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According to Latest Syllabus
Read For Sure Success
In University Examination
RATAN
TEXT BOOK
SHAKESPEARE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES
M.A.English (Sem-I)
Dr. Sameer Bansal
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INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE: SHAKESPEARE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIESUnit-1 ORIGIN OF DRAMA: AN OVERVIEW
Structure

1.1    Introduction

1.2    Learning Objectives

1.3    Origin of Drama
Self Check Exercise-1

1.4    Earlier Plays
Self Check Exercise-2

1.5    Summary

1.6    Glossary

1.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

1.8    References/Suggested Readings

1.9    Terminal Questions

1.1    INTRODUCTION
This course in Renaissance drama introduces you to some of the best plays from the golden age of drama in England. Within the Renaissance period from around 1508 to 1660, the last quarter of the sixteenth century and the first quarter of the seventeenth century (i.e. the years 1576-1625) constitute the golden age of English drama. Doctor Faustus and Twelfth Night from the last decade of the sixteenth century and Volpone and The Tempest from the beginning of the seventeenth century provide a fairly good idea of the rich variety of drama during this period. Doctor Faustus (c. 1593) is a tragedy, Twelfth Night (c. 1601) a romantic comedy, Volpone (1605) a satiric comedy, and The Tempest (1611) a dramatic romance which has some features of tragedy and some of comedy. This lesson briefly describes the drama of ancient Greece and Rome and the medieval mystery and morality plays of England because some of their features are reflected in the plays in your course.

1.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This objective of this unit is to introduce you to the concepts of tragedy, comedy, the three unities, double plot, and type characters—in the context of the influence of ancient classical drama and medieval English mystery and morality plays on the plays prescribed in this course.

1.3    ORIGIN OF DRAMAORIGIN OF GREEK DRAMA: GREEK TRAGEDIES AND THREE UNITIES
In Europe drama emerged in Greece in the sixth century BC out of religious worship. At first a chorus of fifty dancers used to dance vigorously and sing songs in honour of God Dionysus. Then in sixth century BC Thespis introduced an actor who could engage in dialogue with the chorus leader, and thus drama was born in the west. (In India drama had become a fully developed art form by then, as we see in the plays of Bhasa who was a
contemporary of the Buddha; however, before Alexander’s invasion of 326 BC there was no interaction between the Indians and the Greeks.) Later, in the beginning of the fifth century BC, Aeschylus added a second actor and Sophocles a third actor. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were three great writers of tragedies in Greece in the fifth century BC. Their plays were generally based on Greek myths and legends, and usually involved intense suffering but did not always end in death. Often the action of a tragedy involved some terrible act done knowingly or unknowingly by a near and dear one.
Ancient Greek plays usually had only one line of dramatic action, unlike the plays in your course. In the fourth century BC, Aristotle in his Poetics affirmed that a single well-knit plot made a tragedy more effective. A plot consists of a series of events which are interconnected in terms of cause and effect. When a play has only one well-organized line of action, it is said to have unity of action.
In Greek theatre actors wore masks which showed the nature or temperament of the character being represented; so, one actor could play a number of roles at different times in a play. Enacted plays became very popular and drama competitions were held every year. Open-air theatres were built outside towns where hillsides were cut into seats on three sides. The acting area at the base of the hillsides consisted of a slightly raised circular area on which the actors appeared and recited the dialogue. Around this area the chorus danced and chanted from time to time. Over time the size of the chorus was reduced to twelve members. The chorus was made to represent a section of the people of a particular place. When a play began, first of all, the chorus entered and chanted an ode, describing the situation, showing anxiety, etc., and requesting the protagonist to take suitable action. After that there would be some dialogue between the chorus and an actor or among the actors. After some dialogue and action, there would be another choral ode commenting on the main characters’ behaviour or about the developing situation. In this way there would be five segments of dialogue and action, each followed by a choral ode; so there would be six choral odes in all apart from interaction of the chorus with the actors. After the main action of the play was over the chorus would sing and comment on the action or situation of the play or on human life in general; for example, towards the end of Sophocles’ well-known tragedy Oedipus the chorus sings: “None can be called happy until that day when he carries / His happiness down to the grave in peace.” In later drama where there is no chorus of this kind, a character who comments on the behaviour of the protagonists or on the situation, etc., is said to be performing the function of the chorus. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the fool Feste to some extent performs this function. In Doctor Faustus one single actor, called Chorus, comes to the stage at the beginning of the play, at the end of the play, and also twice in between (after Scene 7 and after Scene 10) to perform this function of commenting on the action of the play; in some of the speeches this chorus also describes the situation or sums up the events that are supposed to have happened off stage. In the twentieth century T.S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral (1935), which is in your course in Semester III, has a chorus which functions on the pattern of Greek tragedy and represents the women of Canterbury. Because Greek drama was born out of chorus, even when gradually dialogue became more important than the songs of the chorus, Greek dramatists could not even think of leaving out the chorus. The chorus was present from the beginning till the end of the play, and represented people of a particular place; so, it could not be assumed that they would keep standing at a particular place for years or even days; nor could they be assumed to move from one town to
another along with the protagonists. For this reason, the action of ancient Greek plays tended to be limited to one location and to events of about one day.
In the Renaissance drama there was no such, chorus, so often the action of a play covers many months or years and may even be spread over different countries, as it is in Doctor Faustus which covers events of twenty-four years. Still the action in Ben Jonson’s Volpone and Shakespeare’s The Tempest is limited to one day and one place as in Greek drama. When the action of a play is limited to one day, it is described as unity of time; and when its events are limited to one place (i.e. one town or city as in Twelfth Night and Volpone, or a small island as in The Tempest, or a village etc.), it is described as unity of place. The term ‘the three unities’ refers to the unity of time, place and action
ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN COMEDIES
In the field of comedy, in ancient Greece, towards the end of the fifth century BC Aristophanes wrote powerful and lively satiric comedies. He was critical of the tendencies which he felt were weakening Greece, and especially criticized the continuing warfare between the city states of Greece. He made fun of some contemporary generals by name, holding them responsible for unnecessary suffering of people. This led to a ban on personal attacks in drama. As a result, in his later plays of early fourth century BC the satire became more general. In your course Ben Jonson’s Volpone is a satiric comedy that criticizes self-centred appetites, especially greed, which is seen as a threat to society. Towards the end of the fourth century BC Greek playwright Menander wrote comedies of a different kind, which influenced Roman writers Plautus and Terence of the third and second centuries BC, and became the model for romantic comedies centring on the theme of love. In these comedies also there is a marked element of satire and mockery, especially of those persons and those weaknesses that come in the way of fruition of love in marriage. The stock pattern of action in such comedies is as follows: Two young person’s fall in love, but their love is opposed by some ill-tempered parent or guardian. Sometimes there may also be a villain harassing the young lady. At times the circumstances, such as the difference in the class or social status of the persons in love, come in the way of their marriage. The obstacles in a way test their love, and as their love remains unshaken by the difficulties, in the end the hostile parent or guardian agrees to the marriage. The class difference in the case of some Roman comedies disappears when the young person from a lowerclass is discovered to be the lost child of parents from the upper class. The play ends with the marriage feast and even the villainous characters are forgiven. However, unlike similar plots in Hindi movies and unlike Ferdinand in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest which is in your course, the lover in the comedies of Menander, Plautus and Terence simply sighs in love, and all the effort to bring about the marriage is done by the slave who is loyal to his young master. In Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night Duke Orsino is such a passive lover who asks his servant Cesario to woo and win the lady on his behalf. In Shakespeare’s play The Tempest Prospero deliberately plays the role of a hostile parent “even when his daughter’s falling in love with his enemy’s son Ferdinand is what he himself wants. He justifies his pretended anger in an ‘aside’ (i.e., words expressing a character’s inner thoughts and feelings which are spoken aloud by the actor but are not supposed to be heard by the other characters on the stage): They are both in either’s power’s: but this swift business I must uneasily make, lest too light winning Make the prize light. (Act I, scene 2, lines 453-55)
Before being rewarded with marriage, their love must be tested. Prospero feels that if they get married without facing any difficulties, they may not value their love so much and their marriage might become unhappy.
SENECA'S TRAGEDIES
In the first century A.D. Roman dramatist, philosopher and statesman, Seneca wrote a number of tragedies, which were translated into English in the sixteenth century and exercised considerable influence on the Renaissance English drama, especially on the revenge tragedy. Seneca’s tragedies were based on Greek legends, which for him were only sensational stories. In his tragedies there is a lot of violence and bloodshed, which is largely reported rather than being shown on stage. In Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus Faustus’s bloody death is similarly reported: of course, it would have been impossible to show that on stage. However, many other Renaissance tragedies often show on stage brutal violence (like the blinding of Gloucester in Shakespeare’s King Lear), murders and revenge killings, etc. Often the theme in Seneca’s tragedies is revenge, and sometimes one of the characters is a ghost seeking revenge, as in Renaissance English playwright Thomas Kyd’s The Revenge Tragedy. Seneca’s tragedies have the five-act structure which became the standard pattern in Renaissance English drama. (Note that during the Renaissance when plays were published in book form [sometime after their stage performance] there were no Act and scene divisions in the printed text. The Act and scene numbers that you see in the texts of the plays were generally inserted later on by different critics who edited the plays). Two other features of Seneca’s play which influenced Renaissance English drama were elaborate set speeches, and maxims or observations about human life in general. These features are noticeable in the plays in your course.
THE CONCEPT OF TRAGEDY
In chapter 13 of his Poetics Aristotle observes that the combined emotions of ‘pity and fear’ constitute the aesthetic pleasure of tragedy—pity for undeserved suffering, and fear when such undeserved suffering is undergone by a person like us, with whom we can feel some empathy (that is, with whom we can identify ourselves to some extent), who is not perfect but whose weakness of character is not in the nature of an evil tendency. You should keep these features of tragedy in mind when you discuss a character in a play or a novel as a tragic figure. If the suffering is fully deserved, as it is in case of Volpone in Jonson’s play in your course, that character cannot be described as tragic. If we do not feel any empathy with a particular character (i.e., if we cannot identify ourselves with him/her), then also the effect is not that of tragedy—for this reason to the wicked Volpone can in no way be described as a tragic figure even though he falls and suffers because of his errors of judgement caused by his weaknesses of character.
Aristotle observes that a tragedy becomes more effective when the protagonist’s excessive suffering results from some great error of judgement on his part or because of a flaw in character which is not evil in nature. The Greek word hamartia used by Aristotle in this context primarily means ‘an error of judgement’ but also implies ‘a tragic flaw’. Often in the Renaissance drama we see characters making tragic errors of judgement in a given situation because of a tragic flaw in their nature. This means that a tragedy becomes more effective when the protagonist’s own mistake or weakness brings excessive suffering on him or her, much more than what that error or weakness deserved. This situation is neatly
summed up in the words with which the protagonist in Shakespeare’s great tragedy King Lear describes himself: “a man more sinn’d against than sinning.” This element of tragedy is seen clearly in the career of Doctor Faustus and also to some extent in Prospero’s suffering in the past which he describes to his daughter Miranda in Act 1 scene 2 of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. A tragic figure is ‘better than average’ in the sense of having nobility of spirit or remarkable dignity, or otherwise being more alive as a human being in some respect than average human beings. Often during the course of intense suffering, a tragic protagonist attains greater dignity and rises to a higher level of awareness, from where he or she can see life more clearly and with widened sympathies. Even in death the tragic protagonist affirms the dignity of human spirit.
ARISTOTLE'S OBSERVATION ABOUT COMEDY
In chapter 5 of his Poetics Aristotle observes that comedy portrays those weaknesses which do not cause pain or harm to others. The doings of Volpone and his assistant Mosca in Jonson’s play Volpone almost blast the lives of innocent persons; so, their doings seem to go beyond the harmless follies of comedy to the domain of tragedy.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What is the function of the chorus?
Q2. What do you understand by the unity of action, time, and of place?
Q3. What are the main features of a tragedy?

1.4    EARLIER PLAYSMYSTERY PLAYS
Drama re-emerged in Europe from ceremonies of worship in the church. From the tenth century, dramatic tropes or brief enactments of events related to Christ’s birth and Resurrection (i.e., his rising from the grave two days after his crucifixion) were presented in the church by priests, in Latin, on Christmas and Easter. Gradually the brief enactments grew in size and number, the language of the people came to be used in place of Latin, the enactment of different plays related to the Bible was assigned to different guilds (i.e., associations of persons belonging to particular professions), and the venue was shifted to the marketplace, though the script was still written and controlled by the priests. By the fourteenth century, in England and other countries of Europe, cycles (i.e., sequences) of such plays were being performed once a year in different towns on the feast of Corpus Christi in the beginning of June every year. These biblical plays covered the history of mankind from the creation of the universe to the Day of Judgment, but focused on Christ’s nativity (i.e., birth) and passion (i.e., his suffering before death as well as his crucifixion).
These plays were called Mystery plays because they were the living book in which ordinary people could read the mysteries of their faith. In England these plays were also called Miracle plays, though in France only the plays dealing with the lives of saints were called miracle plays. These Mystery or Miracle plays were very popular and continued to be performed till 1572-80 in different parts of England. Marlowe and Shakespeare, both born in 1564, must have seen these plays in their childhood. Though each mystery play presents some event mentioned in the Bible, and has a serious religious purpose, almost every mystery play combines realistic comic elements with the more serious religious theme. Sometimes a passing mention of something in the Bible is developed into a comic
episode; but many times, a comic plot is added for which there is no basis In the Bible. For example, a play dealing with Christ’ birth (the Second Nativity Play in the Wakefield cycle of mystery plays) begins with a realistic scene in which three shepherds talk about their problems: harsh winter weather, low wages which make it difficult to support the family, heartless employers, etc. Then enters another character, Mac, who is known to be a thief. However, he wins the trust of the simple shepherds; but as soon as they fall asleep, he steals a lamb and rushes back home. There is a bit of comic dialogue between Mac and his wife who is annoyed by his knocking at the door in the middle of the night when she is busy spinning (an indirect hint of their poverty which makes her work so hard). As the three shepherds wake up and find Mac missing, they immediately sense that he must have stolen a sheep or lamb; and when they find that one lamb is missing, they go to Mac’s hut. Mac wraps up the lamb in a piece of cloth like a newborn baby and starts singing a lullaby, while his wife groans as if she has just given birth to a child. The simple shepherds believe this deception, and go back; but just then they remember that they did not give any gift to the child. So, they return and insist on seeing the face of the child before giving their gifts, and then Mac’s theft is exposed. The shepherds toss Mac in a blanket a few times and leaves. After these realistic and comic parts covering 637 lines in a play of 754 lines, begins the main biblical episode. An angel tells these shepherds about the birth of the saviour of mankind and asks them to go to Bethlehem to see him. The shepherds then go and greet the “young Child” and give him simple gifts.
This mingling of the comic and the serious is a recurrent feature of Renaissance English drama and is seen in all the four plays in your course. Also note that in the mystery play summarized above, the realistic and comic elements have no direct connection with the religious theme and exist almost like independent episodes in the nature of a subplot. In the same way you have subplots in Twelfth Night, Volpone and The Tempest which have hardly any link with the action of the main plot; in Doctor Faustus the comic episodes in the middle of the play similarly seem to have no relation with the more serious elements of tragedy in the beginning and end of the play. However, sometimes the subplot is like a parody of some elements of the main plot. In the mystery play described above, the shepherds wanted to give gifts to Mac’s supposed son who turns out to be their stolen lamb, and they actually give gifts to baby Jesus who is often described as the Lamb of God. In Volpone Sir Pol in the subplot is a parody of Volpone of the main plot; in The Tempest Caliban’s murder plan in the subplot parodies the more serious plotting of Antonio and Sebastian in the main plot; in Twelfth Night Malvolio’s delusions of love are a parody of Orsino’s and Olivia’s feelings of love. Also, very often the more realistic or/and comic subplot makes the view of life presented in the play more comprehensive, in that it supplements the action of the main plot set on a different level. In the mystery plays the realistic and comic elements brought the more elevated religious themes close to everyday life, and made them more easily acceptable. Similarly, the subplots in Renaissance English drama gave it a wider reach, and made it appeal to all sections of society. When there are two almost independent lines of action in a play, that is, two plots, it is said to have a ‘double plot’.
MORALITY PLAYS
The popularity of cycles of biblical Mystery plays, which could be performed only by amateurs once a year, led to the emergence of Morality plays which the professional
actors could perform. Morality plays were single plays with imagined plots but they also presented religious moral values, in the morality plays the central figure represented humanity and was named as Mankind or Everyman, etc., while the other characters were personifications of virtues and vices etc. trying to win over the protagonist. The Devil and his assistant Vice often played the role of clowns. This conflict between warring tendencies in human mind is also seen in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, whose protagonist is a representative Renaissance figure. The pageant of Seven Deadly Sins in this play reflects the personifications of Morality plays. This play also has on stage the devil and his deputy Mephistopheles. The role of the Old Man in Doctor Faustus also reflects the pattern of Morality plays.
The type characters in Jonson’s Volpone, who are given Italian names which mean fox, fly, crow, raven, vulture or are given type names to indicate their specific tendency, reflect personifications of Morality plays. The same influence of Morality plays is seen in the very name and nature of Malvolio in the subplot of Twelfth Night. Morality plays were also being performed in England during Marlowe and Shakespeare’s childhood.
THE ELIZABETHAN THEATRE
Professional players presenting a play would usually hire the courtyard of an inn. The entry fee could be collected at the gate and a stage was set up at the other end of the courtyard. The spectators would stand in the courtyard which was open to the sky. The guests staying in the inn in the rooms on the sides of the courtyard could bring out from the rooms benches to sit on and also had the benefit of the roof of the verandahs. When during the Renaissance full-length five-act plays began to be performed, the first theatre, simply called the Theatre, was built on this very model in 1576 outside the municipal limits of London. Other theatres that were built subsequently in the Elizabethan Age also had the same structure.
In the Elizabethan theatre the stage was only partly roofed, its front part being open to the sky. The main area for the spectators was also open to the sky and was called the pit. Here the spectators paying the lowest entry fee would have to keep standing. For those who paid higher entry fee there were three tiers of roofed galleries on three sides with comfortable seats. The plays were performed in daylight, and those who wanted to watch a play had to take a day off. So, the spectators would reach the theatre much before the beginning of the play. And a play had to begin on a note which would immediately draw the attention of restlessly waiting spectators.
At the back of the stage there were two doors on the sides for entry and exit of the actors, and in the middle, there was a recess with a curtain which could be drawn to reveal an inner room, etc., as in the opening scene of Jonson’s Volpone and in some scenes of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Above these at the back of the stage there used to be a gallery, with steps going up to it from both sides. In Doctor Faustus when the Devil and his assistants appear on this gallery, they seem to dominate the theatre. In Volpone, Bonario jumps from this gallery to save Celia. On the ceiling that covered part of the stage the sun, the moon and the stars were painted, and a character could refer to them sometimes. However, when in The Tempest Prospero refers to the position of the sun in the sky at 2 in the afternoon, the actor probably pointed to the actual sun visible to him and to most members of the audience, since part of the stage and the main area for the spectators were open to the sky.
There was no curtain at the front of the stage. When there was no actor left on the stage, it marked the end of a scene; and when an actor appeared on the stage, it marked the beginning of the next scene. In French drama the scene division is marked differently— there whenever another character appears on the stage, it marks the beginning a fresh scene; in Volpone the scenes are numbered in this way. Very few stage properties (i.e., pieces of furniture etc. on the stage) were used in the Elizabethan theatre. For example, in the opening scene of Twelfth Night set in the court of Duke Orsino, probably only a chair was provided for the Duke. So, scenes could change very quickly. Also, in the absence of stage properties the opening lines of conversation in a scene had to indicate the locale of the scene.
During the Renaissance, women did not act on the stage, and ail roles of women were played by boys. This gave an extra dimension to the comments regarding the difference between appearance and reality that occur frequently in Shakespeare’s plays, for example, in Twelfth Night.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. When and where during the Renaissance full-length five-act plays began to be performed?
Q2. The popularity of cycles of biblical Mystery plays, which could be performed only by amateurs once a year, led to the emergence of........................................which the
professional actors could perform.
Q3. These Mystery or Miracle plays were very popular and continued to be performed till...............................................in different parts of England.

1.5    SUMMARY
The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

a.    Comedy: The first comedies were mainly satirical and mocked men in power for their vanity and foolishness. The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes. Much later Menander wrote comedies about ordinary people and made his plays more like sit-coms.

b.    Tragedy: Tragedy dealt with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Typically the main protagonist of a tragedy commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly realizes his error, the world crumbles around him. The three great playwrights of tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Aristotle argued that tragedy cleansed the heart through pity and terror, purging us of our petty concerns and worries by making us aware that there can be nobility in suffering. He called this experience 'catharsis'.

c.    Satyr Plays: These short plays were performed between the acts of tragedies and made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters. The satyrs were mythical halfhuman, half-goat figures and actors in these plays wore large phalluses for comic effect. Few examples of these plays survive. They are classified by some authors as tragicomic, or comedy dramas.

1.6    GLOSSARY

•    Plot- In a plot the events of a story are Interconnected In terms of cause and effect.

•  Double Plot- When there are two plots or lines of action running parallel in a play.

•  Subplot- The less important line of action than the main plot in a play.

•  Unity of Action- When a play has only one well-organized line of action or plot.

•  Unity of Time- When the action of a play is limited to one day, as in Jonson’s
Volpone and Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

•    Unity of Place- When the events of a play are limited to one place, for example, limited to one town as in Twelfth Night and Volpone, or a small island as in The Tempest, or a village etc.

•    Aside- Words expressing a character’s inner thoughts and feelings which are spoken aloud by the actor but are not supposed to be heard by the other characters on the stage.

•    Satiric Comedy- It satirises those weaknesses which are anti-life or are seen as threats to society. There is usually an implied hope that society can become better if the negative tendencies ridiculed in the play are checked.

•    Romantic Comedy- It centres on the theme of love which is seen as a positive element. Usually there are obstacles in the form of opposition from a parent or guardian, or hostile circumstances. The difficulties test the love, which is then rewarded with marriage. Romantic comedies end in marriage, often there being more than one marriage towards the end of the play.

1.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. The chorus speaks directly to the audience and may not interact with the main characters of a story at all. Their purpose is to underscore the moral themes, actions, character development, and messages of a story to the audience. The Greek chorus was prevalent in classical Greek drama of the fifth century BC.
Ans 2. a. Unity of action- when a play has only one well-organized line of action or plot.

b.    Unity of time- when the action of a play is limited to one day, as in Jonson’s Volpone and Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

c.    Unity of place- when the events of a play are limited to one place, for example, limited to one town as in Twelfth Night and Volpone, or a small island as in The Tempest, or a village etc.
Ans 3. Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of action and life, of happiness and misery. The aim of tragedy, Aristotle writes, is to bring about a "catharsis" of the spectators — to arouse in them sensations of pity and fear, and to purge them of these emotions so that they leave the theatre feeling cleansed and uplifted, with a heightened understanding of the ways of gods and men. According to Aristotle, tragedy has six main elements: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle (scenic effect), and song (music), of which the first two are primary.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. When during the Renaissance full-length five-act plays began to be performed, the first theatre, simply called the Theatre, was built on this very model in 1576 outside the municipal limits of London.
Ans 2. Morality plays
Ans 3. 1572-1580

1.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTEDREADINGS

•    Baldick, Chris. 1990. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.

•    Nicoll, Allardyce. 1949. World Drama: From Aeschylus to Anouilh. London: Harrap, 1976.

1.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the relevance of Elizabethan Theatre.

2.    Throw ample light on the origin of drama.
DOCTOR FAUSTUS – CHRISTOPHER MARLOWEUnit-2 CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE: LIFE AND WORKS
Structure

2.1    Introduction

2.2    Learning Objectives

2.3    Life and Works of Christopher Marlowe
Self Check Exercise-1

2.4    Summary

2.5    Glossary

2.6    Answers to Self Check Exercise

2.7    References/Suggested Readings

2.8    Terminal Questions

2.1    INTRODUCTION
The unit introduces you to Christopher Marlowe, the writer of Doctor Faustus. The unit gives the background information of the writer, his career and his works.

2.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this unit is to make familiar readers about the background of the writer for the better understanding of the text.

2.3    LIFE AND WORKS OF CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
Christopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593) was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day. He greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe’s mysterious early death. Marlowe’s plays are known for the use of blank verse and their overreaching protagonists.
LITERARY CAREER
Six dramas have been attributed to the authorship of Christopher Marlowe either alone or in collaboration with other writers, with varying degrees of evidence. The writing sequence or chronology of these plays is mostly unknown and is offered here with any dates and evidence known. Among the little available information we have, Dido is believed to be the first Marlowe play performed, while it was Tamburlaine that was first to be performed on a regular commercial stage in London in 1587. Believed by many scholars to be Marlowe's greatest success, Tamburlaine was the first English play written in blank verse and, with Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, is generally considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theatre.
Marlowe’s first play performed on the regular stage in London, in 1587, was Tamburlaine the Great, about the conqueror Tamburlaine, who rises from shepherd to war-lord. It is among the first English plays in blank verse, and, with Thomas Kyd’sThe Spanish Tragedy,
generally is considered the beginning of the mature phase of the Elizabethan theatre. Tamburlaine was a success, and was followed with Tamburlaine the Great, Part II. The two parts of Tamburlaine were published in 1590; all Marlowe’s other works were published posthumously. The sequence of the writing of his other four plays is unknown; all deal with controversial themes.
The Jew of Malta (first published as The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta), about a Maltese Jew’s barbarous revenge against the city authorities, has a prologue delivered by a character representing Machiavelli. It was probably written in 1589 or 1590, and was first performed in 1592. It was a success, and remained popular for the next fifty years.
Edward the Second is an English history play about the deposition of King Edward II by his barons and the Queen, who resent the undue influence the king’s favourites have in court and state affairs.
The Massacre at Paris is a short and luridly written work, the only surviving text of which was probably a reconstruction from memory of the original performance text, portraying the events of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, which English Protestants invoked as the blackest example of Catholic treachery. It features the silent “English Agent”, whom subsequent tradition has identified with Marlowe himself and his connections to the secret service. The Massacre at Paris is considered his most dangerous play, as agitators in London seized on its theme to advocate the murders of refugees from the Low Countries and, indeed, it warns Elizabeth I of this possibility in its last scene.
Doctor Faustus (or The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus), based on the German Faustbuch, was the first dramatised version of the Faust legend of a scholar’s dealing with the devil. While versions of “The Devil’s Pact” can be traced back to the 4th century, Marlowe deviates significantly by having his hero unable to “burn his books” or repent to a merciful God in order to have his contract annulled at the end of the play. Marlowe’s protagonist is instead carried off by demons, and in the 1616 quarto his mangled corpse is found by several scholars. Doctor Faustus is a textual problem for scholars as two versions of the play exist: the 1604 quarto, also known as the A text, and the 1616 quarto or B text. Both were published after Marlowe’s death.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. When was Christopher Marlowe born?
Q2. The Jew of Malta is written when and by whom?

2.4    SUMMARY
Marlowe was a great writer from the Renaissance, Renaissance humanism sought to empower the individual with the use of reason and eloquence so that he may act virtuously for the betterment of life of people on this earth. However, many times this empowerment of the individual gave rise to self-cented pride and distortion of reason to support one's biased views. Greater emphasis on life on the earth at times encouraged a more materialistic attitude withgreater involvement with the physical aspects of existence, even though humanism's objective was moral and spiritual development. These aspects of humanism are seen in each and every play written by Marlowe.

2.5    GLOSSARY

•    Renaissance- (French: “Rebirth”) Period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages and conventionally held to have been characterized by a surge of interest in Classical scholarship and values.

•    Blank Verse- Unrhymed iambic pentameter. In blank verse there is no use of rhyme and each line has ten syllables which constitute five iambic feet of two syllables each: in each lambic foot the first syllable is unstressed and the second stressed. All the Days in your course are main y in blank verse.

2.6    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Christopher Marlowe was born (baptised) on 26 February 1564.
Ans 2. The Jew of Malta is written by Christopher Marlowe in 1589 and was performed in 1592.

2.7    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Brockbank, J.P. “Marlowe: Dr. Faustus.” Studies in English Literature. London: Edward Arnold, 1962.

•    Kastan, David Scott. Ed. Doctor Faustus. New York: Norton, 2005.

•    Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. John D. Jump. Ed. The Revels Plays Series. London: Methuen, 1962.

•    Steane, J.B. Ed. The Complete Plays. Edited with an Introduction and Brief Annotation. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.

2.8    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Write a note on the literary career of Marlowe.
Unit-3 DOCTOR FAUSTUS: MAJOR ASPECTS
Structure

3.1    Introduction

3.2    Learning Objectives

3.3    Renaissance Humanism
Self Check Exercise-1

3.4    The Source and the Date of Doctor Faustus
Self Check Exercise-2

3.5    Summary

3.6    Glossary

3.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

3.8    References/Suggested Readings

3.9    Terminal Questions

3.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces some aspects of Renaissance humanism that are prominently reflected in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, and are also seen in the other plays of this course in Renaissance drama. You are expected to supplement the points given in these sections of this chapter with examples from the text on the basis of your reading of the text of the play in the light of the critical analysis given in the next lessons.

3.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The objective of this unit is to make you aware of the main themes and key aspects of the play on which questions are often set and which you need to know in order to understand and appreciate the play.

3.3    RENAISSANCE HUMANISM
During the Renaissance the term ‘humanists’ referred to the teachers of the language, literature and ideas of ancient Rome (and later of ancient Greece also), who believed that by teaching ancient classical literature the students could be given healthy religious, philosophical and spiritual education. The Renaissance drama often has a strong moral component, partly because of this view of humanists and partly because even in the earlier medieval period literature was supposed to convey a moral message.
Renaissance humanism refers to the various aspects of the Renaissance humanists’ views regarding what this education through classical literature should focus on.
ELOQUENCE
The humanists also emphasised the value of eloquent expression that is, speaking and writing so clearly and effectively that the listeners or readers would be convinced and would feel impelled to put those ideas into practice in actual life also. At school the students were made to write like ancient Roman orators, so that they may become eloquent in their way of speaking and writing. Because of this reason the Renaissance English drama has a large number of eloquent speeches where some character presents
his or her ideas persuasively, almost like a well-reasoned argument, and uses comparisons in the nature of similes and metaphors to clarify the idea being expressed. Other figures of speech like paradox (i.e., seeming contradiction, e.g. ‘sweet pain’) and hyperbole (or exaggeration) are also used frequently to make the speech more impressive. Though students were trained in eloquence so that they might use it in a positive way for making society better, eloquence could also be used to misguide people, and there are many instances of such negative use of eloquence and reasoning in Renaissance drama, including Doctor Faustus. In fact, when Faustus wants to repent but is unable to repent, he uses reasoning to justify his hesitation: “But Faustus’ offence can ne’ er be pardoned” (Scene 19 [Act 5, scene 2], line 41). Most of the villains of Renaissance drama are eloquent speakers: in Ben Jonson’s play Volpone (which is in your course), Volpone’s eloquence almost distracts attention from the perversity of his mind which is revealed through those speeches.
REASON
Reason was seen as the guide to right understanding and judgement. It was hoped that by applying reason one could see clearly what was morally right and what would be good for society. However, reason could be misused for self-interest and personal benefit at the cost of others. Renaissance drama often shows such self-centred characters, who misuse reason to deceive, misguide or harm others for personal gain. It is the dilemma of Renaissance humanism that reason and eloquence, which were supposed to empower individuals so that they might be able to make the society better, were often misused by unscrupulous persons for selfish purposes at the cost of society. While the villains of Renaissance drama (including villain-heroes such as Volpone) are purely selfish, in Doctor Faustus we see a kind of fluctuation between the desire to do something remarkably good for his country and society on the one hand, and self-glorification on the other.
The emphasis on the value of reason during the Renaissance contrasted with the emphasis on faith during the medieval period. The Renaissance humanists' main aim too was to use reason only for religious, moral and spiritual instruction; but reason could at times come in conflict with faith. This conflict between faith and reason is central to the action and theme of the play Doctor Faustus.
FOCUS ON LIFE ON THIS EARTH
Classical literature dealt primarily with life on this earth, and the focus of Renaissance humanism too was on the individual as a responsible social being on this earth, who was to make the society on this earth better and happier with his efforts. Even in the play Doctor Faustus, the focus remains on how Doctor Faustus conducts himself on this earth before his death in spite of the presence of the Devil's deputy Menbastarhilis throughout the play, occasional appearances of the Devil and his other deputies, and constant references to Faustus' soul having to go to hell after twenty-four years of magic power.
Focus on life on the earth leads some of the characters in Renaissance drama to value material things like wealth and physical pleasures including tasty food. We see recurrent glimpses of weaknesses of this kind in Doctor Faustus too: whenever he thinks of repenting and turning back to God, threats of physical torture make him backtrack; and he seeks physical pleasure (in the arms of an evil spirit looking like the Helen of Troy) to drown his frustration.
MAN-CENTRED WORLD VIEW AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL
During the medieval period human life was seen in terms of how one could become worthy in the eyes of God. However, during the Renaissance the focus shifts to what one can contribute on this earth to make society better and happier. For this purpose the individual was trained in the use of reason and eloquence. However, as mentioned above, many times this empowerment of the individual was misused by self-centred persons for personal gain at the cost of others, as we see in the play Volpone, and in the case of villainous characters Antonio and Sebastian in Shakespeare's play The Tempest. It is said that capitalism derives partly from this focus on empowerment of the individual in Renaissance humanism, partly from the value that came to be attached to money for its own sake during the Renaissance, and partly from the focus on the individual under Puritanism which too evolved during the Renaissance. Volpone embodies all these negative aspects, while in Doctor Faustus we have an ambivalence between the two aspects, concern for his country as well as self- importance:
Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.
A sound magician is a demi-god ...
I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass ... And reign sole king of all our provinces .... (Scene 1, lines 23, 61, 87, 93)
An Italian writer Machiavelli wrote a book called The Prince in 1513, in which he offered practical advice to prospective princes regarding how to retain power effectively, without caring about moral values involved; for example, he says that if one comes to power by removing the ruler from the throne, one should not imprison the deposed ruler but kill him and also wipe out his family line, because as time passes people would become disillusioned with the new ruler and then would support the imprisoned deposed ruler or his descendants. Machiavelli was less often read than read about or talked about, and his name came to represent unprincipled ruthless pursuit of one’s goals, as in the protagonist of Marlowe’s play The Jew of Malta, who is introduced by an actor pretending to be Machiavelli himself,
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. In what ways is Doctor Faustus a powerful play?
Q2. An Italian writer Machiavelli wrote a book called..................in 1513.
Q3. With what does Classical literature dealt primarily?

3.4    THE SOURCE AND THE DATE OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
There is no record of when the play Doctor Faustus was first performed. According to one view Doctor Faustus was written probably soon after Tamburlaine Part II, in 1588, as it is almost opposite in spirit to the two parts of Tamburlaine. However, most other scholars are of the view that it could not have been written before 1592. During the early part of the sixteenth century in Germany there were stories about one Faustus who was said to have practised magic. Soon his name came to be linked with a number of much older stories which described black magic practised with the help of the Devil. Then in 1587 an anonymous moral story
'History of Johan Eausted' was published in German. In 1592 its English version by a person mentioned only as 'P.F.' on the title page was published as The History of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus. There are a number of additional details in the English version which are echoed in Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus, sometimes in a slightly modified form and sometimes in a condensed form. These echoes indicate that Marlowe must have read the English version before writing Doctor Faustus-this evidence is the basis of the View that Marlowe wrote this play sometime during 1592-93 just before his death. Also, in contrast with the protagonists of Tamburlaine and The Jew of Malta, who are single- minded in the pursuit of their goals, in the mind of Doctor Faustus there is a conflict between opposite tendencies, which indicates a more complex vision on the part of the playwright.
THE TWO VERSIONS
Doctor Faustus was first published in book form as a quarto in 1604. Then in 1616 another version of the play in quarto form was published by the same publisher. The text of the 1604 edition is referred to as 'A' version of the play and that of 1616 as the 'B' version. The second version is considerably longer than the first version, and it is generally believed that the B-text is based on 'foul papers' or working draft of Marlowe, whereas the A-text is based on an actor's recollection of the play as it was actually performed. At places the A-text may be incorporating final revisions and modifications made by Marlowe himself. Some editors divide the play into Acts, while others simply number the scenes. In these lessons continuous scene numbering is used; however, within square brackets alternative Act-wise scene numbering is also given, since the edition of the text that you consult might have Act-wise scene numbering. At places the line numbering in these lessons might differ from that in the edition of the play that you consult. So, you may have to look for the quoted lines a little above or below the mentioned line numbers. Also, as some scenes of A-text are not there in B-text and some scenes are slightly different in the two texts, you may not find the quoted lines in the edition you consult.
THE COMIC SCENES, THE PROSE PARTS, AND THE SECOND AUTHOR
During the Renaissance many times two or more writers collaborated on a play. The Faustus of the comic scenes in the middle of the play does not show any division in his mind, or moral doubts, etc., that the more complex Faustus of the beginning and the end of the play shows. Also in the earlier and the later parts Faustus's speeches reflect a certain eloquence or magnificence even when he is partly or wholly wrong; but in the comic parts that eloquence and magnificence are absent. There are also inconsistencies in details which indicate that the viewpoint of this other writer was conventional in contrast with the original perspective of Marlowe. In the early part of the play (Scene 3, line 46) Mephistopheles tells Faustus that incantations have no effect on him and that he came to Faustus of his own accord, whereas in a comic scene (Scene 10 [Act 3, scene 3], lines 3234) Mephistopheles is annoyed because some foolish persons' conjuring has brought him there in a hurry from Constantinople. So it is believed that though the concept of the entire play was Marlowe's, he himself wrote only the more poetic beginning and end of the play (up to the middle of Scene 8 [Act 3, scene 1] excluding Scene 2, and Scenes 18-20 [Act 5] as well as the speeches by the chorus), while most of the comic parts—which are partly in prose were written by another writer, probably by Samuel Rowley. In contrast with the
simple prose of the comic scenes, the prose speeches of Faustus in Scene 19 (Act 5, scene 2) towards the end of the play show dignity, maturity, and complexity of vision appropriate for a tragic figure, and so are clearly written by Marlowe himself. Sometimes the play Doctor Faustus is described as a play with a beginning and an end but no middle, because Faustus appears as a tragic protagonist only in the beginning and the end, and because the middle part of the play does not contribute to the development of the action of the play.
SELF CHECK EXRCISE-2
Q1. Why is Doctor Faustus described as a play with a beginning and an end but no middle?
Q2. Doctor Faustus was first published in book form as a quarto in.................................(the year).

3.5    SUMMARY
Renaissance humanism sought to empower the individual with the use of reason and eloquence so that he may act virtuously for the betterment of life of people on this earth. However, many times this empowerment of the individual gave rise to self-centred pride and distortion of reason to support one’s biased views. Greater emphasis on life on the earth at times encouraged a more materialistic attitude with greater involvement with the physical aspects of existence, even though humanism’s objective was moral and spiritual development. These aspects of humanism are seen in Doctor Faustus also.
Faustus’s aspiration for knowledge beyond the permitted limits and his risking even his soul for that purpose is admirable in itself. However, he refuses to see the ugly part of his joining the Devil. Also, he remains trapped in the physical aspect of existence—being frightened by physical pain, and being charmed by physical pleasure even when he knows it to be illusory (he knows that the Helen who charms him is in reality only an ugly evil spirit). Whenever he thinks of repenting, the Devils’ threat of tearing him to pieces makes him backtrack from the thought of repenting. Yet his eloquence and self-confidence are impressive, and he rises to remarkable dignity just before his death. The conflict in his soul makes him an effective tragic figure. Whatever Marlowe’s personal views in his life might have been, this play is truly Christian in a deeper sense in that it emphasises God’s grace by reiterating again and again that if Faustus truly repents, his soul can be saved in spite of his agreement with the Devil. It is part of Faustus’s tragedy that he is unable to repent, sometimes because of the threats of physical pain and other times because his sense of reason persuades him that God, being just, cannot forgive a sinner like him.

3.6    GLOSSARY

•    Metaphor- A comparison where in place of the thing to be described that is mentioned with which it is being compared.

•  Paradox- A seeming contradiction, for example, the 'sweet pain' or 'icy fire' of love.

•  Hyperbole- Exaggeration.

3.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE SELF CHECK EXRCISE-1
Ans 1. The conflict in Faustus’s mind between opposite tendencies and his anguish towards the end of the play together contributes to make Doctor Faustus as a powerful play.
Ans 2. The Prince
Ans 3. Classical literature dealt primarily with life on this earth, and the focus of Renaissance humanism too was on the individual as a responsible social being on this earth, who was to make the society on this earth better and happier with his efforts.
SELF CHECK EXRCISE-2
Ans 1. Sometimes the play Doctor Faustus is described as a play with a beginning and an end but no middle, because crucial action of the play takes place only in the beginning and the end, and Faustus appears as a tragic protagonist only in these parts; in contrast, the middle part of the play does not contribute to the development of the action of the play and does not show any complexity of vision or maturity in Faustus, which we see in the beginning and towards the end of the play.
Ans 2. 1604

3.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Brockbank, J.P. “Marlowe: Dr. Faustus.” Studies in English Literature. London: Edward Arnold, 1962.

•    Kastan, David Scott. Ed. Doctor Faustus. New York: Norton, 2005.

•    Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. John D. Jump. Ed. The Revels Plays Series. London: Methuen, 1962.

•    Steane, J.B. Ed. The Complete Plays. Edited with an Introduction and Brief Annotation. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.

3.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss Doctor Faustus as a tragic hero.

2.    Write a detailed note on’Renaissance Humanism.’
Unit-4 DOCTOR FAUSTUS: AN OVERVIEW
Structure

4.1    Introduction

4.2    Learning Objectives

4.3    Brief Summary of the Main Action of the Play
Self Check Exercise-1

4.4    Major Aspects of Doctor Faustus
Self Check Exercise-2

4.5    Summary

4.6    Glossary

4.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

4.8    References/Suggested Readings

4.9    Terminal Questions

4.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the earlier part of the play, analysing the, themes, the state of mind of the protagonist, and other aspects that are crucial to an adequate understanding of this play. This unit focuses on some important aspects of the play on which questions are often set in the examination—Faustus as a representative Renaissance man and as a tragic hero, features of Morality plays in Doctor Faustus, and in what sense the play can be described as a Christian play.

4.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand how a play is to be read at M.A. level. It offers critical analysis of the more significant lines and sums up less important segments to help you understand the play well so that you may be able to attempt without difficulty any questions that may be set on the play.

4.3    BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE MAIN ACTION OF THE PLAY
Doctor Faustus is an outstanding scholar who has explored all the branches of knowledge of his time, and mastered many of them. However, his quest for knowledge and for power and importance which knowledge can bring is not satisfied. He decides to learn black magic with the help of the Devil and makes a formal agreement that if he is allowed twenty-four years of magical powers he would willingly suffer in hell after that forever. Yet, he is not very happy with the amount of knowledge and powers that he gets this way, and again and again feels like repenting and turning back to God. But each time threats of physical torture and the joy of physical pleasure keep him from repenting. When the fixed period of twenty-four years nears its end, Faustus wishes that time should stop or his soul should cease to exist rather than be in hell for ever after. The play ends with a description of his violent death, the power of the play lies in the conflict in Faustus’s mind between opposite tendencies, and his anguish towards the end of the play.
FAUSTUS AS A REPRESENTATIVE RENAISSANCE FIGURE
In Doctor Faustus’s aspirations, strengths and weaknesses we see many characteristic features of the Renaissance, and he appears to represent the Renaissance attitudes to life. One significant feature of the Renaissance was the expansion of spirit and an eagerness to explore those regions which had not been explored by the Europeans till then. This spirit had impelled Columbus in 1492 to sail westward to find an alternative route to India, and Vasco de Gama in 1498 to explore a route to India by going round the southern part of Africa. The discovery of the lands till then unknown to Europe inspired other sailors to go round the earth by sailing westwards: Magellan, a Portuguese, in 151922, and Francis Drake of England in 1577-80. The same spirit had inspired Galileo to use exact observations with the help of the telescope to prove that the earth moved round the sun. These explorations at times came into conflict with traditional religious beliefs: Galileo in fact had to retract his observations to save himself from persecution by the Church; even Columbus had dared to accept the view of astronomers regarding the earth being round (without caring about contrary religious beliefs in this matter) when he set out on his westward voyage.
Faustus’s dissatisfaction with the accepted branches of knowledge, and his decision to explore the unexplored and forbidden regions of knowledge with the help of black magic, reflects the same Renaissance spirit to extend the frontiers of knowledge and experience. As in the case of many other explorers and discoverers of the Renaissance, this effort brings Faustus into conflict with the religious beliefs regarding what is morally appropriate. Renaissance humanism sought to empower the individual by making him employ reason to judge what is right, and Faustus uses reasoning again and again to justify his decisions. Humanism also emphasised the role of eloquence (i.e., effective speaking and writing which can influence people), and Faustus is eloquent even when he is giving way to some weakness of character or when he refuses to understand the obvious, for example, his famous eloquent praise of Helen’s beauty almost makes us forget that Faustus knows that the figure embodying legendary Helen’s beauty is actually a devil as ugly as Mephistopheles looks at the time of his first appearance on the stage.
Nationalism was emerging as a powerful force during the Renaissance, and Faustus says that he will use his magical powers to strengthen his country Germany and to bring prosperity to its people. For this purpose, he will force the evil spirits under his control to perform such tasks as follows:
I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass and make swift Rhine encircle fair Wittenberg; I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad; I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring And chase the Prince of Parma from our land. (Scene 1, lines 87-92)
However, as discussed above (in section ‘Renaissance Humanism and Its Dilemma’), many times the empowerment of the individual with the purpose of making society better for all, makes the empowered individual seek self-glorification, and this weakness is seen in Faustus also. The lines quoted above are followed by the following line:
And reign sole king of all our provinces (Scene 1, line 93)
A major weakness during the Renaissance (which is also criticised by Ben Jonson in his play Volpone) was a greater concern with the material side of life—valuing gold or money, and indulgence in physical pleasures including sensuality. Faustus’s great weakness is his being trapped in the physical side of life. Whenever he realizes that his great sin can be forgiven by- God if he truly repents, the devils’ threat of physical torture makes him give up 23
his idea of repenting, and physical pleasure makes him forget himself totally. And even towards the end of the play the mere semblance of Helen’s physical beauty in an evil spirit transports him to a kind of ecstasy. This weakness of Faustus also makes him a representative of the Renaissance temperament. During the Renaissance, humanism sought to develop in the individuals the faculty of reasoning and eloquence in order to make them morally and spiritually better. For this reason, even as reason was valued highly, religious faith remained a very powerful force. The recurrent conflict between reason and faith in Faustus’s mind also makes him a representative Renaissance figure.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. Justify Doctor Faustus as a Renaissance figure.
Q2. “And reign sole king of all our provinces.” Name the scene and the line number.

