ENGL 325 A: Early Modern Literature

Summer A Term 2026                                                         

W.R.Streitberger   

streitwr@uw.edu                                     

This is an asynchronous course taught through CANVAS (Zoom and Panopto Recordings) and through UW EMAIL. We will use official UW email to communicate with one another. You must check your official UW email every day during the term and respond promptly when asked. Never send an email through CANVAS. Send it directly to my UW email address.

EARLY MODERN LITERATURE

This course includes English literature and drama from the early sixteenth through the mid-seventeenth century. This period is sometimes described as ‘Early Modern’ because so much of our own culture has been significantly affected by the intellectual, scientific, literary, and cultural developments of the period. It is the period in which Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia; the period in which Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, and Donne produced some the most memorable lyric poetry; it was the period in which the two most important English epic poems were written--Spenser’s The Faerie Queene and Milton’s Paradise Lost; and it was the age that produced some of the greatest dramatists in all of Western history. Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, and other dramatic poets were responsible for the greatest outpouring of tragic and comic art since the 5^th century BC in Athens.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Text: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Sixteenth Century, The Early Seventeenth Century, 11^th ed. (ISBN 978 0 393 54329-2). Questions? Ask.

Film: Ben Jonson, Volpone (2018), adapted by Martin Foreman (available free online).

THE COURSE

Our course is divided into five units: Utopian Literature, Lyric Poetry, Literary Theory, Epic Poetry, and Dramatic Poetry. The SYLLABUS provides a day-by-day list of our readings. It is here being sent directly to you by email so that you can print it out or put it on your phone for easy reference. The STUDY QUESTIONS are also included here in this email. Copies of both the SYLLABUS and STUDY QUESTIONS can also be found on our CANVAS page, under ‘Syllabus’. You should never be in doubt about what readings are required or what questions are assigned. If you find yourself confused email me for clarification.

STUDY QUESTIONS are assigned for each reading assignment. For example, look at the SYLLABUS for June 23. You are scheduled to read Utopia. How much of it? Go to the STUDY QUESTIONS for that day. You should read far enough to answer those questions. I suggest that you make some notes for yourself about the questions, at least note the page numbers on which the answers can be found. Doing this will make reviewing for the exams straightforward.

In preparing for our class sessions I recommend that you read the questions first. Use them to help organize your thoughts while you are reading. Then view my LECTURE. Only the material listed in the STUDY QUESTIONS or discussed in my lectures will be included in the exams.

In order to keep up with this fast-paced course, daily participation is recommended. Read the material listed in the SYLLABUS and answer the STUDY QUESTIONS. You should strive to complete each week’s assignments within seven days. If you get behind it will be difficult to catch up.

LECTURES cover the material listed in the SYLLABUS. In each week of the course there are four reading assignments, four sets of STUDY QUESTIONS, and four or more lectures (in the last week, two sets). How to find the lectures. See How to Begin the Course.

HOW TO BEGIN THE COURSE: Before each meeting listed in the syllabus go to our main CANVAS page. Scroll down the left column to find and click ZOOM. On the main ZOOM page in the upper right find and click ‘Cloud Recordings. Locate the recording for that day. [NB. ZOOM files recordings based on the date I made them, not on the day scheduled for our meeting. So the recording with the earliest date will be the first one, and so on.] In the Cloud Recording for each meeting I will tell you where to find the lecture for that session.

REQUIREMENTS. Your work must be sent to me via email, addressed to my official UW email address streitwr@uw.edu. (Never send an email to me through CANVAS). All attachments must be in WORD. Attachments in any other format are not acceptable for a grade.

1. An Essay. (33.3%)

Choose one Study Question from Unit 2. Write a 5 page essay on the subject. Your essays should provide more than an answer to the question. Use the question as a departure point for an exploration of a significant topic. The essay is due on Friday 10 July by 11:59 pm. To receive full credit the essay must be submitted on time.

