Examiners report 2012

Transcription

1 Examiners report 2012 EN3030, 033 E030 Renaissance and Restoration Advice to candidates on how Examiners calculate marks It is important that candidates recognise that in all papers, three questions should be answered in order to get the best possible mark (ensuring that the rubric for the paper has been followed accordingly). Examiners follow a simple mathematical formula when awarding a final overall mark: they give each answer a mark out of 100 (up to three answers only, as required by the exam paper); they then total all available marks; and finally divide the total by three, thus giving an average overall mark. So, if your first answer is given 57%, your second answer is given 56%, and your third answer 50%, then the calculation will look like this: = = 54.3 Overall mark: 54% Two good essays and no third essay will always bring the mark down. So, if in the example above a third answer was not given, the calculation would look like this: = = 37.6 Overall mark: 38% In this case, even if the candidate had written a poor third answer getting a mark of 40% their overall mark would be higher than not attempting an answer at all: = = 51 Overall mark: 51% Note in the example above how the 40% mark, while low, still enables the candidate to achieve an overall mark in the Lower Second category, which is in keeping with their first two marks of 57% and 56%. Not answering a third question would see the candidate lose considerable marks and drop two whole classes. It could also mean the difference between a pass and a fail. Candidates are thus strongly advised to give equal attention across the paper, plan their time accordingly, and attempt to provide three answers of roughly the same length and as full as possible. Candidates are also reminded that it is totally unnecessary to copy out the question again into the answer book; a question number in the margin is sufficient enough, and this will also save valuable minutes. 1

2 033 E030 Renaissance and Restoration General remarks This course offers an opportunity to consider a variety of authors in a number of literary forms from a given period. Evidence of independent thought is welcomed and a familiarity with secondary sources and the historical background is also expected. A good examination answer will offer a structured and informed argument in which a series of well-supported points are made. Relevant historical contextualising is welcome but it must enhance the reading of the given text and offer a critical insight into the literary work discussed. I would particularly emphasise that answers for Section A should remain relevant to the chosen extract and give a close reading of the text; digressions and generalised discussions of the period with only a slight relevance to the extract will not gain high marks. Candidates are reminded that it is important to attempt answers from all three sections of the paper; if a candidate only provides two answers, a third of the potential marks will be lost. Comments on specific questions 2 Section A Please refer to the examination paper for the questions for Section A of this examination paper. Extract A This extract from Edmund Spenser s Epithlamion celebrates the poet s wedding night. Like much Classical and Petrarchan poetry, it is rich with references to the Roman gods and anticipates a sexual encounter. But Spenser s poem concerns a sexual relationship within marriage, the sacred laws of wedlock, and the hope for children. This contrasts with Classical love poetry where the lovers are usually unmarried and Petrarchan poetry, which evokes unattainable women and sometimes adulterous desires. The more sexually explicit lines put an emphasis on conception rather than only on pleasure: the chast wombe informe with timely seed, That may our comfort breed. The womb is chaste so the husband need have no fear that he will not be the father of his wife s children, an important consideration in a patriarchal society where marriage concerns the continuing of the family line and the distribution of wealth. The sexual act is simultaneously natural and divine; it is timely according to the laws of custom and nature and divine because the gods will protect the bride in childbirth. Paradoxically, Spenser uses a lot of art to celebrate nature; the first stanza begins with two rhetorical questions which create a dramatic situation. It continues with a prayer to a pagan goddess from a devoutly Christian poet (this duality of faith is frequently found in Renaissance poetry). The second stanza is largely dedicated to Juno, the goddess of marriage, rather than her husband Jupiter who was famous for his adulterous adventures. It prays to her for a happy marriage blessed with fruitful progeny. All the goddesses mentioned are addressed in the second person, creating the dramatic illusion that the poet is directly speaking to them. The refrain at the end of each stanza evokes a pastoral world of woods and echoes and asks for time to be suspended briefly, as if there were a pause between a shout and its echo, for the wedding night. Extract B This passage is from the beginning of Christopher Marlowe s Edward II. Gaveston enters reading a letter from Edward telling of his father s death and begging for his friend s return. The previous king had evidently disapproved of the relationship between the two young men and exiled Gaveston, who has now returned to London from France. Much of the passage indirectly

