Thinking activity: "The Rape of the Lock"Alexander Pope

 Hello readers! 

Iam Bhavna Sosa, a student of English department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji  Bhavnagar University. This blog is the part of my classroom assignment that is given by our Vaidehi ma'am.

1. According to you, who is the protagonist of the play Clarissa or Belinda? Why?

The Rape of the Lock was written by Alexander Pope and first published in 1712,then  reworked and published in 1714. The poem is a mock-epic that satires the upper-class in London at the time. The story focuses on the protagonist, Belinda whose lock of hair is cut off at a social gathering. Although trivial to most,Belinda is outraged that her lock of hair has been cut by the Baron.

In the Rape of the Lock , Pope uses Belinda and the Baron to mock two of his acquaintances, Arabella Fermor,and Lord Petre. The poem follows the events of night, leading up to Belinda's "horrific" loss.

According to my point of view,  Belinda is the protagonist of the play because Belinda is a vain, upper class woman who is always seen as the center of  attention. Her society puts her on a high pedestal, always giving her praise when possible. The Baron steals a curl of Belinda's hair when given the scissors bt Belinda's friend, Clarissa. When The Baron cuts the curl from her head, the typically calm, collective Belinda flies into a horrible rage. Aje asks at once for her hair to be returned to her but when The Baron cannot find the curl, it is said that it traveled up into the stars and is now a constellation for all to admire. It looks as though Pope used this mock-epic work to represent the fascination that society has of the members of the upper class.

Belinda's beauty was admired by all and many were jealous of her. The tension between the  people in the upper class is illustrated by these characters and the fight to steal another person's power. Pope compare the trivial events in his poem to the events in epic poems by using satire. The events that occur in this poem show how the society being described has lost all capability of determining which problems are to be treated seriously and which should not.

             "Here files of pains extend their shining rows,

      puffs, powders, patches, bible's  billet -doux."

To wind up we can say that The Rape of the Lock is a mockery of the manners of the tea- cup times of Queen Anne. Here, pope seeks to throw light upon the fickle minded fashionable ladies of the 18th century England depicting Belinda as the representative Protagonist.

2. What is beauty? Write your views about it.

Beauty means inner beauty in human,not a outer beauty in human.

Two parts of  Beauty :

1)  Inner beauty

2) Outer beauty

                      Inner beauty is most important

Then, inner beauty makes a person more peaceful. Therefore,it can automatically help in reducing violence in the world. This is one advantage that justifies why inner beauty is important.

Emotional connection :

People with inner beauty are well connected to their emotions. They are therefore, better better dicision makers and thinkers.

Confidence:

Finally inner beauty gives you the confidence to face the world and its problems.which  is something far greater than the standards that had been set by the society.

Inner Beauty doesn't have an expiry date-

Unlike external beauty that is dependent on your biological appearance inner beauty has the potential  to keep getting better with age.

Aesthetic concept of beauty :

Beauty is a property of certain thing. Something is beautiful if it is nice to look at it, bear it, feel it, taste it, smell it, or think about it. It is also the name of a feeling that is hard to describe. The nature of this feeling varies from person to person and culture to culture. It is not known if only humans can feel it.

Philosophical concept of beauty : 

The philosophical concept of beautiful, to indicate its true nature t least in a preliminary way, must contain, reconciled within itself, both the extremes which have been mentioned because it unites  metaphysical universality with real particularly.

3. Find out a research paper on "The Rape of the Lock." Give the details of the paper and write down in brief what does it say about the poem by Alexander Pope.

The Rape of the Lock -

                                        by Alexander Pope.

Type of work :

At the beginning of " The Rape of the Lock " pope identifies the work as a " heroi - comical poem." Today the poem and others like it is referred to as a mock - epic and sometimes as a mock - heroic. Such a work parodies the serious, elevated style of the classical epic poem - such as The Iliad or The Odyssey, by Homer - to poke fun at human follies.Thus, a mock-epic is a type of satire; it treats petty humans or insignificant occurrences as if they were extraordinary or heroic ,like the great heroes and events of Homer's two great epics. In writing “The  Aeneid ( Vergil) ”The Divine comedy ( Dante) ,and paradise lost ( Milton) .Many of these characteristics are listed below, under “ Epic Conversation”.

Publication Information : 

Pope published three versions of The Rape of the Lock. The first version was a two -canto version published in 1712. The second, published in 1714, was a five - canto version that added references to sylphs and other supernatural creatures. The final version, published in 1717 in a volume of  pope's poetry, added Clarissa's speech in canto five.