2. Two Exams (each worth 33.3%)

The first exam scheduled for Thursday 2 July is on material covered between 22 June and 1 July. The exam is designed to be completed in an hour and a half. It will be sent to you by email by 9 am on 2 July and is due back by 7 pm the same day.  So find an hour and a half between 9 am and 7 pm to complete the exam. The exam is divided into three sections: Part I will include fifteen multiple choice and true/false questions, definitions, fill-in-the-blanks, etc. (2 points each for a total of 30 points). Part II will ask you to identify and to explain the significance of ten well-known passages from the works we have read (5 points each for a total of 50 points). Part III will ask you to write two detailed paragraphs on more general questions. (10 points each for a total of 20 points).

The second exam, scheduled for Wednesday 22 July, is on material covered between 6 and 21 July. The structure and the procedure is the same as for exam 1. The exam will be sent to you by email by 9 am. It is due back by 7 pm on 22 July.

SCHEDULE

WEEK 1. This week, read in Norton, pp. 4-28

(1)Mon June 22  Introduction. Go to ZOOM Cloud Recording for 22 June.

Unit1: UTOPIAN LITERATURE

(2 )Tues June 23  Read Sir Thomas More, Utopia, pp. 43-118. Lecture: ZOOM Cloud Recording

(3) Wed June 24  Sir Thomas More, Utopia conclusion. Lecture: ZOOM Cloud Recording.

(4a) Thurs June 25  Read Sir Francis Bacon, New Atlantis, pp. 1175-80.                                                                                      

UNIT 2: LYRIC POETRY

(4b) Thurs June 25 Read Baldassare Castiglione, The Courtier, pp. 176-192. Read online Michele de Montaigne, ‘Of the Inconstancy of our Actions’. Lecture: ZOOM Cloud Recording.

WEEK 2

(5) Mon June 29 Read Shakespeare Sonnets 1, 18, 73. Read Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey, Poems, found on pp. 120-42. Lectures: ZOOM Cloud Recording and Panopto Recordings 325.5.2

(6) Tues June 30  Read Sir Philip Sidney, Sonnets, pp. 540-51. Read Shakespeare, Sonnets (up to #126), pp. 624-35. Lectures: Panopto Recordings 325.6.1 and 325.6.2

(7) Wed July 1  Read Shakespeare, Sonnets (between #127 and #152), pp. 635-39. Read John Donne, ‘The Flea’, ‘Air and Angels’, ‘The Ecstasy’, ‘The Canonization’, ‘A Valediction Forbidding Mourning’, Holy Sonnets 5, 10, 14, (between pp. 886-914). Read Amelia Lanyer, ‘Eve’s Apology’ (between pp. 924-36). Lectures: Panopto Recordings 325.7.1 and 325.7.2

(8) Thurs July 2 First EXAM due today by 7:00 pm (covers units 1 and 2).

UNIT 3: LITERARY THEORY

WEEK 3.

(9) Mon July 6. Read Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of Poetry, pp. 526-32, then go online to Project Gutenberg, A Defense of Poesie and Poems by Philip Sidney. Read the material between notes 46 and 57, notes 63 and 68, notes 70 and 71, and notes 81 and 88).

Read Edmund Spenser, ‘Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh’, Induction to The Faerie Queene, pp. 263-70. Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.9

UNIT 4: EPIC POETRY. This week find online any bible and read Revelation, chapters 12, 13, 17, 19-22.

(10) Tues July 7. Read Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book I, canto 1, stanzas 1-55 (Error and Archimago). Book I, canto 4, stanzas 1-36 (House of Pride). Lecture: ZOOM, Cloud Recording.                                                                                                                                                      

(11) Wed July 8 Read Faerie Queene, Book I, canto 9, stanzas 1-19 (Arthur’s story); canto 9, stanzas 21-54 (Cave of Despair), between pp. 253-315.canto 10, stanzas 1-4, 18-19, 24-28, 53-61 (House of Holiness). Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.11

