History of Literatures

British Texts – Summaries/Explanations

Important: This list is not complete!

The Imperfect Enjoyment – The Lord of Rochester (1680)

The Imperfect Enjoyment  is a poem about a sexual experience clearly enjoyed by the speaker. It
mirrors the sex act in of itself because it starts off slowly and builds to a crescendo and a climax.

The lovers begin their encounter by gently exploring each other's naked bodies. They enjoy long,
passionate kisses which become more and more urgent and frenzied as they are overtaken by desire
for each other. She begins to pleasure him with her hand until she brings him to orgasm. He feels
elated after he ejaculates but becomes bitter and morose shortly afterwards as he is oddly angry that
the sex has ended so soon. He feels like he has been cheated out of something more.

The speaker wants to climax again but finds that he is unable to get an erection despite his lady's
urging. He finds himself limp and flaccid and begins to feel like a failure as a man. He also begins to
resent his companion because he feels that he has been used for her pleasure and he begins to refer
to her as the town whore rather than in the overly poetic terms of the first line of the poem. He does
concede that he feels that he has let her down by failing to be the voracious sexual partner she had
imagined.

https://www.gradesaver.com/the-poems-of-lord-rochester/study-guide/summary

The Disappointment – Aphra Behn (1680)

The poem humorously describes a case of male impotence, or the inability to get an erection. The
shepherd Lisander spots Cloris in a green thicket and is inflamed with an uncontrollable desire for
her. The day is fading into night and the darkness helps him in his seduction. Realizing she is trapped
in a thicket, Cloris decides to give up on shame and permits Lisander's force upon her with willing
submission. However, she is still conflicted, as she is worried about losing her virginity, which society
sees as her "honor." Lisander does not listen and kisses her all over. Cloris is overwhelmed by desire,
barely breathing and appearing almost lifeless. Lisander is also overcome with passion as he sees her
naked body. Unable to withstand waiting, he throws himself onto her. He realizes at this moment
that he has lost his erection. Unable to penetrate Cloris, Lisander tries to stimulate an erection with
his hands but is unsuccessful. He begins to get angry. Cloris touches his crotch, but draws her hand
back in disgust when she encounters his limp penis. While Cloris runs away, Lisander curses his fate
and blames the shepherdess for causing an excess of passion in him.

https://www.gradesaver.com/the-disappointment/study-guide/summary

Please use the moodle reader for “The Spectator” by Addison and Steele and “Essay on Man” by
Alexander Pope
The Country Wife – William Wycherley (1675)

Harry Horner, a notorious womanizer, spreads a rumor that he has contracted venereal disease and
that, while being treated for this by a French surgeon, he has accidentally been made impotent. He
persuades his doctor, a Quack, to spread this story all over town, hoping that gullible men will leave
their wives, sisters, and daughters with Horner without suspicion that he might seduce them.

As soon as the rumor has been circulated, Horner is pleased to find that Sir Jasper Fidget, a
businessman who works in the city, comes to call and leaves his wife, Lady Fidget, and her
companions, Mrs. Dainty Fidget and Mrs. Squeamish, in Horner’s care. When they are told that
Horner is impotent, however, the ladies (who have a reputation for being extremely virtuous) are
disgusted and refuse to stay with him. They storm out just as Horner’s
friends, Harcourt and Dorliant, arrive to commiserate with him about his new impotence.

As they are talking, Sparkish arrives and the friends scramble to find a way to get rid of him. Sparkish
is a bore and so arrogant that he does not understand when they insult him and ask him to leave.
They eventually succeed in seeing Sparkish off just in time for Mr. Pinchwife to arrive. Pinchwife was
a womanizer in his youth but has recently married a young woman from the country. He has not
heard the rumors about Horner and becomes extremely jealous when Horner inquires about his wife
and suggests that she may make Pinchwife a “cuckold.” Pinchwife replies that his wife is too simple
and stupid to be taken into town and so he plans to leave her at home. He is only in town briefly to
arrange Sparkish’s marriage to his sister, Alithea.

Horner notices how jealous Pinchwife is of his wife and decides to tease him. He tells Pinchwife that
he saw him at the theatre the previous night with a beautiful young woman. Pinchwife is insulted
and storms out and Horner understands, from his reaction, that this woman is his wife.

At Pinchwife’s house, his young wife, Margery, complains to Alithea that Pinchwife will not let her go
out and enjoy the town. She tells Alithea that she loved going to the theatre the night before and
found the actors extremely handsome. Pinchwife returns and overhears them and berates Alithea for
setting a bad example for Margery. Margery begs Pinchwife to let her go into town and Pinchwife
tells her that she cannot go because, if she does, young men may fall in love with her. This only
increases Margery’s enthusiasm, so Pinchwife tells her that a man has already seen her at the theatre
and is in love with her. Margery is excited by this, and begs to know the young man’s name, so
Pinchwife locks her in her room to punish her.

Just then, Sparkish arrives with Harcourt to visit Alithea and to show his fiancée off to his friend.
Harcourt falls in love with Alithea instantly and begins to court her, brazenly, in front of Sparkish.
Although Alithea protests, Sparkish does not notice and seems incapable of jealousy. Harcourt,
Alithea, and Sparkish head off to the theatre, Alithea still protesting because Sparkish plans to seat
her with Harcourt. Lady Fidget, Mrs. Dainty Fidget, and Mrs. Squeamish arrive at Pinchwife’s house to
take Margery to see the play. Pinchwife chases them off, much to their amusement.

