History of English Literature - From 1350 to 1900

6 November, 2022

           Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on a great poet Edmund Spenser.      

                   Edmund Spenser

∆ Why is Edmund Spenser called the poet's poet ?

→ Introduction :

   The Elizabethan era in England was a great time for poets, who thrived and created myriad poetic forms and influential works that are still read today. Major poets of the age include William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Philip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser.

    Edmund Spenser was a man of his times, and his work reflects the religious and humanistic ideals as well as the intense but critical patriotism of Elizabethan England. His contributions to English literature in the form of heightened and enlarged poetic vocabulary, a charming and flexible verse style and a rich fusing of the philosophic and literary currents of the English Renaissance.

  Edmund Spenser is an English poet known primarily for his epic poem The Faerie Queene. He lived from the mid to late 16th century, and was a contemporary with Queen Elizabeth I and other celebrated artists like Shakespeare.

   The Faerie Queene is his magnum opus, and was never finished in his lifetime. It presented an allegorical fantasy tale set in King Arthur’s Britain, representing much of the religious and political climate of the time.

   Today, Edmund Spenser is recognized as one of the best poets of his time, even going so far as to invent the Spenserian Stanza, his own rhyme scheme and structure for poetry.

→Born: 1552/1553, London, England

→Died:January 13, 1599, London,England

→Notable Works: The Faerie Queene (1590)

→Education: Pembroke College, Cambridge

→Wives: Machabyas Childe and Elizabeth Boyle

→Children: Sylvanus and Katherine

∆ THE EARLY LIFE OF EDMUND SPENSER : 

   In 1552, Edmund Spenser was born into a poor family. While he was related to a noble family that raised sheep, his immediate family did not have much.

  As a boy, he was entered into the Merchant Taylors’ grammar school as a “poor boy”, meaning his family did not have a lot of money. At the school he would learn Latin, Hebrew, Greek, and the musical arts. In 1569, as a teenager, Edmund Spenser translated some French poems, written by Joachim du Bellay, into English. Later, his translation of a poem by the Italian poet Petrarch was published at the beginning of an anti-Catholic publication “A Theatre for Voluptuous Worldlings”.

   Beginning in May 1569, Spenser attended Cambridge University at Pembroke Hall, now known as Pembroke College. Once again, he was not a wealthy student, he was labeled a “sizar”, which is a student who had to perform menial tasks in order to make up for the financial disparity.

In 1573, he received his Bachelor of Arts.

In 1574, he left the college due to an epidemic.

In 1576, he received his Master of Arts.

In 1578, he spent some time as a secretary to the Bishop of Rochester, a man named John Young.

    And it was in 1579 that he published his first major work: The Shepheardes Calender. Around this same time he married his first wife, Machabyas Childe. Together, they would have two children: Sylvanus and Katherine.

∆ LATER LIFE AND DEATH OF EDMUND SPENSER :

   Spenser would publish three more books of The Faerie Queene in 1596, and he returned to Ireland to continue writing in 1597.However, most of the work he completed after that was lost, and we do not know the full extent of what he wrote. All we have are two Cantos from book 7 of the Faerie Queene.

   In 1598, he was named Sheriff of Cork, but it was in the same year that he was forced to flee Ireland with his family.

  Later in 1598, he arrived in London, presenting his situation to the Queen, but it was soon after this that he fell ill, and he would eventually die in London on January 16, 1599.

∆ WRITING STYLE :

   Spenser invented his own distinctive form of poetic verse, now known as the Spenserian stanza. He used it in multiple works, most notably in The Faerie Queen.

   The stanza is 9 lines in total, has a metre of iambic pentameter for the first 8 lines, with the last line in iambic hexameter.

   It also has a distinctive rhyme scheme of ababbcbccdcdee.

  Here is an example taken from the first Canto of The Faerie Queene:

A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,

Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde,

Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,

The cruel markes of many’a bloudy fielde;

Yet armes till that time did he never wield:

His angry steede did chide his foming bitt,

As much disdayning to the curbe to yield:

Full jolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt,

As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt.

   Spenser would also adapt this form into a longer “Spenserian sonnet.” Here is a prime example from Amoretti, a poem addressed to his second wife Elizabeth Boyle:

“Men call you fair, and you do credit it,

For that your self ye daily such do see:

But the true fair, that is the gentle wit,

And vertuous mind, is much more prais’d of me.

For all the rest, how ever fair it be,

Shall turn to naught and lose that glorious hue:

But only that is permanent and free

From frail corruption, that doth flesh ensue.

That is true beauty: that doth argue you

To be divine, and born of heavenly seed:

Deriv’d from that fair Spirit, from whom all true

And perfect beauty did at first proceed.

He only fair, and what he fair hath made,

All other fair, like flowers untimely fade.”

∆ NOTABLE WORKS BY EDMUND SPENSER :

→ The Shepheardes Calender (1579 )

→ The Faerie Queene (Books 1-3 in 1589, Books 4-6 in 1596)

→A View of the Present State of Ireland (1596)

→Short Poetry Collections 

∆ Spenser as "the poet’s poet":

   Edmund Spenser was first called the ''poet's poet'' in an essay by Charles Lamb. He used this phrase to express that Spenser's work was very popular among other poets, which was true. Spenser's work was highly crafted and the specifics of the poetic form meant a lot to him. In some ways, his work was better appreciated by other poets, who could see in detail the innovations that he had created.