Setting : 

The action takes place in London and its environs in the early 1700s on a single day. The story begins at noon (canto one ) at the London residence of Belinda a she carefully prepares herself for a gala social gathering. The scene then shifts (canto two) to a boat carring Belinda up the Thames. To onlookers she is as magnificent as Queen Cleopatra was when she traveled in her barge. The rest of the story (canto three - five ) takes place where Belinda debark Hampton Court palace, a former residence of King Henry Eight on the outskirts of London except for a brief scene place in the cave of the Queen of spleen.

Source : a Real - Life Incident :

Pope based  The Rape of the Lock on an actual incident in which a British nobleman, Lord Petre, cut off a lock  of hair dangling tantalizingly from the head of the beautiful Arabella Fermor. Peter's daring  of the Lock set off a battle  royal between the Petre and Fermor families. John Caryll a friend of pope and  the warring families - persuaded the great writer to pen  a literary work satirizing the absurdity and silliness of the dispute. The result was one of the greatest satirical poems in all of literature. In writing the poem, pope also drew upon ancient classical sources notably Homer's great epics, The  Iliad  and The Odyssey - as models imitate in style and tone. He also consulted the texts of mediaeval and Renaissance epics.

Theme : 

The central them of The Rape of the Lock is the fuss that high society makes over  trifling matters , such as breaches of decorum. In the poem a   feud   of epic proportions erupts after the Baron steals a lock of Belinda's hair. In the real - life incident on which pope based his poem, the  Petre and the Fermor families had  a falling - out after Lord Petre snipped off one of Arabella  Fermor's locks. Other themes that pope develops in the poem include human vanity and the importance of being able to laugh at life's little reversals. The latter motif is a kind of "moral to the story." Clarissa touches upon both of these  themes when  addressing tearful Belinda, shorn of her lock :

             " But  since , alas! Frail beauty must decay,

                curl'd or uncurl'd since Lock will turn to grey;

               Since  painted, or  not painted, all shall fade.

               And she who  scorns a Man, must die a Maid,

               what then  remains but we'll our Pow'r to use,

               And keep good Humour still whatever we lose?

Climax :

The. Climax of Rape of the Lock occurs when the Baron snips away one of Belinda's locks.

Thank you.......

Word count :- 1,359

Thinking Activity : pride and prejudice - question answer

 1. Which version of the novel is more appealing? Novel or film ( adaptation) ? Why ?

Jane Austen's pride and prejudice is the perfect story. In Elizabeth Bennet,it has a strong, sympathetic, intelligent heroic, with a quick with that usually serves her well but  sometimes gets her into trouble. In Fitzwilliam Darcy,we have a satisfying hero, a handsome introvert of plentiful intelligence whose nobility of spirit is not immediately evident to Elizabeth or the reader, but which comes through when it counts. In the host of secondary characters and subplots, were have Austen's incisively drawn portraits and plenty of diversion.

The comedy of manners has been put down by some for what they see as it's  formulaic romance- novel plot line: The couple start off on the wrong foot, enjoy a period of mutual hostility and then realise that their love is strong and true. What's not as widely recognised is that Austen invented the  formula in the first place, and her comic  take on  it is eternally fresh.

Although set firmly in its place and time, England's country of  Hertfordshire during the  Napoleonic hears , not that you'd ever know there was a major war going on from Austen's novels, the story has a timelessness that transcends the centuries. The details of their daily lives differ vastly from ours, but the humanity of these characters and their pursuit of love and  happiness remain the same.

It's easy to identify with Lizzy Bennet. She's bright, warm , aggressively verbal, quick to judge and sometimes slow to reconsider those judgment. Like most of us, she makes some serious missteps in romance. Unlike many of us, she gets a second chance at her soulmate.

No wonder the 1813 book  has been the launching pad for a score of spinoffs and adaptations, books and movies and television stories from Pamela Aiden's "Fitzwilliam Darcy, gentleman" trilogy of novels, which tells the story from Darcy's point of view, to assorted television miniseries, to " Bridget Jones's Darcy" to "pride and prejudice and zombies." 

The other category, she says,is by authors who give the familiar Austen characters new qualities or characteristics, Darcy night have an affair with Bingley, or the women might have contemporary feminist viewpoints.

2. Character of  the Elizabeth Bennet.

Even in her blindest  moments, Elizabeth Bennet is an unfailing attractive characters. She is described as a beauty and has especially expressive eyes, but what everybody notices about her is her spirited wit and her good sense. Mainly because of that good sense. Elizabeth is her father's favourite child and her mother's least favourite. Her self assurance comes from a critical mind and is expressed through her quick - witted dialogue.

