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Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles": The Peasent World 2007-12-06 14:10:00 It cannot be denied that “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” is a social document showing the final tragic stage of the disintegration of the English peasantry but to over-emphasize this aspect and to reduce the importance of the novel as a personal tragedy does not seem to be the correct approach.It is true that Tess is a peasant girl and that her struggles and misfortunes, to some extent, do represent the sufferings of the peasantry. The accident in which the family horse is killed symbolizes the struggles of the peasantry. Tess’ sense of guilt over this accident forces her to seek the help of the prosperous D'Urbervilles of Trantridge. Her sacrifice to Alec D’Urberville is symbolic of the historical process at work. Tess, as a worker, is handed over by her mother under economic stresses, to the life and the mercies of the ruling class.Tess’ seduction by Alec, makes her story a hopeless struggle, against strong odds, to maintain her self-respect. After the death of her child she Read more:Hardy
, World
John Donne: A love poet 2007-12-06 14:01:00 Donne was the first English poet to challenge and break the supremacy of Petrarchan tradition. Though at times he adopts the Petrarchan devices, yet his imagery and rhythm, texture and colour of his love poetry is different. There are three distinct strains of his love poetry – Cynical, Platonic and Conjugal love.Giving an allusion to Donne’s originality as the poet of love, Grierson makes the following observation:“His genius temperament and learning gave a certain qualities to his love poems … which arrest our attention immediately. His love poems, for instance, do have a power which is at once realistic and distracting.”Donne’s greatness as a love-poet arises from the fact that this poetry covers a wider range of emotions than that of any previous poet. His poetry is not bookish but is rooted in his personal experiences. Is love experience were wide and varied and so is the emotional range of his love-poetry. He had love affairs with a number of women. Some of them were
John Donne: A metaphysical poet 2007-12-06 13:43:00 Dryden once remarked: “Donne affects metaphysics not only in his satires but in amorous verses, too, where nature only should reign.” Though Donne was influenced by the sixteenth and the seventeenth century poets, yet he did not tread on the beaten track. His concept of poetry was unconventional. In his poetry, intellect takes the form, primarily, of wit by which heterogeneous ideas are yoked together by violence. The seventeenth century poets labeled his poetry as ‘strong line poetry’, mainly, on account of his concise expression and his deliberate toughness. In his life, he was never called a metaphysical poet. After his death, his poetry was re-evaluated and some other important features were found in it, which won the name of a metaphysical poet for Donne.Grierson’s defines metaphysical poetry as: “Poetry inspired by a philosophical concept of the universe and the role assigned to human spirit in the great drama of existence”. This definition is based on the metap
Swift's "Gulliver's Travels": A social satire 2007-12-05 05:43:00 “Gulliver’s Travels
” is a great work of social satire
. Swift’s age was an age of smug complacency. Corruption was rampant and the people were still satisfied. Thus, Jonathan Swift tears the veil of smug complacency off which had blinded the people to realities. In “Gulliver’s Travels”, there is a satire on politics, human physiognomy, intellect, manners and morality.In the first voyage to Lilliput, Swift satirizes on politics and political tactics practiced in England through Lilliputians, the dwarfs of six inches height. He satirizes the manner in which political offices were awarded by English King in his time. Flimnap, the Treasurer, represents Sir Robert Walpole who was the Prime Minister of England. Dancing on tight ropes symbolizes Walpole's skill in parliamentary tactics and political intrigues. The ancient temple, in which Gulliver is housed in Lilliput, refers to Westminster Hall in which Charles I was condemned to death. The three fine silk threads awarded as p
Oedipus Rex: Role of Chorus 2007-12-05 04:51:00 Greek tragedy is said to develop itself from the group of dancers and singers who used to partake in the worship of various gods. According to Aristotle the Chorus should be like one of the characters. Gradually the role of the Chorus became less and less important in classical tragedy, until in Roman tragedy the speeches of the Chorus were supposed to be made in between the acts.Chorus discharges some broad functions in all classical tragedies. The structure of a Greek tragedy is determined by the Chorus. After the prologue, it is with the entry of the Chorus that a Greek tragedy begins. Various episodes are also marked off by choric odes. The conclusion of a Greek tragedy occurs with the exode or the exit song of the Chorus. It is the function of the Chorus to comment on actions and events. It also sometimes questions the characters. Its standard role is that of the moderator. At times it represents the view-point of the common spectator and in some cases it represents the view-point
