Origin of the modern nation

o demise of feudalism (end of the Age of Chivalry as Burke said)

o development of strong central governments

Seen as liberalizing, but also sentimentalized

o loss of liberty in the transfer of power to the monarch

o loss of local control to central government

o loss of local itself—customs, beliefs, etc.

Bardic Tradition

o both nascent nationalism and retention of localism

o twin pulls of cultural nationalism

§ Scots heritage

§ Scots desire to be incorporated/subsumed in British national identity

o This twin pull shows up in Scott’s celebration of the Borderers (neither Scots nor Brits, but local)

§ passage on borderers as soldiers

§ verse epistles

· poet as alienated, but purposefully so as to avoid the taint of culture, the city, the metropole, etc.

· poet as private, separate

· wild and unconfined

· not associated with Scots heritage but "great" English tradition (Spenser, Milton, Dryden)

· classically educated, professional gentleman interested in folk tales, superstition, the shepherd’s life, etc.

Nation

o Anderson and Imagined Communities

§ What is a nation? physical borders? common language? common heritage?

§ How we imagine the nation

· state processes

o day of fast or moment of prayer; the tolling of the bells

o census

o map

o museum

· communal processes

o newspaper

o novel or reading

o Scott’s Imagined Nation?

§ Corrupting modernity

· intense nostalgia of the verse epistles

· feudal order both celebrated and criticized

· law (this is pretty feudal) as institutional violence (Vault of Penitence)

· Marmion’s forgery—abuse of the modern world which relies on documents, etc.

§ Leadership?

· Abbess—anxious for the right reasons, but powerless

· Abbot—blind

· King Henry—Marmion is his favorite; and he gives him Clare

· King James—loves the ladies, but nothing about his leadership

· Douglass—noble figure but also against the war

· de Wilton—betrayed, eventually redeemed, but what do we actually see of him?

· Marmion—loved by his men, but a real bad guy

· Epistles—Pitt, Fox, Brunswick, etc. all dead

§ Where Is the Nation? Scotland or England?

· Fitz-Eustace praises the land (but he’s English?) (118-119)

· Scottish King?

o introduced—much about his costume, nothing about his leadership (134-135)

o fights for slain father (135) or love of French Queen (136)

o "madly planned the ruin of himself and land" (136)

· True Chivalry

o Belongs to English?

§ Loyal servant Austin cares for de Wilton

§ Austin gets de Wilton to promise mercy (176)

§ meets Marmion in the field and spares him (178)

§ de Wilton knighted by Douglas

§ Douglas refuses Marmion’s hand (183)

o But Marmion is English

§ If England wins, Clare will be his spoils (193)

§ Marmion’s patriotism (199)

· Merrie England (intro to canto sixth): fantasy of pre-industrial England

· Memorials

o field wiped clean—image of natural incorporation (204)

o Marmion’s tomb (206-207)

o Tourist’s view of the battlefield (207)

o Women in the New Nation

§ Cross dressing

· masculinized women dangerous

· Constance appears to Marmion in a vision she is curiously masculine

· when Heron pokes fun at Marmion’s page boy, etc.)

§ James’ wife vs. Lady Heron

· quiet domestic wife who maintains the home

· vs. highly sexualized woman

§ Quiet domestic space of the epistles

§ Clare

· Ministring angel to Marmion

· Inspiration to de Wilton

· What for her?

I) Canto First

A) Introduction

i) November

ii) Britain’s winter

iii) Elegy for William Pitt (died "For Britain’s sins" (4)), Charles James Fox (5)

iv) Heritage of Romance and chivalry (10)

B) The Castle

i) Marmion introduced (V-VII)

(a) emphasis on luxury

(b) chivalry of his retinue

ii) Learn of prior feud with Ralph de Wilton (XII)

iii) Jesting

(a) about Marmion’s page boy (Constance) or is this homoerotic? (XV)

(b) Jesting about Heron’s wife (important later) (XVI)

iv) Palmer introduced (XXIII-XXVIII)

II) Canto Second

A) Introduction

i) Transience of natural world (31)

ii) Transience of human world

(a) Story about feudal order—more natural but harsher (32)

(b) Nostalgia—stories in places (33)

(c) nostalgic for feudal times contrasted with modern world (34-35)

