and steadies to let the snippets drop.

th
20 Century
Literature of the 20th century refers to world
literature produced during the 20th century (1901 to 2000).
In terms of the Euro-American tradition, the main periods are
captured in the bipartite division, Modernist
literature and Postmodern literature, flowering from roughly
1900 to 1940 and 1960 to 1990[1] respectively, divided, as a
Erasing the failure of weeks with level fingers,
she sleeks the fine hair, combing: 'You'll look fine tomorrow!
You'll surely find something, they can't keep turning you
down;
the finest gentleman's not so trim as you!' Smiling, he raises
the adolescent forehead wrinkling ironic now.
He sees his decent suit laid out, new-pressed,
his carfare on the shelf. He lets his head fall, meeting
her earnest hopeless look, seeing the sharp blades splitting,
the darkened room, the impersonal sign, her motion,
the blue vein, bright on her temple, pitifully beating.

rule of thumb, by World War II. The somewhat malleable

term of contemporary literature is usually applied with a

post-1960 cutoff point.

Technological advances during the 20th century allowed
cheaper production of books, resulting in a significant rise in
production of popular literature and trivial literature,
comparable to the similar developments in music. The
division of "popular literature" and "high literature" in the 20th
century is by no means absolute, and various genres such
as detectives or science fiction fluctuate between the two.
Largely ignored by mainstream literary criticism for the most
of the century, these genres developed their own
establishments and critical awards; these include the Nebula
Award (since 1965), the British Fantasy Award (since 1971) Cecil Day-Lewis (27 April 1904 22 May
or the Mythopoeic Awards (since 1971). 1972) was an Anglo-Irish poet and the Poet Laureate of the
United Kingdom from 1968 until his death in 1972.[1][2] He
also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym
of Nicholas Blake. He was the father of actor Daniel Day-
Lewis and documentary filmmaker and television
chef Tamasin Day-Lewis.

Tempt Me No More

Tempt me no more, for I

Boy With His Hair Cut Short Have known the lightning's hour,
The poet's inward pride,
SUNDAY shuts down on this twentieth-century evening. The certainty of power.
The L passes. Twilight and bulb define And, of course being a Scot, Robert Burns:
the brown room, the overstuffed plum sofa, What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a that;
the boy, and the girl's thin hands above his head. Gie fools their silks, and knaves their
A neighbor radio sings stocks, news, serenade. wine;
A Man's a Man for a' that:
He sits at the table, head down, the young clear neck For a' that, and a' that,
exposed, Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
watching the drugstore sign from the tail of his eye; The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.
tattoo, neon, until the eye blears, while his
and:
solicitous tall sister, simple in blue, bending By oppression's woes and pains!
behind him, cuts his hair with her cheap shears. By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
The arrow's electric red always reaches its mark, But they shall be free!
successful neon! He coughs, impressed by that precision.
Lay the proud usurpers low!
His child's forehead, forever protected by his cap,
Tyrants fall in every foe!
is bleached against the lamplight as he turns head Liberty's in every blow!
 Let us do or die!

Victorian Period
While in the preceding Romantic period poetry had been the

dominant genre, it was the novel that was most important in

the Victorian period. Charles Dickens (18121870)

dominated the first part of Victoria's reign: his first

novel, Pickwick Papers, was published in 1836, and his

last Our Mutual Friend between 18645. William Thackeray's Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30
December 1865 18 January 1936)[1] was an English
(18111863) most famous work Vanity Fair appeared in journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist.
1848, and the three Bront sisters, Charlotte (181655),

Emily (181848) and Anne (182049), also published

Recessional
significant works in the 1840s. A major later novel
God of our fathers, known of old,
was George Eliot's (181980) Middlemarch (1872), while the
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
major novelist of the later part of Queen Victoria's reign
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
was Thomas Hardy (18401928), whose first novel, Under

the Greenwood Tree, appeared in 1872 and his last, Jude Dominion over palm and pine

the Obscure, in 1895. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forgetlest we forget!

Robert Browning (181289) and Alfred Tennyson (180992)

were Victorian England's most famous poets, though more

The tumult and the shouting dies;
recent taste has tended to prefer the poetry of Thomas

Hardy, who, though he wrote poetry throughout his life, did The Captains and the Kings depart:

not publish a collection until 1898, as well as that of Gerard Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,

Manley Hopkins (184489), whose poetry was published An humble and a contrite heart.

posthumously in 1918. Algernon Charles Swinburne(1837 Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

1909) is also considered an important literary figure of the Lest we forgetlest we forget!
period, especially his poems and critical writings. Early

poetry of W. B. Yeats was also published in Victoria's reign.

Far-called, our navies melt away;
With regard to the theatre it was not until the last decades of
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
the nineteenth century that any significant works were
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
produced. This began with Gilbert and Sullivan's comic
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
operas, from the 1870s, various plays of George Bernard
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Shaw (18561950) in the 1890s, and Oscar Wilde's (1854
Lest we forgetlest we forget!
1900) The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895.

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose

Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,

Such boastings as the Gentiles use,

 Or lesser breeds without the Law
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forgetlest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 12
December 1889) was an English
poet and playwright whose mastery of
the dramatic monologue made him one of the
foremost Victorian poets. His poems are
known for their irony, characterization, dark
humour, social commentary,
historical settings, and
challenging vocabulary and syntax.
Prospice
Fear death?to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:
For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall,
Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all.
I was ever a fighter, soone fight more,
The best and the last!
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore,
And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,
The black minute's at end,
And the elements' rage, the fiend-voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!
Period of Romanticism
is a term to cover the most distinctive writers who flourished
in the last years of the 18th century and the first decades of
the 19th, Romantic is indispensable but also a little
misleading: there was no self-styled Romantic movement
at the time, and the great writers of the period did not call
themselves Romantics. Many of the ages foremost writers
thought that something new was happening in the worlds
affairs, nevertheless. William Blakes affirmation in 1793 that
a new heaven is begun was matched a generation later
by Percy Bysshe Shelleys The worlds great age begins
anew. These, these will give the world another heart, / And
other pulses, wrote John Keats, referring to Leigh
Hunt and William Wordsworth. Fresh ideals came to the fore;
in particular, the ideal of freedom, long cherished in England,
was being extended to every range of human endeavour. As
that ideal swept through Europe, it became natural to believe
that the age of tyrants might soon end.
 Kubla Khan

Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 23 So twice five miles of fertile ground

April 1850) was a major English Romantic poet who,
With walls and towers were girdled round;
with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint

publication Lyrical Ballads (1798). Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to

be The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem of his early Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It

was posthumously titled and published, before which it was

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
generally known as "the poem to Coleridge".[1] Wordsworth
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death

from pleurisy on 23 April 1850.[2] A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As eer beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (21 October 1772 25
July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic and Or chaffy grain beneath the threshers flail:
philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a
founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
member of the Lake Poets. He wrote the poems The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as the major It flung up momently the sacred river.
prose work Biographia Literaria. His critical work, especially
on Shakespeare, was highly influential, and he helped Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
introduce German idealist philosophy to English-speaking
culture. Coleridge coined many familiar words and phrases, Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
including suspension of disbelief. He was a major influence
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
on Emerson and American transcendentalism.

