PROSE

FRANCIS BACON
Introduction
Francis Bacon was a prose writer of renaissance age, a great philosopher and pioneer of scientific thoughts. He had set
some goals in his life. One is to serve his country, second is to serve the church and the other is to learn the truth.

His interest in his science and reasoning lead him to write critically about the aspects of life. He wrote many essays which
till today receives appreciation and is up to date. Being an essayist his aim was to share the wisdom of his life.

Style of Writing
Bacon’s style is most remarkable for his preciseness. He has a great command of condensation of the sentences. Each
sentence of his essay contains multiple meanings and references. He combines wisdom with brevity and his short, pithy
sayings become famous as mottoes and useful expressions.

His writing style is aphoristic which means a compact, condensed and epigrammatic style of writing. He was expert in
expressing truth in few possible words with beauty. His essays are the example of this aphoristic style. His essay “Of Truth”
has many examples of the aphoristic style.

OF TRUTH
Summary of Truth by Francis Bacon

Of truth is Bacon’s great work of prose which shows his keen observation of human beings with their attributes of truth
and lie. In the beginning, he states that people generally do not care for the truth. He gives the example of Pilate, the
governor of Roman Empire while conducting the session with Jesus Christ, does not pay attention to the truth and said:
“what is the truth? Said Jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.”

Moving on he describes the reasons why people do not like the truth. First, the truth is difficult to acquire without hard
work and man is ever reluctant to work hard. Moreover, truth makes people bound to a certain fact. It diminishes the
freedom.

According to Bacon truth is like a bright day which shows the real self. Truth is like a pearl that shows what is visible to
naked eye. It cannot show anything by adding unrealistic elements. Falsehood can show something apparent in dark.
People lie because it covers their real personality. Bacon rightly says that “A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.” The
mixture of truth and lie makes things interesting and pleases everyone. He states if everything is presented as its real color
with no additional praise, flattering comments, and illusions the society will become indolent.

Same is the case with poets. They add false praises in their poetry to reach a higher level of accomplishments. Truth is
utmost important in every aspect of life civil or business. A bit of lie added to truth is like making an alloy of copper and
gold. It becomes easier to work with these metals but at the same times, it makes it impure.

Bacon compares lie with a snake crawling on its belly instead of walking on its feet. The false person has to let his head
down because he feels guilty all the time due to his habit of speaking falsehood all the time to earn benefits in business.
There is no shameful act than to be a liar.

Bacon quotes Montaigne who said that “a liar is a man who is brave towards God but is coward towards men.” He
emphasizes on the wickedness of the falsehood by saying that these are the negative qualities of men which will call upon
the judgment of God upon mankind.

Therefore Bacon concludes his essay with didacticism by giving a tinge of Christian morality. The essay is rich in manner
and matter. This is a council, civil and moral and should be read slowly to understand the lucid and condensed prose style
of Bacon.
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE
In Of Marriage and Single Life, Bacon highlights the differences between the married life and the single’s life and the
various advantages or disadvantages of the same. The burden of a married life According to Bacon a married man has a
family to raise and take care of.

He is totally committed to providing security to them. But such commitment leaves him unable to take up any enterprise
whether good or bad, noble or wicked. He loses his freedom to go after what his heart longs for.

The Liberty of An Unmarried Life

He feels that the unmarried men are unrestricted and free to make bold moves that can produce important changes in
culture and society.

According to him, human history is a testament to the fact that the greatest achievements in the different spheres of
science, art, literature etc. have been made by men and women who were single and uninhibited by the constraints of
marriage.

Wealthy singles can be generous with their money are therefore sought after by churches. Unlike married men who are
responsible to provide for their family members, the bachelors are less encumbered by such worries.

However, he also states the fact that married men who have children have an incentive to think about the future and
posterity. They take matters of such importance with gravity and seriousness.

This empowers them with a commitment to make efforts for improvement. This also drives them to explore the future
consequences of action or inaction in the present. It can lead to a need to make a better tomorrow for their children and
their children

In the same vein, Bacon points at various single people who are lethargic, unmotivated and wasteful with their time and
energy. They abuse their bachelorhood and often lack sensitivity to various problems of the present and dangers in the
future.

