*the belief that most church decorations are “idols” and need to be removed in order to bring the focus back to God
*in the Eucharist ritual, a belief that the bread and wine are not literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ, but are signs or symbols or contain the spirit of Christ
*a strong emphasis on the fallen nature of humanity (i.e., original sin)
*the focus on original sin as the cause of most human problems, including illness
*in some versions (esp. Calvinism) a belief in predestination, meaning God decides whether you are going to go to hell or heaven
*therefore, the individual does not control his or her fate
*in this model, sinful behaviour or good works are a sign or symptom of the direction the person is going to go, but don’t cause the person to go to hell or heaven
Humanism
*Another thread within 16th century culture, strongly linked to the concept of the “Renaissance” *the rediscovery and close reading of classical texts (ancient Greek and Roman) placed an emphasis on the human capacity to rationally explore the world around us
*an emphasis on beauty, truth, the value of the liberal arts (poetry, painting, sculpture, music, grammar, rhetoric, history, oratory); the potential for good or evil as inherent in humanity; at its extreme in the classical period, humanism led at least one major philosopher to reject the notion of original sin (Pelagius, 354 AD-440-ish)
Economy
*a movement from the country to urban centres, especially London, driven by the practice of “enclosure”
*a dramatic increase in the urban poor
*the rise of the middle class, and a precursor to the modern concept of banking
Exterior Exploration/Colonization
*colonization begins at home: during the period we’ll study, England continued to try to dominate Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, with varying success
*foundation of colonies in North America (esp. Virginia, which we’ll read about in more detail in June)
*a question: given that Britain later became the most successful empire on the planet (i.e., “the sun never sets on the British empire), was this dominance determined by her early policies and attitudes toward her colonies, or could it have gone another way?
Gender
*all over the map
*cardinal rule number one when dealing with issues of gender and power in this period: class is often if not always a greater determinant of power than gender. While the period is incredibly misogynist, generally speaking much less power came along with being a lower-class woman or man than an upper-class woman
*with Protestantism, a greater emphasis on marriage over chastity
*simultaneously, the emphasis on the direct relationship between God and the individual enables some women to step forward to speak directly about their faith; some women become prophets – although traditionally there have always been women saints and martyrs
*Queen Elizabeth herself occupies a peculiar, perhaps completely unique space on the gender map
See especially the Clopton portrait, circa 1560, where she appears dressed more as a scholar than a feminine woman (contrast to the miniature portrait from approximately the same era, above)
For reference, a picture of Erasmus, a well-known Dutch humanist scholar, painted in 1523:
*during the 16th century, the seeds are sown for women to begin to speak back to their oppression in more direct ways, resulting in something called the “woman controversy” an early 17th-century pamphlet war
*forms of gender as always generated exceptional people, like Moll Cutpurse, a famous cross-dressing woman / drag king who emerged from the London underworld in the early 1600s
Her years were 1584-1659; she is the main character of a play about her called The Roaring Girl by Thomas Dekker, in which she unites a couple who is being prevented from marrying by the man’s father.
*a good practice is to try to see the gender landscape, like every other conceptual landscape of the period, as foreign to our own, and try to remap your ideas of what is “masculine” and “feminine” in the period. The answers may surprise you, especially in terms of the erotic content of a lot of what we’ll study
For your consideration, Christopher Marlowe, 1564-1593, swaggering intellectual, playwright, poet, possible spy, and lover of boys:
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, 1550-1604, excessively fertile and most often cited as the guy who “really” wrote Shakespeare’s plays:
Art and Entertainment
*books in print
Genres:
*prose fiction
*prose non-fiction
*poetry (lyrical and narrative)
*drama
*miscellaneous: music, puppet shows, ritualized entertainments (mummers, morris dances, maypole dances), various forms of public humiliation
400 years: a long time ago, or no time at all?
