Puritan Age

P - 105 Assignment

Name - Nehalba Gohil

Paper - History of English literature

Roll no - 15 

Enrollment no - 4069206420210009

Email id - nehalbagohil26@gmail.com

Batch - MA sem-1

Submitted to - S.B. Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakurarsinhji Bhavanagar University

The Puritan Age

The period between 1625 and 1675 is known as the “Puritan Age (or John Milton’s Age)”, because during the period, Puritan standards prevailed in England, and also because the greatest literary figure John Milton (1608-1674) was a Puritan. The Puritans struggled for righteousness and liberty.

General Characteristics of the Age of Milton

(i) Civil War: 

The entire period was dominated by the civil war, which divided the people into two factions, one loyal to the King and the other opposed to him. English people had remained one and united and loyal to the sovereign. The crisis began when James I, who had recoined the right of royalty from an Act of Parliament, gave too much premium to the Divine Right and began to ignore Parliament which had created him. The Puritans, who had become a potent force in the social life of the age, heralded the movement for constitutional reforms. The hostilities, which began in 1642, lasted till the execution of Charles I in 1649. There was little political stability during the interregnum of eleven years which followed. These turbulent years saw the establishment of the Common­wealth, the rise of Oliver Cromwell, the confusion which followed upon his death, and, finally, the restoration of monarchy in 1660.

(ii) The Puritan Movement: 

The Renaissance, which exercised immense influence on Elizabethan literature, was essentially pagan and sensuous. It did not concern the moral nature of man, and it brought little relief from the despotism of rulers. “The Puritan movement,” says W. J. Long, “may be regarded a second and greater Renaissance, a rebirth of the moral nature of man following the intellectual awakening of Europe in the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries.” In Germany and England the Renaissance was accompanied by a moral awakening, “that greatest moral and political reform which ever swept ‘over a nation in the short space of half a century”, which is meant by the Puritan movement. Puritanism had two chief objects: the first was personal righteousness; the second was civil and personal liberty. In other words, it aimed to make men honest and to make them free.

“Though the spirit of the Puritan movement was profoundly religious, the Puritans were not a religious sect; neither was the Puritan a narrow-minded and gloomy dogmatist, as he is still pictured in the histories.” Hampden, Eliot, Milton, Hooker and Cromwell were Puritans.

From a religious viewpoint Puritanism included all shades of belief. In course of time “Puritanism became a great national movement. It included English Churchmen as well as extreme Separatists, Calvinists, Covenanters, Catholic noblemen,— all bound together in resistance to despotism in Church and State, and with a passion for liberty and righteousness such as the world has never since seen,” says W. J. Long.

During the Puritan rule of Cromwell severe laws were passed, simple pleasures were forbidden, theatres were closed, and an austere standard of living was forced upon an unwilling people. So there was rebellion against Puritanism, which ended with the Restoration of King Charles ll.

Literary Characteristics of the Age of Milton

(i) Influence of Puritanism: 

The influence of Puritanism upon English life and literature was profound. The spirit which it introduced was fine and noble but it was hard and stern. The Puritan’s integrity and uprightness is unquestionable but his fanaticism, his moroseness and the narrowness of his outlook and sympathies were deplorable. In his over-enthusiasm to react against prevailing abuses, he denounced the good things of life, condemned science and art, ignored the appreciation of beauty, which invigorates secular life. Puritanism destroyed human culture and sought to confine human culture within the circumscribed field of its own particular interests. It was fatal to both art and literature.

Puritanism created confusion in literature. Sombreness and pensiveness pervaded poetry of this period. The spirit of gaiety, of youthful vigour and vitality, of romance and chivalry which distinguished Elizabethan literature was conspicuous by its absence. In the words of W. J. Long: “Poetry took new and startling forms in Donne and Herbert, and prose became as sombre as Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy. The spiritual gloom which sooner or later fastens upon all writers of this age, and which is unjustly attributed to Puritan influence, is due to the breaking up of accepted standards in religion and government. This so-called gloomy age produced some minor poems of exquisite work­manship, and one great master of verse whose work would glorify any age or people, —John Milton, in whom the indomitable Puritan spirit finds its noblest expression.”