                                  Elizabeth Bennet

       

             " She had a lively, playful disposition,

              which delighted in anything rediculous."

Elizabeth's sparking and teasing wit  brings on Lady Catherine's disapproval and Darcy's admiration. She is always interesting to listen to and always ready to laugh at foolishness stating, I hope I never redicule  what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own and I laugh at them whenever I can."

Inspite of her mistake in misjudging  Wickham and Darcy,and her more blamable fault of sticking stubbornly to that judgment until forced to see her error, Elizabeth is usually right about people. Her confidence in her own discernment a combination of both pride and prejudice is what leads her into her worst errors.

      

       " I must confess that I think her as delightful

          a character as ever appeared in print, and 

          how I shall be able to tolerate those who do

                 not like her at least, I do not know."

3. Character of the Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Darcy exhibits all the good and bad qualities of the ideal English aristocrat snobbish and arrogant, he is also completely honest and sure of himself. Darcy is not actually a titled nobleman ,but he is one of the wealthiest members of the landed gentry the same legal class that Elizabeth's much poorer family belongs to. While Darcy's sense of social superiority offends people,it also promotes some of his better traits. As Wickham notes in his sly assessment,

  

              "His pride never deserts  him; but with the 

               rich,he is liberal minded, just sincere, 

               rational, honorable, and perhaps agreeable

               allowing for fortune and figure."

It is , infact,his ideal of nobility that makes Darcy truly change in the novel. When Elizabeth flatly turns down his marriage proposal and tells him that it was ungentlemanly, Darcy is startled into realising just how arrogant and assuming he has been. He reflects later on why he was that way.

           " I was spoiled  by my parents,who though

              good themselves... allowed, encouraged,

              almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing

              to think meanly of all the rest of the world."

Darcy's humbling makes him more sensitive to what other people feel. In the end, he is willing to marry into a family with three silly daughters,an embarrassing mother,and Wickham as a brother-in-law. It may be that he becomes more easy going about other people faults because he is now aware of his own.

4. Give the illustrations of the society of that time.

One of the reasons Austen world charms us is because it appears to follow stricter rules than our own, setting limits on behaviour. There are precise forms of introduction and address, conventions for ' coming out ' into society, for  paying and returning social mixing with different social ranks. Pride and prejudice, Emma and persuasion are sensitive to questions of social tatus and can all be seen extending the definition of polite society to including previously excluded members of the professional and merchant classes and the navy. Above all, relations between young men and women are carefully monitored. One reason dance scenes are so prominent in Austen's novels is that the dance floor was, in her time, the best opportunity for identifying romantic partners and for advancing a courtship, for testing relations between the sexes. But even the comparative freedom of a dance had its rules and etiquette: for the number of dances one might have with a single partner; of the amount of bodily contact between partners. While a woman's refusal of one partner effectively disallowed her from dancing with another. At the edges of the dance  floor were the chaperones and those sitting the dance out.bwho  watched noticed and interpreted behaviour.

5. If you were director or screenplay writer, what sort of difference  would you make in the making of movie?

The modern version of Jane Austen's "pride and prejudice" is very good. It's sure to entertain all. The movie has several small weaknesses but some strengths that mostly make up for those. Among its strong points are the roles of several of the actors.

6. Who would be your choice of actors to play the role of the characters?

Jane Bennet because she is oldest and most beautiful of the Bennet daughters,Jane has a good heart and a gentle nature. As Elizabeth's confident,Jane helps keep her sisters tendency to be judgmental in check by offering positive interpretations of negative situations. Jane's desire to see only the best in people becomes rather extreme at times, as in her disbelief that Wickham could be a liar, but she is not so entrenched in her world view that her opinion cannot be changed. Take, for example,her relationship with Caroline Bingley. When Jane finally recognises Miss Bingley's insincerity,she stops making excuses for her and does not pursue the friendship. However, when she Miss Bingley's become sister-in-law, Jane's good nature causes her to receive Miss Bingley's  friendly overtures with more responsiveness than Miss Bingley deserves.

7. Write a note on a scene you liked the most.

One of the best part of pride and prejudice are absolutely the scenes where Mr. Darcy gives his ill-judged proposal and on the road in front of rosings  forrest where Elizabeth is reading Mr. Darcy's letter. The scenes when they get to pemberley and Elizabeth learns the  terrible news are second best.