They exhibit a level of callousness to the opportunities that they have and have no regrets about their self-indulgence,
inaction, wastefulness and shameless disregard.

Then there are a few who are married but consider their wives and children as a burden in their own freedom and selfish
desires. There are also some wealthy people, who wittingly decide to not reproduce or have children in fear of losing their
riches to their heirs.

To them, procreation will lead to more number of claimants to their wealth and property. They refuse to see the need and
benefits of a family and leaving a legacy beyond their material possessions.

They are influenced by the fears of losing their wealth in the upkeep of a large family. Their greed clouds their better
judgment and they are swayed by such notions of not having a progeny.

The Unreliability of the Bachelor

Bacon then points out people who stay single because they believe that marriage only leads to more fetters, restrictions,
responsibilities and obligations.

They have strange convictions that single life can protect them from ever having such burden of obligations, duties and
stresses that bother married people.

They are consumed by a self-created illusion of a blissful and fulfilling single life that does not suffer from the bondage
and shackles of marriage. They are forever on the run from the prison of marital responsibilities and commitments
Therefore, unmarried men are always a flight risk, prone to just run away and desertion. They are often good employees,
better friends, as they have ample time for their employees and friends.

Their ambitions, desires and jobs are their only considerations. However, it is their volatile existence without any anchors
of the family that make them unreliable. They float without any roots to ground them.

A Discipline in Humanity

Bacon then described the need for men of justice like judges and magistrates to espouse the qualities of honesty,
reasoning and fairness.

While an unrestrained and unanchored bachelor can be unpredictable, reckless and discretionary in his thought and
judgment, a married man is more suited for the responsibility of a judge.

He has the necessary understanding and regard for commitment and responsibility as he has a wife and family to keep
secure. He is more likely to be careful and patient with his decision and less vulnerable to making rash judgments and
errors in this thinking.

In military organizations, the generals use the whole premise of ‘a family to protect’ when they address their soldiers. The
married soldiers are committed to ensuring security if their wives and children.

The lofty ideals of virtues and chivalry, patriotism and duty are praised and encouraged when soldiers take to the
battlefield.

Bacon observes that in the army of Turks, it is the unmarried soldiers who are prone to debase, perverse and the vilest
behaviour when it comes to conducting with the defeated opposition army and prisoners of war.

Thus, in a way having a wife and children are necessary restraints on the animalistic and baser side of men and humanity.
It curtails the Freudian basic and animal instincts and desires.

Marriage has a way of establishing a loving home. Single men may be richer and more capable of making massive
charitable donations but they clack the empathetic and sensitive side that comes from genuine companionship.

It is one’s wife and children that provide them with a moral understanding of their limits of conduct and behaviour.
Bachelors lack these terms of engagement and often consumed by moral corruption, vulgar thoughts and cruel intentions.

They lack the need and ability to evaluate the moral significance and correctness of their thoughts and action.

The Good Husband and Wife

Men with ethics and morals are good husbands. They are not tempted by the pleasures of infidelity and remain honest
and loyal to their wives and marriage.

Here, Bacon gives the example of Ulysses who valued his wife more than an immortal life. In the same vein, the woman
also courts and regarding chastity. They preserve it as their sense of purity.

They have greater self-respect and value their body as sacred and not just means of carnal pleasures of the flesh.
Therefore, a woman of chastity is proud of her worth and the worth of his loyal husband.

Their relationship is strong, durable and enriched with mutual respect. The vice of jealousy can weaken this bond as the
wife will not feel the trust of her husband if he is envious and susceptible to doubt and suspicion.

The Apt Time for Marriage

Bacon points out the different roles a wife plays in a man’s life. When he is young and passionate, she becomes his lover.
She pleasures him sensually and her love and devotion make him feel more virile and strong.
In his middle age, she is his companion in weal and woe, good or bad and triumph or disaster. She becomes his constant,
a pillar of strength. As he enters old age and becomes weak and weary, his becomes a nurse and a caregiver. She nourishes
him at his most vulnerable.

Bacon says that deciding the correct time for marriage can be tricky for young and desirous men. For them, it is the
pleasures of the body that are most pressing. Therefore, he suggests that young men should be patient and not rush into
important decisions.

