Contrast between S. T. Coleridge and William Wordsworth

 

Assignment 

Name : Latta J. Baraiya 

Roll no : 12

Paper : Literature of Romantics 

Semester : M.A sem 1

Topic : Contrast between S. T. Coleridge and William Wordsworth

Submitted to : Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavngar University 

Introduction 

The early Romantic period coincides with what is often called the “Age of Revolutions” including of course, the American and the French revolutions an age of upheavals in political, economic and social traditions. The age which witnessed the initial transformations of the industrial revolution. The take off of Romantic Movement in English Language is set in the year 1798 when William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, publish of their poem called “Lyrical Ballads”. Though, these two lake-side poets wrote the poetic book, they have different view of the way poetry is seen, unlike William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge had an inspiration towards the supernatural, the mystic and the occult. A revolutionary energy was also at the core of Romanticism, which quite consciously set out to transform not only the theory and practice of poetry (and all art) but the very way we perceive the world. Some of its major precepts have survival into the twenteth century and still affect our contemporary period. 

Romantic writers generally see themselves as reacting against the thought and literary practices of the preceding century. The Romantist’s major subject matter is the beauty and satisfactions derive from nature. Romantists believe in naturalism and realism in the place of morality. They believe that man should not be conformed or stereotyped to one norm of code rather derive pleasure from what he derive from nature. Be that as it may, more emphasis is not laid on the thematic study of Romantic poetry rather that the beauty is derived in its form following the theory of arts for art’s sake. “Nature” meant many things to the Romantics, it was often presented as itself a work of art, constructed by a divine imagination, in emblematic language, for example, throughout “song of myself”, Whitman makes a practice of presenting common place items in nature... 

“ants”, 

“heap’d stones”, and 

“poke-weed” 

as containing divine elements and he refers to the “grass” as a natural “hieroglyphic”, “the handkerchief of the lord”. While particular perspectives with regards to nature varied considerably nature is perceived as a healing power, a source of subject and image, a refuge from the artificial constructs of civilization, including artificial language, the prevailing views accorded nature the status of an organically unified whole. It was viewed as “organic”, rather than as in the scientific or rationalist view, as a system of “mechanical” laws, for romanticism displaced the rationalist view of the universe as a machine with the analogue of an “organic” image, a living tree or mankind itself. At the same time, Romantics gave greater attention both describing natural phenomena accurately and to capturing “sensuous nuance” and this is as true of Romantic landscape painting. Accuracy of observation, however, was not sought for its own sake. Romantic nature poetry is essentially poetry of meditation. 

◆WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850) :-

William Wordsworth was born in 1770 at Cockermouth in Cumberland. He grew up in the Lake District, the beautiful area of mountains, lakes and streams near the Scottish borders in North West England. The natural beauty and grandeur of this area was a major source of inspiration for Wordsworth throughout his life. His mother died when he was eight and his father died when he was thirteen. Like his friend Samuel Coleridge, Wordsworth was denied the blessing and comfort of a happy home. The considerable sum of money left to the children was withheld for some years for legal reasons, but William Wordsworth was nevertheless able to attend Cambridge University in 1787, where he found the curriculum boring. In 1790, he made a tour through France to the Alps with a fellow student travelling on foot like a peddler. He witnessed the Great Revolution of 1787-1890 in France. In 1802, Wordsworth finally inherited the money let to him by his father and married a childhood friend from the Lake District, Mary Hutchinson. Disaster followed in 1802, his favourite brother, John, a ship captain was drowned at sea. In 1810, the friendship between Wordsworth and Coleridge was broken by an open quarrel. Offsetting the sadness of these middle years however was the steady growth of Wordsworth reputation as a poet. 

William Wordsworth’s major work was his autobiographical poem titled “the prelude” completed in 1805. He continued to make changes and it was not published until his death. William Wordsworth died by re-aggravating a case of pleurisy on 23 April, 1850, and was buried at St. Oswald’s Church in Grasmere. His widow Mary published his lengthy autobiographical poem to Coleridge as the prelude several months after his death. 

William Wordsworth for the very first time, endeavors to define poetry and poetic process. It is a revolutionary work which attempts to free the poet and poetry from the slavish bonds of ancients and exhibits freedom and liberty. It was a response or reaction against the preceding neoclassical age. On the other hand T.S. Eliot’s concept of poetry and poetic process is a reaction against romanticism and humanism. Here is some interesting view about poetry by Wordsworth and Eliot :

Wordsworth’s concept of poetic process and poetry	T.S. Eliot’s theory of impersonality and concept of poetry
1. Reaction against Classicism	1. Reaction against romanticism and humanism
2. Subjective	2. Objective
3. Expression of Personality	3. An Escape from personality
4. Individual	4. Universal
5. Liberty to express personal emotions.	5. Personal emotions must be transformed in to generalized emotions
6. Non-Conformist (Freedom and liberty from Past)	6. Conformist (gives importance to tradition)
7. Poetry should be simple	7. Poetry should depict complexity
8. Poet is a man	8. Poet is a craftsman