4.4    MAJOR ASPECTS OF DOCTOR FAUSTUSFAUSTUS AS A TRAGIC FIGURE
A tragic protagonist has some striking qualities that make us feel some empathy for him (or her). There is something admirable even in Faustus’s readiness to risk everything for the sake of knowledge beyond the permitted range, with which he wants to make his country strong and prosperous. His zest for life, his eloquent speeches make him an impressive figure. In Scene 19 (Act 5, scene 2), the dignity he shows just before his death in his meeting with the scholars, and then his intense anguish when he is alone making him an outstanding character who easily wins the empathy of the spectators and readers. However, a tragic protagonist also has some weakness or weaknesses which make him (or her) commit mistakes or errors of judgement which result in intense anguish for him (or her). In ancient Greek tragedies often, this flaw is hubris or pride that makes the protagonist think that he is superhuman and almost godlike. Faustus is very proud of his achievements in the field of medicine and mastery of other branches of knowledge, and he longs to be godlike with the help of black magic: “A sound magician is a demi-god” (Scene 1, line 61). In his pride he even tells Mephistopheles to learn courage from him: “Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude” (Scene 3, line 87).
Another weakness of Faustus is his being trapped in the physical aspect of life—his fear of physical pain and his desire for physical pleasure. Whenever he realizes the folly of having sold his soul for twenty-four years of magical powers and wants to repent, threats of physical pain keep him back from turning to God through repentance, while physical pleasure makes him forget his anguish. This weakness also blurs his understanding and judgement, when in Scene 18 (Act 5, scene 1) at the suggestion of the Old Man he decides to repent but retracts under threat of physical torture, and then ungratefully asks Mephistopheles to “Torment that base and aged man” (line 84), Mephistopheles replies: “His faith is great; I cannot touch his soul ” (line 87). Faustus fails to see that if he makes his own faith as strong as that of the Old Man, Mephistopheles or the Devil himself cannot do any harm to him either. Faustus’s love of physical pleasure is made obvious a number of times. In Scene 5 (Act 2, scene 1), line 11, he says about himself: “The god thou serv’st is thine own appetite ....” When he mentions the conditions for selling his soul, the first item
is twenty-four years of life “in’ all voluptuousness” (Scene 3, line 94). When he asks for a wife, it is not because he wants a life- companion but only because he is “wanton and lascivious” (Scene 5 [Act 2, scene], line 142). The eloquence of his famous apostrophe to
the physical beauty of Helen almost makes us forget not only that in fact only an evil spirit is embodying this beauty but also that Faustus himself is fully aware of this fact; and this speech ends with Faustus’s assertion that only this unreal Helen shall be his “paramour” (Scene 18 [Act 5, scene 1], line 118).
Usually things are under control of the tragic protagonist till that wrong decision or action, but after the crucial step is taken he/she cannot quite control the events that follow as a consequence of his/her own mistakes. In the case of Faustus, however, it is made clear that the agreement with the Devil, even though signed by Faustus with his blood, is not final, and that if he truly repents at any stage, his sin can be forgiven. So in his case it is more a matter of repeated mistakes which keep him trapped on the wrong path. The suffering of a tragic protagonist that follows from the tragic mistake(s) or error(s) of judgement is intense and usually also extended over a period of time. In case of Faustus there is some hesitation even while signing the agreement. But there are repeated instances of his anguish as he again and again realizes the futility of having sold his soul and comes close to repenting, only to go back because of fear of physical pain. His anguish becomes very intense and richly tragic in his soliloquy just before his death:
See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my soul, half a drop. Ah, my Christ!
O soul, be chang’d into little water drops, and fall into the ocean, ne’er be found. (Scene 19 [Act5, scene 2], lines 146-7, 185-6)
In suffering the tragic protagonist’s nobler qualities and dignity may come out more fully. We see this aspect of Faustus very clearly in the second-last scene of the play, in his words to the scholars and in his intense anguish when he is alone on the stage.
ELEMENTS OF MORALITY PLAY IN DOCTOR FAUSTUS
In a morality play the central character usually represents mankind, and the main action of the play presents a conflict in his mind between positive and negative tendencies. This conflict is dramatised with the help of characters who are personifications of virtues, vices, etc., and try to influence the protagonist and win him over to their side. The Devil and his assistant Vice often figure in morality plays—often they come to the stage with bursting crackers attached to their tails and play comic roles. The morality plays convey a clear moral message: in different countries of Europe, where this form of drama emerged in the fifteenth century, the moral message used to be in keeping with the teachings of the Bible and Christian moral values.
In the play Doctor Faustus, the protagonist is a representative Renaissance figure (as explained above in section 2.4 of this lesson). Doctor Faustus represents both the strengths and weaknesses of the Renaissance. On the positive side he embodies the aspiring spirit of man which seeks to explore the unknown regions, and is prepared to risk everything in this search for greater knowledge and power to make happier the life of people on this earth. In the matter of weaknesses, Faustus is very proud and self-centred, seeking personal glory and power above other things. His pride even makes him blind to the statements of Mephistopheles about the reality of the suffering of being in hell (Scene 3, lines 70-88). His other major weakness is his fear of physical pain and desire for physical pleasure.
The entire action of the play revolves round the conflict in Faustus’s mind between positive and negative qualities and tendencies, as happens in morality plays. The most dramatic moments of the play are those which show this conflict. In the beginning when he cuts his vein to sign the bond selling his soul in return for twenty-four years of magic powers, his blood congeals to stop him from signing the contract. Then Mephistopheles brings fire to melt his blood, just as in later scenes he uses the fire of physical pleasure to make Faustus forget his unhappiness at having turned away from God to the Devil. This struggle in Faustus’s mind keeps recurring throughout the play, and it is made very clear that he can turn back to God at any stage through repentance. His anguish at his inability to repent makes the long scene just before his death very moving and intensely tragic.
In a morality play most of the characters are personifications of virtues and vices, or are type characters representing certain roles such as Good Counsel. In Doctor Faustus the Good Angel and the Bad Angel are clearly representations of two aspects of Faustus’s mind and are just like the characters of morality plays (the Bad Angel is described as Spirit in some stage directions and in some headings of speeches in the play). The Old Man too is like a typical character of morality plays, almost like Good Counsel. In the pageant presented as a pastime for Faustus (in Scene 6 [Act 2, scene 2], lines 104-69) the Seven Deadly Sins are clearly morality play figures. The Devil himself appears on the stage as in morality plays, though in this play he is not a comic figure. His representative Mephistopheles, who is with Faustus almost throughout, is also not a comic figure, but he is clearly a representative of hell in the nature of characters of morality plays. Yet there are some comic scenes where fireworks are used for comic effect: when Faustus asks for a wife, “a Devil dressed like a woman, with fireworks” appears (Scene 5 [Act 2, scene 1], line 148); towards the end of Scene 10 (Act 3, scene 3) Faustus and Mephistopheles throw fireworks among the friars who are invoking curses on them.
The morality play element is also clear in the first appearance of Mephistopheles on the stage as an “ugly” Devil (Scene 3, lines 24, 27). Faustus’s direction to him to assume the appearance of a friar shows Faustus’s unwillingness to face the ugly reality of the path he has decided to pursue. As in morality plays, the entire play is organized round a strong moral theme in line with Christian beliefs.
DOCTOR FAUSTUS AS A CHRISTIAN PLAY
The religious beliefs on which the action of the play Doctor Faustus is based are Christian beliefs regarding God and the Devil, damnation, repentance and grace or forgiveness. The view that black magic can be practised with the help of the Devil, and that anybody joining the Devil becomes alienated from God (as Faustus insists whenever he thinks that God will never forgive him), is also Christian. However, what makes the play deeply Christian is the view projected in the play that God is merciful and would forgive Faustus at any stage of his life if he truly repents—even after he has willingly signed the bond to suffer in hell for ever in return for twenty-four years of magical powers on the earth. Even minutes before his death he feels Christ’s sacrifice can redeem him and God “stretches out his arm”; however, even then at his very mention of Christ’s name Lucifer causes him physical pain, and makes Faustus stop short of turning to Christ and God with full devotion: “Rend not my heart for naming of my Christ O, spare me, Lucifer!” (Scene 19 [Act 5, scene 2], lines 148-9) (The Devil or Satan was known as Lucifer before he was expelled from heaven along with his fellow rebel angels because of his excessive pride which had made him 26
revolt against God). From the way the Devil and his associates have to cause Faustus pain or threaten him with terrible physical torture whenever It seems he might repent, it is clear that Faustus’s soul can be forgiven by God and saved from hell if he truly repents in spite of his having signed the bond and having joined the Devil to exercise magical powers. This belief in God’s grace is an important part of Christianity.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. What makes this play deeply Christian?
Q2. Doctor Faustus represents both the...................................and...................................of
the Renaissance.

4.5    SUMMARY
Renaissance humanism sought to empower the individual with the use of reason and eloquence so that he may act virtuously for the betterment of life of people on this earth. However, many times this empowerment of the individual gave rise to self-centred pride and distortion of reason to support one’s biased views. Greater emphasis on life on the earth at times encouraged a more materialistic attitude with greater involvement with the physical aspects of existence, even though humanism’s objective was moral and spiritual development. These aspects of humanism are seen in Doctor Faustus also.
Faustus’s aspiration for knowledge beyond the permitted limits and his risking even his soul for that purpose is admirable in itself. However, he refuses to see the ugly part of his joining the Devil. Also, he remains trapped in the physical aspect of existence—being frightened by physical pain, and being charmed by physical pleasure even when he knows it to be illusory (he knows that the Helen who charms him is in reality only an ugly evil spirit). Whenever he thinks of repenting, the Devils’ threat of tearing him to pieces makes him backtrack from the thought of repenting. Yet his eloquence and self-confidence are impressive, and he rises to remarkable dignity just before his death. The conflict in his soul makes him an effective tragic figure.
Whatever Marlowe’s personal views in his life might have been, this play is truly Christian in a deeper sense in that it emphasises God’s grace by reiterating again and again that if Faustus truly repents, his soul can be saved in spite of his agreement with the Devil. It is part of Faustus’s tragedy that he is unable to repent, sometimes because of the threats of physical pain and other times because his sense of reason persuades him that God, being just, cannot forgive a sinner like him.

4.6    GLOSSARY

•    Figures of Speech- Expressions used in order to heighten the effect and not in their literal sense.

•  Syllable- A syllable has a vowel sound as its nucleus—a pure vowel or a diphthong.
A diphthong may be roughly described as a complex vowel sound as in the word ‘like’. A word has only as many syllables as there are vowel nuclei in it. Vowels are sounds, not letters of alphabet; they are considered in terms of the way a word is pronounced, e.g., the word ‘straight’ has only one syllable.

4.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. The following factors make Doctor Faustus a representative Renaissance figure: his desire to extend the frontiers of knowledge by exploring the unexplored forbidden regions of knowledge, the conflict between reason and faith in his mind, his eloquence, his nationalism, as well as his weaknesses such as self-glorification and his being trapped in the physical side of life (i.e. his fear of physical pain and desire for physical pleasure).
Ans 2. Scene 1, line 93
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Doctor Faustus is a representative Renaissance figure, and the main action of the play shows a conflict between positive and negative tendencies of his mind. Several of the characters too are almost personifications like the characters of morality plays: the Good Angel and the Bad Angel represent two aspects of Faustus’s mind; the Old Man functions almost like personified Good Counsel; in the pageant the personified Seven Deadly Sins are clearly morality play figures. The Devil and his deputies appear on the stage as in morality plays. Also, the entire play is organized round a strong moral theme in line with Christian beliefs, as in morality plays.
Ans 2. Strengths and Weaknesses

4.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•  Jump, John. Marlowe: Doctor Faustus: A Casebook. London: Macmillan: 1969.

•  Leech, Clifford. Ed. Marlowe: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewwod Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1964.

•    Levin, Harry. The Overreacher: A Study of Christopher Marlowe. London: Faber and Faber, 1952.

4.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    To what extent is Doctor Faustus like a morality play?

2.    Would it be appropriate to describe Doctor Faustus as a Christian play? Give reasons for your answer.

3.    Discuss the theme of the play Doctor Faustus.
Unit-5 DOCTOR FAUSTUS: CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Structure

5.1    Introduction

5.2    Learning Objectives

5.3    Major Facets of Doctor Faustus-I
Self Check Exercise-1

5.4    Major Facets of Doctor Faustus-II
Self Check Exercise-2

5.5    Major Facets of Doctor Faustus-III
Self Check Exercise-3

5.6    Summary

5.7    Glossary

5.8    Answers to Self Check Exercise

5.9    References/Suggested Readings

5.10    Terminal Questions

5.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit provides you the deeper insight into the play, it provides a critical analysis a outcome the protagonist's mindset, chorus and other elements that are essential for a complete comprehension of this play.

5.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand how a play is to be read at M.A. level. It offers critical analysis of the more significant lines and sums up less important segments to help you understand the play well so that you may be able to attempt without difficulty any questions that may be set on the play.

5.3    MAJOR FACETS OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS-ITHE PROLOGUE SPOKEN BY THE CHORUS
Before the action of the play begins, one actor playing the role of Chorus introduces the protagonist, Doctor Faustus. After describing his achievements in the field of theology at the town of Wittenberg, which won him the degree of ‘doctor’, the Chorus also mentions his weaknesses—pride and a desire to overreach (that is, trying to go beyond the existing limits of human knowledge and power):
... swollen with cunning of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach (lines 20-21)
‘Conceit’ means ‘pride’. The waxen wings refer to the mythical figure Icarus, for whom his father Daedalus had made wings of wax. The father warned him not to fly towards the sun, but Icarus was so thrilled to be able to fly that he flew higher and higher towards the sun; with the heat of the sun his waxen wings melted and he fell into the sea. In this way, because of Icarus’s lack of restraint or self-control, those very waxen wings that allowed him to fly brought about his fatal fall also. Similarly, Faustus’s aspiration for forbidden knowledge of “cursed necromancy” or black magic might become the cause of his fall.
Faustus’s lack of restraint is indicated by the words “glutted” and “surfeits”— both words imply excessive indulgence which brings discomfort or suffering.
FAUSTUS'S SOLILOQUY
Faustus, alone in his study, says he has mastered different branches of knowledge, philosophy, logic, medicine, law, and divinity (or theology), but none of them satisfies him because of the different limitations of the various branches of study. He reveals his pride when he talks of how his medical advice and prescriptions have cured large numbers of people of very serious diseases. His aspiring spirit is revealed in his unhappiness that his achievements are merely human: “Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man” (line 23). His longing to be more than human makes him turn to the forbidden field of magic:
These metaphysics [i.e. supernatural pursuits] of magicians And necromantic books are heavenly ....
O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,
Is promis’d to the studious artisan!
All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command ...
... his dominion that exceeds [i.e. excels] in this [i.e. magic] Stretched as far as doth the mind of man:
A sound magician is a demi-god;
Here, tire [i.e. tire yourselves], my brains, to get a deity! (lines 48-62)
Note Faustus’s desire “to get a deity”, that is, to become god-like in power and importance. According to Christian beliefs black magic could be practised only with the help of the Devil and anyone’s turning to the Devil was repulsive to God—so the Renaissance spectators would have felt that a capable person was tuning to the wrong, forbidden path.
THE ANGEL AND SPIRIT
Faustus asks his servant Wagner (who is a student) to request Valdes and Cornelius, who have some experience of magic and are Faustus’s friends, to meet him. He thinks that a ‘conference’ or discussion with them will help him master magic more quickly. While he is alone, waiting for his friends, “the Angel and Spirit” enter. In the speech headings they are described as Good Angel and Bad Angel, respectively. They are obviously two aspects of Faustus’s mind that are personified like the characters of morality plays. They appear briefly several times in the play to externalize the conflict in his mind. At this point the Good Angel tells him to put aside the book of magic because pursuit of magic is blasphemy or disrespect to God. However, the Bad Angel or Spirit encourages him to pursue magic which can reveal to him all mysteries of nature and thereby help him become powerful like God: “Be thou on earth as Jove in the sky” (According to ancient Roman mythology Jove was the chief of gods). In this he is only articulating what Faustus too had expressed in his preceding soliloquy. The Good Angel’s advice externalizes a hesitation in Faustus’s mind which he does not express at this stage, but which is shown a little later by his blood congealing to stop him from signing the legal agreement in Scene 5 (Act 2, scene 1), lines 62 & 64-5.
(Often a good angel is referred to as simply an angel, while an evil spirit is referred to as a bad angel or simply as a spirit. According to Christianity the evil spirits or devils are fallen 30
angels who supported the archangel Lucifer in his revolt against God and were expelled from Heaven as punishment. As Mephistopheles explains to Faustus in Scene 3, lines 7882, hell is a state of extreme unhappiness at being cut off from God’s grace, “Being depriv’d of everlasting bliss”. Lucifer, who was the brightest angel in heaven before his expulsion, lost his brightness after the fall, and came to be known as Satan or the Devil; Mephistopheles refers to this in Scene 5 (Act 2, scene 1), lines 157-8, when he offers to provide Faustus company of a woman “as beautiful / As was bright Lucifer before his fall.”)
FAUSTUS'S SECOND SOLILOQUY
As the Angels leave, Faustus feels “glutted’ with the thoughts of what this power of magic can bring him. He mentions knowledge first of all (line 79), but he is thrilled mainly with the thoughts of material wealth (e.g. “gold” [line 81]) and worldly power that magic can bring him. He does give expression to a spirit of nationalism when he talks of making Germany safe, strong and prosperous, and totally free, but this is immediately followed by a dream of personal power and glory:
I’ll have them [the spirits] wall all Germany with brass
And make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg;
I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk
Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad;
I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring
And chase the Prince of Parma from our land
And reign sole king of all our provinces.(lines 87-93)
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. Which weaknesses of Faustus does the Chorus indicate at the beginning of the play?
Q2. Faustus asks his servant Wagner to request....................................who have some
experience of magic and are Faustus’s friends, to meet him.

5.4    MAJOR FACETS OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS-IISIGNING OF THE BOND
As Faustus calls Mephistopheles, he enters and tells Faustus that Lucifer has permitted him to “wait on Faustus whilst he lives” in return for his soul, but Faustus will have to “bequeath it [his soul] solemnly/And write a deed of gift with thine own blood” (lines 32-33, 35-36). When Faustus asks him what good his soul will do to Lucifer, Mephistopheles replies: “Enlarge his kingdom” (line 40). In reply to his next question, Mephistopheles replies that the fallen spirits or devils suffer pain “As great as have the human souls of men” (line 44).
As Faustus makes a cut in his arm to get blood for writing out “the deed [i.e. legal agreement] of gift” of his soul to Lucifer, his blood trickles a little, but as he starts writing the blood stops flowing (“congeals”—line 62), as if his very being is revolting against his surrendering of his soul (as Faustus himself observes in line 65). Mephistopheles immediately says: “I’ll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight” (line 63). Fire is here symbolic of lust and physical pleasures, which again and again make Faustus turn back to the Devil whenever he feels frustrated or anguished at having sold his soul and wants to turn to God
through repentance. While alone on the stage, Faustus employs reason to justify his decision:
‘Faustus gives to thee his soul’: O, there it [blood] stay’d [stopped flowing]. Why should thou not? Is not thy soul thine own? (lines 66-67)
As the fire brought by Mephistopheles makes the blood flow again, Faustus quickly writes the deed in legal language of the kind still used in India. In an ‘aside’ (i.e. thoughts uttered aloud for the audience but not supposed to be heard by the other characters on the stage) Mephistopheles says: “What will I not do to obtain his soul!” (line 73).
After writing out the legal deed of gift, Faustus says: “Consummatumest” (line 74). These words in Latin, which mean ‘It is finished’, were the last words of Christ on the cross as he sacrificed his life for mankind to bring them back to God. So for the Christian spectators Faustus’s uttering of these last words of Christ would not only seem a sacrilege but also reflect extreme pride on the part of Faustus.
As soon as Faustus signs the deed confidently, his inner doubt is reflected in the form of the words “Homo fuge” (i.e. ‘Fly, man’) that he sees on his arm where he had made a cut to get blood for writing out the deed of gift of his soul:
Homo fuge! Whither should I fly?
If unto God, he’ll throw me down to hell. — My senses are deceiv’d, here’s nothing writ. — O yes, I see it plain; even here is writ, Homo fuge! Yet shall not Faustus fly. (lines 77-81)
Mephistopheles knows that this hesitation in a part of Faustus’s mind may make him turn back to God, so to keep him on the side of the Devil he decides “to fetch him somewhat to delight his mind” (line 82) to distract him. And a number of devils come, “giving crowns and rich apparel [i.e. clothes] to Faustus.” These symbols of power and wealth appeal to Faustus’s weakness; and, forgetting all inner doubts, he goes on to read aloud the deed of gift, which mentions the conditions of gift: “that Faustus may be a spirit in form and substance, ... that Mephistopheles shall be his servant and at his command ... shall do for him and bring him whatsoever; ... shall be in his chamber or house invisible; ... shall appear ... at all times in what form or shape soever he [Faustus] p/easd’; if none of these conditions is violated then after twenty- four years Lucifer, and his minister Mephistopheles shall have “full power to ... carry ... John Faustus, body and soul, flesh, blood ... into their habitation wheresoever (lines 95-111).
HELL
Immediately after that, Faustus asks Mephistopheles about hell and where it is situated. Mephistopheles replies:
Mephistopheles: Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib’d. In one self place, but where we [the fallen angels] are is hell, And where hell is, there must we ever be;
All places shall be hell that is not heaven.
Faustus: I think hell’s a fable.
Mephistopheles: Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind.
Faustus: Think’st thou that Faustus is so fond [i.e. foolish] to imagine That after this life there is any pain?
No, these are trifles and mere old wives’ [i.e. old women’s] tales. Mephistopheles: But I am an instance to prove the contrary,
For I tell you I am damn’d and now in hell.
Faustus: Nay, if this be hell, I’ll willingly be damn’d: What, sleeping, eating, walking, and disputing! (lines 122-40)
At this stage Faustus is not prepared to understand that hell is a state of mind or soul; later whenever he thinks of this, he feels anguished at having turned to the Devil and thinks of going back to God through repentance
A WIFE
Suddenly leaving the topic of hell, Faustus asks Mephistopheles to let him have a wife, not because he wants a life-partner but simply because he feels “wanton and lascivious”, that is, lustful (lines 141-42). Mephistopheles then brings on stage “a Devil dressed like a woman, with fireworks” (line 148) which shows the nature of Faustus’s lust almost as a typical comic character of morality plays. Mephistopheles then advises Faustus not to go in for the ceremony of marriage but to enjoy the company of “fairest courtesans” (i.e. sophisticated prostitutes) (lines 151-53).
KNOWLEDGE
Then Mephistopheles gives Faustus a book of magic, and explains to him how to use it to get gold, create storms and lightening etc., or to have at his command armed soldiers. When Faustus expresses his desire to know in detail about the movements and situations of different planets, and about “all plants, herbs, and trees that grow upon the earth”, Mephistopheles points out that all that information is also there in that book. Faustus’s desire to know better the heavenly bodies and the earth constitutes the nobler aspect of his decision to go in for the forbidden knowledge; however, this positive aspect comes last of all, after lust, and after the mention of the wealth and power that he can now have.
REGRET AND THE DESIRE TO REPENT
Faustus already feels unhappy at having cut himself off from heaven, and Mephistopheles tells him: “’Twas thine own seeking” (line 4). A tragedy is more effective when the protagonist suffers because of his or her own wrong decision(s) and weakness(es). Here it is being emphasized that Faustus’s joining the Devil was his own conscious decision, and he himself is responsible for his consequent anguish. It is also reiterated in this scene as well as in the preceding scene and in later scenes towards the end of the play that Faustus can repent and turn back to God at any stage—it is only his weaknesses that make him withdraw from repenting again and again.
Here we also have an interesting instance of reasoning used to prove contrary stands. Mephistopheles says heaven “is not half as fair/As thou or any man”: man is “more excellent” than heaven because heaven was “made for man” (lines 5-9).
However, the same argument is used by Faustus to turn back to heaven, and he decides to repent:
If heaven was made for man, ’twas made for me:
I will renounce [i.e. give up] this magic and repent. (lines 10-11)
Immediately the two angels appear like the figures of a morality play to externalize his thoughts. The Bad Angel gives voice to Faustus’s own doubt about the possibility of his ever being forgiven by God: “Thou art a spirit [in the sense of having become like a devil
by joining the Devil]; God cannot pity thee” (line 13). Faustus insists: “Be I a devil, yet God may pity me; / Yea, God will pity me if I repent” (lines 15- 16). Yet as the Angels leave, Faustus admits:
My heart Is harden’d, I cannot repent, (line 18)
Faustus mentions how he frequently feels like committing suicide in despair, and he would have killed himself long before this, “Had not sweet pleasure conquer’d deep despair” (line 25). With the help of magic he has been able to listen to great legendary poets and singers of ancient times such as Homer and Amphion. So he concludes:
Why should I die, then, or basely despair?
I am resolv’d Faustus shall not repent, (lines 31-32)
DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE; REPENTANCE
Faustus then turns to questions about the structure of the universe and the movements of planets. To some of the answers of Mephistopheles, Faustus impatiently says that even his servant Wagner knows as much. However, as Mephistopheles resolves some doubts regarding the structure of the universe, Faustus asks him “who made the world” (line 69). Mephistopheles refuses to answer any questions regarding God’s role, and says to Faustus: “Thou art damn’d; think thou of hell” (line 75). However, Faustus is not convinced that his damnation is final and tells himself: “Think, Faustus, upon God, that made the world” (line 76). Yet there is a doubt in his mind: “Is’t not too late?” (line 80). Again the two Angels appear, and the Good Angel assures him: “Never too late, if Faustus will repent” (line 82). Then the Bad Angel mentions the fear of physical pain, which plays as important a role as the charm of physical pleasure in stopping Faustus from repenting at different times: “If thou repent, devils will tear thee in pieces” (line 83). The Good Angel then gives voice to faith that is still there in a part of Faustus’s mind: “Repent, and they shall never raze [i.e. bruise] your skin” (line 84). Convinced by this faith, Faustus prays:
O Christ, my saviour, my saviour,
Help to save distressed Faustus’ soul, (lines 85-6)
The possibility of Faustus’s repenting and thus being saved from hell, makes Lucifer anxious, and he rushes to the stage with Beelzebub, his “companion prince in hell”, to prevent Faustus from repenting. First he uses the logic Faustus himself sometimes expresses: “Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just” (line 87). Since this relates to a matter of faith, and it is possible that Faustus may get influenced by faith in Christ’s mercy and love for the repentant soul, so Lucifer now appeals to Faustus’s sense of honour: “Thou call’st on God contrary to thy promise” (line 94). This has the effect that Lucifer desires, and Faustus “vows never to look to heaven, / Never to name God or to pray to him” (lines 98-9). Lucifer is pleased that Faustus has agreed to show himself “an obedient servant” of hell, and rewards him with “some pastime”: “Sit down, and thou shalt behold [i.e. see] the Seven Deadly Sins in their own proper shapes and likeness” (lines 102-7).
Faustus is so thrilled at this, he says: “That sight will be as pleasant to me as paradise was to Adam the first day of his creation” (lines 108-9). There is something disturbing in the way he equates the sight of the deadly sins with paradise or heaven: this is not a mere hyperbole (exaggeration), it indicates confusion of values in Faustus’s mind.
THE PAGEANT OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
According to Christianity there are seven deadly sins: pride, covetousness (i.e. greed), lechery or lust, wrath or anger, gluttony (i.e. excessive eating and drinking), envy, and sloth (the sin of sloth implies not only physical laziness but also laziness of mind). In Faustus’s character we see the first three of these sins. Lucifer was guilty of the first sin, pride, which led to his fall.
In morality plays personifications of the seven deadly sins often figured as comic characters. In Doctor Faustus here, as the personified Seven Deadly Sins, led by a Piper, enter, Lucifer’s companion Beelzebub asks Faustus to “question them of their names and dispositions [i.e. temperaments].” This and the exchange of remarks that Faustus has with some of the Sins make this episode lively and somewhat like drama, almost in the nature of satiric comedy. The speeches uttered by the respective Sins are appropriate to their qualities not only in content but also in the manner of delivery, which also makes this episode delightful and dramatic.
As Lucifer sends the Sins and the Piper back to hell (“Away, to hell, away!”), Faustus expresses his joy: “O, how this sight doth delight my soul!”; and Lucifer says to him: “in hell is all manner of delight” (lines 170-71). Hell offers delights, not happiness and peace of mind associated with heaven; and delights fascinate Faustus again and again in this play and are instrumental in keeping him on the side of hell, in spite of his repeated realization that the path chosen by him is wrong.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. How does Lucifer succeed in bringing Faustus back to his side?
Q2. How does Lucifer reward Faustus for being his obedient servant?

5.5    MAJOR FACETS OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS-IIIFAUSTUS’S LOVE OF DELIGHT AND PLEASURE
Mephistopheles’s suggestion that Faustus should see the Pope and partake of the feast makes Faustus happy and he calls this devil “sweet’’:
Sweet Mephistopheles, thou pleasest me:
Whilst I am here on earth let me be cloy’d With all things that delight the heart of man. My four-and-twenty years of liberty
I’ll spend in pleasure and in dalliance ....
(Scene 8 [Act 3, scene 1], lines 58-62)
Already we see Faustus becoming more concerned with delight, pleasure, and dalliance or irresponsible fun. This marks a certain decline in Faustus’s character, though he regains dignity in Scenes 18-19 (Act 5, scenes 1-2).
WAGNER’S SPEECH
Almost like the Chorus, Faustus’s servant Wagner gives information about an action carried out before this scene and introduces the action of the scene—all this in the manner of dramatic action as he is puzzled about seeming contrariness in the things Faustus is doing. The fact that he has “made his will” and given Wagner “his wealth, / His house”, etc. makes Wagner think that his “master means to die shortly”; so he cannot understand why Faustus is feasting and drinking freely as if it were a festive time.
FAUSTUS’S LAST SPEECH
Faustus’s last speech when he is all alone on the stage is charged with intense feeling. Even in the midst of great anguish and a desperate desire that his soul should cease to exist altogether to avoid suffering in hell for ever, there is indication that Faustus can still be saved if he could only repent.
As Faustus has “but one bare hour to live”, he prays to “ever-moving spheres of heaven” to “stand still”, “That time may cease, and midnight never come” (lines 134, 136-37):
... or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul, (line 139-41)
He decides to turn to God, but just when he has a hope that his turning to Christ with faith and repentance may give him the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice and save his soul, he feels physical pain in the heart caused by Lucifer to stop him from repenting:
O, I’ll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down?
See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament [i.e. sky]! One drop would save my soul, half a drop. Ah, my Christ!— Rend not my heart for naming of my Christ;
Yet will I call on him. O, spare me, Lucifer!— (lines 145-49)
His inability to repent because he cannot bear physical pain caused by Lucifer to stop him from turning to God and Christ, makes him feel that God is angry at his weakness and is looking at him with “ireful brows” (lines 150-51). Desperate, he wishes to disappear into the earth, but feels “it will not harbour me” (lines 155- 56). He would like to be turned into “a foggy mist” and become part of a clcud so that with rain parts of his body may fall to earth but soul “ascend to heaven” (lines 159-63). Then he prays that even if he cannot be forgiven, “Impose some end to my incessant pain; / Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, / A hundred thousand, and at last be sav’d” (lines 168-70). He wishes that he should not have been a human being with a soul:
Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?
Or why is this immortal that thou hast? (lines 172-73)
In a moment of weakness he curses his parents for having given him birth, but he immediately realises that he himself has been responsible for his present situation:
No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer
That hath depriv’d thee of the joys of heaven, (lines 181-82)
A little earlier, before the last appearance of the two angels, Mephostophilis had said to Faustus:
’Twas I that, when thou wert I’ the way to heaven,
Damn’d up thy passage; when thou took’st the book To view the scriptures, then I turn’d the leaves
And led thine eye. (lines 93-96)
However, it is Faustus’s own weakness (his worldly desires and fear of physical pain) which makes it possible for Mephostophilis and Lucifer to influence him when they can do nothing to the soul of the Old Man whose faith is “great”.
As the clock strikes twelve Faustus’s anguish reaches its climax, and he wishes:
Now, body, turn to air, Thunder and lightning.
O soul, be chang’d into little water drops,
And fall into the ocean, ne’er be found, (lines 183-86)
Just as his choosing the forbidden path in his quest for knowledge is presented as a rather human choice, so also his frantic desire to somehow become totally non-existent is all too human. This humanizing of Faustus helps the audience empathise with him and so makes his intense suffering powerfully tragic. As Faustus goes out with Mephostophilis, Lucifer and Beelzebub also leave.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-3
Q1. What does Faustus say he has gained and what lost by selling his soul?
Q2. Why did Faustus not seek any help of priests to get out of this situation, as suggested by the scholars?

5.6    SUMMARY
Faustus is dissatisfied with the accepted branches of learning, some of which he has mastered. He feels that magic, which he may learn with the help of the Devil, can give him unlimited powers. With the help of magic, he can make his country safe, strong and prosperous, and satisfy his desire for knowledge beyond that provided by the permitted branches of study. However, it is essentially his desire for power, wealth and personal glory that motivates him to go in for the forbidden magic with the help of the Devil. He invokes the Devil and his deputy Mephistopheles. He signs a legal deed with his blood, giving Lucifer full power over his soul after twenty-four years in return for powers of magic and the condition that Mephistopheles will serve him and carry out all his commands during these twenty-four years.
There is hesitation in Faustus’s mind before signing the bond and even after signing it. It is cigar that the deed signed by Faustus has no finality and can be nullified at any stage if Faustus repents and turns to God. So Mephistopheles not only uses fire to make Faustus’s blood flow to help him write the deed when his blood congeals as if to stop him from selling his soul; even after signing the deed whenever Faustus’s mind wavers or thinks of repenting, Mephistopheles distracts his mind with delightful sights of power and wealth or with physical pleasures. And later when at times Faustus almost determines to repent, threats of physical pain and torture are used to keep him on the side of hell.
Faustus’s desire for worldly power, wealth, and physical pleasure is repeatedly brought out as his main weakness. He uses reason also to convince himself that God cannot love a sinner like him, and that becomes an important factor in his failure to turn back to God even when he feels he has made a mistake in joining the Devil.
Soon Faustus begins to realize that he has made a mistake in deciding to give his soul away to Lucifer, even as he admits that it was his own conscious decision. He feels that he can still turn back to God if he truly repents, but finds that his heart is so hardened that he cannot repent. As Faustus appeals to Christ, the saviour, to save his anguished soul, Lucifer realizes the possibility of his turning back to God, and to stop him he appeals to his sense of honour by saying that he (Faustus) is going back on his promise. This works, and Faustus promises never to pray to God. Pleased Lucifer then rewards him with a show of personified Seven Deadly Sins, which delights Faustus and makes him forget his regret for the time being. (Towards the end of the play, though, he again turns to God and Christ— again unsuccessfully because even then he is unable to repent.) With the help of magic gained through the agreement with the devil, Faustus is able to see different zones of the
earth and explore in space the planets, stars, the moon, etc., in eight days. After that he goes to Rome, and after watching its splendour, he reaches the Pope’s palace on the occasion of Saint Peter’s feast. From here onwards, in Scenes 8-17 (Acts 3 and 4) there is no complexity or growth in Faustus’s character, and we see him playing tricks like a conjurer, as if a person without the values based in faith tends to become superficial. He and Mephistopheles appear before the Pope in disguise as friars, and manage to get Bruno released who had been appointed Pope by the German Emperor but had been captured and made a prisoner by the other Pope. Then, becoming invisible, they spoil the Pope’s feast.
Back home in Germany, honoured by the Emperor and others, Faustus shows them the figures of Alexander and his Paramour as well as Darius. He makes a stag’s horns appear on the head of a courtier Benvolio who expresses contempt for his magical powers. On another occasion he shows the Duke of Vanholt a castle in the air and obtains for the Duchess ripe grapes in the middle of winter. The other tricks he plays are merely funny and show no hint of the understanding, spirit of adventure, maturity and dignity that we see in the earlier and later parts of the play.
In Scene 18 (Act 5, scene 1), as the Old Man appears on the stage, there is again in Faustus a realization of his mistake and a desire to repent. However, fear of physical pain, as Mephistopheles threatens to tear him to pieces, makes him give up the idea of turning back to God by repenting. To drown his inner anguish and to suppress his desire to repent, he asks Mephistopheles to provide him the company of the “heavenly Helen”. When a devil looking like Helen appears on the stage, Faustus becomes so ecstatic, he asks this semblance of Helen to make him “immortal with a kiss’’—This shows that he remains confined to the surface of physical pleasure even while being aware that it is illusory, because when he made Alexander and his Paramour appear before the German Emperor, he (Faustus) told him that they were “but shadows, not substantial”; so he knows that this Helen is unreal.
Scene 19 (Act 5, scene 2) shows him accepting his end with dignity as he talks to some Scholars, admitting that his unhappy end is the result of his own conscious decision: “For the vain pleasure of four- and-twenty years hath Faustus lost eternal joy and felicity.” As the time of his being taken to hell (in fulfillment of his contract with the devil) draws near, Faustus prays that this last hour may be extended at least to a day to allow him time to repent and turn back to God. Even as he tries to pray to God, he feels physical pain in his heart caused by Lucifer to prevent him from repenting. As the clock strikes twelve, he goes off the stage with Mephistopheles, and in the last scene his horrible death is reported. The Chorus comments on how a promising course of life was destroyed in the case of Faustus.

5.7    GLOSSARY

•    Soliloquy- The words uttered by a character when he (or she) is all alone on the stage. In contrast, an aside is the thoughts of a character spoken aloud for the benefit of the audience but which are not supposed to be heard by the other characters present on the stage.

•    Fortitude- Moral strength; calm courage and self-control in the face of difficulties, dangers or pain.

•    Damned- Condemned to suffer in hell.

•    Deed- A signed agreement, especially one transferring ownership or legal rights congeal: to become thick or solid.

5.8    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Pride, desire to overreach, and lack of restraint
Ans 2. Valdes and Cornelius
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. By reminding him of his promise (made earlier in the form of a legal deed)
Ans 2. By providing him some pastime in the form of the pageant of the Seven Deadly Sins
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-3
Ans 1. He gained “vain pleasure” (vain in both senses—useless and proud) for twenty-four years, but lost eternal happiness of being with God.
Ans 2. Because the devil threatened to tear him to pieces

5.9    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Brockbank, J.P. “Marlowe: Dr. Faustus.” Studies in English Literature. London: Edward Arnold, 1962.

•    Jump, John. Marlowe: Doctor Faustus: A Casebook. London: Macmillan: 1969.

•    Kastan, David Scott. Ed. Doctor Faustus. New York: Norton, 2005.

•    Leech, Clifford. Ed. Marlowe: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewwod Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1964.

•    Levin, Harry. The Overreacher: A Study of Christopher Marlowe. London: Faber and Faber, 1952.

•    Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. John D. Jump. Ed. The Revels Plays Series. London: Methuen, 1962.

•    Steane, J.B. Ed. The Complete Plays. Edited with an Introduction and Brief Annotation. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.

5.10    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    In what ways is the conflict in Faustus’s mind revealed? Why is he unable to repent and turn back to God?

2.    Comment on the dramatic significance of the role of the Old Man.

3.    Discuss the dramatic significance of Faustus’s address to Helen.

4.    Bring out the dramatic significance of the last scene before Faustus’s death.
TWELFTH NIGHT - WILLIAM SHAKESPEAREUnit-6 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: LIFE AND WORKS
Structure

6.1    Introduction

6.2    Learning Objectives

6.3    Intoduction to Shakespeare
Self Check Exercise-1

6.4    Summary

6.5    Glossary

6.6    Answers to Self Check Exercise

6.7    References/Suggested Readings

6.8    Terminal Questions

6.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces you to Shakespeare’s plays and characteristic features of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, and describes significant aspects of the last of his great comedies, Twelfth Night, which was first performed probably in 1601.

6.2    LEARNINGOBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand the life and works of William Shakespeare, which you should keep in mind when you read the text of the play with the help of the critical analysis.

6.3    INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born at Stratford-upon-Avon and most probably attended the grammar school there, which would have made him familiar with the works of ancient Roman writers in Latin. At the age of 18 he got married to Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than him. Some years later he came to London and joined a theatre company as an actor and writer of plays (this company came to be known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men from 1594, and as the King’s Men from 1603 when James I became the king of England and patron of this company). When the lease of the theatre owned by this company (which was simply called the Theatre) was about to expire, the company pulled it down and from its timber built another theatre called the Globe. Most of Shakespeare’s great plays, including Twelfth Night, were performed at the Globe. In 1613, during a performance of Shakespeare’s last play Henry VIII (in which another writer John Fletcher probably collaborated with him), this theatre caught fire and got burnt down. Shakespeare also wrote two long poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, and a sonnet sequence consisting of 154 sonnets.
Shakespeare is believed to have gone back to his native place Stratford-upon-Avon after the success of The Tempest (1611), and in that play Prospero’s decision to break his magic wand is seen as a reflection of Shakespeare’s announcement of his retirement from the 40
theatre. He died in 1616. During his lifetime some of his plays had been published separately in quarto form. Seven years after his death, in 1623 appeared his Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies as one volume compiled by two of his fellow actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell. This volume is usually referred to as the First Folio of his plays.
EARLIER PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE
At first Shakespeare might have revised other writers’ plays that were taken up by his theatre company for performance. However, by 1588 or so he was writing plays himself and had made his mark by 1592. His first comedy, The Comedy of Errors, was partly based on ancient Roman playwright Plautus’s comedy Menaechmi about twin brothers Separated in childhood and neither knowing that the other is alive: one day one of them happens to visit the place where the other is living, and this leads to a lot of humour because of mistaken identities. Shakespeare added to it another set of twins working as servants to the first set of twins, which multiplies the errors of mistaken identity. In Twelfth Night also we have some humour arising from mistaken identity of twins, as the heroine Voila, to disguise herself as a boy with the name Cesario, dresses herself in the way her brother Sebastian used to dress, and Olivia, who falls in love with Cesario, gets married to Sebastian by mistake. Shakespeare’s first tragedy Titus Andronicus too was based on the model of ancient Roman writer Seneca’s plays. As history plays were popular at the time, he wrote a number of history plays early in his career, including Richard III (where the central character is a villain-hero), Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, and Henry V. Among his other early plays are a lively romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream (c. 1595), and The Merchant of Venice, which, while presenting the then prevalent attitude to Jews, yet humanizes the Jewish character Shylock and gives him some justification for his cruelty. Early in his career his excellence as a dramatist is seen in the unity of atmosphere, increasing psychological realism in the portrayal of characters, and rich poetry that effectively evokes different shades of emotions and thought.
THE GREAT ROMANTIC COMEDIES
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, during 1598-1601, Shakespeare wrote Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, which are seen as the best of his happy romantic comedies. These comedies are set in a romantic world of wish-fulfillment, at some distance from everyday reality; and evil is not allowed to become a serious threat to happiness. Music plays an important role in sustaining the world of romance in these plays. The central theme of these comedies is love—love at first sight, which just happens or doesn’t happen, which is irrational and yet is an enriching emotion. These comedies end in multiple marriages marking fulfillment of love. The central figures of these comedies are heroines who combine in them the best of emotions and intelligence, apart from being beautiful; they are balanced personalities and provide the norm or standard of right behaviour, against which others are judged. Apart from the protagonists, these comedies show unusual virtue in some other characters also, for example, in Twelfth Night Antonio risks his own life to ensure the safety of his friend Sebastian.
THE GREAT TRAGEDIES
From the beginning of the seventeenth century, Shakespeare’s plays probe evil more fully, in his great tragedies and in the tragicomedies and dramatic romances.
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth, written during 1601-07, are considered to be his greatest tragedies. Also significant as tragedies are his earlier Julius Caesar and later Antony and Cleopatra. These tragedies are named after the central figures who are mainly men, in contrast with his romantic comedies centred on heroines. His tragic protagonists occupy a position of importance and power in society. They are given some positive qualities which make us empathise with them but each of them has some flaw in character (tragic flaw) which proves fatal in the given circumstances. This flaw leads the protagonist to some serious mistake or mistakes which result in intense suffering to himself and at times also to those dear to him—this suffering is far more than what his flaw or mistake deserves: in the words of King Lear, who is the protagonist of the play named after him, each one of them is “more sinn’d against than sinning”. Yet even in their suffering they rise in dignity, as suffering takes them to a higher level of awareness and understanding. We see some features of tragic heroes in the mistakes and suffering of Prospero in Shakespeare’s dramatic romance The Tempest.
THE TRAGI-COMEDIES AND DRAMATIC ROMANCES
Some of the plays that Shakespeare wrote in the early years of the seventeenth century, such as Measure for Measure (1604), are not festive but probe sinister aspects of evil; they combine features of tragedies and comedies and are referred to as tragicomedies. Sometimes his last plays, such as The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest (1611) are also so labelled, but it is more appropriate to describe them as dramatic romances because in them positive elements associated with comedy finally overcome and neutralise the darker tragedy-like elements of the earlier part of the play.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What are the main features of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies?
Q2. The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest are……………………………plays.
Q3. Name some greatest tragedies of Shakespeare.
Q4. The Taming of the Shrew is a………………………………..play.
Q5. Shakespeare came to London and joined a theatre company as an actor and writer of plays named?