While they wait for Sir Jasper, Lady Fidget, Mrs. Dainty Fidget, and Mrs. Squeamish lament that they
are always being passed over by men in favor of common women. They feel that men no longer seek
out “virtuous” women to have affairs with. While they are talking, Sir Jasper arrives with Horner and
Dorilant and tells the ladies that these young men will take them to the theatre. The ladies are
horrified and refuse. Dorilant leaves but Sir Jasper insists that it will not harm their reputations to be
seen with Horner. Horner takes Lady Fidget aside and whispers to her that he is not actually
impotent and says that he has lied for her sake, to get close to her. Thoroughly flattered, Lady Fidget
relents and persuades the others to allow Horner to take them out. Sir Jasper rushes off to attend to
business, feeling very pleased with himself and the entertainment he has provided for his wife.
Margery, still cooped up in Pinchwife’s house, eventually puts her foot down and forces Pinchwife to
take her into town. He agrees on the condition that she dress up like a man so that Horner and his
friends will not recognize her. Alithea and her maid, Lucy, accompany them. Horner, Harcourt and
Dorilant are also in town and Harcourt tells Horner about his predicament; he is in love with Alithea,
Sparkish’s fiancée. Horner tells him that Sparkish will help him to woo her and Sparkish joins them at
that moment.

As they are talking, Pinchwife, Margery, Alithea and Lucy walk past, and the men pursue them.
Pinchwife tries to avoid them, but the men accost the party and ask who the young man among them
is. Pinchwife says that the young man, who is Margery in disguise, is his wife’s brother. Sparkish
begins to push Harcourt and Alithea together and implore her to forgive Harcourt for offending her
that morning.

Meanwhile, Horner begins to flirt with Margery and kisses her in front of Pinchwife, begging her to
take the kiss “to her sister.” Pinchwife, desperate to get Margery away from Horner, tries to hail a
carriage but, while he is gone, Horner leads Margery away down another street. Pinchwife is frantic
when he returns but Margery reappears a few moments later with a bundle of fruit that Horner has
given her. Sir Jasper Fidget arrives and reminds Horner that he must take the ladies to the theatre.
He leads Horner off and leaves a disgruntled Pinchwife in the street.

The next morning, Sparkish arrives at Pinchwife’s house to marry Alithea. However, the parson he
has brought with him to conduct the wedding is really Harcourt in disguise. Alithea easily sees
through this trick and refuses to allow the wedding, much to the confusion of Sparkish. Meanwhile,
Pinchwife grills Margery about the time she spent alone with Horner the evening before. When
Margery tells Pinchwife that Horner put his tongue in her mouth when he kissed her, Pinchwife can
no longer contain his jealousy and forces Margery to write a letter to Horner in which she tells him
that she finds him disgusting and will not tolerate his advances.

Margery is upset because she has fallen in love with Horner and thinks of a way to trick her husband.
Since he has taught Margery to write letters, which before she did not know how to do, she writes a
second letter to Horner, in which she confesses her love to him. When he returns with the letter seal,
Margery swaps the letters and seals the one she has written herself, rather than Pinchwife’s, to send
to Horner.

Horner is at home with the Quack, who is eager to hear how Horner’s experiment is going. He is
impressed with what he hears and even more impressed when Lady Fidget arrives alone. Horner
ushers the Quack behind a screen and the doctor watches as Lady Fidget throws herself at Horner.
The pair begin to fondle each other but are interrupted by Sir Jasper. Lady Fidget thinks quickly and
tells her husband that she is tickling Horner because he has refused to take her shopping. Sir Jasper
watches in amusement as Lady Fidget rushes into another room and locks the door, claiming she is
going to steal some of Horner’s fine china. Horner rushes in after her and Sir Jasper laughs at the
sounds coming through the door.

Mrs. Squeamish arrives moments later and tries to break into the room. She is followed by her
grandmother, Old Lady Squeamish. Horner and Lady Fidget re-emerge, Lady Fidget carrying some
china, and Mrs. Squeamish tries to persuade Horner to give her some china, too. Pinchwife enters
and the ladies immediately leave with Sir Jasper to avoid being seen by another man. Pinchwife has
brought Horner the letter from Margery. Horner reads it and is extremely confused about Pinchwife’s
triumphant attitude. Pinchwife leaves, but he is brought back a moment later by Sparkish, who insists
they must join him for his wedding dinner.
Margery, meanwhile, pines for Horner’s love, and begins to write him another letter. Pinchwife
bursts in on her and forces her to finish what she is writing. He is confused when she signs the letter
from Alithea and tells him that it is Alithea who is in love with Horner. Pinchwife agrees to take his
sister to see Horner and Margery dresses up as Alithea, puts on a mask, and tricks Pinchwife into
taking her in the disguise.

Horner is shocked when Pinchwife reappears, this time bringing him a masked woman. The woman
says that she will only speak to Horner alone so Pinchwife leaves them. Before Margery can explain
herself to Horner, however, Sir Jasper arrives and tells him that Lady Fidget, Mrs. Dainty, and Mrs.
Squeamish are on their way up. Horner hides Margery in another room and meets the ladies, who
are preparing to get very drunk and have a bawdy evening with him.

Outside Horner’s house, Pinchwife meets Sparkish and shows him the letter which is addressed to
Horner and signed with Alithea’s name. Sparkish is insulted and confronts Alithea in the street to
break off their engagement. Alithea is confused but relieved. Inside, Horner drinks with the
“honorable” ladies who begin to get tipsy. Lady Fidget finally announces that Horner is her secret
lover and is surprised when Mrs. Dainty and Mrs. Squeamish confess that he is theirs, too. The group
agree to keep each other’s secrets.

When Sir Jasper arrives to take the ladies home, Horner releases Margery, who tells him that she is
to be his wife now. While they are in discussion, Sparkish, Alithea, Pinchwife, Harcourt, Lucy, and a
chaplain arrive. Pinchwife insists that Horner and Alithea should marry but Alithea denies any
knowledge of this affair. Eventually she points out that Margery is dressed up as her and Alithea and
Harcourt are united and agree to marry instead. Pinchwife is furious with Horner for “cuckolding”
him and prepares to duel him.

Sir Jasper and the ladies return as this scene is underway and Pinchwife tells Sir Jasper that Horner
has made a “cuckold” of him too. Sir Jasper is taken aback for a moment, but Horner is saved by the
reappearance of the Quack who gives Pinchwife and Sir Jasper his word “as a physician” that Horner
is impotent. Margery plays along with this, though she knows that they are all lying, and resigns
herself to a future as Pinchwife’s wife.