   It was Charles Lamb who called Spenser “the poet’s poet” and lamb was not wrong in giving him that honored title. Spenser is regarded as the poet’s poet and the second father of English poetry and Chaucer is the first.

  Spenser gives a higher conception of poetry and he did something new which other poets before him had not dared. His faith in the immortality of poetry and the greatness of the poet's vocation have rightly entitled him to be recognized as the poet's poet.

   While Spenser composed his own verses, he transcended them and beat them hollow in their own line. Spenser has improved English diction, style and versification. He enriched the English language and made it musical. His mixture of the old English words with syntax produced something new for English poetry. He enriched the English language by importing foreign words and by coining new words. He realized that for the purpose of great English poetry. There was a need for a new language. He altered words, made one word do the duty of another, interchanged actives and passives, transferred epithets from their proper subjects and gave them any shape that the case may demand. In this way, he created a truly royal style, beautiful, feasible and magnificent.

   Spenser's verbal melody and music based on the use of onomatopoetic words, proper employment of vowels and consonants, alliteration, is something unique in English poetry. Shelley, Keats, Tennyson and Swinburne learnt the melody of their verse from Spenser.From very old times divergent opinions have been held about the function of poetry and art. Moralists like Plato have emphasized that poetry should be moral and should be an instrument of moral edification. But those who advocated art for art's sake has considered the poet as a ministering angel of joy and delight. Art in their opinion is for joy. Spenser harmonized both these views in his poetry. To a profound moral tone he added the greases and charms of beauty, loveliness decoration and picturesqueness. He beautifully blended the message of the Renaissance and the Reformation in his poetry. He came to be regarded as the writer for artists because of his insistence on beauty, love, richness, exuberance and pageants.

  Thus Spenser exercised the deepest influence on a hoist of poets in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. For his great service to English poetry he is called the poet's poet.

→ Why is Spenser called a poet's poet?

→Universal subject matter(Greek theology and mythology) .

→Spenser followed Artiosto’s moral traditions and Tasso’s romantic tradition .

→Inspired by Virgil’s pastoral poetry.

→Philosophical tradition of Plato/ Aristotle .

→One of the important reasons is because he started writing in the beginning phase of English poetry.

→Spenser was the first poet who wrote epic (The Faerie Queen)

→ Only great poets can understand. Spenser’s poetry .

→ Conclusion :

     As a poet Spenser was a highly busy man of affairs but he never put aside the poet in him. He always writes like an idealist. He never entertains humour in his poetry.

Thank you...

Words : 1529

Literature of the Victorians

6 November, 2022

     Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on the male characters of the novel 'Hard Times'.         

                       Hard Times

∆ Write a note on the male characters in the novel 'Hard Times': 

     Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in England. His father was a clerk who was imprisoned for debt when Dickens was just twelve years old. In his father's absence, Dickens was forced to leave school and enter the labor force to provide financially for his family. Self-educated and experienced on the streets of London from a very early age, Dickens became the leading Victorian-era novelist. Focusing on the Industrial Revolution and its impact on society, Dickens' writing is built around themes of social change and utilitarianism.

   Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854. He published weekly segments of the work in his Household Words journal from April to August because the journal's popularity was beginning to wane. Dickens hoped that including chapters of Hard Times would renew interest in the publication. Hard Times is a dystopian novel centered around the dangers of relying solely on facts and formulas while disregarding emotions and imagination.

∆ Mr. Gradgrind :

    Mr. Gradgrind is the intellectual founder of the Gradgrind educational system and he is also a member of Parliament. He represents the rigor of "hard facts" and statistics. It is only after Louisa's emotional breakdown that he has a change of heart and becomes more intellectually accepting of enterprises that are not exclusively dedicated to profit and fact.

    However, as he finds many years later, if you don't teach morality, the kids won't learn morality. And so Gradgrind's comeuppance is extremely appropriate. Everyone who has excelled at Gradgrind-directed studies ends up betraying or letting him down in a shattering way. His daughter Louisa makes a terrible marriage, almost has an affair, and ends up separated and childless. His son Tom becomes a thief and frames another man for his crime. In the final kicker, Bitzer, the model student, refuses every appeal for mercy and gratitude from his old headmaster. Instead he just quotes Gradgrind's own materialistic and selfish philosophies back to him.

∆ Mr. Bounderby :

  Mr. Bounderby is one of the central characters of the novel. He is a business acquaintance of Mr. Thomas Gradgrind. He employs many of the characters in the novel and he is very wealthy. He marries Louisa Gradgrind and the marriage eventually ends unhappily. In the tumult of a bank robbery investigation, Bounderby's true identity is revealed much to his shame. Throughout the novel, Bounderby is an emblem of hypocrisy.

   Mr. Bounderby is a pompous, arrogant, and successful factory owner who constantly boasts about how he is a self-made man. He is good friends with Mr. Gradgrind and lives with an elderly widow named Mrs. Sparsit until he marries Louisa Gradgrind, whom he has had his eye on since she was little. Selfish and blustering, he does not make Louisa happy, driving her to be emotionally vulnerable to James Harthouse's advances.