B) The Convent

i) distant from "real" world

ii) Clare introduced (V)

iii) Vault of Penitence

(a) gothic details

(b) blind judge

(c) Constance, the "page boy"

iv) Constance’s story

(a) King approved Marmion’s plan, showing how wrong the world is (57)

(b) curses "vassal slaves of Bloody Rome" with Marmion’s vengeance

(1) she has just betrayed Marmion

III) Canto Third

A) Introduction

i) pleasant natural scene juxtaposed with execution (61)

ii) tale like an unconfined stream (62)

iii) Search for a "chivalric" hero

(a) Brunswick (72 years old) (62)

(b) dragon = Napoleon

iv) wild, irregular poet, unconfined like the stream (68)

B) The Hostel, or Inn

i) Marmion called a good leader (but he’s a bad man) (71)

ii) Staring contest (72ff)

iii) Fitz-Eustace’s song

(a) stirs Marmion’s guilt

(b) Marmion’s Byronic quality (76)

(c) Secret sin (77)

(d) Marmion betrayed Constance (77-78)

(e) Vision of Constance’s punishment

iv) The Host’s Tale

(a) supernatural building of inn, etc.

(b) tale of Romance

(c) Marmion’s interest

(1) Fitz-Eustace notices

(2) Marmion goes out

IV) Canto Fourth

A) Introduction

i) More nostalgia

ii) Shepherd’s life

B) The Camp

i) Fitz-Eustace a reader of Romance

ii) Meet Sir David Lindesay

iii) Signs of Scots’ Unpreparedness

iv) Lindesay’s Tale

v) Marmion’s "confession"

(a) tells of his encounter with the elfin knight

(b) knows the face (Palmer/deWilton)

vi) The Scottish Camp

(a) artillery a gift of France 116)

(b) Fitz-Eustace praises the land (but he’s English?) (118-119)

V) Canto Fifth

A) Introduction

i) addressed to one of the anti-Jacobin writers

ii) Edinburgh (124)

(a) sending children to war

(b) providing refuge to French nobility

iii) Romance better than the reality of war (125)

iv) "all the pomp of chivalry" (127)

B) The Court

i) Preparations

(a) Scottish warriors well-prepared (128)

(b) Borderers—ambiguous relation to war and rhetoric of patriotism and honor (129)

(c) Party before battle (133)

ii) James IV

(a) introduced—much about his costume, nothing about his leadership (134-135)

(b) fights for slain father (135) or love of French Queen (136)

(c) "madly planned the ruin of himself and land" (136)

iii) Lady Heron’s Song

(a) chivalry

(b) betrayal and dishonor

iv) Douglas

(a) a noble Noble

v) de Wilton’s full story

(a) betrayed by Marmion

(b) forged documents, accusation of treason and cowardice

(c) betrayed by providence (148)

vi) Dun Edlin’s Cross

(a) supernatural agency

vii) Marmion leaves with Clare

(a) really loved Constance (155-56)

(b) James distracted by women (162)

VI) Canto Sixth

A) Introduction

i) Merrie England

(a) pure nostalgia for a post-feudal/pre-modern culture

(b) call to Romance, escape, etc.

B) The Battle

i) Delusion

(a) Fitz-Eustace mistakes Clare for figure from Romance (173)

(b) Clare mistakes de Wilton for ghost (174)

ii) True Chivalry

(a) Loyal servant Austin cares for de Wilton

(b) Austin gets de Wilton to promise mercy (176)

(c) meets Marmion in the field and spares him (178)

(d) de Wilton knighted by Douglas

(e) Douglas refuses Marmion’s hand (183)

iii) Deception

(a) Marmion figures out de Wilton’s ruse (187)

(b) tangled web we weave (187)

iv) Battle

(a) Marmion joins

(b) If England wins, Clare will be his spoils (193)

v) Values

(a) Marmion’s patriotism (199)

(b) Clare’s ministrations (199-200)

(c) Chance for repentance—instead urges on the battle (202)

vi) Memorials

(a) field wiped clean—image of natural incorporation (204)

(b) Marmion’s tomb (206-207)

(c) Tourist’s view of the battlefield (207)

(d) One last nod to chivalry in the modern world (209)