Hudibras and Its Literary Context
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Hadibrag and its Literary Context by John Donovir, M.A. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the derree of Ph.D. in the nrlYerpity of Birmingham. July 1972 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. This digital copy was scanned from the original thesis typescript, and reflects the print quality of the original. The thesis is approximately 60,000 words in length and is divided into three parts. Bart I (Chapters 1-4) deals with Hudibras in relation to seTenteenth century literary traditions. Chapter 1 introduces the poem and its author, places Hudibras within its ioosdiate historical context, describes its popularity, and states the problem of determining its genre; several possible solutions to the problem are considered, notably those of seventeenth and eighteenth century writare; "mock-heroio" IB defined and adopted. Chapter 2 is a survey: it begins by citing two adverse modern criticisms of Butler*s nethod of ridiculing his principal character, and then sets out to test the justness of them. A number of romances popular in the seventeenth century are described; criticism of them is considered; and several satirical and burlesque works using romantic characters, motifs, and plots are analyzed* Chapter 3 places Hudibras with respect to the works and attitudes described in the previous chapter* The generating circumstances of the first p-rt of the poem are considered in the light of Sutler's presentation of them as a romance; Hudibras and Halpho are examined in relation to other mock-knights and s.uires, especially Don .uiiote and Sancho Banza, and 3raggadoehio and Trompart. Chapter 4 treats Hudibras in connexion with the seventeenth century tradition of classical burlesque, analyzes Butler*s treatment of classical themes and characters for the purpose of satire, -nd in an extended comparison between Hudibras and Gondibert examines Jutler's criticism of the heroic idaala of lora and military valour* Part II (Chapters 5 and a) eoapriaee atudiea of several elementa of Butler's literary oathod in Rudibras. Chapter 5 analyzes Butler* a uaa of metaphor and of dramatic argument as eatirlaal techniques* Chapter 6 traata tha nock-speeches (111,11) and the burlesque heroieal epiatlas, aa noil aa tha aarratiTa »thod of Hudlbra*. a&d tba deTiaa of tha comlo narrator* Fart III aoaaiata of thraa appandioaa. Appaadlac A daali with tlui queatlon of tha identity of tha <UMt Country knight» upon ^om Bat lor aaya that ha bagad tha aharactar of HUdibraa. Tho arida&ea la favour of Sir Sawiel Luka aad Sir Hanry Roaavall ia aad Sir Saau»l Hollo ia prtaantad aa tha mat likaly 'origiaal' of Hbdibraa* A aartaia avmat of aridnoa ia hia favour ia giran for tht firat tint ia thia appamdix. Appandix B aritiaizaa tha idantifiaation of Kalpho ia tha *Kay to Btodihraa* (1715), praaaatiag for th» first tint the aouraa from whioh tha author of tha *Keyf draw tha portrait of * laaae Robiaaoa,' tha raaa upon whoa (ha alaiaa) Butler based hla characterization of Ralpho, Appendix 0 criticize* tha attribution t» Butler (aurraatly aaaaptad) of ifiereuriue Menippeue. a political pamphlet firat jmbliehed in 1680 aad containing a paaaaga of invective agaiaat Sir Samuel Luke. It ia argaed that tha attribution ia virtually without foundation. jo •08 jo WffiSIIQO 1. CHAPTER 1 WHAT KIND OF A POEM IS HUDIBRAS? Butler was ... admirable in a Manner in which no one else has been tolerable: A Manner which began and ended in him; in which he knew no Guide, and has found no Followers. John Dennis Hudibras, then, may truly be said to be the first and last satire of the kind ... Reverend T.R. Nash Hudibras, a poem of eleven thousand five hundred and four octosyllabic lines, divided into three parts and each part into three cantos, was published over a period of fifteen years: Part I in 1662, Part II in 1663, and Part III in 1677. 