INTRODUCTION
We have designed this unit to introduce you to another interesting aspect of English Literature in the Renaissance, specifically highlighting the roles of some of those who were not scientists or inventors but whose contributions to the promotion of Arts of the period were indispensable, especially Queen Elizabeth 1.
In this unit, we have also accommodated the nature of the growth and development of the English theatres/performances. We have also introduced you to the literary activities of Christopher Marlowe and some major female literary figures of the English Renaissance, so as to provide another view of Renaissance literature. With such addition, when you discuss English Renaissance Literature, you will no longer see women as non-participants in the literary world, but as active contributors to the English Renaissance civilisation.
3.1 ELIZABETH 1, THE QUINTESSENTIAL ARTS PROMOTER
The activities and contributions of Queen Elizabeth 1 quite impressively spanned culture, the English economy and politics. But she is even better remembered for her contributions to the arts and literature across the genres of poetry and drama.
More importantly, she served as a patron to the playwrights of her time including the famous English playwrights, William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. The historical plays of Shakespeare were pro-Tudor, and were used as propaganda to further legitimise the Lancastrian and Tudorian rights to the throne from Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty who claimed and justified their legitimacy to the English throne by claiming relative ascendancy to the 15th century king of Lancaster.
Indeed, works of literature flourished greatly in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. Her contributions in this respect inspired every literary writer of her time including poets like Edmund Spenser. She also encouraged scientists like Francis Bacon. Her selfless contributions contributed greatly to the appropriate naming of her time as the „Elizabethan Age‟, a form of mini renaissance, as a leading patron of drama and the stage. Her sincere and unparalleled contributions to literature made poets and playwrights to create works, particularly poetry to immortalise her achievements in glowing multiple terms.
It was her love for literature, especially drama and theatre that prevented the laws from executing the orders of the Mayor of London that the city theatres of London in the 1580 should be closed for immoral reasons. Crowded theatres were only shut down to prevent a further spread of the London epidemic. The Privy Council had respect for her love for the theatre and literature. A friend of the stage, she allowed performances in her palace; for instance, in 1562, the blank verse play, Gorboduc, was performed in her palace to entertain her. In 1595, Shakespeare‟s A Midsummer’s Night Dream was performed at Greenwich during the marriage ceremony of Burleigh‟s granddaughter. The play referenced the Queen and her court. Indeed, that she became identified with plays of her time gave theatrical practitioners recognisable, elevated social status in the English society of her time.
The elevated status accorded drama and theatres of her time informed integration/inclusion of plays (English and Latin into school curriculum). For instance, in the 1570s and 1580s exclusive boys ‟ schools began the tradition of school plays, and the Queen had been part of the willing audience. Even in 1575 when Essex went on political tour of Ireland at Christmas time, Elizabeth was audience to Shakespeare‟s Twelfth Night.
Queen Elizabeth‟s love for the arts is never in doubt as she was reputed to be an excellent dancer and musician who entertained some of her close associates in a manner reminiscent of any professional musician of her age. The envy from Queen Mary of Scotland had testified to the unequalled excellence of the English Queen in songs and dance.
Based on the contributions of Queen Elizabeth to literature, we may argue that the Renaissance owe so much to the Queen for her interest in poetry, drama, theatre and the arts generally.
3.2 FROM CHURCH TO COURT: ENGLISH PUBLIC THEATRES AND PERFORMANCES
The English Renaissance theatre (1562 and 1642) began as church performance at the Inner Temple to celebrate the Christmas season, using blank verse, beginning with the Gorboduc, the first English play in 1561, at a time that the English Parliament banned plays in the theatres.
In a more strict sense of applicability or reference, the English Renaissance theatre encompasses the period between 1562 and 1642; while the Elizabethan theatre applies to 1603. We may argue that the English Renaissance theatre comprises Jacobean theatre (1603 to 1625) and Caroline theatre (1625 to 1642). The socio-economic and political periods of Queen Elizabeth 1 gave a new social outlook to the English theatre as plays moved into the Court, public play houses were opened and private theatres emerged. There was a positive change to going to theatres, as members of the upper class became more interested and even served as audience in public theatres.
