The New Opera

The Beggar´s Opera is a satirical ballad. It was first performed in 1728, and written by John Gay. At first, he wanted the play to be performed in the popular playhouse Drury Lane. However, the owners were not willing, and, at the end it was performed in the Lincoln´s Inn Fields Theatre, thanks to John Rich, who was interested in the play. This play became so popular, that after the first few months John Gay had become very rich, and as a joke, it is said that John Rich, the manager of the theatre, became gay.

In a way, this play had such an impact in the society of the time because it was a total change from what had been preformed until then. To start with, it was the Italian opera that was in fashion then. Therefore, the language used in these was Italian. This fact affected the understanding of what was being said, and it began to be very uncomfortable for the audience, that could barely understand the actors. Moreover, the way in which the actors talked was as if they were reciting, that is, the actors would talk by singing throughout the whole play. This could be a little too heavy and slow for the audience, because it would make the action of the play go slower. The characters in these plays belonged to the high Italian class, to noble families. Therefore, it was difficult for the audience to identify themselves with them, because they did not belong to the high English classes or noble families.  The Beggar´s Opera contrasted enormously with this. Mainly, because it was meant to make fun of the Italian opera.

To begin with, in The Beggar´s Opera, the language barrier does not exist anymore, because it is represented in English. Not only that, the language used is very vulgar and typical of people that belong to the low class. Moreover, this language matched with the characters of the play, because now, instead of noble families being the main characters, it was more normal people that carry the action of the story. Normal people, and people that represent the corruption of the London streets at this time, criminals and prostitutes.  Another difference was the mixture between normal spoken discourse and little recitatives, or airs that was present in this play, and that contrasted with the continuous singing of the Italian operas. This made it much easier too, to keep up with the plot of the story. These airs were popular songs of the time that everyone knew, so this would also involucrate the audience and made them feel closer to what was happening in the play.

This play was not only a criticism against the Italian opera, but it was a way to make the Londoners realize the big problem that they had in their city. To start with, the amount of criminals that would threat their wellbeing, and the prostitutes, which were always surrounded by money problems, or others of the sort. It was also a clear criticism against Robert Walpole´s corruption policy. He was the first Prime Minister, and was criticized by many in his time. He was even compared to a very famous criminal called John Wild, like it can be seen in this play. Moreover, this man was also very important because he was the one who persuaded the Parliament to pass the Licensing Act in the year 1737. As a result, London´s theatres had to make sure that the plays that were going to be presented were going to be appropriate from his point of view. The writers that disapproved of this were among others Swift, Pope, and Fielding.    

Christmas Banned

To my surprise, I have learned that Christmas was banned in England while the Puritans were in power. Some historians say, that in 1647 it was Oliver Cromwell who decided to ban Christmas. He banned it because he thought it was immoral to feast and celebrate on such a holy day. However, others say that the Parliament decided to make the English people not celebrated it. Who is responsible for this, is not clear. However, what we do know is that people still celebrated it in their houses, although they had to be very careful not to get caught, because if they did they would get arrested. This prohibition kept on until the Restoration of the king Charles II, in 1660. This festivity, among others that were also banned during the Republic, was restored very fast. This can give us a hint of how popular it was at the time. In the United States, Christmas was banned too, because of the Puritans. In Boston, celebrating Christmas was banned form 1659 to 1681. That year, the ban was revoked, although celebrating Christimas in Boston did not become popular until the 19th century.

The Tatler and The Spectator

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, some people started to write differently than before. We can say that it was the beginning of Journalism as we know it today with the magazines “The Tatler” and “The Spectator”.  This type of journalism was a sociological study of the reality, in a way, because it was not so concentrated in the news, but more on the depiction of society, on gossip, on the traditions of the English people.

Aspects that influenced the creation of these magazines are, for example, the tradition of describing everything in seventeenth century literary works, especially the description of the characters. Also, thanks to the author Eduard Ward, and his work “London Spy”; this, by the way, was published in 18 installments. The first one was published in 1698.  It was considered to be a “complete survey” of the London of that time, and its people.  Therefore, this was a perfect predecessor of these magazines because it set an example for them. Moreover, “The Spectator” and “The Tatler” were written in an epistolary way, style that was going to be used a lot during this century.  