3 suggests the reasons why the dead king might have been troubled by his son s dearest friend and anticipates the conflicts which will lead to Edward s downfall. Gaveston describes the letter as amorous and identifies himself with the dying Classical lover Leander gasping in his beloved s arms. He wants to die on the King s bosom. Applied to his relationship with Edward, this image of gasping and dying is homoerotic; the two men are lovers. Gaveston moves from his love to Edward to his contempt for everyone else. He will no longer stoop to the lordly peers, he dislikes the multitude in the embers of their poverty and does not particularly like London. In return, he will soon be hated by the aristocracy, the poor people and Londoners. The peers, alarmed at the influence of the king s favourite, will rebel and bring about his death. The King, on whom he depends, will take another favourite. The extract abruptly changes tone with the introduction of three poor men. This creates an allegorical situation ironically recalling the judgement of Paris. Like Paris, Gaveston is invited to choose between three people and he makes the wrong choice. Rather than selecting the soldier who has fought for his country, he selects a traveller who will entertain him. Gaveston prioritises pleasure over good government. The extract finishes with the soldier s curse on Gaveston, which will be fulfilled. Extract C This passage gives a curious account of the death of the Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham had been James I s lover and was also Charles favourite. It was rumoured that the two younger men had murdered James and Buckingham was extremely unpopular. To Charles annoyance, John Felton became something of a national hero by murdering the Duke. This account offers a strange blend of journalistically precise details and implausible confusions. Buckingham is stabbed in the left breast, he takes three step and his last words are given. Oglander makes a note of the exact time and place. As a Royalist, he sympathetically notes Buckingham s happiness at the news of the relief of an English garrison. Oglander s factual tone anticipates that of the eighteenth century newspapers. But his account raises some questions. The Duke s secretary, Nicholas, is the only person who directly witnesses the murder but he misidentifies the assassin as a French broad-faced, black man, while the suggestion that the killer mistook the word French for Felton is unconvincing. Felton s confession that he committed his crime to free his country sounds like a boast of patriotism. Nicholas, Felton and perhaps Oglander himself make declarations which seem incompatible with a wholehearted condemnation of the murder. Extract D John Donne s sonnet adopts the language of the Petrarchan love sonnet and applies it to God. He discusses the condition of his heart, declares that dearly I love you and, most daringly, asks in the final line to be ravished by God. The governing metaphor of the sonnet equates the narrator and his heart with a usurpt town captured by an enemy. Donne appeals to God for rescue from this enemy, presumably Satan, even at the cost of great violence while God s forces re-conquer the town. The concluding line refers to invading soldiers raping the women of the town during the conquest and allows for a series of paradoxes: the narrator is married to Satan so God must sanctify a divorce, he will only be free if he is imprisoned by God and he will never be chaste (sexually irreproachable) unless he is ravished by God. Donne may have one of Sir Philip Sidney s sonnets from Astrophel and Stella in mind, in which Astrophel is seen as a garrison invaded by Stella s forces but Donne increases the violence of the image by piling up verbs (batter, force, break, burn, labour, divorce, untie, imprison, ravish). The poem begins with a brutal imperative, 3