Public theatrical practitioners toured Germany, Denmark, and London and performed before permanent English theatres (The Lion began in 1567). At last, drama ceased to be transitory when the permanent theatre came into operation. Public theatres were three stories high, built with open space at the centre. It was usually polygonal in nature, but the Red Bull and the First Fortune were square. The three levels of inward-facing galleries overlooked the open centre into which jolted the stage (a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience, with the rear restricted for the entrances and exits of the actors.
The upper level behind the stage served as a balcony from which an actor could view the audience during such plays like Shakespeare‟s Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet. The structures were made of timber, lath, plaster and thatched roofs. The disadvantage of the material compositions of the structures was its vulnerability to fire. For instance, the Globe and Fortune theatres were gutted by fire in June 1613 and December 1621 respectively. They were later rebuilt with brick, but this changed their former squire structures.
Public theatres were usually overpopulated during summer; the poorest citizens paid less (a penny) to be admitted into the theatre in 1640 while tickets into private theatres were often five or six times higher. In retrospect, the plays of the period were in the genres of history: A Larum for London dramatizes the sack of Antwerp in 1576; lives of kings such as in Shakespeare‟s Richard III, Henry V, Marlowe ‟s Edward II, George Peele‟s Edward the First. Christopher Marlowe‟s tragedies popularised the genre. Examples are Doctor Faustus and the Jew of Malta.
Shakespeare‟s Macbeth, Hamlet and Othello are part of the tragedies of the period. The common comedies of the period reflect life in the city of London, like Thomas Dekker‟s The Shoemakers Holiday and Thomas Middleton‟s A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. The 1608 witnessed the less used pastoral genres like The Faithful Shepherds and morality plays like Four Plays in One in 1608 – 1613. The tragic-comedy and masque of the period were on the reigns of the first two Stuart Kings, James 1 and Charles 1.
However, only a few of the plays which coloured the Renaissance theatre were printed; a total of 600 plays were published in the period but mostly in individual quarto editions. Those of William Shakespeare, Ben Johnson, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher; though late and limited, were printed in large numbers. Plays of the period survived in the form of manuscripts.
In terms of performances, acting companies of the period operated on a repertory system. This system was different from that of the modern theatre that could run production for days, months or throughout the year. For example, Thomas Middleton‟s A Game at Chess was performed for nine months in 1624 before it was banned by the authorities because of its political content.
Only men featured in performances, though adolescent boys could act as female characters in women‟s costume, as the latter were excluded from stage acting. Men from modest backgrounds wrote plays meant for the stage; some of them were graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, but many were self made. Shakespeare and Ben Johnson were actors but seem to have no performers. Christopher Marlowe died fighting in a tavern while Ben Johnson killed an actor in a duel. Playwrights were paid moderately, but often lost their copyrights to the company that buys it off the playwright. For instance, in the 1630s, Richard Brome agreed with the Salisbury Court Theatre to write three plays a year, but could not meet the requirements..
3.3 SIGNS OF THE TIME: CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE’S DOCTOR FAUSTUS
Christopher Marlowe‟s Doctor Faustus discusses a German scholar, Faustus, at Wittenberg who is versed in knowledge, yet in search of the limits or ends of human knowledge. Haunted by the endless desirability for knowledge, he turns to the attainment of magic as an end to human wisdom. In response to Faustus ‟ will and desirability, an evil angel arrives to represent the choice of evil, juxtaposed with Doctor Faustus ‟ existing knowledge of Christianity. The protagonist‟s dilemma to tread the path of external damnation and of God became apparent in the conflicting desires that jostled for attention in his conscience. The play reveals the quiet conscience of Doctor Faustus in conflict with itself while in his study:
Faustus
Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin
To sound the depth of that thou will profess:
Having commence‟dbe a divine in show,
Yet level at the end of every art,
And live and die in Aristotles works
Sweet Analytiscs „tis thou hastravish‟dme!
Bene disserere est, „tis finislogices
Is to dispute well logic‟s chiefest end?
Affords this art no greater miracle?
Then read no more, thou hast attain‟dthat end;
A greater subject fitteth Faustus wit
Bid on Kal me on farewell, Galen come,
Be a physician, Faustus, heap up gold,
And be eterniz‟d for some wondrous cure
The end of physic is our body‟s health
Why Faustus, hast thou not attain‟d that end?
Is not they common talk sound aphorisms?
Are not thy bills hung up as monuments
Whereby whole cities have escap‟dthe plague
And thousand desperate maladies been cur‟d?