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-country-wife

Please use the moodle reader for “Essay on Criticism” and “Pastorals” by Alexander Pope
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe (1719)

An anonymous editor introduces the account of a man's incredible adventures, which he says is true,

entertaining, and useful for the reader. The story begins with Robinson Crusoe describing his early
life in York, England. Robinson eagerly wanted to venture out to sea, although both his parents urged
him not to and tried to persuade him to stay home and lead a comfortable life. Despite his parents'
warnings, Robinson left home and joined a ship to London without telling his parents.

On the way to London, the ship encountered a horrible storm and sank. Fortunately, Robinson and
the other crewmembers were rescued by another boat. Once on shore, the shipmaster told Robinson
to go back home, but he felt compelled to continue his journey and so went to London by land.
There, he joined a ship bound for the coast of Africa. Robinson says that this was his only successful
voyage: he returned to London safely with a small fortune from trading. The captain of this vessel
died, but Robinson joined the ship to go on the same voyage again with a new captain, leaving
his money in the care of the old captain's widow.

On this trip, Robinson's ship was taken by pirates and he was taken as a slave to the Moorish port of
Sallee. After two years, he finally was able to escape when he went out in a fishing boat with a Moor
named Ismael and a young boy named Xury. Out at sea, Robinson pushed Ismael overboard and
sailed away with Xury. The two of them went south along the coast of Africa, hoping to encounter a
European trading vessel. Along the way, they meet some African natives on the shore, who give them
food and water. At last, Robinson and Xury are found by a Portuguese ship, whose captain offers to
take Robinson to Brazil for free. The generous captain bought Robinson's small boat from him and
brought him safely to Brazil, where he ended up buying some land and starting a sugar plantation.
Robinson sold Xury into the service of the captain. As his plantation began to do well, Robinson
became overly ambitious and joined some other plantation owners on a voyage to Africa to bring
back slaves. The ship encountered a hurricane and the captain wanted to turn back, but Robinson
encouraged him to continue the voyage. After this, the ship encountered another strong storm and
was wrecked. Robinson tried to escape on a small boat, but was thrown into the sea and washed up
onto the shore of an unknown island, the sole survivor of the shipwreck.

The next day, Robinson saw that the wrecked ship was fortunately stranded not far from shore. He
was able to swim over to it, climb aboard, and salvage food, drink, and supplies. He built a makeshift
raft and brought these things back to shore. After a number of trips to the ship, a storm came and
blew away the remains of the ship. Robinson set up a tent on a plateau near a rock cliff and built a
fence around it. He continually expanded and improved this dwelling, and built a large wooden cross
to mark days on in order to keep track of time. As he got better at making and using tools, Robinson
continued to improve his dwelling, surrounding it with a huge turf wall. He began keeping a journal
and listed all of the good and bad things about his life on the island. One day, Robinson dumped out
some husks of grain and was surprised when, soon after, stalks of rice and barley started to grow
from them. He believed this to be a miracle from God, though Robinson's cave dwelling was also
severely damaged one day when an earthquake struck the island.

Soon after this, Robinson became seriously ill. He had a fever-dream in which a man came down from
the sky and told him, "Seeing all these things have not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt
die." Robinson suddenly realized how unreligious he had been. He prayed to God and started to read
the Bible, some copies of which he had saved from his ship. Robinson recovered from his illness with
a newfound sense of the importance of Christianity. Thinking that he was stuck on the island for
good, he explored around the island more, discovering a forested area with various fruit trees, where
he built a smaller dwelling in addition to his main one. On the one-year anniversary of his arrival on
the island, Robinson fasted and prayed to God. He later sowed some barley and rice and gathered
grapes in the forest, which he dried into raisins.

One day, Robinson walked to the opposite side of the island and could see land far off in the
distance, across the sea. After much hard work, Robinson figured out how to harvest his grains and
make bread and also taught himself to make pottery. With these improvements, Robinson's life on
the island became more comfortable. He began to appreciate that his life on the island was free from
the wickedness of society, as he had no cause for lust, pride, greed, or covetousness in his new life.
He even thought that this new life was better than life in society, and thanked God for how his life
had turned out.

Robinson built a canoe in order to sail around the perimeter of his island. However, he was almost
pushed dangerously far out to sea by a strong current. After returning to shore, he decided not to
venture out onto the water again. In order not to have to waste ammunition on hunting goats,
Robinson captured some goats and tamed them, building a fenced-in pen for them.

Robinson was shocked and terrified one day when he saw a man's footprint in the sand on his
island's shore. He immediately ran and hid in his home, which he called his castle, thinking the
footprint must have been from a savage. However, Robinson didn't see anyone else on the island, so
he ventured outside his home again and resumed his usual life, expanding his home's fortifications.
While searching for a place to build a new goat-pen, Robinson saw piles of human remains scattered
on the shore around a fire pit, the remnants of a cannibalistic gathering. Disgusted, Robinson thought
he should ambush the cannibals when they came to the island next and rescue their victims. But then
he questioned whether he should let them live their own lives according to their own cultural norms,
concluding that he had no right to kill savages who had done nothing to him. Hoping not to run into
any savages, Robinson began to lead a much more cautious, careful life around the island.

