John Donne 1572-1631 Historical Context
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JOHN DONNE 1572-1631 HISTORICAL CONTEXT Born in 1572 during a period of religious and political unrest in Queen Elizabeth’s reign The dominance of the Anglican church created social tension between different sects of believers, and many Catholics who were public about their beliefs were persecuted and harassed by the authorities Legislation made life for Catholics incredibly difficult, for it denied them legal redress against state-sanctioned persecution. CONTEXT, CONT. “You could not, if you remained faithful to your religion, hope to play any part in public life, and you were debarred from taking a university degree by the requirement that graduates should subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles” Taken by his Jesuit tutors to public executions to instill a sense of martyrdom FAMILY HISTORY Father dies when Donne is four, and mother remarries six months later to a wealthy Catholic doctor Mother was related to Thomas More Two of his uncles became Jesuit priests and carried a relic of one of More’s teeth around with them One uncle is later arrested, hanged, drawn, and quartered — Donne sneaks into the Tower with his mother to visit him Grandfather eventually flees the country in order to avoid accepting Anglicanism YOUNG ADULTHOOD Saw compromise as the only political solution, and after much moral agony, abandoned Catholicism in the 1590s Studied at Oxford, Cambridge, and Lincoln’s Inn, but did not take any academic degrees because he did not agree with the Thirty-Nine Theses Got a court secretary’s position with Thomas Egerton, one of Queen Elizabeth’s highest officials in 1598 MARRIED LIFE Ruined political career when he secretly married Lady Egerton’s 17 year old niece Had a happy marriage throughout their lives, but he immediately lost his position and was temporarily imprisoned, which ruined his future job prospects His wife began giving birth about once a year, which put a huge burden on Donne, who was unable to provide for his family MARRIED LIFE, CONT. During this period of extreme stress, Donne writes unpublished treatise Bianthanitos on the lawfulness of suicide Refused to take Anglican orders in 1607, but King James believed Donne would be an amazing preacher and declared that Anglican priesthood would be his only avenue of success and financial security CHURCH OF ENGLAND After King James’ proclamation, Donne writes an anti -Catholic polemic in 1610 and then writes Ignatius His Conclave against Jesuits in 1611 Enters Anglican ministry in 1615—sees worldly success and the desire to work as spiritual duties Made Dean of St. Paul’s in 1621 END OF CAREER AND LIFE In 1624 his book of private prayers and devotions were published. 160 of his sermons survive. Obsessed with death—composed his own funeral sermon “Death’s Duel”, which he preached right before he died Commissioned his own portrait in which he dressed himself in a funeral shroud and stood on top of an urn Died March 31, 1631 ATMOSPHERE OF TERROR Catholics who refused to attend Anglican services were liable to a fine of £20 a month, though an average schoolmaster’s pay was £20 a year Offenders who were unable to pay were to have all their goods and 2/3 of their land confiscated by the state When there was no livestock, houses were stripped of bed linen, blankets, provisions, and window glass. RAIDS It was high treason for a Jesuit or priest to be in the Queen’s dominion and a felony for any layperson to receive or help them Catholic households were subject to raids in order to stop secret masses, which often meant that the searchers would tear up floor boards, knock down walls, and rooms ransacked. Households had to not only defray these costs, but pay the raiders for their time TORTURE From 1585 until the defeat of the Spanish Armanda, the Queen’s Council would periodically issue massacre decrees that would determine certain nights for the killing of known Catholic families New prisons were created and filled with Catholics, where many prisoners were victimized through starvation, sleep deprivation, disjointed on the rack, crushed into balls by machinery, hung from their wrists, and publicly disemboweled METAPHYSICAL POETRY Considered the Father of Metaphysical poetry. Named by Samuel Johnson, who said that the Metaphysical poets “were men of learning, and to show their learning was their whole endeavor” Influenced by the experimentation of other contemporary poets who were striking out against a tradition of highly stylized poetic clichés, like Petrarchan conventions Focused on poetry of courtly love, based on literary texts and consisted of poetry written for and to the aristocracy Often depicted the relationship between a knight and his lady—knight is devoted and faithful to the lady and undertakes endless pursuits of danger and adventure to prove his love for her RELIGIOUS OVERTONES Believed the body and soul were distinct entities The present life should be one of self-denial The everlasting peace of the soul in the next world would compensate for the renunciation of passion and sexuality As beautiful as heaven promised to be, frightening images of hell were also included as warning Sought to establish a way to inseparably unite the body and soul in the world; strenuously affirmed human sexuality as a way to achieve spirituality Donne challenged the ideas of decorum during his time in order to use bold and often incongruous imagery in order to find new ways to perceive reality and the spiritual nature of secular existence LITERARY ELEMENTS Used ordinary speech mixed with puns, paradoxes, and conceits Conceit: a paradoxical metaphor causing a shock to the reader by the strangeness of the objects compared; lovers and a compass, the soul and timber, the body and mind, etc. The exaltation of wit, which in the 17 th century meant a nimbleness of thought A sense of fancy—imagination of a fantastic or whimsical nature Originality in figures of speech, but including abstruse terminology drawn from science or law Poems are often presented in the form of an argument THE HOLY SONNETS A.K.A.- The Divine Meditations or Divine Sonnets Series of 19 poems never published during Donne’s lifetime Most of them are written in the Petrarchan sonnet form, rather than the Shakespearean Composed between 1609 and 1610 Reflect Donne’s emotional and spiritual turmoil over joining the Anglican church and the daily struggles of his financial and physical hardships Famous for their themes of his faith in God and in women ROMANCE Based on the Neo-Platonic idea of lovers’ souls communing when they are in love Donne tries to show the psychological realism when describing the tensions of love Embraces sexuality, but discusses it in terms of the mystical union of souls as they are directed toward an ideal end Platonic love also means a love that transcends sexual desire and attains spiritual heights, like in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King Poems show a profound anxiety about the permanence of human affection and his ability to merit affection Often his issues with abandoning the Catholic church and his faith are intertwined with his descriptions of love STYLE Argumentative structure: the poem often engages in a debate or persuasive presentation—intellectual exercise, not just emotional effusion Dramatic and colloquial mode of utterance: often describe dramatic events as opposed to being a reverie, a thought, or contemplation Diction is usually simple and direct; inversion is limited. Usually rough, like speech, rather than written in perfect meter, resulting in the dominance of thought over form Acute realism: poem often reveals a psychological analysis, images advance the argument rather than being ornamental Analogies are drawn form a variety of fields: science, mechanics, housekeeping, business, astronomy, etc. .