4 033 E030 Renaissance and Restoration 4 Batter my heart, and suggests a masochistic relationship with God, in which the narrator pleads for humiliation as a means to salvation. Extract E This extract from the Restoration Comedy The Plain Dealer contains a pointed example of social hypocrisy. Olivia and Novel, in the first half of the passage, indulge in railing, the practice of trying to outdo each other in their excessive condemnations of a particular person or practice. In this case their victim is Lord Plausible. Eliza, who offers a contrasting voice of reason and moderation, gives a balanced summary of Plausible as a goodnatured harmless gentleman but her cousin and Novel disagree. Olivia s claim that she hates detraction is ironic she clearly enjoys speaking ill of other people and explains that Plausible s supposed virtues are actually vices. She concludes by claiming that he is my aversion and that she would never allow him further into her house than the hallway. Novel outdoes Olivia s railing by suggesting that if he ever saw Plausible in Olivia s rooms he would kick him down the stairs. Plausible immediately arrives and Novel greets him with extreme politeness. Plausible s own remarks reveal that he has come at Olivia s particular invitation. Eliza in an aside (a theatrical convention by which a character addresses the audience without being heard by the other characters) ironically points out the gap between how Olivia and Novel claimed they would behave and what they actually do. The title of this play, The Plain Dealer, suggests that the contrast between honesty (plain dealing) and deceit is an important concern for Wycherley. Novel and Olivia behave hypocritically in this extract while Eliza comments on their hypocrisy. Olivia s suggestion that Plausible s good nature is the product of complacency or self-love ( he is never dissatisfied with himself ) may be true or it may be an unfounded and spiteful remark but it also introduces the theme of selfdeception. Extract F Sir John Suckling s Song is a lightly ironic poem, which subverts Petrarchan declarations of eternal love. The narrator boasts that he has been in love for three days and might possibly stay in love for another three days. He regards six days of fidelity as an exceptionally long period and sees himself as a constant lover. The easy movement of the ballad stanzas, with a pause after every second line, convey the narrator s facile attitude. Suckling does, however, give the poem some depth with his reference to a personified Time, suggesting that even the most faithful love is subject to the brevity of life. The narrator s claim that Had it any been but she and the dramatic gesture of indicating that very face as if the woman is present seem to indicate that the woman is more exceptional than the narrator allows himself consciously to realise. Almost defiantly the narrator ends by making a hyperbolic boast of his virility, he would have loved a dozen dozen women in the last three days had he never encountered this woman. The tone and the attitudes of the poem anticipate the portrayal of libertines in Restoration comedy. Dorimant in The Man of Mode is fond of quoting Suckling s poetry. Extract G Jeremy Collier s condemnation of Restoration drama is argued with considerable rhetorical force and skill. He uses paradoxes ( A fine gentleman is a fine whoring, swearing, smutty, athiestical man ), frequent rhetorical questions and irony (the ideal gentleman is so brainless that his head was only made to run against a post! ) to make his points. Unlike the Puritans who would never visit the theatre, Collier appears to know the conventions of Restoration comedy well. He is correct in his claims that The rich citizens are often misers and cuckolds and that a character such as Horner in The Country

5 Section B Wife talks smut to the ladies, speaks ill of his friend behind his back, and betrays his interest. Collier also accurately notes the concern with libertinism, idleness and gallantry. He appears to have two major objections to the stage. The first concerns a disrespectful treatment of religious subjects; he condemns profaneness, complains that on the stage religion grows uncreditable and passes for ill-education and notes that Restoration dialogue sometimes burlesques the Bible. Given that Restoration comedy embodies a reaction against the puritan Commonwealth and that overtly pious characters were almost always treated as hypocrites, Collier s claim has some validity. The rise of athiestical free thought associated with libertinism also supports his view. Collier s second major objection is derived from Plato s argument that witnessing evil deeds on the stage encourages the audience to imitate those actions. Collier believes that the audience is corrupted by the apparently favourable portrayal of vice on the stage and that we are encouraged into vice by these examples. Unlike the Puritans, he does not object to the theatre as an art form, his objection is specifically against plays that do not make a clear distinction between good actions, which should be praised, and evil ones, which should be unambiguously condemned. Answer ONE question. Question 2 Are the love poems of this period primarily about love? Discuss the love poetry of one author of the period. Arguably the love poems of this period are often concerned with other issues besides love. Sir Philip Sidney s Astrophel and Stella has more to reveal about Astrophel s courtly accomplishments than Stella s character; the sequence is sometimes seen as an indirect promotion of Sidney s abilities to the Queen. John Donne s love poetry explores the uses of wit and sustained argument, while John Wilmot s love poems with their elegant obscenities are intended to be read and enjoyed by his fellow libertines. Question 3 Our ill deeds do not bring upon us so much persecution and hatred as our good qualities (LA ROCHEFOUCAULD). Discuss how one author of the period depicts the persecution of virtuous people. The persecution of virtue is frequently seen in the plays of the period. Marlowe often portrays this persecution from the point of view of the aggressor and simultaneously questions the virtue of the victims. Tamburlaine and Barabas in The Jew of Malta both massacre innocents but innocence in Marlowe often seems interchangeable with complacency and stupidity. Jacobean playwrights such as John Webster and Thomas Middleton are concerned with both the persecution and corruption of virtue. The Duchess of Malfi suffers a prolonged persecution, including psychological torture at the hands of her brother. John Vanbrugh s Restoration comedy The Relapse offers a portrayal of the persecution of Amanda and her final, dubious victory. Works with a strong religious or moral intent also concern the persecution of virtue. The Faerie Queene, Paradise Lost and The Pilgrim s Progress share a central assumption that virtue will be persecuted and that there is no refuge for the virtuous except in religious faith. 5