Yet are thou still but Faustus, and aman
Couldst thou make men to live eternally
Or being dead raise them to life again
Then this profession were to be esteem‟d
Physic, farewell! Where is Justinian?
A petty case of paltry legacies
Such is the subject of the Institute
And universal body of the law.
This study fits a mercenary drudge
Who aims at nothing but external trash
Too servile and Liberal forme
When all is done, divinity is best
Jerome‟s Bible, Faustus, view it well
Ha! The Reward of sin is death: that‟s a hard
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
Ourselves, and there‟s notruth in us
Why, be like we must sin, and so
Consequently die
Ay, we must die an everlasting death
What doctrine can you this?
What will be shall be! Divinity, adieu!
These metaphysics of magicians
And necromantic books are heavenly;
Lines, circles, letters and characters:
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires
O, what aworld of profit and delight
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence
Is promis‟d to the studious artisan!
All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command: emperors and kings
Are but obey‟d in their several provinces
Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds;
But, his dominion that exceeds in this
Stretching as far as doth the mind of man:
A sound magician is a demi-god:
Here tire,my brains, to get a deity?
(pp. 7 – 9).
Faustus ‟ Christian conscience advises him against the choice of magic, but the devil tempts him with the power, strength, and the enviable mysteries that could be his should he accept it. He imagines the height of greatness he would attain when he acquires the power of magic. Then he decided to listen to the evil angel, Mephistopheles, who represents Lucifer. He agrees to Lucifer‟s proposal, and the terms of agreement was that Doctor Faustus will acquire the black arts in exchange for his soul for twenty four years. He will have to submit to every command of the devil during this period.
The agreement was sealed, and as he signs off his soul to the devil, the Latin words “Homo Fuge” which means „O Man, flee!‟ appears on his arm and he is afraid. Mephistopheles rejoices, and sealed off the blood covenant with the dance of the devil. Faustus asks for a wife, but Mephistopheles gives him books of knowledge. After some time, Faustus regrets his agreement with the devil and curses Mephistopheles for depriving him of heaven. He manages to fight back, and torments the devil with a mention of the name, God, to scare him off. The Angels of good and evil reappear. The good Angel advises him to repent while the evil Angel admonishes him to continue in his cruel ways. At last, Lucifer promises to show Faustus what Hell looks like, and at the same time, the clown, Robin, has one of Faustus ‟ magic books. With the aid of a chariot drawn by dragons, Faustus flies to Rome to attend the feast in honour of St. Peter.
Back home, Faustus ‟ mysterious knowledge of astronomy made him extremely famous. He continues to command respect everywhere with his magic; in the court of Charles V, he gains the favour of the emperor by humiliating Benvolio, a Knight. As Faustus ‟ twenty-four years burns out, he feasted and drank with his students as death approaches. Faustus impresses his friends and fellow scholars with a spirit he invites to assume the shape of Helen of Troy. Shortly after, an old man came in and warned Faustus to repent, but Faustus prefers to enjoy, and summons Mephistopheles to let him have Helen of Troy as his love, to give him the desirable comfort as the end time of his life gets near. He agrees.
Faustus eventually confesses to his scholar friends that he exchanged his soul for his power. His friends left him to the consequences of his action. The irony is that Mephistopheles taunts Faustus as the hour of death approaches, while Faustus blames the devil for his misfortunate. The good and evil Angels arrive, and he is abandoned by the good Angel. The gate of Hell opens, the devil ridicules Faustus, revealing the numerous torture that characterise Hell. As the clock ticks eleven, Faustus ‟ time ends, he gives a monologue, and regrets his decision. The devil arrives at midnight and drags him away, while Faustus begs God and the devil for mercy. His friends later found his body torn to shreds.
Epilogue – The chorus recalls the end of Faustus, a great man of wisdom, and urges humanity not to forget the lessons it offers.
Major Themes
I. The Vanity of Human Wishes - This is an overriding theme of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Faustus, a knowledgeable scholar, is suddenly consumed by the desire for power and fame.
II. Conflict between Classical and Renaissance Civilisation - The Greeks and Renaissance world view are in clear conflict in Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Christian world view and mysticism and magic in Medieval as well as Renaissance Europe are the core of the conflict in the play. People’s contact with other powers, including magic, at the expense of other things of nature, redefines humanity. Christian view of life preaches an individual’s subjection to a higher divinity, God, while the Greek philosophy equates humanity with god, or God, and consciously defines his authority. Thus, Doctor Faustus abandons the Christian conception of life, prefers godly or god-like status; the burden of a mystery that is attached to such desires wrecked him.