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;

And mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Lyrical Ballads
Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems is a collection of
poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
first published in 1798 and generally considered to have
marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in
literature.[1] The immediate effect on critics was modest, but
it became and remains a landmark, changing the course
of English literature and poetry.
Most of the poems in the 1798 edition were written by
Wordsworth, with Coleridge contributing only four poems to
the collection, including one of his most famous works, "The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
A second edition was published in 1800, in which
Wordsworth included additional poems and
a preface detailing the pair's avowed poetical
principles.[2] For another edition, published in 1802,
Wordsworth added an appendix titled Poetic Diction in which
he expanded the ideas set forth in the preface.[3]
The Seventeenth Century (1603-
1660) & Metaphysical Poetry
The early seventeenth century extends from the accession
of the first Stuart king (James I) in 1603 to the coronation of
the third (Charles II) in 1660. But the events that occurred
between these boundaries make much more sense if they
are seen in a larger pattern extending from 1588 to 1688.
Between these two dates massive political and social events
took place that bridge the gap between the Tudor tyranny
by consent of the sixteenth century and the equally ill-
defined but equally functional constitutional monarchy of the
eighteenth century.
A sense of deep disquiet, of traditions under challenge, is felt
everywhere in the literary culture of the early 17th century.
Long before the term was applied to our own time, the era of
Donne and Robert Burton (the obsessive anatomist of
melancholy) deserved to be called the Age of Anxiety. One
may think of the Metaphysical poets who followed Donne
(such as Herbert, Crashaw, Vaugham, and Cowley) as trying
to reinforce the traditional lyric forms of love and devotion by
stretching them to comprehend new and extreme intellectual
energies. In the other direction, Jonson and his sons the
so-called Cavalier poets (such as Herrick, Suckling,
Lovelace, Waller, and Denham) generally tried to compress
and limit their poems, giving them a high polish and a sense
of easy domination at the expense of their intellectual
content. The common contrast of Cavalier with
Metaphysical does describe two poetic alternatives of the
early century. Yet both style were wholly inadequate
containers for the sort of gigantic energy that Milton was
trying to express.
At the heart of the century of rapid change lies the Puritan
Revolt of 1640-60. The century together with the English
Revolution was a time of intense ferment in all areas of life
religion, science, politics, domestic relations, culture. That
ferment was reflected in the literature of the era, which also
 registered a heightened focus on and analysis of the self and
the personal life. However, little of this seems in evidence in
the elaborate frontispiece to Michael Drayton's long
"chorographical" poem on the landscape, regions, and local
history of Great Britain (1612), which appeared in the first
years of the reign of the Stuart king James I (1603-1625).
The great seventeenth-century heroic poem,Paradise Lost,
treats the Fall of Man and its tragic consequences.
reconciles with Eve. God sends Michael to expel the pair from
Paradise, but first to reveal to Adam future events resulting from
his sin. Adam is saddened by these visions, but ultimately revived
by revelations of the future coming of the Savior of mankind. In
sadness, mitigated with hope, Adam and Eve are sent away from
the Garden of Paradise.

John Milton (9 December 1608 8 November 1674) was

an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant John Donne (22 January 1573[1] 31
for theCommonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He
wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is March 1631)[2] was an English poet and cleric in the Church
best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written
of England.
in blank verse.

He is considered the pre-eminent representative of

PARADISE LOST the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong,

sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious

The story opens in hell, where Satan and his followers are
recovering from defeat in a war they waged against God. They poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires
build a palace, called Pandemonium, where they hold council to
determine whether or not to return to battle. Instead they decide to and sermons.
explore a new world prophecied to be created, where a safer course
of revenge can be planned. Satan undertakes the mission alone. At
the gate of hell, he meets his offspring, Sin and Death, who unbar
the gates for him. He journeys across chaos till he sees the new
universe floating near the larger globe which is heaven. God sees
Satan flying towards this world and foretells the fall of man. His Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud
Son, who sits at his right hand, offers to sacrifice himself for man's
salvation. Meanwhile, Satan enters the new universe. He flies to Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
the sun, where he tricks an angel, Uriel, into showing him the way
to man's home. Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