◆SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 

(1772-1834) :-

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on 21 October 1772 in the country town of Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England. Samuel’s father, the Reverend John Coleridge was a respected vicar of the parish and headmaster of Henry VIII’s Free Grammar School at Ottery. After the death of Samuel’s father, he was sent to Christ’s Hospital, a charity School founded in the 16th century in Greyfriars, London where he remained throughout his childhood, studying and writing poetry. Throughout life, Coleridge idealized his father as pious and innocent, while his relationship with his mother was more problematic. His childhood was characterized by attention seeking, which has been linked to his dependent personality as an adult. He was rarely allowed to return home during the school term, and this distance from his family at such a turbulent time proved emotionally damaging. He later wrote of his loneliness at school in the poem “Frost at Midnight”. He attended Jesus College, Cambridge from 1791-1794. In 1792, he won the Browne Gold Medal for an Ode that he wrote on the slave trade. In 1798, Coleridge and Wordsworth published a joint volume of poetry, “Lyrical Ballads” which proved to be the starting point for the English Romantic Movement. In 1800, he returned to England and shortly thereafter settled with his family and friends at Keswick in the Lake District of Cumberland to be near Grasmere, where Wordsworth had moved. Soon, however, he was beset by marital problems, illnesses, increased opium dependency, tensions with Wordsworth and a lack of confidence in his poetic powers, all which fuelled the composition of dejection: An Ode and an intensification of his philosophical studies. He died in 1834 on the 25 of July in Highgate. 

◆Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Contrast to William Wordsworth :-

William Wordsworth and S. T. Coleridge are two giants of the Romantic Period. They are the leaders of the Revival of Romanticism. Coleridge's concept of a poet!! They contribute a great lot in this respect. But they do not hold the same views on the nature, function and creation of poetry and poet. Their attitude to them often differs from each other. Their ideas show their different dispositions. It is also true that their ideas are innovative. Wordsworth throws much light on the nature and function of a poet in his "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads". He is highly conscious of the distinction between a common man and a man of genius. This difference is worth considering. It has a certain degree. This leads Wordsworth to analyses the qualities of a poet. His concept of poet is new. Similarly, Coleridge expresses his own ideas of poet in his best-known critical piece, "Biographia Literaria". He shows some qualities of a poet similar to and different from those of Wordsworth. 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge is often discussed in association with his peer, William Wordsworth. This is due in part to their friendship and joint ventures on works such as Lyrical Ballads. Although he is often “paired” with his counterpart Wordsworth, there are several differences in Coleridge’s poetic style and philosophical views. Coleridge’s poetry differs from that of Wordsworth, and his association with Wordsworth overshadows Coleridge’s individual accomplishments as a Romantic poet. In addition, Coleridge’s poetry complicates experiences that Wordsworth views as very simple and very commonplace. Samuel Taylor Coleridge has a poetic diction unlike that of William Wordsworth, he relies more heavily on imagination for poetic inspiration, and he also incorporates religion into his poetry differently. Coleridge’s different views, combined with his opium addiction, led to an eventual breach in his friendship with Wordsworth  a friendship that had begun in 1797. 

Despite any difference, the two poets were compatible because they were both “preoccupied with imagination, and both [used] verbal reference in new ways”. In 1798 the publication of their joint effort, Lyrical Ballads, signified the height of their relationship. This came at a time when they were together in Alfoxden, where they had enjoyed the simple pleasures of spending time together, discussing ideas, and devising schemes for publications. 

“Never again would the two poets have the sort of compatibility which allowed for major differences of opinion, without creating unease”

Following this time period, their friendship began to slowly deteriorate; beginning with criticisms of each other’s poetry, then growing into conflicting views on creativity and intellect, and finally culminating in a “radical difference” of “theoretical opinions” concerning poetry. However, their friendship could have been spared, had Coleridge not been misinformed by Basil Montagu that Wordsworth referred to him as a “burden” and a “rotten drunkard”. That was the last straw, and had deeply upset Coleridge, who was by this point addicted to liquid opium and very sensitive about the topic. Thus, after 1810 their friendship would never be the same, and although Wordsworth and Coleridge had once been compatible, and are often paired together as Romantic poets, it was ultimately their distinguishable differences that led to their falling out.

Coleridge’s different perception of poetry is what sets him aside from Wordsworth. In fact, Coleridge even reflected on the difference between his contributions and those of Wordsworth in Lyrical Ballads. He stated, 

“my endeavors would be directed to persons and characters supernatural  Mr. Wordsworth, on the other hand, was…to give charm of novelty to things of everyday”. 