4 The three parts form a continuous narrative of the adventures of Sir Hudibras, a Presbyterian Justice of the Peace, and his squire Ralpho, an Independent tailor, in the course of which the hypocrisy, pedantry, and self- interest of the knight and the enthusiasm, ignorance, and disloyalty of the squire are revealed. These adventures may be divided into six principal episodes: their encounter with a mob of bear-baiters; their rescue from gaol by a widow; their rout by a group of revellers; their visit to a charlatan astrologer; their second meeting with the widow; and their consultation with a lawyer. Sach episode is fully developed and distinguished from the others, though as a whole the poem is brought to no logical conclusion. These events take up all of Parts I and II, and the first 2. and third cantos of Part III. The second canto of Part III, the longest one of the poem, has nothing to do with the main narrative, "but is Butler's grotesque fantasy on the political events of 1658 and 1659. Besides the nine cantos, there are three 'Heroical Epistles, 1 one from Hudibras to Sidrophel the astrologer; one from Hudibras to the widow; and her reply to him. The first, though it belongs at the end of Part II, did not appear until the 1674 edition of Parts I and II; the second and third, coming at the end of Part III, were printed with the first edition of that part in 1677. Counting the short verse 'arguments 1 at the beginning of each canto, Hudibras con tains nine hundred and thirty-nine more lines than Paradise Lost; though allowing for its shorter octosyllabic metre, Butler's poem has about nine-tenths the number of words of Milton's. Though it is almost exclusively the basis of Butler's literary reputation, Hudibras represents in number of words less than one-fifth of his work. The rest is an assort ment of pieces, none of them very long, the most sustained effort being a group of one hundred and seventy-seven prose 'Characters.' There are about two dozen miscellaneous poems satirical, for the most part in a variety of metres, treating both general and occasional themes, as well as two translations, a prologue and an epilogue to a play, and hundreds of lines of verse fragments of different sorts. In prose, besides the'Characters,' there are several pam phlets, most of them upon political subjects, and a collect ion of more or less desultory notes and observations of a philosophical kind. Almost all these pieces were written after Parts I and II of Hudibras, and the greater part were not published until the middle of the eighteenth century.2 Hudibraa was a popular poem from its publication until the author's death in 1680, especially during the two years 3. 1663-64. Nine editions of Part I, four of them unauthor ised! were published in the first year. Only two editions of Part II appeared in 1663; though this was partly because four editions of a spurious poem entitled Hudibras; the Seoond Part had stolen a march upon the genuine article. There was an .edition of Parts I and II in one volume with reTisions and annotations by the author in 1674 and another in 1678; and between 1677 and 1680 there were four editions of Part III. There is ample contemporary testimony to the popularity of Hudibras as well. In February 1663, Pepys described it as 'that which all the world cries up to be the example of wit*; in March it was, according to Richard Oxenden, 'ye most admired peece of Drollary y^ ever came forth.'3 in November it was still, according to Pepys, the book 'which the world cry so mightily up, 1 and in December he says that Parts I and II are 'now in the greatest fashion for drollery.'4 According to Antony a Wood it was read by King* courtiers, scholars, and gentlemen, and the poet himself claimed for his work the approbation of 'ye King & ye best of his Subjects.'5 The fame that Butler achieved through Hudibras came to him relatively late in life. Born in the parish of Strensham in Worcestershire, where he was baptised on 8 February 1613, he died in London on 25 September 1680; and was therefore of the same generation as Milton, Cowley, Lovelace, Denham, Waller, John Cleveland, and Sir Roger L 1 Estrange. Butler earned his living mainly as a clerk or secretary, first, apparently, to a Worcestershire Justice of the peace, either Leonard or Thomas Jeffrey; and later in Bedfordshire to the dowager Countess of Kent, the patron ess of John Selden. Here, according to Aubrey, he studied and cultivated skills in painting, drawing, and music. After the Restoration Butler became steward to Richard Vaughan, Earl of Carbery, at Ludlow Castle, a post he held 4. until January 1662. In 1670 he accompanied the Duke of Buckingham to Versailles on a mission of negotiation with Louis XIV; and in June of 1673 was secretary for the Duke's affairs in his capacity as Chancellor of the Uni versity of Cambridge. A gift of £100 and an annual grant of the same amount was awarded to him in November, 1677; and in the year of his death he received another royal gift, this time of £20.