Satan gains entrance into the Garden of Eden, where he finds For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Adam and Eve and becomes jealous of them. He overhears them
speak of God's commandment that they should not eat the Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
forbidden fruit. Uriel warns Gabriel and his angels, who are
guarding the gate of Paradise, of Satan's presence. Satan is From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
apprehended by them and banished from Eden. God sends Raphael
to warn Adam and Eve about Satan. Raphael recounts to them how Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
jealousy against the Son of God led a once favored angel to wage
war against God in heaven, and how the Son, Messiah, cast him
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
and his followers into hell. He relates how the world was created
so mankind could one day replace the fallen angels in heaven.
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Satan returns to earth, and enters a serpent. Finding Eve alone he
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
induces her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam, resigned to
join in her fate, eats also. Their innocence is lost and they become
aware of their nakedness. In shame and despair, they become And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
hostile to each other. The Son of God descends to earth to judge
the sinners, mercifully delaying their sentence of death. Sin and And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
Death, sensing Satan's success, build a highway to earth, their new
home. Upon his return to hell, instead of a celebration of victory, And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
Satan and his crew are turned into serpents as punishment. Adam
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
HUMANISM IN ENGLISH
RENAISSANCE LITERATURE
During the Middle Agessometimes disparagingly referred
to as the Dark Ages, because a lot of dark and unpleasant
stuff like the Plague happened thenpeople focused a
lot on heaven and the afterlife. They tended to believe that
this life was simply a test of your goodness. Then, if you
were deemed goodly enough, you could move on to the
godly next world.
So most everything Middle Ages Europeans did was not for
the sake of the here-and-now, but for life-after-death.
But, after experiencing the widespread deaths of the Plague,
people began to adopt a new attitude toward this life. They
expanded their art and music and literature to open the door
for meditations on the present. And, in concert with that
thinking, they began to consider the human being as more
than just a body-as-vehicle-for-the-soul.
Christopher Marlowe also known as Kit
Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 30 May 1593), was
an English playwright, poetand translator of the Elizabethan
era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his
day.[2] 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.
The Passionate Shepherd
to His Love
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant poises,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The shepherds's swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
Christopher Marlowe
1599
William Shakespeare 26 April 1564 (baptised) 23
April 1616)[nb 1] was an English poet, playwright, and actor,
widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English
language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.[2] He is
often called England'snational poet, and the "Bard of
Avon".[3][nb 2] His extant works, including collaborations,
consist of approximately 38 plays,[nb 3] 154 sonnets, two
long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of
uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into towards his stronghold at Dunsinane and until he meets an
every major living language and are performed more often enemy "not born of woman." Dismissing both of these
than those of any other playwright. predictions as nonsense, Macbeth prepares for invasion.

When he is told that Macduff has deserted him, Macbeth

Macbeth
Set in medieval Scotland and partly based on a true
historical account,Macbeth charts the bloody rise to power
and tragic downfall of the warrior Macbeth. Already a
successful soldier in the army of King Duncan, Macbeth is
informed by Three Witches that he is to become king. As
part of the same prophecy, the Witches predict that future
Scottish kings will be descended not from Macbeth but from
his fellow army captain, Banquo. Although initially prepared
to wait for Fate to take its course, Macbeth is stung by
ambition and confusion when King Duncan nominates his
son Malcolm as his heir.
Returning to his castle, Macbeth allows himself to be
persuaded and directed by his ambitious wife, who realizes
that regicide the murder of the king is the quickest way
to achieve the destiny that her husband has been promised.
A perfect opportunity presents itself when King Duncan pays
a royal visit to Macbeth's castle. At first Macbeth is loth to
commit a crime that he knows will invite judgment, if not on
earth then in heaven. Once more, however, his wife prevails
upon him. Following an evening of revelry, Lady
Macbeth drugs the guards of the king's bedchamber; then, at
a given signal, Macbeth, although filled with misgivings,
ascends to the king's room and murders him while he
sleeps. Haunted by what he has done, Macbeth is once
more reprimanded by his wife, whose inner strength seems
only to have been increased by the treacherous killing.
Suddenly, both are alarmed by a loud knocking at the castle
door.
When the drunken porter of Macbeth's castle finally
responds to the noise, he opens the door to Macduff, a loyal
follower of the king, who has been asked to awake Duncan
in preparation for the return journey. Macbeth indicates the
location of the king's room, and Macduff discovers the body.
When the murder is revealed, Macbeth swiftly kills the prime
witnesses, the sleepy guards of the king's bedchamber, and
Lady Macbeth faints. The assembled lords of Scotland,
including Macbeth, swear to avenge the murder. With
suspicion heavy in the air, the king's two sons flee the
country: Donalbain to Ireland and Malcolm to raise an army
in England.
begins the final stage of his tragic descent. His first move is
the destruction of Macduff's wife and children. In England,
Macduff receives the news at the very moment that he
swears his allegiance to the young Malcolm. Malcolm
persuades him that the murder of his family should act as
the spur to revenge.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, Lady Macbeth has been taken ill:
She walks in her sleep and seems to recall, in fragmentary
memories, the details of the murder. Now, in a series of
alternating scenes, the action of the play moves rapidly
between the advancing army of Malcolm and the defensive
preparations of Macbeth. When Malcolm's army disguise
themselves with sawn-off branches, Macbeth sees what
appears to be a wood moving towards his stronghold at
Dunsinane. And when he finally meets Macduff in single
combat, his sworn enemy reveals that he came into the
world by cesarean section; he was not, precisely speaking,
"born of woman." On hearing this news, Macbeth rejects one
final time the Witches' prophecy. With a loud cry, he
launches himself at Macduff and is slain. In the final scene,
Malcolm is crowned as the new king of Scotland, to the
acclaim of all.
The Age of Chaucer
The fourteenth century was a time of much political, religious,
and industrial discontent in England. All this was reflected in
the literature of the time. The people of England became one
people, and the English tongue came into common use. In
1362 English was made the language of the law courts, and
in 1386 English displaced French in the schools.

Macbeth is duly proclaimed the new king of Scotland, but

recalling the Witches' second prophecy, he arranges the
murder of his fellow soldier Banquo and his son Fleance,
both of whom represent a threat to his kingship according to
the Witches' prophecy. The hired murderers kill Banquo but
mistakenly allow Fleance to escape. At a celebratory Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 25 October 1400), known as
banquet that night, Macbeth is thrown into a state of horror
when the ghost of the murdered Banquo appears at the the Father of English literature,[1] is widely considered the
dining table. Again, his wife tries to strengthen Macbeth, but greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first
the strain is clearly beginning to show. poet to be buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.

