Views on Colonialism in Donne's Elegy XIX and Wroth's Sonnet 22
Introduction
In the midst of Lady Mary Wroth's sonnet cycle, a sudden reference to the colonialist discoveries of dark skinned natives appears. Bringing to mind her participation in Jonson's "Masque of Blackness," she depicts dark-skinned Indians worshipping the sun as their god. In the midst of her ruminations on love and her preoccupations with her unfaithful lover, Amphilanthus, this sonnet touches on issues close to her personal life as well as some of the preoccupations of her era on the nature of colonialism. In particular the role of religion in England's colonialist efforts was of prime importance. An examination of John Donne's Elegy XIX, "To His Mistris Going to Bed" may give some insight into how Wroth's Sonnet 22, "Like to the Indians Scorched with the Sun" deals with the controversies surrounding imperialism.
Historical Concerns
Both authors had close personal ties to England's colonialist efforts in the New World. Lady Mary Wroth's uncle, Sir Philip Sydney, was an investor in Raleigh's attempted colony at Roanoke. This venture ultimately failed, however, and would later be followed under King James with the Virginia Company.
John Donne was closely tied with the efforts following Raleigh's failed attempt. In 1608, after two failed attempts at securing a secretarial post, first in London and then in Ireland, "the report circulated that he sought to be made secretary of the colony, a position given instead to his friend William Strachey" (Johnson 127). If he had been awarded the position, he would have sailed with the new governor, Sir Thomas Gates. This was the ship that was shipwrecked in Bermuda and that winter the Jamestown colon...
... middle of paper ...
...onne, John. "A Sermon vpon the VIII. Verse of the I. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles"
Greene, Thomas M. "The Poetics of Discovery: A Reading of Donne's Elegy 19."
Yale Journal of Criticism. 2 (2) (1989): 129-143.
Hester, M. Thomas. "Donne's (Re)Annunciation of the Virgin(ia Colony) in Elegy XIX." South Central Review: 49-63.
Johnson, Stanley. "John Donne and the Virginia Company." ELH. 14 (2) (1947): 127-138.
Raman, Shankar. "Can't Buy Me Love: Money Gender, and Colonialism in Donne's Erotic Verse." Criticism. 43 (2) (2001): 135-168.
Roberts, Jospephine A. The Poems of Mary Wroth. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1983.
Young, R. V. "'O my America, my new-found-land': Pornography and Imperial Politics in Donne's Elegies." Souch Central Review: 35-48.
Warnke, Frank J. John Donne Poetry and Prose. New York: Random House, 1967.
Thesis: The Roanoke colony proved to be an unsuccessful venture in the New World for England, since leaders of the expedition held the viewpoint that privateering would prove to be the most profitable aspect of founding the new settlements in the West. However future, still unsuccessful attempts to make a permanent colony at Roanoke, helped England understand how to build a prosperous one; and it became a building block for establishing future colonies for England and helped shape the ideas that would help launch their empire.
The Three Unique Characters of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher
Roanoke was the first English settlement in the New World, reigned over by Queen Elizabeth I, momentarily settled by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1582 and newly established by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. Having reached and settled Roanoke for about a year, Raleigh's settlers were thrashed and thrown about by a huge and horrible hurricane, the settlement wiped off clean. To hear of the failure of her first English settlement in North America, Queen Elizabeth I was enraged and demanded a reestablishment. At that moment, all of Europe had heard of the huge and horrible storm that had warded and killed many of the Roanoke settlers. Yet in 1587, John White, a palace painter, was persuaded to sail over seas to North America with 99 of his family and friends. John White focused most, if not all, his time in painting scenery and the new lands of North America in his newly settled Roanoke. Because White spent all of his time panting
Before 1700, Great Britain had limited interest in American colonization. Virginia was the first territory in America to be claimed by the British. In the 1550’s, the island of Newfoundland was chartered as a colony. Sir Walter Raleigh founded the first settlement on Roanoke Island. He claimed in the queen’s honor the majority of North America, and named this region after Queen Elizabeth, “The Virgin Queen.” The queen considered the Roanoke colony largely a failure and refused to invest more into the colony. King James I, the successor to Queen Elizabeth, established two companies in in Virginia in 1607, each with large claims to the eastern coast. The Virginia Companies as they were called, were limited to the Atlantic coast and extended inland for 100 miles. “The Virginia Company of London was granted a southern tract from Cape Fear to Long Island Sound… The Virginia Company of Plymouth was granted a northern tract extending from Assateague Island to Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine”
In 1583, a charter to travel to the new world was given to a Sir Humphrey Gilbert. When Sir Humphrey Gilbert died, the charter was given to his Sir Walter Raleigh. The queen gave him this charter in order for him to “discover, search, find out and view such remote heathen and barbarous lands, countries and territories….to have, hold, occupy and enjoy.” Raleigh did none of these things as he never actually went to the new world, but dispatched a few expeditions. Expedition one arrived in Roanoke on July 4th 1584 and later returned to England with two Croatoan Indians who explained and described the area to Sir Walter Raleigh. Expedition two stayed in the new world for a longer time and had more interactions with the natives. When the colonists were again settled in Roanoke, they blamed some of the natives for steaking a silver cup from them. Colonists destroyed the village of
Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1583) was the first man to attempt a voyage to another land. He brought with him five ships, and 200 settlers. However, there time in the new lands was a terrible experience for the men and they attempted to return home, but their ships sunk at sea during their trip back to England. The second voyage was attempted by a man named Sir Walter Raleigh. His colony is known as the lost colony. When they arrived at what he called Virginia they did not have enough supplies, however, Britain couldn’t bring supplies fast enough, and by the time supplies did reach the land, the colony was gone. To this day, no one knows what happened. After the two attempts the government realized they would need to be more involved in funding the voyages out to new land. There were two groups who planned to help fund and create their own colonies. The London Company and the
Soon after settling on the island of Roanoke, John White had a granddaughter whom they named Virginia, named after the virgin queen Elizabeth. With significant time being on the island White began painting watercolors of the indigenous Indians. With various nearby peaceful Indians, they were able to get a good start on the island and have several disaster plans to choose from. However, with the harsh winter arriving rapidly to set upon the habitants of Roanoke Island White was left with a decision. He could either stay with his family and try to bare through the potentially deadly winter, or leave his family and travel back to England to gather supplies so they would have a better mortality chances. With the survival of his colony still a priority, Governor White took a ship back to England. However, he had not known that England was in current conflict with the Spanish Armada. Once White arrived in England, he was trapped. With little resources for England to offer and no possible way to make safe passage back to Roanoke Island White stayed for three immensely long years. By the time he was capable to leave and return to his family in the “New World” it was
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe was published in 1839. In it, the short story’s narrator visits a childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The narrator travels to the Usher house, where the story takes place. As in other Poe stories, the settings reflect a character. Throughout the short story, there are many instances when the Usher house and Thought, the castle in Roderick’s poem, reflect Roderick Usher and his family. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the setting of the Usher house along with the setting in Roderick’s poem reflect Roderick Usher in appearances, relations with family, and physical existence.