Although Coleridge’s retrospective interpretation of this work could be viewed as an overly simplistic division of labor, it nonetheless proves that Coleridge viewed his poetic style as different than that of Wordsworth. Moreover, Coleridge’s retrospective interpretation insinuated that he dealt with complex subject matter, while Wordsworth gave the ordinary a revitalizing freshness. Even though they worked together successfully on the publication Lyrical Ballads, Coleridge and Wordsworth clearly had contrasting opinions about “what constituted well written poetry.” 

Whether their differences stemmed from religion, means of inspiration, or simply poetic diction, it is evident that these two poets were uniquely individual. Moreover, although Samuel Coleridge is often paired with William Wordsworth, upon further examination one can plainly see that the two poets are undoubtedly different. The similarities between them often overshadow their individual achievements, ideas, and styles. Due to the fact that Samuel Coleridge sought out the acquaintance of William Wordsworth and had his appreciation for Wordsworth’s poetry well documented, Coleridge is considered the lesser of the two poets. Additionally, before the men collaborated on Lyrical Ballads, Coleridge was temporarily viewed as Wordsworth’s understudy. Combined with the fact that his opium addiction crippled his poetic potential, these elements portray Coleridge as less accomplished poet than Wordsworth. Regardless of popular opinion, Samuel Taylor Coleridge possessed his own unique poetic diction, sought non-traditional methods of poetic inspiration, conveyed original theories about the imagination, and distinctly incorporated his religious philosophies into his poetry. It is for these reasons that Samuel Taylor Coleridge remains a pillar for the Romantic era of poetry. 

◆View about Poet :-

According to Coleridge, imagination and emotion are two principal qualities of a poet. A poet is a person who has excessive ability to manage different qualities. He plays a reconciliatory role in the activities of different concepts and percepts. He is a person who is gifted with a special ability to feel emotions. Apparently, the mind of a poet seems to be disordered. But inwardly, it is always in an ordered condition. The poet is adjusted with the universe. The universe never comes out from its proper order. In the same way, the poet's mind never districts from its track. It is always in a proper order. The imaginative activity of the poet does not come out of its routine work. Imaginative activities of the poet follow the ordered direction of his mind. Coleridge thinks that poetry is a recurrence of God's creative act. For this reason, the effort of the poet is the poet's adoration of God. The poet recreates the glory of God. So he is the singer of God. 

According to Wordsworth, a poet must feel the pulse of the common man. He is the poet of common humanity but not for the poets only. In this respect, we mention Edmund Spenser. He is called the poets' poet in the Elizabethan Age. When we go through his poetry, we feel that he does not write it for ordinary man but writes only for the poets and the elites. In the Neo-classical Period, we see that the poets composed poems in describing the decorated drawing room, coffee houses etc. Personifications of abstract ideas are salient features of the eighteenth century. There is no room for common people in their poetry. Wordsworth disapproves such tendency of the poets. He says,

     

  "But poets do not write for poets alone but for men." 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that Wordsworth does not produce any well-knit definition of a poet in his famous "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads". Similarly, Coleridge does not define a poet well in his "Biographia Literaria" too. Both of them only venture to identify some qualities or ideas of a man who intends to get himself included in the class of poets. They try to show some features or qualities of a poet in their critical pieces. 

Coleridge in this sense differentiates himself from his contemporary romantic poet William Wordsworth because Wordsworth‘s poems follow rural and humble, rustic and natural visions, whereas Coleridge finds his fantastic creations in nature‘s forces and nature‘s creations. Secondly Wordsworth does not live in illusion or create any illusion, while Coleridge with his figurative words draws a world of poetic dream, instead of poetic sensibility, in which Coleridge‘s poems earlier leave reader awfully dumbstruck, with congealed nerves and at times heart wracking state while the poems of William Wordsworth‘s poems carry the reader to a phenomenon of truth and bliss. Coleridge‘s objectivity to nature‘s beauty is of wonder and enigma, while Wordsworth‘s subjectivity to nature is of a kind of a friend and guide. Both the poets of romantic age sensitise common man to feel nature from the artistic sense in order to derive moral good in human life. It is apt to conclude with the fact that human consciousness, collective consciousness and universal consciousness do play a major role in imparting aesthetics to a piece of literature or art, but it is the high-flown sensibility, logical reasoning and imaginative talent that creates and recreates the world of literary tradition and creativity. The poetic pleasure is possible if there is proper and balanced coordination of language and harmony. Both the abovementioned poets with their own poetic capacity contributed significantly in a novel way to design the poetic art and truth.