6.4    SUMMARY
William Shakespeare, (baptized April 26, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, Eng.— died April 23, 1616, Stratford-upon-Avon), English poet and playwright, often considered the greatest writer in world literature. The order in which Shakespeare’s plays were written and performed is highly uncertain. His earliest plays seem to date from the late 1580s to the mid-1590s and include the comedies Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; history plays based on the lives of the English kings, including Henry VI (parts 1, 2, and 3), Richard III, and Richard II; and the tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The plays apparently written between 1596 and 1600 are mostly comedies, including The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, and As You Like It, and histories, including Henry IV (parts 1 and 2), Henry V, and Julius Caesar.
Approximately between 1600 and 1607 he wrote the comedies Twelfth Night, All’s Well That Ends Well, and Measure for Measure, as well as the great tragedies Hamlet (probably begun in 1599), Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear, which mark the summit of his art. Among his later works (about 1607 to 1614) are the tragedies Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Timon of Athens, as well as the fantastical romances The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. He probably also collaborated on the plays Edward III and The Two Noble Kinsmen. In 2010 a case was made for Shakespeare as the coauthor (with John Fletcher) of Double Falsehood.
Shakespeare’s plays, all of them written largely in iambic pentameter verse, are marked by extraordinary poetry; vivid, subtle, and complex characterizations; and a highly inventive use of English. His 154 sonnets, published in 1609 but apparently written mostly in the 1590s, often express strong feeling within an exquisitely controlled form.

6.5    GLOSSARY

•    Sustain- Bear, endure.

•    Enrich- Improve, develop.

•    Neutral- Unbiased, balanced.

6.6    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Shakespeare’s romantic comedies are set in an imaginary world of wish-fulfilment, at some distance from everyday reality; and evil is not allowed to become a serious threat to happiness. Music plays an important role in sustaining the world of romance in these plays. The central theme of these comedies is love—love at first sight, which just happens or doesn’t happen, which is irrational and yet is an enriching emotion. These comedies end in multiple marriages marking fulfilment of love. The central figures of these comedies are heroines who combine in them the best of emotions and intelligence, apart from being beautiful; they are balanced personalities and provide the norm or standard of right behaviour, against which others are judged. Apart from the protagonists, these comedies show unusual virtue in some other characters also.
Ans 2. Romances
Ans 3. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth, written during 1601-07, are considered to be Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies.
Ans 4. Comedy/Comic play
Ans 5. Lord Chamberlain’s Men

6.7    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•  Barber, C.L. Shakespeare’s Festive Comedy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1959.
Chapter 10. 240-61.

•  Brown, John Russell. 1957. Shakespeare and His Comedies. Ed. 2. London:
Methuen, 1962. 162-82.

•    Charlton, H.B. Shakespearian Comedy. London: Methuen, 1938.
Note- The last chapter, ‘The Consummation’, discusses the main features of Shakespeare’s great romantic comedies, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It,
and Twelfth Night.’ 277-97. (For Main Features of Twelfth Night as a Characteristic Shakespearian Romantic Comedy).

•  Leggatt, Alexander. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Love. London: Methuen, 1974,
pages 221-54.

•  Lerner, Laurence. Shakespeare’s Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1967.

6.8    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Write a note on Shakespeare as a writer.

2. What is tragic-comedy? Discuss its main features.
Unit-7 TWELFTH NIGHT: AN OVERVIEW
Structure

7.1    Introduction

7.2    Learning Objectives

7.3    Plot
Self Check Exercise-1

7.4    The Significance of the Title and Subtitle
Self Check Exercise-2

7.5    Major Aspects of Plot and Subplot
Self Check Exercise-3

7.6    Summary

7.7    Glossary

7.8    Answers to Self Check Exercise

7.9    References/Suggested Readings

7.10    Terminal Questions

7.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the earlier part of the play, bringing out the significance of different utterances and actions in the context of the themes and plot structure of the play. It discusses the relationship of the subplot with the main plot.

7.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand how certain utterances and actions of different characters reveal their attitudes to life and contribute to the over-all thematic and dramatic structure of the play. This unit should also help you appreciate how a festive atmosphere is built up in the play.

7.3    PLOT
THE MAIN PLOT
In the opening scene of the play the ruling Duke of Illyria talks of the restlessness of his mind because of his love for Countess Olivia, who says she will remain in mourning for seven years for her brother (who died about a year ago) and will not meet any man during this period. In the second scene, shipwrecked Viola reaches the shore of Illyria with the assistance of a good Captain, and hopes that her brother, who was in the ship with her, might also be safe. As a practical person she decides to serve Orsino in disguise. In the fourth scene Viola, who has disguised herself as a boy with the name Cesario, has already been employed by Orsino, and is now assigned the task of winning Olivia’s heart for Orsino. Even as she sincerely accepts the assignment, in an aside she expresses her love for Orsino and confidence that ultimately, she will marry him: “Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.” In the next scene she meets Olivia and describes Orsino’s love for her so effectively that Olivia falls in love with this messenger Cesario, not being aware that ‘he’ is a woman in the disguise of a boy. Through her steward Malvolio she cleverly sends a ring for Cesario and invites ‘him’ to come again. Just then (in Act 2, scene 1) Viola’s twin
brother Sebastian, dressed exactly like Cesario, reaches Illyria, and his very appearance gives a hint to the audience of the likely solution of the very unusual love triangle that has developed—Orsino in love with Olivia, who has fallen in love with Cesario, who is actually Viola and is in love with Orsino. Sebastian is accompanied by a very good and caring seacaptain, Antonio, who gives Sebastian all his money and later risks his own life to save Sebastian from harm. In the next meeting with Cesario, Olivia expresses her love for ‘him’, who replies that no woman ‘save I alone’ can ever control ‘his’ (her) heart.
Here the subplot intersects with the main plot. In order to have fun, Sir Toby Belch asks the cowardly Sir Andrew Aguecheek to challenge Cesario to a duel to impress Olivia. When Viola- Cesario and Aguecheek draw their swords, Antonio, who is worried about Sebastian’s safety in this strange place, reaches there. He mistakes Cesario for Sebastian, and draws his sword to defend his friend. Just then Orsino’s soldiers come there and arrest Antonio because on a past occasion he had offended Illyria. Taking Cesario to be Sebastian, Antonio asks him to return to him some of the money he had given him, so that by paying a heavy fine he can be free. Cesario naturally says that ‘he’ never got any money from him and offers to share with him whatever little money ‘he’ has. At this Antonio expresses anguish that Sebastian, who looked to be very virtuous, has proved to be evil. On the other hand, the Clown, Feste, sent by Olivia to ask Cesario to come again, happens to meet Sebastian, and takes him to be Cesario. Aguecheek, encouraged by Sir Toby to attack Cesario, whose dealing with ‘his’ friend seemed mean, attacks Sebastetian and gets hurt. As Toby intervenes, Olivia enters, and scolds Toby. She also mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, and when he responds positively to her requests, she is so happy at this change in attitude that she hurriedly gets married to him, thinking that she is marrying Cesario. Orsino, sensing that Olivia continues to be indifferent to his messages of love because she has fallen in love with his messenger, comes to her house in anger and says that to punish her cruelty to him he will kill her darling Cesario. He admits that Cesario is innocent like a lamb and that he loves ‘him’ dearly: Till sacrifice the lamb that I do love As Cesario (Viola) says ‘he’ (she) will willingly die a thousand deaths for Orsino’s happiness, Olivia says: “Cesario, husband, stay!” When Cesario denies having married her, Olivia calls the priest to “reveal” their marriage which they had earlier planned to keep secret for some time. Just then Sebastian enters and soon the confusion of mistaken identities is cleared, and it is revealed that Cesario is disguised Viola. Orsino assures Olivia that though she got married to Sebastian by mistake, he is a worthy husband: “right noble is his blood.” Then he asks Cesario-Viola about his/her repeated affirmation of love for him: “Thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou never should’st love woman like to me.” When Viola assures him that she really means that, he offers to marry her: “here is my hand; you shall from this time be/Your master’s mistress.” As Shakespeare’s romantic comedies end with multiple marriages, it is reported that Maria and Sir Toby of the subplot too have got married.
THE SUBPLOT
In the subplot we have different members of Olivia’s household—her waiting-gentlewoman Maria, steward Malvolio, the Clown Feste and Fabian (who are her employees), her kinsman (or relative) Sir Toby Belch—and Sir Toby’s friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek. With the exception of Malvolio, they sing, dance, and enjoy feasting and drinking. Malvolio shows contempt for Feste, and criticizes the singing of Sir Toby and his companions: “My 46
masters, are you mad? ... to gabble like tinkers ...?” (2.3.87-89). His angry manner makes them plan a mild comic revenge on him to embarrass him.
Maria, whose handwriting is like that of Olivia, writes a letter addressed to no one in particular, and not signed either, and drops it where Malvolio would see it. As Maria has observed, Malvolio thinks so highly of himself that he is convinced that anyone who meets him is bound to love him. So when he sees the letter he convinces himself that it is from Olivia to him. Then he starts following the directions given in the letter, and therefore appears before Olivia strangely dressed and smiling for no reason. Feste and others pretend that Malvolio is behaving oddly because some evil spirit has entered him, and to ‘cure’ him they put him in a dark room where the Fool, Feste, pretending to be a priest Sir Topas, playfully teases him. Malvolio writes a letter of protest to Olivia, which she receives towards the end of the play. She sees that Malvolio’s letter does not indicate madness, and has him brought before her. When Malvolio learns that the anonymous letter had been written by Maria as part of their plan to repay him for his insulting attitude, he angrily announces: “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you!” (5.1.377). Because his comic punishment has been fully deserved, his anger does not disturb the festive spirit of the play.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. In the subplot there are different members of Olivia’s household. Name them.
Q2. In the fourth scene Viola has been disguised as a boy with the name………………………….

7.4 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE AND SUBTITLE
Twelfth Night refers to the twelfth night after Christmas, i.e. 6th January. Festivities of Christmas continue for twelve days after Christmas. As Twelfth Night is the last night of festivities, people want to make the most of it, and for this reason it is the most festive, marked by dancing, feasting, merrymaking, and entertainment. The title of the play Twelfth Night refers to the highly festive and cheerful atmosphere of Twelfth Night, and implies that this play is full of joy and free from shadows of sadness like Twelfth Night. (On the Twelfth Day after Christmas a festival is held in memory of the Epiphany, that is, when baby Jesus’s divine essence was made manifest [or clear] to three wise men from the east, who are usually referred to as the Magi. However, the play has nothing to do with that revelation of the divine.)
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. What does the title of the play Twelfth Night indicate?
Q2. Twelfth Night refers to the twelfth night after Christmas, i.e……………………..January.

7.5    MAJOR ASPECTS OF PLOT AND SUBPLOTHIGHLY AMUSING COMPLICATION IN THE MAIN PLOT
The action of the main plot becomes highly amusing when the disguise of Viola as a boy, Cesario, makes Olivia fall in love with ‘him’/her, while Viola herself loves Orsino who loves Olivia. Because the complication in the plot is caused by the disguise, this ensures that the play remains cheerful in spite of this highly unusual and superficial complication of their loves. Also, as soon as Olivia falls in love with Cesario and this unusual and funny
complication of sove triangle develops, Sebastian, dressed like Cesario, appears on the stage, and that indicates to the audience a probable solution of the complication. So we can sit back and enjoy the fun arising from this comic complication.
Throughout the play, Viola’s calm confidence, and lively manner also reassure the spectators and readers that all will be well. In fact, even before she meets Olivia with Orsino’s message of love, her confident aside, “Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife”, gives clear indication of the likelihood of a happy solution.
FESTIVE ATTITUDE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE SUBPLOT
The characters in the subplot celebrate life with feasting, drinking and dancing. When Malvolio criticises their merrymaking, he appears anti-life, and the prank played on him by way of mild punishment adds to festivity.
ABSENCE OF EVIL, SUFFERING AND ANXIETY
It is significant that in Shakespeare’s two romantic comedies which preceded Twelfth Night—Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It—there is noticeable role of evil in the action of the plays. In Much Ado About Nothing a villain’s plots come close to destroying the happiness of an innocent virtuous young woman, and in As You Like it in two families the brothers not only deprive their brothers of their due but also plan to kill them. Of course, the general atmosphere of those plays is so lighthearted that the spectators or readers do not feel much anxiety. However, in Twelfth Night there is no such evil plotting or planning. The trick played on Malvolio in the subplot is in the nature of a holiday prank, and does not cause him any harm. In fact, in the context of his attitude to those who play this trick on him, this mild punishment of Malvolio only adds to humour and cheerful atmosphere of the play.
In the main plot, in the opening scene of the play there is a mention of the death of Olivia’s brother, but when we see her in Act 1, Scene 5, she is quite cheerful and appreciates the joke of the clown Feste when he says that she is a fool to mourn that her brother has gone to heaven. Similarly, in the second scene Viola shows some anxiety about the safety of her brother who could not be rescued after their ship was destroyed in the storm, yet she immediately dispels this anxiety by expressing the hope that, like her, he too may have survived by chance. And in the beginning of Act 2 we see him on the stage. So even the mention of death or of possibility of death is not allowed to cast any shadow of sadness on the cheerful atmosphere of the play.
At the end, In Act 5 Duke Orsino does threaten to kill Cesario (“I’ll sacrifice the lamb that I do love”—line 128) to cause pain to Countess Olivia who has rejected his love, but this threat is immediately nullified, partly by Cesario i.e. disguised Viola’s cheerful response, and mainly by the discovery that Olivia has got married to Cesario’s look-alike Sebastian and that Cesario, whom Orsino loves dearly, is actually a woman, Viola, who also loves him. As such, the fleeting shadow of the threat to kill does not significantly affect the festive atmosphere of the play. Incidentally, this threat is seen as evidence that Shakespeare could not sustain the lighthearted cheerfulness till the end of the play. The clown Feste’s last song, with which the play concludes, also expresses mixed feelings because its refrain “For the rain it raineth everyday” reminds the spectators and readers that sunny warmth of joy and festivity that they have seen in this play is unusual in life, where rain symbolising suffering or pain is much more common. It appears that Shakespeare’s mind was already
turning away from happy comedies to a probing of weaknesses and evil that brought about suffering, because after this play he wrote tragedies, dark comedies and dramatic romances which explore evil and suffering at length.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-3
Q1. What view of love does Twelfth Night indicate?
Q2. The complication in the plot is caused by the………………………………. .

7.6    SUMMARY
Twelfth Night, like other romantic comedies of Shakespeare, is set in a world of make-believe where everything happens as we would wish it to be (as the subtitle ‘What You Will’ implies). The title of the play indicates the festive spirit of Twelfth Night, the last night of festivities on the occasion of Christmas which extend up to 6th January. This play is the sunniest of his romantic comedies because evil is kept out of it and even the mention of death casts no shadow on the prevailing cheerful spirit of the play, in the main plot as well as in the subplot. Music and songs play an important role in reinforcing the cheerful and happy atmosphere of the play.
The festive spirit is heightened by the highly amusing complication resulting from Viola’s disguise of a boy with the name Cesario, as Olivia falls in love with this Cesario who brings her Orsino’s message of love, even as Viola-Cesario has herself fallen in love with Orsino at first sight As Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, dressed exactly like Cesario, appears on the stage as soon as Olivia falls in love with Cesario, a probable solution to the highly unusual love triangle is suggested, and that also keeps the atmosphere cheerful.
The heroine of Twelfth Night, Viola, represents a perfect balance of emotions and intellect, and her poise and restraint make her the norm against which others’ behaviour is judged and they are mildly ridiculed to the extent they fall short of this norm. Orsino being too relaxed, and Olivia being over-impatient, ultimately marry persons other than those they originally wanted to marry, whereas Viola is able to marry the man she loved.
The theme of the main plot is love. Love is presented as irrational: it just happens at first sight or doesn’t happen at all. Yet it is celebrated as a positive element that enriches life. The theme of the subplot is enjoyment of life with singing, dancing, feasting, drinking, and practical jokes. The more earthy subplot thus complements the romantic spirit of the main plot, and makes the portrayal of life in the play more comprehensive. Malvolio is almost like the characters of Jonson’s comedies of humours. He is “sick of self- love”, and in his arrogance insults others; but his extremely high opinion of himself helps them have a sweet revenge on him. Feste as the professional fool not only makes fun of the follies of Olivia (excess of mourning) and Orsino (changeable temperament), but also contributes to the festive spirit of the play with his lively songs which reflect varied attitudes to love.

7.7    GLOSSARY

•    Irrational- Illogical, foolish.

•    Temperament- Nature, personality.

•    Portrayal- Depiction.

7.8    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Olivia’s waiting-gentlewoman Maria, steward Malvolio, the Clown Feste and Fabian (who are her employees), her kinsman (or relative) Sir Toby Belch, and Sir Toby’s friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
Ans 2. Cesario
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. The title refers to the highly festive and cheerful atmosphere of Twelfth Night, the last night of festivities on the occasion of Christmas.
Ans 2. 6th January
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-3
Ans 1. Love is irrational, and happens at first sight or does not happen at all. Yet it is a positive force that enriches life.
Ans 2. The disguise

7.9    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•  Barber, C.L. Shakespeare’s Festive Comedy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1959.
Chapter 10. 240-61.

•  Brown, John Russell. 1957. Shakespeare and His Comedies. Ed. 2. London:
Methuen, 1962. 162-82.

•    Charlton, H.B. Shakespearian Comedy. London: Methuen, 1938.
Note- The last chapter, ‘The Consummation’, discusses the main features of Shakespeare’s great romantic comedies, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night.’ 277-97. (For Main Features of Twelfth Night as a Characteristic Shakespearian Romantic Comedy).

•  Leggatt, Alexander. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Love. London: Methuen, 1974,
pages 221-54.

•  Lerner, Laurence. Shakespeare’s Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1967.

7.10    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Examine Twelfth Night as a romantic comedy.

2.    Discuss the treatment of the theme of love in Twelfth Night.

3.    Examine the role of Viola in the action and theme of the play Twelfth Night. What is the dramatic function of her disguise?

4.    Comment on the dramatic function of the subplot in Twelfth Night.

5.    In what sense is Malvolio a character lifted out of Johnsonian comedy of humours.
Unit- 8 TWELFTH NIGHT: MAIN ASPECTS
Structure

8.1    Introduction

8.2    Learning Objectives

8.3    Major Aspects of Twelfth Night Self Check Exercise-1

8.4    Summary

8.5    Glossary

8.6    Answers to Self Check Exercise

8.7    References/Suggested Readings

8.8    Terminal Questions

8.1   INTRODUCTION
This unit highlights the importance of various sayings and deeds in light of the themes and overall plot structure. The play's primary characters and the roles they play are also highlighted.

8.2  LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand how certain utterances and actions of different characters reveal their attitudes to life and contribute to the over-all thematic and dramatic structure of the play. This unit should also help you appreciate how a festive atmosphere is built up in the play.

8.3    MAJOR ASPECTS OF TWELFTH NIGHTTHE SUBTITLE: ‘WHAT YOU WILL’
The word ‘Will’ in the subtitle implies ‘wish’. So, the subtitle indicates that in this play you have a happy world of wish-fulfillment, where everything happens as you would wish it to be. The title of As You Like It (the romantic comedy that. Shakespeare wrote immediately before Twelfth Night) similarly indicates a happy world of make-believe where everything ultimately leads to a happy conclusion, the way you would like it to be.
TWELFTH NIGHT ASA ROMANTIC COMEDY
In Twelfth Night, the prevailing spirit in both the main plot and the subplot is highly festive and joyful. There is no shadow of grief or evil, and even the threat of Duke Orsino to kill Cesario (in Act 5) is immediately neutralized with happy developments. So the over-all atmosphere of the play is more cheerful than in Shakespeare’s preceding romantic comedies which include characters plotting evil, though in those plays also the over-all atmosphere is happy and evil gets neutralised. (In Much Ado About Nothing the scheming villain is exposed and runs away, while in As You Like It those who go to the Forest of Arden to kill their brothers, undergo change of heart and willingly give their brothers their due.) Since Twelfth Night presents a happier world free from clouds of evil planning, it is described as “the sunniest and last of Shakespeare’s happy comedies—‘last of his happy comedies’ because after this cheerful comedy, he wrote only tragedies, tragicomedies and
dramatic romances which probe evil at length and present a relatively darker view of the world.
THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN SUSTAINING THIS ROMANTIC WORLD
Music plays an important role in sustaining this imaginary happy world. Twelfth Night begins with music, ends with a song, and there are a number of songs in between. All the songs are sung by the Fool (or Clown) Feste, and heighten the gaiety and cheerfulness of the play. Love is the central theme of the main plot of the play, and three of the songs deal with the theme of love playfully in different ways, reinforcing the lighthearted joyful atmosphere of the play. In the subplot a number of characters including Feste also sing catches, which too add to the carefree happy spirit of the play.
LOVE AS THE CENTRAL THEME
Shakespeare’s romantic comedies have love as the central theme. In the main plot of Twelfth Night the entire action moves round the theme of love. Duke Orsino engages Viola disguised as Cesario to carry his messages of love to Olivia. Though Viola falls in love with the Duke at first sight and decides to marry him, she performs the assigned duty very sincerely and so effectively that Olivia falls in love with this messenger. After indirect and direct expressions of her love to unresponsive Cesario, when Olivia happens to mistake Sebastian for Cesario, and is pleasantly surprised to find him responsive, in a hurry she gets married to him. Her marriage makes it possible for Orsino to direct his love to Viola when it is revealed that she is a young woman in disguise.In the subplot also the trick played on Maivolio turns on his assumption that Olivia loves him. Feste’s songs deal with the theme of love in a lighthearted manner. It is for the sake of love that Aguecheek gets persuaded by Sir Toby to challenge Cesario; and that results not only in humour but also in events that lead to resolution of the highly amusing love triangle of the main plot. Shakespeare’s romantic comedies present love as irrational, which happens at first sight or does not happen at all. Olivia tells Cesario that Orsino has all the good qualities, yet she cannot love him, Viola falls in love with Orsino at first sight, even though she knows that he loves Olivia and has in fact engaged her to convince Olivia to marry him. And when Orsino says he would kill Cesario (who is Viola in a boy’s disguise), she says that for his peace of mind she willingly a thousand deaths would die. In spite of being irrational, in Shakespeare’s romantic comedies love is also presented as a positive force which enriches life.
HEROINES AS THE CENTRAL FIGURES IN SHAKESPEARE’S ROMANTIC COMEDIES
Shakespeare’s tragedies are centred on male figures and are named after them (e.g. Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth), two of his tragedies having women in equally important roles and having two names in the title (Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra). However, his romantic comedies are centred round heroines (Rosalind in As You Like It, and Viola in Twelfth Night), and no male character comes near them in importance in the action and theme of the play. As H.B. Charlton points out, in these comedies not only do the heroines figure in most of the scenes, “They are heroines in the sense that they provide the efficient force which resolves the dilemma of the play
into happiness.” Viola has the poise and balance of personality along with vitality and initiative, which move the play forward and contribute to a happy resolution.
As Charlton observes about the heroines of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, “In his women, hand and heart and brain are fused in a vital and practicable union.” This balance of emotions and intelligencealong with physical dignity makes the heroines the norm against which others are judged, and to the extent the others fall short of that balanced behavior, they are mildly satirised or exposed to ridicule. In Twelfth Night Viola’s feeling of love for Orsino is no less strong than that of Olivia for Cesario (i.e. disguisedViola) or of Orsino for Olivia. However, Viola’s behaviour remains calm and controlled, and she is able to marry the man she loves. In contrast, Olivia is too impatient in her love for Cesario and therefore in a hurry gets married by mistake to Sebestian who looks like Cesario. Orsino is more in love with the idea of being in love and remains content with sending messages of love to Olivia till he realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with his messenger, Cesario. It is only then that he visits Olivia for the first time, only to learn that she has in the meanwhile got married to another person. In the subplot Malvolio is convinced that Olivia loves him, but in all his thoughts expressed to himself there is no indication of either love or respect for Olivia; so his punishment appears fully deserved and in keeping with the spirit of comedy.
THE DRAMATIC FUNCTION OF DISGUISE
Just as in Twelfth Night Viola assumes the disguise of a boy for safety in an unfamiliar land, so also does the heroine Rosalind in As You Like It when she decides to go to the Forest of Arden. On the Elizabethan stage the roles of women were acted by young boys. However, it was not merely for the convenience of such boy actors that frequently a young woman’s role is carried on for the major part of the play in a boy’s disguise. It was believed during the Renaissance that each person had in her or him certain qualities of the opposite sex (e.g. Sebastian talking of being so near the manners of my mother; and the disguise of a boy helped a young woman explore those other aspects of her personality which usually remained submerged in the role assigned to women by tradition. It also gave her greater freedom to play a more active role in the play: Viola could not have talked so freely and in so lively a manner to Olivia if she had met her as a woman.
Viola’s disguise not only contributes to a lot of humour and lively interaction, her disguise also makes possible the highly comic complication in the main plot when Olivia falls in love with her. And because Olivia is in love with a disguised girl, the atmosphere of the play remains festive, without any possibility of anxiety in the minds of spectators and readers. In this way Viola’s disguise contributes to making the play the sunniest of Shakespeare’s comedies.
The consequences of the use of disguise also provide occasions for exploring the theme of illusion versus reality, for example, when Viola finds that Olivia has fallen in love with her deceptive outer appearance of a boy and when Antonio, mistaking Cesario for Sebastian, crticises his outward beauty which, he feels, hides a deformed mind.
THE DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SUBPLOT
The characters of the subplot are more earthbound, and their concern is not love but enjoyment of life through singing, dancing, feasting, drinking, playing practical jokes, etc. In this way the view of life presented in the subplot supplements the romantic exploration 53
of the theme of love in the main plot, and makes the play a more comprehensive portrayal of varied aspects of life.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What does the subtitle of the play Twelfth Night indicate?
Q2. In what sense does Viola function as the norm in Twelfth Night?
Q3. What is meant by ‘humour’ in the context of ‘comedy of humours?
Q4. How does Olivia describe Malvolio’s weakness?

8.4    SUMMARY
Twelfth Night, like other romantic comedies of Shakespeare, is set in a world of make-believe where everything happens as we would wish it to be (as the subtitle ‘What You Will’ implies). The title of the play indicates the festive spirit of Twelfth Night, the last night of festivities on the occasion of Christmas which extend up to 6th January. This play is the sunniest of his romantic comedies because evil is kept out of it and even the mention of death casts no shadow on the prevailing cheerful spirit of the play, in the main plot as well as in the subplot. Music and songs play an important role in reinforcing the cheerful and happy atmosphere of the play. The festive spirit is heightened by the highly amusing complication resulting from Viola’s disguise of a boy with the name Cesario, as Olivia falls in love with this Cesario who brings her Orsino’s message of love, even as Viola-Cesario has herself fallen in love with Orsino at first sight As Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, dressed exactly like Cesario, appears on the stage as soon as Olivia falls in love with Cesario, a probable solution to the highly unusual love triangle is suggested, and that also keeps the atmosphere cheerful. The heroine of Twelfth Night, Viola, represents a perfect balance of emotions and intellect, and her poise and restraint make her the norm against which others’ behaviour is judged and they are mildly ridiculed to the extent they fall short of this norm. Orsino being too relaxed, and Olivia being over-impatient, ultimately marry persons other than those they originally wanted to marry, whereas Viola is able to marry the man she loved.
The theme of the main plot is love. Love is presented as irrational: it just happens at first sight or doesn’t happen at all. Yet it is celebrated as a positive element that enriches life. The theme of the subplot is enjoyment of life with singing, dancing, feasting, drinking, and practical jokes. The more earthy subplot thus complements the romantic spirit of the main plot, and makes the portrayal of life in the play more comprehensive. Malvolio is almost like the characters of Jonson’s comedies of humours. He is “sick of self- love”, and in his arrogance insults others; but his extremely high opinion of himself helps them have a sweet revenge on him. Feste as the professional fool not only makes fun of the follies of Olivia (excess of mourning) and Orsino (changeable temperament), but also contributes to the festive spirit of the play with his lively songs which reflect varied attitudes to love.

8.5    GLOSSARY

•    Disguise- Mask, cover.

•    Intellect- Brain, mind, understanding.

•    Poise- Composure, dignity.

•    Arrogance- Rude, pride.

8.6    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. The subtitle indicates that this play presents a happy world of wish-fulfillment,
where everything happens as you would wish it to be.
Ans 2. In Viola emotions and intellect are balanced and she has restraint along with
liveliness. Others are exposed to mild ridicule as they fall short of this norm of poise and balance embodied in Viola.
Ans 3. In the context of ‘comedy of humours’, ‘humour’ indicates mental sickness or imbalance when some tendency of the mind becomes so overpowering that it comes to dominate and colour a person’s feelings, reasoning and judgement. Usually, such characters are controlled by excessive self-centred appetites and are unable to see things which would be obvious to a normal person.
Ans 4. That he is sick of self-love and has a diseased attitude to different matters.

8.7    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•  Barber, C.L. Shakespeare’s Festive Comedy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1959.
Chapter 10. 240-61.

•  Bradey, Jean. Ed. Twelfth Night. London: Nelson, 1970.

•  Brown, John Russell. 1957. Shakespeare and His Comedies. Ed. 2. London:
Methuen, 1962. 162-82.

•    Charlton, H.B. Shakespearian Comedy. London: Methuen, 1938.
Note- The last chapter, ‘The Consummation’, discusses the main features of Shakespeare’s great romantic comedies, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night.’ 277-97. (For Main Features of Twelfth Night as a Characteristic Shakespearian Romantic Comedy).

•    Donno, Elizabeth Story. Ed. Twelfth Night. New Delhi: Foundation Books, 1997.

•  Leggatt, Alexander. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Love. London: Methuen, 1974,
pages 221-54.

•  Lerner, Laurence. Shakespeare’s Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1967.

•    Lothian, J.M. and T.W. Craik. Ed. “Twelfth Night: What You Will.” The Arden Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1975. (Indian Ed. New Delhi: B.l Publications, 1977).
Note- All references to the play in these lessons are to this edition.

•    Palmer, D.J. Shakespeare: Twelfth Night- A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972 Note- Has a useful introduction and reprints selected criticism on the play. You may find the following sections of interest: Comments by William Hazlitt (on pages 29-36); A.C. Bradley’s ‘Feste the Jester’ on pages 63-71; Extract about Shakespeare’s Heroines on pages 72-77 from H.B. Charlton’s book mentioned above; Joseph H. Summers’s ’The Masks of Twelfth Night (86-97); and John Hollander’s The Role of Music in Twelfth Night (98-111).

•    Sen Gupta, S.C. Shakespearian Comedy. 1950. Calcutta: Oxford UP, 1972.

8.8    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the significance of the title and subtitle of the play Twelfth Night.

2.    Examine Twelfth Night as a romantic comedy.

3.    Discuss the treatment of the theme of love in Twelfth Night.

4.    Examine the role of Viola in the action and theme of the play Twelfth Night. What is the dramatic function of her disguise?

5.    Comment on the dramatic function of the subplot in Twelfth Night.

6.    In what sense is Malvolio a character lifted out of Jonsonian comedy of humours?

7.    Examine the role of Feste in Twelfth Night.

8.    Comment on the references to the theme of appearance versus reality in Twelfth Night.
Unit-9 TWELFTH NIGHT: CRITICAL ANALYSIS-I
Structure

9.1    Introduction

9.2    Learning Objectives

9.3    The Dramatic Significance of Twelfth Night-I
Self Check Exercise-1

9.4    The Dramatic Significance of Twelfth Night-II
Self Check Exercise-2

9.5    Summary

9.6    Glossary

9.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

9.8    References/Suggested Readings

9.9    Terminal Questions

9.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the earlier part of the play, bringing out the significance of different utterances and actions in the context of the themes and plot structure of the play. It also brings out the nature of different characters and the roles they perform in the play.

9.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand how certain utterances and actions of different characters reveal their attitudes to life and contribute to the over-all thematic and dramatic structure of the play. This unit should also help you appreciate how a festive atmosphere is built up in the play.

9.3    THE DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF TWELFTH NIGHT-ITHE DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OPENING SCENE
In Shakespeare’s time the plays were performed during the day in natural daylight. So those who wanted to watch a play had to take a day off from work, and they would usually reach the theatre much before the play was to begin; and they would be talking, gossiping, etc. In order to draw their attention and focus it on the play, his plays begin with a striking note which would immediately arrest the audience’s attention. The opening scene also introduces most of the main characters of the play—they appear on the stage or are referred to. In Twelfth Night and The Tempest only some of the characters are introduced in the opening scene, while the remaining important characters come to the stage or are mentioned in the second scene. The opening scene of Shakespeare’s plays often also introduces the theme of the play and evokes the atmosphere of the play.
Twelfth Night opens with music which immediately arrests the attention of the audience. Music and songs play an important role at different stages in the play, to sustain the romantic world of make- believe and to reinforce the festive spirit of the play. Orsino, Duke of Illyria, who is one of the important characters in the play, enters as the play opens and in the very first line of the play he mentions the theme of the main plot, love: “If music be the food of love, play on.”
In the opening scene Orsino mentions his love for Countess Olivia, another important character of the main plot. And it is his love for Olivia which makes him employ Cesario (i.e. Viola in disguise) as his messenger to Olivia (in Act 1, scene 4), and all the remaining action of the main plot results from that. So the opening scene of Twelfth Night also introduces the motivating factor for the action of the main plot.
In Orsino’s words that follow the opening line, we get a glimpse of his nature: we see his restlessness, his changeable nature, and his delight in talking about love rather than being eager to meet the lady to express his love to her himself. He likes the music played, and asks the musicians to play that tune again; but the second time it does not seem as pleasing to him. He comments that for a person in love everything becomes insignificant “Even in a minute!” (lines 9-14).
When Curio, a lord attending on Duke Orsino, suggests that to divert his mind he should go hunting the hart” (that is, the stag), Orsino’s reply wittily plays upon the similar pronunciation’of hart’ and heart’. This kind of play upon similarly pronounced words with different meanings is described as a pun. Orsino also refers to the classical myth of Acteon and Artemis or Diana: Artemis (in ancient Greek mythology) or Diana (in ancient Roman mythology) was the virgin goddess of hunting and was usually identified with the moon. While on a hunting expedition, Acteon heard some sounds of women in a thick part of the forest, and as he went closer through the bushes to find out who they were, he happened to see the goddess bathing, and as a curse was turned into a stag. Then his own dogs, who earlier used to obey him, ran after him and tore him to pieces. This myth is symbolic of failure to control desires, which results in one’s suffering or destruction. Almost equating Olivia with the virgin goddess, Orsino says:
O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purg’d the air of pestilence [i.e. serious diseases]; That instant was I turn’d into a hart,
And my desires, like fell [i.e. savage] and cruel hounds, E’er since pursue me.
(lines l9-23)
Here we also have the theme of love at first sight. Valentine, whom Orsino had sent with his message of love to Olivia, enters and reports that he could not even see Olivia, as she has decided to mourn her brother’s death for seven years: during this period she would remain veiled and would not meet any man. This excessive mourning sounds odd; however, when we see her in scene 5, she appears quite normal and cheerful; so probably this mention of seven years’ mourning is just to avoid receiving Orsino’s messages. Orsino too is not upset, and feels happy that a woman who loves her brother so much would love her life companion much more. Nothing is allowed to overshadow the cheerfulness and optimism in this festive play.
Orsino’s delight in “love-thoughts” is clearly mentioned in the concluding line of the opening scene. In contrast with his attitude, is Olivia’s who insistently expresses her love to Cesario from the moment she falls in love with ‘him’. In comparison with the contrary extremes of the attitudes of Orsino and Olivia, Viola’s restraint and poise stand out as the norm or standard of right attitude.
THE BEGINNING OF THE ACTION
In Scene 4, Viola, disguised as a boy with the assumed name Cesario, has been employed with the Duke for three days and has already won his confidence. Orsino asks
‘him’ to go to Olivia, insist on meeting her personally, and act out his (Orsino’s) suffering while conveying the message. There is dramatic irony in Orsino’s statement, “She will attend it better in thy youth” (line 27), because in the next scene Olivia listens to Cesario so well that she falls in love with this messenger rather than being moved by the message. There is also irony when Orsino notes that in Cesario “all is semblative a woman’s part [‘part’ in the sense of ‘qualities’, with a pun on ‘role’ in a play]” (line 34), but he does not sense that Cesario is a woman in disguise.
There is interesting dramatic irony in the following parting words of Orsino to Cesario:
... Prosper well in this,
And thou shalt live as freely as thy lord,
To call his fortunes [i.e. wealth, etc.] thine, (lines 38-40)
As the action of the play develops, these words prove true in a very different sense from that intended by Orsino. Cesario succeeds in impressing Olivia so well that she falls in love with ‘him’, and in her eagerness to marry ‘him’, gets married by mistake to ‘his’ twin brother Sebastian. Then Orsino is forced to turn his love away from Olivia, and as he learns that Cesario, whom he loves and who loves him, is actually a woman in disguise, he decides to marry her, which makes “his fortunes” hers.
The simple matter of Orsino’s love for Olivia gets complicated when in an aside Viola expresses her love for Orsino, which too is obviously love at first sight, for Viola first saw Orsino only three days ago [line 3]:
I’ll do my best
To woo your lady: [Aside] yet, a barful strife!
Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife, (lines 40-42)
In the scenes that follow, we see Viola earnestly trying to persuade Olivia to marry her, and it is because of this sincerity that Olivia falls in love with Cesario, the disguise of a boy assumed by Viola. And it is because Olivia falls in love with ‘him’ and in a hurry gets married to Cesario’s look-alike Sebastian, that Viola’s love finds fulfillment in marriage. The calm confidence of Viola in this aside early in the play is remarkable, and this confidence and poise remain with her throughout the play.
Note that the last two lines of this scene, which are quoted above, rhyme together, that is, end with a similar sound: ‘strife, ‘wife. In the main part of each scene which is in verse Shakespeare generally does not use rhyme; but to conclude a scene he often uses rhyme to mark the ending of the scene; sometimes this use of rhyme at the end of the scene also emphasises a point, as here. (For a description of ‘blank verse’ and ‘rhyme’ see the Glossary of Lesson 2 or the beginning of subsection 2.2.2 of that unit.)
OLIVIA AND CESARIO-VIOLA: THE BEGINNING OF THE COMPLICATION
In this scene for the first time Olivia, Feste and Malvolio appear on the stage. We see different aspects of Olivia’s liveliness, ready wit and perceptiveness (i.e. the ability to understand and see through things) in her interaction with Feste, Malvolio and Cesario-Viola.
FESTE AND MALVOLIO
Maria tells the Clown, Feste, about Olivia’s annoyance at his having been absent from the house without permission: “my lady will hang thee for thy absence” (lines 3-4). However, carefree Feste remains undisturbed and makes a joke of the warning. When Olivia herself
appears and Feste greets, her, she shows her displeasure by saying to her attendants, “Take the fool away” (line 36). Showing ready wit, he turns that into a joke to criticise her excessive mourning for her brother, and immediately says to the attendants: “Do you not hear, fellows? Take away the lady” (line 37). He explains to Olivia, “... I wear not motley in my brain,” that is, he is not foolish in his mind even though he wears the motley (dress made of patches of different colours) as the assigned dress of a Clown or Fool. And with her permission he goes on to prove, with the help of questions and answers, that she is a fool in her extended mourning:
Clown. Good madonna [i.e. ‘my lady’], why mourn’st thou?
Olivia. Good fool, for my brother’s death. Clown. I think his soul is in hell, madonna. Olivia. I know his soul is in heaven, fool.
Clown. The more fool, madonna, for your brother’s soul,, being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen, (lines 64-70)
Though Olivia is wearing black clothes symbolic of mourning, she is not sad, and the liveliness of her heart is seen in her appreciation of the Fool’s clever argument. This cheerfulness of her temperament becomes more evident in her conversation with Cesario later in this scene. Olivia remarks to her steward Malvolio that Feste’s fooling, that is, his ability to entertain with his wit, is improving. However, Malvolio, who in keeping with his name thinks poorly of everybody except himself, says that Feste is becoming more foolish, and in his arrogance he criticises Olivia for feeling amused at Feste’s dull jokes: “I protest [i.e. declare] I take these wise men, that crow [i.e. laugh loudly] so at these set kind of fools [i.e. who cannot quickly make a fresh joke on an occasion but repeat crammed jokes], no better than the fools’ zanies [i.e. assistants or imitators]” (lines 86-88). Then Olivia very perceptively points out to Malvolio his main weakness, in words which make him appear like a typical character from Jonsonian comedy of humours (as already explained in section 5.7 of Lesson 5): “O, you are sick of self-love, Malvolio, and taste with a distempered appetite [i.e. unable to taste or appreciate different things rightly because of illness]” (lines 89-90). Olivia emphasises: “There is no slander [i.e. false statement causing damage to reputation] in an allowed fool [i.e. a professional clown], though he do nothing but rail [i.e. find faults]” (lines 93-94). At this Feste shows gratitude to her for having spoken for the professional fools like him
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. How does Olivia describe Malvolio’s main weakness?
Q2. Maria tells...............................................about Olivia’s annoyance at his having been
absent from the house without permission.

