27 December 2019

DU affiliated 7colleges exam routine. 1st year_dept_English_2019


Political science marks distribution


Prose marks distribution


Poetry mark distribution

Poetry marks distribution of 7colleges.

Literature mark distribution


Affiliated seven colleges marks distribution. History of English literature.

Shall i Compare Thee To A Summers Day by William Shakespeare- Bangla Translation

Shall i compare thee to a summers day
Shall i Compare thee to a summers day- Bangla Translation

What features of metaphysical poetry do you find in the poem ' The Good Morrow'?

Metaphysical poetry is a term used to describe 17th Century poetry of such writers as John Donne and George Herbert.  It is characterized as highly intellectual representations of intensely emotional subjects.  Literary elements such as conceit, allusion, paradox, irony are often found in this type of poetry.
"The Good Morrow" by John Donne is an excellent example of this type of poetry.
Metaphysical poetry mainly deals with such concepts as love, faith, soul, death, and God. The key features of Metaphysical poetry consists: abrupt beginning, argumentative expression of emotional contents, use of wit and metaphysical conceits, conversational tone, colloquial language, striking blend of thought and feeling, amalgamation of disparate images, and irregular rhythmic pattern. John Donne is one of those poets and his “The Good Morrow” bears the signature marks of metaphysical love poetry.


Love is the predominant tone of the poem. The poem opens in a dramatic way. The lover wants to know from his beloved what they did before they loved. The question is asked at dawn after their last night experience of love making. This sexual form of love is found to be so significant and powerful than other forms of love. Compared to this, their love for sucking milk from the mother’s breast, for praising the lovely scenes around the country, and for snoring slumber are all immature, childish and full of ignorance.


Obviously there is a shift from physical to spiritual love, sleeping to waking period, sensuous appearances to ideal reality and as if from platonic cave to the world of light in the poet and his beloved. Here the poet seems to have touched the metaphysics of Plato.


Another characteristic of metaphysical poetry is the use of conceit, i.e far-fetched imagery. “The Good Morrow” abounds in the use of conceits. Unconscious lovers have been compared with the breast feeding babies. These are conceits from various sources – ‘the Seven Sleeper’s Den’ (Roman Mythology), ‘Sea-discoverers’, ‘maps’, ‘sharp North’, ‘declining West’ ‘hemispheres’ (Geography), ‘whatever dyes was not mixed equally’ (Scholastic Philosophy).


Naturally, metaphysical poetry includes argumentative expression of emotional content. “The Good Morrow” presents love in an argumentative manner, and is developed through a series of seemingly logical stages, and the connections are marked by the words like “But”, “If”, “Or’, “And”, “For” etc. The poem also moves logically from past to present to future. The lovers’ belief and doubt about the immortality of their love is logically presented:


“If our two loves be one, or thou and I

Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.”


Since the lovers originally love each other with equal intensity and passion, the lovers argue that they will continue their love for each other until death and even after their death.


The tone of the speaker in the poem is conversational, easy and colloquial. The vocabulary is at once affectionate and dismissive: ‘not wean’d’, ‘sucked’, ‘childishly’, ‘snorted’ etc. ‘Morrow’, ‘troth’, ‘slacken’ are the colloquial words that bind the poem to the metaphysical poetry tradition.


“The Good Morrow” celebrates the true genesis of metaphysical style of love. Thus, the sudden beginning, the abstract theme (love), its logical and argumentative development using conceits, use of colloquial words in a conversational tone, and an absence of rhythmic pattern certainly places “The Good Morrow” in the genre of metaphysical poetry.


Write a short note on Shelley's use of imagery with reference to his poem 'To A Skylark'.

P.B. Shelley, the highly intellectual poet of the Romantic Revival, was a dreamer and visionary. He had a great passion for reforming the world. He saw evils all around him. According to him, the world was full of corruptions, oppression, social injustice and tyrannies almost all of his poems are the expressions of his utter discontent with the existing social system.
So to liberate mankind from this state of sufferings, he sought ideal beauty, ideal love and ideal liberty, and dreamt of a golden world. As a true romantic poet he found it convenient to express his ideals through symbols. The word, “symbolism” signifies an object or event which stands for something else and to a poet it means the imagery he uses to express his ideas.

“To a Skylark” is an expression of a romantic agony stirred by a passion for regenerating and reforming a society under outworn customs and conventions. The skylark is an invisible source of music symbolizing the romantic poet. The lark has all that the poet lacks supreme fluency, profuseness, an audience and an everlasting joy. Being in elemental contact with nature it has an elemental purity of joy that separates it from humanity and the poet alike. The skylark belongs to a world of perfection but the poet is chained to a world of hatred, pride, fear and pain. The poet has drawn a sharp contrast between the life of the skylark and that of man. The bird lives in a state of perfect happiness and joy, whereas a men is always troubled with a vague sadness.

To show the skylark as an ideal bird or a heavenly creature with all perfections the poet has drawn a number of images which are not only charming but also intellectually suggestive. The imagery of the skylark has been created by means of a series of similes and metaphors which suggest the sweetness of the bird’s music, its invisibility and the great height from which it sings. The skylark is unseen “like a star of heaven in the broad day light”. As for its intellectual quality it is like a poet hidden in the light of thought. As for its charming qualities it is like a high born maiden singing love songs in a palace tower, like a golden glowworm invisibly scattering its light among the flowers and grass, like a rose hidden by its own green leaves and filling the air with its scent, etc.
Each of the similes brings before our mind a picture of the ideal bird and the melody of the verse hypnotizes the reader so much that it takes him to the heavenly world of the skylark Shelley seldom uses a firmly held developed image, but pours out a flood of images which the reader must grasp momentarily in one aspect and then release. He is fond of figures within figures. For example, in the third stanza the image of the setting sun “over which clouds are brightening”, and the image of the skylark, floating there” like an embodied joy” are fused together to carry a special meaning. Here the skylark is a happy soul that has shaken off its earthly joy and has set out on a journey toward heaven.
Shelley’s hope for redeeming a corrupt world through the power of human intellect has been revealed beautifully through his comparison of the skylark to a poet “hidden in the light of thought” w. hose singing converts the world to “sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not”. In other words, it is the poet who can bring about reconstructions in an outworn society by the noble expression of his Poetry.

Shelley’s transcendental philosophy finds a beautiful expression through the imagery of the skylark. The poet’s intensity of feeling imaginative flight, intellectual curiosity, a sense of mystery and wonder—all the romantic qualities find noble expression in his poem, “To a skylark”. Living in an age of orthodox belief and institutional tyrannies Shelley was beset with moral and spiritual problems. He found the existing society hostile towards him. So he wanted to go beyond this physical world and enjoy unlimited freedom as the skylark does. In fact the ‘skylark in this poem expresses his release and escape from this mundane world. Shelley seldom takes near-at-hand object from the world of ordinary perception. His gaze goes up to the sky and he starts with objects that are just on the verge of becoming invisible or inaudible or intangible, and he strains away even from there. So we can conclude that Shelley’s imagery is at its best when it transcends the concrete.

What is Dramatic Monologue? analyse 'Ulysses' as a dramatic monologue.

Dramatic monologue, also known as a persona poem, is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character. A dramatic monologue is a type of poem in which the speaker is directly addressing and talking to some other person. The speaker in such poems usually speaks alone, in a one way conversation, and so it is called a monologue.

The poem 'Ulysses' by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a dramatic monologue by definition. A dramatic monologue, a genre sometimes identified with Romantic and Victorian poetry, is defined as a poem that has the following characteristics:
1. It is written in the first person, but with a narrative persona that is quite distinct from that of the poet.The narrator of a dramatic monologue often differs from the poet in chronological location, gender, or life circumstances. In some ways it is similar to a soliloquy excerpted from a surrounding drama.
2. The narrator, in speaking to some putative audience, is gradually revealing his or her character to the reader. It is often said that the dramatic monologue is not heard, but like a soliloquy in a play, overheard. Often what is revealed is the opposite of what the reader expects or the narrator intends.

Tennyson's poem fits this definition in that it is spoken in the voice of Ulysses (the Latin spelling of Odysseus) rather than in Tennyson's own voice, and has the quality of being overheard. Unlike many other dramatic monologues, we do not get a dramatic conflict between how the speaker intends to portray himself and what is revealed.
Instead, the narrator explicitly reflects on his situation and the need for a final voyage not so much for its overt purpose, but to regain his sense of personal identity as a heroic figure.


Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrianne Rich - Bangla Translation

Aunt Jennifer's Tiger's
_______ Adrianne Rich


Bangla Translation

জেনিফার চাচির বাঘদের পর্দাজুড়ে গর্বিত চলাফেরা
 মণিরত্বের ঝিলিক ছড়িয়ে বিরাজমান তারা সবুজ জমিনে ।
গাছের তলায় আসীন মানুষকে ভয় নেই
 নিশ্চিতে ধীর পদক্ষেপে হাটে তারা বীরের ভঙ্গিতে I
 জেনিফার চাচির হাত দুটো বুনে চলে
উল হস্তীদন্তের সুচ ঊঠবে আর নামবে কঠোর শ্রমে ।
গুরুভার সেই বিয়ের আংটি চাচার
 ভারি হয়ে বসেছে চাচির হাতে ।
 যখন চাচি গত হবেন , শক্তিধর হাত পড়বে নুয়ে
 তখনো ধ্বনিত হবে সেই রীতি যার দাসত্ব করেছেন তিনি I
যে বাঘ তিনি তৈরী করেছেন ফ্রেমের মাঝে
গর্বিত আর নির্ভিকভারে এভাবেই এগিয়ে চলবে I

Where is the mind without fear by Rabindranath Tagore - Bangla Translation

Where is the mind is without fear
           __________ Rabindranath Tagore

Bangla Translation



চিত্ত যেথা ভয়শূন্য, উচ্চ যেথা শির,
জ্ঞান যেথা মুক্ত, যেথা গৃহের প্রাচীর
অাপন প্রাঙ্গণতলে দিবসশবরীি
বসুধারে রাখে নাই খণ্ড ক্ষুদ্র করি,
 যেথা বাক্য হৃদয়ের উৎসমুখ হতে
 উচ্ছ্বসিয়া উঠে, যেথা নির্ধারিত স্রোতে
 দেশে দেশে দিশে দিশে কর্মধারা ধায়
অজস্র সহস্রবিধ চরিতার্থতায়,
যেথা তুচ্ছ আচারের মরুবালুরাশি
বিচারের স্রোতঃপথ ফেলে নাই গ্রাসি,
পৌরুষেরে করে নি শতধা, নিত্য যেথা
 সর্বকর্ম চিন্তা আনন্দের নেতা,
 নিজ হস্তে নির্দয় আঘাত করি, পিতঃ ;
ভারতেরে সেই স্বর্গে করো জাগরিত ।

A Prayer for My Daughter by W.B Yeats - Bangla Translation

A Prayer for My Daughter
                      _____________________W.B Yeats

          Bangla Translation



আরো একবার ঝড়াে হাওয়া
গর্জন করে উঠল, অর্ধ
লুকায়িত
দোলনার হুড ও চাদরের নীচে,
আমার শিশুটি ঘুমিয়ে আছে,
আসেপাশে নেই কোন বাধা বিপত্তি
শুধু গ্রেগরীর বনে আর উন্মুক্ত
পাহাড়ে রুদ্র রোষ তার
খড়ের গাদা আর ঘরের চলো
সমানকারী বাতাস ,
যা সৃষ্টি হয় আটলান্টিকে,
চলমান থাকতে পারে;
প্রায় ঘন্টাখানেক ধরে
হাটছি আর প্রার্থনা করছি
কঠিন ভারাক্রান্ত মনকে
ভারমুক্ত করতেই ৷
বহুক্ষণ প্রাণ ভরে , প্রার্থনা
করেছি শিশুটির তরে
আর ঝড়ের প্ৰলয় ধ্বনি
শুনেছি প্রাসাদের পরে ,
পুলের নীচে, পাইনের বনে,
বারবার
তীরও প্লাবিত হয়ে ঝড়াে
জলে একাকার ;
মগ্ন স্বপনে দেখি,
সমাগত প্রায় দ্বারপ্রান্তে ,
সেই কাল একান্তে :
রুদ্র বীণার ঝঙ্কারে , মাতাল
 নৃতাে উত্তাল করি বেদী
হন্তারক বেশে ,  শান্ত স্নিগ্ধ
সাগর বক্ষভেদী l
ঈশ্বর যেন রূপ দেন তারে
অপার
প্রার্থনা তারে না দেন যেন তিনি , রূপের অহঙ্কার
 আয়নাতে মুখ দেখে কভু যেন ,
সে মনে না করে
দেহে তার কত রূপ সে ধরে
, রূপের অহঙ্কার না যেন থাকে তার ,
না যেন করে তারে মমতা হীন
হৃদয় উৎসারি নিবেদনেও যেন
 সে না থাকে আলীন
নিবেদিত নিখাদ প্রেমকে
যেন পাত্র না করে অবজ্ঞার ।
ঈশ্বর নিজ হাতে গড়েছিলেন
যারে এক কালে ,
সেই হোলনেরও অপার দুঃখ
ছিল ভালে ,
আফ্রোদিতিকে  গড়েছিলেন , ঈশ্বর আপন মনে পিতৃহীনা সে যেন জিতে
যায় জীবন রণে
বিকলাঙ্গ এক যুবককে হৃদয়
দেয় যে সব রূপসীরাই ভুল করে
জীবনে , নিশ্চিত
রুপের আশীর্বাদ শেষে ফল
করে বিপরীত
রুপের প্রাচুর্য শূন্যে মিলায়
অবশেষে ।
জীবন থেকে জেনেছি ,
বিনয়ই শ্রেষ্ঠ সম্পদ ভালোবাসা অর্জনের , যদিও
রূপ ঈশ্বরের আশীর্বাদ
রূপহীনা বহু নারী , করেছে হৃদয় জয়
রূপের মোহে বহু জন পথ
খুঁজেছে মূর্থতায়
রুপের মোহ কেটেছে
অনেকের , অনেক পরে
কত অভাগা রূপের মোহকে
প্রেম ভেবেছে
নিজে ভালোবেসে বুঝেছে,
সেও বুঝি ভালবেসেছে
মরেছে সে কৃপাদৃষ্টিকে
প্রেম মনে করে I
প্রার্থনা আমার , পত্রে
পুষ্প শোভিত হোক অন্তর আত্মজার
কোমল , শোভনে শোভিত
হোক অন্তর তার ,
জনহিত চিন্তা , কর্মে না জড়াক কন্যাটি অকারণ,
না থাকুক পাশে তার প্ৰশংসার প্লাবন ,
সোল্লাসে না জড়াক, অকারণ উৎপাতে
না ছুটুক , অকারণ কোনো বিবাদের পিছু
পেলব , পবিত্র থাকে যেন তার সব কিছু
অচঞ্চল, থাকে যেন কাল ধারার সাথে ।
অলক্ষে, অন্তরে আমার অপার বেদনা বোধ,
কেন , রূপাকাঙক্ষায় গড়তে পারিনি প্রতিরোধ?
কিছু দিন সমৃদ্ধ ছিল বটে ,
এখন মৃত প্রায় ।
এখন পুড়ে মরি সেই শোচনায় ৷
ঘৃণাই কুমতির সেরা জানি সে কথা
মনে যদি না থাকে ঘৃণা বা ঘোর প্রতিশোধ
এসবের আবর্তে যদি না পড়ে মানব বোধ
কভু হারায় না, মনের পবিত্রতা I
সচেতন ঘৃণাবোধ, ঘৃণ্যতম বলা হয়
আত্মজাটির মনে যেন সদা এ বোধটি রয় ।
আমি কী দেখিনি সে রূপসীর কর্ম
ধনীর ঘরে ছিল যার জন্ম
মনে তার ছিল সে এক
সংস্কার
সংস্কারেই ফেলে দিল তার সম্পদ সব
বুদ্ধিমানেরা ভারত; এসব
নিম্ফল কলরব
কোনো এক আক্রোশে সব সে
করে পরিহার ?
মন থেকে সব ঘৃণা যদি ঝেড়ে
 ফেলে আত্মজা আমার,
স্নিগ্ধ, শান্ত , সুখে পূর্ণ হবে
জীবনটি তার
অবশেষে জানবে সে , এতেই
 অসীম সুখ জীবনে ,
তৃপ্ত , সমাহিত থাকবে সে
আপন মনে ,
তৃপ্ত মানসই দীপ্ত , স্বর্গ
সুখের আলোকে
কুঞ্চিত মুখে যা কিছুই বলুক
না লোকে ,
বা জীবনে যা কিছুই থাক
ক্ষোভের উৎস
জীবনে যত থাক ঝড় , সব
 তার কাছে তুচ্ছ !
কন্যাটি আমার যেন পায়
ভালো ঘর, বর
ধনে, মানে পূর্ণ থাকে যেন
 ঘরটি তার ;
দুর্বিনয় , ঘৃণা বোধ সুখের
অন্তরায়
তবু জীবনে তাই ঘটে যায়৷
কিন্তু কিভাবে, প্রথা
আর অনুষ্ঠানে
নির্মলতা আর সৌন্দর্য
সৃষ্টি হয় কি?
অনুষ্ঠানের নাম’গুলো শুধু
অন্তঃসারশূন্য ধনীদের জন্যে:
আর প্রথা বংশতালিকা
ছড়ানোর তরে৷

26 December 2019

Write a short note on Imperialism

Imperialism is a policy or ideology of extending a country's rule over foreign nations, often by military force or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Imperialism was both normal and common worldwide throughout recorded history, the earliest examples dating from the mid-third millennium BC. In recent times, it has been considered morally reprehensibIe and prohibited by international |aw. Therefore, the term is used in international propaganda to denounce an opponent's foreign policy.

