Prose

 “Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in the best order.” (S. T. Coleridge)
 Prose: written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure; first entered English in
13th century; meant “story, narration”; Latin prosa oratio: “straightforward or direct speech:.
 The earliest English prose work: the law code of King Aethelberht I of Kent, in 6th century AD
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
 Called as ‘Saint Thomas More’ by Catholics; English judge, social philosopher, author, and Renaissance
humanist; served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor; reacted against Protestantism; didn’t accept Henry
VIII as supreme head; refuse to take the oath of supremacy; executed for alleged treason;
 "I die the King's good servant, and God's first”
 On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire;
written in Latin; published in 1516; a frame narrative; depicts a fictional island society and its religious,
social, and political customs; More himself is narrator; 2 books: “Book one: Dialogue of Council,” and “Book
two: Discourse on Utopia.”
Thomas Malory (1415-1471)
 Authored Le Morte d'Arthur, chronicle of the Arthurian legend in English; published by William Caxton in
1485; Caxton called him "knight prisoner"; imprisoned during War of Roses;
 Le Morte d'Arthur: first major work of English language prose; modified earlier versions; Characters: King
Arthur, his wife Guinevere, his friend Lancelot, fictional character Merlin & the Knights of the Round Table
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
 1st Viscount St Alban; Lord Verulam; Elizabeth I, “The young lord keeper"; father of empiricism; inductive
reasoning; patron of libraries; influenced by Montaigne’s essays & Machiavelli’s philosophy
 Wanted to uncover truth, serve country, & to serve church; help of uncle, Lord Burghley; befriend with 2nd
Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's favorite; became the first Queen's Counsel in 1597; Shrewdness in Essex’s
execution in1601; knighted,1603; wrote Apologies ; 1613, attorney general; 1618, Lord Chancellor
 Idols of the Mind: Idol of the Tribe; Idol of the Cave; Idol of the Marketplace; Idol of the theatre
 Works: Novum Organum; New Atlantis; Essays
 A Dictionary of the English language might be compiled from Bacon's works alone. (Samuel Jonson)
 Lord Bacon was a poet. (Percy Shelley); he wisest, brightest and meanest of mankind. (A. Pope)
Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall
 1st edition:10 essays in 1597; 2nd edition: 38 essays in 1612; 3rd/final edition: 58 essays in1625
 Before Hooker and Releigh were greatest stylists in English prose; Bacon: sentences are short; grammatical
structure is rarely ambiguous; terseness of expressions; epigrammatic brevity; aphoristic sentences;
balance and rhythm; No Parenthesis
Of Truth:
 What is truth? said jesting Pilate; No pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage-ground of
truth; Truth is a naked and open daylight; Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man's mind move
in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth; ‘A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.’
Of Studies
 Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; some books should be tasted, some
devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly; crafty men condemn studies; Simple
men admire them; And wise men use them; Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and
writing an exact man; Studies serve for delight, for ornaments, and for ability.
Of Great Places
 Men in great place are thrice servants-servants of the sovereign or state, servants of fame, and servants of
business.
Of Friendship:
 Whatsoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god; Magna civitas, magna solitude; the
principal fruit of friendship is the ease and discharge of the fullness and swellings of the heart; the help of
good counsel is that which setteth business straight; a Friend is another himself
Of Revenge
 Revenge is a kind of wild justice; deformed persons commonly take revenge on nature
Of Adversity
 It was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the Stoics), that “The good things which belong to
prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.”
 “It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.”
Of Death
 Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with
tales, so is the other
Of Marriage and Single Life.
 He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great
enterprises, either of virtue or mischief; Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age,
and old men’s nurses
Of Atheism.
 A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about
to religion.