Now: a family portrait
And some others:
And then:
This portrait is in your Broadview anthology: The Saltonstall Family, 1636-7
The Tongue: a case study
Now(-ish):
Then: George Wither’s Emblem Book 1635. You can view the complete book as well as others at http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/home.htm (main page). Wither's book begins here: http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withea01.htm. Flip forward to the emblem pages. A fullsize version of the flying tongue emblem is here: http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withe042.htm
Further reading / information:
Some info on crime and punishment in the period:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/punishment.htm
On mummers, including some cool pictures of mummers:
http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/textpage.cgi?file=aboutMummers&access=on
On maypoles, see a good version of the maypole dance from the original, far superior Wicker Man film:
For a printer-friendly version of these notes, click here.
***********************************************************************
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth I
6 May 2008
Introductory Lecture
Lecture Outline
*communication
*course outline overview
*whirlwind tour of the 16th century: Elizabeth’s inheritance and legacy
*400 years: a long time ago, or no time at all?
Communication
*email: as noted on the course outline – use smithmk2@gmail.com as a default, since McMaster email is not as reliable as one might like
*course website: link is available via WebCT, or go directly to:
http://elizabethrex.blogspot.com/
For a complete course outline including a print version, see the post before this one.
Course Outline Overview
Key points for future reference:
*If for any reason you can't reach me at the McMaster email address, don't hesitate to use the gmail account. Or, just use the gmail account anyway.
*Re: assignments: watch in the next few days for details on the workshop topics you'll be able to choose from. I'll post them online and bring a signup sheet to class. The details of the assignment will be configured in a way that's appropriate for our relatively small class size. If there are people in the class with which you definitely want to work, let me know now.
*I will also try to post term 1 essay topics ASAP.
Whirlwind Tour of the 16th Century: Elizabeth’s Inheritance and Legacy
Protestant Reformation
*A timeline can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_English_Reformation
Note I advise using wikipedia with caution. It can be cheesy and/or wrong at times, but it can also be a useful way to access more in-depth materials. The timeline I'm linking to here is okay.
*Major break between Henry VIII and the Catholic Church, 1533-35
*Made more plausible by the existence of an alternative to Catholicism with the European Protestant Reformation, begun by Marin Luther in 1517 with his protest document, the Ninety-Five Theses
*Edward VI becomes King after Henry VIII’s death, 1547 at age nine; rules 1547 until his death on 6 July 1553; under Edward, Protestantism becomes more confirmed with the establishment of the Book of Common Prayer (which we’ll read a bit about on May 15)
*Lady Jane Grey (the Nine Days Queen), daughter of the younger sister of Henry VIII, succeeds to the throne; is executed nine days later when support for her rule erodes
*Mary I (“Bloody Mary”) gains the throne; restores Catholicism and persecutes prominent Protestants
*17 November 1558, Mary dies at age 42; Elizabeth I, her younger sister, takes the throne, restores Protestantism with some modifications (lesser penalties for dissenters, maintenance of some elements of Catholic church hierarchy and ceremony – see Broadview intro pages XLIX-L)
*Elizabeth rules for the next 45 years, until 1603
Tenents of (English 16th Century) Protestantism
*a greater emphasis on the individual’s relationship with God and the Bible
*a de-emphasis of the role of clergy in mediating the relationship with God
*a focus on the trinity rather than on the Saints and auxiliary figures (especially Mary)
*the belief that most church decorations are “idols” and need to be removed in order to bring the focus back to God
*in the Eucharist ritual, a belief that the bread and wine are not literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ, but are signs or symbols or contain the spirit of Christ
*a strong emphasis on the fallen nature of humanity (i.e., original sin)
*the focus on original sin as the cause of most human problems, including illness
*in some versions (esp. Calvinism) a belief in predestination, meaning God decides whether you are going to go to hell or heaven
*therefore, the individual does not control his or her fate
*in this model, sinful behaviour or good works are a sign or symptom of the direction the person is going to go, but don’t cause the person to go to hell or heaven
Humanism
*Another thread within 16th century culture, strongly linked to the concept of the “Renaissance” *the rediscovery and close reading of classical texts (ancient Greek and Roman) placed an emphasis on the human capacity to rationally explore the world around us
*an emphasis on beauty, truth, the value of the liberal arts (poetry, painting, sculpture, music, grammar, rhetoric, history, oratory); the potential for good or evil as inherent in humanity; at its extreme in the classical period, humanism led at least one major philosopher to reject the notion of original sin (Pelagius, 354 AD-440-ish)
Economy
*a movement from the country to urban centres, especially London, driven by the practice of “enclosure”
*a dramatic increase in the urban poor
*the rise of the middle class, and a precursor to the modern concept of banking
Exterior Exploration/Colonization
*colonization begins at home: during the period we’ll study, England continued to try to dominate Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, with varying success
*foundation of colonies in North America (esp. Virginia, which we’ll read about in more detail in June)
*a question: given that Britain later became the most successful empire on the planet (i.e., “the sun never sets on the British empire), was this dominance determined by her early policies and attitudes toward her colonies, or could it have gone another way?
