In our next meeting we will be reading Milton's Masque at Ludlow, more popularly known as Comus. As preparation for reading Comus, please read Ben Jonson's masque, Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue which is available as a pdf file on our documents site.In preparing for our class, please think about the following questions:
1. What is a masque? Where was it performed? Is this particular literary genre associated with a social class? Marxist literary critics argue that genres are laden with certain ideological assumptions; is that true of the masque? If so, how does Milton make his peacce with writing the masque? Does he accommodate his poetic sensibility to the ideological underpinnings of the masque?
2. How does Milton deal with the more specific antecedent for Comus in Jonson's text. Does Milton entertain the reconciliation achieved in Jonson's mask - is there a possibility of the reconciliation of 'Pleasure' and 'Virtue' in Milton's text?
3. Does Milton continue to think about poetry as he did in the earlier companion poems? Are there forms of poetry which Milton embraces? forms of poetry which he rejects? if so, why?
4. Finally, why do you think the poem has come to be known by the name Comus?
Comments with links to helpful sites about the masque - images would be great! - are welcome.
These are some preliminary thoughts for the diligent among you. Check back after Pesach for possible further thoughts and guidance.
Here's a link to a page about masques:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.shafe.co.uk/art/early_stuart_10_-_the_caroline_court.asp
And one to an illustrated title page of Milton's Masque from 1834:
http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/britlit/milton/images/1island18.jpg
And finally, a link to a web page with an illustration from a 1901 edition of the Mask (at the bottom of the page). It's interesting to compare the illustrations from the different periods, and to enlarge this one for the beastly figures. Did anyone notice any of them in what Milton actually wrote?
http://www.natlib.govt.nz/about-us/news/media-releases/collecting-pandemonium
(Cont'd from my first comment):
ReplyDeleteNow I see ... they are the "oughly-headed monsters" from line 695.
http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/schellingmasque.htm
ReplyDeleteThe luminarium has some interesting details about Masques. It's quite lengthy but you can skip around and read what's interesting to you!