The following day, Macbeth returns to the same Witches

who initially foretold his destiny. This time, the Witches not
only confirm that the sons of Banquo will rule in Scotland,
but they also add a new prophecy: Macbeth will be invincible
in battle until the time when the forest of Birnam moves
The Canterbury Tales
In April, with the beginning of spring, people of varying social
classes come from all over England to gather at the Tabard
Inn in preparation for a pilgrimage to Canterbury to receive
the blessings of St. Thomas Becket, the English martyr.
Chaucer himself is one of the pilgrims. That evening, the
Host of the Tabard Inn suggests that each member of the
group tell tales on the way to and from Canterbury in order to
make the time pass more pleasantly. The person who tells
the best story will be awarded an elegant dinner at the end
of the trip. The Host decides to accompany the party on its
pilgrimage and appoints himself as the judge of the best tale.
Shortly after their departure the day, the pilgrims draw
straws. The Knight, who draws the shortest straw, agrees to
tell the first story a noble story about knights and honor
and love. When the Knight finishes his story, the Host calls
upon the Monk. The drunken Miller, however, insists that it is
his turn, and he proceeds to tell a story about a stupid
carpenter. At the end of his story, everyone roars with
laughter except the Reeve, who had once been a
carpenter. To get back at the Miller, the Reeve tells a
lowbrow story about a cheating miller. At the end of The
Reeve's Tale, the Cook, Roger, promises to tell a true story,
but he doesn't complete his tale.
By now, the first day is rapidly passing, and the Host hurries
the pilgrims to get on with their tales. Using the best legalese
that he knows, he calls upon the Man of Law for the next
tale. The Man of Law proceeds to tell the tale of Constancy.
The Host is very pleased with the tale and asks the Parson
to relate another one just as good. The Parson declines,
however, and rebukes the Host for swearing and ridiculing
him (the Parson). The Shipman breaks in and tells a lively
story to make up for so much moralizing.
The Wife of Bath is the next to tell a story, and she begins by
claiming that happy marriages occur only when a wife has
sovereignty over her husband. When the Wife of Bath
finishes her story, the Friar offers his own tale about a
summoner. The Host, however, always the peacekeeper,
admonishes the Friar to let the Summoner alone. The
Summoner interrupts and says the Friar can do as he likes
and will be repaid with a tale about a friar. Nevertheless, the
Friar's tale about a summoner makes the Summoner so
angry that he tells an obscene story about the fate of all
friars and then continues with an obscene tale about one
friar in particular.
After the Friar and Summoner finish their insulting stories
about each other, the Host turns to the Clerk and asks for a
lively tale. The Clerk tells a story about Griselda and her
patience a story that depicts the exact opposite of The
Wife of Bath's Tale. The Merchant comments that he has no
wife as patient and sweet as Griselda and tells of tale of a
young wife who cheats on her old husband. After the
Merchant's tale, the Host requests another tale about love
and turns to the Squire, who begins a tale of supernatural
events. He does not finish, however, because the Franklin
interrupts him to compliment the Squire on his eloquence
and gentility. The Host, interested only get in getting the next
story told, commands the Franklin to begin his tale, which he
does. The Franklin tells of a happy marriage.
Then the Physician offers his tale of the tragic woe of a
father and daughter a story that upsets the Host so much
that he requests a merry tale from the Pardoner. The
Pardoner tells a tale in which he proves that, even though he
is not a moral man, he can tell a moral tale. At the end of the
tale, the Pardoner invites the pilgrims to buy relics and
pardons from him and suggests that the Host should begin
because he is the most sinful. This comment infuriates the
Host; the Knight intercedes between the Host and the
Pardoner and restores peace.
The pilgrims then hear a story by the Prioress about a young
martyr. After the seriousness of this tale, the Host turns to
Chaucer and asks him for something to liven up the group.
Chaucer begins a story about Sir Topas but is soon
interrupted by the Host, who exclaims that he is tired of the
jingling rhymes and wants Chaucer to tell a little something
in prose. Chaucer complies with the boring story of Melibee.
After the tale of Melibee, the Host turns to the merry Monk
and demands a story that he confidently expects to be a
jovial and happy tale. Instead, the Monk relates a series of
tales in which tragedy befalls everyone. The Knight joins in
with the Host in proclaiming that the Monk's tales are too
much to bear and requests a merry tale. But the Monk
refuses, and the Host turns to the Nun's Priest and calls for a
tale. Thus the Nun's Priest relates the tale of the barnyard
rooster, Chaunticleer, his lady, and a fox. The Second Nun
then offers a tale that befits her station a retelling of the
events in the life of St. Cecilia.
Suddenly, two men approach the pilgrims. One is a canon;
the other his yeoman (servant). The Host welcomes them
and asks whether either has a tale to tell. The Canon's
Yeoman answers that his master has many strange tales
filled with mirth and laughter, yet when he begins to tell of
their life and actions, the Canon slips away embarrassed
and frightened.
As the party nears Canterbury, the Host demands a story
from the Manciple, who tells of a white crow that can sing
and talk. Finally, the Host turns to the last of the group, the
Parson, and bids him to tell his tale. The Parson agrees and
proceeds with a sermon. The Tales end with Chaucer's
retraction.
Period Before Chaucer
English literature before Chaucer is divided in two periods: old
English (AngloSaxon), before the year 1100 and Early Middle
English, beginning with the 12th century. The English Arthurian
Legend belongs to the Early Middle English period. Oral tradition
in Old English or AngloSaxon culture can be divided into two
main ages: the time of the great historian Bede, which produced
the finest poetry, and King Alfredperiod, when prose began. The
conservation and consolidation of texts, took place in the 10th and
11th centuries. AngloSaxon culture high level with prose but
specially its poetry, during the four centuries from Caedmon to the
Norman Conquest,old English poetic work is a unique example of
how a heroic diction could be adapted to Christian purposes.
Middle English verse and prose, from the beginning of the 12th
century to the second half of the 14th show a literature more varied
than Old English,developing genres in lyric poetry, in prose and in
verse romance,and connecting with the greater Chaucerian age.
BEOWULF
King Hrothgar, the ruler of the Danes, is troubled by the
rampages of a demon named Grendel. Every night, Grendel
attacks King Hrothgar's wealthy mead-hall, Heorot, killing giving.

Danish warriors and sometimes even eating them.

Finally, the Geats take their leave of the Danes; Beowulf

Hrothgar was a great warrior in his time, but now he's an old
says goodbye to King Hrothgar and sails back to Geatland,
king and can't seem to protect his people. Fortunately, a
where he is a lord in the court of King Hygelac. Eventually,
young Geat warrior named Beowulf travels to Heorot Hall
Hygelac and all his relatives are killed in differentblood-
from his own lands overseas to lend a helping hand
feuds, and Beowulf becomes the King of the Geats. Beowulf
literally.
reigns as king for fifty years, protecting the Geats from all the

other tribes around them, especially the Swedes. He is an

After explaining that he owes Hrothgar a favor because
honorable and heroic warrior-king, rewarding his loyal
Hrothgar helped out his father, Beowulf offers to fight
thanes (warrior lords) and taking care of his people.
Grendel himself. King Hrothgar gratefully accepts his offer.