A Tale of The Tub assignment

Assignment 

Name : Latta J. Baraiya 

Roll no : 12

Paper : Neoclassical Literature 

Semester : M.A sem 1

Topic : A Tale of The Tub by Swift 

Submitted to : Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Introduction 

Jonathan Swift's Tale of the Tub is a brilliant failure. It is a prose satire intended as a defence of the Anglican church, but it was widely interpreted by contemporary readers as an attack on all religion. At the time of writing it, Swift was a junior Anglican clergyman hoping for substantial preferment in the Church. The appearance of the Tale, and its assumed message, was a serious obstacle to his promotion. 

One of the things that makes the Tale difficult to interpret for that the work attacks multiple things of things at the same time: it's an allegory about religious differences it's a satire on pedantry and false scholarship it's a parody of the contemporary book trade it has attached to it two further treatises, the 'Battle of the Books', and the 'Mechanical Operation of the Spirit'. 

◆Title of The Novel:-

The first thing that's puzzling about A Tale of A Tub is its title. The preface explains that it is the practice of seamen when they meet a whale to throw out an empty tub to divert it from attacking their ship. The whale that this tub is thrown out for most obviously represents Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. Swift's tub is intended to distract Hobbes and other critics of the church and government from picking holes in their weak points. 

A Tale of a Tub was published anonymously. But unlike with those later works, Swift was obsessively concerned with preserving the anonymity of his authorship of the Tale. His authorship of the Tale was never publicly acknowledged in his lifetime, nor did it appear in authorised editions of his collected works. 

But although Swift vigorously maintained the fiction of anonymity in relation to A Tale of a Tub, never at any point did he try to suppress the book as a whole; he only tried to obscure his direct connection with it. But despite the fact that he was desperate that no one should ever know that he wrote A Tale of a Tub, he also seems to have been extraordinarily proud of his satire. The one comment that we have on record from Swift about the Tale comes from a letter transcribed for the Earl of Orrery: 

"There is no doubt but that he was Author of the Tale of the Tub. He never owned it: but as he one day made his Relation Mrs Whiteway read it to him, he made use of This expression. 'Good God! What a flow of imagination had I, when I wrote this".

There is a strange paradox here: Swift wanted to disavow his connection with the work, yet at the same time he wanted the genius evident in the satire to be recognised as his. 

◆Religious Orthodoxy :-

Swift says in the 'Apology' that was added to the 1710 edition that A Tale of a Tub was partly intended to attack the religious groups that he saw as threatening the hegemony of the Anglican church. In the Tale, Swift uses the analogy of the three brothers 

• MartiN [The Anglican Church]

• Peter [The Catholic Church]

• Jack [The Low Church, or Dissenters]

In doing so, he is trying to demonstrate that the spiritual practices of the Catholic Church and dissenting sects were based on a false interpretation of the true Word, the Bible. However, the sweep of Swift's irony in the book, and, the destabilising and confusing nature of its changes in satiric personae meant that many of his contemporaries read the Tale as an attack all religion. 

Swift's decision to publish the apology in the revised edition of 1710 likely is related to his anxiety about his career at this time, and the Tale's potential to compromise his position. Late 1710, was perhaps the most exciting and promising time in Swift's career he was being courted by the rising Tory leader Robert Harley to join the Tory cause, and power and importance seemed imminent. Swift was to believe for the rest of his life that his failure to secure the ecclesiastical promotions that he wanted was due to influential disapproval of the perceived irreligious tendencies of A Tale of a Tub. 

◆Authorship and Identity :-

If we think there may be more to Swift's desire to remain guarded about his authorship of A Tale of a Tub than just its potential to compromise his rise to power. Swift seems to be ambivalent about his ownership of the work not just in the original text of 1704, but also in the 'Apology' added in 1710. The 'Apology' is a very strange document: it purports to be a straightforward clearing up of unnecessary misunderstandings, but it actually fails to clear anything up at all. 

It is supposed to be an intervention in the controversy over the intended meaning of the Tale. However, the author of the 'Apology' does not admit to being Swift, or even the author of the Tale. Swift creates a third person figure that seems to ventriloquise a defence of the work that is part on behalf of an enraged and violated author, and part an outsider coming to his rescue. The apology refers consistently to the author, saying that 

'the author cannot conclude this apology without…' or 'the author observes'. 

But the tale is complicated by the Apology's use of an 'I' in it, a figure that is differentiated from the author. 

 ◆Originality :-

The idea of originality is vexed by A Tale of a Tub. As we've seen here, Swift both dismisses the importance of authorship and fiercely defends it. These ambiguous and contradictory concerns are is mirrored within the text, which in some ways it seems to push the boundaries of what can be called an original. A Tale of a Tub is profoundly postmodern in its intertextuality, its play with literary forms, and its changes in speaker and genre and that constantly undermine readerly expectations of the text. It parodies bookseller's catalogues, scholarly treatises, scientific works, effusive dedicatory prose, and it borrows, magpie-like, from a wide and disparate range of sources. A Tale of a Tub is a patchwork of unattributed quotations to Dryden, Marvell, Richard Bentley, Thomas Browne, and Joseph Addison. 