∆ Stephen Blackpool :

     A poor worker at Mr. Bounderby's factory, Stephen is a victim both of the industrial system and of society's restrictions on marriage. His face and body are much aged because of the grueling work he must do every day at the factory, and his heart is aged ever since his wife became a drunken prostitute and left him, occasionally returning for money. He has longed to cease to love her, and loves a gentle, kind woman named Rachael in her stead, but he cannot marry Rachael because of his preexisting marriage. His fellow workers shun him when he refuses to join the union, and Bounderby fires him after Stephen refuses to give him details about the union that his fellow workers are forming. Tom furthermore frames him in the Bank robbery, and he dies tragically, on his way back to defend his good name.

   Stephen is a power loom operator in Bounderby's factory. He married young, and his wife has since become a raging alcoholic. Stephen is in love with Rachael, another factory worker, but can't be with her because he can't get a divorce. After being framed for bank robbery, Stephen ends up dying from falling into a giant hole in the ground.

∆ James Harthous :

    A young, wealthy London gentleman, Mr. Harthouse is as bored and as pleasing as most men of his class tend to be, and he bends all his powers of pleasing and persuasion in trying to seduce. Louisa, when he sees what a fascinating, repressed, beautiful woman she is. His plans are thwarted when Louisa goes to her father's house instead of rendezvousing with him to elope, and Sissy, in her calm and pure way, confronts him the next day and succeeds in making him leave Coketown forever. The younger brother of a member of Parliament, Harthouse has agreed to spend some time teaching in the Gradgrind's school. He is lazy and immodest and finds himself tempting Louisa with offers of romance.

   Harthouse is a well-born young guy who is trying to get into Parliament. He's in the same political party as Gradgrind. He comes to Coketown to learn how to work the political process and get to know some money men like Bounderby. While there, he tries to seduce Louisa and almost succeeds. After she runs away from him, Sissy tells him to never show his face around town again.

∆ Bitzer :

    Bitzer is a classmate of Tom, Louisa and Sissy. As a young adult he works as a clerk in Bounderby's bank and he unsuccessfully apprehends Tom as the thief.As a boy, Bitzer is Gradgrind's best student. As a young man, he becomes the light porter at Bounderby's bank, spies on Tom and the other clerks, and only follows the economic principle of complete self-interest. At the end, he catches Tom trying to flee abroad and tries to bring him back for the reward before being outwitted by the circus performers.

   Bitzer is basically a walking, talking example of just how that phrase works. He was Gradgrind's best student, and grew up into a man who puts aside every emotion and every kind of non-selfish motivation. Slowly and surely, he paves the way for himself to rise at the bank, until the last moments of the novel when he finds and arrests the escaping Tom, Gradgrind's son. Bitzer hopes that if he turns Tom in, Bounderby will give him Tom's old job.

∆ Tom Gradgrind :

    Tom is also referred to as "the whelp." He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind and an employee of Mr. Bounderby. He is resentful towards his sister, Louisa, though she is only kind towards him. His ultimate misdeed comes when he steals money from his safe in the bank and then announces the loss as a true theft. In the end, Tom is forced to flee the country to escape punishment. He dies overseas and is full of regret.

   Tom, the second oldest Gradgrind child, fares worse than Louisa in that his character is almost irrevocably deformed by his education of facts. He turns into a grumpy, sulky young man who ends up robbing a bank to help pay off his debts and nearly breaks the heart of his father and sister in the process.

∆ Josiah Bounderby :

   Although he is Mr. Gradgrind’s best friend, Josiah Bounderby is more interested in money and power than in facts. Indeed, he is himself a fiction, or a fraud. Bounderby’s inflated sense of pride is illustrated by his oft-repeated declaration, “I am Josiah Bounderby of Coketown.” This statement generally prefaces the story of Bounderby’s childhood poverty and suffering, a story designed to impress its listeners with a sense of the young Josiah Bounderby’s determination and self-discipline. However, Dickens explodes the myth of the self-made man when Bounderby’s mother, Mrs. Pegler, reveals that her son had a decent, loving childhood and a good education, and that he was not abandoned, after all.

   Bounderby’s attitude represents the social changes created by industrialization and capitalism. Whereas birth or bloodline formerly determined the social hierarchy, in an industrialized, capitalist society, wealth determines who holds the most power. Thus, Bounderby takes great delight in the fact that Mrs. Sparsit, an aristocrat who has fallen on hard times, has become his servant, while his own ambition has enabled him to rise from humble beginnings to become the wealthy owner of a factory and a bank. However, in depicting Bounderby, the capitalist, as a coarse, vain, self-interested hypocrite, Dickens implies that Bounderby uses his wealth and power irresponsibly, contributing to the muddled relations between rich and poor, especially in his treatment of Stephen after the Hands cast Stephen out to form a union.

∆ Signor Jupe :

   The horse-trainer or circus-performer who is the father of Cecilia. He sends her on an errand to "fetch the nine oils" as an ointment for his aching muscles. When she returns to their lodging, he is gone.

∆ Mr. Sleary :

    Mr. Sleary Is the manager of a traveling circus. After providing for Sissy at the beginning of the novel he assists Tom's escape at the novel's end.The lisping proprietor of the circus where Sissy’s father was an entertainer. Later, Mr. Sleary hides Tom Gradgrind and helps him flee the country. Mr. Sleary and his troop of entertainers value laughter and fantasy whereas Mr. Gradgrind values rationality and fact.

Thank you...