The term can be applied to the colonization of the Americas between the 17th and 19th centuries, as opposed to New Imperialism, which describes the expansion of Western Powers and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, both are examples of imperialism.

Write a short note on Conceit

A conceit is a kind of metaphor that compares two very unlike things in a surprising and clever way. Often, conceits are extended metaphors that dominate an entire passage or poem.
Metaphysical poet John Donne was known for his conceit.

Write a short note on Pantheism

Pantheism is the belief that reality is identical with divinity or that allthings compose an all-encompassing, immanent god.
Pantheist belief does not recognize a distinct personal god, anthropomorphic or otherwise, and instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity.
Pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic elements have been identified in various religious traditions.
The term 'pantheism' was coined by mathematician Joseph Raphson in 1697 and has since been used to describe the beliefs of a variety of people and organizations.

Pantheism was popularized in Western culture as a theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century phiIOSOpher Baruch Spinoza, particularly his book Ethics.

Write a short note on Sensuousness

Sensuousness Is a quality In poetry which affects the senses i.e. hearing, seeing, touching, smelling and tasting.

Sensuous poetry does not present Ideas and philosophical thoughts. It gives delight to senses, appeals to our eyes by presenting beautiful and colourful word pictures to our ears by its metrical music and musical sounds, to our nose by arousing the sense of smell and so on.

Write a short note on Feminism

Feminism is a range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes.

Feminism incorporates the position that societies prioritize the male point of view, and that women are treated unfairly within those societies. Efforts to change that include fighting gender stereotypes and seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men.

Why do you think George Orwell felt compelled to shoot the elephant?

The narrator in George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is compelled to shoot the elephant by the energy of the Burmese people and his own fear of retribution. As he struggles with whether or not he wants to or needs to shoot the animal, the narrator illustrates the driving force of the crowd behind him.
Even though he took the rifle with no intention of shooting it, he claims “I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly.” From this moment he describes the realization that the Western white man’s attempt to rule over the East is futile. He realizes that in trying to maintain power and control, he must do what is expected by the native Burmese people. “. . . in fact I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind,” he says of the crowd’s compelling influence.

Just before the narrator takes aim to shoot the elephant, he recognizes his fear of the fallout if he does not shoot it. Because a man is already dead and now the crowd is energized for the kill, the narrator cannot let them down by failing to shoot. He knows that if he fails now, “those […] Burmans would see me pursued, caught, trampled on and reduced to a grinning corpse . . .” To avoid the wrath of an angry mob, he decides to go through with shooting the elephant.

Describe the uses of imagery in the poem "Fern Hill".

"Fern Hill" ranks among Dylan Thomas' most famous poems. Originally included in "Deaths and Entrances" published in 1945, the piece employs simple yet lyrical language and imagery to evoke the happy period of childhood. Concerned with youth and nostalgia, its speaks of a span of life when the concept of age is unimaginable.

Time

Time is personified in "Fern Hill." "Time let me hail and climb / Golden in the heydays of his eyes" and "Time let me play and be / Golden in the mercy of his means," Thomas writes, creating imagery that conveys a sense freedom from the existence of time -- the narrator of the poem is young and unaware of its passing. The final stanza again uses imagery of time as a sentient being: "Nothing I cared ... that time would take me ... Time held me green and dying ... ." Thomas conveys the sense that though time does indeed pass, it is merciful to the youthful narrator who dwells in a timeless idyll.

Pastoral Idyll

The imagery of the farm represents the Garden of Eden. "... It was all / Shining, it was Adam and maiden ... So it must have been after the birth of the simple light In the first, spinning place." This imagery coupled with references to apples -- "Apple boughs" and "apple towns" -- conjures a sense of the Christian concept of paradise. Thomas also repeatedly uses the words green and golden: "happy as the grass was green," "Golden in the heydays of his eyes ... I was green and carefree" and "the children green and golden" among other images create the sense of beginning, before decay is imposed by time.

Sun and Moon

Thomas repeatedly refers to the sun and moon. Imagery of the sun, including "the sun long it was running" and "the sun born over and over" conveys the idea of endless day, contributing to the theme of youth untouched by time. References to the moon are in opposition to this idea. "All the moon long I heard ..." and "the moon that is always rising" conjure images of night and the sense that darkness -- as in the final darkness or end of time -- is always present even in an idyllic world.

Youth

The narrator in "Fern Hill" is young, existing in a world he views as untouched by time. Thomas uses imagery of youth to convey this idea. "I was young and easy" and the "children green and golden" create a picture of the carefree days of childhood. Even the sun itself is subject to this imagery. "... The sun that is young once only" conjures the idea of the sun as something born or created, and that it ages as humans do. In the the final line of the poem, the narrator uses the imagery again, stating that he is "green and dying" -- young but mortal.

Evaluate Adriene Rich's feminist concern in her poem "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers".

Short poem by Adrienne Rich called Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers consists only of three stanzas but it tells the entire story of aunt Jennifer’s life. Hard life of women in male-oriented society is the main theme of the poem. The author does not express her ideas directly but makes the readers to understand her through allusions and symbols.

Bright images and deep symbolism help readers to get the author’s message. The author creates a picture of life of aunt Jennifer. There are several places in the poem which give allusion that aunt Jennifer is unhappily married and that she is oppressed by her husband. In the end of the second stanza Rich writes: “The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand” (Rich). These words show that wedding ring is a heavy burden which makes aunt Jennifer unhappy. This woman is not satisfied with her life and her husband but she has no power to change it. In the society governed by men women have little freedom and independence. The author does not show all circumstances of Aunt Jennifer’s life but she very vividly illustrates that this women is unhappy in her family life and she can not change it by her death.
In the beginning of the third stanza Rich writes: “When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.” And this is another allusion on hard family life she can not escape. The image of ring, which becomes a symbol of oppression and torture of women is vivid. The author speaks about the wedding ring as about the kind of shackles which make women totally controlled by men. The author shows that marriage is one of many ways men use to oppress women. The image of tigers is more complicated for the interpretation. From the one side it symbolizes hidden aggression. Aunt Jennifer has to suppress her negative feelings in order not to make anger her husband. Like many women aunt Jennifer probably has to stand many humiliations from her husband. Bad attitude of her husband and unhappy family life result in negative feelings aunt Jennifer can not express feely. She expresses these feelings in her works. The line “They do not fear the men beneath the tree” may be interpreted as hidden fear of her husband. Tigers, which are mighty and strong animals are described by the author as way poor woman uses to express her true feelings and attitudes.
In her dreams she possesses the power and ability to confront humiliation and oppression she experiences from men. The motif of hidden aggression is very transparent. The contrast between such peaceful occupation as knitting and the image which is knitted is stunning. The author contrasts a typical female occupation to the image which symbolizes strength and protest. Tigers symbolize not only suppressed feelings, but also become the symbol of great power and protest. They know no fear and they are totally free. They are not afraid of man behind the tree and “They pace in sleek chivalric certainty”. From these lines it becomes evident that tigers possess qualities aunt Jennifer desperately lacks in her own life. She can not manifest these qualities in her everyday life and they become objects of her art.
The author of the poem gives her readers an opportunity to enter inner world of ordinary women. This life may seem happy and easy at the first glance but the author shows the truth to her readers. Aunt Jenifer has no way to express her temper and her desires in her everyday life. Her strong characters and personal characteristics are suppressed in male-oriented society. In this society women are give definite roles and they can not break the rules and play any other roles. Aunt Jennifer is trapped by social norms and regulations and has not way to express her inner world. Prescribed social role limit women’s abilities to express themselves. Passion and desires are expressed in knitting. Aunt Jennifer shows her true feelings, needs and desires in her knitting. The poem is based on the contrast. The first stanza shows free and mighty animals, who know no fear and doubts. The tigers are free in their choices and they are not afraid of anything. In the second and third stanzas the author shows how the world of dreams may differ from reality. The image created by aunt Jennifer significantly differs from her own life. aunt Jennifer is oppressed by her life and she has no way to realize herself as personality. She does not feel free to express her feelings and desires. The author vividly illustrates that not only hard house work and burden of everyday responsibilities may limit female life. She shows that aunt Jenifer has free time for knitting but still she does not feel satisfied with her life and with her family relations. In reality she can not control her life and her free time and she has to limit herself by social roles defined by the society, which is controlled by men.