These ideas about originality are reflected in the Tale's relationship to one of its major influences. The text that the Tale most explicitly situates itself in relation to is one that also poses problems of classification as 'original work' John Dryden's Translation of the Works of Virgil in English, of 1697. Dryden's Virgil was the big publishing sensation of the decade. The former laureate issued his definitive version of the great Latin's epic poems, and Dryden's Virgil remained the standard edition until well into the twentieth century. 

◆Parody and Allegory :-

In addition to the 'digressions' that form a satire on modern learning and print culture, A Tale of a Tub's more obvious satire is that on abuses in religion. The satire works through the allegory of the three brothers: Martin, Peter, and Jack. Martin symbolises the Anglican Church (from Martin Luther) Peter symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church; and Jack (from John Calvin) symbolises the Dissenters. Their father leaves each brother a coat as a legacy, with strict orders that the coats are on no account to be altered. The sons gradually disobey his injunction, finding excuses for adding shoulder knots or gold lace, according to the prevailing fashion. Martin and Jack quarrel with the arrogant Peter (the Reformation), and then with each other, and then separate. As we might expect, Martin is by far the most moderate of the three, and his speech in section six is by the sanest thing anyone has to say in the Tale.

Both parody and allegory work by implicitly, or explicitly, comparing one sort of book with another. As a broad generalisation, they are concerned with intertextual relationships, and how you can use one text to invoke or critique another. But the distinction is that allegory teaches its readers to see beyond appearance to recognise truth, while parody teaches its readers to see beyond appearance to recognise error. 

In the case of the allegorical story of the three brothers, the ultimate pre-text is the Bible: the father's last recorded words take the form of a will, a dead letter, defining and confining the ways in which the sons are to live their lives:

''You will find in my Will (here it is) full Instructions in every Particular

concerning the Wearing and Management of your Coats; wherein you must be very exact, to avoid the Penalties I have appointed for every transgression or Neglect, upon which your future Fortunes will entirely depend''. 

The later subversion of the will provides us with an allegory of misreading. The abuse of the living coats (the Church) provides an allegory of desire and corruption. The brothers abuse and misinterpret the will as a way of figuring misuse and misinterpretation of the Bible. The attack on Jack, representing Dissenters, is particularly biting it targets the sectarian groups who exalted the individual worshipper or small congregation with their claims to inner light and private conscience, unchecked by tradition and institutional authority. 

◆Experimentation :-

A Tale of Tub is particularly noteworthy for its experimentation with, and departure from, the literary conventions of the period. Narrators’ voices and literary genres switch from section to section as a way of taking the work in radically new directions. Swift also concentrates his satirical fire on the new literary and publishing experiments that emerged in the early 18th century, particularly the apparent obsession of printers with producing endless numbers of novels and short pamphlets. By peppering 'A Tale of the Tub' with excessive punctuation and typographical marks, Swift parodies the enthusiasm for the publications that characterised the print market. Likewise, the work sets out to lampoon the uncritical consumption of contemporary literary prose, which Swift believed too easily led readers to an over-interpretation of meaning. 

◆Nature of Satire :-

Upon its publication, the public realized both that there was an allegory in the story of the brothers and that there were particular political references in the Digressions. Swift's targets in the Tale included indexers, note-makers, and, above all, people who saw "dark matter" in books. He attacks criticism generally, and he appeared to be delighted by the fact that one of his enemies, William Wotton, had offered to explain the Tale in an "answer" to the book and that one of the men he had explicitly attacked, Curll, had offered to explain the book to the public. In the fifth edition of the book in 1705, Swift provided an apparatus to the work that incorporated Wotton's explanations and Swift's narrator's own notes as well. The notes appear to occasionally provide genuine information and just as often to mislead, and William Wotton's name, a defender of the Moderns, was appended to a number of notes. This allows Swift to make the commentary part of the satire itself, as well as to elevate his narrator to the level of self-critic.

It is hard to say what the Tale's satire is about, since it is about any number of things. It is most consistent in attacking misreading of all sorts. Both in the narrative sections and the digressions, the single human flaw that underlies all the follies Swift attacks is over-figurative and over-literal reading, both of the Bible and of poetry and political prose. The narrator is seeking hidden knowledge, mechanical operations of things spiritual, spiritual qualities to things physical, and alternate readings of everything.