9.4    THE DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF TWELFTH NIGHT-IIOLIVIA AND CESARIO-VIOLA
When Olivia learns that “a fair young man” with several attendants is at the gate and wants to speak to her, she understands that he must have brought a message from Orsino. She asks Malvolio to send him away with any excuse, but when Malvolio reports that all excuses have failed to dissuade the visitor who is insisting on meeting her, she feels interested in knowing how he looks: “Of what personage [i.e. personality] and years is he?” Malvolio replies: “Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy He is very well-favoured [i.e. good-looking], and he speaks very shrewishly [i.e. sharply]. One would 60
think his mother’s milk were scarce out of him” (lines 157-64). The proverbial statement in the last sentence indicates that some traces of womanly qualities may be there in a man, and vice versa—Of course, we are amused by accuracy of the observation as here a girl, Viola, is playing the role of a man. Olivia decides to meet this messenger of Orsino and asks that Maria should be with her during the meeting.
When Viola enters we see another aspect of her personality—pert liveliness. As she sees two ladies before her, she asks which when of them is the lady of the house, because she does not want to waste her speech on the wrong person: “for besides that it is excellently well-penned, I have taken great pains to con it [i.e. to learn it by heart]” (lines 174-75). Here Viola is making fun of much love poetry of the time wherein the beauty of a lady was idealised with set comparisons. A little later Olivia also makes a joke of such artificial description of beauty, when she tells Cesario-Viola that she will record in her will “every particle and utensil” of her beauty: “as item, two lips indifferent red; item, two grey eyes, with lids to them; item, one neck, one chin, and so forth” (lines 248-52). However, when Olivia asks ‘him’, “Whence [i.e. from where] came you, sir?”, Viola, playing the schoolchild who has been cramming answers and is unable to answer even a simple question that has not been crammed, says: “I can say little more than I have studied, and that question’s out of my part” (lines 178- 80). When Olivia responds to this comic answer by asking ‘him’, “Are you a comedian?”, Viola replies: “No, my profound heart: and yet. I am not that I play” (lines 183-185).
The spectators are amused because they know that Viola is indeed not the man Cesario whose role she is playing; however, this statement also has wider reverberations of the theme of appearance versus reality that is touched upon several times in the play and is relevant to comic complication and mistaken identities in the action of the play. As Olivia asks this visitor to skip the crammed poem in praise of her beauty, and to come to the important part of the message, Viola wants to speak about it in privacy. When others leave, Viola says to Olivia: “Good madam, let me see your face” (line 233). Olivia removes her veil, which indicates that her reported decision to remain veiled for seven years was just an excuse to avoid receiving Orsino’s messengers. Nowhere do we see her obsessed with grief at the death of her brother which occurred almost a year ago. Viola sincerely praises her beauty:
’Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
Nature’s own sweet and cunning [i.e. skilful] hand laid on. (lines 242-43)
She goes on with the plea (that we see in many sonnets of that time) that she should get married so that her beauty may live on in her children:
Lady, you are the cruell’st she alive
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy, (lines 244-46)
Viola goes on to describe in all sincerity Orsino’s great love for Olivia which deserves to be rewarded with marriage:
My lord and master loves you: O, such love
Could be but recompens’d, though you were crown’d
Nonpareil of beauty! [i.e. unequalled in beauty by anyone else] (lines 256-58)
In her reply Olivia mentions that Orsino has all the good qualities that a woman may look for in a husband, but love is not controlled by reason—it just happens or doesn’t happen,
and it hasn’t happened in her case as far as Orsino is concerned; so no amount of persuasion can make her love him:
Your lord does know my mind, I cannot love him. Yet I suppose him virtuous, know him noble,
Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth;
In voices well divulg’d [i.e. well spoken of], free [i.e. generous], learn’d, and valiant [i.e. brave], And in dimension, and the shape of nature [i.e. in physical appearance]
A gracious [i.e. graceful] person. But yet I cannot love him:
He might have took his answer long ago. (lines 261-67)
When Viola-Cesario insists that if ‘he’ loved Olivia as intensely as Orsino does, ‘he’ would not understand her inability to love him. Olivia asks ‘him’ what ‘he’ would do, and on hearing about ‘his’ insistent way of wooing her, Olivia admits, “You might do much,” and asks ‘him’, “What is your parentage?” (lines 280-81)—which indicates to the audience that she has already fallen in love with disguised Viola and is thinking of marrying ‘him’—and that makes a very interesting and amusing complication in this love story: Orsino loves Olivia who has now fallen in love with Cesario-Viola who has already fallen in love with Orsino. We get an indication of a probable solution in the very next scene when Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, dressed exactly like Cesario, appears on the stage. The amusing complication and the hint of its likely solution coming close together, ensure that the atmosphere of the play remains lighthearted and festive.
Olivia indirectly invites Cesario to come again: “Get you to your lord: /I cannot love him: let him send no more,/Unless, perchance, you come to me again, / To tell me how he takes it” (lines 283-86). As Viola- Cesario leaves, Olivia thinks of ‘his’ reply about parentage, “I am a gentleman,” and feels that ‘his’ way of talking, physical appearance and bearing, temperament, etc. all indicate ‘his’ dignified position:
Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections With an invisible and subtle stealth
To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be. (lines 300-02)
Olivia calmly accepts the fact that she has fallen in love with Cesario, and immediately sends ‘him’ a ring through Malvolio, pretending that the ring was left behind by that messenger of the Count. She leaves the outcome of love to fate, without being unduly anxious:
Fate, show thy force; ourselves we do not owe [i.e. own, or have control over].
What is decreed [i.e. ordered (by fate)], must be: and be this so.
(lines 314-15)
Viola similarly puts her faith in time as the force that would resolve the complication when, from the ring brought by Malvolio, she discovers that Olivia has fallen in love with her “outside” appearance of a man:
O time, thou must untangle this, not I,
It is too hard a knot for me to untie. (2.2.39-40)
In the subplot Maria’s behvaiour also reflects calm confidence, and this is one of the significant qualities of women characters in Twelfth Night that lead the action forward and take it to its conclusion.
SEBASTIAN’S ENTRY AS A HINT OF THE PROBABLE RESOLUTION OF THE COMPLICATION
Just when Olivia’s falling in love with Cesario gives rise to the highly unreal and richly comic complication of the love story, there appears on the stage (in Act 2, scenel) the twin brother of Viola, Sebastian, dressed exactly like the disguise she has assumed as Cesario—and this gives a hint of the way the complication of the highly unusual love triangle might get resolved; and we also expect some comic situations to arise from mistaken identities.
Sebastian mentions that they are twins— “myself and a sister, both born in an hour”, “she much resembled me” (2.1.18-19 & 24-25)—though he thinks she got drowned in the shipwreck from which he was rescued by another sea-captain Antonio, who comes to the stage with him, and is revealed as very sincere. Regarding the identical appearance of Cesario (Viola) and Sebastian, Viola says in Act 3 scene 4, when Antonio mistakes her for Sebastian and is pained at the supposed Sebastian’s refusal to recognize him and to return even a part of the money he had given him (in Act 3 scene 3):
He nam’d Sebastian. I my brother know
Yet living in my glass [i.e., mirror]; even such as so
In favour [i.e. looks, physical appearance] was my brother, and he went
Still [i.e. always] in this fashion [i.e. manner of dress, etc.], colour, ornament, For
him I imitate. (3.4.389-93)
Both Sebastian and Antonio are shown as having very noble natures. Sebastian tells Antonio about his actual identity, and requests him not to come with him, because he fears that his own bad luck may make Antonio also suffer if he accompanies him. When Sebastian tells him that he is going to the Count Orsino’s court” and leaves, Antonio says: “I have many enemies in Orsino’s court, / Else would I very shortly see thee there” (2.1.4445). However, the very next moment his sense of friendship makes him ignore the risk to his own safety:
But come what may, I do adore thee so,
That danger shall seem sport, and I will go. (2.1.46-47)
He joins Sebastian in Act 3 scene 3 and tells him he was anxious “what might befall your travel,/Being skilless in these parts [i.e. unfamiliar with this area]” (3.3.8-9). Sebastian is overcome with gratitude for this love and friendly concern. When he suggests that they should visit the famous memorials etc. of that town, Antonio explains that it is not safe for him: “I do not without danger walk these streets.” Once in a sea- fight against Duke Orsino’s ships he had caused such harm that if he is caught, he will have to pay heavily (3.3.25-28).
Still being concerned about Sebastian’s comfort and convenience, he mentions the inn where they would stay (“the Elephant”), and gives Sebastian his purse, with which he may buy whatever thing may interest him as a visitor to a new place. Again it is Antonio’s worry about Sebastian’s safety which makes him search through streets for him in the next scene when he mistakes Cesario for Sebastian just when Cesario and Aguecheek draw their swords in the duel set up by Sir Toby and Fabian as a practical joke. Antonio assumes that Sebastian is in danger, and draws his sword to defend him—just then some Officers of Illyria enter and arrest him. Realising that he will have to pay a heavy fine, he says to Cesario, whom he takes to be Sebastian:
This comes with seeking you;
But there’s no remedy, I shall answer it. What you will do, now my necessity
Makes me to ask you for my purse? It grieves me Much more for what I cannot do for you,
Than what befalls myself. (3.4.340-45)
Here we have an idealised picture of friendship, when Antonio even in his own crisis is more upset at his inability to be of help to Sebastian. As the person he is talking to is actually Sebastian’s look-alike, Cesario (Viola), when he asks ‘him’ to return “some of that money” he had given him, Viola naturally asks, “What money, sir?” (3.4.348-49). She offers him half of all the money she has, which is not even a fraction of the amount Antonio had given Sebastian. Antonio thinks Sebastian is refusing to return the money he had given him, and he is pained that this handsome-looking person is evil at heart, and his words once again raise the theme of difference between appearance and reality:
But O how vile [i.e. worthless] an idol proves this god! [i.e. whom he took to be noble like a god] Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature [i.e. good looks] shame.
In nature there’s no blemish [i.e. defect] but the mind:
None can be call’d deform’d [i.e. ugly] but the unkind. Virtue is beauty, but the beauteous evil
Are empty trunks, o’er-flourish’d [i.e. elaborately carved with decorative figures] by the devil [i.e., evil persons who look handsome but have nothing worthwhile inside them, are like empty trunks or boxes which are beautifully decorated on the outside]. (3.4.374-79)
That error of mistaken identity prepares the ground for Olivia and others mistaking Sebastian for Cesario in Act 4, which, leads to resolution of the complication and also heightens the light hearted atmosphere of the play.
THE SUBPLOT: MALVOLIO’S ARROGANCE AND THE OTHER CHARACTERS’ PLAN OF COMIC REVENGE
At the request of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, the Clown Feste sings a cheerful song dealing with the theme of love in a lighthearted manner and touching upon the common Renaissance theme of ‘carpe diem. These words in Latin mean ‘Seize the day’ and suggest that one should enjoy life in the present time:
What is love? Tis not hereafter, Present mirth hath present laughter:
What’s to come is still [i.e. always] unsure. Youth’s a stuff will not endure. (2.3.48-50, 53)
After this song they sing a catch (in which each person sings a line). All this singing, late at night, reflects the merriment of the characters of the subplot except Malvolio, who appears almost anti-life in his arrogant rebuke to Sir Toby and others: “My masters, are you mad? Or what are you? Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty [i.e. decency] ...?’’ (2.3.87- 88). Sir Toby and Feste go on singing catches, and then Sir Toby snubs Malvolio:
Art any more than a steward? Dost thou think because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale [i.e. feasting and dinking]? (2.3.113-15)
They all want to play some joke on Maivolio by way of comic punishment for his arrogant harsh priticism of their merrymaking. Maria advises them to wait for a while and says she will think of a plan to fool him. During the Renaissance the Puritans (who were so described because they were purists in matters of religious reform) were often criticised for opposing enjoyment of life on this earth, and for this reason Maria remarks about Maivolio:
“sometimes he is a kind of Puritan” (2.3.140). However, her description of Maivolio soon after that is more accurate and echoes Olivia’s assessment of him in Act 1 scene 5:
The devil a Puritan he is, or anything constantly, but a time-pleaser [i.e. a timeserver, who adjusts his behaviour to please the person in power, for selfish gain], an affectioned [i.e. full of affectation or hypocritical behaviour] ass the best persuaded of himself, so crammed (as he thinks) with excellencies, that it is his grounds of faith that ail that look on him love him: and on that vice in him will my revenge find notable cause to work.
(2.3.146-53)
Maria mentions that her handwriting resembles Olivia’s, and she would drop in Malvolio’s way some letters where no name would be mentioned but from some descriptions he would assume that he is being described. As Sir Toby guesses, Malvolio’s weakness will make him believe that the letters are from Olivia and that she is in love with him. In Jonsonian comedy of humours a character’s dominant weakness controls his judgement, thinking, feelings, etc., as it is in the case of Maivolio. Maria’s remark “I know my physic [i.e. medicine] will work with him” (2.3.172-73) also echoes Jonson’s concept of comedy, of humours— Jonson believed that by making fun of ‘humours’ or dominant weaknesses he would cure people of those weaknesses.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. Does Viola sincerely try to convince Olivia of Orsino’s love?
Q2. Does Olivia mention any flaw in Orsino because of which she cannot love him?
Q3. Why can’t Olivia love Orsino?

9.5    SUMMARY
The play Twelfth Night opens with music and mentions the main theme of the play, love, in the very first line. In the opening scene one of the main characters, Orsino, appears on the stage, and another main character, Olivia, is mentioned. Orsino’s Jove for Olivia and his sending her a message of love, which are revealed in this scene, lead to the action of the main plot. The opening scene also reveals the changeable nature of Orsino as well his delight in thoughts of love. In the second scene the heroine of the play, Viola, appears on the stage, and her brother is mentioned— Sebastian, who will play an important role in the resolution of the complication. This scene also reveals Viola’s restraint, calm confidence, and practical attitude. In this scene Viola decides to serve Duke Orsino in disguise. The third scene introduces the festive spirit of the characters of the subplot—their merriment and desire to enjoy life by singing, dancing, feasting and drinking. In the fourth scene Viola, disguised as a boy Cesario, has already been employed by Duke Orsino and assigned the task of convincing Olivia of Orsino’s love for her and persuading her to marry him. Cesario- Viola accepts the assignment sincerely, but in an aside also reveals her love for Orsino in her decision “Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife. In the fifth scene we see Olivia in black clothes of mourning but quite cheerful in spirit. Shi appreciates the fool Feste’s joke criticizing her excessive mourning, and identifies MalvoJio’s main weakness as being “sick of self-love”. She is impressed by Cesario-Viola’s lively nature end dignity and falls in love with ‘him’; as a token of love she sends ’him’ a ring, telling Malvolio that it is the messenger’s ring and that he should return it to him. When he gives the ring to Cesario-Viola in Apt 2 scene 2, she realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with her disguise,
but leaves it to time to untangle this unusual complication. In the very next scene (Act 2 scene 1) Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, dressed exactly like Cesario, appears—which indicates the likelihood of a solution to the unreal complication resulting from Olivia’s falling in love with Cesario-Viola who has already fallen in love with Qrsino who loves Olivia. Both Sebastian and his friend Antonio (a sea-captain who had saved him from the shipwreck) are revealed as noble persons. In Act 2 scene 3 Malvolio’s arrogant criticism of Sir Toby and others’ singing and merrymaking makes them plan a comic revenge (which is implemented in Act 2 scene 5) with the help of an unsigned letter addressed to no one in particular, which Malvolio is likely to assume to be from Olivia to him, because the handwriting of Maria, who will write it, resembles Olivia’s.

9.6    GLOSSARY

•    Pun- Playing upon similarly pronounced words with different meanings, by deliberately implying a meaning other than what the first speaker meant.

•    Exposition- The exposition is that part of a play which reveals the situation, on the basis of which the action of the play develops. The exposition also introduces the characters and indicates their nature, etc.

9.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. That he is sick of self-love
Ans 2. The Clown, Feste
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Yes
Ans 2. No
Ans 3. Love for somebody just happens or doesn’t happen. It does not follow reason or logic. Olivia just did not feel love for Orsino, and so she cannot love him, even though she is aware of all positive qualities in him.

9.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•  Barber, C.L. Shakespeare’s Festive Comedy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1959.
Chapter 10. 240-61.

•  Bradey, Jean. Ed. Twelfth Night. London: Nelson, 1970.

•  Brown, John Russell. 1957. Shakespeare and His Comedies. Ed. 2. London:
Methuen, 1962. 162-82.

•    Charlton, H.B. Shakespearian Comedy. London: Methuen, 1938.
Note- The last chapter, ‘The Consummation’, discusses the main features of Shakespeare’s great romantic comedies, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night.’ 277-97. (For Main Features of Twelfth Night as a Characteristic Shakespearian Romantic Comedy).

•    Donno, Elizabeth Story. Ed. Twelfth Night. New Delhi: Foundation Books, 1997.

•    Leggatt, Alexander. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Love. London: Methuen, 1974, pages 221-54.

•  Lerner, Laurence. Shakespeare’s Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1967.

•  Lothian, J.M. and T.W. Craik. Ed. “Twelfth Night: What You Will.” The Arden
Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1975. (Indian Ed. New Delhi: B.l Publications, 1977).
Note- All references to the play in these lessons are to this edition.

•    Palmer, D.J. Shakespeare: Twelfth Night- A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972 Note- Has a useful introduction and reprints selected criticism on the play. You may find the following sections of interest: Comments by William Hazlitt (on pages 29-36); A.C. Bradley’s ‘Feste the Jester’ on pages 63-71; Extract about Shakespeare’s Heroines on pages 72-77 from H.B. Charlton’s book mentioned above; Joseph H. Summers’s ’The Masks of Twelfth Night (86-97); and John Hollander’s The Role of Music in Twelfth Night (98-111).

•    Sen Gupta, S.C. Shakespearian Comedy. 1950. Calcutta: Oxford UP, 1972.

9.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    What is the dramatic significance of the opening scene of Twelfth Night?

2.    Is Orsino more in love with the idea of being in love then in love with Olivia?
Unit-10 TWELFTH NIGHT: CRITICAL ANALYSIS-II
Structure

10.1    Introduction

10.2    Learning Objectives

10.3    Major Facets of Twelfth Night-I
Self Check Exercise-1

10.4    Major Facets of Twelfth Night-II
Self Check Exercise-2

10.5  Summary

10.6  Glossary

10.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

10.8    References/Suggested Readings

10.9    Terminal Questions

10.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the remaining part of the play, analysing the main themes and’ the characters’ behaviour in this part of the play.

10.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate the development of the complication and its resolution in the main plot, the practical jokes in the subplot, and the intersection of the two plots leading to a joyful ending of this festive comedy.

10.3    MAJOR FACETS OF TWELFTH NIGHT-IORSINO’S AND VIOLA’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS LOVE
In this scene we have from Orsino two very different statements about love—one more frank when he is giving sincere advice to Cesario, and the other when he boasts of the intensity of his own love for Olivia. His boastful attitude contrasts with the far more restrained and quieter attitude of Viola in her love for Orsino.
As the scene opens, Orsino expresses the desire to hear again a simple song about love which he had heard “last night”, because its playful treatment of the theme of love lightened his suffering in love. He is told that it was sung by “Feste the jester, ... a fool that the Lady Olivia’s father took much delight in” (2.4.11-12). Feste, who is often absent from Olivia’s house without permission, happens to be at Orsino’s place and is sent for. In the meanwhile, Orsino asks the musicians to play the tune of that song, and when it is played, he asks Cesario, “How dost thou like this tune?” Cesario-Viola replies: “It gives a very echo to the seat/Where love is thron’d” (2.4.20- 22). This makes Orsino observe: “Thou dost speak masterly young though thou art, thine eye / Hath stay’d upon some favour [i.e. face] that it loves.” Cesario-Viola replies, “A little, by your favour”—to the audience it indicates her love for Orsino, while Orsino takes the words “by your favour” as merely a courtesy phrase implying “with your kindness”. In reply to his next question, “What kind of woman is’t?”, she replies “Of your complexion [i.e. looks]”; and in reply to his question about the age of the ’woman’ loved by Cesario, “What years ?”, the reply is: “About your years, my
lord” (2.4.22-28). The spectators are amused as they know what Viola is talking about while Orsino is unaware of Cesario-Viola’s love for him. In all sincerity he advises this young “boy” to marry a woman younger than him, because men’s love is more superficial and short-lived than women’s, and is to a considerable extent based on physical beauty and tends to fade away with the fading of beauty:
Let still [i.e. always] the woman take
An elder than herself; so wears she to him,
So sways she level [i.e. has constant influence] in her husband’s heart: For boy, however we do praise ourselves,
Our longings are more giddy and unfirm,
More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn Than women’s are....
Then let thy love be younger than thyself.
Or thy affection cannot hold the bent. (2.4.29-37)
However, a little later this same Orsino claims that women’s love is more superficial than men’s. When Orsino asks Cesario to go again to Olivia and tell her that he does not love her wealth but only what she herself is, Cesario-Viola says, echoing the theme of love as irrational, which just happens at first sight or does not happen: “But if she cannot love you, sir?” (2.4.88). As Orsino insists, “I cannot be so answer’d,” Cesario-Viola says, indirectly expressing her love for Orsino:
Say that some lady, as perhaps there is, Hath for your love as great a pang of heart
As you have for Olivia: you cannot love her:
You tell her so. Must she not then be answer’d? (2.4.90-93)
In response Orsino boasts:
There is no woman’s sides
Can bide [i.e. bear] the beating of so strong a passion As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart
So big, to hold so much: they lack retention. Alas, their love may be call’d appetite,
No motion of the liver, but the palate [the liver was supposed to be the seat of strong feelings, while the palate implied the sense of taste]
... Make no compare
Between that love a woman can bear me And that I owe Olivia. (2.4.94-99, 102-04)
Because Viola herself is the proof of Orsino’s boast being wrong, she functions as the norm against which Orsino gets judged in the minds of the spectators and readers and they smile at his falling short of that norm.
Viola’s restrained statement, indirectly expressing her love, offers a complete contrast with Orsino’s boast. Viola says she knows:
Too well what love women to men may owe:
In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter lov’d a man, As it might be perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship. (2.4.106-10)
When Orsino asks, “And what is her history?”, Cesario-Viola replies: A blank, my lord: she never told her love,
But let concealment like a worm i’ th’ bud
Feed on her damask [i.e. rosy] cheek: she pin’d in thought [i.e. wasted away in sadness], And sat like Patience on a monument [i.e. like the statue of patience on a tomb], Smiling at grief. Was not his love indeed? (2.4.111-16)
Even Orsino is so moved by this account of unexpressed love that he becomes concerned about what happened to Cesario’s sister, and Cesario-Viola has to distract his mind from sensing that Cesario is a disguised woman, and she does this by turning back to the topic of visiting Olivia with Orsino’s message.
In between, when Feste sings the lighthearted song “Come away, come away death ... lam slain by a fair cruel maid,” and when Duke Orsino, after giving him some money as a reward, asks him to leave, he feels hurt at this dismissal and taunts the Duke for being fickle in his attitudes: “Now the melancholy god protect thee, and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal” (2.4.73-75).
It was part of the jester or fool’s function to point out the follies of even those holding high positions, and we have seen how he makes a joke of Olivia’s folly of excessive mourning in Act 1 scene 5. In fact when Viola meets Feste at Olivia’s place in Act 3 scene 1 and refers to this appearance of his at Orsino’s court, Feste remarks that folly is found everywhere, and so it is appropriate for him to go from place to place to expose different forms of folly in different persons:
Foolery, sir, does walk around the orb [i.e. the spherical earth] like the sun, it shines everywhere. I would be sorry, sir, but the fool should be as oft with your master [Count or Duke Orsino] as with my mistress [Countess Olivia] [i.e. they are both somewhat foolish in different ways, and the official fool should expose their folly]. (3.1.3942)
MALVOLIO’S DAYDREAMING AND THE LETTER
In this scene from the subplot, Maria advises Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian to hide at a place from where they can hear Malvolio and see him pick up the letter which she drops on the stage. It is significant that when Malvolio enters talking to himself, even before he sees the letter he is convinced that Olivia is going to marry him (because once she had said that if she ever married she would marry a person serious-minded like Malvolio), and he daydreams of how after marriage he will use his position as “Count Molvolio” (2.5.35) “to ask for my kinsman Toby” (2.5.54-55) arid say to him: “ ‘Cousin Toby, my fortunes having cast me on your niece give me this prerogative of speech You must amend your drunkenness’” (2.5.70-71, 73). It may be noted that even in this daydreaming there is no mention of any feeling of love on Malvolio’s part. There is no saving grace in him, and he is made totally ridiculous like the characters satirized in Jonson’s comedies of humours.
Just then he sees the letter, and guided by his excessively high opinion of himself, he convinces himself that this letter is for him from Olivia and is fulfilment of his daydreaming. So he decides to follow exactly the odd directions given in the letter, which will actually 70
annoy Olivia and make him ridiculous. In addition to other things, the letter advises the person to wear yellow stockings, cross-gartered, and to smile always—Olivia dislikes yellow colour and cross-gartering, while smiles would annoy her because of her melancholy (or sad) temperament (garters are strips of cloth to keep stockings in position; cross-gartering means tying the garters in such a way that one strip crosses another). When Malvolio appears in this manner before Olivia in Act 3 scene 4, and keeps referring to the letter, assuming that Olivia had written it while she does not know anything about the letter, she thinks that he has become mentally disturbed. As she gives directions that Sir Toby and others should take care of unwell Malvolio, they get a chance to have a comic revenge on him by putting him in a dark room, pretending that he has been possessed by an evil spirit and they are trying to cure him. Thus his ‘humour’ or overwhelming flaw of excessive ‘self-love’ exposes him to ridicule and comic punishment.
One of the sentences in the letter which is often quoted and which Malvolio repeats in the presence of Olivia is as follows: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em’’ (2.5.145-46, and 3.4.40, 42, 44). Smiles make his face look wrinkled, as Maria observes in Act 3 scene2: “he does smile his face into more lines than is in the new map with the augmentation of the Indies” (3.2.75-77) (The “new” map of the world published in 1599 showed the East Indies more fully). The wrinkles caused by smiles also indicate that Malvolio is middle-aged or older.
VIOLA AND OLIVIA
Act 3 opens with Viola greeting Feste, who enters “playing on pipe and tabor”, which indicates his delight in music. Music is also a key element to sustain the spirit of gaiety and cheerfulness in the play. He engages in some word-play with Viola, and makes the observation about folly being seen everywhere, in Orsino as well as in Olivia: “Foolery ... shines everywhere” (quoted in full in Section 7.1 above). As he goes offstage to convey to Olivia Viola’s desire to meet her, Viola appreciates the intelligence required in a professional fool or jester (her appreciation of the professional Fool’s role has been quoted in Section 5.8 of Lesson 5).
Sir Toby, accompanied by Sir Andrew, enters and conveys to Cesario-Viola that Olivia desires to meet ‘him’. As Olivia enters, accompanied by Maria, Viola’s elaborate courtly manner of greeting Olivia and saying that she wants to talk to her in private impresses Sir Andrew. When Olivia and Cesario-Viola are alone, after some witty exchange of remarks, Olivia talks to Cesario of her love for ‘him’, referring to the ring she had sent through Malvoio: “To one of your receiving/Enough is shown; ... so, let me hear you speak” (3.1.122-24). Olivia’s eagerness in love contrasts with Viola’s patient restraint and with Orsino’s slowness, who boasts of his love but does not visit Olivia himself until Act 5 and then too only when he becomes aware of her falling in love with his messenger Cesario.
At this point Viola’s answer to Olivia, “I pity you,” amuses the spectators who know that Cosario is Viola, but Olivia sees hope even in that reply, and observes: “That’s a degree to love” (3.1.125). As Cesario- Viola’s reply rules out all hope, Olivia allows ‘him’ to leave, but then says: “Stay:/I prithee [i.e. pray thee, or request you] tell me what thou think’st of me” (3.1.136, 139-40). In an aside Olivia is impressed even by ‘his’ coldness and indifference, and feels that there is no point in keeping quiet; so she expresses her love to Cesario directly:
I love thee so, that maugre [i.e. in spite of] all thy pride,
Nor wit [i.e. common sense] nor reason can my passion hide. (3.1.153-54)
Here we also see the theme of love as an irrational force. Yet Olivia reasons with Cesario that ‘he’ should not be upset at the woman first expressing her love:
But rather reason thus with reason fetter:
Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. (3.1.157-158)
Viola’s reply reinforces the festive spirit of the play as it indirectly describes the amusing element in this complication, of which the audience is aware but Olivia is not:
By innocence I swear, and by my youth,
I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, And that no woman has; nor never none
Shall mistress be of it, save [i.e. except] I alone. (3.1.159-62)
Note that she uses rhyme—the first two lines end with a similar sound, and the next two lines also end with another similar sound. This use of rhyme gives a certain finality to her statement and also indicates that the scene is about to end.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. Of what does Malvolio daydream even before seeing the letter?
Q2. What are some of the directions in the letter?
Q3. Why does Malvolio believe that the letter is for him from Olivia?

10.4    MAJOR FACETS OF TWELFTH NIGHT-IITHE SUBPLOT: THE GULLING OF MALVOLIO
Olivia mentions in an aside that she has “sent after him [Cesario], he says he’ll come” (3.4.1), but she is not sure whether ‘he’ will be moved by her love. In this state of anxiety she asks for Malvolio, thinking that the sober-minded servant’s presence would be appropriate: “He is sad and civil,/And suits well for a servant with my fortunes ...” (3.4.5-6). Maria replies: “He’s coming, madam, but in very strange manner. He is sure possessed [i.e. by an evil spirit] ... he does nothing but smile: ... for sure the man is tainted in’s wits [i.e. mentally disturbed]’’ (3.4.8-9,11,13). Olivia does not know the reason why Malvolio is smiling constantly, and she compares it with her own persistent sadness at Cesario’s not reciprocating her love:
I am as mad as he
If sad and merry madness equal be. (3.4.14-15)
This also describes love as irrational, almost a kind of madness, in that it is not guided by reason. As Malvolio enters, smiling and laughing (“ho, hoi”), Olivia says, “Smil’st thou? I sent for thee upon a sad occasion” (3.4.17,18). Malvolio keeps referring to and quoting from the letter which he imagines to have been written by Olivia while she knows nothing about it; so she remarks about his odd behavior: “this is very [i.e. true or real] midsummer madness” (3.4.55).
As Olivia learns that Cesario has returned, she leaves after giving directions about Malvolio: “Good Maria, let this fellow be looked to. Where’s my cousin Sir Toby?” (3.4.5961). Olivia uses the word ‘fellow’ in the sense of ‘person’, but in his excessive pride Malvolio thinks that by using this word ‘fellow’ for him she considers him her equal. He also thinks that Olivia has specifically directed that Sir Toby should take care of him so that he may be able to carry out the directions in the letter, cast thy humble slough [i.e. give up the pretension of humility; the slough is the dead skin of a snake which it can cast off] Be 72
opposite with a kinsman, surly [i.e. ill-tempered] with servants” (2.5.48-50), and he says to Maria, Fabian and Sir Toby: “Go hang yourselves all: you are idle, shallow things, I am not of your element” (3.4.124-25).
Sir Toby and others tease him, pretending that he is possessed by the devil; and when he arrogantly goes away, Sir Toby (as the Lord of Misrule) suggests:
Come, we’ll have him in a dark room and bound. My niece is already in the belief that he’s mad: we may carry it thus for our pleasure, and his penance [i.e. punishment to atone for a wrong done], till our very pastime, tired out of breath, prompt us to have mercy on him. (3.4.136-40)
Malvoilo’s disgusting remark about Olivia (“I have limed her’’—3.4.74) alienates sympathy from him and makes his gulling a deserved punishment. It should be noted that in all his thoughts about Olivia being in love with him and having decided to marry him, there is no indication of any love or liking or regard in his mind for Olivia—this shows that he is indeed “sick of self-love”, as Olivia very perceptively remarked about him in Act 1, scene 5, line 89.
One meaning of the word ‘gull’ (in old usage) is a person who is easily fooled or tricked; and - the verb ‘gull’ means to make a fool of someone. During the seventeenth century the play Twelfth Nightwas praised largely for the hilarious comedy arising from the ‘gulling’ of Malvolio. Malvolio gets fooled by the letter because of his excessive self-love, his extremely high opinion of himself as being full of excellent qualities, and his “faith that all that look on him love him” (2.3.150-52). His arrogant insulting manner of talking to and about Sir Toby, Maria and others justifies the trick they play on him.
THE JOKE OF DUEL
As Sir Andrew Ague cheek comes with his letter challenging Cesario to a duel, Sir Toby reads the letter aloud: obvious stupidity of Sir Andrew reflected in the letter is amusing, and it is clear that it will not frighten Cesario who is intelligent and cultured. As the Lord of Misrule, Sir Toby wants to have fun by setting up a duel between the two who, he is sure, would be very afraid to fight. So he decides to convey the challenge “by word of mouth, set upon Ague cheek a notable report of valour” (3.4.192-93) and thus frighten the inexperienced young messenger of the Duke. It works as guessed by Sir Toby. Cesario-Viola says she “will return again into the house” and request Lady Olivia to send somebody to escort her, so that the duel may be avoided. However, that would upset Sir Toby’s plan for fun, so he tells Cesario that he will not be allowed to go back to the house without fighting a duel with Sir Toby himself.
As Sir Andrew and Cesario reluctantly come face to face, Viola says in an interesting aside: “Pray God defend me! A little thing would make me tell them how much I lack of a man” (3.4.307- 09). This amusing situation, which adds to the light-hearted spirit of the festive comedy, is made possible by Viola’s disguise. The disguise also leads to Antonio’s mistaking Cesario-Viola to be Sebastian, and to his comments on “the beauteous evil” because the person who he thinks is Sebastian—for whose sake he has risked his own safety—does not recognize him and knows nothing about the purse he had given to Sebastian.
Just when Cesario-Viola and Sir Andrew hesitatingly draw their swords, Antonio happens .to come there, and assuming Cesario-Viola to be Sebastian, he draws his sword to 73
defend him. This upsets Sir Toby’s plan of amusement, and he draws his sword to challenge Antonio. Just then some Officers enter and arrest Antonio. As Antonio asks Cesario-Viola, whom he takes to be Sebastian, to return some of the money he had given him earlier, so that he may pay the fine to become a free man again, Cesario-Viola’s inability to even recognize him so pains him that he rebukes ‘him’: “Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame” (3.4.375)—This episode has been analysed in detail in Section 6.5.1 of Lesson 6 above. Viola leaves the stage hoping that she has been mistaken for her brother Sebastian, which would indicate that he also survived the shipwreck: “O if it prove,/Tempests are kind, and salt waves fresh in love!” (3 4.393-94). At this point Sir Toby instigates Sir Andrew by saying that Cesario has proved to be dishonest and cowardly in disowning his friend in difficulty. Sir Andrew rushes after him, saying “I’ll after him, and beat him.” As Fabian invites Sir Toby to come to see the outcome, Sir Toby observes: ‘“twill be nothing yet” (3.4.400, 404-05). In the next scene, however, Sir Andrew runs into Sebastian, and mistaking him for Cesario, strikes him, only to get beaten thoroughly. Finding his plan of a joke going wrong, Sir Toby holds Sebastian’s hand to stop him; at this Sebastian draws his sword. Taken aback, Sir Toby also draws his sword; but just then Olivia enters and taking Sebastian to be Cesario, she thinks Sir Toby is threatening the man she loves and she sternly scolds him. The joke does not progress the way Sir Toby had planned but the humour arising from mistaken identities (because of Viola’s disguise) delights the audience, and adds to the festive spirit of the play.
It appears that Sir Toby still does not give up this joke of a duel and again encourages Sir Andrew to challenge Cesario, for in Act 5 Sir Andrew enters with his head bleeding, and says that Sir Toby needs the attention of a surgeon as Cesario has injured both of them: “We took him for a coward, but he is the very devil incardinate” (5.1.178-80: Sir Andrew mistakenly uses the word “incardinate” in place of ‘incarnate’ which means ‘in human form’). All this fun is made possible by Sir Toby’s desire to have as much fun as possible and by Viola’s disguise which leads to mistaken identities.
MALVOLIO’S PUNISHMENT
Malvolio has been put in a dark room, and Maria, Sir Toby and Feste pretend that he is possessed by the devil. Maria asks Feste to go to Malvolio in the guise of a priest with the name Sir Topas, and Sir Toby with his words supports this disguise of Feste. As Sir Toby observes, Feste imitates a priest’s manner of talking and behaviour very well. After Feste has disturbed Malvolio for some time in the role of a priest, Sir Toby—who is the over-all manager of these games as the Lord of misrule—asks Feste to go to Malvolio as himself. Feste starts singing a cheerful song in his own voice. Malvolio recognizes him from his voice and requests him to provide him “a candle, and pen, ink, and paper” (4.2.84); he needs these to write a letter of protest to Olivia, which Feste delivers to her in Act 5. Here Feste assures Malvolio that he will bring these things soon, and in a lighthearted comic song equates Malvolio with the devil and himself with Vice that used to be an assistant of the devil in medieval morality plays, wherein both the devil and Vice were portrayed as comic clowns:
I am gone, sir, and anon [i.e. soon], sir, I’ll be with you again, In a trice, like to the old Vice,
Adieu [i.e. goodbye], goodman [i.e. master] devil! (4.3.125-27, 132)
This playful teasing of Malvolio adds to the festive spirit of merriment in the subplot.THE
WINDING UP OF THE ACTION
In Act 5 Duke Orsino, accompanied by Cesario, for the first time visits Olivia himself. This contrasts with the intense wooing of Olivia and her haste leading to her marriage to Sebastian. Just then the Officers bring Antonio before the Duke. Cesario-Viola immediately says to the Duke, “Here comes the man, sir, that did rescue me (5.1.48), which shows her nobility. Orsino also praises the bravery of Antonio in the sea battle in which he had in fact caused harm to Orsino’s ships (5.1.52-57)—this also shows Orsino’s generous spirit (so that he may appear to be a worthy husband for Viola). As he asks Antonio why he took the risk of coming here where he was bound to be punished, Antonio, assuming Cesario to be Sebastian, says: “A witchcraft [i.e. a piece of black magic] drew me hither:/That most in grateful [i.e. ungrateful] boy by your side ...” (5.1.74-75). He describes how he had saved his life when he was about to drown in the sea, and how for his sake he had exposed himself “Into the danger of this adverse town; ... Drew to defend him, when he was beset;/Where being apprehended, his false cunning ... Taught him to face me out of his acquaintance, ... denied me mine own purse” (5.1.76-90). When, in reply to the Duke’s question he says they came to this town today only and that for three months before that they had always been together (5.1.92-94), the Duke says: “Three months this youth hath tended upon me” (5.1.97).
The action of the play seems to continue almost without a break from Act 1 scene 4 when Cesario, engaged by the Duke only three days earlier, is asked by him to go to Olivia and convince her of his love. All the events from that point onwards could have covered merely two or three days. This is for the first time we hear that three months have passed. However, while reading or watching the play, we hardly notice this difference in the duration of time. This difference between the seemingly continuous action of a few days and the mention of the time period as three months is referred to as ‘double time’ in the play. The mention of three months justifies the bond of friendship between Antonio and Sebastian, and makes Orsino’s slowness in visiting Olivia more striking.
As Olivia enters, she addresses Cesario first, assuming that ‘he’ is her husband, and then curtly tells the Duke that if he has anything to say “to the old tune” it would now be as unpleasant to her “As howling after music” (5.1.108). She says so because she is now a married woman; however, as the Duke knows nothing about her secret marriage, he finds her words very “cruel”. In bitterness he says he could “Kill what I love” (5.1.117), but then he says that by way of revenge he will cause great pain to her by destroying Cesario whom she loves, even though he himself also loves ‘him’ dearly (The mention of his great love for Cesario prepares the ground for his decision to marry Viola a little later, and also makes him appear a deserving life-partner for Viola):
This your minion, whom I know you love, And whom, by heaven, I swear I tender dearly, Him will I tear out of that cruel eye Where he sits crowned in his master’s spite. (5.1.123-26)
And he says to Cesario:
Come, boy, with me; my thoughts are ripe in mischief: I’ll sacrifice the lamb that I do love,
To spite a raven’s heart within a dove [i.e. to cause pain to Olivia whose heart is evil or black like the colour of a raven or crow, even though outwardly she looks fair like a dove], (5.1.127-29)
Cesario-Viola cheerfully replies to him:
“And I most jocund [i.e. cheerful], apt, and willingly, / To do you rest [i.e. peace of mind], a thousand deaths would die” (5.1.130-31).
This is in keeping with the spirit of romantic comedies which celebrate constancy in love. When Olivia asks, “Whither goes Cesario?”, Cesario- Viola replies:
After him I love
More than I love these eyes, more than my life,
More, by all mores, than e’er I shall love wife. (5.1.132-34)
The audience is amused because they know Viola is talking about her love for Orsino, but Olivia feels her husband has deceived her: “how am I beguil’d!” (5.1.137). As the Duke asks Cesario-Viola to “Come, away”, Olivia says: “Cesario, husband, stay!” (5.1.140,141). As the Priest enters, and at Olivia’s request reveals that she and the ‘man’ standing there had got married two hours ago, Orsino is shocked at what he considers to be the cunning deception of Cesario. All this misplaced criticism of Cesario-Viola, because of mistaken identities resulting from her disguise, remains quite amusing and in keeping with the festive spirit of the play. And soon the resolution takes place with the entry of Sebastian.
As Sebastian enters and, without noticing Cesario who looks like him in dress and appearance, apologises to Olivia for having hurt her relative Sir Toby in self-defence, everybody is surprised; and as Viola reveals that she is Sebastian’s sister, the confusions that had bothered Antonio, Olivia and Orsino clear up. Orsino assures amazed Olivia that the man she got married to by mistake is a worthy person: “right noble is his blood” (5.1.262); and though the woman he originally loved has got married to another man, he decides to “have share in this most happy wreck” (the wreck of his love for Olivia as well as the shipwreck which brought Viola and Sebastian separately at different times to Illyria), and he says to Viola who is still dressed as a boy: “Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou never should’st love woman like to me” (5.1.264-66). As Viola assures him that she really means that, he says to her: “Give me thy hand,/And let me see thee in thy woman’s weeds [i.e. clothes]” (5.1.270-71). At this point, the subplot is also brought in, as the play moves to its close: Viola says her “maid’s garments” are with the captain who had helped her survive and reach Illyria, and who is in prison at some complaint of Malvolio. Olivia immediately says he shall free him, and enquires about him. Feste gives her Malvolio’s letter and she tells Fabian to free Malvolio from the dark room and bring him there. In the meanwhile Orsino says to Viola: “Your master quits you ; and for your service done him ... And since you call’d me master for so long, / Here is my hand; you shall from this time be/Your master’s mistress.” By now Olivia too is happily reconciled to the unforeseen developments, and says to Viola: “A sister! You are she” (5.1.320-25: a sisterin-law is also addressed as ‘sister’).
As Malvolio enters and shows Olivia the letter which made him behave oddly and which, he is sure was written by her, Olivia observes that it is Maria’s handwriting, and assures him that after finding out why this trick was played on him and who carried it out, he would be allowed full justice. At this Fabian saves Maria from blame by claiming that he and Sir Toby had asked her to write this letter as a “device against Malvolio” because of his “uncourteous” behaviour. As romantic comedies end in multiple marriages, he mentions that “In recompense” Sir Toby has married Maria. Feste mentions the role he played as Sir Topas, and referring to Malvolio’s rude remarks about him, justifies his treatment of Malvolio: “thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges” (5.1.375-76). Malvolio remains angry, and leaves the stage with the threat:
“I’ll be reveng’d on the whole pack of you!” (5.1.377).
Romantic comedies usually end with a general reconciliation, and Malvolio’s remaining unreconciled is sometimes seen as a blemish in the otherwise happy ending of the play. However, as discussed above in Section 5.7 of lesson 5, Malvolio’s mild punishment is fully deserved and his anger towards the end of the play does not diminish the festive cheerfulness of the play. Orsino does ask Fabian to rush after Malvolio and “entreat [i.e., request] him to a peace” (5.1.379), and says to Olivia: “Meanwhile [i.e. till his marriage to Viola], sweet sister, / We will not part form hence” (5.1.383-84).
As all other characters go off stage in a happy state of mind, the fool Feste is left alone and sings a song that is not so happy and takes the audience back from the festive make-believe romantic world of wish- fulfillment to the everyday world which is usually not so festive. The second and fourth lines of each of the first four stanzas of the song refer to the hardships of life: “With hey, ho, the wind and the rain ... For the rain it raineth every day.”
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. Write a note on the duel.
Q2. What was the punishment given to Malvoloio?

10.5    SUMMARY
Act 2 scene 4 reveals Feste’s delight in singing and his feeling hurt at the Duke’s dismissing him with some money as payment for singing. This scene also contrasts Viola’s restrained attitude in love with Orsino’s boastful claims. However, Orsino too is revealed as more balanced when he gives sincere advice about love to Cesario.
In Act 2 scene 5 Malvolio enters talking to himself that Olivia is going to marry him and daydreaming of how he will use his position as “Count Malvolio” to control Sir Toby. Then he sees the unsigned letter addressed to no one in particular, which he takes to be from Olivia to him, because the handwriting of Maria who wrote it resembles Olivia’s. He decides to follow all the directions given in the letter, such as to smile always, to wear yellow stockings, cross-gartered, to be opposite with a kinsman and to reject acquaintances of a humbler status.
In Act 3, in scene 1 Olivia Expresses her love to Cesario-Viola directly, while in scene 2 Sir Toby, eager to have more fun, plans a joke of a duel between Sir Aguecheek and Cesario, and advises Aguecheek that to impress Olivia he should challenge Cesario to a duel. In scene 3 we see again Antonio’s nobility and generous nature as he again joins Sebastian out of concern for his safety and comfort—even at the risk of his own safety—and gives his purse to Sebastian.
In Act 3 scene 4 the two practical jokes of the subplot progress further. As Malvolio enters smiling and laughing and keeps referring to and quoting from the letter which he imagines to have been written by Olivia while she knows nothing about it, she considers it to be “midsummer madness” and asks that Sir Toby and others should take care of him. This gives them an opportunity for placing him in a dark room under the pretext that they are helping him recover. In the other practical joke, as Aguecheek and Cesario reluctantly come face to face and draw their swords, Antonio enters. He mistakes Cesario-Viola for Sebastian, and draws his sword to defend him, Just then some Officers enter and arrest him. Antonio asks Cesario, whom he takes to be Sebastian, to return some of the money he had given him earlier. Cesario-Viola knows nothing of that money and offers to share
with him whatever little money she has. Antonio is anguished at what he considers to be Sebastian’s selfishness, ingratitude and betrayal. Sir Toby then instigates Aguecheek, saying that Cesario has proved to be a mean coward in disowning his friend in distress, and Aguecheek runs after him to beat him. However in the next scene he runs into Sebastian and gets thoroughly thrashed. As Sir Toby draws his sword to defend Aguecheek, Olivia enters and thinking that he is threatening Cesario, scolds him and invites Sebastian, whom she considers to be Cesario, to come with her.
In Act 4 scene 1 Sebastian falls in love withOlivia at first sight, and his assurance to Olivia that he will do as she desires makes her so happy that in scene 3 she hurriedly gets married to him under the impression that she is marrying Cesario. In scene 2 Feste plays the role of a priest to tease Malvolio.
In Act 5 Orsino visits Olivia, and soon after her curt rejection of his love, he threatens that, to cause pain to Olivia who is cruelly rejecting his love for the sake of Cesario, he will kill Cesario, though he himself also loves Cesario. Then Olivia reveals that she is married to ‘him’, and just then Sebastian enters. The confusion created by mistaken identities is resolved and Orsino declares his intention to marry Viola, who has always expressed love for him and now reaffirms it. Malvolio is released, but remains unreconciled even when the justification for his gulling is given by Fabian and Feste. It is mentioned that Sir Toby has married Maria—in keeping the convention of multiple marriages at the end of a romantic comedy.

10.6    GLOSSARY

• Gull; Gulling- A gull is a person who is easily fooled or tricked; and to gull someone means to make a fool of him. The gulling of Malvolio refers to the episode in which Malvolio is fooled by the unsigned letter written by Maria and addressed to no one in particular: thinking that it is written by Olivia to him, he starts acting oddly according to the instructions given in that letter.

10.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. That Olivia will marry him, and as Count Malvolio he will ask Toby to mend his drunkenness.
Ans 2. That he should wear yellow stockings. cross-gartered and always smile.
Ans 3. The handwriting of Maria is like that of Olivia; Malvolio thinks he is so full of excellent qualities that anybody would fall in love with him; and he was already daydreaming that Olivia is going to marry him.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. As the Lord of Misrule, Sir Toby wants to have fun by setting up a duel between the two who, he is sure, would be very afraid to fight. So he decides to convey the challenge “by word of mouth, set upon Ague cheek a notable report of valour.”
Ans 2. Malvolio has been put in a dark room, and Maria, Sir Toby and Feste pretend that he is possessed by the devil.