Oedipus Rex: Character is Destiny 2007-12-05 04:51:00 “Oedipus Rex” is a tragedy of fate. The crucial events in the play have been pre-determined by fate or the gods. Man seems helpless facing the circumstances which mould his destiny. King Laius was told that his own son by Jocasta would kill him. Laius did everything possible to prevent such a disaster. Once Jocasta gave birth to a son, Laius had him chained and handed him over to a trustworthy servant with strict orders that the child be exposed on. Mt. Cithaeron and allowed to perish. But the servant, out of compassion, handed over the child to a Corinthian shepherd who passed him on to the Corinthian King. The child grew up as the son of the King and Queen of Corinth and later killed his true father, Laius, in complete ignorance. Apollo’s oracle was fulfilled even though Laius and Jocasta took the extreme step to escape the fate foretold by the oracle.Oedipus had also to submit to the destiny which Apollo's oracle pronounced for him. He learnt from the oracle that he would kil Read more:Character
, Destiny
Gulliver's Travel: Is swift a misanthrope? 2007-12-05 04:51:00 Swift is not a misanthrope rather he is a philanthrope. It is the misconception of those who think Swift as a misanthrope. Swift only wants to reform mankind out of their follies and stupidities. He says that the chief end of all his labour is:“to vex the world rather than divert it”.Secondly, he declares that:“I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities and all his love is towards individuals.”Thirdly, though Swift does not believe that:“Man is a rational animal”.Yet he believes that:“Man is capable of becoming rational if he makes the necessary efforts.”But we see that Swift is notorious for being misanthrope. He was subjected to this allegation during his lifetime because the critics, identifying Gulliver with Swift, attributed Gulliver’s blunders to Swift. That Gulliver, in the last voyage, becomes a misanthrope is undeniable and indisputable. Prima facie, it appears that by developing a negative view of mankind, he starts preferring horses to men, Read more:Travel
, swift
Oedipus Rex: Hamartia 2007-12-03 19:28:00 According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a distinguished person occupying a high position or having a high status in life and in very prosperous circumstances falling into misfortune on account of a “hamartia” or some defect of character. He should be good or fine man though not perfect. There is nothing to arouse the feelings of pity or fear in seeing a bad character pass from prosperity into misfortune while the ruin of a man who represents near-perfection in the moral sense is repugnant and horrible. The tragic hero is neither a moral paragon nor a scoundrel. He should be true to type, and consistent or true to himself. Aristotle would attribute disaster or catastrophe in a tragedy to an error rather than a deliberate crime.The main requirements of Aristotle in regard to the tragic hero are thus (1) high social standing, (2) moral excellence or goodness, and (3) some fault of character, or error committed by the hero in ignorance. Oedipus answers to all these requirements. Oedip
Oedipus Rex: Catharsis 2007-12-03 19:28:00 According to Aristotle tragedy should arouse the feeling of pity and terror – pity for the hero’s tragic fate and terror at the sight of the dreadful suffering befalling particularly the hero. By arousing pity and terror, a tragedy aims at the catharsis of these and similar other emotions and cures these feelings which always exist in our hearts. A tragedy, hence, affords emotional relief and the spectators rise at its end with a feeling of pleasure. This, according to Aristotle, is the aesthetic function of tragedy. Through catharsis the emotions are reduced to a healthy and balanced proportion. Besides pity and fear an audience also experiences contempt, hatred, delight, indignation, and admiration. Still, these emotions are less important or less intense. Pity and fear are the dominant emotions and they are intensely produced.Tragedy, by means of pity, fear and other emotions also provides exercise and nourishment for the emotional side of human nature. It also satisfies our lov
Oedipus Rex: Tragic Irony 2007-12-03 19:11:00 Tragic irony was used initially in ancient Greek tragedy and later almost in all tragedies. Irony