The first magazine to be published was The Tatler, in the year 1709. It was created by Richard Steele. In this magazine, they talked about news and gossip. Nowadays, we normally do not have both things together, but one magazine that talks about the news and others that talk about gossip. Anybody could get this information in the coffeehouses of the time, but this was a way to have all the gossip and news in one place, and available for everyone. It was distributed three times a week, and at the beginning, he did not charge for them, but after some time he asked for a penny. Steele’s style was simple. The main purpose of the author was to teach the people that belonged to the middle class how to behave, because this was a new class, and they did not know how to behave in a formal situation; also, how to carry out a conversation, how to dress accordingly to their status, etc. It was published for two years. Two months after quitting “The Tatler”, Richard Steele and Joseph Addison began writing “The Spectator”. 

The aims of the Spectator were “to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality”. Like we said Tuesday morning, in a way it is always good to listen to popular music and classical music, because you can get the best of both. In the magazine, they treated important aspects of life in London, and gossip that everyone was interested in knowing.

Also, another aim was “to bring philosophy out of the closets and libraries, and school and collages to dwell in clubs and assemblies”. Here we can see the lifestyle of the society of the time, because everyone would get together in clubs and assemblies to talk about important things, so debating about these aspects was not only related to schools and libraries any more. Therefore, learning starts to be placed in a much more casual atmosphere. This is a very important change in their society that still affects us today. 

            The magazine became so popular, that it had imitations in other countries like in Germany and France. 

Another important aspect is that Steele gave a lot of importance to women. As far as he could, he wanted to change their inferior situation. Addison´s style was sophisticated and precise. He was also very good in describing his characters. It is said that he was also able of understanding inner qualities and relationships. This made describing his characters very easy.

Apple Pie recipe

www.ehow.com/video_2935_make-apple-pie.html

Here is the recipe of the apple pie I took yesterday to class! Just in case you feel like making it, this is a very easy way of  making one, and it is very clearly explained! =)

"Ombre" in The Rape of the Lock

       

The Rape of the Lock, is a poem, that by now, we all know about. It is divided in five cantos, and I am going to talk about the third one. Throughout the beginning of this canto, the poet shows the reader the political situation of the country and the social conditions of it.

However, in line 18 the game of cards starts, and finishes in line 100. The poet, in line 25, sets his attention on Belinda. The ability that the poet has to make a game of cards sound like a battle is impressive. He introduces the battle presenting Belinda and two other “Knights”, ready to fight. Thanks to the clarity of the text, we can see their card playing skills easily. This game of cards is called “Ombre”, and it comes from a Spanish game of cards. It is very similar to the game of cards of Spades and Hearts that we play nowadays. The people of the highest social class played this game very frequently, because it became very popular very fast. Not only that, it is in the 19^th century when we see it stops been so popular, because it doesn´t appear as much in literary works. The last literary work, that I know of that mentions it is an essay in Texas Studies by Mr. Case published in 1944. The game that Pope describes in his long poem follows the rules by the book.

                This game is played with a Spanish deck of cards. It has kings and queens, and the 8´s, 9’s  and 10´s are removed. Every player has nine cards, and the other thirteen cards are placed in the talon. The game starts with a bet; each player has to bet on who will be able to take the majority of tricks- you can take five of nine- and the one who wins the bet becomes the “declarer” or “ombre”, and has to play against the other two players. The advantage of being the “ombre” is that the player is allowed to choose which suit will be trump. In the poem, Belinda is the one to choose it, like we see in line number 46: “Let spades be trumps” she said, and trumps they were. To win the hand, the ombre has to take five tricks. 

It is said that with the representation of a battle what Pope is trying to do is to make a point about his society, because at that time all what the elite did was play cards and gamble, which in a way were instruments to flirt, instead of using that energy and passion and dedicate them to brave and serious purposes.

Also, the fact that the Queen of Hearts falls, might be an anticipant of the misery Belinda is going to go through soon after the game is over. So, the poet might be making a connection between the card and Belinda, and suggesting that their fates are the same. In contrast to this, the victory of the King of Hearst might suggest the victory of the Baron himself at the end of the poem. He ends up doing what he wants to and, in a way, destroys everything else.