The next time Grendel attacks Heorot Hall, Beowulf is

But one day, Beowulf finally meets his match: a dragon,
waiting for him. Choosing to fight Grendel in hand-to-hand
woken by a thief stealing a goblet, begins attacking the
combat, Beowulf wrestles the demon into submission and
Geats, burning villages and slaughtering people. Beowulf
eventually tears off his arm at the shoulder. Mortally
takes a group of eleven trusty warriors, plus the thief who
wounded, Grendel flees into the wilderness and dies.
knows where the dragon's lair is, to the barrow for a final
Beowulf, Hrothgar, and their followers throw a wild party to
showdown with the monster. When they see the dragon, all
celebrate. Hrothgar also gives Beowulf many presents and
but one of the warriors flee in terror. Only one man, Wiglaf,
treasures to reward him for his heroic defeat of the demon.
remains at Beowulf's side. With Wiglaf's help and

encouragement, Beowulf is able to defeat the dragon, but he

Unfortunately, Grendel has an overprotective mother who
is mortally wounded in the process.
decides to avenge her son. While all the warriors are

sleeping off the party, she attacks Heorot Hall. But when the
After Beowulf's death, the Geats build an enormous funeral
warriors wake up, she panics and flees back to her lair, a
pyre for him, heaped with treasures. Once the pyre has
cave underneath a nearby lake.
burned down, they spend ten days building an enormous

barrow (a large mound of earth filled with treasure) as a

Beowulf, his Geatish warriors, and some of Hrothgar's
monument to their lost king.
Danish warriors track her there. Beowulf dives into the lake

and finds the cave, where he takes on Grendel's mother in The 15th Century
another one-on-one battle. Seizing a nearby sword from
One of the most important factors in the nature and
Grendel's mother's stash of treasure, he slays her, even
development of English literature between about 1350 and
though her poisonous demon blood melts the blade. When
1550 was the peculiar linguistic situation in England at the
Beowulf returns to the surface, carrying the sword hilt and
beginning of the period. Among the small minority of the
Grendel's severed head, the Danish warriors have given him
population that could be regarded as literate, bilingualism
up for dead, but his own Geatish followers are still waiting
and even trilingualism were common. Insofar as it was
patiently. When everyone sees that Beowulf has survived
considered a serious literary medium at all, English was
this second challenge, there's even more partying and gift-
obliged to compete on uneven terms with Latin and with the ("skipper") of the ship would be put in considerable
Anglo-Norman dialect of French widely used in England at
danger. Some "eldern knight" at the Scottish court -- he is
the time. Moreover, extreme dialectal diversity within English
not named, specifically -- suggests the excellent sailor, Sir
itself made it difficult for vernacular writings, irrespective of
Patrick Spens.
their literary pretensions, to circulate very far outside their

immediate areas of composition, a disadvantage not

The king's orders are brought to him while Sir Patrick is
suffered by writings in Anglo-Norman and Latin. Literary

culture managed to survive and in fact to flourish in the face walking on a beach (the strand). The first line of the letter

of such potentially crushing factors as the catastrophic makes him laugh, the second makes him weep ("The tear

mortality of the Black Death (134751), chronic external and blinded his ee"). Sir Patrick rails against whoever

internal military conflicts in the form of the Hundred Years suggested him "O who is this has done this deed,
War and the Wars of the Roses, and serious social, political,
Has told the King of me(?)", but he follows the order and
and religious unrest, as evinced in the Peasants
goes to Norway.
Revolt(1381) and the rise of Lollardism (centred on the

religious teachings of John Wycliffe). All the more

While in Norway, he is criticized by the Norwegian
remarkable, then, was the literary and linguistic revolution
knights for spending the money and abusing the hospitality
that took place in England between about 1350 and 1400

and that was slowly and soberly consolidated over the of their king. Again Sir Patrick protests, saying that he

subsequent 150 years. brought a great deal of silver ("white monie") and gold with

him from Scotland. But again Sir Patrick does as he is told,

and embarks even though the weather and the phase of the
Sir Patrick Spens is a tragic ballad of
moon are sore against him, threatening a storm.
Scotland. First published in 1765, it is probably much older

than that date, probably by several centuries. While a real

Of course, when the ship is too far from land for succor, a
Sir Patrick Spens has never been identified, it is possible
fearful storm with lightning arises. The sailors try to keep the
there was a real thirteenth-century event involving the
sea out by stuffing the hole in the side of the ship with cloth,
daughter of the King of Norway on which the poem is
but the water comes in nevertheless. The poet says wryly
based. But the importance of the actual events is not so
that the Scots lords were loath to get their cork-heeled shoes
great as the literary quality and the excellence of the ballad
wet, but, alas, their hats were soon to be drenched. In other
form in this poem
words, the ship sinks and all the people on board are

drowned. They lie forty miles off the coast of Aberdeen on

The story of the poem is broadly thus: The king of Scotland
the bottom of the sea.
needs to fetch the daughter of the king of Norway from over