8. Compare the narrative strategy of novel and movie.

A classic novel being adapted into a film in the 21st century. In 2005 British director Joe  Wright adapted the classic  Jane Austen novel pride and prejudice in to a movie. The film is one of the many adaptations bof pride and prejudice, including in a 1940 American adaption, and Italian television miniseries, and several British miniseries.

Pride and prejudice was written by British author Jane Austen and published in 1813. The main character is Elizabeth Bennet and the story of follows Elizabeth and her family as they deal with issues such as marriage, social class and misunderstanding. 

Thank you !

Word count- 1,450

                  

     

Thinking Activity: Neo Classical Age

 Compare  the general characteristics of the Elizabethan Age and Neo Classical Age :

 Hello readers!

 I am Bhavna Sosa, a student of the department of English,MKBU. This blog is the part of my classroom activity that is given by our madam Vaidehi Hariyani ma'am.

Different Between Elizabethan Age and Neo Classical Age:

Elizabethan Age:

Introduction:

The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth 1st reign (1558-1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia was first used in 1572  and often thereafter to mark the Elizabethan Age as a Renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals international expansion,and naval triumph over the hated Spanish foe.

In terms of the entire century. Joh Guy, argues that " England was economically healthier, more expensive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time thousand years.

Neo Classical Age:

Introduction:

The Neo Classical Age is  also called the Augustan age, age of Johnson age and Restoration age. It was between 1616 to 1798.

             - Restoration period

             - Augustan period 

             - Age of Johnson

 Dryden,pope and Johnson were the literary figures of this age.

Neo Classical name itself suggests that classics the literature is. But something new the writer of this age are following classic. Writer means of ancients but with newness. 

Political summary of the period:

Elizabethan Age:

                                  Queen Elizabeth 1st

Queen Elizabeth 1st was sovereign of England, meaning she had upmost authority and rule, compared to the monarchy today. Elizabethan government operated on a hierarchical system. Elizabethan's believed that God has appointed the monarch and she had the power and status to grant jobs to those below her.

 In Milton's word, we suddenly see England.                                     

         " A noble and puissant nation, rousing herself,                          like a strong man after sleep,and shaking her                                                invicible locks."

Neo Classical Age:

 After the Enlightenment got the ball rolling on interest in classical civilization, Neo Classical really took off in the late 18th century as artists consciously emulated Classical techniques and subjects. But, the popularity of Neo Classical art was maintained because of new political factors that emerged. Notably, revolution. In 1776, 13 British colonies in North America signed a declaration of independence, sparking the revolutionary War. In 1789, the people of Paris broke into rebellion against the king ,starting the French Revolution.

Literary development of the age:

Development in Elizabethan Age:

 During the Elizabethan Age tragedy and comedy developed. The  Renaissance gave rise to a growing interest in man as presented in Classical drama, which had examples of both comedy and tragedy. It is the period marking the transition from the mediaeval to the modern world.

1. Poetry  :

Elizabethan poetry is notable for any features, including the sonnet form, blank verse, the use of classical material,and double entendres.  The proper Elizabethan literary age began in 1579, before that year. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey made their poetic  contributions.

2. Prose :

The Elizabethan had a genius for poetry and drama but their prose is often intolerable. They enriched the language by adding to its vocabulary many new words and phrases. But some of their prose is heavy, pompous and undisciplined. This pomp and their indiscipline.

3. Drama :

Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, England reached the heights of its glory and turned for literature to give immortal expression to the new national self consciousness. From the Greek the elizabethan's acquired a human nature which overwhelmed the pedantries of Latin culture.

Religious period of the drama: 

Miracle plays : In France the name miracle was given to any play representing the lives of saints. The Early miracle plays in England were of two class; first given at Christmas, and the second at Easter.

The moral period of the Drama:

Mystery play: mystere ( Franch)  plays represented scenes from the life of Christ. In the morality plays the characters were allegorical personages,- life, death, repentance,goodness, love and virtues and vice.

The Artistic period of the drama :

The final stage in the development of the English drama. The artists  drama may have purpose, no less than the Miracle plays, but the motive is always subordinate to the chief end representing life itself. The first true play in English,the comedy"Ralph Royster Doyster.

Development in the Neo Classical Age :

The main Neo Classical movement coincided with the 18th century  Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, literary competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the 21st century.

Neo Classicism in France :

During the high tide of the  Rococo's  popularity in pars, townhouses and public buildings in the city had continued to be constructed with restrained facades, and many of the elements of these structures had their origins in the Classicism to the Renaissance. In the later years of Louis 15s reign,an increased severity and gravity became the rule in many of the royal projects undertaken in Paris as the new ,more historically informed  Neo Classicism spread through Europe.