By his twenty-third year on the island, Robinson felt content to live out the rest of his life on his
island. Not long after, there was a great storm and Robinson heard gunshots from a ship in distress.
The next day, he saw a ship wrecked on some rocks not far offshore. He hoped one or two sailors had
made it safely to his island, but none had. He took his boat out to the ship and went aboard, where
he found some supplies, as well as two drowned sailors. This episode made Robinson think more and
more about trying to escape from his island. One night, he dreamed that a captive of some cannibal
savages escaped and took refuge with him, becoming his servant. Robinson was excited to have
someone possibly able to guide him to land, only to wake up and realize he had only been dreaming.
But about a year and a half later, Robinson saw a gathering of cannibals, one of whose prisoners
escaped and ran toward Robinson's home. Robinson killed the cannibals chasing after the prisoner,
thus rescuing him. The prisoner was so grateful that he vowed to serve Robinson for life. Robinson
named him Friday and began to teach him English and explain Christianity to him. Robinson learned
from Friday that Friday's native land was reachable from the island by boat and that beyond it was a
land inhabited by Spaniards. Friday informed Robinson that a boat of Europeans had arrived in his
native land and some of them now dwelled among his people. Robinson guessed that these were
survivors from the ship that had been wrecked near his island. Robinson suggested that he and
Friday make a boat so that Friday could go back to his land, but Friday refused to go without
Robinson.

Robinson at last agreed to go with Friday, but these plans were put on hold when a band of cannibals
arrived on the island. Robinson saw that they had a European prisoner, and so he and Friday
ambushed them, killing the savages and rescuing the prisoner. In one of the savages' boats, they
discovered another prisoner, who turned out to be Friday's father. The other prisoner, who was
Spanish, told Robinson about how his ship had been wrecked in a storm and he and some other
sailors were stranded in Friday's native land. After some time expanding his crops, Robinson sent
Friday's father and the Spanish prisoner on a boat back to get the rest of the Spanish sailors, so that
they could escape with Robinson on a ship. But before they returned, an English ship came to the
island, and some of its sailors came ashore with three prisoners.

Robinson rescued the prisoners, one of whom was the captain of the English ship. The captain told
Robinson that he had been the victim of a mutiny and the mutineers planned to leave him on this
island to die. Robinson, the captain, and the other rescued prisoners killed two of the mutineers and
forced the others to pledge allegiance to the captain again. Later, more of the mutineers came
ashore and Robinson and his comrades captured them and demanded their surrender. The captain
and his men then went back to the ship and recaptured it on behalf of Robinson. Leaving some
mutineers behind on the island, Robinson at last left his island on the English ship. After a long
voyage, he finally returned to England (with Friday) after having been away for 35 years.

Robinson felt like a stranger back in society. Both his parents were deceased now and his only family
members left were two sisters and two nephews. Robinson traveled to Lisbon to find news of his
plantation in Brazil. In Lisbon, the old Portuguese captain who had rescued him told him that his
plantation was doing well and helped him send word to Brazil to have his fortune sent back to
England (although Robinson originally wanted to voyage to Brazil himself). Robinson received
shipments of money, sugar, gold, and tobacco and now found himself immensely wealthy. Robinson
was happy to have this fortune, but also felt that he now had more "care upon my head" than when
he was on his island. He decided to journey back to England, but didn't want to go by sea and so
joined a group of people on a land-journey to Paris (from where he would take a short boat trip to
England). Before leaving, he arranged for a large amount of his money to be given to the loyal widow
of the Portuguese captain who had looked after his money in England during his absence.

Robinson's group of travelers found a guide to take them across the Pyrenees (the mountains
between Spain and France), but the guide ended up taking them along a perilous route where there
were many wolves. The group was surrounded by hundreds of wolves and barely escaped, fending
the wild creatures off with their guns. Robinson safely got to France and had an uneventful journey
from there to England. Once back in England, he settled down, taking care of his two nephews, one
of who became a sailor. Robinson had a desire to go back to sea, but stayed in England and got
married. After his wife died, though, he joined his nephew on a trading ship to the East Indies.

On this voyage, Robinson revisited his island, where the Spaniards had established a colony and
fended off various attacks from Caribbean natives, and then went to Brazil. He tells the reader that
he will tell all the details of these adventures more fully in a future account.

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/robinson-crusoe/summary
Pamela – Samuel Richardson (1740)

Pamela Andrews is a lively, clever, pretty, and virtuous servant-girl, age 15, in the county of
Bedfordshire in England. For the past three years, she has served as waiting-maid to the kindly Lady
B., who unfortunately has just died. Lady B.’s son, the twenty-something Squire B., becomes Master
of the country household. After a period of mourning in which he decorously restrains himself from
making any advances on his late mother’s favorite, Mr. B. begins flirting with Pamela incessantly. In
letters to her parents, who are destitute through no fault of their own, Pamela reports her Master’s
attempts and vows that she will suffer any injury or social penalty rather than sacrifice her chastity.
Her parents encourage this devotion to her virtue and advise her to leave Mr. B.’s employment and
return to home and poverty if ever Mr. B. makes a physical attempt on her.

The attempt comes, sooner rather than later, and Pamela resists it vigorously. Disconcerted but only
temporarily deterred, Mr. B. tries to bribe Pamela to keep quiet about the incident; she relates it,
however, to her parents and to the motherly housekeeper, Mrs. Jervis. Mr. B. begins to make noise
about Pamela’s gossiping about him in her letters home, prompting Pamela to suspect him of stealing
her mail. Further offenses ensue, including an incident in which Mr. B., hiding in a closet, spies on
Pamela as she undresses at night and then rushes out to have his way with her. Pamela, however,
displays a marked tendency to fall into a swoon whenever her Master approaches her with lewd
intentions, and this peculiarity has the convenient effect of diminishing the Squire’s libido.

In spite of Mr. B.’s continued harassment, Pamela does not manage to make the departure that she
so frequently threatens. Various impediments, among them her obligation to finish embroidering
one of Mr. B.’s waistcoats, prevent her return to her parents. Finally, she resolves to go and, having
resisted a final effort of Mr. B. to tempt her with money for her parents and marriage to a clergyman,
packs her bags to leave. Unfortunately, her driver is the coachman from Mr. B.’s estate in
Lincolnshire, and her destination turns out not to be the one she intended.

Mr. B., who has intercepted and read all of the correspondence between Pamela and her parents,
writes to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews with a consoling but phony explanation for her failing to appear in
their village as planned. Mr. Andrews sees through the ruse and approaches the Bedfordshire estate,
bewailing the disappearance of his daughter, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Pamela has arrived in
Lincolnshire, where the crude and malignant housekeeper Mrs. Jewkes watches her every move.