(12) Thurs July 9 Read Faerie Queene, Book I, canto 11, stanzas 28-36, 44-52 (the Well of Life and the Tree of Life), canto 12, stanzas 24-36 (Betrothal of Red Cross and Una, Binding of Archimago). Faerie Queene, Book II, canto 12, the last 42 stanzas (the Bower of Bliss).  (See this online: The Faerie Queene—University of Oregon, Renacense Editions) Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.12

Fri July 10  ESSAY due today by 11:59 pm

WEEK 4. Later this week read Norton, pp. 28-35

(13) Mon July 13  Read John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 1-26, 27-49, 50-74, 91-107, 196-210, 242-63, 375-662  (Invocation, the Cause, Hell, Satan as leader, epic simile—Leviathan, Satan’s determination, epic catalogue of devils), Book II, lines 1-6 , 226, 283, 299, 370-89, 629-844, 1025-1055 (Parliament in Pandemonium, the new plan of attack, encounter with Sin and Death, Satan’s first glimpse of the created universe), Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.13

(14 )Tues July 14 Read Paradise Lost, Book IV, lines 440-91, 610-752 (Eve’s birth and reflection, work and sex in paradise). Paradise Lost Book V, lines 1-135, 600-615, 519-47, 249-368, 452-617 (Eve’s dream, Exaltation of the Son, Creation of Adam, Adam’s consciousness, Creation of Eve), Book VII, lines 519-47, 110-30, 139-61 (creation of Adam, on knowledge, God’s motive for creation), Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.14

(15) Wed July 15 Read Paradise Lost Book VIII, lines  249-51, 452-90, 530-639 (Adam’s consciousness, on controlling passion),  Book IX, lines 479-1134 (the Fall, postlapsarian sex and relationships). Between pp. 1553-1668. Book XII, last verse paragraph. Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.15

UNIT 5: DRAMATIC POETRY

(16) Thurs July 16. Read Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, pp. 581-618. Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.16

WEEK 5

(17) Mon July 20 Read Ben Jonson, Volpone, pp. 944-1038. View online: Ben Jonson, Volpone (2018), adapted by Martin Foreman (free online)  Lecture: Panopto Recordings  325.17                                                                                

(18) Tues July 21 Volpone conclusion. Lecture: Panopto Recordings 325.18

(19) Wed, July 22 Second EXAM due today by 7:00 pm (covers units 3, 4, 5).

STUDY QUESTIONS

Tuesday 23 June . Part 1 Utopia, Book I.

1. What are Hythloday’s reasons for not taking a position as advisor to a prince? How do most princes behave? What kind of advice do they get from their counselors? What is Hythloday’s idea of an ideal prince? Why does he think it is important that princes become philosophers?
2. What economic "evil" is spreading and how is it related to the crime wave sweeping England? What ideas does Hythloday offer to solve these economic and social problems? What is the source of the model he uses for his solution? How are his ideas connected to Christian morality?
3. What idea does Cardinal Morton contribute to Raphael’s suggestion about criminal punishment? How good is his idea? How do the Cardinal’s counselors respond to it?

Part 2. Utopia, Book II

1. Social Organization. Describe the cities, the houses, the family units in Utopia. How are the people supervised? How much personal freedom do they have?
2. Work. How do the Utopians reduce the amount of work each person is required to do? How do they nevertheless insure an adequate supply of food and materials? How important is free time? How does slavery figure into their notion of work (in addition to criminal justice)?
3. Economy. What does Hythloday think is the problem with using money as a means of exchange? How is the Utopian economy organized? What human trait is it designed to keep in check?

Wednesday 24 June. Part 1 Utopia, Book II.

1. Politics. How is the Utopian political system organized? Who decides what? How are their political practices designed to keep human pride in check? What is the role of lawyers in Utopia? How are legal disputes managed?
2. Philosophy. What is the goal of life in Utopia? How is pleasure defined? How many different kinds are there? Which ones are most important? Why?
3. Religion. What kinds of religion do the Utopians practice? How do they react to Christianity?