10.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Bradey, Jean. Ed. Twelfth Night. London: Nelson, 1970.

•    Donno, Elizabeth Story. Ed. Twelfth Night. New Delhi: Foundation Books, 1997.

•    Lothian, J.M. and T.W. Craik. Ed. “Twelfth Night: What You Will.” The Arden Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1975. (Indian Ed. New Delhi: B.l Publications, 1977).
Note- All references to the play in these lessons are to this edition.

10.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    In what way is love shown to be irrational in Twelfth Night?

2.    In what sense can Sir Toby be described as the Lord of Misrule?

3.    Comment on the following:

a)    Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.

b)    Foolery, sir, does walk around the orb like the sun, it shines everywhere.
THE TEMPEST - WILLIAM SHAKESPEAREUnit-11 THE TEMPEST: MAIN ASPECTS-I
Structure

11.1    Introduction

11.2    Learning Objectives

11.3    Major Aspects of The Tempest
Self Check Exercise-1

11.4    Summary

11.5    Glossary

11.6    Answers to Self Check Exercise
Self Check Exercise-1

11.7    References/Suggested Readings

11.8    Terminal Questions

11.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit discusses The Tempest as a dramatic romance which combines features of a romantic comedy with those of a tragedy. This unit also brings out the mingling of realistic elements with those of a romance.

11.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand the key aspects of the play as a dramatic romance, which you should keep in mind while reading the text of the play.

11.3    MAJOR ASPECTS OF THE TEMPESTINTRODUCTION TO THE TEMPEST: AN OUTLINE OF THE ACTION
The play begins with a tempest or storm in which a ship seems to get destroyed. However, in the next scene Prospero, the protagonist of the play, assures his daughter Miranda that the ship and all its passengers are safe. This storm had been created by him with his magic powers, and he explains the reason. Prospero was the Duke of Milan, which was then a small independent state (though today Milan as well as the kingdom of Naples is part of Italy). Prospero’s main interest was studies, especially in the fields of the liberal arts (what is often referred to as ‘humanities’ these days) and magic. This play describes the Art or magic exercised by Prospero as good magic because it is pursued like an accepted branch of knowledge, and is used for a healthy moral purpose. Prospero contrasts it with the magic practised by Caliban’s mother Sycorax which, according to Prospero, was exercised with the help of the devil, and was used irresponsibly, sometimes for base purposes.
Being more concerned with his studies, Prospero left the administration in the hands of his younger brother, Antonio. Ambitious Antonio was not satisfied to exercise the powers of the Duke on behalf of his brother; so to become the Duke of Milan in name also, he joined hands with the King of Naples, Alonso, who had long wanted to make Milan his subordinate state. Twelve years ago one night Antonio opened the gates of Milan to the army of Naples, and with the help of the King of Naples got Prospero and his three year 80
old daughter exposed to almost sure death at sea— they were put in a shabby boat without any equipment to steer it. However, by good fortune they survived and reached this previously unknown uninhabited island where only a small boy Caliban lived. He was born on this island after his mother had been exiled from Algiers to this island, but she had died before the arrival of Prospero and Miranda.
Caliban is presented as a kind of ‘natural’ man who does not accept the restraints of civilization. Caliban at first was so happy to have two other human beings on his island that he welcomed them and eagerly showed them where they can have fresh water for drinking, fruits, etc. The two Europeans taught him their language so that they could communicate with him, and for some time he was allowed to stay with them in the same cell. However, behaving like animals in nature, he tried to rape Miranda; and since then he has been confined to a small area and made to work like a servant, doing hard physical labour, such as bringing in wood for fire, etc.
Prospero tells Miranda that with fortune now favouring him, the ship carrying his enemies— his brother Antonio and the King of Naples, Alonso—happened to pass by this island on return journey from Tunis (in North Africa) after the marriage of Alonso’s daughter Claribel to the prince of Tunis there. To have some kind of a revenge on them by making them suffer for some time, he has created this storm.
Prospero has created this storm with the help of a spirit, Ariel, who also has other subordinate spirits under his control. Ariel cheerfully carries out all commands of Prospero, and helps him in carrying out his plan of causing suffering to his enemies and making them realize their sinful acts against Prospero, so that they come to the right state of mind to be forgiven by Prospero, who wants to move on to reconciliation with the marriage of his daughter Miranda to Alonso’s son, Ferdinand.
Ariel (who appears after Miranda is made to sleep) tells Prospero that he has landed Ferdinand all alone by himself, who thinks others have died in the shipwreck and so feels sad at the supposed death of his father. His father Alonso and other passengers have landed elsewhere, and Alonso thinks that his son Ferdinand might have been drowned.
With the help of his music and songs, Ariel brings Ferdinand towards Prospero’s cell so that he and Miranda may meet. They fall in love at first sight (as happens in Shakespeare’s romantic comedies such as Twelfth Night), and Prospero is happy at this development. However, to test their love he pretends to be angry with Ferdinand, puts chains on his hands and feet, and imposes on him the unnecessary hard physical labour of carrying heavy wooden logs from one place to another. In Act 4 he rewards Ferdinand with the hand of his daughter in marriage, and makes Ariel present a masque with the help of his subordinate spirits to celebrate the occasion. In Act 5 the other characters are also brought there, and there is reconciliation as Prospero forgives his enemies and gets back his dukedom. As he gets ready to go back to Milan along with the others, he frees both Ariel and Caliban.
The action of the play covers just a few hours because the past events of twelve years ago are only described as the context for the present seeming shipwreck. Yet within this short span there is a replay of evil—in a more serious form when Antonio plans with Sebastian to kill Alonso and Gonzalo so that Sebastian may become the king of Naples and in return free Antonio’s Milan from subordination to Naples; and in a more comic form when Caliban advises the drunken butler Stephano to kill Prospero and become the king of the island, Ariel frustrates both the plots to ensure that Prospero’s plan for reconciliation succeeds
THE LAST PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE
Four plays of Shakespeare written towards the end of his career as a playwright—Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest—are described as dramatic romances, because they have many of the features of romances including (1) probing of evil and suffering, (2) setting in a remote place, (3) elements of the supernatural or excessive coincidence to sustain a world of make-believe where the pattern of themes works out perfectly, and (4) a happy ending in spite of the darker elements.
In his great tragedies that followed romantic comedies, Shakespeare portrays characters with great psychological depth, but in the dramatic romances the thematic pattern becomes more important than character analysis. However, even in the dramatic romances, especially in The Winter’s Tale (1610) and The Tempest (1611), the characters are presented with psychological realism, and the more important characters have a certain complexity, as we see clearly in Prospero, and to some extent in Caliban.
THE ‘SOURCES’ FOR THE TEMPEST
After Columbus ‘discovered’ the West Indies in 1492 and reached the main land of America in a subsequent voyage, people from different parts of Europe started colonising these lands. At first they were welcomed by the natives, who, because of the fair complexion of the Europeans, sometimes took them to be gods from heaven. However, later the natives, who considered the gifts of nature to be common to all, were often upset as the white colonizers did not allow them to enter the territories they claimed as their own, and restricted the natives to less fruitful areas. At this stage the natives’ hostility was seen by the white settlers as treachery, which they punished severely with the help of their far more destructive weapons. These white outsiders were snatching away the land and the means of living of the natives, but they claimed that they were doing a favour to the ‘uncivilised’ natives by civilizing them in the process of colonising their lands. In England these things were often talked about and written about from the point of view of the colonisers, and in The Tempest Shakespeare reflects these in the speeches given to Prospero as the coloniser and to Caliban as the colonised. Some writers, for example, the sixteenth-century French writer Montaigne in his essay ‘Of the Cannibals’ (whose English translation was published in 1603), portrayed the natives as uncorrupted by ‘civilization’. Gonzalo’s account of the utopian commonwealth in Act 2 scene 1 reflects that attitude.
A specific event of 1609, about which details came to be widely known in England in 1610, may have inspired some of the details in the play: in the description of Prospero and Miranda’s survival in spite of being left to die at sea, and the seeming shipwreck with which the play begins. In May 1609 a group of five hundred colonisers from England started for America in a fleet of nine ships, to strengthen the existing colony of Virginia there. Two months later, near the Bermuda Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship carrying their commanders got separated from the rest of the fleet and was driven towards the shore. As the crew members were forced to rush their ship on to land as the last hope of saving their lives, by rare good luck the ship got stuck between two rocks without breaking up. As a result not only all lives were saved, they were also able to carry to the shore the stocks of food and other necessities as well as ‘important fittings of the ship. The uninhabited island also provided them with different strange tasty fruits and easy supply of meat. They would just spread out their arms and trusting birds would come and sit on their 82
arms; then they could easily catch them and kill them for delicious meat. The climate was pleasant, neither cold nor hot. They found this island to be almost a heaven on earth. Ten months later they were able to resume their journey to Virginia. When in the middle of 1610 they safely reached there after having been supposed to have died in the shipwreck, it was seen as a kind of miracle and was much talked about in England, and several accounts of this strange ‘shipwreck’ were published. Shakespeare had probably also read in 1610 an account of this strange experience in manuscript (which was published much later) as he knew several members of the expedition.
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SHAKESPEARE’S ROMANTIC COMEDIES AND DRAMATIC ROMANCES
Like his romantic comedies, Shakespeare’s dramatic romances are also set in a world remote from everyday reality—They are set in a world of make-believe, where elements of the supernatural and unusual coincidences seem probable as they support the moral theme, and lead to justice and happiness. Music plays an important role in sustaining this world of romance in both. In both there are some unusually virtuous characters. The latter part of a dramatic romance is like a romantic comedy in almost all respects, and for that reason the dramatic romances are sometimes listed under comedies.
However, while the romantic comedies make only a passing mention of death and suffering, the dramatic romances probe evil at length. A part of the dramatic romance is like an intense tragedy. Dramatic romances present considerable intense suffering before evil is overcome and the play moves towards reconciliation and a happy resolution. While the romantic comedies are centred on the theme of love, in the dramatic romances love is only one of the themes, even though it helps in bringing about the happy ending of the play.
The ending of a dramatic romance, though happy, is not festive like that of a romantic comedy, but is more restrained in tone, with a sense of so many years wasted in unhappiness because of serious mistakes and/or because the evil forces had an upper hand before being overcome.
SETTING: THE TEMPEST
The Tempest is set in a remote “uninhabited island” about which people of Europe did not know. The remoteness of the setting makes it easier to believe that supernatural beings like the spirit Ariel live there and that the protagonist Prospero is able to control them with his magic in order to punish his enemies and lead the action of the play to the desired resolution.
In such a remote place it seems probable that by chance Prospero’s enemies should happen to pass by that island within range of his magical powers, and that he should be able to Create a seeming storm in which their ship appears to be wrecked.
The supernatural elements play a very important role in the action of the play. The very convincing storm—with which the play begins, and which makes possible the rest of the action in the play—is created by the spirit Ariel, who is controlled by Prospero’s magic powers, In Act 4 other spirits subordinate to Ariel present a masque under his directions. Such spirits and such power of magic form stuff of the fairy tales and are not found in the world of nature. However, in The Tempest they are accepted by the spectators and the readers without any hesitation—with a “willing suspension of disbelief (a term first used by
the poet and critic S.T. Coleridge in the early nineteenth century)— because of two main reasons:
Psychological realism: The reactions and behaviour of different characters are convincing psychologically, that is, the way they react to supernatural happenings or appearances is so natural that the realism of their responses absorbs our attention and makes us accept the supernatural without any hesitation. There is psychological realism not only in the reactions of those who are subjected to the supernatural, but also in the statements and behaviour of the supernatural spirit Ariel, so that he appears almost like an enthusiastic young person eager to perform efficiently the tasks assigned to him, and beyond that acting on his own to ensure that his master’s plans are not spoilt. When he describes how he created the storm, he seems convincing in his excited sense of achievement, and we do not even for a moment think that such supernatural happenings are not possible. The responses of Ferdinand to the music played and the songs sung by invisible Ariel make it believable that Ariel with his unusual powers is invisible. Similarly when spirits in strange forms bring a ‘feast’ on the stage, psychological realism in the reactions of Alonso, Gonzalo, Antonio, Sebastian and others makes the experience believable.
The supernatural elements support the moral theme of the play and work for justice or positive attitudes to life. The supernatural elements play a constructive role in the play. Prospero uses his magic powers only to bring under his control the enemies who had removed him from the throne and exposed him and his three-year old daughter to almost certain death at sea twelve years ago. And the punishment, which he imposes on them with the help of his magic and the spirit Ariel, is quite mild, so that the supernatural elements reinforce the positive spirit of the play—This makes these elements highly acceptable.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. In what ways does a dramatic romance differ from a romantic comedy?
Q2. Why does the supernatural appear believable in The Tempest?
Q3. What do the supernatural elements support?
Q4. Which are the four plays of Shakespeare written towards the end of his career as a playwright?
Q5. Prospero’s main interest was studies, especially in the fields of..............................and..............................

11.4    SUMMARY
The Tempest was Shakespeare’s last play and is a dramatic romance. The action is set on a small island, remote from everyday reality. Supernatural elements such as magic and spirits become believable because of the psychological realism in the reactions and attitudes of different characterrs, and because they support the moral vision of the play. The main theme that gives shape to the action of the play is that of sin or great mistake, followed by suffering which becomes expiation for the wrong done, and the atonement leads to forgiveness and reconciliation. Art versus Nature is another significant theme in the play. Evil is probed at length, and is counterbalanced by the love of Miranda and Ferdinand, which offers hope of a better future. Two important symbols in the thematic pattern of the play are the tempest and music. The tempest or storm evokes upheaval in society such as that when Antonio displaced his elder brother Prospero from the throne 84
and exposed him and his daughter Miranda to almost sure death at sea. The storm also evokes disturbance of mind, for example, when Prospero’s mind seethes with bitterness and anger at the wrongs done to him and his daughter. Music represents harmony in society when justice is restored and harmony in the mind when forgiveness dispels the desire for revenge and one moves forward to reconciliation.

11.5    GLOSSARY

•    Convince- Persuade, sway.

•    Harmony- Accord, unity.

•  Justice- Fairness, impartiality.

•  Supernatural- Mystic, ghostly.

11.6    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Dramatic Romances probe evil more fully, love is only one of the main themes, and the ending, though happy, is more restrained in spirit in comparison toromantic comedy.
Ans 2. Because the speeches and behaviour of the spirit Ariel make him appear convincing like a human being, because the reactions of those who experience the supernatural have psychological realism, and because the elements of the supernatural support the moral theme of the play and work for justice or positive attitudes to life.
Ans 3. The supernatural elements support the moral theme of the play and work for justice or positive attitudes to life.
Ans 4. Four plays of Shakespeare written towards the end of his career as a playwright are Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest.
Ans 5. The liberal arts, what is often referred to as ‘humanities’ these days and magic.

11.7    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Hollander, John and Frank Kermode. Ed. “The Tempest.” In The Literature of Renaissance England. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. 444-509.

•  ---. The Oxford Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford UP, 1973.

•    Kermode, Frank. Ed. 1954. “William Shakespeare: The Tempest.” The Arden Shakespeare. London: Routledge, 1988.
Note- All references to this play in these units are to this edition.

•    Langbaum, Robert. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Signet Classic Shakespeare. New York: New American Library, 1964.
Note- It also includes some critical essays on the play, including Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy.”

•    Orgel, Stephen. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.

•    Palmer, D.J. Ed. Shakespeare: The Tempest- A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1968.

•  ---. Ed. Shakespeare’s Later Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on The Tempest; including S.T. Coleridge’s “This Almost Miraculous Play” and Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy”; also reprints
some criticism on “The Setting of the Last Plays”, including Stanley Wells’s “Shakespeare and Romance”.

•    Righter, Ann (Ann Barton). Ed. The Tempest. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968.

11.8    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss The Tempest as a dramatic romance.

2.    Comment of the mingling of romance and realism in The Tempest.

3.    In what way does The Tempest present the Christian idea of Grace?
OR
To what extent does The Tempest reject the pattern of sin or great mistake, followed by punishment which becomes an expiration or atonement for the wrong done, which atonement then leads to forgiveness and reconciliation?

4.    Discuss the treatment of the supernatural in The Tempest.

5.    Bring out the elements of a romantic comedy in The Tempest.
Unit-12 THE TEMPEST- MAIN ASPECTS-II
Structure

12.1    Introduction

12.2    Learning Objectives

12.3    Major Features of The Tempest-I
Self Check Exercise-1

12.4    Major Features of The Tempest-II
Self Check Exercise-2

12.5    Summary

12.6    Glossary

12.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

12.8    References/Suggested Readings

12.9    Terminal Questions

12.1    INTRODUCTION
The Tempest as a pastoral play and the unity of time and place in this play. In describing different aspects of the play as a dramatic romance, this unit touches upon the main themes of the play and certain aspects of characters that are analysed in the next units.

12.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you understand the key aspects of the play as a dramatic romance, which you should keep in mind while reading the text of the play.

12.3    MAJOR FEATURES OF THE TEMPEST-IELEMENTS OF ROMANTIC COMEDY, WITH LOVE AS A SIGNIFICANT THEME
As in Shakespeare’s earlier dramatic romance The Winter’s Tale (which immediately preceded The Tempest), so also in this play elements of romantic comedy in the latter part of the action counterbalance the tragedy-like elements of the earlier part of the action. In fact, in The Tempest the elements of tragedy are largely over with Prospero’s narration of what happened twelve years ago (how his tragic error of judgement in ignoring his duty to govern his dukedom and delegating the task of administration to his younger brother led to his excessive suffering of being removed from the throne and being exposed to almost certain death at sea along with his daughter). Soon after that narration of past mistakes and consequent suffering, as Ariel with his music and song draws Ferdinand towards Prospero’s dwelling, and Ferdinand and Miranda meet, the play comes to have all the elements of a romantic comedy including falling in love at first sight and remaining unshaken in love in spite of opposition and difficulties—these obstructions being all the more amusing as they are imposed by Prospero to test their love. His hope for reconciliation with his enemy King of Naples and consequent harmony between Milan and Naples depends on the steadfastness of the love of the young couple. Through the opposition and difficulties their feelings of love emerge nobler and stronger. Evil, suffering 87
and bitterness are finally transcended by the hope of a more harmonious society under the younger generation, as elements of romantic comedy neutralise the darker elements more suitable for tragedy.
SYMBOLIC PATTERNS OF MEANING
As in Shakespeare’s other dramatic romances, in The Tempest too the symbolic patterns of meaning give shape to the plot and make the characters contrast with one another in terms of the attitudes they stand for. The various characters are presented with psychological realism, but are not probed to that depth as in Shakespeare’s mature tragedies. The most important thematic pattern, which gives shape to the over-all action of the play (and is also seen in The Winter’s Tale), may be described as the pattern of sin or mistake, followed by expiation through suffering, which leads to forgiveness and reconciliation, as explained in the next section of this lesson. Sometimes this is referred to as the Christian idea of Grace, as according to Christianity, if somebody who has committed a sin, truly repents and undergoes penance or punishment for the wrong done, he becomes worthy of forgiveness or God’s Grace. An important thematic contrast in The Tempest is that between Art or culture represented by Prospero and Nature as represented by Caliban. Art and culture involve restraint, which can help one rise above nature, whereas Caliban is presented as being guided by impulses. As the contrast between Art and Nature is presented largely from the point of the coloniser, certain prejudices of colonialism come in. Different aspects of the theme ‘Art versus Nature’ and the implicit colonialist attitude have been brought out in the critical analysis of the play in the next lessons.The more earthy and sluggish manner of Caliban, which makes him symbolise the ‘elements’ of earth and water, contrasts with the lively, swift and alert attitude of Ariel who almost represents the elements of air and fire. Other characters are also seen as partly symbolic—Prospero representing reason and Miranda the soul.
The two important contrasting symbols in the play are the tempest and the harmony represented by music. The tempest represents upheaval in society when evil overthrows propriety and justice, and also disturbance in the mind, especially in the mind of Prospero as he seethes with anger at the wrongs done to him by his own younger brother. Music represents harmony in the mind as disturbing feelings are soothed or brought under control, as well as harmony in society when evil is neutralised. Ferdinand’s heart, agitated with grief at the supposed death of his father (in the seeming shipwreck), is made calm by invisible Ariel’s music and song. His and Miranda’s love functions as a harmonizing influence for society as it leads to cementing of reconciliation between old enemies, Alonso and Prospero. Prospero himself moves gradually to harmony as he gives up his “fury” of revenge and forgives even his brother, though rather bitterly (“For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother/Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive/Thy rankest [i.e. most disgusting] fault,—all of them” .
It is significant that Caliban responds to music, which offers hope that he may become a more balanced person. Among Prospero’s enemies, Alonso, who is grief-stricken at the
supposed death of his son Ferdinand, is influenced by invisible Ariel’s “solemn music” a little later than others and falls asleep-which shows that he is not completely evil and can realize his mistake in having harmed Prospero, that is, he can be redeemed from evil. However, Ariel’s music has no influence on the completely evil Antonio and Sebastian— which indicates that they can never be redeemed, unlike Caliban. Antonio and Sebastian’s evil is also seen as more sinister than Caliban’s, because they belong to the ‘civilised world’ and, in spite of having the advantage of civilization, have chosen to be evil: when Sebastian asks Antonio about his “conscience”, he replies: “Ay, sir; where lies that? ... I feel not/This deity in my bosom”.
COMBINATION OF THE REALISTIC AND THE ROMANTIC IN THE TEMPEST
In The Tempest Shakespeare very effectively reconciles romance with realism. Even when certain happenings are obviously supernatural and belong to the world of romance at some distance from reality, the reactions of different characters to those happenings are convincingly realistic. In the opening scene the storm is created by magic, but the reactions of the passengers and sailors are convincingly real. The urgency shown by the Boatswain to somehow save the ship from being destroyed in the tempest, and the anxiety of others create a realistic effect of a ship really in danger. Similarly, in Act 3 scene 3, there is psychological realism in the responses of Alonso, Gonzalo, Antonio and Sebastian to the strange shapes of the spirits who invite them to a banquet. As Coleridge observes in a different context, realism in the reactions of different characters to supernatural happenings makes us suspend our disbelief in elements of romance such as magic and supernatural spirits.
Prospero exercises magic to create situations and sights with the help of Ariel, who is a spirit from the world of romance. However, Prospero himself is presented realistically as a human being with different imperfections. Throughout the play he is repeatedly agitated by bitterness and anger at the treachery of his younger brother, even as he controls and directs the events of the play to the desired goal of reconciliation. His unnecessary anger at Ariel and Miranda, which makes him appear almost like a tyrant, also makes him convincingly human. The imperfections, which make him a complex character, also make him seem more like a person from real life, and because of this his magic and control of supernatural spirits become believable.
Ariel is presented as a spirit who can become invisible and can also assume any form— he appears like lightning and fire on the ship, and as a strange harpy in the banquet scene. He can create all kinds of magical effects. And yet the way he describes how he created the effect of a storm for the ship, and how he guided Ferdinand with his music, he appears more like an eager young boy joyfully reporting to his master how his commands were very effectively carried out. This psychological realism of his utterances makes him believable even as we are aware that he is a supernatural spirit from the world of romance. This comes out in a very effective way in the last scene of the play where he tells Prospero about the mental suffering experienced by his enemies, adding 89
“if you now be held them, your affections/Would become tender,” and says, “Mine would, sir, were I human” (5.1.18-20)—Here even his utterance indicating that he is not human, is presented with such psychological consistency and realism that he moves the heart of the audience also. This realism of his feelings makes this spirit Ariel not just a believable figure but also a charming character.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-I
Q1. According to Caliban, what was his status before Prospero and Miranda arrived on the island?
Q2.      In       The      Tempest      Shakespeare      very      effectively
reconciles………………………with………………………….
Q3. What are the two important contrasting symbols in the play? Name them.

12.4    MAJOR FEATURES OF THE TEMPEST-IITHE THEMATIC PATTERN OF SIN OR MISTAKE
We see two broad patterns of themes in the action of the play The Tempest. The thematic pattern of romantic comedy in the relationship of Miranda and Ferdinand begins later and is given less space in the play, though it plays a crucial role in the final reconciliation of old enemies. The larger thematic pattern, which begins first and gives overall shape to the action of the play, consists of sin or mistake, followed by expiation in the form of suffering, which leads to forgiveness and reconciliation.
We see this pattern not only in the case of Aionso, Antonio and Sebastian, but significantly in Prospero’s case also, and in a comic form in the case of Caliban, who also realizes his mistake towards the end of the play and says, “I’ll be wise hereafter, / And seek for grace” (5.1.294-95).
This pattern is sometimes also referred to as the Christian idea of Grace, because (as we see in Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus) according to Christianity, if one sins one suffers, but if one realizes one’s mistake and truly repents at heart, that suffering becomes a kind of atonement for the sin and one becomes worthy of God’s Grace or forgiveness.
Prospero does not sin like Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian. However, he made a great mistake in neglecting his responsibility to govern his dukedom himself. His brother was able to usurp his throne and expose him and his three year old daughter to almost certain death at sea, only because, for the sake of his personal interest in studies, he ignored his primary political and social responsibility of governing his people himself. Prospero’s failure to perform his moral and political duty towards his dukedom, and his mistake in leaving the government entirely in his brother’s hands awakened the evil in his brother. Not only did he suffer deposition (i.e. being removed from the throne) and being exposed to likely death at sea, even when he and Miranda safely reached this small island, their life has been limited to this island far away from their home. All this while he has also felt great bitterness and anger at the wrongs done to him and his daughter, and we see his seething anger even in the course of the play. However, this suffering makes him mature 90
and wiser. He now governs the island efficiently, though perhaps a bit too sternly. And he is gradually able to rise above his anger against his enemies, and forgives them after having made them suffer for some time and having made them realize their mistake. Thus his mistake brings him suffering, which then helps him rise above his weaknesses, including his anger against his enemies, so that he can say “the rarer action is In virtue than in vengeance” and moves forward to forgiveness and reconciliation.
Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian are made to suffer as a punishment for their sins against Prospero and Miranda, and after that they are forgiven. Alonso is tormented with grief at the thought that his son Ferdinand, whom they cannot find after the seeming shipwreck, has probably been drowned. All of them are reminded of their sins by the invisible Ariel and they feel as if even the waves, winds and thunder are talking of their sins against Prospero and Miranda. They are made distracted by Prospero’s magic, and their suffering moves even Ariel. At that point Prospero feels that they have been adequately punished for their sins and he decides to forgive them. The play concludes with Prospero restoring their senses, revealing that Ferdinand is alive, and Alonso happily agreeing to the marriage of his son to Prospero’s daughter. This leads to complete reconciliation between old enemies, and creates a situation that is described as one of grace, promising happiness, peace and harmony.
PROBING OF EVIL, AND ULTIMATELY POSITIVE FORCES NEUTRALIZING EVIL
This dramatic romance probes evil, but at the same time there is firm assurance that the evil will not be able to triumph. The main evil act, which provides the reason for the action of the play, took place twelve years ago, and is described in detail by Prospero to his daughter Miranda in the second scene of the play, immediately after the seeming tempest and shipwreck of the opening scene: Prospero’s mistake in neglecting his duties as a Duke to devote himself entirely to his study of “the liberal Arts”, and assigning the government to his younger brother Antonio, “in my false brother/Awak’d an evil nature” with the help of the King of Naples, Alonso, who was Prospero’s enemy, Antonio usurped the throne of his elder brother and exposed him and his three years old daughter to death at sea, which they miraculously escaped.
Within the play there is a re-play of intense evil as Antonio suddenly suggests to Sebastian that they murder Alonso and Gonzalo so that Sebastian becomes the King of Naples. However, watchful spirit Ariel’s presence ensures that they cannot carry out their evil plan. Similarly in the subplot the comic plotting of Caliban to get Prospero killed with the help of the drunken butler Stephano, whom he accepts as his new ‘king’, gets easily foiled by Ariel.
The fact that Prospero is controlling everything with the help of Ariel, gives assurance early in the play that finally all will be well. We get a clear indication of Prospero’s plan for reconciliation with his enemy King of Naples, Alonso, when in the second scene of the play he expresses happiness as his daughter Miranda and Alonso’s worthy son Ferdinand fall in love at first sight. It is the deep love of these members of the younger
generation which ultimately ensures the triumph of positive attitudes over evil. Prospero’s rising above his bitterness against his enemies, to work for reconciliation (“the rarer action is/In virtue than in vengeance” leads to a happy ending. However, while Caliban does realise his mistake towards the end, there is no indication of any change of heart- in the evil-minded Antonio and Sebastian. The future rulers of Naples and Milan, Ferdinand and Miranda, will have to be on their guard against such evil which is overcome at the end of the play but is not eradicated.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SETTING: THE TEMPEST AS A PASTORAL PLAY
In a pastoral poem or play the setting is in the countryside, and the characters are simple rustics, shepherds and shepherdesses, farmers, etc. On the surface the themes relate to the life of these simple people. However, pastoral writings indirectly deal with more complex problems of life, in a simplified manner. Because pastoral writings are distanced from the life of cities and courts in terms of the setting and the way of life presented, they can present the basic aspects of complex problems in a simplified way more effectively.
The Tempest is set on a remote island, and since their arrival on this island Prospero and Miranda have been surviving almost like simple villagers. Caliban’s rustic skills like catching fish, etc., have helped them survive. In any case, on this island Prospero is a simple human being without any authority as a Duke. Even the King of Naples, Alonso, and the usurper Duke of Milan, Antonio, cannot exercise any authority on this island. All of them are merely human beings on this island. As such, their particular qualities are seen more clearly for what they are, without the paraphernalia of royalty. Antonio’s and Sebastian’s evil come out more intensely, and in contrast Alonso’s lesser evil and possibility of redemption stand out. Because of this simple setting on a remote island far away from the courts of Milan and Naples—which is like the setting of pastoral plays and poems—the pattern of themes comes out more strikingly: for example, Art versus Nature, sin followed by expiation and repentance leading to reconciliation, steadfastness of genuine love, and so on. Because of distancing from the court life, these themes are presented more directly and clearly as in pastoral writings.
UNITY OF TIME AND PLACE IN THE TEMPEST
When the action of a play is limited to one day, it is described as unity of time; and when its events are limited to one place, it is described as unity of place. The term ‘the three unities’ refers to the unity of time, place and action. Shakespeare did not care much about these unities. However, in The Tempest, which was the last play he wrote entirely by himself, and in which he seems to say farewell to the theatre in Prospero’s words “I’ll break my staff [representing his pen], ... And ... I’ll drown my book [i.e. the prompt- book used in the production of a play], he does observe the unities of time and place.
The entire action of The Tempest is limited to just a few hours, and Shakespeare deliberately draws attention to this fact. In Act 1 scene 2 Prospero pointedly asks Ariel, “What is the time o’ th’ day?”, and goes on to specify that it is at least two hours past
midday. At the beginning of the last scene of the play he again asks Ariel, “How’s the day?”, and Ariel replies: “On the sixth hour”. So this play has unity of time.The Tempest also observes the unity of place as all the events take place on a small island. Miranda standing outside their cell can see the shipwreck. As Alonso and others search for Ferdinand on the island, they keep moving in a small area; Gonzalo remarks, “here’s a maze trod [i.e. walked]” that is, they have been walking over a limited area. Soon they all walk to Prospero’s dwelling.
However, Shakespeare does not care about the unity of action even in this play, and Caliban’s plotting to get Prospero murdered is in the nature of a subplot which has nothing to do with the action of the main plot—and the thematic link too is merely that it is almost a parody of the more serious plot of Antonio and Sebastian to kill Alonso and Gonzalo. (In the next unit we shall see that even Ben Jonson, who takes pride in having observed the “needful” rules “of time, place, persons” in the prologue to his play Votpone [lines 31-32], does not even mention the unity of action, as he has included in that play an extended subplot involving Sir Politic Would Be, which too has no link with the action of the main plot—thematically the foolish Sir Politic is a parody of the seemingly clever Volpone who ultimately proves foolish.)
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. What are the feelings of Ferdinand and Miranda when they meet?
Q2. How does Prospero feel about Ferdinand and Miranda?
Q3. Who is the King of Naples?

12.5      SUMMARY
This play has unity of time and action as the events enacted in the play are supposed to cover just a few hours of one day, and the entire action of the play is limited to a small island. This remote setting away from the courts and cities makes this play almost a pastoral play and helps in presenting the themes more directly and clearly, as in pastoral writings. Mistakes, sins or lapses of members of the older generation give rise to tragedylike elements. Much of these elements appear mainly in Prospero’s description to his daughter Miranda of what happened twelve years ago. However, within the play also there is a replay of evil as Antonio suggests to Sebastian that they should kill the king of Naples, Alonso, and the sincere courtier Gonzalo, so that Sebastian can become the king of Naples. In contrast with the older generation, the members of the younger generation are yet free from sin, and their deep love is presented in terms of a romantic comedy. The theme of punishment for the wrongs done and the theme of love run side by side, and together contribute to reconciliation and a happy ending for the play.

12.6      GLOSSARY

•  Reconcile- Settle, unite.

•  Suppose- Assume, presume.

•    Parody- Satire.

12.7     ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. He was his own king.
Ans 2. Romance with Realism
Ans 3. The two important contrasting symbols in the play are the tempest and the harmony represented by music.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Ferdinand is close to his father. Ferdinand falls in love with Miranda instantly and is willing to be father’s slave.
Ans 2. These grim thoughts are soon forgotten, however, when Ferdinand sees Miranda: the two fall in love on the spot. Prospero is secretely happy with the match, but, keen to test Ferdinand, accuses the prince of treachery and uses his magic to control him.
Ans 3. Alonso

12.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Hollander, John and Frank Kermode. Ed. “The Tempest.” In The Literature of Renaissance England. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. 444-509.

•  ---. The Oxford Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford UP, 1973.

•    Kermode, Frank. Ed. 1954. “William Shakespeare: The Tempest.” The Arden Shakespeare. London: Routledge, 1988.
Note- All references to this play in these units are to this edition.

•    Langbaum, Robert. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Signet Classic Shakespeare. New York: New American Library, 1964.
Note- It also includes some critical essays on the play, including Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy.”

•    Orgel, Stephen. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.

•    Palmer, D.J. Ed. Shakespeare: The Tempest- A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1968.

•  ---. Ed. Shakespeare’s Later Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on The Tempest; including S.T. Coleridge’s “This Almost Miraculous Play” and Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy”; also reprints some criticism on “The Setting of the Last Plays”, including Stanley Wells’s “Shakespeare and Romance”.

•    Righter, Ann (Ann Barton). Ed. The Tempest. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968.

12.9      TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Bring out the elements of a romantic comedy in The Tempest.

2.    In what ways does a dramatic romance differ from a romantic comedy? Explain with reference to The Tempest and Twelfth Night.
Unit-13 THE TEMPEST: CRITICAL ANALYSIS-1
Structure

13.1    Introduction

13.2    Learning Objectives

13.3    Critical Significance-I
Self Check Exercise-1

13.4    Critical Significance-II
Self Check Exercise-2

13.5    Summary

13.6    Glossary

13.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

13.8    References/Suggested Readings

13.9    Terminal Questions

13.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the earlier part of the play, analysing the pattern of themes, and bringing out the significant stages of action as revealed in this part of the play. The role of different characters is also examined in detail.

13.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate different aspects of the play more clearly in the context of the text of the play.

13.3    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IDRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OPENING SCENE
The play begins strikingly with thunder and lightning, to arrest the attention of the audience immediately. (In the Elizabethan theatres the sound of thunder was produced by rolling drums and the effect of lightning was created with metal sheets reflecting light. In the early seventeenth century theatres had machines to create such effects.) The stage could have been made to look like a ship with the help of ropes slanting over it whose upper ends were held in hand by a person in the cabin which used to be there above the gallery at the back of the stage; at the end of the scene he could let go of the ropes, which would give the effect of the ship disappearing. In any case, the tense dialogue and hurried movements of the Boatswain and sailors would make the audience aware that the stage represents the deck of a ship which is in danger of being wrecked in the storm. Thunder and lightning suggest that something very significant and disturbing is about to happen. The way the Master of the ship gives directions to the Boatswain (who gives directions to sailors who are under his control) and the urgency with which the Boatswain asks the sailors to perform specific tasks to save the ship somehow from being pushed on to land by the storm, make us feel that the ship is in real danger. When the King of Naples, Alonso, comes to the stage along with others, the Boatswain curtly tells them to keep to the cabins, as by moving on the deck they are obstructing the efforts to save the ship: “you do assist the storm”. The old
courtier Gonzalo tells him to “remember whom thou hast aboard”, and the Boatswain replies: “None that I love more than myself. His reply indicates that their lives are really in danger. The psychological realism of the utterances of different characters makes this shipwreck appear real, and it is a bit of surprise when we learn in the next scene that this storm and seeming shipwreck were effects of Prospero’s magic, carried out with the help of the lively spirit Ariel. The detailed directions given by the Boatswain to the sailors also happen to be technically correct for saving a ship in danger of being pushed aground in a storm, and these reinforce the realism of the scene.
Shakespeare’s opening scenes introduce most of the important characters directly or indirectly. Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian, who are to be punished for their wrongs done to Prospero and his daughter, are present on the stage. Alonso’s son Ferdinand, whose love for Miranda is to play a crucial role in reconciliation is also there on the stage. Another important character, Gonzalo, is also present. The most important character, Prospero, is not present personally, but this storm has been created by him. Ariel too is not visible on the stage, but as he explains in the next scene, all the effects of the storm are created by him under Prospero’s directions. (In the second scene of the play both Prospero and Ariel appear on the stage, as also the two remaining important characters, Miranda and Caliban.)
This storm is a turning point in the action of the play, as it marks the beginning of the punishment of the wrong-doers, and makes possible the rest of the action of the play. This scene introduces one of the key symbols and themes of the play: the tempest. (A recurring image or theme is also called a motif—in this word from German ‘i’ is pronounced like ‘ee’). The tempest evokes the upheaval which Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian had created in the socio-political sphere by displacing the rightful Duke of Milan, Prospero—harmony will be restored at the end of the play when Prospero regains his dukedom. The storm, which forms part of Prospero’s revenge, also symbolises the agitation in his mind, which comes out fully in his narration of past events to his daughter in the next scene, and this storm in his mind keeps resurfacing time and again, and is seen even when he forgives his brother in the last scene: “For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother/Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive/Thy rankest fault.
ACT 1 SCENE 2: THE EXPOSITION
The second scene of the play is quite long and mainly performs the function of exposition, that is, revealing the situation and circumstances which provide the context for the main action of the play. Towards the end of this scene, when Ferdinand and Miranda meet and fall in love at first sight, the other aspect of the plot begins which is largely like a romantic comedy.
MIRANDA AND PROSPERO
The second scene begins with Miranda asking her father Prospero whether he had caused that shipwreck with his magic, and expressing her anguish at the cries of people on board the ship who seemed to be drowning: “O, I have suffered/With those that I saw suffer!”. Her feelings reflect the “virtue of compassion”, as her
father Prospero notes, and make her a worthy successor for Prospero in the time to come.
Prospero assures her that with his ‘Art’ or magic he has so arranged things that no harm has happened to any of the persons on board that ship, and tells her that he has done everything “but in care of thee”. He asks her to help him take off his “magic garment” and then goes on to describe to her what had happened to the two of them twelve years ago when she was hardly three years old.
The theme of the fortunate fall: When Prospero tells her that twelve years ago he was the Duke of Milan and she “his only heir/And princess, she asks him: “What foul play had we, that we came from thence? / Or blessed was’t that we did?” Prospero replies, “Both, both, my girl.” He describes in detail the evil done to him and Miranda by his brother Antonio and his enemy Alonso. However, through suffering he has become wiser: not only has he learnt how he himself is to govern properly, we also see him rising to a higher level of wisdom where he can befriend his enemy and forgive his unrepentant brother. Thus his being pushed out of Milan has been a kind of blessing in disguise as it has made him a better ruler and a better human being.
Miranda, who is learning for the first time about the terrible events of twelve years ago, would naturally be attentive, but during the narration Prospero keeps telling her, “be attentive”, “I pray thee, mark me” , “Dost thou hear?”, which shows that his own mind is agitated as he relives the harm done to him and Miranda twelve years ago.
In his narration Prospero keeps blaming his brother, but unawares he also reveals his own mistake of neglecting his duties as a duke and letting his brother run the administration in his place. It was a tragic error of judgement which brought suffering to him and his daughter. However, Prospero describes even his failing as a positive quality, and this weakness or blindness in him makes him convincing as a human being in spite of magic powers. Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed In dignity, and for the liberal Arts without a parallel; those being all my study, The government I cast upon my brother, and to my state grew stranger, “Thy false uncle having both the key/Of officer and office, set all hearts i’ th’ state/To what tune pleased his ear   I, thus neglecting worldly ends, ... in my false brother/Awak’d an evil nature; his ambition growing, ... he needs will be/absolute Milan”. In order to become the duke of Milan in name also, his brother conspired with Prospero’s enemy King of Naples (Alonso) that in return for annual tribute and subordination of Milan to Naples, he should presently extirpate me and mine Out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan, with all the honours, on my brother: whereon, a treacherous army levied, one midnight Fated to th’ purpose, did Antonio open the gates of Milan; and i’ th’ dead of darkness, the ministers for th’ purpose [i.e. the persons assigned this job] hurried thence Me and thy crying self.
Prospero implies that fate combined with his own weakness to bring suffering on him and Miranda. A little later he tells her that “By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune/... hath mine enemies/Brought to this shore”, and he can rise to the zenith (or the highest point of his life) with the help of “A most auspicious star”, only if he makes the effort. So the idea of a combination of human effort and destiny is put forth. Twelve year ago he suffered because he neglected his own duties as a duke,
and adverse fate combined with that weakness. Now even though Fate has provided him a favourable opportunity, he can regain his dukedom and move on to reconciliation with his enemy King of Naples, Alonso, only if he acts firmly with a clear vision. The seeming shipwreck was the first step, and the second step begins later in the scene when Alonso’s son Ferdinand and Miranda meet and fall in love.
Prospero describes how he and Miranda were carried many miles into the sea and there left in a small rotten boat without any oar or sail to move it in any direction:
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark, bore us some leagues to sea [a league is roughly three miles]; where they prepared a rotten carcass of a butt [i.e. a damaged tiny tub-like boat], not rigg’d, nor tackle, sail, nor mast; ... there they hoist us, to cry to th’ sea that roar’d to us; to sigh to th’ winds, whose pity, sighing back again, did us but loving wrong.
As Prospero contrasts the inhumanity of his bother Antonio and of his enemy King of Naples with the seeming sympathy of the rising sea waves and the cold winds, the tone of language changes, to prepare us for the transition from realistic evil to the amazing world of romance, where “Providence divine” takes them ashore to safety on a lonely island where magic and supernatural spirits seem probable.
Prospero also tells her how a noble person from Naples, Gonzalo, who was assigned this painful duty of abandoning them at sea, exercised his natural human feelings where there was no specific order, and provided them with “Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries”, and “furnish’d me/From mine own library with volumes that/I prize above my dukedom”. After that he makes Miranda fall asleep, to exercise his magic to call the spirit Ariel there.
PROSPERO AND ARIEL
Ariel enters with cheerful eagerness to carry out whatever orders his “great master” may give; and in view of this enthusiasm of Ariel, Prospero’s harsh words to him a little later appear to be highly unjust and cruel. In reply to Prospero’s question, Ariel vividly describes the effects of storm that he had created. This excited narration recreates a powerful image of the storm which was earlier presented through the sailors’ and passengers’ anxious utterances in the opening scene. The excited joy of Ariel at his achievement in appearing like fire in different parts of the ship carries us along and we accept him as a real being without thinking about the impossibility of what he describes: “sometime I’d divide / And burn in many places”. This takes the play into the world of romance where supernatural beings and magic seem possible. Ariel’s graphic description of the state of mind of the leading characters as they jumped out of the ship, adds to psychological realism of this part of the play. He also gives other details relevant to the action of the play: no one has been injured (“Not a hair perish’d”), and their clothes look fresher than before: “In troops I have dispers’d them ’bout the isle./The King’s son [Ferdinand] have I landed by himself; “Safely in harbour / Is the king’s ship”, hidden in a corner.
Then Prospero asks Ariel, “What is the time o’ th’ day?”, which is essentially to bring it to the notice of the audience that the play observes the unity of time, as the entire action of the play covers the events of just a few hours. When Ariel replies
that it is “Past the mid season,” Prospero makes it more specific as 2 pm by remarking that it is past midday by “At least two glasses [i.e. hours, with reference to the hourglass, earlier used to measure time]”
When Prospero tells Ariel, who has just performed a difficult task quite skilfully, “The time ‘twixt six and now / Must by us both be spent preciously”, Ariel just asks, “Is there more toil [i.e. hard work]?” and reminds Prospero of his promise which has yet not been fulfilled: “My liberty”. This makes Prospero so angry that he calls Ariel a “malignant thing—Prospero’s unjustified harshness here makes him look like a tyrant. Probably the memory of how his laxity was misused by his brother twelve years ago is making him overreact.
Prospero’s weakness is again seen in his prejudiced description of Caliban’s mother Sycorax, where he claims moral superiority over her. His own statements show the distortion of his attitude. He says to Ariel, “Thou, my slave, ... was then her servant”, as if in making Ariel his slave Prospero has done him a favour, while Sycorax is presented as evil in having made Ariel only her servant. Further, Prospero says that Sycorax had with her magic imprisoned Ariel in a pine tree in a fit of anger because he had refused to carry out some of her orders), but she could not then undo that punishment later because her magic was not as strong as that of Prospero. He released Ariel from that pain but now threatens him that if he even murmurs, he (Prospero) will, with full control over his feelings, “rend an oak,/And peg thee in his knotty entrails” for twelve years to cause him far greater pain than that imposed by Sycorax. And still Prospero claims that he is far nobler and kinder than her. This unnecessary anger in him makes him a convincing human being, and so his account of magic powers is easily accepted.
As Ariel begs his pardon, Prospero asks him to make himself “like a nymph o’ th’ sea”: “Be subject to / No sight but thine and mine; invisible/To every eyeball else. Later Ariel appears in the guise of a nymph and is supposedly invisible as the actors playing the other characters act as if they do not see him. This is again an element appropriate in romances, which becomes believable because of psychological realism in the emotion-charged utterances of Ariel and Prospero.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. According to Prospero, why do he and Miranda need Caliban?
Q2. According to Caliban, what has he gained by learning the language of the Europeans, Prospero and Miranda?
Q3. Does music have any effect on Caliban? What does that indicate about possibility of change in his nature?