Subprime mortgage crisis is my preferred topic of discussion. The reason behind taking this topic is that housing is a basic need thus everybody needs it irrespective of the financial situation he is in. In this regard, the idea of subprime seems to be the only way to meet this need in a more professional decent manner. The case of subprime mortgage crisis presents a nice area of study on how a country can solve a financial crisis that was not anticipated, but is affecting many people across different sectors of the economy. Previously, I did not know that subprime can qualify for any mortgage because they have no financial credibility. I am surprised on how financial institutions gave in the temptation of lending money to subprime population hence leading to this crisis.
Founded by the overly confident Captain John Smith, Jamestown was the first attempt to establish an English colony in America. Smith was a soldier who fought in Dutch war against Spain, in 1602 he was wounded and sold into slavery. Smith escaped and returned to England. Back in England, the Virginia Company was interested in establishing a colony in America, long story short, the company set sail
The Roanoke colony was located on the Roanoke Island, in Dare County. This is where North Carolina is located today. In 1584, explorers Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe were the first Europeans to set view the island. They were sent to that particular region by Sir Walter Raleigh with the assignment of exploring the extensive sounds and estuaries in hunt of an ideal location for settlement. Barlowe wrote bright information of Roanoke Island, and when the explorers returned to England a year afterward with two Natives, Manteo and Wanchese, all of London was abuzz with chat of the New World’s wonders.Queen Elizabeth, impressed with the results of the reconnaissance voyage, knighted Raleigh as a reward. The new ground was named “Virginia” in respect of the Virgin Queen, and the next year, Raleigh sent a gathering of 100 militia, miners and scientists to Roanoke Island. It was a late 16th century attempt for England to establish a permanent settlement. Queen Elizabeth 1 was queen at the time. The attempt was put together and financed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Sir Gilbert drowned in his attempt to colonize St.John’s, Newfoundland. His half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh, gained his deceased brothers charter. He would execute the details of the charter through his delegates Ralph Lane and Richard Greenville. Greenville was a distant cousin of Raleigh. Raleigh’s charter specified that he needed to establish a colony in the North America continent, or he would lose his right to colonization. Raleigh and Elizabeth hoped that the colony would provide riches from the New World and a location from which to send privateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain. Raleigh never had visited the continent of North America, although he did lead e...
Raleigh inherited the right to establish an English colony from his half-brother. He arrived in the land north of Florida with two vessels and discovered the island to be rich in resources. The following year, after going back and being knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his efforts, Raleigh returned to Roanoke Island with seven vessels and one hundred colonists. The colony of Roanoke was established under the authority of Ralph Lane after Sir Richard Grenville, who had transported colonists to the island returned to Britain for supplies. However, the colonists were ill-prepared and were often deceived by and attacked. They encountered many difficulties and suffered from a lack of food.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language enhance the story’s evil nature, giving the house and its inhabitants eerie and “supernatural” qualities. Poe’s effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the house of) Usher.
Edgar Allen Poe, a famous novelist from the 18th century, is known for being a treasure trove for allusions, illusions, clues, and all sorts of literary fun. Born in 1809, this Bostonian never had it easy. Marriage to a 13 year old cousin, family problems, and deaths surrounded him. Over time, such tremendous struggle began to reflect in his writing, creating the dark and moody tone we now see today. One such piece, The Fall of the House of Usher, tells the tale of a man who goes to visit a dying friend on his last days. Roderick Usher is the name of this dying man, although he doesn’t seem dead in the beginning. However, the deathly state should be of no importance to the reader; death is the very essence of Poe’s writing. Rather, the reader’s attention should be deviated toward the unusual twin of the story,
..., transcendental lighting, and color contrast. No less is this a religious experience than the visits to classic cathedrals that dominate the French landscape from the shores of Mont St. Michel, to the Ile de la Cite’s Notre Dame, to the countless other examples of the French expression of faith through architecture. I must admit to surprise at this overwhelming reaction on my part to Matisse’s talent as an architect and designer. Winding up the mountains to this remote convent, my mind questioned the wisdom of the trek as my comrades enjoyed the Riviera once more at the beach and I thought to myself, just one more church. Never did I expect such a transcendental experience as my visit to this modern masterpiece. Long after the suntans will fade, my memory of this place will deepen my appreciation of Matisse’s art and the importance of the effect of art on culture.