British Lit / Test Two Review
Essay Questions 1. The genre of “The Fairie Queen” is a romantic epic. Epic poetry is the highest form of poetry; long and episodic. It is a narrative that contains many adventures, a central character, journey to hell, gods and goddesses, and it starts in the middle (in medias res). The Fairie Queen is allegorical of the Protestant Reformation. It contains many biblical allusions supporting the Protestant faith and criticizing Catholicism. It is written in Spenserian stanza, stanzas of nine iambic lines; the first eight are pentameters and the ninth is hexameter with the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc.

2. The term Renaissance translates into “rebirth”. This was a great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe; marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world. The Renaissance began in Europe around 1390; this was around the same time of the Canterbury Tales. The Renaissance did not begin in England until1485. It was so late coming to England because of the civil war due to the “power struggle” between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. This Civil War was called the War of the Roses. The two houses fought until they killed each other off and in 1485, King Henry took crown and this was the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty. England finally had a level of peace allowing its people to acknowledge and then take part in this renewal of life, vigor, and interest.

3. The difference in doctrine between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism is particularly that Catholics believe that once you are saved you can go to heaven, even if you are saved moments upon death. The Protestants strongly disagree and argue that the only way to be redeemed is through having faith, not through Catholic indulgences and the Catholic priest, etc. Protestants believed that the Catholics’ views that were not in the bible were wrong and that a true church is a church when Jesus was alive.

4. Thomas Wyatt had many contributions to the sonnet tradition. Wyatt was a translator of Francis Petrarch. Petrarch wrote “El Camzonere” (little sonnets). Sonnets are fourteen lines long. The first eight lines start an issue and the last six solve it. A sonnet sequence is a series of sonnets, if read in order, could be a story, typically of an unrequited love affair. This book defined romantic love. This was huge! When Wyatt found “Le Camzonere” and brought it back to England, it began a sonnet craze. It was he who introduced the Italian sonnet to England and because of him these Petrarchan love conventions is what we look for still today.

5. Holiness is the first moral virtue in Spencer’s epic “The Fairie Queen”. Spencer teachers him reader of this virtue in many different ways. One example is when The Red Cross Knight, Una, and the dwarf are on their journey to save her parents. It begins to rain so they seek shelter in a nearby wood. The three becoming caught up in the beauty of the trees, they get lost. There are many paths. This is the Wandering Wood (symbolic of the Roman Catholic Church). So, attempting to find the way out, they chose the path most travelled. This path leads them to a cave, The Cave of Error. The Red Cross Knight bravely enters the cave and defeats the evil Error. This defeat is symbolic of Protestantism reigning over Catholicism. The Red Cross Knight embodies holiness because he put on the armor (of God) and fought for his belief (Protestantism). He took action when evil came.

6. Edmund Spenser wrote a letter to Sir Walter Raleigh called “Letter to the Authors.” In this letter of dedication Spenser explained what he wanted to do in “The Fairie Queen.” He explained that the epic is meant to be an allegory, otherwise a conceit. A conceit is an extended metaphor and when examining “The Fairie Queen” this conceit is particularly a statement on the Protestant Revolution. Spenser disguises this proclamation as a “courtesy book,” showing the reader(s) what a real gentlemen is like. He does this through historical fiction, particularly Kind Arthur as his model. Spenser also wanted it to be an epic, the first epic poem in the Christian era. His plan was to have twelve books each to exemplify a moral virtue, though he only completed six books.

7. When Edmund Spenser wrote “The Fairie Queen” he deliberately used archaic (outdated) vocabulary and spelling. He did this because it is a romance. He wanted it to have the romantic era feel. It is no coincidence that this story sounds like it was written in Chaucer’s time. “A lovely Ladie rode him faire beside, Upon a lowly Asse more white than snow, Yet she much whiter, but the same did hide…” (Lines 28 and 29). This is an example of the use of archaic. It was written around 1590 but shockingly this vocabulary and spelling is of the 1300’s.

8. The levels of meaning of canto one of FQ begins with the first level, a fairy tale. At first glance you would think this is a basic fairy tale of a mystical Fairie Queen, a knight, and a damsel in distress. Then looking in on the content you began to see the second level of meaning. This story is allegorical for Protestantism and Catholicism, more so the religious battle between. Spencer was Anglican so he was Pro-Protestantism. He showed the reader many ways Catholicism was wrong. The third level comes from the “Letter to the Authors”. In this letter he is describing the Fairie Queen and uses Queen Elizabeth as an example. This was a symbol of deep regard from Spenser and from her people.

9. In “The Faire Queen” Canto 1 there are many biblical allusions. What is first noticed is the Knight’s armor. Spenser tells us that the armor is dented and worn and that his shield contains a red cross. Bloody red crosses were common uniform of the Crusaders, so we can assume that the armor and knight is symbolic of yet another religious “war”. The dragon holding Una’s parents captive is symbolic of the Roman Catholic Church. Una’s parents are allegorical for the Church during Christ’s time and Una (Meaning “One”) symbolizes the Church of England. It makes sense because Una (Church of England) is trying to save her Parents (Church in Christ’s time); but her parents are being held captive by the evil dragon (Roman Catholic Church). The lamb is the symbol for Christ; pure. The Dwarf can be symbolic of the people in this time period who do not take their religion seriously. The Cave of Error and Error himself is symbolic of the “big bad evil” Catholic Church.

10. Metaphysical poets are called so for a number of reasons. Metaphysical means philosopher. Its poets, John Donne and George Herbert, used conceits that were particularly from the sciences, like Alchemy and Geometry. They were unconventional in the many different forms they used. The people who read their work had to develop a taste for it. Because it used educated thought, people didn’t understand. Later, these two poets became extremely influential and are thought of the most brilliant minds in that era.