13.4    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IIPROSPERO, MIRANDA AND CALIBAN
As Ariel exits, Prospero wakes up Miranda and says: “We’ll visit Caliban my slave, who never/Yields us kind answer; in actual fact we find that Caliban is usually rude only in reply to Prospero’s own rudeness to him. Miranda says about Caliban, “Tis a villain, sir,/I do not love to look on”, because, as we learn a little later from Prospero’s words, Caliban had tried to violate her honour. Still Prospero insists that
they need this Caliban’s services for doing hard physical labour for them so that they themselves can remain more comfortable: “But, as ’tis,/We cannot miss him [i.e. manage without him]: he does make our fire,/Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices / That profit us”.
The name Caliban could have been coined as an anagram of the word ‘cannibal’. (In an anagram the letters of a word are rearranged to make a different word, usually to indicate some link of the word so formed with the original word, for example, the poet George Hebert forms the word ‘Army’ as an anagram of ‘Mary’ [Christ’s mother] to equate Virgin Mary with the strength of an army.) It has also been suggested that this name Caliban is probably adapted from the Romany word ‘cauliban’ to indicate dark complexion. (Romany is the language of Roma people or gypsies who do not have a fixed home but move from place to place, doing odd jobs—they are said to have migrated to different parts of Europe from northwest India long ago.)
He calls Caliban “Thou earth” in annoyance at his sluggish nature, in contrast with Ariel’s lively and swift manner which is like air. Caliban replies from within, where he is resting, “There’s wood enough within.” At this Prospero impatiently teils him, “there’s other business for thee; / Come, thou tortoise!”, and then becomes abusive, describing Caliban as a son of the devil. Yet Prospero takes pride in being civilised. The abusive remark of Prospero makes Caliban curse him, to which Prospero responds with threats of physical pain to be carried out by supernatural beings at his orders. At this point Caliban’s long speech brings out the theme of colonialism.
Caliban says, “I must eat my dinner”, that is, he is entitled to a decent living and should be able to have his food in peace—all the more so because before the arrival of Prospero and Miranda on this island he was the “King” of the island but now has been reduced to being a slave who is not allowed even to have his meals in peace: “This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother, / Which thou tak’st from me”. Caliban goes on to describe how he was happy at the arrival of Prospero and Miranda who taught him their language, and how out of love for them he showed them all the beneficial and unpleasant things of the island. This information and help provided by Caliban made their stay here comfortable, but in return he has been imprisoned in a hard rock.
PROSPERO, MIRANDA AND FERDINAND: THE SECOND ASPECT OF THE ACTION BEGINS, WHICH IS LIKE A ROMANTIC COMEDY
As Caliban leaves, “invisible” Ariel enters, playing on a musical instrument and singing a song which talks of spirits kissing the stormy sea waves to make them calm and then joining in an elegant dance on the sandy shore. Ferdinand follows, fascinated by that music and song, and describes how this invisible musicsoothed his grief-stricken heart and has almost drawn him here:
Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the King my father’s wrack [i.e. his death in shipwreck],
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion [i.e. sorrow] With its sweet air
[i.e. tune]: thence I have follow’d it, Or it hath drawn me rather.
Just then Ariel starts singing another song which makes Ferdinand think of his father’s death at sea and which talks of transformation after death into something precious—suggesting the transformation of life into something rich and lasting in a work of art or literature:
Full fadom five thy father lies [a fathom is equal to about six feet]/
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and strange.
The song also indicates sympathy of nature for human beings even in death: “Seanymphs hourly ring his knell [the bell rung on the death of someone]”
All the delightful songs and music in the play come from Ariel, who becomes a very effective instrument for taking the play towards reconciliation. His songs also have a feeling of the ethereal, or the heavenly, in their rhythm as well as in their meaning; and thus they strengthen the feeling of our having been transported to the world of romance which is joyful yet distant from everyday reality—where ultimately all will be well.
Ferdinand cannot see Ariel (who is supposedly invisible), and thinks that this soothing unearthly music “waits upon/Some god ’o th’ island” and a little later when he sees Miranda, he is convinced that she is “Most sure the goddess/On whom these airs [i.e. tunes of music and songs] attend”.
At the other end of the stage Prospero, using elaborately poetic language, asks Miranda to look up and say what she sees. Miranda has not seen any human being on the island other than themselves and Caliban since their arrival here twelve years ago, but she has seen spirits assuming different fortes; so she takes Ferdinand to be a spirit, which amuses the audience: “It carries a brave [i.e. handsome] form. But ’tis a spirit”. When Prospero tells her that he is a human being who was in the ‘shipwreck’, “but [i.e. except that] he’s something stain’d/With grief... thou mightst call him/A goodly [i.e. good-looking] person,” Miranda says: “I might call him/A thing divine; for nothing natural/I ever saw so noble [i.e. noble in temperament]”.Prospero is happy at this reaction of Miranda, which indicates that she has almost fallen in live with this stranger at first sight, and in an ‘Aside’ he expresses his feelings and praises Ariel’s role in thus bringing Ferdinand and Miranda together: “It goes on, I see, / As my soul prompts it. Spirit, fine spirit! I’ll free thee/Within two days for this” Ferdinand’s falling in love with her at first sight (as in romantic comedies) is indicated by his immediately asking her whether she is still unmarried: “my prime request ... is, O you wonder! / If you be maid or no?” She replies with modesty and dignity: “No wonder, sir;/But certainly a maid”. The name Miranda in fact means wonderful, though Ferdinand does not yet know her name.
Ferdinand is pleasantly surprised that on this far-off island she is speaking the language of his land, and says, “I am the best of them that speak this speech”, because he assumes that his father is drowned in the recent ‘shipwreck’ and that he himself is now the King of Naples. However, Prospero knows that Ferdinand’s
father Alonso is alive and safe on this island, so he can accuse Ferdinand of making a false claim; when Ferdinand says “myself am Naples [i.e. King of Naples]”, Prospero says to him sternly: “A word, good sir;/I fear you have done yourself some wrong”. Miranda is upset at this apparent harshness of her father towards Ferdinand, and observes: Why speaks my father so urgently [i.e. roughly]? This Is the third man that e’er I saw; the first that e’er I sighed for: pity move my father To be inclin’d my way! Ferdinand immediately proposes to her: “O, if a virgin,/And your affection not gone forth, I’ll make you/The queen of Naples”.
It may be noted here that though Prospero controls much of the action of the play, and though he wanted Miranda and Ferdinand to fall in love, he does not control their emotions, and their falling in love is purely a matter of their own feelings—-here we see a parallel of fate being favourable or unfavourable but working in combination with human beings’ freedom of action. Also, because Prospero plans and controls the action of the play (like the playwright), the elements of romantic comedy become more amusing for the spectators or readers who know what Prospero’s plan is, while Ferdinand and Miranda are unaware of this.
When Prospero sees that they have fallen in love, he creates an obstacle to test their love, so that they may value their marriage because of the difficulties faced. In an ‘aside’ he says:
They are both in either’s powers: but this swift business I must uneasy make, lest too light winning
Make the prize light [i.e. valued lightly],
In comedies centred on the theme of love, often an ill-tempered or hostile parent creates obstacles. In this case Prospero himself plays that role, even as their falling in love is what he himself has planned and managed with the help of Ariel.
Playing the role of a hostile parent, Prospero says to Ferdinand: “thou dost usurp/The name thou ow’st not; and has put thyself/Upon this island as a spy, to win it/From me”. Though Ferdinand is wrong in saying that he is King of Naples, he actually does not know that his father is still alive. However, in using the word ’usurp’ Prospero touches upon a theme which is reiterated a number of times in the play—his brother Antonio usurped the dukedom of Milan, and according to Caliban this island was usurped by Prospero. The readers are also amused at the false allegation that Ferdinand wants to take away Prospero’s island when he is planning to make him the future duke of Milan as well, through marriage to his daughter.
As Prospero tells Ferdinand that he will chain his “neck and feet together”, and give him only “Sea- water” to drink and the least nourishing food to eat. Ferdinand draws his sword to resist being made a prisoner. His courage shows him as a worthy lifecompanion for Miranda. Prospero exercises his magic so that. Ferdinand cannot move his sword. As Miranda repeatedly justifies Ferdinand as morally good and noble, Prospero angrily says to her: “What! I say,/My foot my tutor?” Even as pretended anger, these words are extremely harsh from a father to a daughter, more so from an otherwise quite wise father such as Prospero to a daughter like Miranda. This unjustified remark makes Prospero appear like a tyrant. Maybe the bitterness in his mind because of having trusted his younger brother is now making him at times unnecessarily harsh even to Miranda and Ariel.
When Ferdinand finds that he cannot move his arms, he submits, but adds that all losses and suffering “are but light to me,/Might I but through my prison once a day/Behold this maid”. Miranda assures him that her father is “of a better nature ... /Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted [i.e. unusual]/Which now came from him”. This affirmation of love in the manner of romantic comedy makes the play cheerful right in the beginning. However, Prospero’s blessings to the young couple are expressed only in Act 4, and the final reconciliation of Prospero and Alonso and reunion of Alonso and Ferdinand take place in Act 5.
GONZALO’S DESCRIPTION OF THE UTOPIAN COMMONWEALTH, AND THE IDEA OF THE NOBLE SAVAGE
In Act 2 scene 1 the “honest old Counsellor” Gonzalo tries to console Alonso, King of Naples, who is disturbed at the thought that his son Ferdinand, whom they have been unable to find on the island, might have been drowned in the shipwreck. However, Gonzalo’s way of talking is so elaborate, and his attempt to console a grieving father is so abstractly philosophical that it all becomes rather awkward— He says to Alonso that it is quite common for parents to lose young children, but for anyone to survive a shipwreck is a miracle, and that Alonso should balance the grief at the son’s probable death with relief at their having survived: “wisely, good sir, weigh/Our sorrow with our comfort. Then Gonzalo and another lord, Adrian, go on to describe in a long-drawn way the temperate climate and greenery of the island, the freshness of their clothes in spite of having been soaked in the salty sea water (when they had jumped from the ship), and the matchless beauty of Alonso’s daughter Claribel who is now Queen of Tunis, from whose marriage at Tunis they were returning when their ship got wrecked. Antonio and Sebastian keep making fun of Gonzalo and Adrian—The poet and critic S.T. Coleridge notes that their irresponsible way of making fun of others reflects their basically evil nature.
INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON THOSE WHO ARE NOT EVIL
Gonzalo goes on to describe the view that civilization with its different trades and right to property, etc., has made human life worse than it probably was before the advent of civilisation. This view is also referred to as praise of “the noble savage”, as it considers civilisation to be a corrupting influence. Gonzalo’s account is based on the sixteenth-century French writer Montaigne’s essay ‘Of the Cannibals’, whose English translation by John Florio was published in 1603. Gonzalo says that if he had full authority to colonise this island as a King here, he would run everything “by contraries” to what is usual: He would not allow any kind of trade or occupation, not even farming or developing of orchards; there would be no education or personal property, and no weapons or magistrates to judge disputes as there would be no cause left for any conventional dispute.
SUDDEN UPSURGE OF FRESH EVIL IN ANTONIO, WHICH INFECTS SEBASTIAN WHO ALSO IS PRONE TO EVIL
The suddenness with which this evil thought rises, indicates how evil nature raises its head the moment it gets an opportunity. Antonio’s agitated and disjointed
manner of speaking at this point shows that evil is a disturbance like a storm in the mind. Sebastian points out how Antonio’s eyes and cheeks too indicate that some disturbing thought is causing him great pain as it is struggling to come out of his mind in the form of words. As Antonio tells Sebastian that he can easily displace his brother from the throne of Naples, Sebastian mentions that it would be similar to the way Antonio “did supplant” his brother, and then asks him: “But for your conscience?” Antonio’s answer is disturbing, as it indicates that there is no hope of grace for such a man who has deliberately chosen evil: “but I feel not/This deity [i.e. element of the divine] in my bosom.” He offers to change Alonso’s sleep to death “with this obedient steel, three inches of it”, and asks Sebastian to do the same to Gonzalo, as he is the only person who would criticize the murder of the king and usurpation of his throne, while others will only be eager to please the new king.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. What effect does Ariel’s music have on the waves of the sea and on Ferdinand’s grief?
Q2. What does Miranda take Ferdinand to be when she first sees him?
Q3. Does Prospero control the feelings of Miranda and Ferdinand?

13.5    SUMMARY
With the help of psychological realism in the urgency and desperateness in the reactions of different characters, the opening scene convincingly presents a ship caught in a storm and about to be destroyed. In the long second scene comes much of the exposition (that is, revealing of the facts relevant to the present action), in Prospero’s successive dialogues with Miranda and Ariel, and his and Miranda’s conversation with Caliban. These segments also reveal the virtue of compassion in Miranda, the cheerful swiftness of Ariel in carrying out Prospero’s orders, Caliban’s slowness and also his resentment against Prospero, and some negative traits of Prospero himself which make him convincingly human in spite of his “Art” or magic—his unjust harshness towards Ariel and Miranda, and his mistake in ignoring his duties as a duke to administer his dukedom himself and assigning this task to his brother, which enabled him to depose Prospero and expose him and his three year old daughter Miranda to almost sure death at sea twelve years ago. In the beginning of this scene Prospero mentions that fate had brought his enemies near the island, but he himself has to act to turn the events in his favour. He tells his daughter that he had created the effect of the storm and seeming shipwreck to punish his enemies, who are however all safe. Towards the end of this long scene Ferdinand meets Miranda, and as they fall in love at first sight, exactly as Prospero had desired, Prospero pretends to be angry and imposes punishment on Ferdinand—so that the difficulties faced in love may make him and Miranda value their love.
In the first scene of Act 2 Gonzalo presents an idealized view of human life before the advent of civilization. Then, as others, who are not completely evil, fall asleep under the influence of Ariel’s music, Antonio and Sebastian plan to kill Alonso and Gonzalo so that Sebastian may safely become the King of Naples and in return free
Milan from the requirement of having to pay tribute to Naples. However, just then Ariel arrives under instruction from Prospero, to wake the sleeping persons, because otherwise the plan for reconciliation will fail.

13.6    GLOSSARY

•    Motif-       (From German language, pronounced as ‘mo-teef) A recurring
theme, idea, etc., in a work, or a recurrent figure, form or image in a design, etc.

•    Leitmotif-    (Pronounced as light-mo-teef) Leading motif or theme
associated throughout a music drama with a particular person, situation, etc.

13.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. For doing hard physical labour for them so that they themselves can remain more comfortable.
Ans 2. He knows how to curse.
Ans 3. Yes, music delights him. This shows that there is possibility of his becoming a better person.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Ariel’s music makes the stormy waves calm, and soothes Ferdinand’s grief.
Ans 2. A spirit
Ans 3. Yes

13.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Hollander, John and Frank Kermode. Ed. “The Tempest.” In The Literature of Renaissance England. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. 444-509.

•  ---. The Oxford Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford UP,
1973.

•    Kermode, Frank. Ed. 1954. “William Shakespeare: The Tempest.” The Arden Shakespeare. London: Routledge, 1988.
Note- All references to this play in these units are to this edition.

•    Langbaum, Robert. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Signet Classic Shakespeare. New York: New American Library, 1964.
Note- It also includes some critical essays on the play, including Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy.”

•    Orgel, Stephen. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.

•  Palmer, D.J. Ed. Shakespeare: The Tempest- A Casebook. London:
Macmillan, 1968.

•  ---. Ed. Shakespeare’s Later Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on The Tempest; including S.T. Coleridge’s “This Almost Miraculous Play” and Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy”; also reprints some criticism on “The Setting of the Last Plays”, including Stanley Wells’s “Shakespeare and Romance”.

•    Righter, Ann (Ann Barton). Ed. The Tempest. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968.

13.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the dramatic significance of the opening scene of The Tempest.

2.    Comment on the relationship of fate and human effort in The Tempest.
Unit-14 THE TEMPEST: CRITICAL ANALYSIS-II
Structure

14.1    Introduction

14.2    Learning Objectives

14.3    Critical Significance-III
Self Check Exercise-1

14.4    Critical Significance-IV
Self Check Exercise-2

14.5    Summary

14.6    Glossary

14.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

14.8    References/Suggested Readings

14.9    Terminal Questions

14.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the remaining part of the play, analysing the pattern of themes, and bringing out the significant developments as the action of the play moves towards the conclusion.

14.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate the attitudes of different characters in the context of the pattern of themes in the play. Some of the characters undergo change and grow in awareness and maturity, while others do not.

14.3    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IIITHE COMIC SUBPLOT
This scene, set in another part of the island, begins with “A noise of thunder” and marks the beginning of a comic attempt to subvert the set-up of the island as Caliban becomes the adoring subject of the drunken butler Stephano, and in a later scene plots the murder of Prospero in a sort of comic parody of Antonio and Sebastian’s plan to kill Alonso in the main plot.
At the beginning of this scene Caliban enters “with a burthen of wood”, invoking all the infections to fall upon Prospero and make him diseased inch by inch. He is aware that invisible spirits controlled by Prospero’s magic hear him and can report about it to him, and that Prospero would then impose physical pains on him as punishment, “And yet I needs must curse” to give an outlet to his bitterness at Prospero’s harsh treatment. However, he knows that these spirits will not hurt him on their own, but only when Prospero so directs them. Just then he notices the clown Trinculo coming towards him. Since he too has not seen any other human being on the island since the arrival of Prospero and Miranda twelve years ago, he takes Trinculo to be a spirit sent by Prospero to “torment” him for being slow in bringing wood (just as Miranda takes Ferdinand to be a spirit). He decides to “fall flat”, thinking that then this ’spirit’ will probably not notice him.
Trinculo too has landed on the shore alone and thinks that all other passengers on
board the ship have died, and so feels frightened on hearing the voice of the butler Stephano a little later. When the drunk butler Stephano enters, he too is frightened when he hears Trinculo mention his name, because he also thinks that he alone has survived the ‘shipwreck’. Their misplaced fear contributes to humour which keeps the play light hearted, so that even their evil plan to kill Prospero seems unlikely to succeed—partly also because Ariel is there to frustrate them and warn Prospero.
As Trinculo enters, he looks around for shelter as “another storm [is] brewing” and rain seems likely to begin soon. Then he notices Caliban who “smells like a fish”. As a typical man from the “civilised” world, he thinks of the amount of money he could make by displaying this strange creature in England: “there would this monster make a man [that is, make one rich]’’. However, as there is thunder again, he decides to take shelter “under his [Caliban’s] gaberdine [i.e. cloak or long, loose coat]”; he thinks that this islander has “lately suffered by a thunderbolt”: so he remarks: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows”.
Just then Stephano enters carrying a bottle in his hand and singing. On hearing his voice, Trinculo begins to tremble. Caliban, who takes him to be a spirit, thinks this spirit is getting ready to torment him, and says to him: “Do not torment me:—O!”. The sound makes Stephano look towards him, and he thinks “This is some monster of the isle with four legs, who hath got ... an ague [i.e. fever]. Where the devil should he learn our language?” He decides to give him some liquor to help him recover and to give him some strength so that he may be able to speak more clearly. However, Stephano’s first thought is how he can make a lot of money by taking him to Naples and offering him as a present to an emperor. Antonio, Sebastian, Trinculo, Stephano, ail are thinking of what they will gain on reaching Naples with the help of what they do on this island—each one is convinced that he will reach Naples safely. The setting of the action on a remote small island brings out their natures more clearly and starkly, almost as in pastoral drama and poetry. As Stephano pours liquor in Caliban’s mouth, Trinculo speaks: “I should know [i.e. recognize] that voice ... but he [Stephano] is drowned; and these are devils”. Stephano thinks that this monster has two mouths and decides to pour some wine into the second mouth. Then Trinculo, beginning to realise that it is probably Stephano himself, calls him by his name: “Stephano!” Now Stephano is frightened and thinks, “This is a devil, and no monster,” because he cannot imagine this strange creature could know his name. As Trinculo assures him that he is his “good friend Trinculo”, there is a happy reunion and Trinculo spins him round in excitement.
Caliban is impressed by their way of dealing with him and with each another, especially by their carefree cheerfulness (in contrast with Prospero’s stern orders), and observes in an “Aside”.
CONTINUATION OF THE ROMANTIC COMEDY
The three scenes of Act 3 relate to the three strands of the action of the play. In Scene 3 we see another stage in the penance of the wrongdoers, who are specifically told by invisible Ariel that they are being punished for the wrongs they
had done to Prospero and his daughter. Scene 2 continues the subplot, and in Scene 1 the way of reconciliation is further strengthened as members of the younger generation, Ferdinand and Miranda, remain unshaken in spite of the punishment arbitrarily imposed on Ferdinand. The moral strength of the younger generation holds promise of a more harmonious future in contrast with the tempestlike upheavals in the past involving members of the older generation as well as their present anguish and mental agitation.
Scene 1 is entirely in the nature of a romantic comedy, and shows the deepening of the mutual love of Ferdinand and Miranda, which pleases Prospero. (At places you will notice echoes of conversation between Cesario-Viola and Olivia in Twelfth Night.)
THE SUBPLOT DEVELOPS
This scene shows some prejudice of colonialism in the portrayal of Caliban as being servile and slavish by nature; he says to Stephano, “Let me lick thy shoe” and then goes on to complain about Prospero: “I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island” a sorcerer is a magician, especially one who is supposed to practise magic with the help of the devil— Prospero describes Caliban’s mother in this way). The colonial prejudice is seen in that while Caliban wants to get Prospero murdered, it is not to get back his island but only to make Stephano the new master of the island and himself become the servant of this new master. Unlike Ariel, he does not seek freedom. At the end of the play, he gets freedom as well as ownership of the island only because Prospero leaves, to take control of his dukedom of Milan.
Invisible Ariel has entered in the meanwhile, and from time to time says “Thou liest”, which gives rise to some humour as Caliban and Stephano think that Trinculo is saying this, and offended Stephano beats him.
Caliban goes on to tell Stephano that “’tis a custom with him [Prospero] /1’ the’ afternoon to sleep” and then he can be easily killed. He warns Stephano to first seize Prospero s books of magic.
PUNISHMENT FOR THE WRONGS DONE
In the last scene of Act 3, Alonso, his brother Sebastian, Prospero’s brother Antonio, Gonzalo and others enter. Gonzalo is so tired he “can go no further,” and Alonso gives up hope of finding his son Ferdinand alive: “he is drown’d/Whom thus we stray to find”. Their exhaustion makes Antonio and Sebastian think that soon they will get a chance to kill Alonso and Gonzalo in sleep.
Just then there is “Strange and solemn music”, which indicates the beginning of some serious matter. Prospero appears in the gallery at the back of the stage, overseeing everything as the punishment of the wrong doers proceeds according to his plan. He is wearing a gown which is supposed to make him invisible: the characters on the main stage do not see him.
“Enter several strange Shapes, bringing in a banquet [i.e. a feast]; and dance about it [i.e. around it] with gentle actions of salutations [i.e. greetings]; and inviting the King, &c., to eat, they depart.” The first reaction of Alonso, Sebastian and Antonio—
who have been guilty—is that of fear and surprise, while the kind hearted Gonzalo is impressed by the politeness of these strange appearances (assumed by spirits under Ariel’s control), and says: “note,/Their manners are more gentle, kind, than of / Our human generation you shall find/Many, nay almost any”. Emphasising one aspect of the theme of the play, Prospero remarks in an “Aside”: “Honest lord,/Thou hast said well; for some of you here present/Are worse than devils”.
As Alonso remarks that the gestures of these strange figures constitute “a kind/of excellent dumb discourse,” Prospero says in an ‘aside’, “Praise in departing” because this apparent feast is to be part of their torment.
When Alonso says he will eat the food placed before them, “Although my last, no matter”, and asks Sebastian and Antonio also to eat, there is “Thunder and lightning” indicating great disturbance and symbolizing both the evil done by them in the past and the disturbance of their minds in the immediate future, which shall be a punishment for their past evil deeds before they are forgiven. Alonso thinks that the waves of the sea, the winds and the thunder “pronounc’d/The name of Prosper: it did bass my trespass./Therefore my son i’ th’ ooze [i.e. soft mud at the bottom of the sea] is bedded,” and in despair at this terrible consequence of his sins against Prospero and his daughter, he says he will jump into the sea to be with his son. Sebastian and Antonio think they are being tormented by devils, and palefaced they leave the stage, saying that if the devils come one by one they can fight their whole armies. Their guilt, brought up to their conscious mind, has now become a punishment for them.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1.      Three      important      themes      of      The      Tempest
are.......................................................................
Q2. Why the play is called The Tempest?
Q3. “Let me lick thy shoe.” This line shows some prejudice of.........................................in the portrayal of Caliban as being servile and slavish
by nature.

14.4    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IVROMANTIC LOVE BLESSED WITH EMPHASIS ON RESTRAINT
As Act 4 opens, we find that Prospero has already given his blessings to the young couple. He says to Ferdinand that in giving him his daughter’s hand in marriage “I/Have given you here a third of mine own life,/Or that for which I live,” and tells him that the “vexations” or troubles imposed on him “Were but my trials of thy love, and thou/Hast strangely [i.e. wonderfully] stood the test [i.e. passed the test]”. However, even as Prospero says to Ferdinand, “as my gift, and thine own acquisition/Worthily purchased, take my daughter”, he directs him to observe restraint before marriage, and warns him that otherwise their marriage will become bitter with “barren hate,/Sour-ey’d disdain and discord” and result in even their children being unhappy and bitter.
Restraint makes for harmony, while lack of restraint in any manner leads to tempest-like disturbance—whether it is in the context of marriage as mentioned by
Prospero here, or Prospero’s own unrestrained pursuit of his studies to the extent of neglecting his duties as a duke, which led to his brother Antonio deposing him and exposing him and his daughter to likely death at sea. The same lack of restraint had led to Caliban’s unforgivable attempt to molest Miranda. Lack of restraint is also seen in the sudden upsurge of evil in Antonio’s mind which then infects Sebastian as well when they decide to kill Alonso and Gonzalo.
CELEBRATION WITH A MASQUE: UNREALITY OF THE WORLD
Prospero asks Ariel to bring the lesser spirits “O’er whom I gave the Power for I must/Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple/Some vanity of mine Art”. These spirits present a masque which has been written and planned by Prospero; in describing it as a “vanity” of his Art, Prospero is being modest. A vanity would be something insignificant though impressive in appearance.
Masques were a refined courtly form of entertainment during the Renaissance. Unlike plays, masques were performed only once, on some special occasion such as engagement, as here, or marriage, etc. The participants were usually members of aristocracy, and could be some members of the host family and some of the guests. There was sometimes a professional actor also in a masque. The participants wore masks to indicate the roles they were playing. A masque had a thin story line which mainly served the purpose of linking together a number of elaborate songs and dances. Ben Jonson, whose play Volpone is in your course, wrote a number of masques.
Prospero asks Ferdinand not to speak while the spirits perform this entertainment, because otherwise the effect of magic would be disrupted: “No tongue! all eyes! be silent”. In a theatre also if the spectators keep talking, it interferes with the impact of the play as a work of art.
THE SUBPLOT: THE PLAN OF MURDER COMICALLY FOILED
Ariel reports to Prospero that Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo, “red-hot with drinking”, comically “full of valour”, were “yet always bending/Towards their project” to kill Prospero; so he charmed them with his music and led them through thorny bushes into a stinking pool near Prospero’s cell—Ariel used his own judgement to punish these comic plotters, but that punishment too fits in with the over- all thematic pattern of the play, which involves punishment for the wrongs done or plotted before the wrongdoers and plotters are forgiven. Prospero instructs Ariel to bring from the house “trumpery”, that is, showy but worthless clothes, and put them on the line outside the house to distract them, and observes about Caliban:
A devil, a born devil, on whose nature Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains, Humanely taken, all, all lost, quite lost.
While Caliban advises his companions to enter Prospero’s cell quietly, they are tempted by the fine- looking clothes and start stealing them. Caliban’s impatient remark, “Let it alone, thou fool, it is but trash”, shows that this “natural” man can see things in perspective, unlike Trinculo and Stephano from the ‘civilised’ world who are concerned only with money, material things and appearances. At Prospero’s command all three plotters are hunted by spirits in the form of dogs, as
a punishment in accordance with their level of awareness.
THE MAIN PLOT MOVES TO RESOLUTION
At the beginning of the last Act Prospero enters “in his magic robes”, and expresses satisfaction that - his “project” of reconciliation after making his enemies suffer and realize their mistake is working as planned, and there is not much work left. Then he specifically asks Ariel the time, in order to draw attention of the spectators and readers to the fact that the entire action of the play covers just a few hours, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. In reply to another question of Prospero, Ariel informs him that because of the effect of his (Prospero’s) magic the King (Alonso) and his followers are “all prisoners” in a grove of lime trees near his cell;
They cannot budge [i.e. move] till your release. The King,
His brother, and yours, abide [i.e. remain] all three distracted [i.e. not quite in their senses], And the remainder mourning over them ...
Your charm [i.e. magic] so strongly works [i.e. agitates] ’em, That if you now be held them, your affections [i.e. feelings].
THE EPILOGUE
The Epilogue spoken by the actor playing Prospero is in many ways like the epilogue in Ben Jenson’s play Volpone which was first performed some six years before The Tempest. In this Epilogue Prospero refers to different things in the play and asks for applause if the audience have liked the play. This enhances the comedy-like spirit of a large part of the play. He describes the stage as “this bare island” and says that if they do not applaud, “my project fails,/Which was to please”
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. What is the main message of the The Tempest?
Q2. “O’er whom I gave the Power for I must/Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple/Some vanity of mine Art”. Who said these words and to whom?
Q3. What is a masque?

14.5    SUMMARY
Caliban meets the clown Trinculo and the drunken butler Stephano who pours wine into his mouth; he is impressed by their carefree manner and takes Stephano to be “a brave god” who “bears celestial liquor”; he eagerly becomes his willing servant, and a little later asks him to murder Prospero when he would be sleeping in the afternoon and thus become the king of the island. This murder plan in the subplot is a comic parody of the more serious plotting of Antonio and Sebastian in the main plot to murder their king Alonso when he would be sleeping. Invisible Ariel is present when these plans are made in the main plot and in the subplot, and his very presence is an assurance that evil will not succeed. He effectively frustrates the two murder plans—by waking up Gonzalo and Alonso in the main plot, and by leading Caliban and his companions through thorny bushes into a stinking pool near Prospero’s cell. At Prospero’s advice he hangs on a line near the cell some
fine-looking inexpensive clothes, and Caliban’s co-plotters, ignoring his advice not to bother about such worthless stuff, start stealing those clothes and all three of them are then hunted by spirits in the form of dogs. Towards the end of the play Caliban realizes his mistake and decides to “be wise hereafter,/And seek for grace.” However, his two co-plotters from the ‘civilised’ world do not show any such increase in awareness.
In the main plot Prospero is happy to see the mutual regard and deep love of Ferdinand and Miranda who promise to get married. In Act 4 he frees Ferdinand from chains and hard labour which he had imposed on him to test his love. He blesses Ferdinand and Miranda, and emphasizes the value of restraint to ensure a happy married’ life. Then at his command some spirits present a masque to entertain the young couple: spirits playing the role of Iris, Juno and Ceres bless the young couple with happiness and prosperity. Towards the end of the masque chaste nymphs join hardworking reapers in a rustic dance. Prospero gets disturbed to think of Caliban and his co plotters coming there to kill him, and the spirits performing the masque go away in sadness. Then Prospero compares the transience of human life and this world to the lively masque performed by the spirits: “We are such stuff/As dreams are made on.”
To punish Alonso, Sebastian and Antonio who had wronged Prospero twelve years ago, spirits in strange shapes bring them a feast; but just when they move forward to eat, Ariel in the form of a strange creature pollutes it with his wings, and then in a heavy voice speaks of how they are being punished for deposing Prospero and exposing him and his daughter to likely death at sea.
Alonso, who is not basically evil, is filled with regret and sorrow at the seeming death of his son Ferdinand as a punishment for his sins; Sebastian and Antonio think they are being tormented by devils. All three of them are made so distracted that they are no longer in their senses. When in Act 5 Ariel describes their suffering, Prospero decides to forgive them. He withdraws the effect of his magic on them and restores their senses. He appears before them formally dressed as he used to be as the Duke of Milan, and embraces Alonso, who returns him his dukedom and requests him to pardon him his wrongs. Prospero also forgives his unrepentant brother Antonio. As Alonso expresses the wish that his son and Prospero’s daughter should have been “living both in Naples,/The King and Queen there,” Prospero reveals “Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.” Thus the two main strands of the main plot converge in happiness—fulfillment of love as in romantic comedy, and punishment for past wrongs followed by forgiveness and reconciliation—and the play which began with a tempest ends in harmony.

14.6    GLOSSARY

•    Masque- Play, allegory.

•  Converge- Meet and join.

•  Embraces- Holds, grips.

•  Disposing- Placing, arranging.

14.7 ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Power, Colonialism, Forgiveness and redemption
Ans 2. The play is called The Tempest in reference to the great storm in the first act that begins the story.
Ans 3. Colonialism
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. To forgive and be forgiven is the greatest freedom that we can have.
Ans 2. Prospero to Ariel
Ans 3. Masque is a refined courtly form of entertainment performed during the Renaissance period.

14.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Hollander, John and Frank Kermode. Ed. “The Tempest.” In The Literature of Renaissance England. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. 444-509.

•  ---. The Oxford Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford UP,
1973.

•    Kermode, Frank. Ed. 1954. “William Shakespeare: The Tempest.” The Arden Shakespeare. London: Routledge, 1988.
Note- All references to this play in these units are to this edition.

•    Langbaum, Robert. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Signet Classic Shakespeare. New York: New American Library, 1964.
Note- It also includes some critical essays on the play, including Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy.”

•    Orgel, Stephen. Ed. “The Tempest.” The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.

•  Palmer, D.J. Ed. Shakespeare: The Tempest- A Casebook. London:
Macmillan, 1968.

•  ---. Ed. Shakespeare’s Later Comedies: An Anthology of Modern Criticism.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on The Tempest; including S.T. Coleridge’s “This Almost Miraculous Play” and Reuben A. Brower’s “The Mirror of Analogy”; also reprints some criticism on “The Setting of the Last Plays”, including Stanley Wells’s “Shakespeare and Romance”.

•    Righter, Ann (Ann Barton). Ed. The Tempest. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Books, 1968.

14.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the dramatic function of the masque presented by spirits in The Tempest.

2.    Comment on the function of music and songs in The Tempest.

3.    Discuss the theme of the fortunate fall in The Tempest.

4.    Comment on the ending of The Tempest.

5.    Examine the element of colonialism in the way Caliban treats Stephano.

6.    To what extent is Ariel humanized?
VOLPONE – BEN JONSONUnit-15 BEN JONSON: LIFE AND WORKS
Structure

15.1    Introduction

15.2    Learning Objectives

15.3    Ben Jonson: Introduction
Self Check Exercise-1

15.4    Ben Jonson: Works and Characteristics
Self Check Exercise-2

15.5    Summary

15.6    Glossary

15.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

15.8    References/Suggested Readings

15.9    Terminal Questions

15.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces you to Jonson’s concept of comedy of humours, and discusses the main aspects of the play, especially the nature of satire in this play, and the relation of the subplot to the main plot

15.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate the key aspects of Jonson’s play Volpone. You will be able to understand these aspects more fully after going through the critical analysis of the play in the next three units.

15.3    BEN JONSON: INTRODUCTION
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was educated at Westminster, which was one of the best schools of England at that time. Though he did not study at a university, he was a learned scholar of ancient classical literature on the basis of self-study, and he was honoured by the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford with honorary degrees. When he published Volpone (which was first performed in 1605) in the form of a book in 1607, he dedicated it to these “two famous Universities, for their love and acceptance shown to his poem  [i.e. Volpone] in the  presentation.” Like
Shakespeare, Jonson was also an actor.At that time plays and masques were taken to be entertainments and not serious literature like poetry, but Jonson was proud of the literary worth of his plays and masques, and in 1616 he published them along with his poems in a large volume titled The Works of Benjamin Jonson. Jonson also wrote two tragedies on Roman themes, Sejanus and Catiline, but he is known essentially for his comedies, out of which Volpone, or The Fox (1605), Epicoene, or The Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614) are outstanding.
JONSON’S CONCEPT OF THE COMEDY OF HUMOURS
Jonson’s comedies are satiric comedies and satirise characters dominated by
some overpowering tendency, obsession or passion, to the extent that their judgement, reasoning, values and feelings are controlled by that overpowering tendency. These characters are given type names indicating their dominant weakness, etc., for example, the main character of Epicoene or The Silent Woman is called Morose, which means ‘unhappy and not speaking much’: he dislikes all sounds and has even got the stairs of his house padded so that no sound is produced while stepping on them. In Bartholomew Fair, which presents a realistic picture of different sections of the society of the time in the context of a large fair, we have characters named as Justice Overdo, Zeal- of-the-land Busy, Dame Purecraft, John Littlewit, and Trouble-all. In The Alchemist some of the characters are Face, Subtle, Dol Common, Sir Epicure Mammon, Tribulation, and Surly. In Volpone, or The Fox, set in Venice (which was then a small independent state in Italy), the characters are given names of animals, birds of prey, etc., in Italian, to indicate and satirise their dominant tendencies: the main character Volpone’s name means ‘fox’ as is made clear by the full title of the play; his assistant Mosca’s name means ‘fly’; the names of Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino mean ‘vulture’, ‘raven’ and ‘crow’ respectively; in the beginning of the play Volpone refers to Fine Madame Would-be as a kite.
JONSON’S DESCRIPTION OF HUMOURS
Jonson describes such characters as humours metaphorically with reference to the prevalent view regarding bodily humours. His first comedy of humours, Every Man in His Humour, was performed in 1598, and Shakespeare had acted in that play. It had characters named as Kitely, Knowell, Brainworm, and Bobadill (who is a boastful cowardly soldier).
In the Induction to his next comedy Every Man out of His Humour (1599), as per, the Presenter, who is his mouthpiece (i.e. a character who expresses the author’s views), describes in detail Jonson’s concept of ‘humours’ of the mind. First he describes the humours of the body: “What soe’r hath flexure” (i.e. fluidity) and humidity, as wanting power to contain itself, is humour. So in every human body, the choler (or yellow bile), melancholy (or black bile), phlegm and blood, by reason that they flow continually in some one part, and are not continent (i.e. contained), receive the name of humours. Then he goes on to apply this term ‘humours’ metaphorically to the human mind. Now “thus far it may, by metaphor, apply itself unto the general disposition (i.e. mental outlook or temperament): As when some peculiar quality doth so possess a man, that it doth draw. All his affects (i.e. feelings), his spirits (i.e. the power to act and the impulse to act), and his powers (i.e. faculties, such as reasoning, judgement of right and wrong, ability to see and understand clearly).”
A HUMOUR AS A SIGN OF SICKNESS
In the case of physical health it was believed that there should be proper proportion and balance of the four bodily humours (or fluids)—phlegm, blood, yellow bile (or choler), and black bile (or melancholy) (These four humours were different combinations of heat, cold, dryness and moisture—blood being hot and moist,
phlegm cold and moist, yellow bile hot and dry, and back bile cold and dry). If any one of these humours became excessive, one became ill, and the doctor would try to restore the balance of humours by purging the excess of the disturbing humour.As Jonson applies this view of humours to the human mind, it is implied that when any tendency of a person’s mind becomes so overwhelming that he is not able to see or understand things properly, and even his feelings and values get conditioned by that dominant tendency, that person is mentally sick. This element of mental sickness is made very clear in Olivia’s description of Malvolio in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night when she remarks about his inability to appreciate Feste’s witty comment: “O, you are sick of self- love, Malvolio, and taste with a distempered [i.e. diseased] appetite” (Twelfth Night. Jonson’s play Volpone satirises several such mentally diseased characters whose overpowering tendency or ‘humour’ makes them behave disgustingly and does not let them see that they are being fooled. For example, Corvino, who is a very jealous husband, out of greed takes his wife to Volpone’s house to make her sleep with Volpone, and when in his presence Mosca says about him to Volpone that Corvino “is come to offer, / Or rather, sir, to prostitute Corvino says to him, “Thanks, sweet Mosca”. Similarly Volpone is so obsessed with the desire to have fun by fooling others in cunning ways, that in Act 5 he gives out that he has died and makes a will in favour of Mosca, which enables Mosca to maintain that Volpone is dead so that he may be able to possess Volpone’s wealth even though Volpone himself is actually alive— Volpone himself declares in the opening speech of the play that gold is “the best of things, and far transcending. All style of joy in children, parents, friends, ... The price of souls,” but his overpowering desire to play a cunning trick on the greedy legacy-hunters for fun makes him blind to the opportunity that he is thus placing in Mosca’s hand (who is not even his friend) to grab his wealth. Similarly in Act 4, scene 4, when Mosca assures each legacy-hunter turn by turn, in the presence of others, that he is working for him alone, each one of them believes him because their greedy hope blinds them to what would be obvious to any other person; as Mosca explains to Volpone: “this hope/Is such a bait it covers any hook” “Too much light [of hope] blinds ’em.”
SATIRE ON SELF-REGARDING APPETITES
Though theoretically a humour of the mind can be any overpowering tendency, yet Jonson in his comedies of humours satirises essentially self-regarding appetites— the mentally diseased characters that he exposes to ridicule are extremely selfcentred, and passionately pursue material wealth, physical pleasures, etc., without caring for even those who are closely related to them. Very often the dominant tendency is avarice or greed. As capitalism values wealth and encourages individuals to make money for themselves without caring for society, it is said that the play Volpone is an early satire on capitalism in its focus on greed for gold or material wealth.
HUMOURS AS MASTER PASSIONS
Sometimes the word ‘humour’ in the context of mind is used to refer to some whim
of a person; in fact, Morose’s extreme dislike of sound in Jonson’s comedy Epicoene or The Silent Woman can be seen as a whim. However, in Volpone the overpowering tendencies of different characters energise them so powerfully and drive them with such intensity that in this play the humours are more like master passions, that is, strong driving forces which have mastered their minds fully, conditioning their reason, judgement, values and feelings. These mentally diseased characters act with speed and ferocity.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What kind of characters does Jonson satirise in his comedies?
Q2. What kind of names are these characters given in his comedies?
Q3. Which weakness does Jonson mainly satirise in his comedies?

15.4    BEN JONSON: WORKS AND CHARACTERISTICSGOOD CHARACTERS INEFFECTIVE IN VOLPONE
In contrast, the good characters in Volpone are ineffective. Celia, whose name means ‘heavenly’, is very good and towards the end of the play (5.12.105) even seeks “mercy” of the court for her husband who has been very cruel and wicked towards her, but she is totally incapable of coping with evil on this earth, and remains ineffective in spite of her moral virtue. Similarly, Bonario, whose name means ‘a good person’ and who saves Celia from Volpone, is presented as lifeless, easily fooled by false tears of Mosca (3.2.35-37), and on the whole rather ineffective in getting justice for Celia and himself. In Volpone, though in the end the wicked characters get punished because of their own master- passions, their dominance during most of the play tends to make this comedy rather dark, and it is sometimes said that this play is too grim to be called a comedy.
THE POET AS A MORAL TEACHER
In the Dedicatory Epistle prefixed to Volpone Jonson describes the “function of a poet” as a moral teacher, and insists on “the impossibility of any man’s being the good poet without first being a good man. He [i.e. the poet] that is said to be able to inform young men to all good disciplines, inflame grown men to all great virtues ...; that comes forth the interpreter and arbiter of nature, a teacher of things divine no less than human, a master in manners; and can alone, or with a few, effect [i.e. accomplish or perform] the business of mankind ...” (lines 31 -39). Jonson affirms that in the play Volpone he has “laboured for their [i.e. the spectators’ and readers’] instruction and amendment; to reduce [i.e. to incorporate] not only the ancient forms [i.e. of drama], but manners of the scene [i.e. of contemporary life]: the easiness, the propriety, the innocence [i.e. moral purity], and last, the doctrine [i.e. the teaching], which is the principal end of poesie, to inform men in the best reason of living” (lines 108-12). In the Prologue to Volpone he says that in all his works he has tried “To mix profit with your pleasure” (line 8), and this particular play “is rhyme [i.e. poetry] not empty of reason” (line 4).
POETIC JUSTICE IN VOLPONE
In the Dedicatory Epistle Jonson admits that the “catastrophe” at the end of Volpone, when most of the main characters are severely punished, may not seem quite in line with the conventions of comedy, but he says that “it was done of industry [i.e. on purpose]”, and justifies it on the grounds that comedy has to show moral justice: “it being the office of a comic poet to imitate [i.e. represent] justice, and instruct to life, as well as purity of language, or to stir up gentle affections [i.e. feelings]” (lines 112-16, 123-25). When in a work of literature, good people are
rewarded and evil characters duly punished, it is described as ‘poetic justice’ because such justice is delivered only in works of imagination, and is not usually seen in real life. Volpone is the only comedy in which Jonson presents complete poetic justice; in his other comedies not all the crooks get punished.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. Volpone is the only comedy in which Jonson presents complete..............................................; in his other comedies not all the crooks get
punished.
Q2. In the Dedicatory Epistle prefixed to Volpone what does Jonson describe about the “function of a poet”?
Q3. What does the name Celia connote?