Words : 1543

Literature of the Romantics

6 November,2022

     Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on the plot of 'Marriage' in 'Pride and Prejudice'. 

                Pride and Prejudice 

∆ Write a critical note on the plot of 'Marriage' in 'Pride and Prejudice'.

      Austen was a famous realistic woman writer of the late 18 century and early 19 century. Born in a clerical family and educated strictly. Jane Austen created six novels and three unfinished stories, during just 42 peaceful years, and was considered to be a prolific writer.

    Among the works, Pride and Prejudice is the most successful and impressive masterpiece. The famous novel was written in 1813, and was very popular all the time and had been read widely. It showed the daily lives and values of the Middle-Class Englishmen of that time, which was Male-Centered. Many people simply regard Pride and Prejudice as a love story, but in my opinion, this book is an illustration of the society at that time. Jane Austen perfectly reflected the relation between money and marriage at her time and gave the people in her works vivid character.

  The characters have their own personalities. Mr. Bennet is an old-style gentleman. Mrs. Bennet is a woman who makes great efforts to marry off her daughters. Mr. Bingley is a friendly young man, but his friend, Mr. Darcy is very proud. Mr. Darcy seems to always feel superior. Even the five daughters in the Bennet family are very different. Jane is simple, innocent and never speaks evil of others. Elizabeth is a clever girl who always has her own opinion. Mary likes reading classic books who actually is a pedant. Kitty doesn't have her own opinion but likes to follow her sister, Lydia. Lydia is a girl who follows exotic things, a handsome man, and is somehow a little profligate. The parents, the daughters, and even the young men are all representative personages of different groups. That's why when we read the book, we can easily find the same personalities in modern society now. Indeed, the book is representative of the society in Britain in the late 18th century and the early 19th century.

   Pride and Prejudice is a love story, but its author is also concerned with pointing out the inequality that governs the relationships between men and women and how it affects women's choices and options regarding marriage. Austen portrays a world in which choices for individuals are very limited, based almost exclusively on a family's social rank and connections. To be born a woman into such a world means having even less choice about whom to marry or how to determine the shape of one's life. The way that society controls and weakens women helps to explain in part Mrs. Bennet's hysteria about marrying off her daughters, and why such marriages must always involve practical, financial considerations. As members of the upper class, the Bennet sisters are not expected to work or make a career for themselves. Yet as women they are not allowed to inherit anything. As a result, marriage is basically their only option for attaining wealth and social standing. Yet Austen is also critical of women who marry solely for security, like Charlotte. 

   During the Regency Period in England's history, marriage was often entered into by men and women for many more reasons than just love between two people. Discover examples of the types of complex marriages and the significance of dowries during this period of English history in Jane Austin's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, which was published in 1813.

   The beginning lines of the novel Pride and Prejudice, by British author Jane Austen, help the reader to understand the zeitgeist of marriage that took place in the time it was published in 1813. A rich man, either ill-favored or handsome, becomes the target of all the society mothers' attempts to get their daughters married off.

  In Pride and Prejudice, the scheming matrons include Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine De Bourgh. And it's not just the mothers who are pushy when it comes to securing a husband. Throughout the novel, Caroline Bingley throws herself into the path of Mr. Darcy right and left. Her goal is to show her superiority of accomplishments and character and to demean Elizabeth Bennet,the woman Mr. Darcy is really interested in.

  But in the novel, women weren't just seeking out marriage as some sort of prize; there was real societal risk involved in not securing a husband. Pride and Prejudice explores the real risks women face in regards to their reputation and what could happen if they wound up in a poor match or alone. It also showed that it was possible, despite these risks, to marry for love.

   During this time period, a woman's reputation was worth its weight in gold. This is especially true of the young and unmarried. It is stated in the text that once a woman's reputation is lost, it's lost forever. Lydia Bennet and her sister Kitty act in a wild, unmanageable manner with the officers of the militia. When Lydia runs off with Mr. Wickham, she would be seen as a fallen woman if he was not induced by Mr. Darcy to marry her.

    There are also several examples of couples who marry for love in Pride and Prejudice. The main characters of the novel, Ms. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, find themselves in a comedy of errors. He is too proud of his family and place in society. She is prejudiced because of a series of overheard insults and slights he makes about her.

    Jane Austen, one of women writers, was famous for her realistic writing style. Among her works, Pride and Prejudice is a world-famous masterpiece, in which she created different marriages, and showed us her views on marriage. The views have some guiding significance to our modern women even now.

    Jane Austen weaved different marriages in Pride and Prejudice. The  marriages are all different from each other. Through these different marriages, Jane Austen showed us the true social problems and characteristics of that time, and implied her own values of marriage.

∆ Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy :

 

          As the heroine of this novel, Elizabeth's love is very important. At the beginning, Elizabeth refused to accept Darcy's pursuit. Because in Elizabeth's mind, Darcy is very cold and extremely proud, he is rich and has high social status, and he looks down upon the middle-class girls. In particular, he insulted Elizabeth Bennet, a girl of spirit and intelligence and his father's favorite. But as time went by, Darcy began to admire Elizabeth in spite of himself.

    For Elizabeth, love is the most important element of marriage. She does not accept a marriage which is not based on love. She doesn't love Collins, so she refused the future heir to the manor and the wealth. And at first she thought Darcy was too arrogant, so she also refused the wealthy gentleman. We can see a rational and intelligent girl in the novel, who is just Elizabeth. As they got to know each other further and further, Elizabeth cleared the misunderstanding between them, and Mr. Darcy saw the disadvantages in himself, they fell in love with each other on the basis of love. This is the best ending for them.

