Juvenilia ✔/ a Nonfiction Undergraduate University Collection

Comus as a Literary Character

ENGLISH 3264

Poetry and Prose of the Later Renaissance

October 28th, 2020

Comus as a Literary Character

I have always been particularly interested in Greek mythology, but I have never encountered the God Comus before. According to several sources including Theoi (an online classical mythology encyclopedia), Comus was originally the son of Dionysus and was the god of revelry and merrymaking. His role was his father's cupbearer. Milton takes liberties with this mythological figure.

Comus is an integral part of the story of Milton's masque, Comus, as he serves several roles; not only is he the antagonist of the Masque, but he also serves as commentary to a male perspective on social issues—generally where women are concerned and specifically regarding chastity. 

Comus, a character of Milton's making (based very loosely on the Comus from Greek mythology), offers the perspective that chastity is a thing that men have particular rights to more than the women who, themselves, possess it, and that everything in the world was made to be experienced for male pleasure. Otherwise, why would particular delights have been made?

Comus is the fictional son of Dionysus and Circe—the Greek God of wine, and the witch Goddess respectively (Delahunty, "A Dictionary of Reference and Allusion"). Comus is the sum of his parent's worst parts, and it culminates in an unfortunate combination of alcoholism, partying, and witchcraft, not necessarily good things to identify with (essentially the modern-day equivalent of a spoiled, rich, frat boy with a grimoire and a magic stick that works.)

Comus inherited his mother's affinity for magic and turning people into animals and swine, and his father's lust for material wealth and pleasure in the physical realm so to speak. He suffers from a bad case of entitlement, and it is very easy to see how this might be a criticism of well-to-do families and spoiled children who grow up without ever hearing the word 'no'.

Comus encounters the Lady and immediately wants to defile her. Under the pretense of being a well-meaning villager, he then brings her to his "lair", secures her to take her virginity, and engages the Lady in a conversation to make it "consensual" through coercion. The lady prevails and stays strong; she is saved by a woman, not her brothers, which I mention only because I believe this detail plays a part in contextualizing Comus's character and gender roles at the time.

The Oxford Dictionary references Comus as, "The personification of revelry," and I think this sheds a lot of light on the intentions of the character. Revelry does not have an inherently negative connotation associated with it; simply festivity, boisterous energy, and excess. 

I do not think Comus sees that what he is doing is wrong; I think he simply sees it as the natural way of life, and I think that is a more terrifying notion than him simply "being bad". In reiteration, he is not right in believing this; but the fact that he thinks this is even more upsetting because he thinks he is justified in his behaviour. 

The fact that Comus is the son of Dionysus and Circe is important even just in the sense that as a child of Gods, he would then be immortal and would thus be above the earthly realm in the story—or in this world, above the law. 

This could be perceived in several ways, but I think the takeaway is that males from the time of Milton simply have more agency and freedom in society and can get away with terrible things, especially if those in power do nothing about crimes. (Further commentary on this can be seen through the case of the scandals discussed in class on  *Margery Evans and the family of Earl of Bridgewater.)