15.5    SUMMARY
Ben Jonson is known for his satiric comedies, which are described as comedies of humours. Shakespeare acted in Jonson’s first comedy Every Man in His Humour in 1598, and Jonson described his concept of humours of the mind in his second comedy Every Man out of His Humour in1599. He metaphorically applied to the human mind the prevalent view regarding bodily humours. He says that when, some overpowering tendency, obsession or passion so dominates a person that his judgement, reason, feelings, values are all controlled and conditioned by that overpowering tendency, he is mentally sick and may be described as suffering from that humour. The characters are given type names to indicate their dominant weakness. By making fun of such characters, his comedies serve as correctives. The humours that Jonson satirises are mainly self-centred appetites, and at times these become master passions in the sense of powerful driving forces.

15.6    GLOSSARY

• Comedy of Humours- Comedy of Humours is satiric comedy. It exposes to ridicule those characters who are dominated by some self-centred tendency of mind (such as greed for money, or desire for pleasure at the cost of others) to such an extent that even their judement of right and wrong, their values, and even their feelings come to be controlled by that overpowering tendency.

15.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISE
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Characters dominated by some overpowering tendency, obsession or passion, to the extent that their judgement, reasoning, values and feelings are controlled by that overpowering tendency.
Ans 2. They are given type names indicating their dominant weakness.
Ans 3. Avarice or greed for money
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Poetic justice
Ans 2. In the Dedicatory Epistle prefixed to Volpone Jonson describes the “function of a poet” as a moral teacher, and insists on “the impossibility of any man’s being the good poet without first being a good man.
Ans 3. Celia means ‘heavenly’

15.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Cook, David. Ed. Volpone, or The Fox. London, Methuen, 1969.
Note- In the detailed Introduction pages 13-45 are useful. Jonson’s concept of the Comedy of Humours has been discussed on pages 21-28 of the Introduction.

•    Jamieson, Michael. Ed. “Ben Jonson: Volpone, or The Fox.” Ben Jonson: Three Comedies. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966.
Note- All references to the play Volpone in these units are to this edition.

•    Sale, Arthur. Ed. 1959. Volpone, or The Foxe. Delhi: Oxford UP, 1976.
Note- Has a useful Introduction (pages v-xix) and Detailed Notes. Sale retains some features of original spellings in the text of the play, especially the final – ‘e’ as in the subtitle ‘The Foxe’.

15.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    In what sense are the humours more like master passions in the play Volpone?

2.    What is the significance of the elements of the beast fable in Volpone?

3.    To what extent does the play Volpone observe the three unities?
> Remember that the play observes only the unities of time and place but not the unity of action.
Unit-16 VOLPONE: AN OVERVIEW
Structure

16.1    Introduction

16.2    Learning Objectives

16.3    Volpone as a Satiric Comedy: Satire on Avarice or Greed
Self Check Exercise-1

16.4    Features of the Play
Self Check Exercise-2

16.5    The Plot
Self Check Exercise-3

16.6    Summary

16.7    Glossary

16.8    Answers to Self Check Exercise

16.9    References/Suggested Readings

16.10    Terminal Questions

16.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit introduces you to Jonson’s concept of comedy of humours, and discusses the main aspects of the play, especially the nature of satire in this play, and the relation of the subplot to the main plot.

16.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate the key aspects of Jonson’s play Volpone. You will be able to understand these aspects more fully after going through the critical analysis of the play in the next units.

16.3    VOLPONE AS A SATIRIC COMEDY: SATIRE ON AVARICE OR GREED
The main weakness that is satirised in Volpone is avarice or greed—greed for money. This weakness is seen even in those who are very rich as in the case of Volpone and Corbaccio. Volpone explains to Celia in Act 3 that even if his wealth is spent lavishly to enjoy life, only a fraction of his wealth would be used up (3.7.197201). However, instead of moving around freely to enjoy life, he gives out that he is dying and remains confined to his house, with ointments etc. applied on his face so that the greedy visitors should take him to be critically ill—all this so that those greedy people keep bringing him more wealth in the hope of becoming his heirs. Because greedy people will bring him gifts only so long as they think he is about to die, he cannot go out of his house as himself: whenever he does go out he has to use a disguise. The important modes of satire in this play are as follows:
The characters are given names of animals and birds of prey, etc., to indicate how greed has dehumanised them. This element of the beast fable is reiterated in the play again and again as characters keep referring to each other as the fox, “fleshfly”, vulture, crow, raven, kite, etc. Volpone particularly enjoys referring to himself as a fox: in Act 1 when Mosca tells him that the advocate Voltore has brought for him a huge, heavy gold plate with his (Volpone’s) name and arms engraved on it, he says
Voltore should have got engraved on it “a Fox/Stretched on the earth, .../ Mocking a gaping crow”.
The characters’ own words and actions become biting comments on their weakness.Moral inversion, that is, moral values becoming upside-down, in the case of self-centred, self-seeking characters who love money more than anything else, for example, when in the opening speech of the play Volpone describes gold as the saint he worships, and as being his soul, or when in the court Corvino describes his chaste wife as a prostitute, and turns to wicked Mosca for praise, saying “There is no shame in this now, is there?” These aspects of satire in the play have been brought out in detail in the critical analysis in the next three lessons.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What is the function of the elements of the beast fable in the play Volpone?
Q2. What is the main weakness that is satirised in Volpone?

16.4    FEATURES OF THE PLAYAN OUTLINE OF THE ACTION OF THE PLAY: THE ARGUMENT
The Argument or summary given at the beginning of Volpone effectively sums up the main action of the play:
Volpone, childless, rich, feigns [i.e. pretends to be] sick, despairs. O ffers his state [i.e. estate or wealth] to hopes of several heirs, lies languishing [i.e. growing weaker]; his parasite receives presents of all, assures, deludes [i.e. deceives]; then weaves other cross-plots, which ope themselves, are told [i.e. revealed]. New tricks for safety are sought; they thrive [i.e. succeed]; when, bold, E ach tempts th’ other again, and all are sold. If you look at the first letter of each line and read downwards, these letters make the title of the play, VOLPONE: When we make a word from the first letters of successive lines in this way, it is called an acrostic.
THE SETTING
The setting of the play in distant Venice makes the theme of legacy-hunting more believable. This also makes it possible to name the characters as animals and birds of prey, etc., in Italian. Names like Fox, Fly, Vulture, Raven, and Crow would have sounded odd but Italian words Volpone, Mosca, Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino work much better. Also, Italy was seen as a centre of rich culture as well as of moral decay. So during the Renaissance plays dealing with moral, degradation and evil are often set in Italy, the land of Machiavelli, whose book The Prince (written in 1513) focused on what was effective in achieving a purpose without being concerned about moral values.
QUICK COMEDY REFINED
In the Prologue to the play Jonson claims that he is offering here “quick comedy refined” (line 29): It is ‘quick’ in the sense of being full of life, and refined in comparison with many comedies of that time that presented crude physical humour or stale jokes (lines 20-23). He is also emphatic that this play is a comedy in spite of the near-triumph of wickedness in this play and harsh punishments at the end for
the wrong-doers.
UNITY OF TIME AND PLACE
The action of this play begins in the morning when Volpone wakes up, and is over by evening when the court pronounces the punishments for the wrongdoers. Thus it observes the unity of time. This play also observes the unity of place as all the events of the play are limited to one city, Venice. In fact, Jonson takes pride in observing these two unities, and claims in the Prologue to the play:
“The laws of time, place, persons he observeth,/From no needful rule he swerveth [i.e. moves away]” (lines31-32).
However, he does not mention unity of action, which was in fact the only unity emphasised by Aristotle. In this play there is an extended subplot which has hardly any link with the action of the main plot, but thematically functions like a parody of the main plot. There is also a brief interlude presented by the three clowns early in the play, which has nothing to do with the action of the main plot, but echoes the theme of the debasement of the human to the level of animals and birds and praises fools. Though Jonson was a scholar of classical writings, he follows their example and rules only to the extent that suits him.
Native English drama, in the form of Mystery plays based on the Bible [which evolved in the fourteenth century] and Morality plays [which emerged in the fifteenth century], usually had two lines of action, out of which one was a lighter comic parody of, or diversion from, the more serious main plot. These native forms of drama continued to be popular during the Renaissance even after the revival of the study of ancient Roman playwrights whose plays had single plots. So in the Renaissance England even classicists like Jonson continued to have multiple plots in their plays.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. Does the play Volpone observe the three unities?
Q2. What does ‘Quick Comedy Refined’ mean?

16.5    THE PLOTS
This play has two distinct plots, with their almost independent lines of action. Apart from these, there is also a brief interlude presented by the three clowns in the beginning of the play, which has nothing to do with the action of either the main plot or the subplot, but has a thematic connection with them in presenting the debasement of man to the level of animals and celebrating fools.
The action of the play is set in Italy, and most of the characters belong to Venice, but there are three visitors from England—Sir Politic Would-be and his wife Fine Madame Would-be, who have been in Venice for some time, and a young Englishman Peregrine who has arrived here recently. Sir Politic Would-be is often referred to as Sir Pol in the play, which suggests his parrot-like superficial imitation of the people of Venice. The world ‘Politic’ means ‘worldly-wise’ or ‘cunning to ensure self-interest’, but the surname given to him “Would-be” implies that he is not really so, and in fact appears a complete fool. Similarly, his wife’s name “Fine Madame Would-be” implies that she would like to be a considered a fine lady but is
not quite that—In fact we find her behaving very crudely, especially towards the women waiting upon her. Early in the play, Volpone refers to her as a “kite”. A “Peregrine” is a kind of hawk, and Peregrine generally sees through pretences as he quickly perceives the folly of Sir Pol and trickery of the mountebank played by Volpone, but in his anger at Lady Would-be’s odd overtures he misunderstands Sir Pol, and to that extent this relatively positive figure too has his limitations, like the good characters of the main plot, Celia and Bonario.
The action of the subplot involves two characters—Sir Politic Would-be and Peregrine. Lady Would- be’s speeches and actions largely form part of the main plot; The action of the subplot has hardly sany link with the action of the main plot. However, (1) there is a thin thematic link between the subplot and the main plot— folly (or foolishness) being a common element in the two plots, in that while Sir Pol is obviously foolish, Volpone ultimately proves to be foolish in his reckless pursuit of fun at the cost of others. (2) Also, to some extent Sir Pol is a parody of Volpone. As Volpone pretends to be near death, he suggests that he can make a person of his liking very rich by nominating him as his heir. Sir Pol claims that if he finds somebody whom he likes, he will make him very rich with the help of some projects that he has in mind. For all his pride in his worldly wisdom, Sir Pol is humbled and mildly punished in Act 5 (mildly, because his actions do not harm anyone), and that foreshadows Volpone’s much harsher punishment towards the end of the play, the degree of his punishment being in keeping with the extent of harm to others that his doings cause. (3) The lighthearted comedy of the subplot with its harmless folly provides a relief from the very disturbing actions of main plot: the lighter spirit of the subplot makes the grimness of the main plot bearable.
In the main plot, Volpone is a very rich clarissimoor noble (i.e. a senior aristocrat) of Venice. He thinks of a clever way to multiply his wealth. He pretends to be critically ill and likely to die soon. He has no wife or child who may inherit his wealth; nor has he any friend whom he might nominate as his heir. So some greedy people start bringing him costly gifts, each one thinking that this will convince Volpone that he loves him and so Volpone would nominate him as his heir. These legacy-hunters are (1) Voltore, an advocate, whose name means ‘vulture’, (2) a very old and rich clarissimo, Corbaccio (whose name means ‘raven’), who though himself near death is greedily seeking to get the wealth of Volpone, and (3) a merchant Corvino, whose name means ‘crow’. Lady Would-be also joins them in the greed for inheriting Volpone’s wealth, but unlike them she does not bring any expensive gift, but just a cap which she has made herself, which becomes a comic anticlimax. We feel amused so long as these self-centred greedy people are fooled by Volpone because they themselves are trying to fool him; however, when he tries to assault Celia we get totally alienated from him and feel happy when he is duly punished at the end of the play. In all his doings Volpone is efficiently helped by his Parasite, Mosca, who is punished even more severely at the end.
In order to fool these greedy people who want to fool Volpone into thinking that they love him, Volpone has to lie in bed, with ointments applied on his face to make him look critically ill. If he ever goes out of his house he has to use some disguise because otherwise people will know that he is hale and hearty and then nobody will bring him costly gifts. And he gets beaten or punished whenever he thus stirs out of
the safety of his house. When towards the end of Act 1 Mosca mentions the beauty of Corvino’s wife, Celia, Volpone goes out disguised as a Mountebank, and though he manages to see her face, he is beaten by Corvino, who does not recognize him. In the last Act when he goes out disguised as a Commendatore (i.e. as a court officer) to tease the dejected legacy-hunters, everything goes against him, and he has to reveal his identity in the court, which brings on him heavy punishment in the form of confiscation of all his wealth and his being imprisoned for life.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-3
Q1. Who are the three legacy hunters of Volpone?
Q2. The action of the subplot involves two characters. Name them.

16.6    SUMMARY
Ben Jonson insists on the function of the poet as a moral teacher, and on that ground justifies the series of harsh punishments meted out to the wicked characters towards the end of Volpone, “it being the office of a comic poet to imitate justice, and instruct to life.” Volpone observes the unities of time and place, but not the unity of action. This play has two plots: the main plot shows ferocious pursuit of greed and pleasure which comes close to blasting the lives of innocent persons, while the subplot presents harmless folly. There is hardly any link between the action of the subplot and that of the main plot, but the main character of the subplot, Sir Politic Would-be, is almost a parody of the protagonist of the main plot, Volpone, who in spite of his fox-like cunning ultimately proves to be as foolish as Sir Politic Would-be. The light hearted comedy of the subplot also provides relief from the more grim action of the main plot.

16.7    GLOSSARY

•    Grim- Grey, unattractive.

•    Cunning- Astute, sly.

•    Folly- Foolishness.

16.8    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. To indicate how greed has dehumanised these characters
Ans 2. The main weakness that is satirised in Volpone is avarice or greed—greed for money.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. No. It observes only the unities of time and place, but not the unity of action as it has a subplot in addition to the main plot.
Ans 2. In the Prologue to the play Jonson claims that he is offering here “quick comedy refined”. It is ‘quick’ in the sense of being full of life, and refined in comparison with many comedies of that time that presented crude physical humour or stale jokes.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-3
Ans 1. The three legacy hunters are Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino.
Ans 2. Sir Politic Would-be and Peregrine

16.9    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Bamborough, J.B. Ben Jonson. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1970.
Note- Has a very useful discussion of Volpone on pages 82-91.

•    Barish, Jonas A. Ed. Jonson: Volpone: A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Note- The Introduction and Barish’s Essay on Plot Structure, The Double Plot in Volpone (1953), on pages 100-117, are especially useful. Barish’s Essay on Plot is also reprinted in the Twentieth Century Views volume on Ben Jonson mentioned below.

•  ---. “Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays.” Twentieth Century Views.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Note- Reprints some useful Criticism on Jonson in general, esp. T.S. Eliot’s essay “Ben Jonson” (1919), and some Critical Essays on Volpone, including Barish’s essay on its plot structure mentioned above.

16.10    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Comment on the dramatic significance of the subplot in Volpone.

2.    How do the characters’ own words and actions satirise their weakness in the play?
Unit-17 VOLPONE: CRITICAL ANALYSIS-I
Structure

17.1    Introduction

17.2    Learning Objectives

17.3    Critical Significance-I
Self Check Exercise-1

17.4    Critical Significance-II
Self Check Exercise-2

17.5    Summary

17.6    Glossary

17.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

17.8    References/Suggested Readings

17.9    Terminal Questions

17.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the first act of the play Volpone, analysing the characters, themes and plot structure in this part of the play.
In the plays from the Renaissance a new scene generally begins after the stage has become totally vacant and then some characters enter. However, in Jonson’s plays a new scene is taken to begin when there is entry of one or more characters even when the characters already on stage continue to remain there— since most standard editions of Volpone give line numbers according to this kind of scene division, this pattern has been followed in indicating act, scene and line numbers in these lessons on Volpone. However, some editions do follow the other pattern which is used for line numbering for plays of other writers from the Renaissance.

17.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate the portrayal of characters, the pattern of themes and plot construction in the opening act of the play.

17.3    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-I
THE DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OPENING SCENE: THE KEY ASPECTS
The opening scene of the play introduces the main theme of the play—worship of gold—in the very opening lines of the play, and provides the exposition (that is, information about the situation and the background of the action of the play) in lines 73-90. The protagonist of the play, Volpone, who is a noble of Venice, and his parasite, Mosca, who plays a very crucial role in the action of the play, appear on the stage and their nature and attitudes are revealed. This scene is also characteristic of the whole play in that Volpone’s opening speech shows moral inversion or complete distortion of values in his mind as he describes gold as the saint he worships and considers it to be “the world’s soul, and mine”. The eloquent poetry put in the mouth of Volpone, his perception of the weakness of most people
of the world, and his cunning way of making others gift him their wealth make him impressive; yet the distortion of values in his worship of gold makes it clear that he is not quite a normal human being but is mentally diseased and has become dehumanised in being clever like a fox.
THE THEME OF THE PLAY: WORSHIP OF GOLD, AND MORAL INVERSION
As the play opens, Volpone is seen sleeping “in a large bed” on the stage. This bed dominates the stage in most of the scenes set in his house, and Volpone remains lying on it when he receives guests. His way of fooling others severely restricts his own freedom; he cannot utter a word when Mosca and Corvino shout abuses in his ear, after Mosca convinces Corvino that Volpone is so near death that he cannot hear anything.
As Mosca enters, Volpone wakes up, and says: “Good morning to the day; and next, my gold!” The high value he attaches to gold in greeting it like this, is disturbing, and it becomes more disturbing as well as amusing as he asks Mosca to “Open the shrine, that I may see my saint,” and “Mosca draws a curtain, revealing piles of gold.” The next sentence of Volpone begins like a witty observation regarding the main weakness of most people of the world when he greets gold as “the world’s soul”, but it becomes shocking when Volpone goes on to describe gold as his own soul too (soul indicating that which gives one life, determines one’s nature, and impels one to action):
Hail the world’s soul, and mine!
This distortion of moral values, when the values have become topsy-turvy, is described as moral inversion. Volpone’s opening speech is also a fine example of how a character’s own words become a satiric comment on his weakness. The entire speech is addressed to gold, praising its value for the world in general and also for Volpone himself—-almost like a hymn in praise of a god. There appears to something abnormal in him as he goes on to say that he feels more glad to see gold than the fertile earth feels on seeing the life-giving sun in spring. We get a jolt when Volpone goes on to describe gold as follows without any irony:
Thou being the best of things, and far transcending [i.e. being far greater than]
All style of joy in children, parents, friends,
Or any other waking dream on earth.
It should be kept in mind that though here Volpone asserts that gold gives more joy than friendship, he ignores the likelihood of Mosca grabbing his (Volpone’s) wealth when in Act 5 he gives out that he is dead and signs a will in favour of Mosca, merely to have fun at the cost of disappointed legacy-hunters. Then Mosca acts exactly according to the inverted values emphasised by Volpone here and tries to possess the entire wealth of Volpone—in fact, in blind greed he even turns down Volpone’s offer of giving him half his wealth, which forces Volpone to reveal his own identity in the court to prevent Mosca from enjoying his wealth.
Volpone’s comments here highlight the key theme of the play, as Corvino, Corbaccio, Voltore and Lady Would-be do all kinds of monstrous things for money: Covino forcing his chaste wife to sleep with Volpone, Corbaccio publicly disowning
his son, Voltore pleading falsely to mislead the court against innocent Celia and Bonario, and Lady Would-be giving false evidence against Celia. Even the judges, who should not care for wealth of the persons involved in a case, show unusual respect for Mosca (asking people to make way for him and directing that a stool be brought for him) when it seems possible that he may have inherited the wealth of Volpone, even though the advocate Voltore and Volpone himself disguised as a commendatore tell the court that Volpone is alive. In fact the 4th Avocatore (i.e. judge) says about Mosca in an ‘aside’: “A proper man and, were Volpone dead,/A fit match for my daughter.’’
The remaining part of Volpone’s praise of gold in the opening speech of the play is in the nature of a comment on the weakness of most people in the world:
Riches, the dumb god that giv’st all men tongues [i.e. makes them speak to get money], That canst do nought, and yet mak’st men do all things;
The price of souls; even hell, with thee to boot [i.e. in addition], Is made worth heaven! Thou art virtue, fame,
Honour, and all things else [i.e. a person with money gets fame, is honoured, and is described as virtuous even if he is wicked].
SELF CHECK EXECISE-1
Q1. According to Volpone, what gives greater joy than parents, children, and friends?
Q2. What is moral inversion?
Q3. The opening scene of the play introduces the main theme of the play...............................................................

17.4    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IIMOSCA
Mosca is Volpone’s parasite, that is, not a paid employee but a hanger-on who obliges Volpone by performing different services and in return gets money and gifts by way of appreciation. To please Volpone he praises him and says that Volpone is not a miser but enjoys his wealth, and gives small portions of it to him (Mosca) and to his servants (the three clowns):
You know the use of riches, and dare give, now,
From that bright heap, to me, your poor observer [i.e. humble follower].
Understanding the hint, Volpone gives him some money, and asks him to bring there the three clowns and let em make me sport. As Mosca goes offstage to bring them, Volpone in a soliloquy gives the exposition, i.e. information about the background of the action of the play. A soliloquy is a speech uttered by a character when he or she is all alone on the stage.
EXPOSITION
Volpone explains the context of the action of the main plot in his soliloquy as follows:
I have no wife, no parent, child, ally [i.e. friend],
To give my substance [i.e. wealth] to; but whom I make [i.e. nominate in a will] must
be my heir, and this makes men observe me [i.e. pay attention to me].
This draws new clients, daily, to my house, Women and men of every sex and age, That bring me presents, send me plate [i.e. gold plate], coin [i.e. gold coins], jewels, with hope that when I die (which they expect
Each greedy minute) it shall then return
Tenfold upon them; whilst some, covetous [i.e. greedy]
Above the rest, seek to engross me, whole [i.e. each of them wants to become his only heir, to inherit his entire wealth],
And counter-work the one unto the other,
Contend [i.e. compete] in gifts, as they would seem in love.
All which I suffer [i.e. tolerate or allow], playing with their hopes, and am content to coin ’em into profit.
DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INTERLUDE PRESENTED BY THE CLOWNS: THE THREE SERVANTS
Volpone’s household there are three trusted servants—Nano, Castrone, and Androgyno the Fool. When in Act 5 Volpone goes out of his house disguised as a commendatore and meets these three in the street, he asks them why they have come out the house: as they tell him that Mosca “bid us all go play, and took the keys,” he immediately suspects that Mosca wants to deprive him of his wealth — this shows that he trusts these clowns with his keys but not Mosca. That great trust in them may be the reason why Mosca out of jealousy says to Corvino in Act 1: “’Tis the common fable [i.e. it is said], / The dwarf, the fool, the eunuch are all his [illegitimate children];/He’s the true father of his family.”
All three of them are physically abnormal, and their names indicate that. Nano is a dwarf and that is what his name means; Castrone is a eunuch; Androgyno, who is formally dressed as a Fool in motley and a cap with bells, is a hermaphrodite, i.e. one who has physical features of both man and woman (his name Androgyno, meaning ’man-woman’, also implies that). Volpone takes delight in the skit presented by them near the beginning of the play; and again in Act 3, while he is anxiously waiting for Mosca to learn about his success in obtaining for him (Volpone) the company of Corvino’s beautiful wife Celia, he says to them: “Bring forth your sports/and help to make the wretched time more sweet”. It is said that their physical abnormality (which is not because of anything in their control) reflects the abnormality of Volpone’s mind—his moral inversion is a matter of his choice, and that makes him debased in spite of his vitality, cunning, and eloquence.
THE INTERLUDE IN THE NATURE OF AN ANTIMASQUE
Jonson wrote a considerable number of masques. The masques, performed on important festive occasions like a marriage or engagement, were like elaborate dance dramas with a thin story line to interlink a number of songs and dances; and only members of the aristocracy used to take part in them (some members of the host family and some of the guests), but servants were left out. Jonson introduced at the beginning of his masks a comic segment which was performed by the
servants, making them feel a part of the grand celebration. Because this comic part was cruder than the main masque, it made the main masque appear more impressive. Because of this contrast it was referred to as antimasque; because this cruder comic part came before the main masque it was also sometimes referred to as antemasque (‘ante-’ means ‘before’).
In the interlude presented by Nano and Androgyno (with Castrone joining them in the song in praise of ‘Fools’), the lines of verse are longer than blank verse used in the rest of the play, and are like the verse used in the traditional interludes (which were largely comic dialogues purely for entertainment, without a moral element). Nano refers to Pythagoras’s view regarding transmigration of souls, that a human being may be reborn as an animal or bird or as another human being in a different social role. This view appeared strange to Christians who believed that only human beings have souls, and this skit in fact makes fun of this view of Pythagoras. Nano, playing the role of the presenter of the interlude, says that the Fool Androgyno has the soul of Pythagoras and remembers all its lives, sometimes born as a philosopher, sometimes as a prostitute, “Besides ox and ass, camel, mule,. It is said that here Jonson is presenting the idea of the debasement of the human to the level of animals and that thus this skit is linked with the theme of dehumanisation in the main play.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. What is a soliloquy?
Q2. How does Volpone describe the greedy legacy-hunters who visit him with gifts? Q3. According to Volpone, what do these legacy-hunters think he is becoming?

17.5    SUMMARY
Volpone's opening soliloquy sets the moral tone of the play. That he (Volpone) wakes up and says good morning to his gold suggests that Volpone is utterly consumed by Greed. After greed, he moves on to blasphemy, calling his gold asaint. He makes a pun, calling gold the "son of Sol," (1.1.10) where Sol means both sun and a gold coin. Volpone then literally begins worshiping his gold, comparing it to the Roman god Venus.
In the first scene of the play, the audience is also introduced to the second central character Mosca, who embodies the themes of Animalization and Parasitism (the practice of living as a parasite). Mosca is seen flitting around Volpone, finishing his sentences and interrupting him with flattery.
Scene 2 of Act 1 marks the first appearance of Nano, Castrone, and Androgyno. Like Volpone and Mosca, they are all appropriately named. Nano the Dwarf's name means "small"; Castrone the Eunuch's name has the same root as the word castrate; Androgyno the Hermaphrodite's name has the same root as the word androgynous.
In rest of the three scenes, the theme of Parasitism predominates. Earlier, Jonson introduced Mosca as the foremost Parasite in the play. However, the characters Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino can all be considered Mosca's foils. In hoping to feed off of Volpone's fortune, they, too, are like the flies that hover around a dead body. And fittingly, they are all named for carrion birds: in Italian, Voltoremeans
"vulture," Corbaccio means "raven," and Corvino means "crow." By describing Celia's beauty using the imagery of gold, Mosca purposefully appeals to Volpone's greatest desire. By the end of Act One, it is clear that Mosca controls the action of the play.
In the beginning of Act 2, as Jonas Barish has pointed out, the presence of Sir Politic, Lady Would-be, and Peregrine is most likely intended as a connection between the Italian state and the English state. In Volpone, Barish points out, Venice is a "looking glass for England whereby that country is warned to heed the lesson of the Italian state lest its own follies turn to vices and destroy it."
Moreover, the Animalization theme continues in the characters of Sir Politic and Peregrine. Pol, the shortened form of Politic's name, means "parrot" and sums up perfectly the hollow garrulousness shared by him and his wife. Peregrine, whose name means "falcon," is named for his shrewdness. Not surprisingly, Peregrine is the one who sees through the mountebank's scam while Sir Politic is utterly fooled by it.

17.6    GLOSSARY

•    Exposition- Information about the situation and the background of the action of the play, which may be conveyed through dialogue or a soliloquy which functions as a part of the developing action in the play.

•  Moral inversion- Distortion of moral values, when the values of some
person or persons become totally opposite to what is normally expected.

•  Soliloquy- A speech uttered by a character when he or she is all alone on
the stage visitation: visiting somebody who is unwell, to enquire about his or her health.

17.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Gold
Ans 2. Moral inversion is distortion of moral values, when the values of some person or persons become totally opposite to what is expected, for example, Volpone considering gold to be his soul, and describing it as giving far greater joy than children, parents or friends.
Ans 3. Worship of gold
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Soliloquy is a speech uttered by a character when he or she is all alone on the stage.
Ans 2. He describes them as vulture, kite, raven, and crow (or gorcorw)—all birds of prey.
Ans 3. They think he is turning into a carcass, or dead body, so that they can gain from his death (Vultures, kites, crows, etc., gather round a dying animal, waiting for it to die, so that as soon as it dies they can start eating dead, decaying flesh).

17.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Bamborough, J.B. Ben Jonson. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1970.
Note- Has a very useful discussion of Volpone on pages 82-91.

•    Barish, Jonas A. Ed. Jonson: Volpone: A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Note- The Introduction and Barish’s Essay on Plot Structure, The Double Plot in Volpone (1953), on pages 100-117, are especially useful. Barish’s Essay on Plot is also reprinted in the Twentieth Century Views volume on Ben Jonson mentioned below.

•  ---. “Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays.” Twentieth Century Views.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Note- Reprints some useful Criticism on Jonson in general, esp. T.S. Eliot’s essay “Ben Jonson” (1919), and some Critical Essays on Volpone, including Barish’s essay on its plot structure mentioned above.

17.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the dramatic significance of the opening scene.

2.    Comment on the element of moral inversion in the play Volpone, with special reference to the opening speech of Volpone.

3.    Comment on the element of the beast fable in the play Volpone.
OR
What is the significance of the names given to different characters in the play Volpone?

4.    Discuss the role of any one of the following in the play Volpone:

a.    Voltore

b.    Corbaccio

c.    Corvino

5.    What is the significance of the interlude presented by the three clowns in the beginning of the play Volpone?
Unit-18 VOLPONE: CRITICAL ANALYSIS-II
Structure

18.1    Introduction

18.2    Learning Objectives

18.3    Critical Significance-III
Self Check Exercise-1

18.4    Critical Significance-IV
Self Check Exercise-2

18.5    Summary

18.6    Glossary

18.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

18.8    References/Suggested Readings

18.9    Terminal Questions

18.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the first act of the play Volpone, analysing the characters, themes and plot structure in this part of the play.
In the plays from the Renaissance a new scene generally begins after the stage has become totally vacant and then some characters enter. However, in Jonson’s plays a new scene is taken to begin when there is entry of one or more characters even when the characters already on stage continue to remain there—since most standard editions of Volpone give line numbers according to this kind of scene division, this pattern has been followed in indicating act, scene and line numbers in these units on Volpone. However, some editions do follow the other pattern which is used for line numbering for plays of other writers from the Renaissance.

18.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate the portrayal of characters, the pattern of themes and plot construction in the opening act of the play.

18.3    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IIITHE SUBPLOT: SIR POLITIC AND PEREGRINE - ACT 2 SCENE 1
The major part of Act 2 is quite relaxed, and begins with light satire on the harmless and obvious folly of the simple-minded Sir Politic Would-be, who considers himself to be clever and worldly- wise. His folly is brought out in an amusing manner in his conversation with the relatively perceptive young Peregrine, who has recently come to Venice from England, and from whom Sir Politic seeks confirmation about some reports about recent developments in his native land.
Sir Politic asks Peregrine whether it is true that a black raven had made a nest in the royal ship of the King of England. For the simple-minded Sir Politic it would be a bad omen for England; but Peregrine thinks that perhaps the older man is making a fool of him, or maybe is actually foolish: “This fellow,/Does he gull me, trow? Or is gulled?” However, he decides to play the game and goes on to discuss with mock-
seriousness certain other things which had actually happened some time before the play Votpone was performed and which were much talked about—a lioness in the mini zoo in the Tower of London having ‘whelped’, and some porpoises and a whale seen in the river Thames. Sir Politic also mentions strange fire-like lights seen at night on the border with Scotland, and considers all these to be ominous for their country. The mention of these recent happenings would have amused the spectators.
The way anything unusual in our country is often attributed to ‘the foreign hand’, Peregrine jokingly says that the whale “had waited there/Few know how many months, for the subversion/Of the Stode fleet [i.e. the fleet of the English Merchant Adventurers]”. Sir Politic takes this playful remark very seriously and observes that the whale must have been sent there by an enemy country: “Twas either sent from Spain, or the Archdukes [the rulers of Netherlands]!” Drawing attention of the audience to the obvious foolishness of Sir Politic in taking such minor things so seriously, Peregrine observes in an ‘Aside’:
O, this knight,
Were he well known, would be a precious thing
To fit our English stage. He that should write [i.e. present in a play] But such a fellow, would be thought to feign
Extremely, if not maliciously—
This remark (that if a character such as Sir Politic were presented in a play, people would hardly believe that any one could actually be so foolish) makes Sir Politic’s folly more believable and amusing for the audience and readers. (This kind of observation within a play is described as self- consciousness on the part of the dramatist.)
As Sir Politic enquires about “Some other news”, Peregrine says with mockseriousness: “Stone the fool is dead,/And they do lack a tavern fool extremely” there was actually a clown named Stone in London at that time, and his mention in the play would have delighted the audience). Again making a show of his ‘wisdom’ and supposedly deeper knowledge of matters, Sir Politic says this ‘fool’, who served as a waiter in an inn, was actually an agent of enemy countries. He justifies his point by saying that the wrinkled leaves of cabbages imported from Holland were coded messages for Stone “For all parts of the world”, which he sent out through different “ambassadors”, in the form of “oranges, musk-melons, apricots,/Lemons, ... and suchlike; sometimes/In ... oysters [etc. served in the inn]” When Peregrine expresses surprise at this ‘secret’ information about Stone the fool, Sir Politic insists: I have observed him at you public ordinary [i.e. eating-house] Take his advertisement [i.e. information] from a traveller, a concealed statesman [i.e. a disguised government agent], in a trencher of meat; And instantly, before the meal was done, convey an answer in a toothpick. Why, the meat was cut so like his character [i.e. coded symbols], and so laid as he Must easily read the cipher [i.e. code language], commenting on Sir Politic’s presumption of knowledge, Peregrine observes in an ‘Aside’; “This Sir Pol will be ignorant of nothing”, and then says to him in mock-praise: “It seems, sir, you know all”.
Lady Would-be: As Sir Politic tells Peregrine that he has come to Venice because
of “a peculiar humour of my wife’s,/Laid for this height of Venice, to observe,/To quote, to learn the language, and so forth” Peregrine taunts him: “Your lady/Lies here, in Venice, for intelligence [i.e. information]/Of tires [i.e. attires or dresses], and fashions, and behaviour/Among the courtesans? The Fine Lady Would-be?” Sir Politic insists: “Yes, sir, the spider and the bee oft-times/Suck from one flower” he implies that from the same source different persons may pick up good or bad aspects according to their respective natures. In fact he feels proud of his wife, and exuberantly introduces her to Peregrine in Act 4. However, when we actually see her in Act 3 outside Volpone’s house, she is very harsh and rude in her way of talking to the women waiting on her: she appears completely unladylike, being concerned only with her external appearance, her makeup and hairdo, Nano remarks in an ‘Aside’ that she pays much more attention to her dressing up than to her “fame or honour”—in this she in total contrast with Celia who values honour and virtue but does not attach any importance to outward appearance). Lady Would-be has picked up the negativities of life in Venice, and on learning about the ‘dying’ rich Volpone she eagerly joins the race to become his heir with the help of gifts; near the beginning of the play Volpone refers to her as a “kite” and in Act 5 as a “she-wolf, however, in comic contrast with the very costly gifts of other legacy- hunters, she brings Volpone just “a cap.... of mine own work”.
THE DRAMATIC FUNCTION OF THE SUBPLOT
The conversations and interaction of Sir Politic and Peregrine (in the beginning of Acts 2, 4 and 5) constitute the subplot. (Lady Would-be has only an incidental function in the subplot, in that her overtures make Peregrine decide to have a revenge on Sir Politic. Her statements and actions relate essentially to the action of the main plot.)
The subplot has nothing to do with the action of the main plot (and is often omitted in modern productions of the play in order to shorten the duration of the performance). Yet, there is a thematic link between the two plots—folly. While Sir Politic is obviously foolish, the clever scheming rogues of the main plot finally prove to be foolish too.
However, Sir Politic’s folly does not harm any other person and is in line with the light hearted joy usually associated with comedy. In contrast, the activities of Volpone, Mosca, and the greedy legacy-hunters in the main plot come close to destroying the lives of innocent and virtuous persons, Celia and Bonario, and thus turn the main plot into a rather dark comedy. Because of this contrast, intermittent scenes of Sir Politic’s harmless folly make the more grim action of the main plot bearable by providing light-hearted relief. The lighter spirit of the subplot also throws into relief (i.e. makes more prominent) the darker social reality of the main plot.
In a way Sir Politic also functions as a comic parody of Volpone: like Volpone he claims that he can make a person very rich, and his punishment early in Act 5 foreshadows the more severe punishment of Volpone towards the end of the play
SIR POLITIC AND PEREGRINE AS OUTSIDERS IN VENICE, AND THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF THEIR NAMES
Both Sir Politic and Peregrine are from England and, being outsiders in Venice, they provide a perspective on the moral decay widespread in Venice.
Sir Politic Would-be talks as if he is quite politic or worldly-wise; but his speeches reveal how this assumption of his is misplaced. In the course of the play Peregrine repeatedly refers to him as Sir Pol, which makes one think of the way a parrot is referred to, as in the phrase ‘pretty polly’. A parrot mimics human speech without understating its meaning or significance; so also Sir Pol, without grasping the spirit of the culture of Venice, merely mimics the outward manners of people of Venice, such as “the use/And handling of your.silver fork at meals,/... and to know the hour/When you must eat your melons and your figs”. He boasts to Peregrine: “Within the first week of my landing here [i.e. in Venice],/All took me for a citizen of Venice,/I knew the forms so well—”, and Peregrine perceptively remarks in an ‘aside’: “And nothing else”.
The word ‘peregrine’ means ‘foreign’ or ‘from abroad’, and so the name is appropriate for this outsider in Venice. In the context of elements of the beast fable in the play, the name ‘Peregrine’ more specifically refers to the peregrine falcon, a kind of swift hawk used for hunting birds. So this name suggests hawk-like sharp vision and the ability to see through pretences; and Peregrine is not only able to see immediately the folly of Sir Politic, but also understands quite well the weaknesses in different aspects of social life in Venice. However, in this play even the good characters have their noticeable limitations, and Peregrine gets so carried away by his overconfidence in his ability to see through others’ pretences that when Lady Would-be makes overtures to him in Act 4, he wrongly concludes that Sir Politic had introduced him to his wife for a base purpose (“Sir Politic Would-be? No, Sir Politic Bawd,/To bring me, thus, acquainted with his wife!” a bawd procures customers for a prostitute]); and he immediately decides to punish innocent Sir Politic for this supposed sin.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What constitutes the subplot in the play Volpone?
Q2. Does the subplot have any link with the action of the main plot in Volpone?
Q3. What does the word ‘peregrine’ mean?