III. Pride and Disobedience - It is pride that makes many forget the reason why Satan was thrown out of Heaven, and why Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden. It was pride that generated limitless levels of desirability and over ambitiousness in Faustus. Even when the Angels of good and evil competed for his conscience, the former advises him to repent, but Faustus ignored Christian ethics, the path of Heaven, for eternal damnation. At last, God ignored his plea for mercy, as written in the book of Proverbs, Chapter 1 verses 25– 28:
But ye have set at nought all my counsel
and would none of my reproof. I also will
laugh at your calamity; I will mock when
your fear cometh… then shall they call
upon me, but I will not answer, they shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me
IV. Human Beings’ Narrow View of Life - Before he gave his life to magic, Faustus bothered his conscience about the aesthetic and limitless use to which he will channel his magic once acquired. This reflects in his opening speech in the play. But, immediately, he seals a deal with Satan, giving away his soul to eternal damnation, he became extravagant, excessive and wilful, to his own detriment.
V. Reality of Eternity and Damnation of Hell - Doctor Faustus has agreed to give his soul to Mephistopheles, and the latter has also given him the magical power he desired. Even with that, God still left the option of repentance open to him, asking and pleading with Faustus to repent. This condition suggests that the divine ethics of Christianity admits a repented soul, no matter the weight and burden of sin; s/he only needs to confess his/her sins in sincere sobriety, to earn God’s mercy and forgiveness. In the case of Faustus, he could not repent till he died; unfortunately, God does not give room to repentance after death. Hence, Faustus took all the knowledge he acquired to Hell.
VI. Renaissance Age of Deadly Aspiration - Learning in all areas of knowledge reached its height in the age of Renaissance. The domineering and reckless search for fame, power and knowledge generally by people is not usually without its price. Faustus rose from his acquired force of knowledge, in search of a much higher power, obviously with which he could manipulate, change the existing order of things and dominate. This desire mirrors the emergence of the rebirth of knowledge in Renaissance Europe, which began in Italy in the late fourteenth century and spread through Western Europe.
Language and Style
The plays of the Renaissance composed in verse are meant to be spoken on stage to the audience. The purpose is to inspire the audience with the use of words and make the story life like. In the process of narration, the characters voice their thoughts aloud to the audience using asides and soliloquies, often rich in figurative use. The chorus plays a vital role in presenting the action and climax of the story; sometimes, the story is narrated in chorus. The language of Christopher Marlowe is not different from that of William Shakespeare in his plays. The similarity reflects versification, the use of the language of poetry in their plays.
The strength of the language of the playwright is the visual effect that the conversational use of language creates in every part of the play. The extract below is a versification of the desirability of the limitless ambition of Doctor Faustus:
Be a physician, Faustus, heap up gold,
And be elernic‟d for some wonderous core.
The end of physic is our body‟s health
Why, Faustus hast thou not attain‟d that end?
Is not thy common talk sound aphorisms?
Are not thy bills hung up as monuments
Whereby whole cities have escap‟dthe plague
A thousand desperate maladies been cur‟d?
Yet art thou still but Faustus, and aman
Couldst thou make men to live eternally
Or being dead raise them to life again
Then this profession were to be esteem‟d,
Physics, farewell! Where is Justinian
(p. 7)
In order to explain the similarity of the stylistic versification common in the age of both English playwrights, Shakespeare and Marlowe, we present an extract from Shakespeare‟s The Merchant of Venice:
Tarry Jew
The law hath yet another hold on you
It is enacted in the laws of Venice.
If it be proved against an alien
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seeks the life of any citizen.
The party against the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one half his goods; the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the State
And the offender‟s life lies in the mercy
Of the Duke only „against all other voice
In which predicament I say thou stand‟st,
For it appears by manifest proceeding.
(pp. 189 – 191).