Pamela continues writing letters while in captivity, but as she does not know when she will be able to
send them, she dispenses with salutations and signatures, so that they run together into one
continuous journal. She begins plotting her escape immediately, and she soon settles on the
clergyman Mr. Williams as her only likely ally. Mr. Williams does indeed turn out to be a willing
helper, though his competence remains in question. They arrange a system of secret correspondence
whereby they will hide their notes to each other beside a sunflower in the garden.

Mr. Williams tries and fails to enlist support for Pamela among the local gentry, who all suspect his
and Pamela’s motives. The clergyman eventually suggests that he and Pamela get married,
whereupon the Squire would no longer have any authority to detain her. Pamela declines this offer,
only to find soon after that Mr. B. has written to the clergyman making the same suggestion. Pamela
again rejects the idea.

When a group of thieves attacks Mr. Williams on the road and searches his pockets for papers,
Pamela becomes concerned that Mr. B. sent them to steal her letters, which the clergyman was
carrying. The incident prompts her to make her first escape attempt, but her own nerves prevent her
even from making it across the garden. Soon a further impediment appears in the person
of Monsieur Colbrand, a hideous Swiss man whom Mr. B. has sent to guard Pamela.
Mr. B., suspecting Mr. Williams of colluding with Pamela, sends him to prison for debt. Pamela
concludes that she has run out of options and makes a desperate escape attempt in the middle of the
night. The attempt fails when a crumbling wall causes injury to her head and legs. Despairing, Pamela
considers drowning herself in the garden pond, but a sudden renewal of her commitment to life and
virtue, which she credits to a divine intervention, saves her. In the morning, the other servants find
her lying wounded in an outhouse, and her captivity continues as before.

A few days later Mr. B. arrives in Lincolnshire. He serves Pamela with a set of terms on which he
proposes to make her his mistress, but she refuses them scornfully. Changing his strategy, Mr. B. gets
close to Pamela at night by impersonating a drunken maidservant. Pamela’s swooning fits come to
her aid again, and after this episode, Mr. B. shows signs of being genuinely chastened. He again
attempts to woo her but does not employ force. Then, in a heart-to-heart, he explains to her that he
has come to admire her character and in fact deeply loves her, but his aversion to marriage prevents
making an honest proposal. Pamela feels moved by this confession and hopes fervently that it is
sincere.

Mr. B. leaves the Lincolnshire estate for a few days, during which interval Pamela receives from a
gypsy fortune-teller a note warning her of Mr. B.’s plans for entrapping her in a sham-marriage. This
note causes Pamela to react strongly against Mr. B. and against her own softening feelings for him.
When he returns from his trip he receives from Mrs. Jewkes a set of Pamela’s recent writings;
inferring that her “scribbling” has proceeded unabated in Lincolnshire, he demands to see the rest of
her literary output, which Pamela reluctantly hands over. His reading of these papers only increases
his admiration of her character and virtue. He tells her how deeply the writings have moved him and
expresses his regret over his rough usage of her, promising to make amends. When Pamela, still
fearing the sham-marriage, nevertheless repeats her request to return to her parents, Mr. B. is hurt
and finally, in anger, allows her to leave.

Pamela departs the Lincolnshire estate, though not in so happy a mood as she had expected. During
a stopover at a country inn, she receives another letter from Mr. B. in which he avows that further
reading in her papers prompts him to request her return to Lincolnshire. Pamela, having
reconsidering, decides to trust him and complies. Upon her return, they discuss the likely social
fallout from a marriage between a squire and a serving-maid; undeterred, they enter on their
engagement. Pamela then tells Mr. B. the story of the gypsy fortune-teller, and he admits to having
considered perpetrating a sham-marriage but says that he thought the better of it.

The neighboring gentry, who once refused to aid Pamela’s escape, now come to dinner and inspect
Mr. B.’s betrothed. Pamela impresses everyone with her beauty and comparative refinement. On the
same day, Mr. Andrews arrives, expecting from a letter he received that he would find his daughter a
fully corrupted mistress of the Squire. An ecstatic reunion ensues, of which all the dinner guests are
eager witnesses. Over the next few days, there are a series of chariot rides, several arguments over
the wedding date, and reconciliation between Mr. B. and Mr. Williams, whom he has liberated from
debtors’ prison.

On a Thursday, two weeks after the start of the engagement, Pamela and Mr. B. are married in the
family chapel. Mr. Williams presides over the ceremony and Mrs. Jewkes attends the bride. The
newlyweds originally plan to keep their marriage a secret from the neighbors for the time being, but
after several days Mrs. Jewkes lets the news slip “accidentally” while serving drinks before a dinner.

That same evening, Mr. B. goes to attend a dying acquaintance. By the next morning, he has not
returned, so Pamela is alone when his sister, Lady Davers, arrives to browbeat the Squire and his
beloved, whom she does not know to be married. Lady Davers badgers and insults Pamela at some
length, detaining her against her will with the help of a nephew and a waiting-maid. Finally, Pamela
escapes through a window and, with the help of her new allies Mrs. Jewkes and Monsieur Colbrand,
makes it to the home of Sir Simon Darnford, where Mr. B. and the neighbors are expecting her. There
she regales the company with the tale of her experience with Lady Davers.

The next morning, Lady Davers intrudes on the newlyweds in their bedroom, and a conflict ensues
between the brother and sister, where the sister refers to a duel that Mr. B. fought in Italy. Lady
Davers walks off in a huff, but a tentative reconciliation occurs over dinner. After dinner, however,
Lady Davers refers to a woman named Sally Godfrey, prompting Mr. B. to explain a few things to
Pamela. He gives the extenuating back-story on the Italian duel and confesses to a liaison with Sally, a
young woman he met during his college years. He is furious at having been forced into these
confessions before he was ready to make them, and Lady Davers suddenly regrets having
antagonized him so far. She and Pamela join forces to calm the Squire and effect a reconciliation, to
which he eventually agrees. Later, reflecting on his fit of temper, Mr. B. explains to Pamela all about
the upper-class temperament and marital dynamics, delivering a lecture from which she derives,
rather sardonically, a set of rules for married life.

