16th and 17th Century Literature
Unit 3: Prose
Detailed Bilingual Notes (English + Hinglish) • BA English • Semester 1
Unit 3 at a Glance
The official prose is Francis Bacon, “Of Studies” and “Of Travel”; Michel de Montaigne, “Of Friendship”; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress. The named books are Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, ed. Michael Kiernan (Harvard UP, 1985); The Complete Essays of Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame (Stanford UP, 1958); and The Pilgrim’s Progress, Penguin Classics. Bacon and Montaigne belong to Renaissance essay; Bunyan to Puritan allegory.
Official prose Francis Bacon, “Of Studies” aur “Of Travel”; Michel de Montaigne, “Of Friendship”; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress hai. Named books hain Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, ed. Michael Kiernan (Harvard UP, 1985); The Complete Essays of Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame (Stanford UP, 1958); aur The Pilgrim’s Progress, Penguin Classics. Bacon aur Montaigne Renaissance essay se hain; Bunyan Puritan allegory se.
1. Bacon — Of Studies
Bacon’s essay moves by short, balanced sentences (aphorism): one thought, then its pair, then a third. Open it in that order so the argument is not a heap of quotations. Studies serve three uses. Delight: private pleasure in retirement. Ornament: the grace of conversation. Ability: judgement in business and affairs. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: natural wit is a plant that must be pruned by study; study itself must be bounded by experience, or it becomes a scholar’s dream. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, wise men use them. Use, not display, is Bacon’s Renaissance ethic.
How to read: not to contradict the author, not to believe blindly, not to find talk, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted (sampled), others swallowed (read through), some few chewed and digested (read with care and made one’s own). Reading makes a full man; conference (talk with others) a ready man; writing an exact man. Different studies train different powers: histories make men wise; poets witty; mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Each study also repairs a defect of mind, as bodily exercises repair the body. The essay is a civil handbook: books exist to make a person fit for the world, not to hide from it.
Learn the form first, because Bacon's style is the argument's engine. The essay is built of aphorisms — short, balanced, often three-beat sentences ("studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability") — and antitheses that weigh one side against the other ("crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them"). This is Renaissance plain-style rhetoric: Latin-trained, Roman in its love of parallel structure. When you quote in exams, quote the triplets — they carry the whole thought.
Then hold the two great images. Books are food: some "to be tasted" (dipped into), others "to be swallowed" (read straight through), and "some few to be chewed and digested" — made part of your own mind. And studies are medicine: "every defect of the mind may have a special receipt" — as bodily exercise repairs the body, so each study repairs a mental weakness (mathematics for the wandering mind, scholastic philosophy for the confused). Reading makes a "full man," conference a "ready man," writing an "exact man" — Bacon's civil programme in one line: books are for fitness in the world, not escape from it.
Bacon ka essay chhote, balanced sentences (aphorism) se move karta hai: ek thought, phir uska pair, phir teesra. Use usi order me kholo taaki argument quotations ka heap na bane. Studies teen uses serve karte hain. Delight: retirement me private pleasure. Ornament: conversation ki grace. Ability: business aur affairs me judgement. Wo nature ko perfect karte hain, aur experience se perfected hote hain: natural wit ek plant hai jise study se prune karna chahiye; study khud experience se bounded honi chahiye, warna scholar ka dream ban jaati hai. Crafty men studies condemn karte hain, simple men admire karte hain, wise men use karte hain. Display nahi, use — yehi Bacon ka Renaissance ethic hai.
Kaise padhen: author se contradict karne ko nahi, blindly believe karne ko nahi, talk dhoondhne ko nahi, balki weigh aur consider karne ko. Kuch books tasted ki jaati hain (sampled), doosri swallowed (read through), kuch few chewed aur digested (care se padhke apni banana). Reading full man banata hai; conference (doosron se talk) ready man; writing exact man. Alag studies alag powers train karti hain: histories men wise banati hain; poets witty; mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic aur rhetoric contend karne me able. Har study mind ke defect ko bhi repair karti hai, jaise bodily exercises body ko. Essay ek civil handbook hai: books person ko duniya ke fit banane ko hain, usse chhipne ko nahi.
Pehle form seekho, kyunki Bacon ka style argument ka engine hai. Essay aphorisms se bana hai — chhote, balanced, aksar three-beat sentences ("studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability") — aur antitheses jo ek side ko doosre se taulte hain ("crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them"). Ye Renaissance plain-style rhetoric hai: Latin-trained, parallel structure ke Roman love ke saath. Exams me quote karte waqt triplets quote karo — wo poora thought carry karte hain.