While we share from the vision which Marlowe has created for his character, Faustus, we are similarly taken in by the imagistic conception of what will become of Antonio, should Shylock insist and should the court give a judgment in the latter‟s favour. The poetic use of language in the plays are characterised by
the use of imagery which enriches ordinary statements. The language of poetry beautifies and elevates the different subjects treated in Christopher Marlowe‟s Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare‟s The Merchant of Venice. In both plays, the sentences are deliberately rendered in short and sharp lines, sometimes in phrases, and hanging forms, leaving the reader to the task of completion, especially in Marlowe‟s code mixing with Latin, in almost all the verses of rendition. Poetic language makes the characters in the plays speak more effectively, thus achieving precision and meaningfulness than prose would do.
3.3.1 ISABELLA WHITNEY’S WILLAND TESTAMENT
The poem discusses the theme of the inevitability of death and joyful departure both from London and from this world. In her nostalgic reminiscences, the poet announces to her only son that the time has come for her to die, leave her son as well her cherished city of London where she was nursed from childhood to adulthood. “The time is come I must depart from thee, ah, famous citie”! Although the poet did not give us her son‟s name, but we know him to a trusted, faithful, and compassionate child; and the poet nursed no fear to give her handwritten will to her son. She finds it difficult to depart from her only son, but she includes in her Will a long list of advice which ranges from how to cope with women, friends, neighbours and live a disciplined and successful life. She warns him never to harbour malice, acrimony or nurse a grudge against anyone who may show dislike to her.
She explains:
…did hide that thou hadstpitie,
I neveryet, to true my smart,
did findethat thou hadstpitie,
wherefore small cause ther is, that I
should greeve from thee to go:
But many women foolyshy,
Lyke me and other moe.
Doe such a fyxed fancy get
on those which least deserve.
The poet reveals that many of her fellow women liked her, while some mocked her, but her boy should still admire her and let them pass by unnoticed “fyxed fancy set on those which least deserve” . She admits that time is the sole determinant and judge in her own case, as it will in the case of every one. She believes in the healing power of time. This handwritten will of hers stands as a testimony of the life she had lived; especially her relationship with close associates, including the life of charity that she lived “in perfect love and chartie. My testament here write”. She admonishes her son not to depart from the path of faithfulness, trust and discipline as exemplified by the type of life she lived. She insists, “ … I leave to thee such Treasurge as I in it recite” .
The first part of the poem begins with the poet‟s advice to her nameless son in the poem. In the second part, she requests her son to permit her to write her will – “Now stand aside and geve my leave to write my latest Wyll.”
The poet assures her son that she is … “whole in body, and in minde, but very weake in purse”. The poet testifies to her faithfulness, but decides to write her will for fear that she might not slip into a worst form of poverty: “dou make, and write my Testament, for feare it wyll be worse”. She “commends” her soul and body to God, relying greatly on her poetry “hymn”, but her body essentially to the “grave”, till the Day of Judgment when her soul and body will be united eternally “dwell for aye in ioye”. Isabella Whitney requests to “…dispose such things, as I shall leave behind”, so that those she will leave behind when she dies will understand her disposition to them all. She is haunted by the nostalgia to leave London where she grew up. She recalls the “buildings”, “churches store”; the stores that littered the streets of London.
She recalls the deeply satisfying life provided by the London “street”, “Nets of every kind of sort” the “French Rulfes”, “high purles”, “Gorgets and sleeves”, every kind of “Lawne”, “knives”, “knives”, for combe or “Glasse”. Every store owned by the poet are willed to her son, some of which include the ones in Birchin Lane; some of the stores are “show or pantables good store”, “Beds”, “body makers bee”, “Artyleery at Temple Bar”, “Dagges at Tower hyll”. Some of her other properties are to be shared among “folke” already named in the poem, such as Saint Martins, “Cornwall”, “Bodymakers bee”, “Artyllery” at Temple Bar, and Paul will inherit the “Brace buildyings”. Thames shall have the “Brewers store” and “Bakers at your wyll”, “eat fish thrice a weeke”. The poet‟s two streets, “watly ng streete, and canwyck street”, of wollen leave” and Linnen streete”, are also willed to her son. She tells him that she has left him so much, much than expected,
…in many places, shops are full
I left you nothing scant.
The poet has numerous stores at Mint Street “it is impossible to tell it”. There are stores of wine at “Stiliarde”. She did not provide only for her son and family members or neighbours; her charity also extends to the poor and needy, motherless and prisoners. She says:
And that the poore, when I am gone,
have cause forme to pray
I wyll to prison portions leave
what though but very small
Yet that they may remember me,
occasion be it shall.