Part 2. Utopia, Book II

1. Warfare. How do they regard treaties? What motives lead Utopians to consider war? What methods do they use to demoralize and defeat their enemies before a war starts? What is the role of women and families in warfare? What group of mercenaries do they employ (What group of Europeans is More alluding to)? When the Utopians win a war who do they execute and who do they reward?
2. 2. Extremists. How do Utopians treat certain classes of people—criminals, the unhappily married, the terminally ill, extremists (such as atheists, ascetics, zealous evangelizers)?
3. Private Property. What is Hythloday’s view on private property in Books I and II? What are More’s (the character) views? What human trait makes it difficult to institute the views and practices of the Utopians?

Finally: What can you deduce from the discussion on Pride at the end of Book II about More’s view of human nature? How is the structure of Utopian society designed to accord with this view?

Thursday 25 June. Part 1. Bacon, New Atlantis

1. Compare and contrast More’s and Bacon’s utopian visions in Utopia and New Atlantis.

Montaigne, ‘Of the Inconstancy of Our Actions’ (READ THIS ONLINE)

2. How does Montaigne characterize human actions? What does he find most puzzling about them? What does Montaigne think is the ordinary inclination of the human appetite?
3. When he looks inside of himself (into his ‘interiority’) what does Montaigne find? How does his description accord with 20th and 21st century notions of the ‘self’?

Part 2.  Baldassare Castiglione, The Courtier.

1. Explain Castiglione's conception of the human soul (or self). How is knowledge is acquired by the soul? How does reason function in his conception?
2. How does Peter Bembo define love? Explain the steps (cf. the stair image) by which the reason guides love? How does kissing enhance ‘true ‘love’?

Monday 29 June. Part 1.  Lecture on Francis Petrarch. Shakespeare’s sonnets 1, 18, 73.

1. Who is the ‘we’ of the first line in Shakespeare’s sonnet 1?
2. What is the rhyme scheme in sonnets 18 and 73.

Part 2. Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey, Poems

1. Examine the experiments with translations and adaptions of Petrarch’s sonnets: Wyatt’s ‘Whoso List to Hunt,’ ‘Farewell Love,’ ‘I Find No Peace’, ‘My Galley,’ Surrey’s ‘The Soote Season’ and “Alas, so all thinges now do hold their peace’. Then specifically compare Wyatt’s ‘The Long Love’ to Surrey’s ‘Love That Doth Reign.’ They are both adaptations of Petrarch, Rhyme 140. How would you define the differences in style and sensibility between these poets?
2. Compare and contrast Wyatt’s ‘They Flee from Me’ to the later published version, ‘The Lover Showeth How he is Forsaken.’ Which do you prefer and why?
3. Read Wyatt’s ‘Mine Own John Poins’, a satirical verse epistle, and Surrey’s excerpt from ‘The Fourth Book of Virgil’ in which he pioneers blank verse. Which of these poets do you prefer and why?

Tuesday 30 June. Part 1. Sir Philip Sidney, Sonnets    

1. How does Sidney rebel against Petrarchan conventions in sonnets 1, 2, and 15? What about the imagery Sidney uses in sonnets 7 and 47? How disappointing is sonnet 108?
2. What is your opinion of Sidney’s attempt to personalize his relationship with Stella in sonnets 49, 53,and 74.
3. Look at Sidney’s adaption of neo-Platonic ideas (you are familiar with them from Reading Castiglione’s The Courtier) in sonnets 10, 21, 52, 71, 72. What model would you use to characterize the interiority of the speaker of these poems?

Part 2. Shakespeare, Sonnets to the Young Man

These sonnets are not arranged into a coherent series. They treat a variety of subjects: procreation; friendship; the ravages of time and change; the difficulty of writing; the power of poetry to immortalize its subject; the rival poet; and an obsessive relationship with the so-called ‘dark lady.’ There are only two clear groups: 1-17 and 127-152.