Phir do great images hold karo. Books food hain: kuch "to be tasted" (dipped into), doosri "to be swallowed" (straight through padhi), aur "some few to be chewed and digested" — apne mind ka hissa banai. Aur studies medicine hain: "every defect of the mind may have a special receipt" — jaise bodily exercise body repair karta hai, waise har study mental weakness repair karti hai (wandering mind ke liye mathematics, confused ke liye scholastic philosophy). Reading "full man" banata hai, conference "ready man," writing "exact man" — Bacon ka civil programme ek line me: books duniya me fitness ke liye hain, duniya se escape ke liye nahi.
2. Bacon — Of Travel
Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience. Let a young traveller have some entrance into the language, and a tutor or grave servant. Keep a diary. The places named are the things a civil traveller should observe: courts of princes, courts of justice, churches and monasteries, walls and fortifications, harbours, antiquities, libraries, houses of state, armouries, warehouses, exercises, horsemanship, comedies, treasuries of jewels and robes, cabinets and rarities.
Understand the occasion: this is the Renaissance "Grand Tour" in advice form. Young English gentlemen travelled Europe to finish their education — Bacon turns the fashion into a method. The long list (courts, churches, harbours, libraries, armouries, "cabinets and rarities") is a curriculum of observation: a traveller is a student, and the world is the text. "Keep a diary" is the study-habit applied to travel — note what you see the way you would note what you read.
The essay's sting is in the return. Bacon warns against the traveller who comes home changed only on the outside — strange clothes, strange gestures, endless talk of abroad. "Let it appear rather in his discourse than in his attire or gesture" — travel should improve the mind's conversation, not the body's costume. That is the same Renaissance ethic as "Of Studies": use, not display. For exams, hold one line: travel is education for the younger sort and experience for the elder — the world read as a book, not worn as a show.
Younger sort ke liye travel education ka part hai; elder ke liye experience ka. Young traveller ko language me kuch entrance ho, aur ek tutor ya grave servant. Diary rakho. Named places wahi cheezen hain jinhe civil traveller observe kare: princes ke courts, justice ke courts, churches aur monasteries, walls aur fortifications, harbours, antiquities, libraries, houses of state, armouries, warehouses, exercises, horsemanship, comedies, jewels aur robes ke treasuries, cabinets aur rarities.
Ek city me long mat ruko. Lodging change karo. Abroad sirf apne countrymen ki company mat rakho. Secretaries aur employed men se acquaintance dhoondho, aur jagah ke best persons ko dekho. Return ke baad travel discourse me dikhe, clothes ya gesture me nahi; aur traveller still baithe bajaye iske ki apni talk me still travelling kare. Counsel practical Renaissance education hai: duniya order se padhi jaane wali book hai, body pe pehna jaane wala show nahi.
Occasion samjho: ye Renaissance "Grand Tour" hai advice form me. Young English gentlemen apni education finish karne Europe travel karte the — Bacon fashion ko method me badal deta hai. Lambi list (courts, churches, harbours, libraries, armouries, "cabinets and rarities") observation ka curriculum hai: traveller ek student hai, aur duniya text hai. "Keep a diary" study-habit hai travel pe applied — jo dekho note karo waise jaise jo padho note karte ho.
Essay ka sting return me hai. Bacon us traveller se warn karta hai jo ghar sirf bahar se badla aata hai — strange clothes, strange gestures, abroad ki endless talk. "Let it appear rather in his discourse than in his attire or gesture" — travel mind ki conversation improve kare, body ka costume nahi. Ye wahi Renaissance ethic hai jo "Of Studies" me tha: use, display nahi. Exams ke liye ek line hold karo: travel younger sort ke liye education hai aur elder ke liye experience — duniya book ki tarah padhi, show ki tarah pehni nahi.
3. Montaigne — Of Friendship
Montaigne’s essay, in Donald Frame’s translation named by the syllabus, is a French Renaissance meditation on one perfect friendship. Common companionship, father and son, brothers, and marriage all have their uses and their limits. Perfect friendship, for Montaigne, is not utility, kinship, or the marriage bond. It is a fusion of wills. He writes of his dead friend Étienne de La Boétie. The famous reason is not a list of qualities: it was because it was he, because it was I.
Such a friendship cannot be multiplied. Two such souls are rare; a third would crowd them. The friend is another self. After La Boétie’s death the essay becomes an elegy: half of Montaigne’s being is gone. Beside Bacon’s civic, useful sentences, this essay is inward and personal. Both are Renaissance essays; they are not the same temper. Bacon tells you how to use books and travel. Montaigne tells you what one human bond was, and that it cannot be replaced.