Within the "tale" sections of the book, Peter, Martin, and Jack fall into bad company (becoming the official religion of the Roman empire) and begin altering their coats by adding ornaments. They then begin relying on Peter to be the arbitrator of the will, and he begins to rule by authority (he remembered the handyman saying that he once heard the father say that it was alright to put on more ornaments), until such a time that Jack rebels against the rule of Peter. Jack begins to read the will (the Bible) overly literally. He rips the coat to shreds to try to restore the original state of the garment. He begins to rely only upon "inner illumination" for guidance and thus walks around with his eyes closed, after swallowing candle snuffs. Eventually, Peter and Jack begin to resemble one another, and only Martin is left with a coat that is at all like the original.

An important factor in the reception of Swift's work is that the narrator of the work is an extremist in every direction. Consequently, he can no more construct a sound allegory than he can finish his digressions without losing control. For a Church of England reader, the allegory of the brothers provides small comfort. Martin has a corrupted faith, one full of holes and still with ornaments on it. His only virtue is that he avoids the excesses of his brothers, but the original faith is lost to him. Readers of the Tale have picked up on this unsatisfactory resolution to both "parts" of the book, and A Tale of a Tub has often been offered up as evidence of Swift's misanthropy.

As has recently been argued by Michael McKeon, Swift might best be described as a severe skeptic, rather than a Whig, Tory, empiricist, or religious writer. He supported the Classics in the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, and he supported the established church and the aristocracy, because he felt the alternatives were worse. He argued elsewhere that there is nothing inherently virtuous about a noble birth, but its advantages of wealth and education made the aristocrat a better ruler than the equally virtuous but unprivileged commoner. A Tale of a Tub is a perfect example of Swift's devastating intellect at work. By its end, little seems worth believing in.

Formally, the satire in the Tale is historically novel for several reasons. First, Swift more or less invented prose parody. What is interesting is that the word "parody" had not been used for prose before, and the definition he offers is arguably a parody of John Dryden defining "parody" in the "Preface to the Satires." Prior to Swift, parodies were imitations designed to bring mirth, but not primarily in the form of mockery. For example, Dryden himself imitated the Aeneid in "MacFlecknoe" to describe the apotheosis of a dull poet, but the imitation made fun of the poet, and not of Virgil.

Additionally, Swift's satire is relatively unique in that he offers no resolutions. While he ridicules any number of foolish habits, he never offers the reader a positive set of values to embrace. While this type of satire became more common as people imitated Swift, later, Swift is quite unusual in offering the readers no way out. He does not persuade to any position, but he does persuade readers from an assortment of positions. This is one of the qualities that has made the Tale Swift's least-read major work. 

Conclusion 

At the end we see a splendid performance of lack of self-awareness, one of the footnotes for a very obscure reference in the Tale concludes by solemnly declaring, “I believe one of the Author’s Designs was to set curious Men a hunting thro’ Indexes, and enquiring for Books out of the common Road”, essentially acknowledging that he as a scholar has been played the fool. The commentator remarks upon finding himself on a wild goose chase for an excellently constructed bit of nonsense alla Swift. In a similar vein, while the quest for the “Perfect edition” of a text is in some sense a valiant one, adopting a more relativist approach to editorial practice  and not simply taking Swift’s words at face value may save future scholars from “a hunting” and “enquiring” for the perfect copy of A Tale of a Tub when there is in fact no such thing. 

ULYSSES by Alfred Tennyson and MY LAST DUCHESS by Robert Browning

 Hello learners, 

Today I'm going to discuss about Victorian poets, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. 

This activity is assigned by our professor Dr. Dilip sir. In this activity I took one poem by both Victorian poets. Tennyson's 'ULYSSES' ans Browning's 'MY LAST DUCHESS'. 

◆Victorian poets:

Introduction

Robert Browning and Alfred Lord Tennyson belong to the Victorian era occupying a prominent place as a pre-eminent poets of their time. Both of them apply new techniques and style in writing a poetry, however, both these poets adopt their own style in their writing. 

“Browning focuses on the psyche of his frantic characters and tries to look into deep inside of 

such characters in his writings. Browning tries to understand human nature, religion and 

society properly. He studies the innermost psychology of characters. On the other hand, 

Tennyson draws material from external, specific realities, ideas, and objects and tries to 

express it through ornate language.”

Another significant difference is in their nature of expression. Browning’s writing is always energetic but Tennyson’s tone is generally  melancholic where he gives touch of nostalgia. Both of them started creating their works simultaneously and towered above their contemporaries from 1830 to 1890, the entire period of the reign of Queen Victoria. Browning remained much more aloof from his era than did Tennyson. The new movements of science bothered Tennyson like Arnold and clough. Tennyson’s age is reflected in his work, but Browning’s poetry does not reflect the contemporary social changes and trends which shocked both theology and religion. 

• Alfred Lord Tennyson :-

Active in the nineteenth century, Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892) was the leading poet of the Victorian age who remains one of the most renowned poets in the English language and among the most frequently quoted writers. He was appointed the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1850 and held the position for a record 42 years till his death in 1892.