Neo Classicism in England :

While Italian and French contributions to the classical revival were considerable it was in England that the new style developed most decidedly. During the course of the eighteenth century, England exercised a powerful influence over intellectual life and fashions throughout Europe.

Classical influence :

England offered one of Europe's most receptive climates for the development of Neo Classicism for a variety of reasons. It's Baroque architecture, crafted by figures like Christopher Wren and John Vanbrugh, had included many important classical elements, while the suave elegance of the Rococo had made few inroads into English palaces and houses. Thus, as English designers tried to recapture an archaeologically correct Classicism in the second half of the eighteenth century they had less ground to cover than many of their continuental counterparts.

Conclusion : 

To summing up the question we can say that both age has rapid change in so many forms. Elizabethan age is the beginning of the Renaissance in the English literature while Neo Classical followed the rules and regulation,both ages are quite different each other. The Elizabethan Age represent the freshness of each and every  field while neoclassical.

Write in brief about writer :

Alexander pope :

The English poet Alexander pope is regarded as one of the finest poets and satirists of the Augustan period and one of the major influences on the English literature in this time and after

Early years :

                "A little learning is a dangerous thing,

                 Drink deep, or  taste not the pierian spring;

                There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

                and  drinking largely sobers us  again."

                                                      

Alexander pope was born on May 21,1688, in London, England, to Alexander and Edith pope. His Roman Catholic father was a linen merchant. His family moved out of London and settled in Binfield in Windsor Forest around 1700, Pope had little formal schooling. He educated himself through extensive studying and reading, especially poetry.

Although pope was healthy and plump in his infancy,he became severely ill later in his childhood. Which resulted in a slightly disfigured body- he never grew taller than 4 feet and 6 inches. He suffered from curvature of the spine, which required him to wear a stiff canvas brace. He had constant headaches. His physical appearance, frequently ridiculed by his enemies, undoubtedly gave an edge to pope's satire, but he was always warmhearted and generous  in his affection for his many friends.

Early poems :

Alexander pope was precocious as a child and attracted the notic of a noted bookseller who published his  Pastoral (1709). By this time pope was already at work on his more ambitious Essay on Criticism (1711) designed to create a  rebirth of the contemporary literary scene.

The Rape of the Lock (1712) immediately made pope famous as a poet. It was a long humorous poem in the classical style. Instead of treating the subject of heroic deeds, though, the poem was about the attempt of a young man to get a lock of hair from his beloved's head. It was based on a true evet that happened to people he knew - several other poems were published by 1717, the date of first collected edition of pope's works.

Thank you !!!

Words - 1,360

Thinking Activity : Feminist reading of Lady Macbeth

Hello readers!

 

 The tragedy of Macbeth is a  tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatized the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James 1,who was patron of Shakespeare's acting company, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwrights relationship with his sovereign. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.

Lady Macbeth :

                               It is a popular reading of the play to see lady Macbeth as a main instigator of the action and bloodshed;a unique example of a female as such a plot device, Resultantly,it is common to hear proclamations of the play's progressiveness and Shakespeare's admirable feminist qualities. However,this king of interpretation is pretty far flung and misrepresentative of what female empowerment in literature really looks like 

Not going to lie, lady Macbeth M's " Unsex me here" speech is one of the most kick-ass  female soliloquies in all of Shakespeare's works. Her blatant disdain of typical female gender roles like childbearing and motherhood is pretty damn powerful,and the wicked,sangenuineous language of her speeches are brutally un- feminine. And at face value it would seem that lady Macbeth is indeed a sort of 0.5 wave feminist; icon, and Shakespeare was an Elizabethan " good guy". It is a nice sentiment, and unfortunately pretty unfounded.

It is not enough to substantiate Lady Macbeth's feminist status just by her initial characterization. Although she seems like a strong and unusually virile, bloodthirsty leading lady,the continuation and resolution of her plot- line undermines this opening image. By the time Duncan is dead, the plot is clearly in Macbeths  hands, with lady M's influence growing smaller and smaller. She suffers the haunting guilt just as strongly as her husband, and infact seems more susceptible to the ensuing madness. By the beginning of act 5, our " strong independent Scottish woman" is a drooling wreck of hallucinations and madness. What we can infer from her emotional collapse is that she is infact being punished for daring to oppose her assigned gender roles.