Know what Montaigne is rejecting. He reviews every rival bond — ordinary acquaintance, the father's authority over the son, brothers' kinship, even marriage ("a bargain… wherein the husband's business is concerned") — and finds each mixed with interest, duty, or inequality. Perfect friendship alone is "souls mingled and confounded" — one soul in two bodies. His famous line is not an explanation but a refusal to explain: "If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because it was I."
Notice the essay's form too: Montaigne invented the word "essay" (essai — a trial, an attempt). Where Bacon gives counsel, Montaigne tries out his own thought in public, digressing and doubting — the personal essay against the civil one. The elegy at the end is part of the proof: La Boétie died in 1563, and the essay says half of Montaigne died with him. For exams, contrast the two essayists in one line: Bacon writes to make you fit for the world; Montaigne writes to show you one man's inner world.
Montaigne ka essay, syllabus ke Donald Frame translation me, ek perfect friendship pe French Renaissance meditation hai. Common companionship, father aur son, brothers, aur marriage — sabke uses aur limits hain. Montaigne ke liye perfect friendship utility, kinship, ya marriage bond nahi hai. Ye wills ka fusion hai. Wo apne dead friend Étienne de La Boétie pe likhte hain. Famous reason qualities ki list nahi hai: isliye ki wo wo tha, isliye ki main main tha.
Aisi friendship multiplied nahi ho sakti. Do aisi souls rare hain; teesri unhe crowd kar degi. Friend doosra self hai. La Boétie ki death ke baad essay elegy ban jaata hai: Montaigne ke being ka aadha chala gaya. Bacon ke civic, useful sentences ke beside, ye essay inward aur personal hai. Dono Renaissance essays hain; temper same nahi hai. Bacon tumhe batata hai books aur travel kaise use karen. Montaigne tumhe batata hai ek human bond kya tha, aur wo replaced nahi ho sakta.
Jaano Montaigne kya reject kar raha hai. Wo har rival bond review karta hai — ordinary acquaintance, beta pe pita ka authority, bhaiyon ki kinship, marriage bhi ("a bargain… wherein the husband's business is concerned") — aur har ek ko interest, duty, ya inequality se mixed paata hai. Perfect friendship akeli hai "souls mingled and confounded" — do bodies me ek soul. Uski famous line explanation nahi balki explain karne se refusal hai: "If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because it was I."
Essay ka form bhi notice karo: Montaigne ne "essay" shabd invent kiya (essai — ek trial, ek attempt). Jahan Bacon counsel deta hai, Montaigne apne thought ko public me try karta hai, digressing aur doubting — civil essay ke against personal essay. End pe elegy proof ka hissa hai: La Boétie 1563 me mare, aur essay kehta hai aadha Montaigne unke saath mar gaya. Exams ke liye do essayists ko ek line me contrast karo: Bacon tumhe duniya ke fit banane ko likhta hai; Montaigne ek man ki inner world dikhane ko likhta hai.
4. Bunyan — The Pilgrim’s Progress
The Penguin Classics text named in the syllabus is a Puritan allegory in plain English. An allegory (Unit 1) is a story that makes sense as a journey and, at the same time, as a map of the soul. Christian lives in the City of Destruction, reads that the city will burn, feels a burden (sin) on his back, and leaves — even wife and children — when Evangelist points to the Wicket Gate. He sinks in the Slough of Despond (despair as a bog). Help pulls him out. Mr Worldly Wiseman sends him toward legality and Mount Sinai (being saved by the law instead of by grace); Evangelist turns him back. At the Gate, Good-Will receives him. In the Interpreter’s House he sees emblem-rooms of the spiritual life. At the Place of Deliverance, beside the Cross, the burden falls from his back. That is conversion, told as a physical drop.
Then the road tests him. Hill Difficulty must be climbed, not avoided. Palace Beautiful is rest and instruction among the faithful. In the Valley of Humiliation he fights Apollyon (a devil). The Valley of the Shadow of Death is fear of dying without hope. Vanity Fair is the world’s market: everything is for sale, including faith; Faithful is killed there; Hopeful joins Christian. Giant Despair locks them in Doubting Castle; the key called Promise opens the door — despair is undone by remembering God’s promise, not by a new sword. They see the Delectable Mountains, cross the Enchanted Ground (the danger of spiritual sleep), rest in Beulah, and enter the River of Death. Christian almost drowns in fear; Hopeful holds him. The Celestial City receives them. You do not need every side-character. You do need this chain, and that each name is a meaning.