For those imprisoned, the poet is of the opinion that they deserve fair treatment, irrespective of whether they are on death roll or will soon regain their freedom. She is determined never to grieve or make any one sorrowful by her actions in life. She chooses to fulfill her Christian duty of reparation rather than die in debt or “some Bankrupts”. Isabella Whitney confesses her love for the “Arte” of the “Bookbinders of Paulles”. She advocates that “wealthy widdowes” should be courteous to gentlemen, “Gentylmen” .
Obviously a writer, she vows that every week, her printer shall have money from the proceeds of her books sold on her behalf, “They e‟ry weeke shal mony have, when they from Bakes departe.” Poor maidens too will get their own share. Whitney remembers her parents who live in Smithfeelde who deserve to “have a Hose and neat good store thrice a week”. She permits the “blynd and lame” a fair amount of her properties also. The beautiful memory of London re-echoes in the mind of the poet, as she adds to the fine list of the things she leaves behind for her nameless son.
She describes herself as a woman of conscience, the conscience that will be buried with her “when I am gon, with conscience… nothing named have, to buy me with all”. As she continues to explain how she should like to buried, she says none of the material wealth mentioned on the page of her Will will accompany her to her grave, except her conscience. She pleads with the living, including her son, to cover her grave with “shrowding sheete” .
And let me have a shrowding sheete
to cover mee from shame
And in obliuyon bury mee
and nevermore mee name.
Isabella Whitney rejects other forms of ceremonies and expenses that may be organised in her favour when she dies. She believes that such expenses are not necessary but mere losses:
Ringings nor other ceremonies,
Use you not for cost:
Nor at my burial, makeno feast
Your mony were but lost
Reioyce in God that I am gon,
Out of this vale so vile
Instead of engaging in wasteful and meaningless spending, the poet warns that the living should thank God that she departs from this restless and sickly world.
She concludes that her son must be patriotic to the “good London of her dream” . But to everyone who may ask how she spent her days, her son should be courageous to reply them accordingly. She commends him to advise them against mourning her, and instead correct her errors while she is alive:
And unto all that wysh mee well,
or me that I am gon
Doo me commend, and bid them cease
my absence for tomone
And tell them further, if they wolde
my presence styll have had
They should have sought to men my luck;
whichever was too bad.
Our poet prays that the Almighty God protects her son from enemies:
God sheelde thee from they foe
And styll make thee victorious
of those that seeke thy woe
And (though I am perswade) that I
shall never move thee see
Yet to the last, I shall not cease
to wish much good to thee.
She regrets her inevitable departure but vows to continually wish her son the best in his activities in life. She ended and signed her Will in London on 20th October AD 1073 in the presence of unidentified witnesses who are the poet‟s “nearer kyn”, who will make themselves known to the poet‟s son only when any possible change both in the poet‟s will or the inevitable should occur, but there is not likely to be any change.
“ So finally I make an end”, thus the poet ends the poem on a note of the inevitable end of every one.
3.3.2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SLAVERY: A DISCUSSION OF APHRA BEHN’S OROONOKO
Oroonoko, set in the northern coast of South America, discusses the tragedy of an African prince, Oroonoko and his wife, Imoinda who were captured by the British, enslaved and taken to Surinam as slaves. The story took place in the 1640s, just before the English surrendered the colony to the Dutch.
An Unidentified Female Narrator Tells the Story
The narrator lives in Parham plantation, waiting to be transported to England. She is the daughter of the new deputy Governor who died during the family‟s voyage to take up the new appointment. While she was waiting, she met and befriended Prince Oroonoko and his wife, Imoinda.
The narrator had taken us literarily through the Island before she begins to introduce the principal characters. We are taken through the Island‟s colony, and introduced to its inhabitants, including variegated feathered birds and insects, the anthropological accounts of the natives who were co-traders with the British, the innocence of the natives, comparable to that of the biblical Adam and Eve.
At first, the British lived happily with the natives whom they could not enslave as a result of their tick population; the British decided to look elsewhere, probably to Africa for slaves who will work in the sugarcane plantations.