Marriage demands commitment and total devotion and thus men must wait for the opportune time. On the flipside, when
a man is old and suffering, he must not rush to get a wife even if there are beautiful young women who are available to
marry.

Old age brings its share of problems and issues and may lead to unwanted situations. Bacon beautifully uses a
philosopher’s quote to answer the question about the correct age and time to marry, “a young man not yet, an elder man
not at all”

The Failed Husbands

Bacon feels that we often see some the most tyrannical and cruellest men with the noblest and most generous wives.
These women endure great hardships and are happy with even the smallest gestures of affection from their mean
husbands.

They are devoted and committed to securing their marriage even if they suffer many sacrifices and pains during the
process. But, it is the husbands who do not value such great and loving wives, who are the biggest losers of all.

Their inability to value the affection and care of their wives makes them a failure both as husbands and human beings.
Bacon advises such husbands to mend their errant ways and duly regard and honour their doting wives.

Of Marriage and Single Life: Key Thoughts

In Of Marriage and Single Life, Bacon is able to compare single life and married life through different lenses. He puts
forward the pros and cons of marriage in terms of how it is viewed by society and how it affects an individual.

Even though he enlists the burdens and limitation of marriage, he extols the benefits of marriage and how it shapes a
person.

Bacon insists that having a family can make a man generous and merciful. It teaches a form of discipline that single men,
lack and thus are more cruel and reckless.

Of STUDIES
In this essay Bacon describes the importance of studies in human life. Bacon begins the essay by enlisting three purposes
of studies – “to delight, for ornament and for ability.” Studies delight most when one is secluded and reposed. Knowledge
acquired through studies serve as ornament in a conversation. A well read man will have a good vocabulary and greater
knowledge which will increase the worth of a conversation. Studies improve one’s judgmental and authoritative abilities.
Ordinary men can no doubt go about their daily business without difficulty but a learned man will do so with higher
efficiency. Bacon however says that studying too much is a sign of laziness and using too many ornaments while conversing
makes one look pretentious. To make judgments only on the basis of rules is the eccentricity of a scholar.

Studies make a man perfect. Studying is not an inborn talent; it is acquired. The natural abilities of man are to be enhanced
by studies just like the growth of plants is enhanced by trimming. Studies provide both direction and experience. Practical
men often condemn studies but wise men use it. Studies teach man to learn from observation. One must not use
knowledge as a means of contradiction or confutation. Studies must also not be used to believe or to take for granted, or
to talk and discourse but “to weigh and consider”.

Then Bacon speaks about the different ways in which different books are to be read. He says – “Some books are to be
tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” This means some books are to be perused
lightly, that is, tasted while some other books are to be understood and enjoyed, that is, swallowed. On the other hand
certain books are to be digested, that it, to fully extract their meaning and implemented in one’s life. Therefore some
books are to be read only in parts, others are to be read with less curiosity, and some books are to be read with attention
and diligence. Bacon however also says that sometimes it may be enough to read extracts or reviews of books made by
others instead of reading the whole book by oneself. But according to Bacon this is to be done only in case of books of
less importance. He considers these “distilled books” to distilled waters which he calls “flashy things”.

Reading makes a man complete, conversation makes a man quick and witty, and writing improves the memory. If a man
writes less he will lack a good memory, if he speaks little he will lack wit and presence of mind, and if he reads less he will
not have much knowledge.

A study of history makes a man wise while a study of poetry makes him witty. Mathematics makes a man exact and precise
and natural philosophy increases the depth of the mind. Morals make a man grave whereas a study of logic and rhetoric
makes him more comprehensive. Studies pass into character. A man’s character is influenced and defined by the type of
books he reads.

There is no disease of the mind that cannot be cured by proper study. Bowling is good for the bladder and the kidneys,
shooting for the lungs and breast, walking for the stomach and riding is good for the head. Similarly mathematics is the
remedy for a wandering mind because if a man’s mind wanders while solving a problem he will have to begin again. If a
man is unable to make distinctions he must study schoolmen and if he is not quick in passing through matters he should
study the law. Thus Bacon concludes the essay by establishing that for every deficit of the mind a remedy is to be found
in studies.