Victorian Compromise

The Victorian Age was a complex and contradictory era: it was the age of progress, stability, great social reforms but it was also characterized by poverty, injustice and social unrest. The Victorians promoted a code of values that reflect the world as they wanted it to be, not as it really was, based on personal duty, hard work, respectability and charity. Respectability was a mixture of morality and hypocrisy, severity and conformity to social standards.
It implied the possession of good manners, the ownership of comfortable house with servants and a carriage, regular attendance at church, and charity activity. Philanthropy addressed itself to every kind of poverty, to 'stray children, fallen women and drunken men' and absorbed the energies of thousands of Victorians.
The concept of 'fallen woman' was a fate imposed upon thousands of women by a society with intense concern for female chastity. Sexuality was generally repressed in its public and private forms. In the late 19thcentury patriotism was influenced by ideas of racial superiority. Since the Victorians, under the strict reign of Queen Victoria, had to compromise many essential features of individuality and modes of expression, the term ‘Victorian Compromise’ came to be coined and applied to this particular age. As expected, this characteristic of the Victorian era also came to be reflected in the literature of that age.

Write a short note on Beowulf.

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. The author was an anonymous Anglo-saxon poet, referred to by scholars as the "Beowulf poet".

The Old English epic poem Beowulf tells the story of a young Geatish warrior who comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the King of the Danes, whose kingdom is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf uses his epic strength and bravery to slay Grendel in Hrothgar's mead hall, Heorot, and then to slay Grendel's vengeful mother in her underwater lair. Beowulf's fame spreads, and he returns home to Geatland laden with treasure for his king, Hygelac. Beowulf later becomes the king of the Geats and rules for a peaceful fifty years. When a dragon begins to pose a threat to Geatland, Beowulf and his servant Wiglaf set off to defeat it. Beowulf succeeds in slaying the dragon, but dies in the process.

What is neoclassicism?

Neoclassicism took place from 1660-1798. This period is also known as the Enlightenment period . it is a western movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature , theatre & music. This period was broken down into Restoration period, Augustan period, and Age of Johnson. In this period, much of art and society imitated the Romans and Greeks. It also Reject the Rococo and Baroque Styles.

Write a short note on Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost in an English epic poem in blank verse by the 17th century English poet John Milton. The first version published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousands lines of verse. 2nd edition arranged into twelve books with minor revisions throughout. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work & it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poet of his time.

What do you know about Peasant's Revolt?

The Peasant's Revolt  was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381.

The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 13408, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London.

The final trigger for the revolt was the intervention of a royal official, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His attempts to collect unpaid poll taxes in Brentwood ended in a violent confrontation, which rapidly spread across the south-east of the country. A wide spectrum of rural society, including many local artisans and village officials, rose up in protest, burning court records and opening the local gaols. The rebels sought a reduction in taxation, an end to the system of unfree labour known as serfdom, and the removal of the King's senior officials and law courts.

Write a note on the development of English Drama in the Elizabethan Age.

The period known as the English Renaissance, approximately1500-1660, saw a flowering of the drama and all the arts. The two candidates for the earliest comedy in English Nicholas Udall's Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1552) and the anonymous Gammer Gurton's Needle (c. 1566), belong to the 16th century.

During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and then James I (1603-25), in the late 16th and early 17th century, a London-centred culture, that was both courtly and popular, produced great poetry and drama. The English playwrights were intrigued by Italian model: a conspicuous community of Italian actors had settled in London. The linguist and lexicographer John Florio (1553-1625), whose father was Italian, was a royal language tutor at the Court of James I, and a possible friend of and influence on William Shakespeare, had brought much of the Italian language and culture to England. He was also the translator of Montaigne into English. The earliest Elizabethan plays include Gorboduc (1561) by Sackville and Norton and Thomas Kyd's (1558-94) revenge tragedy The Spanish Tragedy (1 592), that influenced Shakespeare's Hamlet.

William Shakespeare stands out in this period as a poet and playwright as yet unsurpassed. Shakespeare was not a man of letters by profession, and probably had only some grammar school education. He was neither a lawyer, nor an aristocrat as the 'univers'rty wits“ that had monopolised the English stage when he started writing. But he was very gifted and incredibly versatile, and he surpassed 'professionals' as Robert Greene who mocked this 'shake-scene' of low origins. He was himself an actor and deeply involved in the running of the theatre company that performed his plays. Most playwrights at this time tended to specialise in, either histories, or comedies, or tragedies. but Shakespeare is remarkable in that he produced all three types. His 38 plays include tragedies, comedies and histories. In addition, he wrote his so-called 'problem plays', or 'bitter comedies', that includes, amongst others, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, A Winter's Tale and All's Well that Ends Well.

His early classical and Italianate comedies, like A Comedy of Errors, containing tight double plots and precise comic sequences, give way in the mid-1590s to the romantic atmosphere of his greatest comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. After the lyrical Richard II, written almost entirely in verse, Shakespeare introduced prose comedy into the histories of the late 15903, Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. This period begins and ends with two tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar, based on Sir Thomas North's 1579 translation of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, which introduced a new kind of drama.

Though most of his plays met with success, it was in his later years, that Shakespeare wrote what have been considered his greatest plays: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear. Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra. In his final period. Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and completed three more major plays: Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, as well as the collaboration, Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Less bleak than the tragedies, these four plays are graver in tone than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and the forgiveness of potentially tragic errors. Shakespeare collaborated on two further surviving plays, Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen, probably with John Fletcher.

Other important playwrights of this period include Christopher Marlowe. Thomas Dekker, John Fletcher Francis Beaumont, Ben Jonson, and John Webster.

Other important figures in Elizabethan theatre include Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), Thomas Dekker (c. 1572 1632), John Fletcher (1579-1625) and Francis Beaumont (1584-1616). Marlowe (1564-1593) was born only a few weeks before Shakespeare and must have known him. Marlowe's subject matter is different from Shakespeare's as it focuses more on the moral drama of the renaissance man than any other thing. Marlowe was fascinated and terrified by the new frontiers opened by modern science. Drawing on German lore, he introduced the story of Faust to England in his play Doctor Faustus (c. 1592), a scientist and magician who is obsessed by the thirst of knowledge and the desire to push man's technological power to its limits. At the end of a twenty-four years' covenant with the devil he has to surrender his soul to him. Beaumont and Fletcher are less-known, but they may have helped Shakespeare write some of his best dramas. and were popular at the time. One of Beaumont and Fletcher's chief merits was that of realising how feudalism and chivalry had turned into snobbery and make-believe and that new social classes were on the rise. Beaumont's comedy, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607), satirises the rising middle class and especially of those nouveaux riches who pretend to dictate literary taste without knowing much literature at all.

Ben Jonson (1572/3-1637) is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair.[12] He was also often engaged to write courtly masques. ornate plays where the actors wore masks. Ben Jonson's aesthetics have roots in the Middle Ages as his characters are based on the theory of humours. However, the stock types of Latin literature were an equal influence.[13] Jonson therefore tends to create types or caricatures. However, in his best work, characters are 'so vitally rendered as to take on a being that transcends the type'.[14] He is a master of style, and a brilliant satirist. Jonson's famous comedy Volpone (1605 or 1606) shows how a group of scammers are fooled by a top con-artist, vice being punished by vice, virtue meting out its reward. Others who followed Jonson's style include Beaumont and Fletcher, whose comedy, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (0. 1607-08), satirizes the rising middle class and especially of those nouveaux riches who pretend to dictate literary taste without knowing much about literature at all. In the story, a grocer and his wife wrangle with the professional actors to have their illiterate son play a leading role in the play.

A popular style of theatre during Jacobean times was the revenge play, which had been popularised earlier in the Elizabethan era by Thomas Kyd (1558-94), and then subsequently developed by John Webster (1578-1632) in the 17th century. Webster's major plays, The White Devil (c. 1609 1612) and The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1612/13), are macabre, disturbing works. Webster has received a reputation for being the Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatist with the most unsparingly dark vision of human nature. Webster’s tragedies present a horrific vision of mankind and in his poem 'Whispers of lmmortality,‘ T. S. Eliot memorably says, that Webster always saw "the skull beneath the skin'. While Webster‘s drama was generally dismissed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there has been 'a strong revival of interest' in the 20th century.[15]

Other revenge tragedies include The Changeling written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Atheist's Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur, first published in 1611, Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta. The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois by George Chapman, The Malcontent (c. 1603) of John Marston and John Ford's ’Tis Pity She's a Whore. Besides Hamlet, other plays of Shakespeare's with at least some revenge elements, are Titus Andronicus. Julius Caesar and Macbeth.