Tennyson was influenced by the writers of the Romantic Age before him as is evident from the richness of his imagery and descriptive writing. He used a wide range of subject matter ranging from medieval legends to classical myths and from domestic situations to observations of nature. Here are the 10 most famous poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson including Ulysses, Tithonus, The Eagle and In Memoriam. 

◆Ulysses :-

Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’ is written in a masculine vigour. Its philosophy appeals to a life of action and achievement whatever maybe the risks involved.

The simple and lucid narration reveals that Ulysses as being a man of stern belief in adventure leading to achievements. He has a passion for wandering and seeking new knowledge. He does not want to be just the King of Ithaca, ruling the people like any other king. He considers it as a waste of his life and talents he has. He has a deep hatred for idle life as a king. He chooses to experience the last extreme of sufferings, dangers and all that life makes exciting and fruitful. For him a real drunkard is one who drinks his cup of wine to the maximum and a true adventurer like Ulysses, would like to live an ever active and adventurous life till he meets his end. He has earned good reputation of being always ready to acquire knowledge and pass through risky paths to gain experience. He has imbued knowledge from everywhere and his thirst for knowledge remained ever increasing and unquenched. He calls each experience a gateway beyond which lies the unknown and undiscovered world that invites to explore its mysteries, for him there is no limit to the knowledge to acquire and assimilate. Ulysses is of the opinion that life is not mere breathing and living: “As though to breathe were life”. He stresses for hard work, useful activity if not engaged thus, the meal or food people eat is like a piece of metal getting covered with rust. He thinks his ambition of gaining knowledge cannot be fulfilled even if he were granted a series of lives to carry out his mission. He addresses his companions, 

“…Come, my friends,

'T is not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows;” 

 

He is convinced that there is no sense in merely continuing to exist, it would be shameful on his part to do so when his old spirit is seized with a desire to acquire so much of knowledge as is considered beyond man’s ability to be gained anywhere, anytime. Tennyson brings into focus this idea in a striking illustration. A star sets in our world and we think it is sinking into the sea. None can follow the course of this star once it is sunk into the sea; this task is beyond human world. So is the case with knowledge and thus, achieve something, new and amazing, which no man has ever attempted before, much less succeeded in doing so. So is the burning desire of Ulysses who is young in spirits always. He is no ordinary adventurer or explorer. His mission of life can only end with his death. Whatever may be his state now he wants to conquer newer kingdoms and reach the places none so far attempted to reach. Ulysses’ address to his son and also his character sum up two contrasting aspects of human life when one grows under prevailing circumstances,  eventually his character gets moulded according to the living standards. Ulysses wants his son Telemachus to be authoritative, under whose rule people should live. When he was a child, Ulysses left home to join the Trojan War. During his absence his son grew up and he is a man of peace. He is interested in teaching people how to grow as useful citizens. Ulysses is happy that his son Telemachus will take care of the kingdom well during his absence. Having said farewell to his son, Ulysses speaks to his companions who will accompany him on his voyage. He reminds them of their past exploits which they fought against men and gods in the Trojan War and came out victoriously. They all lived together in glory and adversities, now they have grown old and mature. However, old age is no bar to perform great deeds and winning honour. In fact they must undertake to do something distinctive before death overpowers them and puts their career to an end on 

this earth. He remarks, 

“Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” 

 

He encourages his entire followers to be in high spirits always for achievements. His purpose is to sail beyond the sun-set, the distant west, which is the boundless ocean beyond the straits of Gibraltar, since little was known of what lay beyond this. In fact, the Greeks considered this to be the end of the earth. They should be prepared to strike with their oars the rising waves of the sea, that is ride the waves by using their oars, to take their boats forward, in the absence of a favourable wind. They may be washed away by the waves or they may be lucky enough to gain the Happy Isles, which is known as the Isles of the Blessed, where souls of the good and the great dwell in perfect happiness. Their efforts will be then recorded as they will be privileged to meet ‘the great Achilles’ and other warriors of fame. 

◆For better understand watch the video:

'Ulysses' ancient Greek epic model. The quest for knowledge and determination to find far new shores appears to be a rekindled renaissance spirit in the Victorian era. It also further highlights the indomitable mental frame of the individual to embark upon any course of adventure even if his body is not willing but the spirit cooperative, man's reach of attainments will continue to soar. This is what we symbolically see in Ulysses. Another salient aspect we notice in this poem is that if one is mentally prepared for any difficult task to accomplish, despite odds impeding his progress, still he can achieve that is what Ulysses means to us. 

• Robert Browning :-

The most dramatic influence upon the Victorian poets, however, rests in the rise of science and society’s fascination with the facts of objective reality therefore, a poet has the responsibility to inculcate facts into his poetry, even at its most lyrical.