Gender
*all over the map
*cardinal rule number one when dealing with issues of gender and power in this period: class is often if not always a greater determinant of power than gender. While the period is incredibly misogynist, generally speaking much less power came along with being a lower-class woman or man than an upper-class woman
*with Protestantism, a greater emphasis on marriage over chastity
*simultaneously, the emphasis on the direct relationship between God and the individual enables some women to step forward to speak directly about their faith; some women become prophets – although traditionally there have always been women saints and martyrs
*Queen Elizabeth herself occupies a peculiar, perhaps completely unique space on the gender map
See especially the Clopton portrait, circa 1560, where she appears dressed more as a scholar than a feminine woman (contrast to the miniature portrait from approximately the same era, above)
For reference, a picture of Erasmus, a well-known Dutch humanist scholar, painted in 1523:
*during the 16th century, the seeds are sown for women to begin to speak back to their oppression in more direct ways, resulting in something called the “woman controversy” an early 17th-century pamphlet war
*forms of gender as always generated exceptional people, like Moll Cutpurse, a famous cross-dressing woman / drag king who emerged from the London underworld in the early 1600s
Her years were 1584-1659; she is the main character of a play about her called The Roaring Girl by Thomas Dekker, in which she unites a couple who is being prevented from marrying by the man’s father.
*a good practice is to try to see the gender landscape, like every other conceptual landscape of the period, as foreign to our own, and try to remap your ideas of what is “masculine” and “feminine” in the period. The answers may surprise you, especially in terms of the erotic content of a lot of what we’ll study
For your consideration, Christopher Marlowe, 1564-1593, swaggering intellectual, playwright, poet, possible spy, and lover of boys:
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, 1550-1604, excessively fertile and most often cited as the guy who “really” wrote Shakespeare’s plays:
Art and Entertainment
*books in print
Genres:
*prose fiction
*prose non-fiction
*poetry (lyrical and narrative)
*drama
*miscellaneous: music, puppet shows, ritualized entertainments (mummers, morris dances, maypole dances), various forms of public humiliation
400 years: a long time ago, or no time at all?
Now: a family portrait
And some others:
And then:
This portrait is in your Broadview anthology: The Saltonstall Family, 1636-7
The Tongue: a case study
Now(-ish):
Then: George Wither’s Emblem Book 1635. You can view the complete book as well as others at http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/home.htm (main page). Wither's book begins here: http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withea01.htm. Flip forward to the emblem pages. A fullsize version of the flying tongue emblem is here: http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/withe042.htm
Further reading / information:
Some info on crime and punishment in the period:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/punishment.htm
On mummers, including some cool pictures of mummers:
http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/textpage.cgi?file=aboutMummers&access=on
On maypoles, see a good version of the maypole dance from the original, far superior Wicker Man film:
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