George Chapman (?1559-?1634) was a successful playwright who produced comedies (his collaboration on Eastward Hoe led to his brief imprisonment in 1605 as it offended the King with its anti-Scottish sentiment), tragedies (most notably Bussy D'Ambois) and court masques (The Memorable Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn), but who is now remembered chiefly for his translation in 1616 of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry, a closet drama written by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary (1585-1639) and fitst published in 1613, was the first original play in English known to have been written by a woman.

Write about the main novelists of the Modern age/ 20th century.

The main novelists of this century are:
A) Virginia Woolf:
          Virginia Woolf was an English writer, considered one of the most important novelist of the modern age. She is also a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Her notable novel is "To The Lighthouse", " Mrs Dalloway", "Orlando", " The voyage out", .
B) D.H Lawrence:
            D.H Lawrence was an English writer of the modern age . He was an important novelist of this period. His collected works represent, among other things, an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity band industrialization. His notable noveks are "Sons & Lovers", " The Rainbow ", " Women in Love" & "John Thomas & Lady Jane".
C) E.M Forster:
             E.M Forster was an English novelist of the modern period. Many of his novels examined class difference & hypocrisy , including " A Room With A View", "A Passage to India".  The last brought him his greatest success. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature in 16different years.
D)Joseph Conrad:
             Joseph Conrad was a polish-british writer regarded as one of the greatest novelist to write in English language. Conrad is considered an early modernist, though his works contain elements of 19th century realism.
E) James Joyce:
             James Joyce was an Irish novelist. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde & is regarded as one of the most influential & important author of the 20th century. Joyce is best known for his famous novel " Ulysses".

Write down the chief characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry.

Characteristics
Themes: Metaphysical poetry is spiritual & has often religious themes. Moreover, it focuses on love, as the union of soul.
Literary Devices: Metaphysical poetry uses metaphors, puns, paradoxes & meter to create drama & tension. In addition, Metaphysical poetry uses scientific, medical & legal words & phrases to create arguments about the philosophical aspect of life.
Poets: Metaphysical poets were men of high intellect. They were all graduated from Oxford University, Cambridge University or they studied at one of the Inns of Court in the city of London. With the help of their vast knowledge, they presented new ideas & stories to their readers.
Unclarity: Metaphysical poetry is considered highly ambiguous & obscure due to high intellect & knowledge of metaphysical poets. The poetry is greatly challenging to understand at the first reading. It needs full concentration & full attention to getting to the roots of the matter.
Short Poems: Metaphysical poetry is considered to be brief & concise. Every line conveys a lot of meanings in a few words. Every word is adjusted in every line like a brick in a wall & conveys the message of the author. Hence there is no wastage of words.
Sayings in the Poetry: Metaphysical poetry is a vast collection of maxims & sayings. Thus epigrammatic quality is part & parcel of the metaphysical poetry. John Donne is a pioneer in this regard.
Metaphysical Conceits: A significant feature of metaphysical poetry is the use of metaphysical conceits. It is the unique quality of metaphysical poetry. A conceit is a comparison of two dissimilar things, which may have very little in common. E.g. Abraham Cowley in his poem “The Mistress” compares his love for ladies to his habit of travelling in various countries of the world.
Originality: Originality is the hallmark of metaphysical poets. All the metaphysical poets were unique & original in their ideas & thoughts. They didn’t follow the path of their contemporary poets. They stood against their contemporaries & followed their own way of writing poetry.
Platonic Love: Platonic love is another feature of metaphysical poetry. Platonic love means, spiritual love, which is free from elements of physical love.

Wit: Metaphysical wit is also a noteworthy feature of metaphysical poetry. Metaphysical wit is the expression of one’s idea & thoughts, using aptly & technically, the words & various figures of speech in such a manner as to provide pleasure to the readers. 

25 December 2019

Why is the 18th century is often called an age of Satire .

The 18th century is essentially an age of satire. Judging and condemning became common to the society in this age & this habit naturally gave birth to the spirit of satire. Actually in the 18th century satire is everywhere in the air. There is satire in poetry,in drama,in prose,as well as in the novel, essay. Indeed it is a great age of prose-satire, and Jonathan Swift, the greatest of prose satirists in English,belongs to this period. For this reason 18th century is called an age of satire.

Survey the prominent literary trends of victorian age.

Major literary trends of Victorian age:

1. Conflict between Science & Religion
2. Realism
3. Humanitarianism
4. Symbolism
5. Nature in poetry
6. Love & Romance

Caution! : THESE ARE THE POINT. YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN IN YOUR OWN WORDS AS NICE AS POSSIBLE.

Which age is called the Golden age of English literature? why?

The Elizabethan age was considered the Golden Age of English literature. Because of the number of the great writers who worked during that period, including Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Kyd & Johnson. It was a time when poetry & drama flourished . It was when art if high quality also belonged to popular culture. Theatre was supported by common ticket paying people , not only by rich patron's or the Royal court.
But literature & culture reflect & express a society. The Elizabethan age was golden age for England. She became a major political player in Europe, her naval power was on the rise and her sovereignty was underscored by the failure of the Spanish Armada to reach English shores, more important . England enjoyed a long period of political stability under" Queen Bess".
In the Elizabethan age, literature prospered like never before. This age saw the 'Renaissance' movement. There was a revival of classical literature and studies, many greek & latin texts were rediscovered.
The Renaissance influenced the lives of individuals in many ways. People started rejecting authority & laying emphasis of their own selves. Religion, Faith, Old beliefs, everything was questioned. The model renaissance man was an individual who could write a beautiful sonnet to his lady as well as fight in a combat, that is he was an all around individual. People started aspiring to experience all the experiences that the world has to offer. The two basic elements of renaissance were individualism and worldliness.
Naturally, these thing had a great impact on peoples lifestyle & their writings. The Elizabethan period saw the emergence of the greatest dramatist of all times, Shakespeare. Other notable literary figures were Spenser, John Donne & Marlowe.
It was in this age that the theates and play houses first emerged, with growing audience to drama, it became increasingly popular among the masses.

Considering all these things, The Elizabethan age is a Golden Age of English literature.

What are the more important characteristics of Romantic Poetry? discuss with special reference to Wordsworth & Keats.

The period from 1798-1837 is known as the Romantic age. This period was mainly a reaction against the philosophy of enlightenment period that dominated much of European philosophy. In 1798, Wordsworth & Coleridge published a collection of poem entitled as 'Lyrical Ballads', with it began the new age known as Romantic age.

Characteristics of Romantic Poetry:

1. Interest in rural life: In the poetry of romantic age the interest of poets was transferred from town to rural. They reflected the rural life in their poetry.

2. Common Life: Romantic poets started taking interest in common life. A renewed interest in the simple life marked the poetry of the poets of this age. A feeling of humanitarianism coloured the poetry of Wordsworth.

3. Love of liberty & freedom: In romantic poetry, the emphasis was laid on liberty and freedom of individual. Romantic poets were rebels against tyranny & brutality.

4. Supernaturalism: It is another outstanding quality of romantic poetry. It was this supernaturalism that gave the atmosphere of wonder and mystery to the poetry.

5. Endless variety: In romantic poetry , we come across an endless variety. The poetry of this age is as varied as the character and moods of different writers.

6. Subjectivity: It began to have it's full play in the poetry of this age. The poets of this period were in favour of giving a subjective interpretation of the objective realities of life.

Reference to Wordsworth & Keats:

William Wordsworth & John Keats is the two great poets of romantic age. The poetry of Wordsworth & Keats is full of imagination. They don't think that writers should be earth bound, realistic g factual. In "Tintern Abbey" Wordsworth use his high imagination. Keats flies to the fanciful world of the Nightingale in his most beautiful poem "Ode tk a Nightingale".

 Moreover, both the poets are the great lover of nature. Wordsworth is the high priest of nature. The poet doesn't care about rules & regulations. They guves free expression to their emotion. Wordsworth's poetry is top to bottom subjective. Wordsworth makes natural objects supernatural.

*Caution: YOU HAVE TO WRITE BROADLY IN THIS WAY. IT'S JUST THE MAIN THEME.

"Tennyson is the most representative poet of the victorian age" discuss.

