Obsolete spelling of situation.

A prince of demons, or in Judeo-Islamic lore the king of the earthly spirits.

One of the archangels of post-exilic rabbinic tradition, and also of certain minor Christian traditions.

To devote to destruction; to imprecate misery or evil upon; to curse; to execrate; to anathematize.

Wait, is Satan making an argument that he shouldn't be punished because he was just acting on his free will or am I just mixing something up?

This part is from Satan's perspective. During this chapter, Milton tries to make Satan a more sympathetic character and highlights Satan's reasons for why he felt the way he did towards Adam and Eve. In my opinion, this is a sign of a brilliant author, making you feel sympathy for the devil. The Rolling Stones would be proud.

This is a crazy reading. It kind of feels slow and has a lot of maybe unnecessary details but it is a great read nevertheless. I want to dive deeper into Paradise Lost which I'll probably be doing over the summer.

An old name for Jerusalem's Western Hill.

The personal name of God in the Hebrew Scriptures.

I tried looking this up but got nothing does anyone know this is referencing.

The Valdarno is the valley of the river Arno in Italy.

Man, Milton is kind of making Satan sound like a not so bad guy which is weird because John Milton was a deeply religious man.

A literary word for sovereign.

The angels be like...

When Lucifer rebelled against God, a third of the angelic host joined him in his rebellion and it is speculated that those fallen angels (the ones that have been cast out of heaven) are what we know of today as demons.

Finally, someone referencing Eve nicely.

Archaic formal second person past tense of to sit.

Referring to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and them being deceived by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit.

This was a really good poem. This poet seems to know how to warm up to the queen without being cringey. She did kind of lose me a couple of times but I still managed to get the gist of what she was trying to say. I think she did a good job in introducing the topic of defending eve without being so blatant about it, and I guess that made all the apple polishing necessary.

I think the biggest problem with the story of Adam and Eve, is that people focus too much on Adam and Eve disobeying the word of God and too little about the moral the story is trying to convey. If you think about the story as a whole, it is really a cautionary tale about protecting your own place and being aware of predators. Adam and Eve were originally in heaven and specifically in the garden of Eden. Heaven represents a well-guarded place and Eden is a well-watered garden. So, what ends up happening after you make sure your own place is well guarded against outside predators, is that predators start popping out from the ground from within your own domain. The real lesson that we are supposed to learn from Adam and Eve, is not only about consequences but about the danger of predators and the importance of being aware of their existence. I wish people back then were wiser than to be fixated on who is at fault or what Adam and Eve had between their legs and more about the deeper meaning of those kinds of stories, but I guess like the saying goes small minds discuss people.

Damn she is straight up spitting fire, talk about humble brag this girl has a way with words.

Man, I really like this one, I just really like Cavendish in general. I like how unique her thought process is, it is like listening to a comedian, each one has their own style and way of thinking. I actually enjoyed how trippy her world development was, I love that it is unpredictable and every detail just comes at you out of a left field. The one thing that was kind of weak was her imagery, a lot of her descriptions especially of the humanoid animals was just straight forward, she could’ve played around with it to invoke stronger images. Albeit, she did have some cool lines like “… the Vessel, both by its own leightness, and the violent motion of the Wind, was carried as swift as an Arrow out of a Bow…“. All in all, this reading is really fun.

You know, after reading Cavendish's philosophy book, I never thought that I would miss her stupidly long sentences, but after reading more of her work, I kinda like it.

This is what I picture them to be like.

This is a really cool imagery, one of the best I've read in a while.

Looking forward for the annotations like...

Okay, so I'm supposed to write a summary right, Jesus Christ who was nailed on a cross where do I even begin. First, why are we bothering reading this in the first place, it's not like it's an important piece of literature, that was like having to read Mein Kampf, what was exactly the expectation here. Second, the majority of the religious arguments were completely stupid, you can't just throw God at it and expect it to justify your argument. In my opinion, the biggest reason why this was so dumb to read, is because these people are actually taking it seriously, if it were some kind of comedy, it would've been fun to read; like how many dumb reasons can you list for why one gender is superior to the other, and it were just a bunch of authors roasting each other, I'd been on board.