∆ Lydia Bennet and George Wickham :

            We know that, in the novel, Lydia, as Mr. Bennet's third daughter was spoiled by her mother, so she was very conceited and arrogant, and behaved frivolously. Wickham, he has no other advantage except for his attractive physical appearance. In his opinion, love is just recreation. Due to his trouble with a large debt, he entices Lydia and gets her love easily. When their love does not get the permission from the parents, they elope. When Elizabeth hears the news, she believes that their love does not have a happy ending. Indeed, Wickham would not marry Lydia, because she was not charming and had nothing to attract him. He doesn't love her but the wealth of her family.

∆ Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley :

      Jane was the oldest of Mr. Bennet's daughters, a pretty girl of sweet and gentle disposition. Bingley was an imme diate success in local society. At the first ball, Jane has a good impression of Bingley, and it is the same to Bing ley. They were attracted to each other at once. 

   For Bingley, he had a good temper. He was so modest and had no opinion about his own marriage. No matter how obvious his attachment to Jane was, he believed Darcy's representation of Jane's indifference was true. Because Mr. Bingley's two sisters didn't like Jane, they thought Mr. Bingley should choose Darcy's sister as his. wife, who was of course "superior" to Jane. Under the influence of his sisters, Mr. Darcy Bingley began to doubt Jane's affection for him. Finally, he thought Jane didn't love him, so he left her without saying goodbye.

    Later, when all the misunderstanding was clarified, he came back to Jane at Darcy's assistance. Bingley's indecisive character determines his happiness and results that this life was controlled by others. Later on a visit to Bingley's, Jane's love affair with Bingley is advanced. Even Bingley is apparently on the point of proposing to Jane. Bingley is attracted by Jane's tenderness and beautiful appearance, while Jane is attracted by his gentle manner. They love each other.

∆ Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas :

      In the novel, when the homely and plain Charlotte decided to marry Collins, she was only satisfied, without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object, and we can see it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune. In fact what Charlotte asks is only a comfortable shatter, a higher social position and a better wealth.

   For Collins, he is a man who does not know what love is at all. When Mr. Collins first proposed to Elizabeth, much to her mother's displeasure and her father's joy, she firmly and promptly rejected him. He almost immediately transferred his affections to Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas, who, 27 and somewhat homely, accepted at once his offer of marriage. Collin's decision to marry Charlotte is only because of Elizabeth's refusal to him.

Thank you...

Words: 1679I

Images: 5

Literature of the Neo-classical Period

6 November, 2022

          Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on 'The Rape of the Lock' : A Social Satire.

              The Rape of the Lock 

            

∆ 'The Rape of the lock', A social satire : 

   Alexander Pope was one of the commanding literary figures of the enlightenment period. He was a poet, and well known for his satirical and discursive poetry. He was the one who translated homer works and was famous for The Rape of the Lock and An Essay on Criticism.

   'The Rape of the Lock' is a mock heroic epic first published in 1712 written on the request of his friend John Caryll who explained that his friend Peter had cut off a lock of the hair of Arabella Fermor.

   In Pope's own words, “The stealing of Miss Belle Fermor's hair was taken too seriously, and caused an estrangement between the two families.

 The enlightenment period was full of knowledge, reason, and exaltation of wit emerged top in the scenario of both Horatian and Juvenalian satires, which vividly depicts that contemporary period, which was full of moral corruption, vanities, follies, and trivialities on the other side. John Dryden, a playwright of the 17th century added. "The true end of satire is the amendment of vice by correction," and that is what Pope set out to do in his "Rape of the Lock." Under the umbrella, Pope depicts his society especially targets the upper class in The Rape of the Lock. Satires through different rhetorical figures used aimed at pointing out the drawbacks and chastising the hypocritic society.To eradicate the flaws of society, Pope and Swift work hard by using different ways.

     Satires used by the Pope can be truly called social satires in one way or another because it satirizes the society as a whole. Belinda represents the vanity of women and vanity while on the other hand Baron aristocratic gentlemen of the period. In The Rape of the Lock, Pope employs Horation style delicately chiding society in a sly but polished voice by holding up a mirror to the follies and vanities of the upper class. The Pope successfully attempts to highlight the degraded society of Britain delicately and lyrically.

  In general, Belinda is a character in the poem "The Rape of the Lock" who represents the upper-class ladies of the day. In this role, she reflects the follies and frivolities of the era's female characters, and she does it well. Using the fictitious identity she has established for herself, Pope has satirized the frivolities of women. Some of the most caustic statements are those that appear when Belinda is portrayed to be awakening from her bed. In the morning, she sleeps till the small hours of the morning. Her lap dog licks her on the cheek, jolting her out of her slumber. The poet makes fun of the fact that women spend much too much time worrying about their beauty and self-decoration in his poem.

   The poem is actually about feminine frivolity because the Pope showed many errors of women, especially aristocratic females in the first.

    As we see he portrays the lifestyle of Belinda that she wakes up very late nearly noon.

"Now Lap-dogs give themselves the

rousing shake, And sleepless Lovers, just at Twelve, awake:"

     He makes fun of aristocratic females of the period that were fond of gilded chariots and ombres. These are the vanities of the females that will remain with them after death.