Tennyson represents his age, not in fragment, but completely. He expresses his poetry, even when he is most subjective and persona, the very spirit of the Victorian era. He may be writing of himself, of his personal joys and sorrows, but even then he writes of his age and renders its chief characteristics. “For nearly half a century‘ says W. J. Long, 'Tennyson was not only a man and a poet. he was a voice. the voice of a whole people, expressing in exquisite melody their doubts and their faith, their grieves and their triumphs. As a poet who expresses not so much a personal as a national spirit, he ls probably the most representative literary man of the Victorian era." He also added 'Throughout the entire Victorian period Tennyson stood at the summit of poetry in England” (W. J. Long: English Literature: 457) .
The salient feature of the age were moderation in politics, refined culture, religious liberalism chquered by doubt, a lively interest in the advance of scientific discovery coupled with the fear that it might lead people astray .Attachment to ancient institution, and increasing sympathy with poverty and distress.
Victorian Compromise: The three important movements of the age were 1.industrial revolution, 02. The rise of democracy, and 03. The rise of evolutionary science and its impact on religion. In all these matters Tennyson's views are characterised by the famous Victorian compromise or the avoidance of extremes. With the excesses of the French Revolution still fresh in their memory, the Victorians had a natural horror of all revolutionary enthusiasm. They craved for law, for order, for peace and stability. The dominant element in Tennyson's thought is his sense of law and order. He refers to the French Revolution as 'Red fool fury of the Seine', and advocates slow progress , the freedom which, slowly broadens down ,from precedent to precedent.
He believes in disciplined, ordered evolution rather than In revolution. In selection CV of 'In Memoriam'
Tennyson's evolutionary ideas are cleat. He wants to drive away the rubbish of the society. He says,
"Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in true."

Evolutionary Spirit: The nineteenth century is always associated with the theory of Evolution. With the infa of Evolution Tennyson's mind war saturated. No poet of equal rank has ever been more dominated by an idea as was Tennyson by this , taking the word in its wider philosophical, and not merely its biological sense. His creative thought war rooted in the scientific theories of his age.
The thought of evolution left Its mark on Maud. In the following lines the evolutionary tendencies of the poet's thoughts are clearly seen:
So many million of ages have gone To the making of man, If now Is first, but Is the last?
It If not too base?
The same evolutionary thought Is reflected In the following lines from the closing portion of In Memorian:
A soul shall draw from out the vast And strike his being into bounds And, moved thro' lIfe of lower phase.
In selection CV of 'In Memoriam,’ he says, ”Ring out the old, rIng In the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow
The year Is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring In true.’

spirit of Patriotism: The Victorians were Intensely patriotic. They took pride in their queen and national slopies. Tennyson shared these feelings of his countrymen. In his poetry the sense of national pride and glory is well sounded. It represents English life and manners with utmost sincerity. The Northern Farmer is the true picture of Lincolnshire peasants and Northern Cobbler and Village wife are all national portraits depicting the rustic life of England. In the English Idylls, tennyson deflects the infalp of widely different types of English |ife. Speaking of England, Tennyson says,
It is the land that free men till
Than sober-sulted freedom choose, The land where...
A man may speak the thing he will A land of settled government,
A land of just and old renown.
Tennyson's patriotism is narrow and insular. His praise for his own country is the expression of a Victorian patriot who considered his country superior to all other countries of the world. if says,
'there is no land kind England, Where'er the light of day be, There are no hearts like English hearts.
Such hearts of oak as they be.‘

Attitude towards women: in the Victorian age, make members of the society used to consider women as their inferior In mental power and station. Women's sphere war the home and her function was the propagation of the race. We find its expression when the king in 'The Princess' says,
"Boy, The bearing and the training of a child.
Is woman's wisdom."
In the same poem, he took care to please reactionary prejudice and his other self by rigorously confining nao and woman to their respective shares:
”Man for the field and woman for the hearth ; Mac for the sword and for the needle she; Man with the head and woman with the heart; Man to command and woman to obey
All else confusion'
In the part 1 of the poem 'T he Lady of Shalott”, we find that nobody is seen the lady of Shalott to wave her hand or standing at the window. Only reapers, rearing early have heard the song of the Lady of Shalott, later the lady is shown as weaving a magic web day and night. If she stops weaving and looks at Camelot, a curse is sure to fall on her. As we see in these lines:
There she weaves by night and day A magic web with colours gay
...... The land of Shalott
A superb picture of the condition of woman is delineated from these lines. Women were oppressed in these days and they were kept with some restrictions. Here we see that the lady war compelled to weave a magic web without knowing her curse and at last we see that the lady is dead. By these things Tennyson represents the happenings of his age.

Frustration : Although this age followed the progression in various sections of the society, these war frustration on the other hand. The people of that time war frustrated. And for frustration, there was hopelessness and loneliness. And Tennyson brings out these things superbly in his poems, especially in 'Mariana' and 'The Lady of Shalott'. In Mariana if portrays the character of a lonely lady who is waiting for the person who she loves and shadding tears in a lonely 'moated grange'. The refrain of the poem functions as the exposure of the frustration of the lady, 'Mariana'. Here we see that as the poem progresses, the emotion and frustration of the lady are also raising higher and higher. As the poet says,
She only said, 'My life is dreary, He cometh not.‘ she said; She said, 'I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!’
And in the last stanza her frustration reaches its peak then she says,
Then said she, 'I am very dreary, He will not come,‘ she said; She wept. 'I am aweary. aweary,
O God, that I were dead!‘

Love and marriage: The Victorians believed in conjugal love rather than romantic. tennyson supported this view most devotedly. He could not allow passion in love. Any relation between man and woman other than the married one was not sanctioned by him. As ComptonRickett observes, ' tennyson elected to treat neloue. not with Byron as am elemental force, or with Shelley and Browning as a transcendental passion, or with Rossetti as a mystic mingling of sense amessisht, but as a domestic sentiment.‘

However ,Tennyson prefers spiritual love to the physical. He advises
'arise and fly the reeling faun, the sensual beast
move upward working out the beast and let the ape and tiger die.‘
As far as illicit love is concerned, Tennyson had the greatest abhorrence of it. In 'The ldylls of the King' he considers the guilty love of Launcelot and Nicholson, "It is curious, for instance, to observe how constantly in his abhorrence of the illicit love, he throws a domestic atmosphere even over the pre-conjugal relations of his characters.‘ thus, in matters of vote and marriage, Tennyson had gurgack Victorian views.

The scientific Spirit: Another important event of Victorian England was the rise of evolutionary science and its impact on religious faith. Says Hadow, 'His attitude towards the scientific progress of his day is more difhcult to determine. Sometimes he speaks of it with a sort of impatience.“ 'Have these men' Socrates, 'solved all the problems of human life, that they have leisure for abstract speculations? and in like manner Tennyson asks, 'ls it well that while we range with science, glorying in the time, City children soak and blacken soul and sense in city slime? ' Sometimes. again, he seems to shrink back in dismay before the immensities that Science has revealed. 'what is our life'. he asks, 'what is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a million, million of suns?“
Like almost all poets, he feels Science as something alien and remote.
He sees both sides of the picturethe gashes as well as the pleasanter and is quite aware of the brutal struggle for existence that goes on everywhere in the external world. He finds nature, “red in tooth and claw', full of plunder.

Religion :The rise of science resulted in religious scepticism, doubts, anxieties and uncertainties and Tennyson is a typical Victorian in gigs efforts to reach a compromise between science and religion. Thus in a famous passage of 'In Memoriam' he says,
'Let knowledge grow from more to more And more of reverence in us dwell That mind and hotl, according well,
May make one music as before.
Although Tennyson associated evolution
with progress, he also worried that the notion seemed to contradict the Biblical story of creation and Iong-held assumptions about man‘s place in the world. Nonetheless, in 'In Memoriam,‘ he insists that we must keep our faith despite the latest discoveries of science: he writes,
'Strong Son of God, immortal Love Whom we. that have not seen they face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace
Believing where we cannot prove.‘
At the end of the poem, he concludes that God's eternal plan includes purposive biological development; thus he reassures his Victorian readers that the new science doesn't mean the end of the old faith.

Why the 18th century is called the age of prose & reason?

The 18th century viewed as a whole has a distinctive character. It is definitely the Age of understanding, the age of enlightenment, where a literature which had become pellucid (clear) began to diffuse knowledge among the growing public. The supremacy of reason was unchallenged there reigned a general belief in the advancement of human mind. This flourishing of enlightened idea and the escalation of reason and logical thought founds its best articulation through the triumph of English prose in the 18th century. As such, the 18th century has often been designated as the age of prose reason. The major prose writers of the age include Jonathan swift (1 667 -1745) Joseph Addison (1672 -1719), Richard Steele (1672 -1729) and Samuel Johnson (1704 1784). Other prose writers of significance are James Bowell (1740 1795), Edlemund Burley (1729 1797) and Edward Gibbon (1737 1794).