The next morning, Pamela visits Lady Davers in her room, and they chat amicably about Mr. B.’s
character. Pamela promises to grant her new sister-in-law’s request to see all her writings.

A few days later, Pamela and Mr. B. return to the Bedfordshire estate, where they receive a
rapturous welcome from the servants. Mr. B. arranges to set up Pamela’s father as the manager of
his estate in Kent. Later they go shopping for clothes and entertain the local gentry, who are
uniformly impressed with Pamela.

Eventually Mr. B. takes Pamela to meet Miss Goodwin, a little girl at a local boarding school, who
Pamela rightly concludes is his daughter by Sally Godfrey. Pamela is delighted with the child and
requests, though in vain, to take her in as part of the Bedfordshire household. Mr. B. fills out the
story of Sally Godfrey, detailing the circumstances of their affair and her eventual flight to Jamaica,
where she is now happily married.

On their second Sunday in Bedfordshire, Pamela and Mr. B. attend church twice, with Pamela
appearing in a spectacular white-and-gold dress. All the neighbors are appropriately stunned, and
the local poor gather to receive alms from the new Lady Bountiful. A few days later, Pamela and Mr.
B. walk together in the garden, are caught in a shower, and shelter in the summerhouse. There he
explains the provisions he has recently made for her in his will. Near the end of the week, the
newlyweds host another dinner for the neighbors; it is an occasion for Pamela to reflect piously on
the goodness of providence and to plan for future good works.

In a conclusion, the “Editor” of Pamela’s letters reveals that Pamela’s later life continues to be a
happy one: she receives semiannual visits from her parents and bears several children. She remains
popular among the local gentry and nobility, and even Lady Davers continues on good terms with the
Squire and his wife. Pamela succeeds in establishing the moral character of Miss Goodwin, who does
not repeat her mother’s mistakes.

https://www.gradesaver.com/pamela-or-virtue-rewarded/study-guide/summary
Preface to the Lyrical Ballads – William Wordsworth (1800)

Over the years, Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” has come to be seen as a manifesto for
the Romantic movement in England. In it, Wordsworth explains why he wrote his experimental
ballads the way he did. Unlike the highbrow poetry of his contemporaries, the late-Neoclassical
writers, Wordsworth’s poems in Lyrical Ballads engage with the lives of the peasantry and are written
in stripped-down, common language.

Wordsworth was alone in his effort; he penned the Lyrical Ballads with the help of his good
friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. With friends like Coleridge, Wordsworth hopes to produce a new
class of poetry, which will focus on “low and rustic life”—Wordsworth finds that the common people
are less restrained and more honest because they are in constant communion with the beauty of
nature. This new class of poetry will also use the language of the common people, as this language
carries a certain universality and permanence, having none of the fickleness of poetic diction.

Wordsworth feels that much of the poetry of his contemporaries is far too trivial and crude, relying
on sensationalism to appeal to readers. This sort of poetry—along with modern industrialization and
urbanization—dulls the minds of readers. To Wordsworth, good poetry should have a purpose other
than superficial entertainment. The purpose of Wordsworth’s ballads is to allow cosmopolitan
readers to vicariously experience nature so that they can be revived from the mind-dulling aspects
of modernity.

Wordsworth also sees great importance in emotions. Indeed, in poetry, emotions are more
important than the plot and actions—he writes that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
emotion” that “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” It is important that the poet
recollects his emotions in tranquility, as taking this time to contemplate the experience allows the
poet to incorporate not only passion, but also profound thought in their work. Poetry ought to be a
profound experience. Wordsworth disdains the trivialization of poetry: no matter how simple the
meter of a poem, the contents of the poem still ought to be taken seriously by poet and reader alike.

Other than these larger ideas about poetry, Wordsworth also briefly digresses into the importance of
meter. Wordsworth relates that he has chosen to write poetry and not prose because meter adds a
certain charm to the work. Furthermore, the regularity of meter can help temper emotions that may
grow to be too much if the work were written with the stylistic freedom of prose. Wordsworth ends
the “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” on the note that there is nothing more he can do except allow the
reader to experience his ballads for themselves

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/preface-to-the-lyrical-ballads/summary

Daff odils – William Wordsworth (1804)

In this article, Daffodils Summary, we will understand the critical analysis of the poet in brief. The
poem is not a result of the poet’s imagination. It is a product of his actual visualization. The poet
expresses his feelings of solitude by saying ‘ I wandered as a lonely cloud’. The reason behind his
feeling of loneliness was the death of a beloved one, his brother. Passing through a field beside the
lake, he comes across a cluster of golden daffodils waving in the breeze. Moreover, they were more
isolated patch or scattered. They were thousands and thousands in number dancing in the breeze.
Furthermore, the dancing, blinking flowers stretched endlessly along the shore. Also, the shining
waves of the lake danced beside the flowers. The daffodils traced the water with their beauty.
Moreover, the poet says, the golden daffodils twinkled and stretched in an endless line like the stars
in the Milky galaxy way. It implies that the flowers seem heavenly as stars. This made the poet very
happy as he has never seen so many daffodils at one sight. He enjoyed the company of flowers.

Furthermore, he keeps on starting that beautiful scene. He couldn’t take off his eyes from the
loveliness of daffodils. However, he was unaware of the blessing that the scene would give him.
From that time, whenever he felt lonely or depressed, the scene of the beautiful daffodils strike his
strikes. Thus, his heart gets filled with immense pleasure and dances with the daffodils.