The narrator then decides to take a cursory look at the West Coast of Africa, precisely Coramantien, Ghana. Oroonoko is about to meet Imoinda, the daughter of the general who has just died trying to save Oroonoko‟s life. Simultaneously, the King of Coramantien, the grandfather of Oroonoko, has also fallen in love with the beautiful girl. The 100 years old man has sent the royal veil to the girl, and by the dictate of tradition, no lady rejects the King‟s veil, hence Imoinda could not reject it; she must marry the King, and live the rest of her life in the King‟s Seraglio. When the king noticed the affection between his youngest wife, Imondia, and his grandson, he decided to nip it in the bud.
The King lied to Oroonoko that he has killed Imondia, whereas, she has been sold to slavery. The British colonialists arrive at Coramantien to trade for the captives of war. The Captain invites Prince Oroonoko and his friends as guests in his vessel but they were enslaved. When Oroonoko and his friends refused to eat, he promised them their freedom, but failed to fulfill his promise when the ship arrived at Surinan. Oroonoko is sold to the humorous but ill-mannered Overseer of Parham Plantation, Tefry, who became his friend. He meets the narrator, who assures him that he and his friends will be freed when the Lord, Governor Willoughby, gets to Surinam.
Oroonoko is never overlaboured, but kept away from other slaves in the plantation house. His unique physical appearance, education and impressive social status earned him preferential treatment among other slaves. One day, as he took a walk in the plantation, he runs into Imoinda. Both embraced y joyfully and married shortly after. Imoinda becomes pregnant. Oroonoko expects the child to be born, but not into slavery, hence, he grew more concerned about his status as a slave despite the promise of freedom by the narrator and Trefry. They attempt to occupy Oroonoko with hunting, fishing and a visit to a nearby village. At last, Oroonoko instigated a revolt among the slaves in the surrounding plantations. They took advantage of the drunken white slave masters and escaped on a Sunday night. The slaves took a bush path after they had set the bush on fire to create a path or an escape route. They had a plan to form a new community by the sea shore where they could find a ship to Africa. The narrator is absent temporarily as he escapes to safety.
The deputy governor, Byam, assures Oroonoko that he will also free his family members and return them to Africa if he agrees to surrender. Oroonoko surrenders to the shocking reality that Byam has lied to him once more. The deputy governor ensures that he is whipped and pepper poured into the wounds he sustained from the lashes. It dawns on Oroonoko that he may never be freed and that his child may be born into slavery. He tells Imoinda his intention to kill her honourably, avenge Byam‟s treacherous lies and the mistreatments he received from him. He also informs his wife that he will also kill himself at last. Imoinda thanks Oroonoko for a promise of a honourable death. He then cuts her throat, removes her face with his knife. At last, Oroonoko suffers depression, and lost the courage and energy to pursue Byam. The offensive odour from the corpse attracts the deputy governor‟s men to the site and they made to kill him. The strong willed Oroonoko stands smoking his pipe, while the white men chop off his nose, ears and legstill he falls down and died.
Themes in Oroonoko
The crafty nature of colonialists and colonial enterprise – The British slave merchants are portrayed as dishonest, crafty, queer and unpredictable. They pretend to befriend Oroonoko, but turned treacherous liars. Byam lies to him twice, that he will free and return him to Africa. British slave trading merchants sell him to Trefry. The Deputy Governor of Sunnam who had also repeatedly assured Oroonoko of his freedom and disappointed him, had pretended to be his friend. At last, Byam declared Oroonoko a traitor, hunted him down and killed him violently. The crafty nature and unreliability of British slave merchants in the text gets clearer when Oroonoko declared ironically that he has finally heard a white mantell the truth (p. 76 – 77).
Inhuman nature of slavery and colonialism - The British slave merchants make much profit through the sale of slaves. They also get them overworked and underfed in the sugarcane plantation. King Charles 1 was beheaded. Bannister, a member of Byam‟s elected Council, condemns Oroonoko to death. And when Bannister captures Oroonoko, he assured him, “you will die like a dog”, and he was killed and his body torn to shreds.
The Africans in their serene and beautiful environment are portrayed as skilful artisans, in their innocent world. They are more virtuous and cultured than the whites who tell the world they are more civilized, religious and superior to other races of the world. For instance, the Africans in nudity are prosperous in their various trades, compared to the immoral Europeans. The former make axes, knives, pins and beads of beautiful colours. They are also skillful fishermen, farmers and tree climbers. The writer returns readers to the beauty of innocence, the pre-technological age where Africans rely on local skills to survive. They may be portrayed as savages, but they are of exceptional qualities when compared to the British.