He writes;

"Think not, when Woman's transient Breath is fled,

That all her Vanities at once are dead." 

    Pope shows that females are interested in love letters, whatever they received.Here, again he makes fun by exposing the shortcomings of ladies for recreation and marked balls.

"With varying Vanities, from ev'ry Part,

They shift the moving Toyshop of their Heart"

   He says that women are materialistic and inconsistent in their love but expecting a lot from her friend. This sentence's verification is confirmed by this line. "Thy eyes first opened on a Billet doux" Interestingly, Pope satirizes women from any angle.He further comments in a very delicate way that upper class females pay more attention to superficial beauty instead of outer beauty. Many beauty and facial powders and other things are on Belinda's toilet table.

"Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,

Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet doux."

    Pope satirizes Belinda from the religious perspective as well.

    The poet has satirized the system of judges that they, at 4 o'clock, hurried to sign the sentence so that they could have their dinner in time.

"Meanwhile, declining from the noon of day,

The sun obliquely shoots his burning ray,

The hungry judges soon the sentence

sign,

And wretches hand that jurymen may dine;"

   The Rape of the Lock is a humorous satire on the upper class of England, with its cultural and traditional scandals, corruption, follies, especially focusing on fashionable men and women. The Pope depicts his contemporary society and follies with light ridicule. He wants to correct the wrong prevailing customs of society and introduces us to a world of frivolity. Both Swift and Pope want to eradicate the social evils to reform it in a new way. Their purpose was didactic.

   Pope uses satire to expose the follies and defects of his contemporary society. The most vivid satire is the comparison of Belinda's stolen hair to the abduction of Helen of Troy. The people at that time mostly engrossed themselves in frivolities and trivialities. Pope wants the people of England must be worried about important and significant things not about meager things.The Rape of the Lock's importance grows because of its origin as well. This is the first mock-epic ever written before; it is a combination of classical models and satires.

    The whole panorama of The Rape of the Lock is restricted to the 18th century aristocratic life. The strange battle fought between the fashionable belles and the beau, the fall of Dapper Wit and Sir Fopling are demonstrative of the hollowness of the people of this age:

"A beau and witling perished in the

throng

One died in metaphor, and one in

song."

    Even the greatest of the great, the Queen herself is satirized to produce a truly comical and witty effect.

"Here thou, a great Anna whom three realms obey

Dost sometimes counsel take - and sometimes tea."

    The Rape of the Lock is a true representation of the eighteenth century. It shows the genius of the Pope for satirical skills in poetry. It beautifully highlights the social evils, follies, and absurdities at a time with the utmost brevity, which makes Pope the greatest and commanding literary figure of the enlightenment period.It is obvious that the main purpose is to regenerate the society, but Pope Targets upper the aristocratic class especially females. The moral bankruptcy of the ladies is further exposed when Thalestris points out the need for sacrificing everything, even purity, for the sake of popularity.

"Virtue might be lost, but not a good name:

honor forbid! at whose unrivaled shrine ease

pleasure, virtue all our sex resigns." 

   The Pope exposes the hollowness and emptiness of the ladies which of course, amuse us. Even their chatting cantered around sex, dancing, and singing. "At every word a reputation dies."

    The Rape of the Lock assimilates the masterful qualities of a heroic epic, yet is applied satirically to a seemingly petty egotistical elitist quarrel. At the time of Pope Epics were very highly regarded especially John Milton's Paradise Lost because of its subject matter and allegorical references.

    Pope also employs and copying the methods to generate a huge impression and ultimately succeed but in a humorous way. Despite the likeness to historical epic pieces, this work displays a light and playful tone, which illuminates the idiosyncratic nature of the poem's central conflict, the Baron stealing, or raping Belinda's illustrious lock of hair.

    The overall work of the Pope shows heavy dissatisfaction over his society. Both Pope and Swift try to illuminate and highlight their contemporary society but in a different way. Of course, the Pope's struggle is effective to eradicate society and gives them a new positive direction, which helps them a lot politically, socially, religiously, and financially.

    The poem is a bright example of mock-epic which reflects the degraded society of England with humorous and delicate satire.

    It depicts the idle life of the pleasure seeking young men and women and introduces us to the world of fashion and follies. The pleasures these classes of people are engaged in are - flirting, card-laying, driving in Hyde Park, visiting theatres and writing love letters.

    Pope's satire is didactic and aimed at reforming society. It is full of wit and intellect which inspires the reader at the very beginning. Lowell is right in saying that "Pope stands by himself in English verse as an intellectual observer and describer of personal weaknesses."

    According to the Pope, we should not pay attention to trivial things, rather focus on the main and serious issues of life. He stresses that being able to laugh at once is a key ingredient in having a successful life.

    In short, the long discussion can be summed up in these words. 'The Rape of the Lock' is a mock heroic epic written by Alexander Pope in 1712. The Pope exposes the follies and absurdities of that contemporary age in a humorous way, which leads the people of England to follow the right direction in every field of life in the future. It is a criticism of the vanities of females and the upper class of the eighteenth century who have no proper guidelines and mission in life to go ahead. This criticism is helpful for the people of England to choose the right path. It can be called that he was the true representative of the Enlightenment period.

Thank you...

