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Studying English Literature

Reflections on English literature: essays on the major writers and their works

The role of Chorus in Samson Agonistes

July 18, 2008

In choosing the classical form of tragedy for his Samson Agonistes, Milton decided to work on a
distinctively unpopular medium. For, classically modelled tragedy had never been popular in
England. Even Ben Jonson, excused himself for not obeying the Aristotelian rules and not having
a proper chorus in his Sejanus. But with his contempt for mere popularity, Milton did not feel
obliged to modify the form of classical tragedy to suit the purpose of what Jonson called
“popular delight”. J. B. Broadbank has said that Samson Agonistes is actually more regularly
Aristotelian in construction that any extant Greek tragedy. Milton has introduced a chorus which
tries to be faithful to Aristotle’s precepts. Aristotle emphasised that the chorus must be regarded
as one of the actors as part of the whole and as joining in the action. Milton’s chorus contributes
to the overall dramatic effect by its continuous presence: it is able both to sympathise with
Samson and to give an external point of view which makes his situation seem simpler and more
vivid to us. In Milton, as in the earlier Greek tragedies, the choruses are not, as in Euripides,
mere interludes; they enforce aspects of the action, as in Aeschylus and Sophocles. Thus in its
parode or opening song, the chorus emphasises Sampson’s former heroism and present misery
and sets the right perspective for the tragedy. By raising the questions about Sampson’s
marriage, it gives voice to our curiosity and gives Samson an opportunity to defend himself
against criticism. Another function of the chorus is to offer consolation to the hero. Thus in the
first stasimon, the chorus seeks to cure Samson’s despair by vindicating God’s way: “Just are the
ways of god And justifiable to men.” However, the chorus’ own understanding of God’s ways is
not from the beginning perfect. This is entirely appropriate, for chorus is above all a group of
ordinary Danites very much involved in Samson’s predicament. Like the chorus of the women of
Canterbury in Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, “They know and do not know”. It is wrong to
expect from them a serene detachment and deliver impeccable judgements even in the midst of
Samson’s acute suffering. So the chorus’ realisation of God’s purpose grows with its perception
of Samson’s gradual mastery over himself. Nothing in the play is more dramatic than the way in
which the chorus first justifies “divine disposal”; it is temporarily deflected from its faith by the
reality of Samson’s suffering. The suffering leads it to question God’s ways in the second
stasimon and finally reaches an understanding of the essential justice of God’s ways. As last
when it hears of Samson’s death and victory, the chorus observes that we, who have witnessed
the tragic action, will be cured of passion. Tragedy is tragedy is a type of spiritual training for the
audience and it is the chorus which brings out this significance of the action. We as audience are
expected to identify not with Samson himself, but with the developing awareness of the chorus.
Many critics have found faults with the chorus utterance after the departure of Dalila in the third
stasimon. It has been said that this stasimon is inappropriate for the chorus, and the virulent note
of misogyny does not accord with the supposed role of the chorus which should be always
objective and detached. But we have seen that the chorus is very much involved in the action and
that the spectacle of Samson’s suffering often leads it to partial, imperfect judgements. It would
have been unnatural if, after the departure of Dalila, the chorus came out with s speech full of
compliments about women. The Danites are attempting to solace Samson. Their judgement is not
expected to be balanced. We must also be on our guard against a common “biographical fallacy”,
the tendency to think that Milton is here putting in the chorus’ mouth his own antifeminist
sentiments. In Milton’s own words: “...such words are put into the characters’ mouth as are most
fitting for each character, not such as the poet would speak if he were speaking in his own
person.” The versification of the choric odes has been a subject of controversy too. For instance,
Dr. Jonson found this versification “harsh and dissonant”. But ever since Hopkins praised the
technical daring of Milton’s choric verse, the versification of the odes has been recognised as a
prosodic triumph. In his Preface Milton states that he did not want to reproduce the characteristic
structure of the Greek choric ode which was usually divided into strophe, antistrophe and epode.
There was no point in maintaining this division in a play from which music was absent. The
source of the prosody of the chorus has been sought in the contemporary Canzone of Italian
pastoral drama and in the patterns of the Hebrew Psalms. Whatever the source, the versification
the central odes have a rhythm unheard before in English and display a technical originality
unequalled with Hopkins. The metre of the choral verse is at once irregular and almost wantonly
free, capable of giving the impression of powerful feelings surging under the control of grave
thought.
Milton

Comments

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24 August 2018 at 23:29
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