pray for forgiveness. In response to their prayer, Michael is sent from Heaven to instruct them, as Coelia instructs Redcrosse and as Alma prepares Guyon. It is to be noted, in further proof of my contention that Milton's theme is temperance, that Michael several times points this special moral, as for example in the vision or Masque of Death, where the succeeding stages in the history of man from Cain to Noah represent various types of intemperance, and become, therefore, a series of exempla such as Spenser uses in the Faerie Queene. Thus, Cain represents Wrath; the coming of diseases is attributed to Gluttony; the sons of Seth are betrayed by Lechery; the coming of war brings Pride, Avarice, Envy, and is followed by an epoch in which Idleness is mingled with the other Seven Deadly Sins, the whole illustrating sins against temperance: Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey, Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth, . . For the Earth shall bear More than enough, that temperance may be tried. So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved, Justice and temperance, truth and faith, forgot." By this means Adam learns the lesson of Temperance, which is thus seen to be the dominating theme of the entire story, and he is prepared for Salvation. The vision of the history of his descendants has classical warrant, of course, but it is worth noting that Spenser uses the device in the Faerie Queene for the enheartenment of his hero through a vision of great destiny. Milton seems to have in mind the scene in which Redcrosse is led to the Mount of Vision by Contemplation, an old man (I. x). The process of preparation for Salvation is completed, and the angel tells Adam: This having learned, thou hast attained the sum Deeds to thy knowledge answerable; add faith; Nevertheless, the arguments put forth by Despair so move Redcrosse that had it not been for Una he would have yielded. The entire passage begins with XI. 422. The Masque of the Seven Deadly Sins is used by Spenser in I. iv. 17 ff. His use of the device is suggested by similar passages in the Moralities, though his immediate source, as Professor Lowes has recently pointed out, is Gower. By name to come called Charity, the soul To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A Paradise within thee, happier far. (XII. 575 ff.)31 'If Spenser's plan had been strictly followed, Adam, now reconciled to God as was Redcrosse, purified by repentance and instructed by Michael, as Redcrosse after bitter repentance was instructed by Coelia, would have met the dragon Satan, as Redcrosse met him, and (conquered. This he could not do, for obvious reasons, but at this point Adam the individual is merged in the larger concept Man, and the "greater Man," spoken of in Milton's first invocation, is pointed out as the means by which the triumph over Satan is to be won. So in the contest with the dragon Redcrosse is no longer an Arthurian knight but the type of Christ. The three days contest symbolizes the victory over Satan and the Powers of Darkness, by which the aged King of Eden is freed from his long suffering. In my exposition of the philosophical content of Paradise Lost it has been necessary to disregard Milton's defence of dogma and seemingly to exaggerate certain elements of the poem in order, through isolating them, to make clear their significance. The true statement of the "theme" is not a simple but a complex proposition, and more is involved in the word "justify" than can be phrased in the simple proposition which I nevertheless believe to be fundamental. But is it not true that much of this dogma, however necessary to be observed by a poet dealing with matter supposed to be as fixed as Holy Writ and however sincerely believed by Milton, such material, for instance, as makes up the greater part of the third book,-is it not true that this dogma is in a sense subordinate to the philosophical idealism which I have defined as representing Milton's true interpretation of the problem? To have converted the story of the fall of man, with all its theological accompaniments, into a treatise on the Platonic conception of Temperance, would have been impossible to Milton, and even if he had tried it, his work would not have passed "In this there is no inconsistency. Adam's fall was not beyond all remedy as was plainly shown by Milton in his Invocation to the first book; it corresponds to the fall of Redcrosse, or Holiness, in Spenser's first book; it also illustrates the fact, already explained, that Milton and Spenser both conceived of virtue as capable of growth. Note also that the Christian Graces mentioned in this passage (XII. 581 ff.) are part of the preparation of Redcrosse in the House of Coelia. Milton follows the scheme even in details! the censor. Free conscience, of which he wrote in his sonnet, is not altogether free, as anyone knows who knows Puritanism whether in the seventeenth century or the twentieth. But it is time for us to recognize that Milton, like the others in that little band of exalted spirits-Euripides, Dante, Shakespeare