(ii) Want of Vitality and Concreteness: 

The literature of this period lacks in concreteness and vitality. Shakespeare stands first and foremost for the concrete realities of life; his words and phrases tingle with vitality and thrill with warmth. Milton is concerned rather with theorising about life, his lines roll over the mind with sonorous majesty, now and again thrilling us as Shakespeare did with the fine excess of creative genius, but more often impressing us with their stateliness and power, than moving us by their tenderness and passion. Puritanism began with Ben Jonson, though it found its greatest prose exponent in Bunyan. W. J. Long writes: “Elizabethan literature is generally inspiring; it throbs with youth and hope and vitality. That which follows speaks of age and sadness; even its brightest hours are followed by gloom, and by the pessimism inseparable from the passing of old standards.”

(iii) Want of the Spirit of Unity: 

Despite diversity, the Elizabethan literature was marked by the spirit of unity, which resulted from the intense patriotism and nationalism of all classes, and their devotion and loyalty to the Queen who had a singleminded mission to seek the nation’s welfare. During this period James I and Charles II were hostile to the interests of the people. The country was divided by the struggle for political and religious liberty; and the literature was as divided in spirit as were the struggling parties.

(iv) Dominance of Critical and Intellectual Spirit: 

The critical and intellectual spirit, instead of the romantic spirit which prevailed on Elizabethan literature, dominates the literature of this period. W. J. Long writes: “In the literature of the Puritan period one looks in vain for romantic ardour. Even in the lyrics and love poems a critical, intellectual spirit takes its place, and whatever romance asserts itself is in form rather than in feeling, a fantastic and artificial adornment of speech rather than the natural utterance of a heart in which sentiment is so strong and true that poetry is its only expression.”

(v) Decay of Drama: 

This period is remarkable for the decay of drama. The civil disturbances and the strong opposition of the Puritans was the main cause of the collapse of drama. The actual dramatic work of the period was small and unimportant. The closing of the theatres in 1642 gave a final jolt to the development of dra

 

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

 P - 104 Assignment

Name - Nehalba Gohil

Paper - victorians Literature

Roll no - 15 

Email id - nehalbagohil26@gmail.com

Enrollment no - 4069206420210009

Batch -  MA sem-1

Submitted to - S.B.Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakurarsinhji Bhavanagar University

Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy

Jude Fawley dreams of studying at the university in Christminster, but his background as an orphan raised by his working-class aunt leads him instead into a career as a stonemason. He is inspired by the ambitions of the town schoolmaster, Richard Phillotson, who left for Christminster when Jude was a child. However, Jude falls in love with a young woman named Arabella, is tricked into marrying her, and cannot leave his home village. When their marriage goes sour and Arabella moves to Australia, Jude resolves to go to Christminster at last. However, he finds that his attempts to enroll at the university are met with little enthusiasm.

Jude meets his cousin Sue Bridehead and tries not to fall in love with her. He arranges for her to work with Phillotson in order to keep her in Christminster, but is disappointed when he discovers that the two are engaged to be married. Once they marry, Jude is not surprised to find that Sue is not happy with her situation. She can no longer tolerate the relationship and leaves her husband to live with Jude.

Both Jude and Sue get divorced, but Sue does not want to remarry. Arabella reveals to Jude that they have a son in Australia, and Jude asks to take him in. Sue and Jude serve as parents to the little boy and have two children of their own. Jude falls ill, and when he recovers, he decides to return to Christminster with his family. They have trouble finding lodging because they are not married, and Jude stays in an inn separate from Sue and the children. At night Sue takes Jude's son out to look for a room, and the little boy decides that they would be better off without so many children. In the morning, Sue goes to Jude's room and eats breakfast with him. They return to the lodging house to find that Jude's son has hanged the other two children and himself. Feeling she has been punished by God for her relationship with Jude, Sue goes back to live with Phillotson, and Jude is tricked into living with Arabella again. Jude dies soon after.