6 033 E030 Renaissance and Restoration Question 4 How important is autobiography to one author of the period? Arguably autobiography becomes increasingly important during this period. Sir Philip Sidney offers a disguised account of his feelings for Lady Rich in Astrophel and Stella and even puns on the name Rich. Christopher Marlowe returns to the theme of homoerotic love repeatedly in his poems and plays and might be seen as a pioneer in the attempt to create a Queer identity. Mary Wroth s works comment obliquely on her role as an aristocratic woman in early Stuart England. With the Restoration, the autobiographical aspect of literary works becomes more conspicuous. John Wilmot enjoys a certain celebrity as a libertine poet writing about his reckless lifestyle, Samuel Pepys writes his diary and John Bunyan uses his autobiographical experiences to record his struggle with religious faith. Aphra Behn adapts the conventions of Restoration comedy to comment on marriage from a woman s perspective and her semi-autobiographical novels are read and imitated by other women. The period ends with Catherine Trotter and Mary Delariver Manley extending Behn s autobiographical legacy in different ways. Question 5 Discuss how one author of the period treats the conflict between the state and the individual. Marlowe s over-reachers are all in conflict with the norms of the state. Perhaps Barabas offers the most extreme example of an outsider while Dr Faustus sides with Satan against Christianity. The Duchess of Malfi and Beatrice-Joanna in Middleton s The Changeling are, in different ways, women whose desires run counter to the expectations of the state concerning marriage. Libertine poets and playwrights such as John Wilmot and George Etherege question the values of a state formed around property and marriage. Aphra Behn gives this questioning a feminist perspective and Thomas Otway s Venice Preserved argues that both the status quo and any likely revolution would be unlikely to better the condition of most individuals. Paradise Lost offers a particularly stark contrast between Satan and a state which is almost indivisible from God s will. Question 6 Discuss how one writer of the period explores the theme of transformation and/or mutability. Given their concern with Classical precedents, transformation and mutability were of extreme importance to Renaissance and Restoration authors. Why did empires such as the Roman empire rise and fall? Ovid had regarded transformation as central to existence in his poem Metamorphoses and his influence was pervasive. Edmund Spenser s Faerie Queene is greatly concerned with transformations and false appearances, and the brevity and changeability of human life. Spenser argues that the only stability is found in Christianity. Marlowe s Tamburlaine concerns the creation and destruction of empires while Dido, Queen of Carthage takes place in the aftermath of the fall of Troy; Aeneas is still in shock over the destruction of a supposedly eternal city. Paradise Lost both takes a long view of the transformations of human history and chronicles Satan s various transformations as he declines from an Archangel into a snake. Sir Thomas More s Utopia questions whether an unchanging socity founded on reason could be possible. Restoration authors are often concerned with the brevity of time and changeability of fashion; the fickleness of deep passions is almost taken for granted. 6

7 Question 7 I could never look long upon a monkey without very mortifying reflections (WILLIAM CONGREVE). Discuss how one author of the period questions human values and/or achievements. In some ways this question might be approached in a similar spirit to the previous one. If everything in the world is changeable, human values and achievements count for little unless they are derived for God. A central metaphor to George Herbert s The Temple is an architectural one: the temple must be built on the firm foundation of religious faith. John Donne in his Holy Sonnets and Thomas Traherne s poems give this perception a more personal dimension, desiring a direct union with God. Humanist authors, however, allow to mankind s achievements some independent value. Sir Thomas More at least presents the possibility that humans might create a perfectly just state and John Dryden argues that certain achievements from a well-made poem to a beautiful piece of music are good in themselves. Satirists are inclined to see humans as something close to Congreve s monkey, acting out of basic appetites for food, power and sex, while persuading themselves that they have higher motives. Marlowe s The Jew of Malta, with its cast of self-centred characters, and John Wilmot s A satire Against Reason and Mankind arguably express this view. Question 8 Discuss how one author of the period depicts the theme of scientific progress and/or forbidden knowledge. Scientific progress and forbidden knowledge often overlap in Renaissance texts. Faustus fruitlessly asks Mephistophilis for scientific information after signing the pact. Milton claims that the devils invented many innovations in warfare in their conflict with the angels. Sir Thomas More s Utopia attempts to dispense with the idea of forbidden knowledge, imagining a society governed by rational principles in which even ideas of sexual modesty are discarded. Thomas Shadwell s The Virtuoso, conversely, satirises many of the scientific experiments conducted by the Royal Society and Aphra Behn s Oroonoko reveals a curiosity about different civilisations and cultural values. Section C Answer ONE question. Answers in this section should discuss works by AT LEAST TWO different authors. Question 9 Consider how two authors of this period treat the theme of a journey to foreign and/or distant lands. Imaginary travel narratives such as More s Utopia and Sir Francis Bacon s New Atlantis parodied contemporary explorers tales. Behn s Oroonoko and her play The Widow Ranter depict colonial societies. The Faerie Queene and The Pilgrim s Progress chronicle travels through countries that are simultaneously England and fictional lands. The journeys the heroes undertake are both spiritual ones of self improvement and geographical ones between destinations. Question 10 Consider how two authors of the period treat explicitly Christian and/or Biblical themes. Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes and Dr Faustus are all narratives that deal with explicitly Christian themes and values. Poets such as John Donne, George Herbert and Henry Vaughan deal with the individual s relationship with God. The Faerie Queene and The Pilgrim s Progress treat Christian themes in an allegorical manner. Revenge tragedies such as Hamlet and The Spanish Tragedy present an intriguing conflict of Christian and pagan values and portray 7