A Famous Pilgrim Story!

Hi everyone! I found a long poem that talks about Thanksgiving and about the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony. This poem is called "The Courtship of Miles Standish" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and it was written in 1858. However, the story that he told, talks about two men that are in love with the same woman, is invented. This is a famous American story.

In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrims,
To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling,
Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather,
Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish the Puritan Captain.
Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands behind him, and
pausing
Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons of warfare,
Hanging in shining array along the walls of the chamber,--
Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword of Damascus,
Curved at the point and inscribed with its mystical Arabic
sentence,
While underneath, in a corner, were fowling-piece, musket, and
matchlock.
Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic,
Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with muscles and sinews of
iron;
Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard was already
Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges sometimes in November.
Near him was seated John Alden, his friend, and household
companion,
Writing with diligent speed at a table of pine by the window;
Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon complexion,
Having the dew of his youth, and the beauty thereof, as the
captives
Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, "Not Angles, but Angels."
Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the Mayflower.

  Suddenly breaking the silence, the diligent scribe
interrupting,
Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles Standish the Captain of
Plymouth.
"Look at these arms," he said, "the warlike weapons that hang
here
Burnished and bright and clean, as if for parade or inspection!
This is the sword of Damascus I fought with in Flanders; this
breastplate,
Well I remember the day! once saved my life in a skirmish;
Here in front you can see the very dint of the bullet
Fired point-blank at my heart by a Spanish arcabucero.
Had it not been of sheer steel, the forgotten bones of Miles
Standish
Would at this moment be mould, in their grave in the Flemish
morasses."
Thereupon answered John Alden, but looked not up from his
writing:
"Truly the breath of the Lord hath slackened the speed of the
bullet;
He in his mercy preserved you, to be our shield and our weapon!"
Still the Captain continued, unheeding the words of the
stripling:
"See, how bright they are burnished, as if in an arsenal hanging;
That is because I have done it myself, and not left it to others.
Serve yourself, would you be well served, is an excellent adage;
So I take care of my arms, as you of your pens and your inkhorn.
Then, too, there are my soldiers, my great, invincible army,
Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest and his matchlock,
Eighteen shillings a month, together with diet and pillage,
And, like Caesar, I know the name of each of my soldiers!"
This he said with a smile, that danced in his eyes, as the
sunbeams
Dance on the waves of the sea, and vanish again in a moment.
Alden laughed as he wrote, and still the Captain continued:
"Look! you can see from this window my brazen howitzer planted
High on the roof of the church, a preacher who speaks to the
purpose,
Steady, straight-forward, and strong, with irresistible logic,
Orthodox, flashing conviction right into the hearts of the
heathen.
Now we are ready, I think, for any assault of the Indians;
Let them come, if they like, and the sooner they try it the
better,--
Let them come if they like, be it sagamore, sachem, or pow-wow,
Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, or Tokamahamon!"

  Long at the window he stood, and wistfully gazed on the
landscape,
Washed with a cold gray mist, the vapory breath of the east-wind,
Forest and meadow and hill, and the steel-blue rim of the ocean,
Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon shadows and sunshine.
Over his countenance flitted a shadow like those on the
landscape,
Gloom intermingled with light; and his voice was subdued with
emotion,
Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a pause he proceeded:
"Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, lies buried Rose Standish;
Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for me by the wayside!
She was the first to die of all who came in the Mayflower!
Green above her is growing the field of wheat we have sown there,
Better to hide from the Indian scouts the graves of our people,
Lest they should count them and see how many already have
perished!"
Sadly his face he averted, and strode up and down, and was
thoughtful.

  Fixed to the opposite wall was a shelf of books, and among them
Prominent three, distinguished alike for bulk and for binding;
Bariffe's Artillery Guide, and the Commentaries of Caesar,
Out of the Latin translated by Arthur Goldinge of London,
And, as if guarded by these, between them was standing the Bible.
Musing a moment before them, Miles Standish paused, as if
doubtful
Which of the three he should choose for his consolation and
comfort,
Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the famous campaigns of the
Romans,
Or the Artillery practice, designed for belligerent Christians.
Finally down from its shelf he dragged the ponderous Roman,
Seated himself at the window, and opened the book, and in silence
Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where thumb-marks thick on the
margin,
Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the battle was hottest.
Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the
stripling,
Busily writing epistles important, to go by the Mayflower,
Ready to sail on the morrow, or next day at latest, God willing!
Homeward bound with the tidings of all that terrible winter,
Letters written by Alden, and full of the name of Priscilla,
Full of the name and the fame of the Puritan maiden Priscilla!