Now that is some mental gymnastics, in what world does that make any kind of sense?

Having to read this is like...

You literally spelled eyes with a y three words ago!

Come on, now she's making generalizations too. I don't like this, it's getting really toxic.

Obsolete spelling of devil.

Is this dude serious or is this some kind of parody?

I really liked this one, now I want to see it performed, I think if the characters are just more chill it could work, just tone the abuse down a notch. I thought it was really funny and Katharina and Petruchio definitely are made for one another. The relationship between Katharina and Petruchio reminds me of the relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia from Fifty Shades of Grey. They’re both abusive and try to control each other although Anastasia is portrayed as much more submissive than Katharina. At the end though I feel like both Katharina and Petruchio are just messed up characters, to me I don’t see Katharina as being feisty or independent, rather I see her as just being aggressive all the time for no reason. I don’t know I guess I just prefer to surround myself with people who are just laid back. I think that being feisty or sassy can be cute at times if you are just being playful but if you make attitude as part of your personality you just come off to me as immature or unreasonably thin-skinned. Of course, I am looking at this story with a 21st-century bias, and it makes me feel grateful we don't have to deal with awkward social roles anymore, we can all just be cool with one another. When it comes to Petruchio, I don't know what I can say about him, he's just an abusive guy. Overall, this was a cool albeit weird reading since we are reading a script but I still enjoyed it.

a disease or ailment.

Man it feels really weird reading this after preforming it in class, it doesn't even feel right just reading it normally without pretending to be an underage boy pretending to be a woman.

I have nothing to say or annotate but this because throughout the whole reading my mind was just blank, I hated this with a passion. Let me explain, I have nothing against Shakespeare or his writing but if you have to constantly look up the definition of the words you’re reading then it just loses all it’s charm. Imagine having to play a sport that is so old, two thirds of it’s rules are missing, it wouldn’t be enjoyable. Same issue applies to this reading, if you are unable to naturally understand the words and you have to use a dictionary, then it just takes you out of the flow. It is sort of like reading a paragraph in a language you don’t understand, you might get a word here and there but it will never convey the full meaning. Now I know that Shakespeare is meant to be seen in a play and not read, but if that is the case, then why bother reading it in the first place. Now if translating the reading to a more modern English will cause it to lose its Shakespearean charm, then again why bother reading it. I’m sure if I understood i, I’d enjoy it better, but this was just utterly horrendous. There is no pleasure in being confused.

Fun fact: The reason why Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait is because the Kuwaiti ambassador to Iraq said "we can purchase an Iraqi woman for 10 dinars." 10 dinars in today's money equals a fraction of a cent (back then it would've been like a quarter). Yeah, a statement like that can cause my people to go to war.

I'll be honest, I have no idea what I just read. I couldn't for the life of me follow the text. With that being said, here's what I did understand: This guy (Richard Hakluyt) wanted to go to some university in France, I think, and there he was disappointed that there weren't many people from England and I think he is writing to the queen to let her know that is disappointed. This guy also seems like a pompous a$$hole flexing his Latin and French and acting all high and mighty.

This reading is giving me a headache!

Why do we have to read this in the original spelling, we have standardized spelling we can just fix it, trying to read this is really throwing me off.

Obsolete spelling of majesty.

I liked the last story, it reminded me of the Disney movie The road to El Dorado. But what really took the prize were those poems, they were great. I liked how they flowed smoothly and had a consistent rhythm, but the one about telling lies, I didn't enjoy so much, the rhythm kept changing throughout the poem which ruined it for me. Overall, great reading, short and sweet.

Man, there are a lot of names in this paragraph that are really hard to pronounce.

Multiple definitions: 1. transitive, obsolete To expose a deception.

1. transitive, archaic To accuse; malign; speak evil of.
2. transitive To reveal; divulge; make known; declare; inform. In context: his repentance of his mistakes has exposed the deception of the false love.