Fix the book's place in history — Unit 1 already gave you this. Bunyan was a tinker and Baptist preacher, imprisoned in Bedford gaol for twelve years (1660–1672) for preaching without a licence; Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress appeared in 1678, in the Restoration, and became the most-read English book after the Bible. The plain style is deliberate theology: a Puritan distrusts ornament, so the allegory walks in workman's English — every grand name (Despond, Vanity, Despair) worn on the outside like a label.
For exams, hold the allegory's engine: each name is its meaning, and the road is the soul's life. Three crisis-moments carry any 8- or 20-mark answer — the burden falling at the Cross (grace, not works: Mr Worldly Wiseman's "legality" is the rejected alternative), Faithful's death at Vanity Fair (the world kills true faith; Hopeful replaces him, so the pilgrimage never walks alone), and the key called Promise opening Doubting Castle (despair is beaten by remembering God's word, not by force). Road, names, three crises — that is the whole book in exam shape.
Syllabus ka Penguin Classics text plain English me Puritan allegory hai. Allegory (Unit 1) ek story hai jo journey ki tarah sense banati hai aur, saath hi, soul ke map ki tarah. Christian City of Destruction me rehta hai, padhta hai city jalega, apni back pe burden (sin) mehsoos karta hai, aur chala jaata hai — wife aur children bhi — jab Evangelist Wicket Gate ki taraf point karta hai. Wo Slough of Despond (bog ki tarah despair) me doobta hai. Help use nikalta hai. Mr Worldly Wiseman use legality aur Mount Sinai ki taraf bhejta hai (grace ki jagah law se saved hona); Evangelist use wapas modta hai. Gate pe Good-Will use receive karta hai. Interpreter’s House me wo spiritual life ke emblem-rooms dekhta hai. Place of Deliverance pe, Cross ke beside, burden uski back se girta hai. Yehi conversion hai, physical drop ki tarah bataya gaya.
Phir road use test karti hai. Hill Difficulty climb karni hai, avoid nahi. Palace Beautiful faithful ke beech rest aur instruction hai. Valley of Humiliation me wo Apollyon (ek devil) se ladta hai. Valley of the Shadow of Death bina hope dying ka fear hai. Vanity Fair duniya ka market hai: sab for sale hai, faith bhi; Faithful wahan maara jaata hai; Hopeful Christian se judta hai. Giant Despair unhe Doubting Castle me lock karta hai; Promise naam ki key door kholti hai — despair nayi sword se nahi, God’s promise yaad karke undone hota hai. Wo Delectable Mountains dekhte hain, Enchanted Ground cross karte hain (spiritual sleep ka danger), Beulah me rest karte hain, aur River of Death me enter karte hain. Christian fear me lagbhag doobta hai; Hopeful use hold karta hai. Celestial City unhe receive karti hai. Tumhe har side-character nahi chahiye. Tumhe ye chain chahiye, aur ye ki har naam ek meaning hai.
Book ki history me jagah fix karo — Unit 1 ye pehle de chuka hai. Bunyan tinker aur Baptist preacher the, Bedford gaol me twelve years (1660–1672) imprisoned rahe bina licence preaching ke liye; The Pilgrim's Progress ka Part I 1678 me aaya, Restoration me, aur Bible ke baad sabse zyada padhi English book bana. Plain style deliberate theology hai: Puritan ornament pe distrust karta hai, to allegory workman's English me chalti hai — har grand naam (Despond, Vanity, Despair) bahar label ki tarah pehna hua.
Exams ke liye allegory ka engine hold karo: har naam iska meaning HAI, aur road soul ka life HAI. Teen crisis-moments koi bhi 8- ya 20-mark answer carry karte hain — Cross pe burden ka girna (grace, works nahi: Mr Worldly Wiseman ki "legality" rejected alternative hai), Vanity Fair me Faithful ki death (duniya true faith ko maarti hai; Hopeful use replace karta hai, to pilgrimage kabhi akeli nahi chalti), aur Doubting Castle kholne wali Promise naam ki chabi (despair God's word yaad karke beaten hoti hai, force se nahi). Road, names, teen crises — exam shape me poori book yehi hai.
| Place or person | On the road | Second meaning |
|---|---|---|
| City of Destruction | home he leaves | the world under judgement |
| Burden | pack on his back | sin / guilt |
| Slough of Despond | bog | despair |
| Wicket Gate / Cross | entrance; burden falls | grace, not the law |
| Vanity Fair | market town | the world’s show |
| Doubting Castle | prison of Giant Despair | doubt; opened by Promise |
| River / Celestial City | last water; arrival | death; heaven |