The Horrors of Slavery - Every page of the text reveals the horror of slavery. Slavery is seen as part of the social existence of Oroonoko and his people. Oroonoko had sold captives of war as slaves. Hence, it appears he is not bothered about the questionable ideal of slavery. By telling readers this aspect of Oroonoko, the writer seems to tell the world never to exonerate Africans on the issue of slave and slavery. Perhaps, it was almost a thriving global practice in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The European slave masters flogged Oroonoko, tied him to iron, rubbed his whip marks with Indian pepper, and watched him bleed to death..
The negative effects of slavery on the human psyche - The text reveals not just the inhuman nature of the British slave merchants, but also the psychological effects of slavery on the enslaved. When Oroonoko runs into his wife, Imoinda, in the slave camp plantation and impregnates her, he gets overwhelmed by the fear that he will father and nurse a child as a slave. But it dawned on him that slaves are never given such freedom when his slave master hunted him. Apparently unsure of his safety, he feels he could best reciprocate his wife‟s love by killing her. Imoinda too, already overpowered by the psychology of slavery, prefers to be killed by her husband to dying in the hands of her slave masters. The feelings of Oroonoko and Imoinda are that there is greater freedom in death than the British sugarcane plantation or similar slavery. Thus, she allows Oroonoko to kill her.
The intrusive and destructive nature of colonialism - Alphra Behn portrays colonialism as the white colonialists‟ deliberate intrusion into the cultures and peaceful life of others. This is actually against the „virtue‟ of colonialism. The writer subtly questions the inability of the British to give what they do not have. Thus, we see a clear comparison between the quiet and Edenic-like nature of the Africans in the Island dominated by the British slave masters.
Style in Oroonoko
Aphra Behn uses the omniscient narration and adds occasional comments or opinions; that is why such narration may be said to show editorial omniscience. He presents the thoughts and actions of the characters, but does not judge them or comment on them. In the novel, the intrusive female narrator interrupts the narrative. On the journey, the narrator tells the reader how she came to Surinam, as well as how her father died while traveling to assume duty as lieutenant – general. The novel describes the culture and tradition of the local people. This narrative style elevates the novel to travel writing. The novel is conversational in technique, “I have already said…”. “I didn‟t know I should leave”. The active expression makes the story real and believable. Sometimes, the female narrative voice retreats, reminiscences to connect the past with the present. For instance, we know the involvement of Oroonoko in slavery through reminiscence.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Write six adjectives you will use to describe Oroonoko?
4.0 CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have discussed the contributions of Queen Elizabeth 1 to the promotion of the Arts. We have also discussed the movement of the English theatre from church to the public; studied the life changing choices in Christopher Marlowe‟s Doctor Faustus. We have also added some female literary figures of the English Renaissance like Aphra Behn and Isabella Whitney.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt:
. That the contributions of Queen Elizabeth 1 to Renaissance Literature helped the literature of the period to flourish.
. That the English theatres began in the church and then moved to the streets (playhouse).
. How Christopher Marlowe‟s Doctor Faustus mirrored the Renaissance‟s search for knowledge
. The parting gift of a mother to her only child in Isabella Whitney‟s Will and Testament.
. Why the enslaved prefer to secure his freedom through death in Aphra Behn‟s Oroonoko.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1) List and explain the contributions of Queen Elizabeth 1 to Renaissance Literature.
2) Give a summary of Christopher Marlowe‟s Doctor Faustus.
3) Outline the facts of life contained in Isabella Whitney‟s Will and Testament.
4) Discuss the major themes in Aphra Behn‟s Oroonoko.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Chambers, E. K. (1923). The Elizabethan Stage. 4 Volumes. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dawson, Anthony B. (2002). “International Shakespeare”. In Wells, Stanley and Stanton Sarah The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 174 – 193.
Gurr, Andrew (1992). The Shakespearean Stage 1574 – 1642. Third Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Haliday, F. E. (1964). Shakespeare Companion 1564 – 1964. Baltimore: Penguin.
Keenan, Siobhan (2002). Travelling Players in Shakespeare’s England. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Keenan, Siobhan (2014). Acting Companies and their Plays in Shakespeare’s London. London: Arden.
Lott, Bernard (Ed.) (2001). The Merchant of Venice. England: Longman.
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