Words: 1616

Jude the Obscure

   5 November, 2022 

     Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on Themes of 'Jude the Obscure'.

                      Jude the Obscure

∆ Themes of the novel 'Jude the Obscure' :

• Religion

• Marriage

• Education

• Social Class

• Disappointment

→ Religion :

     Religion plays a major role in Jude's life when he is young. While his first dreams are of going to Christminster to be a classical scholar, he eventually thinks of going there to pursue religious goals.In the end, Jude swears off religion.However, Sue, who has always disparaged religion, turns to the Church after her children are killed.

→ Marriage :

   In a way, this book is staging a whole debate on the institution of marriage. Hardy does not necessarily suggest that marriage is automatically bad, he just makes it clear that he believes people should be able to step away from a marriage if things do get dire. He also makes it clear that marriage is not necessarily linked to love in any way, so it's obvious that a decent, understanding society would accept Jude and Sue's relationship because they truly love each other, regardless of whether they are married or not. Jude and Sue are clearly a good match for each other, so Jude wants to get married. Sue, however, feels that marriage will poison the relationship. The narrator does not seem to favor either side; it is left up to readers to decide how the problems with marriage might be solved.

→ Education :

   Hardy highlights many kinds of education in Jude the Obscure. Jude teaches himself the classics, Latin, Greek, and much more in the hopes that he will one day be able to further his education in the proper setting: at college. But, the book strongly criticizes the university structure that keeps Jude from pursuing a higher education because he comes from a working-class background. Even though Jude has taught himself brilliantly, what he knows isn't as important to the colleges as where he comes from. It's a great tragedy that, despite all of Jude's dreams and hopes, he never had a chance in the first place to make it in Christminster—in this snobby world, his rural, poor background is enough to keep him down. In the novel, the level of traditional education one reaches is closely tied to the class system. 

→ Social class :

    In addition to his points about education, Hardy also criticizes the rigidity of social class more generally. Jude is limited in his career options because as a working-class man, he cannot hope to be promoted beyond a certain level, even in fields like the clergy that are supposed to be open to all. 

→ Disappointment :

    Disappointment crops up over and over again in this novel: Jude is disappointed by his career; he is disappointed in his marriage to Arabella and then his cohabitation with Sue; he is disappointed by Mr. Phillotson, who never achieved his dream of getting a university degree. Even Time's assertions that he never asked to be born suggest a certain disappointment with life. Since most of the novel's tragedies come as lost opportunities, the ways that the characters deal with disappointment contribute to their characterization. For example, Phillotson takes a relatively mature perspective when he is disappointed in his marriage to Sue, and allows her to be with Jude. Arabella, in contrast, deals with her disappointment in Cartlett by spying on Jude and scheming to get back together with him.

Thank you...

   

Literature of the Elizabethan & Restoration Periods

6 November, 2022

       Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on Character sketch of Lady Macbeth.

                      Macbeth

∆ Character sketch of Lady Macbeth :

• Introduction:-

     The play "Macbeth" can be divided into two parts. The first part constitutes the rise of Macbeth and the second half constitutes the fall of Macbeth. In the very first part are found the roots of Macbeth's fall. Lady Macbeth is the guiding force and deciding factor during the first half of the play. without her the tragedy would not have been possible.

• Her ambition:- 

     Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are highly ambitious. The germ of ambition in Macbeth comes through the witches.The same Germ creeps into the mind of Lady Macbeth through the letter of the Macbeth. She is excited at the prophecies of the witches and becomes inpatient to commit the murder of Duncan. She wants the immediate presence of her husband.

• Good planner:- 

     Lady Macbeth is wise and tactful.her husband to beguile the time.Shw plans the murder of Duncan. She performs all that her husband cannot do. Macbeth murders Duncan but he leaves the work half-done.

• A Contrast to Her Husband :- 

    Lady Macbeth is a contrast to her husband. When Macbeth hesitates to kill the king Duncan and says - "I shall proceed no more in this business", Lady Macbeth scolds him- was the hope drunk,wherin you dressed yourself' ? and bring him to the right point of murder. The sense of morality is always alive in Macbeth but it is totally wanting in Lady Macbeth. She wants to be a criminal. She wants to unsex herself. She wants to fill herself and her husband with the cruelty from top to the toe.

• A Tragic Woman:-

     Lady Macbeth commits unnatural deeds. She suffers abnormally from Somnambulism. She can not let the blood of Duncan disappear from her hands. She says- "All that perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand". Lady Macbeth refers to all the crimes that have been committed by her husband in which she had the guiding force and was the sole motivator.

     Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous and ruthless female characters. She is the leading character of the tragedy play, 'Macbeth'. She is the wife of the protagonist of the play. When the audience first sees her, she is already plotting Duncan's murder, and this makes her the most frightening and villainous character. She is strong-headed and ambitious and knows how to take charge. As soon as she reads Macbeth's letter informing her about the prophecies given by the three witches, she knows that she will have to push Macbeth into doing what she believes needs to be done. She thinks Macbeth is weak-minded and will not have the heart and courage to kill Duncan.