Lady Macbeth: The Real Killer

There is one thing that all men must admit if they have ever associated with a female, they are extremely persuasine over men. Now, not all men may not go as far to kill another human being as Macbeth did just because a woman told them to,but there is no denying that they have some control over men.  This can be extremely true when women start to attack a man's " manliness". This seemed to be one of lady Macbeth's biggest weapons. With lady Macbeth using her powers like this I do believe that she really killed her so she can't be worse, but men know what women can make do, especially by just simply hitting their weak spot and calling out their manhood she also changes quite a bit throughout the whole play. She does not stand by what she originally says, this make her even worse.

Throughout the whole play lady Macbeth only thinks about one person, and that's herself,all she cares about is becoming the Queen.  She doesn't even care that to become the Queen, she has to make her husband kill the present King. She does not think about the consequences that can happen to her or to her husband.

When lady Macbeth first receives the letter from Macbeth that states his intentions of killing Duncan to become king ,she believes that he is to " good" to do it. She says he is....

           "Too full of the  milk of human kindness to

                              catch the nearest way."

She is saying that Macbeth does not have it in him to go through with what he wants to do. This is the first time she starts to question how much of a man he is. She puts off a face that makes her seem like she is more manly than what Macbeth is. By the end of this scene though she backs out of it and can't kill him.

The influence Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth:

Lady Macbeth influences her husband to did the crime in order prophecy about Macbeth will be a king of Scotland became true. Finally, Lady Macbeth influences her husband to murder King Duncan. In the end, Macbeth cannot happy to all that He got. He fell guilt, unhappy and uncomfortable.

Manipulation of Lady Macbeth:

Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections; when he hesitates to murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he must commite murder to prove himself,

                     

          " When you durst do it, then you were a man; 

          And to be more than what you were, you would

                               Be so much more the man."

The Guilt of Lady Macbeth:

Lady Macbeth is guilty for persuading Macbeth to kill Duncan and acting as his accomplice. Lady Macbeth's guilt made her  extremely self conscious because she thoughts that someone would find out. Eventually she got to killed herself to escape the guilt.

Thank you!

Word count - 864

SR: Lockdown - a poem by UK's poet laureate Simon Armitage

 Hello readers,

 Here I'm going to discuss about poet laureate Simon Armitage's poem 'Lockdown'.

        Poet laureate says society may emerge from the pandemic slightly slower,and wiser, at the other end.

          Simon Armitage has written poem to adress the corona virus and a lockdown that is slowly being implemented across the UK, saying that the art from can be consoling in times of crisis because it " asks us just to focus, and think, and be contemplative."

          The poet laureates new poem Lockdown,moves from the outbreak of bubonic plague in Eyam in the 17th century, when a bale of cloth from Landon brought fleas Carrying the plague to the Derbyshire  village, to the epic poem 'Meghaduta' by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa.

            Armitage who is at home with his family in west Yorkshire, said that "as the lockdown because more apparent and it felt like the restrictions were closing, the plague in Eyam became more and more resonant" to him.

             His poem references Eyam boundary stone ,which contained holes that the quarantined villagers would put their  money in to pay far provisions from outside, and then fill with vinegar  in the hope it would cleanse the coin. It also touches on the doomed romance between a girl who lived in Eyam and a boy outside the village  who talked to her from a distance, until she stopped coming.

             He thought there was a massage to be learned  " about taking things easy and being patient and trusting the Earth and may be  having come through this slightly slower, and wiser,at the other end - give that one thing that's accelerated the problem is our hectic lives and our proximities and the frantic away we go about things".

                Poetry is " by definition consoling" because " it often asks us just to focus and think and be contemplative", said Armitage.

Lockdown by Simon Armitage:

   And I couldn’t escape the waking dream

of infected fleas 

in the warp and weft of soggy cloth
by the tailor’s hearth

in ye olde Eyam.
Then couldn’t un-see

the Boundary Stone,
that cock-eyed dice with its six dark holes,

thimbles brimming with vinegar wine
purging the plagued coins.

Which brought to mind the sorry story
of Emmott Syddall and Rowland Torre,

star-crossed lovers on either side
of the quarantine line

whose wordless courtship spanned the river
till she came no longer.

But slept again,
and dreamt this time

of the exiled yaksha sending word
to his lost wife on a passing cloud,

a cloud that followed an earthly map
of camel trails and cattle tracks,

streams like necklaces,
fan-tailed peacocks, painted elephants,

embroidered bedspreads
of meadows and hedges,

bamboo forests and snow-hatted peaks,
waterfalls, creeks,

the hieroglyphs of wide-winged cranes
and the glistening lotus flower after rain,

the air
hypnotically see-through, rare,

the journey a ponderous one at times, long and slow
but necessarily so.

 

This Lockdown poem comparison of parul khakhar's poem.