consists essentially in the contrast of the two aspects of the same remark or situation. A remark made by a character in a play may have one meaning for him and another meaning for other character and the audience or one meaning for the speaker and the other characters and another meaning for the audience. Similarly, a situation may have a double significance in the sense that a disaster may be foreseen by the audience while the characters may be ignorant of it. Irony heightens the tragic effect. Sophocles has used irony with striking effect in his plays.“Oedipus Rex” is replete with tragic irony and is found in most of the speeches and situations. There are many occasions on which the audience is aware of the facts while the speaker is ignorant of those facts and some other characters, on the other hand, present a contrast which lends an increased emphasis to a tragic fact or to the u
Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles": Fate and Chance 2007-12-12 12:44:00 Chance and coincidence play a vital role in all the novels of Hardy
. While character is certainly responsible to a large extent for the undoing of human lives in Hardy's fiction, chance and coincidence often operate as the deciding factors. Hardy felt that an evil power ruled the universe, defeating every endeavour of man to better his fortune or to find happiness. He could not believe in a benevolent Providence; events were too plainly ironical, so they must have been contrived by a supernatural power. He believed that fate or destiny was sometimes indifferent, but most often hostile, to human happiness. One manifestation of the hostility of fate is to be found in the irony of circumstances that we meet with in Hardy's novels. In other words, when human beings are not themselves responsible for the frustration of their hopes, or when their own temperaments and mutual conflict do not wreck their happiness, fate intervenes in the shape of chance or accident or coincidence to contrib
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Hardy as a Pessimist 2008-02-03 07:48:27 The fact that Hardy
resented being called a pessimist is no reason why he should not be thus described. Hardy was the painter of darker side of life as it was no wonder if people charged him of “pessimist”. The opinion is both right and wrong in this context. In fact, there are some factors that compels us to believe him a pessimist. He was hypersensitive; his own life was tragic and gloomy. For a speculative soul, this world is a thorny field. The gloomy effect of his age plays an important role in his writings. Doubts, despair, disbelief, frustration, industrial revolution, disintegration of old social and economic structure, Darwin’s theory of evolution were the chief characteristics of that age. All these factors probe deep into his writings and heighten its somber, melanch
Jane Austen's contribution to English novel 2008-03-28 12:53:04 An objective and impartial estimation of Jane Austen
’s contribution to the development of the Englishnovel
involve comparisons which are, also, likely to undermine her self-imposed limitations as an artist.Austen’s range is very narrow. The plots revolve around three or four families in the countryside, consisting mostly of a few typed characters. There is only one theme – the theme of love and marriage – repeated in every novel. Deep philosophy of life is conspicuously absent and there are no hidden meanings to be discovered. There are no adventures to thrill, no violent passions to ruffle, no sensations to tickle and tease. Yet she is one of our major novelists. Safely emerging through two centuries and severe criticism, today she enjoys secure reputation.Austen’s first import
Pride and Prejudice: A Novel with Limited Range 2008-03-28 09:51:35 Jane Austen confines her creative activity to the depiction of whatever fell within her range of personal experience. While her range of observation in life is not so wide her work has been variously called as the “Two inches of ivory” and “three or four families”. All these titles exhibit the excellence as well as the limitations of her craft and outlook.Although she works on a very small canvas, yet she has widened the scope of fiction in almost all its directions. Her stories mostly have indoor actions where only family matters especially love and marriages are discussed. However, her plots are perfect and characterization is superb. All of her six novels, including “Pride
and Prejudice
”, have been controversial since their publication, on account of Austen’s limited rang Read more:Range
Chaucer: Ecclesiastical Character in "The Prologue" 2008-03-27 09:23:10 Chaucer has given a very true and realistic picture of the ecclesiastical characters of his age. He satirizes the corrupt and worldly minded clergies and on the other hand he appreciates the good characters and presents a model picture of him. The power exerted by a religion is incomparable in its intensity. Though it is a theory yet it is more forcible than any other passion or creed. Its power shapes and affects the life of the people. Every religion aims at reformation and betterment. It affects the whole structure of the society. It promotes a healthy philosophy and moral code. Hence, the importance of religion is distinguished and renowned. Though in Chaucer’s age, religion had a control over the minds and soul of the people, yet regrettably, its influence was corrupt. The mo Read more:Character