The plot is very simple. It depicts the poet’s wandering and his spotting of a field of daffodils by a lake
Also, the memory of the daffodils pleasures him and relieves him when he is alone, bored, or
suffering from feelings of restlessness. Moreover, the characterization of the surprising happening of
a memory—the daffodils “flash upon the inward eye”, which is “the bliss of solitude”—is
psychologically acute, but the poem’s major brilliance lies in the reverse personification of its initial
stanzas.

https://www.toppr.com/guides/english/english-literature/daffodils-summary/

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley (1818)

Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound for the North Pole, writes a letter to his sister, Margaret
Saville, in which he says that his crew members recently discovered a man adrift at sea. The
man, Victor Frankenstein, offered to tell Walton his story.

Frankenstein has a perfect childhood in Switzerland, with a loving family that even adopted orphans
in need, including the beautiful Elizabeth, who soon becomes Victor's closest friend, confidante, and
love. Victor also has a caring and wonderful best friend, Henry Clerval. Just before Victor turns
seventeen and goes to study at the University at Ingoldstadt, his mother dies of scarlet fever. At
Ingolstadt, Victor dives into "natural philosophy" with a passion, studying the secrets of life with such
zeal that he even loses touch with his family. He soon rises to the top of his field, and suddenly, one
night, discovers the secret of life. With visions of creating a new and noble race, Victor puts his
knowledge to work. But when he animates his first creature, its appearance is so horrifying he
abandons it. Victor hopes the monster has disappeared for ever, but some months later he receives
word that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered. Though Victor sees the monster
lingering at the site of the murder and is sure it did the deed, he fears no one will believe him and
keeps silent. Justine Moritz, another adoptee in his family, has been falsely accused based of the
crime. She is convicted and executed. Victor is consumed by guilt.

To escape its tragedy, the Frankensteins go on vacation. Victor often hikes in the mountains, hoping
to alleviate his suffering with the beauty of nature. One day the monster appears, and despite
Victor's curses begs him incredibly eloquently to listen to its story. The monster describes his
wretched life, full of suffering and rejection solely because of his horrifying appearance. (The
monster also explains how he learned to read and speak so well.) The monster blames his rage on
humanity's inability to perceive his inner goodness and his resulting total isolation. It demands that
Victor, its creator who brought it into this wretched life, create a female monster to give it the love
that no human ever will. Victor refuses at first, but then agrees.
Back in Geneva, Victor's father expresses his wish that Victor marry Elizabeth. Victor says he first
must travel to England. On the way to England, Victor meets up with Clerval. Soon, though, Victor
leaves Clerval at the house of a friend in Scotland and moves to a remote island to make his second,
female, monster. But one night Victor begins to worry that the female monster might turn out more
destructive than the first. At the same moment, Victor sees the first monster watching him work
through a window. The horrifying sight pushes Victor to destroy the female monster. The monster
vows revenge, warning Victor that it will "be with him on [his] wedding night." Victor takes the
remains of the female monster and dumps them in the ocean. But when he returns to shore, he is
accused of a murder that was committed that same night. When Victor discovers that the victim is
Clerval, he collapses and remains delusional for two months. When he wakes his father has arrived,
and he is cleared of the criminal charges against him.

Victor returns with his father to Geneva, and marries Elizabeth. But on his wedding night, the
monster instead kills Elizabeth. Victor's father dies of grief soon thereafter. Now, all alone in the
world, Victor dedicates himself solely to seeking revenge against the monster. He tracks the monster
to the Arctic, but becomes trapped on breaking ice and is rescued by Walton's crew.

Walton writes another series of letters to his sister. He tells her about his failure to reach the North
Pole and to restore Victor, who died soon after his rescue. Walton's final letter describes his
discovery of the monster grieving over Victor's corpse. He accuses the monster of having no remorse,
but the monster says it has suffered more than anyone. With Victor dead, the monster has its
revenge and plans to end its own life.

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/frankenstein/summary

Adam Bede – George Eliot (1859)

Adam Bede follows four characters in the rural village of Hayslope in 1799. It opens with the Bede
brothers, Adam and Seth, at work in a carpentry shop. The other men tease Seth about his
Methodism and the fact that he is in love with Dinah, the Methodist preacher. Dinah preaches in
Hayslope that night and captivates even her skeptical audience. Seth walks her home and asks her to
marry him for the second time, but she refuses, saying that it will interfere with her preaching.

Adam returns home to his mother, who is worried that his father is not yet home because he has
promised to make a coffin for the next day. Thias Bede used to be an honorable man who taught his
sons carpentry, but he has become a drunk in the last few years. Angry with his father, Adam stays
up the whole night to complete the work on the coffin. He hears a strange rapping on the door, but
nobody is there.

Captain Arthur Donnithorne visits his mentor, the vicar, and tells him about Dinah's preaching. They
travel together to visit the Poyser farm so that the vicar can meet Dinah. At the Poysers' farm, Mrs.
Poyser's niece, Dinah, and Mr. Poyser's niece are living with their aunt and uncle. Captain Arthur
Donnithorne, whose aristocratic grandfather is the Poysers' landlord, asks to see Mrs. Poyser's dairy,
while Dinah impresses the vicar by explaining to him why she feels called to preach. In the dairy,
Arthur flirts with Hetty and ascertains that she walks alone to his estate to learn lace-making from his
housekeeper.

In the morning, Adam sets out to the village pub to find his father, but he finds him face-down,
drowned in a stream. The news of the Bedes' misfortune spreads fast around the village, and Dinah
visits Lisbeth Bede to comfort her. Despite the fact that she does not usually like Methodists--or any
young women who she suspects could take her place in her sons' affections--Lisbeth takes to Dinah.
She stays overnight with the Bedes to help Lisbeth.

Arthur intercepts Hetty in the woods on her way to his estate. He flirts with her and kisses her. After
she goes home, he decides that it is not a good idea to lead her on, and he resolves not to see her in
the future. That night, Hetty dreams of marrying Arthur, becoming a gentlewoman, and owning
beautiful women. Dinah surprises and frightens her by knocking on her door and saying that if she is
ever in trouble, she should come to Dinah.