     She provokes her husband to kill the king Duncan. After she becomes the Queen of Scotland. Later she also develops madness due to guilt of crime. Eventually she kills herself offstage. She is the female protagonist of the play. The plot depends on her actions. She is the one provokes and forces as well to kill the king Duncan. Being a wife she always stands for her husband. She is also aware that she has taken a wrong step which is very disturbing. She realises it but it was too late. She cannot undo her mistake and it makes her feel guilty. This is also the reason that she kills herself in disappointment. Through, she is the only reason for the fall of Macbeth, yet, she is regarded as the protagonist of the play. This is so because she never leaves her husband even in bed times. In fact she considers herself the reason and so she decides to kill herself.

     Lady Macbeth is one of the major characters of the play. She makes the plot interesting. Although she is still very ambitious, she is a responsible wife. She tries her best to protect her husband. When she comes to know that it is impossible to deal with the situation, she leaves his company forever. She seems to be a favourite of both the playwright and the readers as well ; without her, the play would not have been complete.

      Her personality is portrayed as forceful and dominant. Unlike Macbeth who constantly struggles with his conscience and loyalty before finally murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth has no problem or hesitation with the plan of murder. She gives priority to her ambition and no amount of loyalty or conscience succeeds in making her give it a second thought. Although Macbeth has hoped to find some other alternative to become king without committing murder, Lady Macbeth unflinchingly accepts murder as the only necessary way to fulfil her ambition of becoming the queen.

     She is also seen as wishing to strip herself of all feminine qualities so that she can carry out the task of murdering Duncan. This shows Shakespeare's perception regarding the dynamics between gender and power. It is evident that Lady Macbeth merely reflects the general perception of that time that ambition and violence are inextricably linked to masculinity.

     Through Lady Macbeth's character, Shakespeare also seems to be showing that femininity is more closely linked with the capability of manipulation. This is also reflected in the way that three witches are shown to be manipulating the mind of Macbeth. The play shows women as using the feminine method of manipulation to realise their own ambitions. Shakespeare implies that women too can have ambitions and they too can be as cruel as men but the means through which they achieve their ambitions are shrouded in traits of manipulation which as depicted in the play are traits.

    What makes Lady Macbeth more of a human character rather than a witch is the disintegration of her former ruthless self after the murder of Duncan. Just as ambition affects her more strongly than Macbeth before the crime, so does guilt plague her more strongly afterward. By the close of the play, she has been reduced to sleepwalking through the castle, desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain. Once the sense of guilt comes home to roost, Lady Macbeth’s sensitivity becomes a weakness, and she is unable to cope. Significantly, she (apparently) kills herself, signaling her total inability to deal with the legacy of their crimes.

     Lady Macbeth is a perfect judge of her husband’s character. She is well-aware of Macbeth’s strength and weakness:

"Hie thee hither T

ThatI pour my spirit, in thine ear

 And chastise with the valour of my tongue.” (Act-I, Scene-V, Macbeth)

    She rubs her hand in an abnormal way, but the spot stays in her hit-oppressed brain. This serves the dramatic irony and stands out as contrast:

“A little water clears us of his deed.”

    Once she urged her husband to walk along the bloody way. Today in an insane way she exaggerates:

“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand…”

     Lady Macbeth entirely breaks the stereotype of women being kind and benevolent in the first act. After Macbeth writes home telling of his murderous plans, Lady Macbeth begins talking to evil spirits. Because women often lack the ruthlessness to kill someone, Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to make her male.

     This is the first humane feeling that we see from Lady Macbeth in the play. Her desires and inspiration are very strong, but when the opportunity presents itself, she cannot carry through with the act. Therefore, she uses her husband’s vulnerability to persuasion to achieve her dreams.

     The relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth is based on political triumphs, not love. Lady Macbeth often accuses her husband of talking but not carrying through his ambitions. Although she often talks about becoming queen of Scotland and murdering Duncan, she never does anything to help this cause. The qualities that it takes to murder a king are not present in Lady Macbeth.

     Lady Macbeth has become totally engrossed in becoming queen of Scotland. She is relentless in her pursuit of this goal, and she will kill anyone who is in the way of the throne. She is able to influence Macbeth into murder by telling him they are presented with an extraordinary opportunity.

     Lady Macbeth at least can acknowledge that the murder is wrong and immoral by calling down darkness to hide her murder. She is not completely a ruthless psychotic, and she knows the difference between right and wrong.

    This, however, further emphasizes the desire and ambition that Lady Macbeth possesses to be queen. She realizes the numerous negative effects of murdering Duncan, but she neglects them because, more than anything else, she wants to be a queen.

    In order to accomplish her dreams, Lady Macbeth manipulates and convinces Macbeth to do things that he is against. But because of her intense ambition to be queen, nothing can prevent her from achieving this goal.Lady Macbeth had been described as the fourth Witch more diabolical because she possesses the gracious human form and effective tongue. Lady Macbeth does certainly instigate her husband to the act of murder.

    Lady Macbeth is not a devilish woman. It is her love for her husband which leads her to the crime. So great is her devotion to her husband that she is even prepared to renounce her womanly nature and assumes a role of a cruel task-master. She over strengths herself in the interest of her husband and the result is total breakdown.

    Lady Macbeth is certainly more resourceful than her husband. It is she who takes the initiative in planning the murder of Duncan and even partly assists Macbeth in carrying out the plan.

• Conclusion:- 

    Thus, like her husband Lady Macbeth is also an important character, well suited for the tragic drama. Lady Macbeth plays the role of true wife. She holds herself responsible for Macbeth's fall.

Thank you...

Words : 1620