, Prologue
Pride and Prejudice: Title 2008-03-30 10:28:19 Pride and Prejudice
was first written in 1797 under the title “First Impressions”. It was later revised and published under the title“Pride and Prejudice” in 1813.In the novel, first impressions do play an important part: Elizabeth is misled in her judgment and estimation of both Darcy and Wickham. Her regard and sympathy for Wickham and her hostility and prejudice against Darcy are due to the first impressions. But when we study the novel deeply andseriously we can easily see that the title “Pride and Prejudice” is more apt and more befitting to it. The first impressions which the character gets of each other take up only the first few chapters. The novel is more about the pride of Darcy and the prejudice of Elizabeth and the change of attitude in Darcy and Elizabeth’s corre Read more:Pride
, Title
Default Pride and Prejudice: Art of Characterization 2008-03-30 10:22:48 The range of Jane Austen’s characters is rather narrow. She selects her characters from among the landed gentry in the countryside. Sir Walter Scott very accurately describes this range: “Jane Austen confines herself chiefly to the middling classes of society … and those which are sketched with most originality and precision, belong to a class rather below that standard.” She omits the servants and the labourers. They appear wherever they are needed but they are usually not heard. Aristocracy also is hardly touched and if taken, it is only to satirize. Lady Catherine in “Pride
and Prejudice
” is arrogant, pretentious, stupid and vulgar. Austen finds herself at home only with the country gentry and their usual domestic interests.In spite of such a limited range, Austen never re Read more:Default
Pride and Prejudice: Irony 2008-03-30 09:30:14 Irony is the very soul of Jane Austen’s novels and “Pride
and Prejudice
” is steeped in irony of theme, situation, character and narration. Irony is the contrast between appearance and reality.As one examines “Pride and Prejudice”, one is struck with the fact of the ironic significance that pride leads to prejudice and prejudice invites pride and both have their corresponding virtues bound up within them. Each has its virtues and each has its defects. They are contradictory and the supreme irony is that intricacy, which is much deeper, carries with it grave dangers unknown to simplicity. This type of thematic irony runs through all of Jane Austen’s novel.In “Pride and Prejudice” there is much irony of situation too, which provides a twist to the story. Mr. Darcy remarks abou Read more:Irony
Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen's Moral Vision 2008-03-30 09:20:18 Jane Austen
is not a proclaimed moralist. Unlike Fielding, her aim is not to propagate the morality. She believes in art for the sake of art. She is the pioneer of the novels. Therefore, her plots are well-knit. Her main interest lies in irony and there is a hidden significance of morality as we come across her moral vision in her novels through irony.Jane Austen is in a favour of social prosperity than individual. She upholds the organic unity of society. She stresses that the duty of human beings owe to others, to society and maintains that individual desires have to be sub-ordinate to the large scale. Lydia-Wickham elopement is passionate and irresponsible. It shows that how society’s harmony is disrupted and how others lives are ruined by the selfish act of the individual. On the oth Read more:Pride
, Prejudice
, Moral
Pride and Prejudice: Love and Marriage Theme 2008-03-30 09:06:20 Though, marriage is the end of Jane Austen’s novel, yet it evolves more than the conclusion of a simple love story. There is a depth, variety and seriousness in Jane’s treatment of these topics.Marriage was an important social concern in Jane Austen’s time and she was fully aware of the disadvantages of remaining single. In a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, she wrote: "Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor - which is a very strong argument in favour of matrimony." The only option for unmarried woman in Jane Austen’s time was to care for someone else’s children as Jane Austen herself did; as there were no outlets for women.The novels of Jane Austen’s – especially “Pride
and Prejudice
” – dramatize the economic inequality of women, showing how women h Read more:Theme
"The Mill on the Floss": The end of the novel 2008-04-13 09:37:47 The end of “The Mill on the Floss” is the most controversial issue of the novel