the sea, and therefore needs a very good sailor to go and

This ballad, with its regular rhyme, musical Scots dialect,
get her. It is understood that this is a bad time of year for
and dramatic build-up to a tragic ending, is a classic
sailing (probably winter), and therefore the choice of captain
example of the form. Ballads were almost always spoken or
sung, and the literary form is meant to be enjoyed by hearing
rather than by reading. The short, rhyming lines and
stanzas of "Sir Patrick Spens" are easy to remember, and
most people can remember one line verbatim, at least, after
only one hearing. It is a form that is exceedingly easy to
memorize, and thus, easily remembered, becomes a part of
the collective memory of its hearers. The skillful building of
suspense in the final stanzas of the poem, though the
outcome is probably clear to most listeners and not a
surprise, makes the ending that much more emotional for the
hearers. This popular form of poetry is still recited and
composed today, in Scotland and many other cultures.
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN
KNIGHT
Its Christmas time at King Arthurs court, and all the knights
and ladies have gathered to celebrate and feast. Arthur,
however, refuses to eat until he has witnessed something
marvelous or heard a great adventure story. Luckily, just
when everyones sitting down to eat, a mysterious, gigantic
stranger with emerald-green skin and clothing bursts into the
hall. As if that weren't weird enough, he's riding a gigantic
green horse and carrying an elaborately-decorated axe.
The Green Knight announces that hes come to test the
honor of the legendary knights of the round table, and
proposes a game: he will withstand a single axe-blow from
the hands of one knight, as long as that knight agrees to
meet him in a year and a day to receive an axe-blow in
return. Stunned by the total weirdness of his request, no one
volunteers.
The Green Knight mocks them cruelly, calling out Arthur
himself to take up the challenge. But before Arthur can strike
a blow, his nephew, Sir Gawain, declares that its shameful
for the king to have to participate in such a silly game. So Sir
Gawain volunteers himself.
Gawain brings the axe down on the Green Knight, chopping
his head off. Instead of dying, the Green Knight picks up his
own head, turns it to face the court, and tells Gawain to meet
him at the Green Chapel in a year and a day. He gallops out
of the hall on his horse as the members of the court try to
pick their jaws up off of the floor.
The seasons pass, and soon its the holiday season again.
Gawain leaves King Arthur's court on All Saints Day in
search of the Green Chapel. He rides through enchanted
lands teeming with marvels, battling monsters, and
withstanding extreme cold and snow as he travels. As
Christmas approaches, Gawain is relieved to see a huge,
well-protected castle in the middle of an enchanted forest.
When he arrives there he is warmly welcomed and invited to
spend the holidays, enjoying the rich hospitality of the
magnificent lord and his beautiful lady.
After the Christmas feasting, Gawain gets ready to leave, but
the lord persuades him to stay by saying that he can guide
Gawain to the Green Chapel. The lord proposes a game,
moreover: as Gawain lounges inside by the fire all day, the
lord will ride out to hunt. At the end of the day, the two will
exchange whatever theyve won. Gawain happily agrees to
the game, impressed by the lords love of merriment and
games.
The next morning, as the lord rides out in pursuit of deer,
Gawain sleeps in late. Hes awoken by the lady of the castle.
She says she's come to enjoy the company of a knight with
such a wonderful reputation. They chat for a bit, and then the
lady gets up to leave. But before she goes, she surprises
Gawain by doubting that hes really the Gawain shes heard
so much about. When Gawain asks why, she replies that a
man with a reputation for being a ladies' man would never
depart from a lady without kissing her. Especially when her
flirtatious behavior has indicated shes willing. Taking the
hint, Gawain kisses the lady, who then departs.
When the lord returns to the castle that night, he presents
Gawain with a multitude of well-dressed deer, for which
Gawain exchanges the kiss hes received from the lord's
wife. Gawain and the lord continue the same game for the
next two days. The lord hunts a boar and a fox while Gawain
flirts with the lady of the castle. Gawain then exchanges the
kisses he receives for the animals the lord has killed.
On the last day of the game, however, the lady convinces
Gawain to accept something else as a "lovers token": a
green girdle, or belt, which she claims will make the wearer
invincible, unable to be killed. Gawain realizes that this is
just the thing to save his life during his impending meeting
with the Green Knight. When the lord of the castles comes
home at the end of the day, Gawain breaks the rules of the
game and doesn't exchange the green girdle.
The next morning, Gawain rides out of the castle with a
guide, who points him to the Green Chapel. The guide begs
Gawain to reconsider, because the man who guards it is so
dangerous. When Gawain reaches the clearing, all he sees
is a small mound with patches of grass on it. He assumes
this must be the chapel. He hears a noise like someone
sharpening a blade. He calls out to the sharpener to come
meet him.
The Green Knight emerges with his huge axe, and
commends Gawain for keeping the terms of the agreement.
He moves to strike the first blow, but stops his hand when
Gawain flinches. He chews Gawain out for being a sissy.
After Gawain promises to flinch no more, the knight moves
to strike a second blow, but again stops his hand. This time
he claims he was testing to see if Gawain was ready. Finally,
the Green Knight strikes a third blow. This time, the axe
breaks the skin but doesn't decapitate Gawain. (Whew!)
Gawain leaps up and arms himself, telling the Green Knight
that he has met the terms of the agreement and will now
defend himself if threatened.
Laughing, the Green Knight explains to Gawain that he is
actually the same lord of the castle where Gawain spent his
holidays. The first two blows, he claims, were in return for
the way Gawain returned the kisses of his wife, following the
rules of their game as an honest man should. The third blow,
he says, was for Gawains failure to return the green girdle to
him on the last day. But because Gawains failing was only
because he wanted to save his life, and not because he's
just dishonorable, the Green Knight forgives him. He leaves
Gawain with only with a scar and a girdle as a reminder of
his very human sin.
Sir Gawain, however, is totally mortified. He asks the mans
name and learns that he is Lord Bertilak. His powers come
from Morgan le Fay, who is King Arthurs aunt and a
powerful sorceress. She enchanted Bertilak and sent him to
King Arthurs court to test the honor of the knights there and
to frighten Queen Guinevere.
Refusing Bertilaks offer of further hospitality, Gawain returns
to Arthurs court. He tells the story of his adventure, and
declares that he will wear the girdle for the rest of his life as
a reminder of his failure. The court, however, laughs at
Gawain and proposes to all wear a similar girdle for his sake.
This tradition is carried down through generations and
becomes a symbol of honor.
The Age of Reason
General intellectual and literary movement: Enlightenment
Enlightenment: characterized by Rationalism
Rationalism: a philosophy the emphasized the role of
reason rather than sensory experience or faith in answering basic
questions of human existence
Ideals:
Intellectual Freedom
Freedom from prejudice and superstition in religion and
politics
As in all Ages: Behavior often did not match ideals
Many of the authors based their prose and poetry on classical
models