Robert Browning clearly responds to this change in interest: 

“For it is with this world, as starting point and basis alike, that we shall always have to concern ourselves: the world is not to be learned and thrown aside, but reverted to and relearned”.  

Although Browning clearly respects Shelley’s poetic vision, he also realizes that he cannot “dig where he stands” and explore the inner regions of his own soul while ignoring the “raw material” of people, places, and objects. 

For Browning the poet’s responsibility lies in his ability to the import of details and the universal meaning for those whose vision lacks the depth of insight granted to the poet. Browning insists that Greatness in a work suggests an adequate instrumentality there is moral purpose to the poet’s creation, not just a display of power “for the display’s sake, the love of riches, of distinction, of notoriety”. With his sense of responsibility to his fellow beings, Browning re-fashions the dramatic monologue with its complex hermeneutics as the primary vehicle of cultural dialogue about the most controversial subjects of his time religion, morality, sexuality, and science. 

Recognizing the fragmentation already present in the individual self and the growing alienation of the mechanized society, Browning develops the dramatic monologue to attempt to bring back some of the lost unity of the human self by seeking unrealized continuities among moments, places, persons, sexes, races, and classes. In the dramatic monologue Browning focuses attention upon the fragile lines of communication and contradiction present in all communicative acts.  He seeks to discover whether networks of understanding and cooperation can be created or repaired.  Although the speaker directs his speech to a non-speaking listener, ultimately the speech is always directed outwards to the readers of other times and places.  

◆MY LAST DUCHESS:-

The Last Duchess by Robert Browning is based on incidents in the life of Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara.

The poem shows a rich duke's opinion on his wife's death using dramatic monologue. He shows the portrait of his late wife to a visitor and the way he describes her pictured countenance shows that he treats his wife as a mere object. Duke, the psychotic character can be seen as a representative of the entire male race who have been subjugating women counterparts in one way or other. The Duke seems to praise the life like portrait of his last duchess more than his wife in reality when she was alive. Even the piece of art is given more importance than the life of women. This shows how Duchess was treated even lesser than an object of art.

"That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive I call,

That piece a wonder" 

(Browning)

Such subjugation of women is not specific to Duke alone or to Victorian era alone. In Victorian era there was rise in immoral activities i.e. theft, prostitution etc. also there was the rise in orthodoxy. Women even in contemporary times face subjugation and exploitation at hands of men in patriarch society. Every day we see news flashing our TV screens depicting crimes committed on women. Art forms are mirrors of society they reflect what is present in the society of contemporary time of writer. So, dukes behaviour must be similar to ways in which women, in general, were treated during his times. Though the situation of women in contemporary era may not be as bad as it was in duchess's era still they are not seen as equal to men. Duke is enraged by the behaviour of Duchess. According to him his wife had frivolous nature and could be impressed easily by anyone. Her appreciation of common activities like riding white mule round the terrace, or her appreciation of behaviour of a worker who brings a bunch of cherries for her from the garden, is disliked by her husband. Duke wanted his wife as his sole property who can not even smile at her own will. He wants to possess her like an object and to control her every activity. Riding of mule round terrace shows that she was not allowed to go for a horse ride outside the palace. Duke was enraged because Duchess was 

"Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere."

He thinks that in marrying Duchess Duke has done her a favour, as during the Victorian times marriage was the only achievement for girls, and according to him she didn't value his, this gift more than the gift of a bunch of cherries from the orchard by an official fool. And when his ego was dismantled by such behaviour of the Duchess, he does not complaint about it to his wife but he rather orders her execution. Such cold blooded murder of own wife clearly shows that Duke has no feeling of love for his wife. He treats her like an object who has no identity of its own and is known by one who possesses it.

"This grew; I gave commands 

Then all smiles stopped together" 

These lines reflect Duke's blunt and emotionless personality. When his wife is executed, he not even gives a hint of sorrow on her death, rather he is planning to remarry. 

To wind up we can say that The Last Duchess reveals the history, character, situation, past, present and future. Some critics say that the poem is about mad love but my conscience is not able to trace the element of love in this poem rather to me it is more a mirror to the condition of women in Victorian society. Duchess here is representative of entire female race during Victorian times. The poem also reveals the future as women are even today treated as second class citizens in most of the societies. Though the treatment today is not as harsh as was given to Duchess of Ferrara. 

◆Summary video:

Conclusion

At the end it is to be concluded that both Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson were two main Victorian poets famous in dramatic monologue. Browning logically reveals the essence of a person whereas, Tennyson induce and plays a particular mood. Browning in his poetry attempts to realize human nature, society and religion, whereas Tennyson recalls the conscious mind and environment through ornate language. As a source of his poetry, Tennyson applied many subjects from domestic conditions to observation of atmosphere. Browning, on the contrary, takes immoral characters and challenges us to find out the moral excellence. 

2472 words