This one had a lot of ups and downs. I really like that we get multiple perspectives in one reading, but the thing that i didn't like, is that there was a lot of historical context needed to understand the letters and what they are referencing. There were a lot of biblical references in this writing that completely went over my head which made it hard to follow the stories.

Get some of the queen's blood on a napkin and then sell it later on 16th century eBay.

Jesus Christ lady, finish your damn sentences, it's ungodly to have to take a breath twice in the middle of a sentence.

But, wait, why was she imprisoned? what did she do to warrant her to be executed? did I miss something?

This refers to the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio who is famous for writing the Decameron, which is a collection of novellas from the 14th century. He is also known as one of the earliest humanists. More on Boccaccio... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Boccaccio

Voting alla 16th century.

Never mind, this one does.

That whole sentence makes Margret Cavendish look like a seasoned editor...

This whole thing was one sentence?

multiple definitions: 1. Lying flat, face down.

1. Emotionally devastated.
2. Physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease.

I liked this one, the beginning was really chilling almost felt like reading a horror story. She did go a bit too hard in turning her life around, she totally could've just become moderately religious and live a happy life with her husband, he did seem like he loved her after all. But I can kind of see it from her perspective as being like she was so traumatized by her past that she felt like she had to make up for it really hard. I wonder if she really did end up being happy or if she's just trapped in another cycle of having to prove herself, not to others for her own pride, but to God in proving her devotion.

Was it cinnamon, I bet it cinnamon.

Is the town actually named just N? or am I missing something? odd name for a town.

Why is the font in this little paragraph so small?

This whole part reminds me of the movie the exorcist, it sounds almost exactly the same thing that happens to the little girl where she starts to swear and gets all violent. That sounds really scary if you think about it, feeling yourself becoming less and less of who you are and start to slowly turn into something horrible. And it must be really hard on the people close to her, they have to see her change to the point where she's unrecognizable.

Why does it feel like the commas are placed incorrectly in these two lines here, it feels like awkward pauses.

This is a reference to the story of Tristan and Iseult, but does that mean that Launcelot and Guinevere will share the same fate as Tristan and Iseult, are they both going to die? If they do both die, this is some genius foreshadowing.

It's kind of funny thinking about them all saying the same thing at once like a classroom, I could hear them being out of sync and having one person finish after everybody else. It's so funny and awkward, I love it.

I noticed that the first word in every chapter is all in caps, why is that?

Notwithstanding, despite everything.

This is from Wikipedia, so take it as you will. From Anglo-Norman mal engin, Middle French mal engin, from mal (“bad, evil”) + engin (“ruse; trickery; deception”). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malengine

So let me get this straight, Colgrevance attacked Launcelot but Launcelot hit Colgrevance on the head and knocked him out. Is that what happened? or am I getting something wrong?

Damn, Launcelot wants to go out with a fight.

Entirely too many Sirs in two lines of text.

This the most boring way of introducing characters into a story.

Did they really keep calling each other Sir every time they referred to one another, that sounds exhausting.

Ugh, this guy again.

So I was really confused at first because I thought that the nun had a rooster that she married, which in hindsight just sounds absolutely stupid. Once it clicked that the wife was one of the chickens it started to make more sense. I think that what got me so confused, is that the rooster just started talking all of a sudden, so it didn't register with me that the story is being told from the perspective of the animals and I was just confused as to what the characters are in the first place. When it comes to the actual story itself, it was really fun and wholesome, I could see this as a Disney movie or a kids bedtime story. Overall 9/10, I enjoyed this one.

You know, I really don't like these headlines, I find that they spoil whatever kind of suspense you might have building up. It's like when the author tells you that Tristan and Iseult are going to die in the beginning of the story. I feel it would be much better if the story just flowed more naturally rather than have these headlines that give away what is about to happen in the next paragraph.

Is this whole story going to be about this weird rooster, who apparently can talk and is well educated telling what seems to be his human wife about dreams?

Why is everyone in those times so sensitive and emotional, the other guy was just telling him about a dream and he gets all offended.

Wait did i miss something, isn't Chauntcleer a rooster, is she married to a rooster?