8 033 E030 Renaissance and Restoration heroes who are unwilling to adopt the Christian imperative of turning the other cheek. Question 11 Discuss how two authors of the period explores one or more of the following themes: hypocrisy; disguises; false appearances Hypocrisy, disguises and false appearances are perhaps particularly apt themes in plays, in which acting itself is a kind of false appearance. Some plays such as The Spanish Tragedy and Women Beware Women use plays within plays to empathise themes of duplicity and hypocrisy. Restoration comedies often take as a starting point the idea that it is necessary to present a false appearance to society. The Country Wife in particular explores the gap between a person s social reputation and their actual behaviour. Arguably, Paradise Lost depicts Satan as the arch hypocrite who transforms himself repeatedly until God compels him to transform periodically into a snake. Utopia by contrast evokes a society in which false appearances are almost impossible. This principle is taken to the point where betrothed couples see each other naked before getting married. Question 12 Discuss the use of supernatural and/or dream imagery in the work of two authors of the period. Revenge tragedies such as Hamlet, The Spanish Tragedy and The Duchess of Malfi all involve, in one way or another, voices from beyond the grave. The Pilgrim s Progress follows the ancient custom of presenting narrative as a dream. Satires such as Dryden s MacFlecknoe claim to be dreams or visions. The Faerie Queene equates supernatural characters such as wizards and dragons with spiritual vices. Thomas Otway s The Orphan offers a claustrophobic vision in which characters are often motivated by dreams. Question 13 Discuss the importance of large social gatherings (for example, dances, public banquets, court scenes, theatrical performances) in the work of two authors of the period. Large social gatherings often give gravity and formality to fictional events. King Lear divides his country during a court scene, Hieronimo exacts his revenge in The Spanish Tragedy during a play within a play in view of the full court and Middleton s Women Beware Women offers a similar climax. Milton s Paradise Lost begins with a parliament of the devils in which the fallen angels reveal their individual characters. Question 14 Discuss the depiction of treachery in the work of two authors of the period. Paradise Lost offers the first betrayal with Satan s revolt against God. Machiavelli s The Prince argues that a successful leader must be prepared to betray his rivals and, occasionally, his followers. Marlowe s Edward II and Barabas from The Jew of Malta are both ultimately betrayed. In Barabas s case the treacheries are multiple. Revenge tragedies often involve an initial betrayal of loyalty; Horatio in The Spanish Tragedy is betrayed by his supposed allies and the Duchess of Malfi is betrayed by Bosola. Restoration comedies offer treachery on a smaller scale. Supposedly good friends, such as Mirabell and Fainall in The Way of the World, show an eagerness to betray each other and young wives routinely betray their old husbands. 8

9 Question 15 Thomas Babington Macaulay described the Restoration playwright as the mouthpiece of the most deeply corrupted part of a corrupted society. How far do you agree with this view? Discuss with reference to the work of two Restoration playwrights. Restoration plays often depict forms of social corruption. Hypocrisy is commonplace, adulterous affairs also frequently occur and the threat of physical violence is often present. Wycherley s The Country Wife contains all three elements. Congreve s The Way of the World is less explicit about physical violence but Mirabell s superiority over Fainall arguably derives from his greater deviousness. Literal and metaphorical prostitution is also commonplace, from Angelica s appearance as a courtesan in The Rover to the women who marry for money in Otway s The Soldiers Fortune and Vanbrugh s The Provoked Wife. Macaulay s assumption that the Restoration playwright is simply the mouthpiece of this corruption and completely approves of it might be questioned. Perhaps some playwrights are criticising or satirising the behaviour of their characters. 9