And I couldn’t escape the waking dream
of infected fleas

in the warp and weft of soggy cloth
by the tailor’s hearth

in ye olde Eyam.
Then couldn’t un-see

the Boundary Stone,
that cock-eyed dice with its six dark holes,

thimbles brimming with vinegar wine
purging the plagued coins.

Which brought to mind the sorry story
of Emmott Syddall and Rowland Torre,

star-crossed lovers on either side
of the quarantine line

whose wordless courtship spanned the river
till she came no longer.

But slept again,
and dreamt this time

of the exiled yaksha sending word
to his lost wife on a passing cloud,

a cloud that followed an earthly map
of camel trails and cattle tracks,

streams like necklaces,
fan-tailed peacocks, painted elephants,

embroidered bedspreads
of meadows and hedges,

bamboo forests and snow-hatted peaks,
waterfalls, creeks,

the hieroglyphs of wide-winged cranes
and the glistening lotus flower after rain,

the air
hypnotically see-through, rare,

the journey a ponderous one at times, long and slow
but necessarily so.

And I couldn’t escape the waking dream
of infected fleas

in the warp and weft of soggy cloth
by the tailor’s hearth

in ye olde Eyam.
Then couldn’t un-see

the Boundary Stone,
that cock-eyed dice with its six dark holes,

thimbles brimming with vinegar wine
purging the plagued coins.

Which brought to mind the sorry story
of Emmott Syddall and Rowland Torre,

star-crossed lovers on either side
of the quarantine line

whose wordless courtship spanned the river
till she came no longer.

But slept again,
and dreamt this time

of the exiled yaksha sending word
to his lost wife on a passing cloud,

a cloud that followed an earthly map
of camel trails and cattle tracks,

streams like necklaces,
fan-tailed peacocks, painted elephants,

embroidered bedspreads
of meadows and hedges,

bamboo forests and snow-hatted peaks,
waterfalls, creeks,

the hieroglyphs of wide-winged cranes
and the glistening lotus flower after rain,

the air
hypnotically see-through, rare,

the journey a ponderous one at times, long and slow
but necessarily so.

 

 - 'Lockdown' poems comparison of parul khakhar's poem..

                  

Thank you!

Movie review

 Hello friends,

 I am Bhavna Sosa,a student of the department of English,MKBU. This blog is the part of my classroom activity that is given by  Yesha Bhatt Ma'am.

Frankenstein

The monster has always been the true subject of the Frankenstein story "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" has all of the usual props of the Frankenstein films,  The dark and stormy nights ,the lightning bolts, the charnel houses of spare body parts, the laboratory where Victor Frankenstein stire his steaming cauldron of life. But the center of the film,quieter and more thoughtful,contains the real story.

The  creature has  escaped his captivity and wandered into a pastoral setting where a little family lines  peacefully. The family gradually becomes awar that some  sort of  forest spirit is bebriending  him and the old  grandfather who is blind, actually invites the creature in to sit by the fire .

This creature,more than those in any of the earlier films , is acutely aware that in appearance he is a hideous monster.

The movie is bracketed with an unnecessary prologue and epilogue, taken from the original novel, during which an arctic expedition encounters Frankenstein and his monster wandering far from on tje Frozen wastes. Presumably this material is there to allow the head strong explore to learn from Frankenstein the including one will. But that is a point the movie has already made.

Questions:-

1. What made creature a monster?

- Frankenstein believes that by creating the monster. He can  discover the secrets of " life and death", create a "new species", and learn how to " renew life". He in motivated to attempt these things by ambition. He wants to achieve something great,even if it comes at great. He gives several different accounts of where his ambition comes from, reflecting his ambivalent attitude toward it.

2. Why society has rejected Victor's idea experiment and then the result of his experiments?

- The monster created by Victor Frankenstein is rejected by human society because of his appearance. The author illustrates that the guilt for murders can not put only on Frankenstein's finally result in feeling of loneliness and estrangement.

3. Can appearance overpower reality?

- Reality lends itself to the downfall of both Victor and Angrier,as well. Victor Frankenstein creates a being with the intention of having it worship him, but instead creates one with a mind of its own. An stated before , victor and every other character in the novel treat the creature horrible by neglecting and attacking hin due to his questionable outward appearance.

4. Who is suffering from deformity in the novel? Which kind of deformity and disability is there? Who decided what deformity is?

- In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the protagonist victor reluctantly agrees to make another creature a female companion for his male creation. Upon further analysis, victor assesses the risks of creating a second creature and changes his mind by not creating a female creature, victor decides not to construct a female companion for the creature because of the tragic events the he causes , the uncertainty of the female creature's personality and her feelings toward the male creature, and the concern if the two creatures would be able to reproduce.