11. Metaphysical poetry was unconventional in the way that a wide variety of forms were used.

12. In “The Flea” by John Donne a girl is denying him sex. He is attempting to convince her to do so. He uses an example of a flea and says things like, If our blood is mingled in the flea and we have already had this exchange of bodily fluids then we practically already had sex, so we should do it. This is also an example of specious logic (false logic). It appears that she begins to fall for this reasoning and then, unexpectedly she attempts to swat the flea and Donne stop her and says that the flea is three, if you kill it you are also killing you and me. She appears as if she has enough and kills the flea. Donne still attempts to convince her with more specious logic.

13. One form of poetry the Metaphysical poets used was concrete (shaped) poetry. This was when the poet would arrange the words in the poem into a certain shape symbolizing the core of the poem. The shaped poem was called an emblem. An emblem is something used for a didactive purpose, usually pertaining to religion.

14. One poet particularly used this form, George Hebert. In “The Altar” the poem is shaped like an altar, this is an emblem (a didactive device). The poem is about the rebuilding of an altar in a ruined temple. Altars supposedly were not meant to be cemented together, but the emblem was. The poem was also of his heart and how he yearned for God. The emblem contained a crack at the word “heart” meaning a broken heart in he mentions his heart is of stone. This means he is far from God. Another poem, “Easter Wings” the emblem is shaped like wings, representing the angel who said Jesus went to Heaven. The words expand and compress at certain sentences. Where he says, “Soul can fly to heaven” In the emblem this shows the wings expanding.

15. A metaphysical conceit is an extended metaphor in which it is with and knowledge drawn from the early sciences, like alchemy, geometry, astronomy, etc. Donne and Herbert are two famous poets of this era. Donne’s poem contains startling images and playful intelligence expressed through puns and paradoxes. The most famous example of a metaphysical conceit is a simile from John Donne’s poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.” “If they be two, they are two so / As stiff twin compasses are two”. Twin compasses are the two legs of a geometer’s or draftsman’s compass. A more obvious conceit in the same poem, “A breach, but an expansion, / Like gold to airy thinness beat.” The comparison to gold in a more scientific way, as opposed to a “high and mighty” way a Petrarchan conceit would use the comparison of “gold.”

16. Herbert’s poetry is distinctly metaphysical because of the forms he uses. He seemed to be keen on using emblems; like in “Easter Wings” the shape of the poem represented wings. The lines either increased or decreased symbolizing flight. One reference to the “sciences” is also in “Easter Wings” when he says, “For, if I imp my wing on thine”. Imping referencing falconry where one would insert feathers into a bird’s wing during flight training on birds.

17. Donne with “The Flea” used specious logic to justify having pre-marital sex. He did this with specious logic with a flea and how he envies it for its’ liberties to do as it may with his lover’s body. “And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; / Though knowst that this cannot be said / A sin, a shame, or loss of maidenhead,” he is pretty much saying that since the bodily fluids have already been exchanged then she has already lost her virginity to him because what is sex, than just an exchange of bodily fluids? In Andrew Marvel’s “Coy Mistress” he also used special logic to justify pre-marital sex; except with different motives. Marvel’s main point in this poem is carpe diem. Its entirety is based on seizing the day. His specious logic is dealt with comparing time to tangible objects, “But at my back I always hear / Times winged chariot hurrying near; “ and “Thus, though, we cannot make our sun, / stand still. Yet we will make him run.” They both exemplify time rushing away for the greater justification for his mistress to sleep with him because they’re bodies (life) is running out of time.

18. Cavaliers were the followers of King Charles I who embodied everything that a chivalric knight would. These Cavalier soldiers (supporters) thought that the notion of Cavalier Knighthood was of most importance. The knights were to have honor and loyalty to the King and the regime. Be brave and have good wits. They were to be capable of writing love poetry. These qualities helped them to live “the good life.” It reflected in their poetry because majority of the poetry is to seduce women, like John Suckling (a Libertine). Suckling didn’t want love, just sex. He wrote the Anacreontic poem “Why So Pale and Wan” to address a man who is heartbroken. He explains to this man to just “let the devil take her,” which is very Anti-Petrarchan.

19. Cavalier poetry was high on “classicism.” This was appealing because of the widely taught classical ideals. The ideals contained striving for “vita bona” (the good life). This influenced the Cavaliers in many ways. One way was that poetry should be useful and entertaining (“dulche et utile”). Because of this, most poetry of this era was Anacreontic for no more purpose than to entertain. Another quality was that poetry should have a sense of “decorum” or appropriateness. This upheld the “Hierarchy of Genres” which places the different types of poetry into levels based on importance of subject matter. This puts the epic at the top, then the ode, elegy, epitaph, invitation, sonnet and last but not least the Anacreon. Also another contribution was the rebirth of the ode. This came from Pendarich which was used for Olympic Games. It was written in triads or three parts. In “To the Immortal Memory” by Ben Jonson; it was the turn, the counterturn, and the stand. All of the different turns are identical. The three turns were repeated in three and the topics were always very serious.

20. The difference between Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry was mainly due to the time period. Metaphysical poetry was writing around the time of the Renaissance and the Cavalier poetry was writing in the time of the Enlightment. The difference between these two eras and more importantly its’ works was that the Renaissance (Cavaliers) main source of authority came from the bible as opposed to the Enlightment’s (Metaphysical’s) authority came from the sciences. The Enlightment was based on verifying knowledge. Because of this shift in authority writings went from being religious to more scientific.