1. In sonnets 1, 3, 12, 15 the poet encourages a young man to have a child. Why is it so important to have a child? How many reasons does he give for this?
2. All of the sonnets, 1-126, are written to or about one or more young men. Try to explain the range of emotions the poet expresses about his friend in sonnets 20, 30, 40, 42, 97, 116. How complex does the poet imagine the emotional relationship between men to be? How different from your own notions of friendship?
3. How does the poet in sonnets 12, 18, 19, 55, 73, 116 deal with the effects of time on relationships? Explain how Time’s destructive power affects emotions in relationships?

Wednesday 1 July.  Part 1. Shakespeare, Dark Lady Sonnets

1. Many of the ‘dark lady’ poems focus on contradiction. 127 and 130 take one view of the lady’s complexion and their relationship and 147 takes another. 129 focuses on one view of their sexual relationship and 135 another. How does the poet explain his relationship to the lady in sonnet in 138 and to the lady and his friend in 144? What view of his relationship to the lady are you left with?
2. How might you use what you learned from Montaigne’s ‘Inconstancy of our Actions’ to help explain Shakespeare’s idea of the poet’s interiority in these sonnets?

Finally: Compare and contrast the dark lady sonnets to Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella and to Petrarch’s Rhymes. In what ways are the lovers and the ladies similar? In what ways different? What do you think that Shakespeare expects his “qualified readers (i.e. the “we” of line 1, sonnet 1)” to get out of them? How might they have contributed to his literary reputation as an avant-garde poet? 

Part 2. John Donne, Poems. and Ameila Lanier, ‘Eve’s Apology’ 1

1. Follow the ‘metaphysical imagery’ (the fusion of sexual and religious imagery) in Donne’s ‘The Flea’, ‘The Canonization’, ‘The Good-Morrow’, and ‘The Ecstasy’. Connect this to Holy Sonnet 14 (‘Batter my heart …’). What are the similarities, implications?
2. ‘A Valediction’ is thought to contain the finest examples of ‘metaphysical’ imagery. Connect this to Holy Sonnet 10 (‘Death be not proud…’). The similarities, implications?
3. What observations in Amelia Lanyer’s ‘Eve’s Apology’ do you find most compelling?

Monday 6 July. Part 1. Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of Poesy

1. (in our text) According to Sidney what is the definition of poetry? What does poetry imitate? How is it different from history and philosophy?
2. (online. See Syllabus) How does Sidney defend against attacks on poetry—that there are better things to do with your time, that it is the ‘mother of lies,’ that it is the ‘nurse of abuse,’ and that Plato banished poets from his Republic? How does he argue for the social usefulness of poetry?
3. (online) What are Sidney's views on English poetry and poets? What does he think of English drama?

Part 2. Edmund Spenser, Letter to Raleigh, Induction to The Faerie Queene

1. According to Spenser's letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, what is the point of The Faerie Queene? What does Spenser mean by allegory? Who are the two chief characters and who/what do they represent? How is the plot arranged?

2.What do you learn from the Induction?

Tuesday 7 July. Part 1.Edmund Spenser, The Faierie Queene, Book I

1. In FQ I, Red Cross is on a quest for holiness. If this is Red Cross's first mission, why is his armor in this condition (I.i.1)? What implications for interpreting the allegory? Who is Una? Who is the dragon? How might the significance of the battle with Error (I.i.13-27) be interpreted?
2. After the defeat of Error, Red Cross accepts Archimago's invitation to spend the night at his hermitage. Spenser goes back to Virgil for inspiration in writing about the underworld. What dream is manufactured by Morpheus (I.i.34-55)? How do you interpret it?
3. After his separation from Una, Red Cross meets Duessa (Falsehood) and accompanies her to Lucifera's House of Pride (I.iv.4-5, 12). How is this house described? What effect does contact with the 7 deadly sins have on Red Cross’s moral character? (I.iv.16-36).

