Lecture Notes

KING JAMES I

Questions:
  1. What were some of the differences between JI and Queen Elizabeth?
  2. According to his literary works, what kinds of subjects was he interested in?
  3. Why did James I think literature and drama were valuable for the monarch? (paraphrase)
  4. What do you think were the disadvantages of divine right theory?  
  5. What does James think are the differences between a good king and a tyrant?
 
Some things that made James I unpopular: 
 
- His dislike of public appearances and speeches (contrasts with Elizabeth I’s ability to ‘connect’ with her people)
 
- His obsessive adoration of young male favourites (especially George Villiers, later the Duke of Buckingham)
 
- (According to some reports) his unattractive personal appearance and lack of personal hygiene and good manners
 
- His financial extravagance (Elizabeth I was rather ‘stingy’- ‘cimri’)
 
+ However, he worked extremely hard to prevent England from becoming involved in wars. One way he did this was to marry his son into the Catholic, French royal family, and his daughter to the vehemently Protestant Elector Palatine  
 
+ His queen, Anne of Denmark, danced in the court masques, and had her own separate household, which became the focus of literary patronage and artistic pursuits.
 
 
Literary activities:
 
§         Composed poetry
 
§         Published prose discussions of his political and religious theories, as well as his particular interests (anti-smoking, anti-witchcraft, in favour of the theory of the ‘divine right of kings’)
 
§         Enjoyed plays and patronised theatre companies and dramatists (especially Shakespeare and sometimes Jonson)
 
§         Encouraged the development of the symbolic/allegorical form of drama, the court masque, performed by courtiers and designed to celebrate the monarchy’s virtues and achievements
 
 
Some of his works:
 
§         1584: The Essays of a Prentice in the Divine Art of Poesy (religious and political role of poetry)
 
§         1591: His Majesties Poetical Exercises at Vacant Hours
 
§         1599: Basilikon Doron (Divine Right kingship: written for his son, Prince Henry)
 
§         The True Law of Free Monarchies (a simple explanation of his theories for the general literate public)
 
§         Other writings: "Meditations on the Lord's Prayer"
 
§         A Counterblast to Tobacco (1604): an attack on smoking - "a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless."

§         1597: Daemonologie (about witchcraft)
 
 
 
 
Literature and kingship:
 
James's interest in literature was tied in with a shrewd sense of propaganda. He realised that books, masques, sermons, and plays could all be employed in the service of the king, that they were the media which could best disseminate his views of kingship and impress upon a large number of people its power and majesty. The court masque, expensive and elaborate, baroque and ritualistic, symbolised that power and majesty, and the king's physical place as the focal point of the entertainment reinforced it further. Thus James and Queen Anne patronised Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones, the great architect and designer of the sets for Jonson's masques. The publication of sermons, also, was of particular interest to the theologically-minded king, and his personal encouragement of the church career of John Donne, whom James appointed Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, was no accident, for Donne was a staunch supporter of kingly power and majesty, and often preached before the King himself, as did his eminent colleague Lancelot Andrewes, another of James's favourite divines.

James I's impact on English literature is considerable, not least because of his encouragement of and participation in the translation of the Bible into English, the translation that many people still consider the best, and which bears his name, the King James Bible (1611).

 
 
 
 
Divine Right Theory: 
 
§         Divine right of sovereigns: this was the theory that the king/queen was destined to rule from birth, and that this right was transmitted to him/her by God  
 
§         The king or queen was therefore responsible only to God, and not to his/her subjects
 
§         Therefore, fighting against a king or queen was a sin against God
 
§         The doctrine evolved partly in reaction against Roman Catholic claims that the Pope should be obeyed before the monarch. 
 
§         In England, King James I and his son Charles I made many claims based on divine right.
 
J.P. Sommerville, ‘The Divine Right of Kings’ http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/351/351-172.htm
 

Weeks 3-4                 Ben Jonson

Early life: soldier, actor
Later life: playwright, poet
Famous for: writing court masques for King James and Queen Anne; satirical theatre; poetry; being sent to prison for sedition; converting to Catholicism…and then back to Protestantism; drinking; inspiring younger generation of poets (who called themselves the Sons of Ben)
 
Types of poetry include:
 
·        Classically-inspired ‘social’ poetry (praising the virtues of civility, decorum and friendship etc)
·        Poems written to praise important people, such as royalty or patrons. These can include odes, elegies etc. Also includes the genre of “Country House” poetry: praising a family by praising their house.  
·        Poetry of social criticism or satire, dispraise etc
·        Witty, elegant love poetry
·        Poetry on classical themes:rural life; the court etc
·        Epigrams: witty short comments about aspects of life
·        Poetry about writing and art: about himself or other writers
 
‘To Celia’ (love poem)
‘Ode to Himself’ (complaint about critics’ bad reception of one of his plays)
‘Inviting a friend to Supper’ (civility/sociability/hospitality/the good life and the importance of friendship)
‘To Penshurst’ (country house poem)
 
 
'Ode to Himself' 
 
Stanza 1:
  1. Who is Jonson addressing in this poem?
  2. What are ‘critics’?
  3. What words does he use to describe the critics’ speech/writing?
  4. What does it mean when you say that someone has no ‘taste’?
 
Stanza 2:
 
  1. In the second stanza he describes the critics as though they are pigs: why is he comparing them to these animals in particular? 
 
Stanza 3:
 
  1. What kind of metaphors does he use to describe other people’s plays?
  2. What are ‘alms’?
 
Stanza 4:
  1. What does he liken to ‘foul comic socks’ (garments worn on the legs)? 
  2. And what do you think he might mean by ‘wrought upon twenty blocks?’
 
Stanza 5:
  1. Why does he describe the theatre as ‘prostitute’ (prostitute here is used as an adjective) 
  2. What does Jonson tell himself to write instead of drama?
 
Note the last stanza: praising King Charles (this poem was written after James’s death) 
 
 
Week 4     Ben Jonson: poetry, friendship and the “good life” 
 
1616: Jonson published his collected Works. He included plays, which were seen as lower forms of literature (poetry normally dealt with “high”, “noble” subjects). He also wrote about the role of the author/poet in society- the good he can do: "…the Study of [Poetry] (if we will trust Aristotle) offers to mankind a certain rule, and Pattern of living well, and happily…”
Jonson’s social poetry explores moral ideals in a social context, and the nature of a civilized society. How should a well-ordered society be? How should men behave in society?  
Aristotle: "perfect Friendship" exists between those who are good and whose similarity consists in their goodness. ‘Inviting a Friend to Supper’ celebrates friendship between good men: the poem celebrates key virtues (e.g. generosity). Identify lines in the poem that celebrate any of the following: 
Hospitality                                                                              Modesty
Moderation                                                                            Candour/openness
Trustworthiness                                                                                        
Enjoyment/pleasure                                                            Decorum/propriety                                                              
Intellect/wit
Freedom
 
Based on: Martial (Roman court poet, c.40-104 AD):
Conversational poems, avoiding mythological subjects and stylized poetic diction; epigrams, e.g.: Xenia (epigrams on food), and Apopherata (epigrams describing gifts exchanged during festivals) and satirical epigrams.