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
 Writer & Puritan preacher; most published editions; “O I saw in this condition I was a man who was
pulling down his house upon the head of his Wife and Children; yet thought I, I must do it, I must do it"
 Many sermons; The Life and Death of Mr. Badman
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come
 Published in1678; allegory; considered to be first novel
Character:
 Christian (Graceless): on spiritual journey; Evangelist: the messenger; Obstinate: neighbor in city of
Destruction; Pliable: neighbor in city of Destruction; Help: Fellow pilgrim; Worldly Wiseman: practical man;
Formalist & Hypocrisy along the wall of Salvation; Discretion, Piety, Prudence, Charity: Mistresses of Palace
of Beauty; The Interpreter: the guide; Apollyon: fierce monster with fish scales, bear feet, and dragon wing;
Shining Ones: three celestial creatures; Faithful: fellow pilgrim from Christian’s hometown; Talkative:
Fellow pilgrim who travels for a while; Mr. By-ends: a user of religion for personal ends
Summary:
 Narrator defends the story; framed as a dream of a man named Christian; Evangelist visits Christian; urges
him to leave the City of Destruction; salvation is in the Celestial City, known as Mount Zion; Christian begs
his family to accompany him; they decline; falls into a bog called the Slough of Despond; meets Worldly
Wiseman: lead a practical; he refusing; sheltered in Goodwill’s house; Goodwill tells Christian to stop by the
Interpreter’s home; Christian learns many lessons; along the wall of Salvation, Christ’s tomb and cross; One
of the three Shining Ones gives rolled certificate for entry; Christian falls asleep & loses certificate; retrace,
finds the certificate; Christian meets the four mistresses of the Palace Beautiful: shelter, feed & arm him;
descend the Valley of Humiliation; meets the monster Apollyon, who tries to kill him; Christian strikes
Apollyon; walks in desert-like Valley of the Shadow of Death; Christian meets Faithful; third pilgrim,
Talkative, whom Christian rejects; Evangelist warns Faithful and Christian about town of Vanity; foretells
that either Christian or Faithful will die; they enter Vanity & visit famous fair; resist temptation & are
mocked; citizens of Vanity imprison Christian and Faithful for mocking their local religion; Faithful defends
himself & is executed; Christian is imprisoned, escapes; fellow pilgrim named Hopeful befriends Christian;
By-ends crosses; rejects company; two enter the plain of Ease; Demas tempts with silver; Christian and
Hopeful pass by; night on the grounds of Doubting Castle; threats of the castle’s owner, the Giant Despair;
imprisons and tortures; Christian and Hopeful escape using key of promise; they approach the Delectable
Mountains; encounter wise shepherds; warn them of the treacherous mountains Error and Caution; can be
blinded by the Giant Despair; beware of shortcuts; meet Ignorance: living a good life is sufficient to prove
one’s religious faith; Christian refutes him; Ignorance avoid company; meet Flatterer: snares them in a net,
and Atheist: denies that the Celestial City; Cross the sleep-inducing Enchanted Ground; awake by discussing
Hopeful’s sinful past and religious doctrine; approach the land of Beulah; landscape teems with flowers and
fruit travelers are refreshed; reach the gate into the city; must first cross a river without a bridge; Christian
nearly drowns; Hopeful reminds him of Christ’s love; Christian emerges; residents of the Celestial City
joyously welcome the two pilgrims; the narrator expresses hope that his dream be interpreted properly.
 Part II, addresses the book as “Christiana”; Christian’s wife; story of Christiana and her children’s journey;
met Sagacity who tells the start of Christiana’s story; she follow with four sons, Mercy & a servant; cross the
Slough of Despond; blocked by an angry dog; gatekeeper lets in; sons steal fruit from the devil’s garden;
ruffians threaten to rape; escape; pilgrims in the Interpreter’s house; orders Great-heart to accompany them
to the House Beautiful; Mr. Brisk courts Mercy; stops because of her involvement in charity; Matthew falls
ill; cured by Dr. Skill; descend into the Valley of Humiliation; cross the Valley of the Shadow of Death;
encounter giant Maul; slay him; meet old pilgrim Honest; shelter with Gaius.; kill the Giant Good-slay;
 rescue Feeble-mind and Ready-to-Halt; lodge with Mnason; Cross the river of life; kill Giant Despair; greet
kind shepherds; welcomed into the Delectable Mountains; Christiana meets the great fighter Valiant-for-
truth; cross Enchanted Ground; meet the pilgrim Standfast who has spurned Madam Bubble, a beautiful
temptress; are welcomed in the Celestial City. Christiana goes to meet her maker, the Master. others follow.\
 Themes: Travel & knowledge; Limitation of human thinking; Community; Reading of Bible; Cost of salvation
 Symbols: Burden: sins; Wicket-gate: Christ; Certificate: salvation; Two Cities: 2 worlds;
 Imp. Quotes:
Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring none. (Bunyan, opening poem)
The bitter is before the sweet. (Christaina); He that is down, needs fear no fall; he that is low, no pride. (Shepherd)