Wednesday 8 July

1. What is Prince Arthur’s story (I.ix.1-19)? Why is he in fairy land? Relate his explanation to what you know about Neoplatonism. What gifts does he give to Red Cross? What is their significance?
2. What are the stories of Sir Terwin and Sir Trevisan? How does Red Cross react to the advice to avoid Despair? How good are Despair's arguments for suicide (esp. I.ix.46)? How does Una save Red Cross from Despair? Explain the allegory.
3. Compare and contrast the House of Holiness with the House of Pride. Interpret Red Cross’s vision (I.x.55-62). See Revelation, 20-22

Thursday 9 July. Part 1

1. In the three day battle with the great dragon in canto 11, Red Cross is almost vanquished several times. What revives him? What is Spenser alluding to in the book of Revelation?
2. In I.xii.26-42 Red Cross is betrothed to Una, but cannot marry her. Why not?

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Part 2. The Faerie Queene, Book II, canto 12 (online. See Syllabus) In FQ II, Sir Guyon is on a quest for the virtue of temperance. With the Palmer's help he arrives at the Bower of Bliss in canto II.xii.42.

1. How is this Bower described? Where is it located? Explain the allegorical significance.
2. What kind of a character is Acrasia? What does she do to her victims? Explain her allegorical significance.

3.Why doesn’t Guyon kill Acrasia? Why does he feel it necessary to destroy the Bower? Explain the allegory.

Monday 13 July.  John Milton, Paradise Lost, Books I and II

1.What muse does Milton invoke to inspire him in writing Paradise Lost? What was his goal in writing the poem? 

2. What kind of leader is Satan? What epic similes are used to describe him?
3. How are the other fallen angels portrayed What roles have they played in history?
4. What plan of attack against God do the fallen angels agree on (II. 119-389)? How is Satan related to Sin, Death, and Hell (II.650-844)? How would you interpret this as an allegory?

Tuesday 14 July Paradise Lost, Books IV, V, VII

1. How does Milton portray Eve’s consciousness of her birth and first meeting with Adam (IV.440-504)?
2. How is work, prayer, and sex portrayed in paradise (IV.610-639, 689-775)?
3. How naturalistic is Milton’s rendering of Eve’s dream (V.27-121)? How does it affect you?
4. What is God’s motive for creation (VII.146-161) ?

Wednesday 15 July Paradise Lost, Books VIII, IX, XII

1. How does Milton portray Adam’s consciousness and his first discussion with God (VIII. 283-643)? How does Raphael suggest that Adam control his passion (VIII. 579-638)? Where else have you heard this explanation?
2. Read the description of Eve as a goddess (IX.385-411) What is Eve’s motive for eating the fruit (IX.494-855). What is Adam’s motive (IX.886-1005)?
3. How’s the sex after the fall? What about relationships (IX.1009-1066, 1143-1129)? Compare to prelapsarian sex and relationships in Book IV
4. How does Milton attempt to make the fall into a tragedy (IX.5-22)? (Be sure you can define tragedy as a literary/dramatic form ). What kind of emotions does Milton want to evoke at the end of the poem (XII.606-649)?

Thursday 14 July. Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus

Jonathan Dollimore comments on the play: ‘One problem in particular has exercised critics of Dr. Faustus: its structure, inherited from the morality form, apparently negates what the play experientially affirms--the heroic aspiration of `Renaissance Man'.... Critical opinion has tended to see the tension resolved in one way or another--that is, to read the play as ultimately vindicating either Faustus or the morality structure, But such resolution is what Dr. Faustus as an interrogative text resists. It seems always to represent paradox--religious and tragic--as insecurely and provocatively ambiguous or, worse, as openly contradictory.... Dr. Faustus is ... not an affirmation of Divine Law, or conversely of Renaissance Man, but an exploration of subversion through transgression.’