Hope you like it! =)

Thanksgiving!

                   I know that this post has very little to do with what we are studying, but since it is one of my favorite festivities, I couldn´t stop myself. I guess you all know a little, if not more, about this American celebration. For Americans, it is a very important day, I an even say that for some, it is even more important than Christmas. And if you think about it, it makes sence, because Christmas has its origins in a Religious belief, the Christian one, and in the States, there is a lot of variety of religions. As a concequence, a lot of people do not celebrated. However, Thanksging is not related to a religion, but to be grateful for what you have, and share a special meal with your family and friends. Not only that, this tradition is exclusively American, and it has been celebrated even before the United Sates became a country, therefore we can say that it is a symbol for the American culture. 

Here is an example of the influence of this tradition in literature. 

A Thanksgiving Poem

The sun hath shed its kindly light,
Our harvesting is gladly o'er,
Our fields have felt no killing blight,
Our bins are filled with goodly store.

From pestilence, fire, 'flood, and sword
We have been spared by thy decree,
And now with humble hearts, O Lord,
We come to pay our thanks to thee.

We feel that had our merits been
The measure of thy gifts to us,
We erring children, born of sin,
Might not now be rejoicing thus.

No deed of ours hath brought us grace;
When thou wert nigh our sight was dull,
We hid in trembling from thy face,
But thou, O God, wert merciful.

Thy mighty hand o'er all the land
Hath still been open to bestow
Those blessings which our wants demand
From heaven, whence all blessings flow.

Thou hast, with ever watchful eye,
Looked down on us with holy care,
And from thy storehouse in the sky
Hast scattered plenty everywhere.

Then lift we up our songs of praise
To thee, O Father, good and kind;
To thee we consecrate our days;
Be thine the temple of each mind.

With incense sweet our thanks ascend;
Before thy works our powers pall;
Though we should strive years without end,
We could not thank thee for them all. 

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
(1872-1906)

                  Thanksgiving is celebrated the fourth Thursday of November, therefore we almost have three weeks ahead, and I am going to keep on posting things about it! Hope you like it! 

The Recovery

St. Paul´s Cathedral

           After the devastating fire that burned five sixths of the walled area of the oldest part of London, the only thing that was left for the Londoners was to start from scratch.
           From everything that was destroyed, only the churches, made of stone, and especially their towers, were left. Consequently, at least 65,000 people became homeless due to the Fire. These people had lost eveything, so they could not afford renting a place to stay in the unburnt part of the city for long, so, after a few days these people started to move to the villages sorrounding London. Therefore, the city lost a lot of its population in very little time.
           When the rebuilding of the city started, many streets were widened or straightened. However, no new public squares were built. Also, the four affected gates, the Ludget, Newgate, the Moorgate and Temple Bar were rebuilt, although now they were more decorative than useful. Inspite of the rebuilting of these gates, in the 1760s all the gates were removed. In the following decades, fewer houses were built than the ones before the Fire. Gran residences were built for merchants and aldermen.

Temple Bar Gate

          The courtyard houses which were in mayor streets had a limit of four floors of height. In contrast,  before the Fire, these houses were six floors tall. Houses in ordinary streets were limited to three storeys.
           Another mayor aspect that changed was the material they used when building houses. Before the Fire, they used wood in most cases; now, the started to use brick, and when building important houses, they would sometimes use stone in their doorways and windows. Theses houses were now considered to be more sanitary, and to last longer than the ones from before the Fire. However, one thing that hadn´t changed relating to houses was the distribution of the rooms. The outside of the houses had a little architectual influence from France and Holland.