18.4    CRITICAL SIGNIFICANCE-IVSIR POLITIC AS A PARODY OF VOLPONE IN ACTS 4 AND 5
In the main plot Volpone makes greedy persons hope that they can become very rich by inheriting his great wealth if they win his heart with costly gifts. Almost parallel to that is the claim of Sir Politic to Peregrine in the subplot that if he can find a person whom he likes he would make very him rich with the help of his “projects”:
Well, if I could but find one man, one man
To mine own heart, whom I durst trust, I would—
... Make him rich, make him a fortune ....
With certain projects that I have
Of course, in contrast with Volpone’s cunning temperament, Sir Politic’s foolishness is revealed as he proudly describes his secret “projects” to Peregrine. His first
project is “to serve the state/Of Venice with red herrings for three years,/And at a certain rate from Rotterdam [a seaport in Netherlands]” (‘herring’ is a kind of seafish found in the North Atlantic and usually swimming in very large groups; ‘red’ here means ‘smoke-cured’ to preserve them).
Sir Politic’s other two projects are proposals for the good of the state of Venice, which he plans to submit to the government “in hope of pension”. The “first is/Concerning tinder-boxes [i.e. match-boxes]”. He considers these to be a great danger to Venice because anyone could carry a matchbox in his pocket and set the “Arsenal” on fire with a match-stick. So he would suggest to the government that only “known patriots” should be allowed to have match boxes in their houses, “and even those/Sealed [i.e. registered] at some office, and at such a bigness/As might not lurk in pockets”. His other proposal for the state of Venice is a time-saving and economical way to detect any possible infection of plague in a ship coming from another country. In those days a ship was quarantined for forty days and was allowed to enter the port only if no sign of plague appeared in the ship even after that—any infection of plague would develop into a full-blown case of the disease within forty days. Sir Politic says that with the help of onions the infection can be detected in half an hour. He describes the process in detail: a ship would be brought “‘twixt two brick walls”, fresh “onions, cut in halves” would be hung from a tarpaulin, and with the help of water-driven bellows air would be blown from the ship towards the cut onions—onions were supposed to “Attract th’ infection”; so “instantly” a change in their colour would indicate infection, “Or else [the onions would] remain as fair as at the first”.
Carried away by excessive self-importance, Sir politic boasts of his cleverness and abilities, and asserts that if the state of Venice does not appreciate his useful ideas and does not adequately reward him, he could help the enemies conquer Venice:
Were I false,
Or would be made so, I could show you reasons [i.e. proofs] How I could sell this state, now, to the Turk—
This boastful remark of Sir Politic is used by Peregrine to punish him when Lady Would be’s overtures make him suspect the husband’s intention. In a parallel way Volpone’s overconfidence makes him commit the mistake of declaring his own death and signing a will in favour of Mosca, just to tease the legacy-hunters— These acts of Volpone make it possible for Mosca to try to grab his entire wealth, and that in turn forces Volpone to reveal his identity in the court, which leads to his punishment.
Foreshadowing Volpone’s much severe punishment—in keeping with the severity of the harm to virtuous Celia and Bonaio—we have early in Act 5 the mild punishment of Sir Politic as appropriate for his harmless folly. Peregrine enters disguised, and says to Sir politic about himself: “The gentleman you met at th’ port today ... was a spy set on you,/And he has made relation [i.e. reported] to the Senate/That you professed to him to have a plot/To sell the state of Venice to the Turk. For which warrants are signed by this time/To apprehend [i.e. arrest] you.” Some merchants accompanying Peregrine knock at the door and call for Sir Politic. At disguised Peregrine’s suggestion to hide himself, Sir Politic crawls into a large tortoise shell. As the merchants rush in, at Peregrine’s prompting they kick “the
’tortoise”, jump on him, and goad him to make him move. At Peregrine’s suggestion “Good sir, creep!” Sir Politic has to bring out his hands and legs to creep, and then the merchants make fun of this ‘tortoise’: “he has garters!—Ay, and gloves!” At this point Peregrine reveals his identity and says to Sir Politic: “Now, Sir Pol, we are even.” Sir Politic decides “to shun this place and clime forever,/Creeping with house on back, and think it well/To shrink my poor head in my politic shell”, His realizing his mistake foreshadows Volpone’s realisation of his mistake towards the end of the play, while his hiding in a tortoise shell, his creeping like a tortoise, and his description of himself as a tortoise reinforce the elements of the beast fable in the play and show debasement of the human being to the level of animals.
VOLPONE AS A MOUNTEBANK
As Peregrine observes, mountebanks “are quacksalvers [i.e. quacks],/Fellows that live by venting [i.e. selling] oils and drugs”. They are called mountebanks because they would make a temporary small platform in the market place (a bank is a raised space), and mount (i.e. climb on to) that ‘bank’ to describe eloquently the unusual effectiveness of some oil or medicine that they want to sell. (Probably you have seen a similar performance from salesmen selling ‘wonderful’ tooth powder etc. in buses at bus stands.) Volpone assumes the disguise of a mountebank in order to catch a glimpse of Corvino’s beautiful wife Celia; so disguised Mosca and Nano erect a temporary platform for him in the street just outside Corvino’s house. For his performance as a mountebank Volpone assumes the name Scoto of Mantua. (Around the time the play was performed there was in England an actual Italian juggler with that name, and so the use of this name would have amused the audience.)
Volpone performs the role of a mountebank very effectively. In fact here we see his joy in role- playing. To a certain extent the vitality that we see in both Volpone and Mosca is their zest in playing different roles. They are also able to fool others with their assumed roles, Mosca moving from one assumed role to another far more quickly than Volpone (and to that extent Mosca’s self- praise in the opening soliloquy of Act 3 is justified). It is ironical that when Volpone reveals his identity in public towards the end of the play, he loses everything. So also when opportunity makes Mosca show his real nature (his extreme greed and selfishness) to Volpone in Act 5, it leads to his severe punishment.
As a mountebank, Volpone praises very eloquently the virtues of the medicinal oil he is selling, which, he claims, can cure all diseases. In the process he incidentally touches upon two main themes of the play, folly and love of gold. He claims that his oil is so effective because it contains gold; he says that if you have cold or pain in “an arm or shoulder, or any other part, take you a ducat, or your chequin of gold, and apply to the place affected: see, what good effect it can work”. A mountebank usually knows that all his claims are fake; so it is ironical that Volpone actually believes that gold can achieve anything—it is because of this belief of his that in Act 3 he is unable to understand that gold and material wealth have no meaning for virtuous Celia. As a mountebank Volpone admits: “to be a fool born is a disease incurable”; and in spite of all his gold and cunning he ultimately proves to be foolish himself, his folly bringing about his fall.
CELIA AND CORVINO: CORVINO AS A JEALOUS HUSBAND AND AS A MERCHANT WHO CAN SELL ANYTHING FOR PROFIT
In the next scene Corvino is almost mad with anger at his wife Celia’s having come to the window where the mountebank and other men could see her face; “waving his sword”, he says to her: “I should strike/This steel into thee, with as many stabs/As thou wert gazed upon with goatish [i.e. lustful] eyes”. He warns her not to go towards the window again, otherwise his “More wild, remorseless rage shall seize on thee”. Just then there is a knock at his door, and he sternly tells her: “Away, and be not seen, pain of thy life;/Not look toward the window; if thou dost I will make thee an anatomy,/Dissect thee mine own self. While he appears almost like a monster in his jealousy, his behaviour appears far more monstrous when minutes later he becomes ready to make his wife sleep with Volpone; and his conduct is even more horrifying when in Act 3 he forces her towards Volpone’s bed and starts making even more terrible threats when she resists it. This merchant, who cannot tolerate that any other man should even look at his wife’s face, becomes eager to sell her chastity for the hope of being nominated Volpone’s heir. The visitor is Mosca, who says to Corvino that his rivals Voltore and Corbaccio have helped Volpone recover with the help of the oil purchased from the mountebank Scoto of Montua—this is an interesting example of the way Jonson knits together relatively loose ends of the play into the more important parts of the plot. Mosca says that “there they have had,/At extreme fees, the College of Physicians/Consulting on him how they might restore him”, and that the doctors have recommended “That to preserve him was no other means/But some young woman must be straight sought out,/to sleep by him”
He prompts Corvino: “Ha’ you no kinswoman?/Think, think, think, think, think, think, sir./One o’ the doctors offered there his daughter./ ... SigniorLupo, the physician”— ‘Lupo’ means ‘wolf, and it is another instance of elements of the beast fable in the play). Corvino’s comment on this imaginary doctor, “Covetous wretch!”, applies to Corvino himself, because in greed he immediately says to Mosca: “The party ... /Shall be mine own wife”. Corvino’s behaviour becomes disgusting, and his own words become biting satire on his debasement as he says to Mosca: “Go home, prepare him [Volpone], tell him with what zeal/And willingness I do it; swear it was/... /Mine own free motion [i.e. proposal]”. Mosca. Who gets a thrill by complicating the tricks he plays on others, tells Corvino: “But come not, sir,/Until I send, for I have something else/To ripen for your good ...” However, in his eagerness to impress Volpone with this debased act, in Act 3 Corvino reaches Volpone’s house with his wife Celia on his own, and that upsets Mosca’s plans. When Mosca says to him, “Did not I say I would send?”, Corvino replies: “Yes, but I feared/You might forget it, and then they prevent us.” Corvino’s eagerness in this matter makes even the rogue Mosca comment in an ‘Aside’: “Did e’er man haste so for his horns?” a person whose wife was unfaithful to him was called a ‘cuckold’ and was said to have got horns on his head).
Another instance of Corvino’s own words satirising him occurs when Mosca says to Volpone, “Signior Corvino, here, ... is come to offer,/Or rather, sir, to prostitute—”, and Corvino, instead of feeling any embarrassment, says gratefully: “Thanks, sweet
Mosca”. Similarly in Act 4, in the court scene, after falsely describing his chaste wife as “a whore” and himself as a cuckold, Corvino turns to Mosca for approval: “There is no shame in this now, is there?”
BONARIO’S GULLIBILITY
Bonario’s name implies ‘a good person’, but in this play the good persons have their limitations; they are unable to cope with the moral decay and deception around them and prove largely ineffective in ensuring justice—in the end justice gets done only because the evil characters get carried away by their overconfidence and their dominant weaknesses.
When Mosca meets Bonario in the street and greets him, Bonario shows contempt for him for being a parasite. At this Mosca says that his criticism is “inhuman” and he “weeps”. Simpleminded Bonario is moved by these false tears, and says in an ‘aside’: “I do repent me that I was so harsh.” As Mosca insists that only economic necessity compels him to earn his bread through lowly service of a rich man, and that if he has ever done anything base or dishonest “Let me here perish”, Bonario feels “This cannot be a personated [i.e. pretended] passion!” All this shows his gullibility, his being easily fooled by a rogue like Mosca.
Still Bonario cannot quite believe Mosca when he says, “This very hour your father is in purpose/To disinherit you”, and he accepts Mosca’s invitation to go with him where he may overhear his father disowning him as his son.
LADY WOULD-BE AND VOLPONE
While Volpone is impatiently waiting to know whether Mosca has succeeded in persuading Corvino regarding Celia, as a comic anticlimax Lady Would-be comes to visit him. Her manner and behaviour are in complete contrast with Celia’s. Her very harsh scolding of her waiting-women makes Volpone refer to her as a “storm”. Amusingly, she addresses him as if he were an old friend of hers, shortening his name: “How does my Volp?” Sarcastically referring to her loud and harsh voice, he replies: “Troubled with noise, I cannot sleep; I dreamt/That a strange fury entered, now my house,/And, with the dreadful tempest of her breath,/Did cleave my roof asunder”. Without understanding the comment on her, she starts rattling off a number of remedies for disturbed sleep. This makes Volpone remark in an ‘aside’: “Before I feigned [i.e. pretended] diseases, now I have one”; as Jonas A. Barish observes, this is a comic foretaste of Volpone’s final punishment.
Indirectly advising her to become quiet, Volpone says: “The poet [Sophocles, 5th century BC],/As old in time as Plato, and as knowing,/Says that your highest female grace is silence”. However, in her eagerness to make a show of wide reading, she asks, “Which o’ your poets?’’, and starts rattling off the names of well-known contemporary Renaissance writers of Italy.
When Mosca enters, Volpone says to him: “Rid me of this my torture quickly, there,/My madam with the everlasting voice”. When Mosca asks him, “Has she presented?” Volpone says: “Oh, I do not care;/I’ll take her absence upon any price,/With any loss”. As a comic contrast with the other legacy-hunters’ expensive gifts, she has brought for Volpone “A toy, a cap here, of mine own work.” To make
her leave, Mosca tells her a lie: he says he saw her husband “Where yet, if you make haste, you may apprehend him,/Rowing upon the water in a gondole,/With the most cunning courtesan of Venice”. She immediately leaves, and Mosca remarks: “I knew ’twould take [i.e. succeed],/For lightly [i.e. usually], they that use themselves most licence [i.e. excessive liberty, especially in sexual matters],/Are still most jealous”. Lady Would-be trusts Mosca fully and is so driven by jealousy that when in Act 4 she finds her husband talking to Peregrine, she is convinced that this must be the prostitute in the disguise of a man. And when Mosca tells her that this is a man indeed and that the particular prostitute has been arrested and produced before the court, she passionately gives false evidence in the court against Celia whom she had never seen. Blinded by their greed, all the legacyhunters believe Mosca completely, though there is no reason why he should care for any of them.
VOLPONE AS A VILLAIN-HERO
Inhuman Volpone remains unmoved by this appeal of Celia to the “man” in him, and tries to assault her: “Yield, or I’ll force thee. (He seizes her.).” This brutality of Volpone makes him a villain and totally alienates the spectators and readers from him.
For a tragic figure there is some empathy, but in case of Volpone even when we admire his cunning in fooling those who are trying to fool him or when we appreciate his eloquence or his skill in role-playing, we never feel any empathy for him—partly because of his moral inversion noticed even in the opening speech of the play, and partly because he remains entirely materialistic in his attitude (concerned only with wealth and pleasure). His stature is further diminished by his helpless despair when Bonario saves Celia and his sinfulness is exposed.
Volpone is the central figure of the play and is its ‘hero’ in that sense, but his villainlike acts make him a villain-hero, a kind of protagonist found in several Renaissance plays such as Shakespeare’s early history play Richard III and his later tragedy Macbeth.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. Volpone is the protagonist of the play. Justify.
Q2. For his performance  as a  mountebank Volpone assumes the
name...................................
Q3. Write a note on Bonario’s gullibility.

18.5    SUMMARY
The subplot consists of conversations and interaction of Sir Politic and Peregrine in the beginning of Acts 2, 4 and 5. Sir Politic is obviously foolish but considers himself to be politic or worldly-wise, and so becomes amusing in his statements and assertions of cleverness. The subplot has hardly anything to do with the action of the main plot; however the theme of folly is common to both plots, as Volpone also, in spite of all his cunning, ultimately proves to be foolish. Sir Politic appears like a comic parody of Volpone when he claims in Act 4 that if he finds a person whom he likes he will make him very rich with the help of certain ‘projects’. His mild
punishment early in Act 5 foreshadows the much severe punishment of Volpone towards the end of the play. Lighthearted humour arising from harmless folly of Sir Politic in the subplot makes the more grim satire of the main plot bearable, and also makes the darker social reality of the main plot more striking. Peregrine, whose name refers to a kind of hawk, is quite perceptive, but gets so carried away by his confidence in his ability to see through pretences that he misjudges Sir Politic’s intentions when his wife makes overtures.
In order to have a glimpse of Corvino’s beautiful wife, Celia, Volpone in disguise performs the role of a mountebank effectively just outside the house of Corvino. He offers a free gift to the first buyer of his medicinal oil which, he claims, can cure all diseases, and asks the buyers to throw their handkerchiefs. As Corvino’s wife Celia comes to the window of the house and drops her handkerchief, Volpone looks up and sees her. Just then Corvino enters, and in anger beats him away. The sight of Celia’s face so inflames Volpone’s desire that he asks Mosca to arrange her company at any cost.
Corvino, the merchant, is a jealous husband who threatens his wife Celia with dire physical torture if she ever again even goes towards the window. However, this merchant becomes eager to make his wife sleep with Volpone in the hope of being named his heir, when Mosca falsely says to him that the doctors called by Corobaccio and Voltore have recommended that a young woman should be made to sleep with Volpone to help him recover.Mosca’s success in this matter thrills him with overconfidence, and he unnecessarily complicates matters by inviting Corbaccio’s son Bonario to come with him to Volpone’s house where he may overhear his father Cobaccio disowning him and making Volpone his heir.While Volpone waits for news about Celia, as a kind of comic punishment he is visited by Lady Would-be whose constant talking becomes a torment for him. When Mosca returns, he makes her leave by saying to her falsely that her husband was in the company of a courtesan. Though she herself would do anything for gaining Volpone’s wealth, she is so jealous about her husband, that she rushes out and on seeing him in the company of Peregrine, assumes that young man to be a prostitute in disguise; and when Mosca tells her that the prostitute has been produced in the court, she rushes there and angrily starts condemning Celia whom she had never even seen earlier. Her angry manner because of her jealousy convinces the judges wrongly that she is speaking the truth.Mosca hides Bonario from where he may overhear his father disowning him; but before Corbaccio’s arrival Corvino brings his wife Celia there; so Mosca asks Bonario to go to the gallery where in the far end there are books to pass time. The merchant Corvino asks his chaste wife Celia to “respect [his] venture” and sleep with Volpone for her husband’s profit. The extreme debasement of Corvino is highlighted when Mosca says to Volpone that Gorvino “is come to offer,/Or rather, sir, to prostitute [his wife]—” and Corvino says: “Thanks, sweet Mosca.” At Celia’s persistent refusal to go to Volpone’s bed, Corvino starts threatening her with dire physical torture and public humiliation. At Mosca’s suggestion he leaves her alone with Volpone.While Celia values virtue, innocence and honour above everything else, Volpone (like Corvino) lives entirely on the physical plane. He says to Celia that she has “in place of a base husband found/A worthy lover”; but his idea of love is purely physical as
he invites her to enjoy “the sports of love” in secrecy. He offers her use of his wealth for expensive ornaments, dresses, and delicacies of food. However, these “sensual baits” have no meaning for Celia; she appeals to the human element in him and requests him to let her go with her honour; she says that he may destroy the beauty of her face and hands etc. which has provoked his sinful desire, but if he still lets her go with her honour she will always pray for his well-being, “Report, and think you virtuous.” However, inhuman Volpone remains unmoved by this pathetic appeal of a helpless virtuous woman, and “seizes her”—this act alienates the spectators and readers from him and makes him appear like a villain. As Celia cries for help, “O! just God!”, Bonario “leaps out from where Mosca had placed him,” draws his sword and saves her.Volpone becomes desperate at having been exposed: “I am unmasked, unspirited, undone,/Betrayed to beggary, to infamy—”. For a short while even Mosca loses hope; as he enters, “wounded [by Bonario] and bleeding”, he suggests to Volpone that it would be appropriate for them to commit suicide. However, he soon recovers, and when there is a knock at the door, he advises Volpone to lie in bed as if critically ill. The visitor is Corbaccio, and Mosca starts spinning false stories to save himself and Volpone. He convinces Corbaccio that his son had come there to kill him. And when the advocate Voltore overhears him assuring Corbaccio, “I am only yours”, Mosca succeeds in convincing him that he has fooled Corbaccio so that Voltore may inherit the wealth of both Corbaccio and Volpone. He says to Voltore that Bonario has taken Celia to the court, forcing her to accuse Volpone of rape. Voltore sets about preparing the case to defend Volpone, because otherwise his own hope of inheriting Volpone’s wealth would be defeated. Greed makes these legacy-hunters believe Mosca blindly, and drives them to indulge in all kinds of wrong acts and statements which come close to destroying the lives of virtuous Celia and Bonario, as the court believes the false pleading and false evidence in Act 4 and again in Act 5.

18.6    GLOSSARY

•    Gullibility- Acceptance, unwariness.

•    Interact- Intermingle.

18.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. The conversations and interaction of Sir Politic and Peregrine
Ans 2. No
Ans 3. ‘Foreign’ or ‘From Abroad’
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. Volpone is the central figure of the play and is its ‘hero’ in that sense, but his villain-like acts make him a villain-hero, a kind of protagonist found in several Renaissance plays such as Shakespeare’s early history play Richard III and his later tragedy Macbeth.
Ans 2. Scoto of Mantua
Ans 3. Bonario’s name implies ‘a good person’, but in this play the good persons
have their limitations; they are unable to cope with the moral decay and deception around them and prove largely ineffective in ensuring justice—in the end justice gets done only because the evil characters get carried away by their overconfidence and their dominant weaknesses.

18.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Bamborough, J.B. Ben Jonson. London: Hutchinson University Library,
1970.
Note- Has a very useful discussion of Volpone on pages 82-91.

•    Barish, Jonas A. Ed. Jonson- Volpone: A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Note- The Introduction and Barish’s essay on Plot Structure, The Double Plot in Volpone (1953), on pages 100-117, are especially useful. Barish’s Essay on Plot is also reprinted in the Twentieth Century Views volume on Ben Jonson mentioned below.

•   ---. “Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays.” Twentieth Century Views.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on Jonson in general, esp. T.S. Eliot’s essay “Ben Jonson” (1919), and some critical essays on Volpone, including Barish’s Essay on its Plot structure mentioned above.

18.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the significance of the subplot in the play Volpone.

2.    Comment on the dramatic significance of the Mountebank Scene.

3.    Discuss Mosca’s soliloquy at the beginning of Act 3.

4.    Comment on Volpone’s wooing of Celia.
Unit-19 VOLPONE: MAIN ASPECTS-I
Structure

19.1    Introduction

19.2    Learning Objectives

19.3    Major Facets of Volpone-I
Self Check Exercise-1

19.4    Summary

19.5    Glossary

19.6    Answers to Self Check Exercise

19.7    References/Suggested Readings

19.8    Terminal Questions

19.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit takes you through the action of the main plot in the last two acts of the play, and brings out how Jonson presents a rather dark picture of society where even the judges are easily fooled by false pleading and false evidence, and show undue respect to rich persons. Usually even in satiric comedies at the end power passes into the hands of good persons, but in this play power remains with the magistrates who love wealth as much as the rogues who get punished. Virtuous persons not only remain ineffective but are declared to be monstrous criminals, and happen to be saved at the end only because of excessive greed of Mosca who tries to grab the entire wealth of Volpone while he is still alive and does not accept Volpone’s offer of half his wealth. Even though justice is done at the end, the spirit of the play at the end is not festive; there is only a sense of relief that the villains, who were passionately and ruthlessly pursuing their selfish goals, are defeated and punished.

19.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate how Jonson combines amusement with bitter satire as the villainous characters of the main plot passionately pursue their self-centred desires for money and pleasure, etc. It also seeks to help you see the pattern of themes and overall structure of the action of the play.

19.3    MAJOR FACETS OF VOLPONE-ITHE COURT SCENE IN ACT 4: TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
The court scenes in Acts 4 and 5 offer a biting satire on the way courts function. In this play the magistrates, trying the case in the “Scrutineo, or Senate House”, are unable to sift truth from falsehood and rely only on witnesses’ statements which are accepted as correct if consistent. Mosca manages a totally false but consistent defence by exploiting the greed of the legacy-hunters as well as their respective weaknesses, e.g., Lady Would-be’s jealousy, Corvino’s fear of being shamed in public if it is accepted by the court that he was forcing his chaste wife to sleep with Volpone, and Corbaccio’s anger at his son’s supposed attempt to murder him— interestingly Cobaccio’s fierce anger and Lady Would-be’s furious jealousy both
result from their believing Mosca’s false statements about Bonario and Sir Would-be respectively. Justice is subverted as the magistrates depend on the false witnesses and not only exonerate Volpone but also order arrest of innocent Celia and Bonario as monstrous criminals, because they cannot produce any witnesses to support their allegations: “Take ’em to custody, and sever them [i.e. keep them in separate cells, lest the ‘dreaded criminals’ should together plan escape from jail]”. Even though in the beginning the magistrates are convinced about the virtuousness of both Celia and Bonario, the false pleading and false evidence make them describe these virtuous persons as “prodigies” or monsters: “’Tis pity two such prodigies should live’’.
MOSCA'S ROLE
When Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino, and Mosca enter the Senate House where the trial is to be held, Voltore has already explained to Corbaccio and Corvino what they should say in the court, and now tells them: “Your constancy is all that is required,/Unto the safety of it”. To emphasise the satire, Jonson makes Mosca say: “Is the lie/Safely conveyed amongst us?” Together the words of Voltore and Mosca here (“constancy”, “the lie”) provide an interesting comment on the way cases are presented and judged in courts even today, false witnesses being believed by the court if their versions remain consistent with the version given by other witnesses— in this play Lady Would-be’s angry denunciation of Celia as a prostitute fits in with Corvino’s description of his wife as “a whore”, and so also Corbaccio’s anger towards his son supports the advocate Voltore’s description of Bonario as an immoral person, and for this reason the Avocatori or the magistrates accept the totally false defence.
Mosca’s cunning manipulation of three legacy-hunters, Corvino, Voltore and Corbaccio, is remarkable in the way within a few lines he succeeds in assuring each one of them that all this false defence is only for his benefit and that the other two are foolishly helping him: “Sir, only you/Are he that shall enjoy the crop of all,/And these not know for whom they toil”.
THE MAGISTRATES' INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
When the Avocatori or the magistrates enter, commenting on the allegations levelled by Bonario and Celia against Volpone, Corbaccio and Corvino, they are convinced about the moral uprightness of Celia and Bonario and describe the conduct of their opponents as “unnatural” and morally wicked:
4th Avocatore: The gentlewoman [Celia] has been ever held of unreproved name.
3rd Avocatore: So the young man.
4th Avocatore: The more unnatural part that of his father.
2nd Avocatore: More of the husband.
4th Avocatore: But the impostor [i.e. a person who pretends to be different from what he is, in order to deceive others], he is a thing created ‘T’ exceed example. 1st Avocatore: And all after-times!
2nd Avocatore: I never heard a true voluptuary [i.e. a person who pursues and enjoys sensual pleasure] Described but him.
So it is all the more disturbing when a little later these magistrates are so influenced by false pleading and false ‘evidence’ that they reverse their opinion
WHY THE PLAY IS ARTISTICALLY INCOMPLETE AT THE END OF ACT 4
Sometimes it is said that the punishment of most of the characters of the main plot in Act 5 is contrary to the spirit of comedy, and that the play reaches artistic completeness at the end of Act 4. However, the judgement of the court towards the end of Act 4, holding the innocent persons guilty and throwing them into jail, is so revolting that the play would be artistically incomplete if it were to end there. Not only our moral sense, but the needs of artistic completeness require that the fast pace of Mosca and Volpone’s cunning tricks should reach its logical culmination in some kind of justice resulting from their own mistakes because of their overconfidence arising from unexpected success in fooling the court. Events of Act 5, therefore, give artistic completeness to this satiric comedy by showing evil characters getting duly punished because of the conscious acts of the most cunning of them, Volpone and Mosca.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. What witnesses do Bonario and Celia mention in support of their allegations?
Q2. According to Bonario, what matters in the courts?
Q3. The court scenes in Acts 4 and 5 offer a biting satire on the way courts function. (True/False)
Q4. Name the most cunning characters of the play.
Q5. “Your constancy is all that is required,/Unto the safety of it”. Who said these words and to whom?

19.4    SUMMARY
The court scenes in Acts 4 and 5 show distortion of justice, as the Avocatori or magistrates are unable to sift truth from falsehood, and believe the false pleading of the advocate Voltore because it is supported by the false statements of the other legacy-hunters as witnesses. Mosca manages a totally falsebut consistent defence (“So rare a music out of discords”) by exploiting the greed of the legacy-hunters as well as their respective weaknesses, e.g., Lady Would-be’s jealousy, Corvino’s fear of being shamed in public if it is accepted by the court that he was forcing his chaste wife to sleep with Volpone, and Corbaccio’s anger at his son’s supposed attempt to murder him. Celia and Bonario are not only disbelieved by the court as they cannot produce any witnesses to support their allegations, they are held to be guilty and thrown into jail, because with the help of false witnesses Voltore convinces the magistrates that these two have been having an illicit affair and have accused Volpone falsely to get nullified Corbaccio’s will in favour of Volpone. The sentencing is to done later in the day.Volpone, who is brought on a stretcher to the court in Act 4, is unnerved by the experience, and in Act 5 tries to regain confidence by playing some cunning trick of villainy to have “a rare meal of laughter”. Mosca says that their success in fooling the court is their “masterpiece;/We cannot think to go beyond this.” However, Volpone goes ahead to have his own death announced
in the streets, and signs a will in favour of Mosca, so that when the legacy-hunters come there with hope of having inherited Volpone’s wealth, Mosca may show them the will and treat them with contempt. Mosca’s greed is wakened and so he supports the idea. Volpone enjoys the frustration of legacy- hunters on finding that Mosca is the heir. To tease the legacy- hunters in the streets for fun, Volpone goes out disguised as a commandatore or officer. Mosca takes the keys of Volpone’s treasure from his trusted servants and decides to cheat him of his wealth. Disappointment wakens Voltore’s conscience and, when the court reassembles for sentencing the guilty, he submits a written statement that he had pleaded falsely in the morning and that Bonario and Celia are innocent. Volpone realizes how his desire for fun has landed him in trouble. He assures Voltore that Volpone is alive and he (Voltore) is likely to be his heir. Voltore pretends as if he has been possessed by a devil and disowns the confessional statement. As Mosca comes to the court, the judges show undue respect to him for the wealth he is supposed to have inherited on Volpone’s assumed death, and one of them thinks of making him his son-in-law. Mosca asks Volpone for half his wealth in return for helping him. Shocked Volpone refuses, but a moment later agrees to give him what he has demanded. By now Mosca gets so carried away by greed that he refuses that offer of Volpone and protests to the court against the misbehaviour of the officer (who is Volpone is disguise). As the court orders that he should be whipped, Volpone realizes that if he remains quiet now he will lose all his wealth and also be punished with whipping; so he decides to confess, because even then the consequences would be the same for himself but Mosca would not able to benefit from his wealth. So Volpone throws off his disguise and mentions the guilt of all the wrongdoers. The innocent Celia and Bonario are set free, and each guilty person is appropriately punished. Poetic justice at the end is pleasing, but the guilty get punished only because of Volpone’s and Mosca’s own weaknesses and headlong speed. The total inability of the judges to see through deception, and their respect for wealth are disturbing elements; as these judges continue to be in position, there is no hope of society becoming better, and that grim reality qualifies the joy at due punishments to the evildoers.

19.5    GLOSSARY

•    Affirm- Confirm.

•    Deception- Trick, sham.

•    Whipped- Thrashed, beaten.

19.6    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. Their consciences and heaven
Ans 2. Multitude and clamor, that is, a large number of witnesses loudly affirming their statements, though these may be entirely false
Ans 3. True
Ans 4. Volpone and Mosca
Ans 5. Voltore to Corbaccio and Corvino

19.7    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Bamborough, J.B. Ben Jonson. London: Hutchinson University Library,
1970.
Note- Has a very useful discussion of Volpone on pages 82-91.

•    Barish, Jonas A. Ed. Jonson- Volpone: A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Note- The Introduction and Barish’s essay on Plot Structure, The Double Plot in Volpone (1953), on pages 100-117, are especially useful. Barish’s Essay on Plot is also reprinted in the Twentieth Century Views volume on Ben Jonson mentioned below.

•   ---. “Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays.” Twentieth Century Views.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on Jonson in general, esp. T.S. Eliot’s essay “Ben Jonson” (1919), and some critical essays on Volpone, including Barish’s Essay on its Plot structure mentioned above.

19.8    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Is the view of society presented in Volpone too grim for a comedy?

2.    Discuss the distortions in the judicial system as presented in the play Volpone. How does justice get done in the end (because of the efficiency of the judges or the weaknesses of the evil characters themselves)? Do the turns and twists in the action in Acts 4 and 5 suggest that justice is always done?

3.    Write a detailed note on the ending of the play.
Unit-20 VOLPONE: MAIN ASPECTS-II
Structure

20.1    Introduction

20.2    Learning Objectives

20.3    Major Facets of Volpone-II
Self Check Exercise-1

20.4    Major Facets of Volpone-III
Self Check Exercise-2

20.5    Summary

20.6    Glossary

20.7    Answers to Self Check Exercise

20.8    References/Suggested Readings

20.9    Terminal Questions

20.1    INTRODUCTION
This unit discusses the dramatic significance of the fifth act, and brings out how, in spite of some features partly like the pattern of action in a tragedy, this play is not at all tragic but is a comedy, though a rather grim comedy. It also examines the pattern of themes in the play and brings out the overpowering tendencies in the minds of Volpone and Mosca which ultimately lead to their deserved punishment: both of them enjoy role-playing, and at times get so carried away by their success in fooling others or by their overconfidence in their approach to the situation in which they happen to be, that they make mistakes which complicate matters for them and ultimately bring about their fall.

20.2    LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This unit aims at helping you appreciate how Jonson combines amusement with bitter satire as the villainous characters of the main plot passionately pursue their self-centred desires for money and pleasure, etc. It also seeks to help you see the pattern of themes and overall structure of the action of the play.

20.3    MAJOR FACETS OF VOLPONE-IIVOLPONE'S DEPENDENCE ON THRILLS, AND HIS FATAL MISTAKE
While the legacy-hunters are controlled and driven by the ‘humour’ (or overpowering tendency) of greed, Volpone and Mosca are more complex characters. Greed overwhelms Mosca in the last Act and clouds his judgement, causing his undoing; however, before that he is driven mainly by the desire to have fun by fooling others in as comprehensive and complicated a way as possible, and he thoroughly enjoys role-playing in this process. Volpone worships gold as we see in the opening speech; he pursues sensual pleasure as a voluptuary; he also enjoys playing different roles in disguise; but his overpowering weakness is his need for thrills, and this leads him to make a fatal mistake in signing a will in favour of Mosca and getting it announced that he himself has died—in his eagerness to have fun by observing the dejection of disappointed legacy-hunters, Volpone
forgets his own view (expressed in the opening speech of the play) that gold is “The price of souls”, “far transcending/All style of joy in children, parents, friends” and places in Mosca’s hands an opportunity to grab all his wealth when Mosca is not even his friend.
VOLPONE NOT AT ALL A TRAGIC FIGURE
In a tragedy a protagonist suffers because of some great error of judgement, usually resulting from some limitation of his/her temperament; often this weakness is hubris or excessive pride. Volpone and Mosca both fall because of their own errors of judgement resulting partly from their overconfidence and partly from their respective overpowering tendencies—compulsive desire for more and more thrills in case of Volpone, and excessive greed in case of Mosca (when he turns down Volpone’s offer of half his wealth. They are also much above average in their unusual cunning. Yet neither of them is a tragic figure. A tragic protagonist evokes empathy as we see him or her as a human being like us, but Volpone and Mosca are hardly human, and we feel no empathy for them even as we admire their fooling those who try to fool them. Also, tragic figures’ suffering is far greater than what their mistakes or wrong acts deserve; but Volpone and Mosca (as also the legacy-hunters) fully deserve their respective punishments—as such there is nothing tragic about the punishments, which represent poetic justice in keeping with the spirit of comedy. Further, in a tragedy the protagonist’s suffering is intense and prolonged; and he/she rises to greater dignity in the process of facing and accepting suffering—none of these factors is seen in this play. Volpone is calm when, on being cornered, he reveals his identity in the court and when he accepts his punishment (“This is called mortifying [i.e. humbling] of a Fox”— however, his suffering is not tragic, and we feel no empathy for him even as we appreciate his calm manner at this point.
THE FOX-TRAP
As soon as Volpone goes out disguised as a commendatore, Mosca expresses his thoughts about exploiting Volpone’s mistakes for his own advantage:
My fox
Is out on his hole, and ere he shall re-enter,
I’ll make him languish [i.e. remain powerless] in his borrowed case [i.e. disguise], Except he come to composition [i.e. settlement] with me.
Then he calls the three trusted servants of Volpone, Androgyno, Castrone, and Nano, takes the keys of Volpone’s treasure from them, and asks them to go out and have fun. Then, alone on the stage, he describes clearly his own intention and Volpone’s folly even in the use of cunning:
So, now I have the keys and am possessed [i.e. in possession of Volpone’s wealth]. Since he will needs be dead afore his time,
I’ll bury him [i.e. insist that he is dead], or gain by him. I’m his heir, And so will keep me, till he share at least.
To cozen [i.e. cheat] him of all were but a cheat
Well placed; no man would construe [i.e. consider] it a sin. Let his sport pay
for’t. This is called the fox-trap.
For a while disguised Volpone enjoys teasing the legacy-hunters in the streets. There is dramatic irony when he says to Corbaccio with mock-sympathy that something in Mosca’s looks indicted that he would ruin a ‘clarissimd or noble while Volpone is referring to the ruin of Corbaccio, actually Mosca is planning the ruin of Volpone himself. Volpone makes use of the beast fable when he says to Corvino whose name means ‘crow’: “you ... the fine bird Corvino,/That have such moral emblems on your name,/Should not have sung your shame, and dropped your cheese,/To let the Fox laugh at your emptiness”. There is unconscious irony when Volpone says to Voltore, “’tis fit/That wealth and wisdom still [i.e. always] should go together”; Volpone himself is going to lose his wealth precisely because of his lack of wisdom in having signed the will in favour of Mosca and having declared himself dead.
Volpone first realizes his folly when he goes to the court in disguise and finds that the advocate Voltore is seeking pardon of the court for having pleaded the case falsely against the “innocents” (Celia and Bonario) earlier in the day. In an ‘aside’ Volpone says: “I’m caught/I’ my own noose”. When Voltore says that the “parasite,/That knave has been the instrument of all”, and the court orders that he be brought there, Volpone, disguised as a commendatore or officer, goes out to fetch Mosca. Alone on the street, he criticizes himself:
To make a snare for mine own neck! And run my head into it willfully, with laughter!
When I had newly ’scaped, was free and clear! Out of mere wantonness!
Just then he meets his servants who tell him that Mosca had taken the keys from them and sent them all out to “go play”; now he realizes the extent of damage caused by his compulsive desire to have fun:
Did Master Mosca take the keys? Why, so!
I am farther in. These are my fine conceits [i.e. ideas]! I must be merry, with a mischief to me!
What a vile wretch was I, that could not bear my fortune soberly ………
Volpone still has a faint hope—”His [Mosca’s] meaning may be truer than my fear”—and asks the servants to tell Mosca to come to the court. He thinks of persuading the advocate to again change his stand “upon new hopes” and observes: “When I provoked him, then I lost myself.”
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Q1. Is Volpone a tragic figure?
Q2. Volpone himself is going to lose his wealth precisely because of........................................................
Q3. Name the three trusted servants of Volpone.

20.4    MAJOR FACETS OF VOLPONE-IIITHE COURT SCENES IN ACT 5; THE FLAWED APPROACH OF THE JUDGES
Towards the end of the play two scenes are set in the court. Here also the judges remain incapable of judging rightly. Ultimately truth comes out and justice is done,
but not because of the judges. Jonson satirises the judges not only because they lack perception, but also because they attach value to money—they show undue respect to Mosca when they think that he has inherited Volpone’s title and wealth, and one of them considers him “A fit match” for his daughter. At the end of the play these money-worshipping judges continue to be in control; so the play does not offer hope of a better society in future. For this reason the ending of the play is not very cheerful, even as the villainous characters get punished.
When the court reassembles in Act 5 to sentence Bonario and Celia, the advocate Voltore seeks forgiveness of the court and of “these innocents ... Whom equally/I have abused, out of most covetous ends”. Corvino fears that his highly disgusting behaviour towards his wife will get exposed, so he insists that Voltore “is mad! ... He is possessed” by some evil spirit. Voltore asserts: “It is ... only conscience, conscience, my good sires,/That makes me now tell truth. That parasite [Mosca],/That knave, hath been the instrument of all”. As the Avocatori say, “Where is that knave? Fetch him,” Volpone, disguised as a commendatore or officer, says, “I go,” and leaves. Corvino tries to discredit Voltore by saying that he is jealous of Mosca who has inherited Volpone’s wealth, frustrating his (Voltore’s) own hope “to be old Volpone’s heir,/Who now is dead”. The moment the judges learn that Volpone is dead and the “knave”, “the parasite” Mosca is the heir, they feel they should treat him with respect because of his inherited wealth, even though he may have been guilty of misleading the court with false evidence. Fourth Avocatore says, “We have done ill, by a public officer/To send for him, if he be heir,” and third Avocatore agrees, “’Tis true,/He is a man of great estate now left” , as if wealth could condone a serious crime. When disguised Volpone returns to the court, he “whispers” to Voltore: “Sir, the parasite/Willed me to tell you that his master lives;/That you are still the man; your hopes the same;/And this was only a jest ... to try/If you were firm ...”. The renewed hope of becoming Volpone’s heir makes Voltore forget his conscience, and as prompted by disguised Volpone he falls down and pretends to be possessed. Volpone carries on a running commentary on the supposed effects of being possessed by a devil, and then exclaims that the devil is flying out of Voltore “In shape of a blue toad, with a bat’s wings!” Corbaccio, who has very poor eyesight, and Corvino both claim that they see it. As Voltore pretends to become normal again, the judges ask him about his written statement; he replies that the handwriting is his, “But all that it contains is false”, and also says that neither the parasite nor “his good patron, old Volpone” is guilty; he also insists that Volpone is alive. It is odd that the judges keep changing their assessment of the matter in accordance with the changing statements of this advocate, Voltore, without suspecting anything. As Mosca enters dressed like a clarissimo (i.e. like a noble of Venice), fourth Avocatore says, “make him way”, and third Avocatore says, “A stool!” No person appearing in a court during a trial is allowed to sit down, but these judges are making an exception in case of Mosca because of the wealth he might have inherited. Fourth Avocatore thinks about him: “A proper man and, were Volpone dead,/A fit match for my daughter”. When Mosca ignores disguised Volpone’s direction that he should tell the court that he (Volpone) is alive and instead goes on to talk about preparations for the funeral of his patron, fourth Avocatore says in an ‘aside’: “It is a match, my daughter is bestowed”. The turns
and twists in the trial leave the judges in a daze, who are unable to sift truth from falsehood. Second Avocatore remarks, “Still stranger!/More intricate!” and first Avocatore says, “And come about again” not realizing that deception is becoming triumphant again and again in this trial.
MOSCA'S EXCESSIVE GREED
Mosca asks Volpone “aside”, “Will you gi’ me half?” Volpone is shocked by this demand of Mosca, and his first reaction is “First I’ll be hanged” However, he soon realizes that he will lose everything if Mosca keeps insisting in the court that he (Volpone) has died; so just four lines later he accepts Mosca’s demand and says to him: “Thou shalt have half By now Mosca has become so blind with greed that he complains to the court about an ordinary officer’s misbehavior towards a rich man like him (“Whose drunkard is this same?”), and says to Volpone, “I cannot now/Afford it you so cheap,” As the disguised Volpone himself tells the court that “he [Volpone] lives with mine own life,/And that this creature [i.e. Mosca] told me”, Mosca expresses his annoyance at this “insolence” of an ordinary court officer referring to him as a “creature”. The judges who are treating Mosca with undue respect for being rich, order that this rude commendatore (disguisedVolpone) be whipped by way of punishment. As other “officers seize [disguised] Volpone, Mosca in his overconfidence thanks the judges: “I humbly thank your fatherhoods”. This impels Volpone to reveal himself in the court, and then justice is done, innocent Celia and Bonario being freed and the villains duly sentenced.However, gross injustice would have triumphed if Volpone had immediately accepted Mosca’s demand for half his wealth, or if half a minute later Mosca had accepted Volpone’s offer to give him what he had demanded. Of course, the reactions of both are in keeping with their natures and the state of their minds at particular moments— though Volpone had started suspecting Mosca’s intentions when he learnt that Mosca had taken the keys from the trusted servants, yet Mosca’s outright demand for half his wealth makes him so angry that he does not immediately accept it; and by the time he does accept the demand, Mosca gets so carried away by his hope of grabbing all the wealth of Volpone, that he does not realize that if Volpone were to lose everything he would certainly not let Mosca enjoy his wealth. So it is the natures of these cunning rogues that ultimately lead to their exposure and punishment. At the end of the play, by way of summing up, 1st Avocatore observes: “Mischiefs feed/Like beasts, till they be fat, and then they bleed” (SI: animals reared for meat are fed well, but as soon as they are quite fat, they are killed; similarly, wicked people keep succeeding for some time in their villainy, but as they get carried away by their successes, in overconfidence they make mistakes which bring about their downfall). However, the incompetence of the judges is disturbing who are not able to see through deception at any stage. Also there is a feeling that in this play the innocent persons are saved from punishment by the skin of their teeth and that in real life there may not be such poetic justice. This grim awareness modifies the joy at the just punishments to the guilty, and that is why the ending of this comedy is not quite festive.
THE PUNISHMENTS IN THE NATURE OF POETIC JUSTICE IN KEEPING WITH
THE SPIRIT OF COMEDY
After confessing, Volpone calmly says to the judges: “since we all can hope/Nought but a sentence, let’s not now despair it”, first Avocatore observes, “The knot is undone by miracle!” and orders that Celia and Bonario be given “their liberty” Corvino and Voltore “beg favour”, while Celia requests, “And mercy” still caring for her wicked husband. First Avocatore tells her, “You hurt your innocence, suing for the guilty” and goes on to pronounce appropriate sentences for the guilty, which, being just, are in keeping with the spirit of comedy.
For Mosca, who has “been the chiefest minister, if not plotter” of the base deceptions, and who has “abused” the court by coming there in the dress of a noble to which he had no right, the “sentence is, first thou be whipped;/Then live perpetual prisoner in our galleys”.
For Volpone the “judgement ... /Is that thy substance [i.e. wealth] all be straight confiscate/To the hospital for the Incurabill and he is “to lie in prison” in chains till he actually gets the diseases he has been pretending to have to deceive others, “Till thou be’st sick and lame indeed”. He accepts this punishment coolly and says: “This is called the mortifying [i.e. humbling] of a Fox”; however, this does not give him the dignity of a tragic figure; and his describing himself as a fox keeps this remark amusing, in line with the spirit of satiric comedy.
Voltore is “banished from ... fellowship [of advocates], and our state”. Cobaccio’s wealth is handed over to his son and he is sent to a monastery where he will be taught “to die well”. Corvino is to be “rowed/Round about Venice, through the Grand Canal [Venice has canals in place of streets], wearing a cap with long ass’s ears,” and so to be pilloried with a paper pinned to his breast, describing his evil doings: “And to expiate/Thy wrongs done to thy wife, thou are to send her/Home to her father, with her dowry trebled’’.
All these punishments, being duly deserved, are in the nature of poetic justice appropriate for a comedy and give the play artistic completeness.
THE EPILOGUE
As all others go out, the actor playing Volpone “comes forward” and in a brief epilogue justifiably appeals to the spectators to express their appreciation if they have enjoyed the play: “fare jovially, and clap.” And when you finish reading the play you will find the ending lively in spite of the rather grim developments in Acts 3 and 4, and in spite of the biting satire directed at gold-worshipping persons from different spheres of society, because all the evildoers are appropriately punished at the end.
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Q1. Why does Volpone decide to reveal his identity in the court and confess?
Q2.     When     the     court     reassembles     in     Act     5     to
sentence................................................the advocate Voltore seeks forgiveness of
the court.
Q3. Corbaccio has very poor eyesight. (True/False)

20.5    SUMMARY
Jonson's characters reflect his theory of the "comedy of humours' that has its roots in the classical comedies of Plautus and Terence in which characters are portrayed and identified as 'types' through distinct, predominant traits of speech, thought or action.
The term 'humour' originated from ancient Greek and Roman medicine and philosophy and signified the four major bodily fluids - blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile - which were believed to correspond to the four elements (air, water, fire, earth) and determine the personality type and the physical and mental well being of an individual.
In Volpone, each of the main characters is portrayed as being guided by a predominant trait that is symbolically suggested through his name: thus, Volpone is cunning and capricious like a fox in everything he says and does, Mosca is parasitic like a fly that leeches off the very source of his sustenance, the three fortune hunters Voltore, Corvino andCorbaccio are (respectively) like a vulture, a crow and a raven, all birds of prey. The fact that Jonson chooses to liken these characters to animals fairly common in beast fables suggests that their actions are meant to be allegorical. The greed and unscrupulous ambition that drives each of these characters may be considered to be indicative of the general atmosphere of early seventeenth century London, where mammon-worship and fortune hunting were the rule of the day.
The titular character, Volpone represents the excesses that Jonson perceived as characterizing the London society of his times. Volpone is a devious man who loves indulging in sensual pleasures but hates the idea of working hard to earn his livelihood.
Mosca is in some ways a perfect embodiment of the avarice and deceit that seem to be endemic to the society he inhabits. Though he appears to be obsequious and faithful towards his master at the beginning, he finally turns out to be just as conniving and opportunistic as anyone else in the play.
The fortune hunters are all characterized satirically: Voltore's fondness for legal tricks backfires on him, Corbaccio's physical decrepitude reflects his moral malaise and makes his hope of outliving Volpone ridiculous, Corvino's overprotective jealousy concerning his wife is revealed as shockingly hypocritical in the light of his willingness to trade her off for money.

20.6    GLOSSARY

•    Travesty- A distorted from of something.

•    Voluptuary- A person devoted to pursuing and enjoying sensual pleasure.

20.7    ANSWERS TO SELF CHECK EXERCISESELF CHECK EXERCISE-1
Ans 1. No, in a tragedy the protagonist’s suffering is intense and prolonged; and he/she rises to greater dignity in the process of facing and accepting suffering— none of these factors is seen in this play with Volpone.
Ans 2. His lack of wisdom in having signed the will in favour of Mosca and having declared himself dead.
Ans 3. Androgyno, Castrone, and Nano
SELF CHECK EXERCISE-2
Ans 1. He realizes that even if does not confess he will lose all his wealth and suffer physical pain as punishment, while Mosca will get his wealth and status in society. By confessing he can at least prevent Mosca from possessing his wealth and benefiting from it.
Ans 2. Bonario and Celia
Ans 3. True

20.8    REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READINGS

•    Bamborough, J.B. Ben Jonson. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1970.
Note- Has a very useful discussion of Volpone on pages 82-91.

•    Barish, Jonas A. Ed. Jonson- Volpone: A Casebook. London: Macmillan, 1972.
Note- The Introduction and Barish’s essay on Plot Structure, The Double Plot in Volpone (1953), on pages 100-117, are especially useful. Barish’s Essay on Plot is also reprinted in the Twentieth Century Views volume on Ben Jonson mentioned below.

•   ---. “Ben Jonson: A Collection of Critical Essays.” Twentieth Century Views.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Note- Reprints some useful criticism on Jonson in general, esp. T.S. Eliot’s essay “Ben Jonson” (1919), and some critical essays on Volpone, including Barish’s Essay on its Plot structure mentioned above.

20.9    TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1.    Discuss the role of the Avocatori or the Magistrates in the play Volpone.

2.    Would it be appropriate to say that Volpone ends tragically? Discuss.
(Hint- Because the punishments at the end are all fully deserved, their poetic justice makes them in line with the spirit of comedy. In contrast, in a tragedy suffering is much more than deserved.)
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