Daniel Defoe (1660 24 April 1731),[1] born Daniel
Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist,pamphleteer,
and spy, most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe
is noted for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel,
as he helped to popularise the form in Britain with others
such as Samuel Richardson, and is among the founders of
the English novel. He was a prolific and versatile writer,
producing more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and
journals on various topics, including politics, crime, religion,
marriage, psychology, and the supernatural. He was also a
pioneer of economic journalism.[2]
The Education of Women
I have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous
customs in the world, considering us as a civilized and a
Christian country, that we deny the advantages of learning to
women. We reproach the sex every day with folly and
impertinence; while I am confident, had they the advantages
of education equal to us, they would be guilty of less than
ourselves.
One would wonder, indeed, how it should happen that
women are conversible at all; since they are only beholden
to natural parts, for all their knowledge. Their youth is spent to
teach them to stitch and sew or make baubles. They are taught to
read, indeed, and perhaps to write their names, or so; and that is the
height of a womans education. And I would but ask any who
slight the sex for their understanding, what is a man (a gentleman, I
mean) good for, that is taught no more? I need not give instances,
or examine the character of a gentleman, with a good estate, or a
good family, and with tolerable parts; and examine what figure he
makes for want of education.
The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be
polished, or the luster of it will never appear. And tis manifest,
that as the rational soul distinguishes us from brutes; so education
carries on the distinction, and makes some less brutish than others.
This is too evident to need any demonstration. But why then
should women be denied the benefit of instruction? If knowledge
and understanding had been useless additions to the sex, GOD
Almighty would never have given them capacities; for he made
nothing needless. Besides, I would ask such, What they can see in
ignorance, that they should think it a necessary ornament to a
woman? or how much worse is a wise woman than a fool? or what
has the woman done to forfeit the privilege of being taught? Does
she plague us with her pride and impertinence? Why did we not let
her learn, that she might have had more wit? Shall we upbraid
women with folly, when tis only the error of this inhuman custom,
that hindered them from being made wiser?
The capacities of women are supposed to be greater, and their
senses quicker than those of the men; and what they might be
capable of being bred to, is plain from some instances of female
wit, which this age is not without. Which upbraids us with
Injustice, and looks as if we denied women the advantages of
education, for fear they should vie with the men in their
improvements.
[They] should be taught all sorts of breeding suitable both to their
genius and quality. And in particular, Music and Dancing; which it
would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their darlings.
But besides this, they should be taught languages, as particularly
French and Italian: and I would venture the injury of giving a
woman more tongues than one. They should, as a particular study,
be taught all the graces of speech, and all the necessary air
of conversation; which our common education is so defective in,
that I need not expose it. They should be brought to read books,
and especially history; and so to read as to make them understand
the world, and be able to know and judge of things when they hear
of them.
To such whose genius would lead them to it, I would deny no sort
of learning; but the chief thing, in general, is to cultivate the
understandings of the sex, that they may be capable of all sorts of
conversation; that their parts and judgments being improved, they
may be as profitable in their conversation as they are pleasant.
Women, in my observation, have little or no difference in them,
but as they are or are not distinguished by education. Tempers,
indeed, may in some degree influence them, but the main
distinguishing part is their Breeding.
The whole sex are generally quick and sharp. I believe, I may be
allowed to say, generally so: for you rarely see them lumpish and
heavy, when they are children; as boys will often be. If a woman
be well bred, and taught the proper management of her natural wit,
she proves generally very sensible and retentive.
And, without partiality, a woman of sense and manners is the finest
and most delicate part of God's Creation, the glory of Her Maker,
and the great instance of His singular regard to man, His darling
creature: to whom He gave the best gift either God could bestow or
man receive. And tis the sordidest piece of folly and ingratitude in
the world, to withhold from the sex the due luster which the
advantages of education gives to the natural beauty of their minds.
A woman well bred and well taught, furnished with the additional
accomplishments of knowledge and behavior, is a creature without
comparison. Her society is the emblem of sublimer enjoyments,
her person is angelic, and her conversation heavenly. She is all
softness and sweetness, peace, love, wit, and delight. She is every
way suitable to the sublimest wish, and the man that has such a one
to his portion, has nothing to do but to rejoice in her, and be
thankful.
On the other hand, Suppose her to be the very same woman, and
rob her of the benefit of education, and it follows-
 If her temper be good, want of education makes her soft and
easy.

Her wit, for want of teaching, makes her impertinent and

talkative.

Her knowledge, for want of judgment and experience, makes her

fanciful and whimsical.

If her temper be bad, want of breeding makes her worse; and she
grows haughty, insolent, and loud.

If she be passionate, want of manners makes her a termagant and

a scold, which is much at one with Lunatic.

If she be proud, want of discretion (which still is breeding) makes

her conceited, fantastic, and ridiculous.
Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 1
And from these she degenerates to be turbulent, clamorous,
noisy, nasty, the devil!-- September 1729) was an Irish writer and politician,
The great distinguishing difference, which is seen in the world
remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison,
between men and women, is in their education; and this is
manifested by comparing it with the difference between one man of the magazine The Tatler.
or woman, and another.

And herein it is that I take upon me to make such a bold assertion,
That all the world are mistaken in their practice about women. For
I cannot think that God Almighty ever made them so delicate, so
glorious creatures; and furnished them with such charms, so
agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the
same accomplishments with men: and all, to be only Stewards of
our Houses, Cooks, and Slaves.
Not that I am for exalting the female government in the least: but,
in short, I would have men take women for companions, and
educate them to be fit for it. A woman of sense and breeding will
scorn as much to encroach upon the prerogative of man, as a man
of sense will scorn to oppress the weakness of the woman. But if
the womens souls were refined and improved by teaching, that
word would be lost. To say, the weakness of the sex, as to
judgment, would be nonsense; for ignorance and folly would be no
more to be found among women than men.
I remember a passage, which I heard from a very fine woman. She
had wit and capacity enough, an extraordinary shape and face, and
a great fortune: but had been cloistered up all her time; and for fear
of being stolen, had not had the liberty of being taught the common
necessary knowledge of womens affairs. And when she came to
converse in the world, her natural wit made her so sensible of the
want of education, that she gave this short reflection on herself: "I
am ashamed to talk with my very maids," says she, "for I dont
know when they do right or wrong. I had more need go to school,
than be married."
I need not enlarge on the loss the defect of education is to the sex;
nor argue the benefit of the contrary practice. Tis a thing will be
more easily granted than remedied. This chapter is but an Essay at
the thing: and I refer the Practice to those Happy Days (if ever they
shall be) when men shall be wise enough to mend it.
The Tatler, a periodical launched in London by the
essayist Sir Richard Steele in April 1709, appearing three
times weekly until January 1711. At first its avowed intention
was to present accounts of gallantry, pleasure, and
entertainment, of poetry, and of foreign and domestic news.
These all were reported and issued from various London
coffee and chocolate houses. In time The Tatler began to
investigate manners and society, establishing its principles
of ideal behaviour, its concepts of a perfect gentleman and
gentlewoman, and its standards of good taste. Dueling,
gambling, rakish behaviour, and coquettishness were
criticized, and virtuous action was admired.
Numerous anecdotes and stories gave point to
the moral codes advanced. The periodical had an explicit
Whig allegiance and was several times drawn into political
controversy.
The English periodical essay began its first flowering in The
Tatler, reaching its full bloom in the hands of Joseph
Addison. Addison seems to have made his first contribution
to it in the 18th issue. Two months after The Tatler ceased
publication, he and Steele launched the brilliant
periodical The Spectator.
Story of Joseph
This is the story about a young man named Joseph. His
father's name is Jacob, and they lived in Canaan from where
his grandfather was from.