Jonathan swift's works are a monstrous satire on humanity. Swift, who hated all shams, wrote, with a great show of learning famous Bicerstaff Almanac containing "Predictions for the year 1708 was determined by the emerging states,” which first brought sift into prominence This work appeared under the pseudonym of Isaac Bickerstaff was preeminently focus because of his satiric worlds . Ligaments any case of hypocrisy or by notice , he sets up a remedy which is atrocious , and defuse his plan with such seriousness that the satire overwhelms the readers with a sense of monstrous falsity . Swift's two greatest satires are A Tale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels . The Tale began as a grim exposure of the alleged weaknesses of three principle forms of religion beliefs, catholic, Lutheran and Christin as opposed to the Anglican; put it ended in a satire upon all science and philosophy. In Gulliver's Travels the practice grows more unbearable strangely enough , this book upon which swifts' literary fame generally rests . was not written from any literary motive , but rather as an outlet of the author's own bitterness , against fate and human society .

Like swift, Joseph Addison despised shams, but unlike him he never lost faith in humanity; and in all his satires, these is a gentle kindness which makes one think letter of his fellowmen even when he laughs at their little vanities. Addison stripped off the mask of vice, so much upheld by restoration literature, to show its ugliness and deformity; put to reveal virtue in its own notice loveliness was Addison’s main purpose. Further prompted and aided by the more original genius of his friend Steele, Addison seeds upon the new social life of the clubs and made it the subject of endless pleasant essays upon types of men and manners. His journals The Tatler and The spectator are the beginnings of the Coverly essay, and their studies of human character as exemplified in Sir Roger De Coverly , are a preparation for the modern novel . The most enduring of Addison's works are Essays collected from The Tatler and The spectator. To an age of fundamental coarseness and artificiality his essays came with a wholesome message of refinement and simplicity. He attaches all the little varieties and all the big circles of his time not in substantial way, but with a finally ridicule and a gently humour which appears.

His Essays are the best picture we possess of the new social life of England; they advanced the art of literary criticism to a much higher stage than it had ever reached before; they certainly led English men to a better knowledge and appreciation of their own literature; and finally they gave us characters that live forever as part of that goodly company which extends from Chaucer's county power to Kipling Huluancy . Addison and Steele not only introduce the modern essay but their character forfeiture, they herald the dawn of the modernmanner.

Steele was a rollicking, good hearted, emotional, lovable Irishman. He was one of the few winters of his time who showed a sincere and unswerving respect for womanhood. Even more than Addison, he ridicules irks and makes pursue lovely. He was the origination of The Tatler and journeyed with Addison in creating The spectator the two periodicals which did more to influence the subsequent literature than all the magazines of the century complied. Steele was the original genius of Sir Roger and of many other characters and essays for which Addison usually received the whole credit. But the majority of the cities hold that the more original parts the characters, the overflowing kindness, are largely Steele's creation while Addison polished and perfected the essays.

Dr. Johnson was probably the most significant intellectual stalwart of the time. His Dictionary and his lives of the poets are worthy to be remembered through both of these are valuable not as literature, but rather as a study of literature. The Dictionary as the first ambitious attempt at the English lexicon is extremely valuable, notwithstanding the fact that some of his derivations are incorrect. Lives of the poets are the simplest and the most readable of his literary works. As criticisms they are often misleading, giving undue praise to artificial poets like pope and abundant injustice to nobler poets like Milton, but as biographies, they are excellent reading, and we owe to them some of the best power picture of the early English poets. Bowell's Life of Jonson was one of the most famous prose works of the century. It is an immortal work where , like the Greek sculptures the little slaves produced the more enduring work than the Greek masters .

Buspe in famous for his best known political speeches "on conciliation with America , " American Taxation’, 'The impeachment of women Hasting’ and also for his famous book of prose Reflection on the French Revolution which are still much studied as modeIs of English prose . Characteristic of the classic age, they abound in fine rhetoric but lack simplicity. But his works reveal the stateliness and the rhetorical power of the English language and because of the poetic prose so rich in images and symbols and the musical cadence of his sentences, and also because of his profound sympathy for humanity and his purpose to establish the truth, Burke won a significant place in the History of English literature.

Only Edward Gibbon remains to be mentioned, His famous prose work is a historical treatise, entitled. The DecIine and Fall of Roman Empire spanning Roman history from 98 AD to 1453 AD. It gains little recognition because of his imposing style characterizing by the sinuous roll of his majestic sentences. gibbons style has been characterized as finished , elegant , splendid, rounded , massive , sonorous , elaborate , ornate , exhaustive etc .

The flourish of prose in the 18th century like a tune is also evident in the rise of novel, bought into vogue by Richardson, Fielding, Smollett and Sterne. But since the novel is a distinct literary genre a discussion on the 18th century novels remains outside the scope of this essay. As a whole it can safely be concluded that because of the growing tendency of prose in the contemporary satires and periodicals, essays which catered to the public tastes increasingly the 18th century lonely triumphs in prose literature.

What are the salient features of the Restoration Comedy of Manners?

The Restoration period (1660-1700) had a great influence on the life and literature of contemporary age. This period is called the Restoration period because in this period, with the restoration of monarchy, the English literary tradition was restored. In the Commonwealth period Charles-ll. the son of Charles-I, was escaped from England to France. After the fall of Commonwealth, the people of England brought him back and made him king of England (on May 29,1660). He remained in power till his death in 1685 when James-II. another son of Charles-I, ascended the throne. He was a catholic and most of the people who were protestants wanted to dethrone him. In 1688 there was the Glorious Revolution (Bloodless Revolution) against him. He fled to France. WilliamIII of France and his wife Mary, the son-in-Iaw and daughter of James-II, came to the power.

Of course, the Restoration did not bring total peace in England. The conflict between the King and his parliament did not collapse completely. What is more remarkable in the political history of the Restoration is the growing rivalry between different factions and parties in British parliament. The events of 1649, 1660 and 1688 established decisively the supreme power of parliament to control and dictate the affairs of the land.

The restoration of monarchy in 1660 was an important event that had a wonderful impact on English life and literature. The English society, after the Restoration, was certainly diseased. It suffered from the fever of indecency, immorality, corruption and dishonesty, which rather affected notional life from political, social and even classical angles. English literature was, in no less way, affected by the new standard and the new values of life. There were a sudden break from old standards and ideals. Literature. indeed, in England, after the Restoration, seemed to have been bred and nursed by French literary ideals and patterns. It was a great age for the French authors, particularly for the French dramatists. It was under their influence that there was a new birth of comedy in England. The comedy of manners was the greatest literary force of the Restoration, and its source of inspiration was certainly the French comedy of manners. The comedies of manners of Congreve, Vanbrugh, Dryden and Wycherley were all highly popular in the age.

Restoration comedy is kind of comedy written in the Restoration Period. It identical to the comedy of manners as it also ridicules the manners and conventions, the faithlessness and intrigues of the members of the upper class society of the Restoration Period. The comedy of manners is originated from France with Moliere’s Les Precieuses Ridicules. This is also called artificial comedy or old comedy. In the twentieth century it was made fashionable by Noel Coward and Somerset Maugham. The characters In Restoration comedies are largely types, whose dispositions are sufficiently indicated by study of their names. Wycherley, Etheredge, Congreve, Vanbrugh and Farquhar are the five famous writers of the Restoration comedy. Farquhar’s The Recruting Officer, Congreve’s Love of Love and The Way of the World and Vanbrugh’s The Provoked Wife are bright examples of the Restoration comedy.

The comedy of manners/ The Restoration comedy is a peculiar product of the restoration era, and it reflects the very spirit of the age. It depicts faithfully the life and manners of the upper class society. This is a genre of comedy which deals with the behavior and manner of men and women living under special social codes. It depicts the relations and intrigues of men and women belonging to polished and sophisticated society. It is characterized by the ridiculous violations of social conventions and decorum by stupid characters such as would-be-wits, jealous husbands and foppish dandies. In short, this comedy is said to be the mirror of the manners of the society about which it is written.

William Congreve is one of the major dramatists of the Restoration period and "The Way of the World" is the finest flower of his genius and the best of all comedies of manners. It bears the most characteristic feature of this kind of comedy. It gives us a clear picture of the contemporary manners of the people of the upper class of London society during the restoration period. And their behavior morality, manners, affection etc are presented here in a satirical light.

William Congreve made his last comedy The Way of the World different from other comedies by giving it a moral in the end. He wanted to teach men and women of that society that marriage is a sacred institution based on love and sincerity.