There is a well-attended burial service in the parish for Thias Bede. Adam visits the Poysers afterward
to continue his well-established courtship of Hetty. Hetty's uncle and aunt both approve highly of the
match, but Adam is frustrated because he cannot tell whether Hetty loves him or not. After this visit,
he attends night-school, where he is learning mathematics to improve his skill at carpentry. Bartle
Massey, the schoolmaster, tells him that he would be better off to stay a bachelor.

Arthur's and Hetty's secret affair continues, and he gives her a pair of beautiful earrings and a locket.
At a celebration for Arthur's twenty-first birthday, he announces that he has appointed Adam
Bede the steward for his estate's forest. This appointment will finally make Adam financially viable
enough to ask Hetty to marry him.

Walking through the woods a few days later, Adam is reflecting on how happy he is until he sees
Arthur and Hetty kissing. Hetty runs away, and Adam confronts Arthur. The two get in a fistfight, and
Adam knocks Arthur down. He makes Arthur promise to write a letter to Hetty that will end the
affair. Adam personally delivers this letter to Hetty, who is devastated. The letter says, however, to
call on Arthur if she is in any real trouble. Hetty tries to think of how she can get out of her situation
and decides that her best move would be to marry Adam. Adam thinks that she has learned from her
mistakes. They get engaged.

As the marriage approaches, Hetty grows more and more worried. She gladly accepts as a pretext to
run away her uncle's idea that she should leave to fetch Dinah from where she is preaching in
Snowden. She takes all of her money and follows Arthur to Windsor where he has been stationed as
a soldier. It takes all of her money to arrive there, and when she is informed that Arthur's troops
have been sent to Ireland, she faints away. She remembers her cousin's invitation to look to her if
she is ever in trouble. Hetty sets off in the opposite direction with the resolution that if she is too
cowardly to commit suicide, she will find Dinah.

Hetty's family becomes worried when she does not return after a number of days, and Adam Bede
sets out in search of her. When he arrives in Hayslope, he finds that she has never visited to collect
Dinah at all. Alarmed, he traces her to Stoniton. When he returns back to Hayslope, the vicar informs
him that she has just been arrested for the murder of her own child.

Adam is convinced that she is innocent until he attends her trial and sees the incontrovertible proof
against her. One of the witnesses is a woman in whose house she delivered the baby. Another is a
workingman who saw her near the spot where she partially buried the baby in a field before it died
of exposure. Hetty is sentenced to execution. Dinah visits her in prison, persuades her to confess for
the first time, and gives her spiritual counseling.

Adam has sent for Arthur, who receives word first that his grandfather has died, so Arthur returns to
Hayslope without knowing what has happened to Hetty. When he hears the news, he rushes to get a
special pardon for her. It is delivered in the nick of time. He rides up to where Hetty is riding in the
death cart accompanied by Dinah with the pardon. Hetty is re-sentenced to exile rather than death.
Adam and Arthur meet again and agree to end their old argument. Arthur says that he is joining the
military, and the two shake hands.

Years later, Adam visits the Poysers as they try to convince Dinah not to leave on her preaching
circuit yet again. She insists that she must go because of personal temptations. When Adam says that
whatever she chooses will be right, she begins to cry. He brings her home to his mother, who is ill
and wanted to see Dinah again. Dinah blushes every time that Adam talks to her, and Seth and
Lisbeth see that she is in love with him. Lisbeth informs her son, who, after asking his brother's
permission, asks her to marry him. She refuses, saying that her first priority is religion. She leaves for
Leeds to preach. After she has been gone for a few days, Adam follows her to where she is preaching.
He meets her on a hill, and she admits that she has been listening to her heart and what God is trying
to tell her--and that it is to marry him. The two marry, and the epilogue depicts them living happily
with their entire family, including two children.

https://www.gradesaver.com/adam-bede/study-guide/summary

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock – T.S. Eliot (1915)

This poem, the earliest of Eliot’s major works, was completed in 1910 or 1911 but not published
until 1915. It is an examination of the tortured psyche of the prototypical modern man—
overeducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally stilted. Prufrock, the poem’s speaker, seems to
be addressing a potential lover, with whom he would like to “force the moment to its crisis” by
somehow consummating their relationship. But Prufrock knows too much of life to “dare” an
approach to the woman: In his mind he hears the comments others make about his inadequacies,
and he chides himself for “presuming” emotional interaction could be possible at all. The poem
moves from a series of fairly concrete (for Eliot) physical settings—a cityscape (the famous “patient
etherised upon a table”) and several interiors (women’s arms in the lamplight, coffee spoons,
fireplaces)—to a series of vague ocean images conveying Prufrock’s emotional distance from the
world as he comes to recognize his second-rate status (“I am not Prince Hamlet’). “Prufrock” is
powerful for its range of intellectual reference and also for the vividness of character achieved.

https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/eliot/section1/

Lines 1-36 Summary:

J. Alfred Prufrock, a presumably middle-aged, intellectual, indecisive man, invites the reader along
with him through the modern city. He describes the street scene and notes a social gathering of
women discussing Renaissance artist Michelangelo. He describes yellow smoke and fog outside the
house of the gathering, and keeps insisting that there will be time to do many things in the social
world.

Lines 37-86 Summary:

Prufrock agonizes over his social actions, worrying over how others will see him. He thinks about
women's arms and perfume, but does not know how to act. He walks through the streets and
watches lonely men leaning out their windows. The day passes at a social engagement but he cannot
muster the strength to act, and he admits that he is afraid.

Lines 87-131 Summary:

Prufrock wonders if, after various social gestures, it would have been worthwhile to act decisively if it
resulted in a woman's rejection of him. He thinks he is not a Prince Hamlet figure, but a secondary
character in life. Worried over growing old, he adopts the fashions of youth. By the beach, he sees
images of mermaids singing and swimming.

https://www.gradesaver.com/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock/study-guide/summary-lines-87-131

Please use the moodle reader for “Moments of Being. Slater’s Pins Have No Points” by Virginia
Woolf