Joseph was seventeen (old enough to drive a car these

days), and he had eleven brothers; and only had one brother
younger than him. Can you imagine having eleven brothers A few days later Joseph's father asked him to check on his

to play with, or fight with? brothers. They were in the fields quite a distance away. So

Joseph went to find them.

Because Joseph was one of the youngest sons, his father

spent more time with him, and he became very special to When the brothers saw Joseph in the distance, they made a

him. So Jacob had a special robe made for Joseph. (They plan to kill him. But when Reuben, Joseph's oldest brother

didn't have jackets back then, so this was a very special heard this he said, "Let's not kill him, just throw him in a well

jacket). It was very beautiful and had every color you could out here in the field." He said this because he was secretly

imagine in it. planning to come back and rescue Joseph when the other

brothers had left.

All of Joseph's older brothers saw this and they got very

jealous. The word jealous means that Joseph's brothers So when Joseph came to them, they took off his beautiful

disliked him because they thought his father liked him more, robe and they threw him in an empty well. A little while later

and because he got the special coat. They got so jealous a group of people came by that were wanting to sell some

they couldn't even say a kind word to him. things in Egypt. One of the brothers spoke up, "Why don't

we sell him to these people, this way we never have to see

One day Joseph had a dream, and he went to go tell his
him again, and we don't have to kill him."
brothers. He said, "Guess what? Last night I had a strange

dream. We were tying up bunches of grain out in the field The other brothers liked this idea, so they sold him to the

when suddenly my bunch stood up, while all of yours people who were going to Egypt.

gathered around and bowed to me." The brothers looked at

Unfortunately Reuben had been working and hadn't seen
each other in disgust, but Joseph continued. "Then I had
what happened. When he returned to the well he noticed
another dream that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed
that Joseph was gone. He had been sold to an important
down to me."
man named Potiphar, an assistant to the Pharaoh of Egypt.

"Who do you think you are?" The brothers said. "Do you
The rest of the brothers took Joseph's beautiful robe and
think that you are better than all of us? Do you think that we
dipped it in animal blood and took it back to their
would ever bow down to you?" This made the brothers
father. When the father saw this he cried, "Some animal has
dislike Joseph even more.
killed my son." And he cried for many days, so much that

When he told his father about his dreams he said, "Those nobody could comfort him.

are strange dreams." But he thought carefully about what

Joseph had told him.

Now Joseph had started out as a slave, but the Lord was "What can I do?" Pharaoh asked. "God has shown you

with Joseph and He helped him do everything right. So what to do. There will be seven years before the bad years

Potiphar made him his helper, and put him in charge of that will be very good. So good that there will be extra food

everything that he owned. for everyone. So you should save a little bit of each years

harvest, that way you will have enough to get you through
The problem came when Potiphar's wife lied about Joseph to
the bad years." Joseph said.
her husband, so Potiphar had Joseph put into jail.

Pharaoh believed all that Joseph told him, and put him in
The Lord was still with Joseph in jail, and the warden put
charge of all the land of Egypt.
Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. He never worried

because the Lord was with Joseph and helped him do People came from all countries to buy grain from Joseph,

everything right. because the whole world was in need of food. Some of

those people were Joseph's brothers. When his brothers

After Joseph had been in jail for some time a cupbearer and
came, Joseph recognized them, but they did not know who
baker to Pharaoh had been sent there. One night each of
he was. (It had been over 10 years since they had seen
them had a dream. They told their dreams to Joseph and he
him).
told the cupbearer that he would soon be let out of

jail. "Please tell Pharaoh about me, and ask him to get me The brothers all bowed to him because he was an important

out of here." Joseph said. person. Just as he dreamed they would at the beginning.

When the cupbearer was freed he forgot about what Joseph After a few meetings with his brothers he could not keep it in

did. So Joseph stayed in jail for two more years. Until one any longer and Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is

day the Pharaoh had a dream, and nobody could explain it my father alive?" But his brothers couldn't answer him

to him. The cupbearer then remembered what Joseph had because they were afraid. Then Joseph said, "Come here. I

done for him, and Joseph was brought to Pharaoh. am your brother, the one you sold! Do not worry, and do not

be angry at yourselves for selling me, because God has put

"Can you understand dreams?" Pharaoh asked. "I can't, but
me here to save people from starving."
God helps me." Joseph replied. After Pharaoh had told him

his dream Joseph explained, "God is warning you. There So his father, his brothers, and their families came to live in

will be seven years when nothing will grow and there won't Egypt with Joseph, and they had all the food they needed.

be any food for anyone."

The Prodigal Son

The story of the Prodigal Son, also known as the Parable of

the Lost Son, follows the parables of the Lost Sheep and the

Lost Coin. Jesus is responding to the Pharisees' complaint:

"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Jesus tells the story of a man who has two sons. The

younger son asks his father to give him his portion of the

family estate as an early inheritance. Once received, the son

promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and

begins to waste his fortune on wild living. When the money

runs out, a severe famine hits the country and the son finds

himself in dire circumstances. He takes a job feeding pigs.

Eventually, he grows so destitute that he even longs to eat

the food assigned to the pigs.

The young man finally comes to his senses, remembering

his father. In humility, he recognizes his foolishness, decides

to return to his father and ask for forgiveness and mercy.

The father who had been watching and waiting, receives his

son back with open arms of compassion. He is overjoyed by

the return of his lost son. Immediately the father turns to his

servants and asks them to prepare a giant feast in

celebration.

Meanwhile, the older son becomes enraged when he comes

in from working the fields and discovers a party with music

and dancing being celebrated for his younger brother's

return. The father tries to dissuade the older brother from

his jealous rage explaining, "You are always with me, and

everything I have is yours."