Thus we see that the play is a remarkable comedy of manners, representing the contemporary social environment. in a splendid manner. The Restoration people did not attach much importance to the moral principle. Led by passion, they used to make love with many having no consideration for their marriage vows.

Write an essay on Milton as a child of the Renaissance and The Reformation

Milton’s work reflects the influence of both the reformation and the Renaissance. The Renaissance and the Reformation had their impact on England in the sixteenth century. Generally speaking, they exerted pulls in mutually opposite directions. Most of the Elizabethans came under the classical and humanistic influence of the Renaissance but did not admit the influence of the Reformation on their literary work Spenser among them. however, tried obviously to reconcile the ‘two enthusiasms.

It was left for Milton...'the poetical son of Spenser”, as Dryden called him..to homogenize these two into a perfect whole. When he started writing, the initial exuberance ushered in by the Renaissance and the Reformation was already on its way out. Milton's poetry is the first and the last example of the happy and effortless harmonization of the two mutually antagonistic enthusiasms which stirred the England of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

In Milton's poetry the Reformation element is found as his soft and steady Puritanism. Puritans were those who 'protested" against even the Protestants who in their turn had protested against the Pope and the Popish religion. The Reformation signifies the great religious revolution of the sixteenth century which gave rise to the various Protestant or Evangelical organizations of Christendom. The movement was European in extent and was widely successful in the reign of Henry VIII, and later Elizabeth I. But some splinter sects rose against the Protestant Church of England which they thought was not yet fully reformed, and who urged to take Christianity back to the religion of Jesus Christ. These Puritans devotedly and rather superstitiously revered the Bible, condemned the Protestant bishop (episcopacy) and every institutionalized religion, emphasized every man's inner light, hated all arts such as painting, sculpture and music and even 'drama, all show and luxury, shied at the least appearance of evil, favored highly formalized and rigorous conduct, and, in general, turned against all literature and aesthetic pursuits. Now, Milton was born in a Puritan family. His schooling and surroundings. his social and political affiliations, and a number of other factors combined to instill in him a love of Puritan ideology and way of life. However, he was a man of too strong an individuality to accept any formal 'ism' in its totality. He was a deeply religious man, and even at the age of twenty-three he could write:

All is, if I have grace to use it so; As ever in my great Task Master‘s eye.

Milton's Puritanism has not much to do with the macabresque and stoic creed of ordinary puritans. The Renaissance elements of his intellectual set-up effectively controvert these tendencies and any fanatic adherence to a rigorous code of conduct and ultimate values. His version of Puritanism was tinged by his love of the classics, the love of nature, the love of beauty. and Renaissance humanism insisting on the world of man, and love of 'the human face divine.‘ Moreover, unlike most Puritans, Milton emphasizes the spirit rather than the conduct. And this emphasis brings him into affinity with the Cambridge Platonists who were themselves mostly Puritans. Milton believed that 'the Spirit which is given to us is a more certain guide than Scripture.‘ In his pamphlet 0f True Religion he states that along with external Scripture there is an internal Scripture, "the Holy Spirit written in the Hearts of believers". Milton departed from the Puritan creed even in some important doctrinal points. For instance, he did not subscribe to the doctrine of predestination and refused the Son an equal status with the Father. In more general terms, he tried to reconstruct the puritan creed on the basis of the humanistic ideology of the Renaissance.

who are the university wits? assess their contribution to english drama.

The University Wits is a phrase used to name a group of late 16th-century English playwrights and pamphleteers who were educated at the universities (Oxford or Cambridge) and who became popular secular writers. Prominent members of this group were Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, and Thomas Nashe from Cambridge, and John Lyly, Thomas Lodge, and George Peele from Oxford. Thomas Kyd is also sometimes included in the group, though he is not believed to have studied at university.

After the establishment of The Theatre in 1576 there came a huge competition in the production of drama. Novelty in drama is always needed for success. The managers were finding such men who could patch up old plays with new matters. A bunch of bohemian writers associated with either Oxford or Cambridge University came forward In the literary canvas with their handful of contribution in the field of drama. They are called 'University Wits”.

They absorbed the new renaissance spirit and synthesizing the vigour of the native tradition with more refined classicism. The group consisted of sevenJohn Lyly, Thomas Kyd, Thomas Nash, Thomas Lodge. George Peele, Robert Greene and Christopher Marlowe. So they are known as 'The seven Stars of the Cosmos.’

Lyly's plays contain attractive lyrics. He was the first dramatist to write essentially high comedy. His best plays are: Alexander, Sapho and Phao, Endimion. Midas, Love's Metamorphosis. The Wife In the Moon etc.

Peele Is noted for his poetic Style and decorative phrases. Hls contributions are flowery. He wrote The Arraignment of Paris, The Chronicle of Edward I. The Old Wives' Tale etc.

Greene was a poet, pamphleteer. proto-novelist and playwright. He Is Powerful for his Romantic setting. His plays include Alphonsus, King of Aragon, Oriando Furioso, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay etc.

Kyd brought the Senecan taste of horror ghost, hanging, stabbing, madness , plstolllng and suicide. He Influenced Shakespeare also. Hls notable contribution Is Spanish Tragedy which follows the line of Elizabethan Revenge tragedy.

Marlowe typlfles the Renaissance spirit more completely than any other University Wits. He made heroic theme popular. Marlowe's used of blank verse as an effective and pliant medium of tragic utterance. All his plays are tragediesTamburlaine, The Jew of Malta. Edward II, Doctor Faustus etc.

Lodge was popular for his romance, Rosalynde. His only original play Is The Woundes of Clvlle War.

Nash made tremendous contribution to comedy. Hls comedies attack so many current abuses In the state. His most popular play Is Summer's Last Will and Testament.

The constellation of University wits made the Elizabethan drama more popular with Renaissance humanism and pride of patriotism. English drama for the first time In their hands recognized its potentialities and exuberance. They wrote classical plays, courtly comedies, farces, chronicle plays, melodramas etc. They gave thrill, action, sensation, hum

our and music. Undeniably the University Wits paved the way for Shakespeare and other playwrights of the coming of ages

what are the chief characteristics of restoration literature.?

In English literature, the period from 1600-1700 is known as the Restoration age. It has some chief characteristics.
1. Rise of Neoclassicism: The restoration period marks a complete break with the past.
2. Imitation of the ancient masters : In this period, the writers turns to ancient writers.
3. Realism & Formalism: Restoration period was realistic & formalistic.

Correctness, appropriateness is another important characteristics of Restoration Literature.

Write in brief about Puritanism


     Puritanism was a religious reformation movement that began in England in the late 15th century. It's initial goal was to remove any remaining links to Catholicism within the church of England after it's separation from the Catholic church. To do this, puritans sought to change the structure and ceremonies of the church.
Puritanism had a broad impact on English religious laws as well as the founding and development of the colonies in America.

write down the remarkable events of the middle age.

In the history of English literature, the middle ages lasted from the 5th to the 15th century.

The remarkable event's of this age is:
1.The fall of western Roman Empire
2. Charles the Hummer & the battle of Tours
3. Treaty of Verdun
4. The battle of Hestings
5. Declaration of Magna Carta
6. The Great Famine
7. The Hundred Years War
8. The Black Death
9. The Great Schism

Write a short note on French Revolution

French Revolution took place in 1789 and left it's shuttering effect on the mind of Europe. The then world was dominated by ideas not only by forces. French Revolution had it's tremendous impact on every sphere of life & society. It was not confined only to french,, it reached other parts of the Europe. It followed the slogan - 'Liberty, fraternity, and equality' for all the people.
By influence of the revolution also left in the field of English Literature, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Shouthee are reflected it on their poetic works. The hope for better days and happiness were well heard in Wordsworth's poem "French Revolution".

Write a short note on The Coverley Papers

Coverley papers is a collection of essays selected from Addison and Steele's influential periodical the Spectator. The selection is named after Sir Roger De Coverley who appears on so many occasions.
 It is mirror of the 18th centuries life and manner, both of city and countryside. The main subject of the coverley papers is to satire the society. 

Write a short note on Stream Of Consciousness

In English literature, Stream of Consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempt's "to depict the numerous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator.
 The term was coined by Alexander Bain. In 1918 the novelist may Sinclair first applied the term stream of consciousness, in a literary context.

24 December 2019

Write a short note on Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is a book of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer. It was written in the 14th century. It was one of the first books to be written in the English language. The book is about a group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury. As they travel along, each person tells a story to pass the time. Chaucer planned to write 120stories, with each person telling two stories on the way there and two of the way back. However, only 23 were completed, and one was partially finished. Two of the stories are written in prose. The others are written in verse. They were so popular that he was invited to read his stories to the King and royal court.