1. What does the Chorus tell us about Faustus's background: his family, his success in school? To what does the metaphor in the Prologue lines 20-23 refer?
2. Why does Faustus reject Logic, Medicine, and Law as careers? Pay careful attention to his reasons for rejecting
3. What is Faustus's idea of hell (3.58-60, 5.115-136)? Where might he have gotten such an idea? How much power does Faustus actually have? How much knowledge does he get from Mephostiphilis? What is Marlowe parodying in the contract with Lucifer (5.74-81)? What is the continuing debate between the good and bad angels about? Hasn’t’ Faustus already damned himself?
4. How significant are Faustus's accomplishments? See especially his pranks at the Papal court (7); his show of Alexander's paramour to the Emperor (9); his antics with the horse-courser (10); his production of grapes for the Duchess of Vanholt (11)?
5. Explain the purpose/effect of the obviously comic scenes--4 (Wagner and the Clown), 6 (Rafe and Robin). How related to the main plot?
6. Read the last scene carefully. Why the mix of biblical and classical allusions? Define tragedy. In what way is Faustus tragic?

Monday 20 July. Ben Jonson, Volpone

On the difference between Jonson and Shakespeare, Neville Coghill observes, ‘Compared with the comedies of Shakespeare, those of Ben Jonson are no laughing matter. A harsh ethic in them yokes punishment with derision; foibles are persecuted and vices flayed; the very simpletons are savaged for being what they are. The population ... [of] his comedies ... is a congeries of ... mountebanks, cozeners, dupes, braggarts, bullies, and bitches. No one loves anyone .... In Shakespeare things are different. Princes and dukes, lords and ladies, jostle with merchants, weavers, joiners, country sluts, friendly rouges, schoolmasters, and village policemen, hardly one of whom is incapable of a generous impulse.’ Coghill states that faced with these two visions of life ‘a writer is wise if he follows his own temperament. Ben Jonson knotted his cat-o'-nine tails. Shakespeare reached for his Chaucer.’

Jonson is credited with originating this kind of satiric comedy, of which Volpone is his masterpiece. It is sometimes referred to as a comedy of ‘humors’ (a contemporary medical and psychological term) because each of his characters is obsessed with seeing life from a single point of view.

1. Examine the opening speeches by Volpone (I.i.1-81). What kind of imagery does Volpone associate with his treasure?
2. What does Volpone value above gold? Why? What do Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvnio value? What are they willing to sacrifice for it?
3. What did you find most amusing about Volpone’s role as Scoto of Mantua? How does he feel about Celia?
4. In the characters of Sir Politick and Lady Would-be Jonson is satirizing the so called ‘Englishman Italianated.’ How smart are these characters? What effect does this subplot have on the play? How relevant is it?

5.The seduction of Celia is accompanied by the song, ‘Come my Celia, let us prove …,’ a famous poem on the theme of carpe diem. How interested do you think Volpone finds Celia? How do you know?      

6. Volpone tells us that he did act in a play (3.7.162), and he certainly does a lot of acting in this play: he plays the role of a dying man (1.4, 1;5, 4.6), he plays the role of Scoto of Mantua (2.1), he wants to act out his sexual fantasies with Celia (3.7), later he plays the role of a dead person (5.3) and of a court official. How does acting become a metaphor for the plays themes? Occasionally Volpone senses that he has gone too far (3.8.15-22, 5.1.1-17, 5.11.1-9). Why does he continue?

Tuesday 21 July. Volpone

1. How is Mosca’s and Volpone’s love of deceit presented (3.1.1-9, 5.2.10-11, 111. 5.3.102-8). What image best expresses the pleasure they get from victimizing people? How might the 1st Avocatori’s comment (5.12.101-2) relate to this?
2. Did you find any honest characters in the play other than Bonario and Celia? What about the judges (avocatori)? What does this indicate about the play’s world or universe?
3. Nevertheless, Celia and Bonario believe that Heaven is just. How does Jonson make you believe that? What does the 1st Avocatore’s comment mean ’Mischiefs feed/ Like beasts, till they be fat, and then they bleed.’?
4. How shocked were you by the various punishments given to the malefactors?
5. According to Coleridge the play would have been better if Celia and Bonario were made young lovers. Evaluate this observation.