She's still talking about the rooster, right? I'm thoroughly confused.

Wait, the rooster can talk?

I have some mixed feeling about this one, on one hand, I can see how this story can be controversial to people in the 14th century, but on the other hand, reading this today, it doesn't really faze me or most other people for that matter. It starts really slow and then really picks up when the three partners start working against each other, but then the end of that tale is very anticlimactic. I would say overall the story is mostly boring with a few good lines.

What a disappointment, just as the story starts to get juicy, the conflict is resolved in like 14 lines.

OH MY GOD, are they going to get poisoned and he will get stabbed? this story is starting to get suspenseful.

That's exactly why you don't do business with three people, two of them will always conspire against you. Uncle Joey taught me better.

Are they referring to the Grim Reaper himself or is there an actual killer in the village that is being referred to as death?

Who's Samson?

Wasn't the Pardoner drinking right before he started telling his story, why is he all judgmental all of a sudden?

A person who keeps a house of prostitution, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer, a madame. Basically a pimp.

Yeah because he would lose on his business. He's so shady.

Are these the trinkets that we talked about in class that priests would sell to people to absolve their sins?

This one was quit boring, it just dragged on and on and on and on, and all the biblical references didn't help either. It seemed to me from my prospective, that the wife of Bath was feeling remorseful even though she spends the whole time trying to justify all her marriages. I think the whole point of her going on the pilgrimage is a way for her to seek redemption for her choices. The many marriages she had were one of those life experiences that you don't necessarily regret, but you still wish you hadn't done or you feel like it's a burden on your shoulders. overall it's still a solid story that I feel if I spend more time with I could find more meaning and a deeper understanding about life choices, living on whims, and maturity.

Wait, could it be the same Alison from the Miller's tale!

To move from one location to another in an apparently random and frivolous manner.

As transitive: To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to excite to anger. As reflexive: To take pride in; to pride oneself on. As: transitive To excite (someone) to action by causing resentment or jealousy; to stimulate (a feeling, emotion); to offend by slighting.

Excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.

I hate to love this story, but it was kind of funny in a very dark humored way, you could clearly tell the miller was drunk af. I do hate the ending because it just leaves you so angry at those two assholes Nicholas and Alison, I feel like they didn't get what they deserved, Nicholas getting his butt burned wasn't enough for me, I'd done much worse.

Can this poor guy not catch a f#%*ing break.

This brings me so much joy!

WHAT A SHITHEAD, he's just taking advantage of an old guy.

A joke or quip.

An impolite and mean-spirited person.

Wait aren't they going on some kind of religious journey or something like that, and this dude is just drunk, WTH.

An emphatic declaration that something is or is not the case.

Man! I really like that each character is described very well and you get a detailed background on each person, but I feel like it will be really hard to keep up with the story if there are that many characters. I really liked the language, it was really easy to follow, easy to read and easy understand. I enjoyed the rhymes, they made the reading really fun and after reading this and Sir Gawain, I'd say no alliterations is definitely better.

It's interesting that the writer puts an emphasis on the beard by saying "...nor ever should he have [a beard]." Is it because the pardoner is very young and has soft features or is it because he is unwise? because beards are a symbol of wisdom.

This reading is brought to you by Capital One, "what's in your wallet?" Haha, on a serious note though, was credit back then just having a tab?

that's one hell of a head.

A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.

Cool, he wasn't one of those catholic church priests that would rip you the hell off to absolve your sins.

Was "dipping your fingers deep in sauce," such a taboo that it's worthy of mention here?

Yaaay!!! more rhymes.

The last two parts are pretty good, there was a decent amount of action (more than the first two parts) but I didn’t really like Gawain’s character very much. To me, Gawain seems a bit too timid and just doesn’t fit the role of a hero. Even though Gawain does prove himself to be courteous and Knightly, he just isn’t confident enough; he doesn’t seem relatable or inspiring at all and leaves a lot to be desired.

What is up with this guy and selling himself short all the time, he always acts so meekly.

To hurry or go quickly.