for example-who have reached the topmost heights of song, was greater than his theology. In the discipline and self control of the Platonic conception of Temperance he found an idealism that enriches and informs the entire body of his major work. To leave this philosophical content out, or to see it in Comus and not in Paradise Lost, is to miss a vital thing. In Spenser Milton found an exposition of idealism in a form that for a variety of reasons made a deeper impression on him than any other single element in his experience. To it his spirit responded as surely as the spirit of Spenser responded to that divine "talk" which Alcibiades wished to grow old in hearing. Beside such influence, the influence of Andreini or Vondel or Grotius seems dry and unillumined; the discussion of it empty. It was a sense of something far more deeply interfused that caused Milton to recognize in Spenser his "original," and to count him a better teacher than Aquinas. The University of North Carolina. RECENT LITERATURE I. THE DRAMA Adams, J. Q., Jr. Captain Thomas Stukeley. Journal of English Philology, XV. 107. and Germanic Baskervill, C. R. Some Evidence for Early Romantic Plays in England. Modern Philology, XIV. 229 and 467. Baskervill, C. R. On Two Old Plays. Modern Philology, XIV. 16. Bolwell, Robert. Notes on Alliteration in Spenser. Journal of English and Germanic Philology, XV. 421. Briggs, W. D. 'Cynthia's Revels' and Seneca. Flügel Memorial Volume. Stanford University. Briggs, W. D. Source-Material for Jonson's Plays. Modern Language Notes, XXXI. 193 and 321. Briggs, W. D. On the Sources of 'The Maid's Tragedy.' Modern Language Notes. XXXI. 502. Brooke, Rupert. John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama. New The dissertation on which Brooke won his fellowship at King's College, Brooke, Tucker. On the Source of 'Common Conditions.' Modern Languages Notes, XXXI. 474. Cady, Frank W. 'The Old Wives' Tale,' by George Peele. Boston. Badger. Carter, H. H. (ed.) 'Every Man in his Humour.' Yale Studies in English, LII. Creizenach, Wilhelm. The English Drama in the Age of Shakespeare. pp. 454. Philadelphia. Lippincott. A translation of books I-VIII of the fourth volume of Geschichte des neueren Dramas, with additions and corrections by the author. The volume contains chapters, or 'books,' on the following subjects: a general survey of the English drama from 1570 to 1587; dramatic poetry during the Shakespearean period, including the vocation and position of the dramatists; the moral and social ideas of the dramatists; dramatic materials; arrangement and construction; types of character; style; and the stage and acting. This statement of the contents indicates the value of the book as a supplement to such works as those by Ward and Schelling. It is not a history of the Elizabethan drama either in the chronological sense or in exposition of the development of a great genre; it is a series of brilliant and interesting lectures addressed to those who already have the history and development in mind, as well as knowledge of the contents of Elizabethan dramatic literature. To such students as well as to non-specialists who desire to know something of the topics treated in the lectures, the book is invaluable. It is matter for regret that the revision was not made complete enough to take fuller account of the extraordinary advances in our knowledge of the stage and its history which we owe to Reynolds, Albright, Gildersleeve, Graves, and others. The bibliography, at least, might have included a record of this work. Epps, P. H. Two notes on English Classicism ('Sejanus' and 'Samson Farnham, W. E. Colloquial Contractions in Beaumont, Fletcher, Graham, Walter. The 'Cardenio-Double Falsehood' Problem. Modern Philology, XIV. 269 and 568. Graves, T. S. Notes on Elizabethan Theatres. Studies in Philology, XIII. 110. Graves, T. S. Jonson's 'Epicoene' and Lady Arabella Stuart. Modern Philology, XIV. 141. Harris, L. H. (ed.) 'Catiline his Conspiracy.' Yale Studies in English, LIII. Hatcher, O. L. A Book for Shakespeare Plays and Pageants. New York. E. P. Dutton & Co. Lemmi, Charles W. The Sources of Greene's 'Orlando Furioso.' Modern Language Notes, XXXI. 440. Reinecke, G. Der Chor in den wichtigsten Tragödien der Englischen Renaissance-Litteratur. Leipzig Dissertation. Stonex Arthur B. The Usurer in Elizabethan Drama. Publications of the Modern Language Association. XXIV. 190. Sykes, H. D. The Authorship of 'The Two Noble Kinsmen.' Modern Language Review, XI. 136. Thorndike, Ashley, H. Shakespeare's Theater. pp. 472. Many illustrations. New York. Macmillan. A survey of "all the information that we possess in regard to the theater of Shakespeare's time," less technical and specialized than such works as Albright's, more comprehensive than other surveys, and valuable for thoroughness and clearness in presentation. Besides matters of stage presentation, chapters are given to "Shakespeare's London," "The Dramatic Companies," "Actors and Acting," etc. Appendix I contains a list of stage directions referring to the inner stage. |