Medieval London before the Fire

            As a conclusion, we can say that the Fire was a devastating one for the city of London and its habitants. However, it also gave the oportunity to create a new, modern city within the medieval city, and with influences of the time. Also, the Londoners were able to improve their lifestyle by making the city safer than before. 

London after 1666

The Year of Wonders

Battle of Lowestoft

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the first time this phrase "Annus Mirabilis" was used, was as the title of the poem written by the famous and talented English poet John Dryden.  This poem was written in the year 1666, and published the following year.

                The meaning of this Latin phrase is “a year of particularly notable events”, or “a year of miracles”.

One of these notable events was “the Battle of Lowestoft”, the 13^th of June of 1665, fought by England and Holland. In this battle, the English soundly defeated the Dutch. A year later, “The Four Day´s Battle” took place, from the first of June until the fourth of June of 1666. The final victory was a month later, on “St. James Day Battle”, the 25^th of July. These three battles are what Dryden talks about in the first part of his poem.

The Four Day´s Battle

                Another very important event, that marked England at that time, was the Great Fire of London that lasted five days. It started the 2^nd of September, and went until the 7^th of September of 1666.  So after these three battles that cost a lot of economic trouble among other things, the Great Fire burnt a lot of important manuscripts that belonged to the Middle Ages, a lot of pieces of art, and also a lot of important buildings that were representative for the city. However, the Fire could have been much worse; it could have burnt the whole city. But fortunately, it was stopped. This was one more reason for the king, Charles II to rearrange the streets, and the city in general, whom he had said, before the fire, that he wanted to do so.

Therefore, we can infer that the historical aspects had such a great impact in the society of the time, that they were reflected in literature, and this is a great example of it. 

Great Fire of London (1666)

A little bit of Samuel Richardson

        He was born the 19th of August of 1689 and died the 4th of July of 1761. He had a difficult addult life, taking into consideration that his first wife died, and their five children died too. After some time, Richardson remarried, but something so tragic like that changes your like forever. With his second wife, he had four daughters, but no heir to take over the publishing bussiness. When he was 51 he wrote his first novel. As a consequence, and very fast, he became one of the most popular writers of his time.

He worked all his life with books. however, not writting them, but printing and publishing them. He published more than 500 works, like books, journals and magazines.

Richardson started to write because he wanted to write a series of "familiar letters" with a down-to-Earth tone, in which he would talk about everyday life aspects.

More about Clarissa

      Richardson´s masterpiece, Clarissa is characterized by several aspects. First of all, as I said in the previous post, it is written in epistolary form. However, it is not only the main character who writes these letters. Apart from her other three characters take part in the action of the novel. These characters are Clarissa´s friend Anna Howe, Lovelace and his friend John Belford.

    Thanks to this, the reader has four different points of view throughout the story. 

        To get an idea of how popular this novel became, we just have to see that it was translated into several languages, only a few years after being published. First of all, it was translated into French in the year 1751 by Abbé Prévost. Later on, it was translated into German and Dutch. 

             The main themes of this novel are money, class and competition. 

   The impact of the story of this young lady can be seen throughout the years; it has been so important for English literature that it has been adapted to the big screen. A movie based on the novel was filmed in 2005. And next you will be able to see a short video of the movie.

           

Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford Hisotory of English Literature. 2nd Editon. New York: Oxford UP Inc., 2000.

Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady

       This novel written by Samuel Richardson, was published in 1748. It is written in epsitolary style. This style had just started to be in fashion. It was this writer who used it for the first time in "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded" published eight years before "Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady".

        The Enciclopedia Britanica defines the epistolary novel like: "a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters. Originating with Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded  (1740)".

"The advantages of the novel in letter form are that it presents an intimate view of the character’s thoughts and feelings without interference from the author and that it conveys the shape of events to come with dramatic immediacy. Also, the presentation of events from several points of view lends the story dimension and verisimilitude. Though the method was most often a vehicle for sentimental novels, it was not limited to them. Of the outstanding examples of the form, Richardson’s Clarissa (1748) has tragic intensity, Tobias Smollett’s "Humphry Clinker" (1771) is a picaresque comedy and social commentary, and Fanny Burney’s "Evelina" (1778) is a novel of manners"

 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/190331/epistolary-novel