Disability has been treated as a form "spoiled" identity that dominates all characteristics of an individual, as Frankenstein demonstrates. Neither the creature's physical grace not his good reads saving a woman from drowning.

5.  Villain in Frankenstein? 

- Over the past century, Frankenstein has been analysed and interpreted in seemingly infinite different forms of literature, film, and television shows. Once solely recognised as the story about a brilliant scientist who creates a creature in whom he regrets making after the creature turns out ugly, Frankenstein now represents an internationally recognised. Many consider victor Frankenstein the villain of the story due to his repetitive decisions to abandon and avoid his own " mistake", the irresponsible choice of creating the monster in the first place , and his obvious negligence of the creature's feelings.

Paper -105 : Assignment : puriatn and Restoration Age

Prominent writer and his major work and his style of writing:

Hello readers,

           Here I'm going to discuss about John Milton, his works and his style of writing.

John Milton:

        "He can please when pleasure is required,

         but his peculiar power to astonish is immense."

                                                                       - Dr. Johnson

John Milton was a seventeenth century English poet whose works have greatly influenced literary world. Milton wrote poetry and prose between 1632 and 1674, and is most famous for his epic poetry. Milton,one only epic poet of English Literature. Exercised influence on a host of English poet like.

Milton's puritanism:

                     Puritan was a member of that party of English protestants who worked for the purification of the Church and Christianity . Milton is " not only the highest, but the completest type of puritan" in his poetry.

Influence of Renaissance: 

  

                    Milton was as much a child of Renaissance as that of Reformation. A critic rightly said about the influence of Renaissance on Milton : 

    

     "Like his great predecessors, he successfully   

     blended love of romance, enterprise and

   love of beauty with moral idealism and

  religious fervor."

 

Milton's Classicism:

      

       Milton was a great scholar of Latin and Greek literature. His use of epic similies like Homer and Vergil. His respect for the ancient literature and philosophy. His grand, heavy style of writing poetry and sublime theme.

Milton's Sense of Beauty: 

• Ll Penseroso
• To behold the wandering moon
• Riding near her highest noon
• Like one that had been led astray
• "Through the Heaven's wide pathless way."

Milton confessed;

           "He (God) has certainly inspired me,

             if any even we'ar inspired, with a

             passion for the good and beautiful."

Milton's style of writing: 

          The poetic style of John Milton, also known as Miltonic verse, Miltonic epic, or Miltonic blank verse, was a highly influential poetic structure popularized by Milton. Although Milton wrote earlier poetry, his influence is largely grounded in his later poems; Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.

  

           " John Milton himself is in every line of 'Paradise Lost'...It is Milton himself whom you see; his Satan, his Adam, his Raphael, also his Eve -are all John Milton."

Famous Works:   

• Paradise Lost
• Paradise Regained
• Areopagitica
• Lycidas
• Samson Agonistes                                                                  

Paradise Lost:

   

            Paradise Lost is one of the most recognized works in English literature. The first version, published in 1667, contained ten books. A later edition was published in 1674, which consisted of twelve books. Paradise Lost consists of more than 10,000 lines verse. It tells the story of Adam and Eve. 

                                                                                                                                                                 
Themes in the epic poem Paradise Lost.

1. Hierarchy and Order
2. Disobedience and Revolt
3. Sin and Innocent
4. Fre will and Predestination 

Political Contexts:

Paradise Lost incorporates the political tensions of Milton’s own day – he was writing during and after the Civil Wars in England, which saw King Charles I executed and the country temporarily controlled by a republican government, led by Oliver Cromwell, until Charles II returned to take up the throne – but deals complexly with both republicanism and the monarchy. Satan has long been seen by some critics as a republican hero, eloquent and determined, much more charming and persuasive than the ‘tyrannous’ and rather humourless character of God in the poem. But Royalist readers, especially after the Restoration, chose to see Satan as the figure of Cromwell seen through anti-republican eyes: someone who only pretended to believe in equality, who really wanted power for himself and whose project was doomed to fail.

                                                                      

   

                  

                 Crime and punishment in Paradise Lost

Characters: 

• The  Davil
• God
• Eve
• Michael
• Adam
• Son of God 
• Raphael 

                                                                                                                       "Of  man's disobedience and the fruit

            of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste

            brought death onto the World,  all our woe, 

            with loss of Edem.".       

                                                         - John Milton

               

          

Thank you!