. It has been subjected to biting criticism as it is alleged to be illogical, unnatural and rapid. Lytton spots that “the end is weakly prepared”. To Henry James, the end is ‘defective and shocking’. Bennet views that ‘the end indicates the novelist’s desire to bring about poetic justice’. Eliot ‘cut the knot she was unable to unravel’. To be curt, the critics blame that the end seems abrupt and imposed and does not flow from incidents. The end may have some defects; yet it can be defended and justified on subsequent levels. Firstly, the end can be justified at an allegorical level. The novel is, in fact, written in the retrospect. In 1850’s, Eliot portrayed the simple and pure life of
George Eliot as a modern novelist 2008-04-13 09:27:49 George Eliot
is known as a modern novelist in spite of living in Victorian Age. She wrote in the fashion contrary to that of her contemporaries, Dickens, Thackeray, etc. She is not completely divorced from the traditions. She draws her picture in the Victorian style, but she develops it in a new direction.The Victorians, on the whole, were instructive and they wrote what they wanted to write. Eliot, on the other hand, was an intellectual and she wrote what she should have written. She is known as the first intellectual novelist. Her novels are the embodiment of her ideas.The main charm of the Victorians lies in the individual expression, whereas, in Eliot, our interest is kept up in the way she analyses and diagnoses problems. Eliot rejects dogma and wants to analyze the causes of every pr Read more:George
T.S.Eliot as a critic 2008-04-13 09:26:36 Eliot is one of the greatest literary critics of England from the point of view of the bulk and quality of his critical writings. His five hundred and odd essays occasionally published as reviews and articles had a far-reaching influence on literary criticism in the country. His criticism was revolutionary which inverted the critical tradition of the whole English speaking work. John Hayward says:“I cannot think of a critic who has been more widely read and discussed in his own life-time; and not only in English, but in almost every language, except Russian.”As a critic Eliot has his faults. At times he assumes a hanging-judge attitude and his statements savor of a verdict. Often his criticism is marred by personal and religious prejudices blocking an honest and impartial estimate. Mor Read more:Eliot
George Eliot: A Psychologist 2008-04-13 09:11:31 Eliot was not a psychologist. She didn’t have even the knowledge required by a psychologist; yet, she is called the first modern novelist since her approach is psychological. She is the pioneer of psychological fiction. With the transcription of the visible and real, she traces the ups and downs of the mental processes and the emotional states of complex character. Her sharp analysis helps her to come nearer to the truth of human nature, motives and impulses.“The Mill on the Floss” is a psychological study of the state of an intellectual and sensitive girl in the English middle-class society, bound by convention. Maggie’s character is primarily the study of child psychology. Eliot’s psychological approach finds its best and main expression in characterization.Stephen Guest is a v Read more:George
, Eliot
George Eliot: A Moralist 2008-04-13 09:02:57 George Eliot
is known as a modern moralist despite living in Victorian Age. Other Victorians did have a moral touch but Eliot had the moral earnestness. She wrote to inculcate moral in the people. She reshapes the perception of the people to remould the whole structure of the society. She believes in the presence of the moral code at the heart of the universe. She made novels the epithet of her moral ideas. In “The Mill on the Floss”, she accuses the dominance of the self recklessness, loose-living etc and stresses on the absoluteness of duty, renunciation endurance, etc. Her concept of morality is based on human values and the laws of human heart.Eliot attacks self-dominance in her novels. Egoism is at the center of her novels. She shows the egoistic-self coming in contrast with other Read more:George
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Nature 2008-04-13 08:56:13 Nature as a subject has been treated by different poets, novelists and dramatists. Everyone analyzes this subject according to his own mind. Shelley got the lesson of optimism from nature. He says: “If Winter comes can Spring be far behind” Keats talks about mellowing season, flowers, new trees and beauty of nature. Wordsworth’s treatment of nature made him a prophet and he calls nature a ‘mother’ or a ‘friend’. Hardy was deeply interested in nature. He has a sensitive temperament about nature. An average intelligent observer notes small things and forgets the drawback of nature. Hardy, what he talks about the nature, results from the direct impressions of nature which he receives after observing it very deeply and carefully. Hardy’s concept is more realistic than roma
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