Characters - 

Jude Fawley

The novel’s protagonist, a poor orphan who is raised by his great-aunt after his parents divorced and died. Jude dreams of attending the university at Christminister, but he fails to be accepted because of… read analysis of Jude Fawley

Sue Bridehead

The novel’s other protagonist and Jude’s cousin. Sue’s parents were divorced and she was raised in London and Christminster. She is an extremely intelligent woman who rejects Christianity and flirts with paganism, despite… read analysis of Sue Bridehead

Arabella Donn

Jude’s first wife, a vain, sensual woman who is the daughter of a pig farmer. She decides to marry Jude and so tricks him into marrying her by pretending to be pregnant. Arabella sees… read analysis of Arabella Donn

Richard Phillotson

Jude’s schoolmaster at Marygreen who moves to Christminster and fails to be accepted at the university there. Phillotson remains as a teacher, and he later hires Sue and falls in love with her. They… read analysis of Richard Phillotson

Little Father Time

Jude’s son with Arabella, he was born in Australia and sent to England to live with Jude years later. The boy was never named or given love, and his nickname is “Little… read analysis of Little Father Time

Minor Characters

Drusilla Fawley

Jude and Sue’s great-aunt, the woman who raises Jude. She is generally bad-natured, always warning Jude not to get married because of his family's past "curse" in marriages, and lamenting that he didn’t die with his parents.

The Widow Edwin

An old woman who takes care of Drusilla and then befriends Jude and Sue. She is always looking out for their best interests and lamenting the state of marriage in modern times.

Gillingham

Phillotson’s friend, a schoolteacher who usually advises him to take the most sensible and conventional route.

Physician Vilbert

A quack-doctor who travels constantly and sells false remedies to people in small towns. He tricks the young Jude into advertising for him for free, and later in life he woos Arabella as Jude is dying.

Farmer Troutman

A farmer who beats and fires the young Jude for being merciful to the crows he is supposed to be scaring.

Mr. Donne's

Arabella’s father, a pig farmer and then butcher who has little love for his daughter but is a willing accomplice in her attempt to "trap" Jude.

Cartlett

Arabella’s second husband whom she met in Australia.

Anny and Sarah

Arabella’s friends who advise her on how to “trap” Jude into marriage.

Miss Fontover

Sue’s religious landlady, who smashes Sue’s statues of Apollo and Venus and then kicks her out.

The Undergraduate

Sue’s friend from years before, a nonreligious but moral man who was Sue’s intellectual mentor and her platonic roommate. He fell in love with her but Sue rejected him.

The Composer

A man who writes the hymn “The Foot of the Cross.” Jude visits him but finds that the composer is shallow and greedy.

Uncle Joe & Tinker Taylor

Two of Jude’s stonemason companions in Christminster.

The Christminster Landlady

A woman who takes in Sue and the children when no one else will, and then helps the family deal with their children’s deaths.

Challow

A pig-killer who never shows up, forcing Jude to kill his and Arabella's pig, m

Pride and Prejudice

 P - 103 Assignment

Name - Nehalba Gohil

Paper - Literature of the Romantic

Roll no - 15 

Enrollment no- 4069206420210009

Email id - nehalbagohil26@gmail.com

Batch - MA sem-1

Submitted to - S.B. Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakurarsinhji Bhavanagar University

           Pride and Prejudice

         Jane Austen's

Summary

The news that a wealthy young gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented the manor of Netherfield Park causes a great stir in the nearby village of Longbourn, especially in the Bennet household. The Bennets have five unmarried daughters—from oldest to youngest, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia—and Mrs. Bennet is desperate to see them all married. After Mr. Bennet pays a social visit to Mr. Bingley, the Bennets attend a ball at which Mr. Bingley is present. He is taken with Jane and spends much of the evening dancing with her. His close friend, Mr. Darcy, is less pleased with the evening and haughtily refuses to dance with Elizabeth, which makes everyone view him as arrogant and obnoxious.

At social functions over subsequent weeks, however, Mr. Darcy finds himself increasingly attracted to Elizabeth’s charm and intelligence. Jane’s friendship with Mr. Bingley also continues to burgeon, and Jane pays a visit to the Bingley mansion. On her journey to the house she is caught in a downpour and catches ill, forcing her to stay at Netherfield for several days. In order to tend to Jane, Elizabeth hikes through muddy fields and arrives with a spattered dress, much to the disdain of the snobbish Miss Bingley, Charles Bingley’s sister. Miss Bingley’s spite only increases when she notices that Darcy, whom she is pursuing, pays quite a bit of attention to Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth and Jane return home, they find Mr. Collins visiting their household. Mr. Collins is a young clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property, which has been “entailed,” meaning that it can only be passed down to male heirs. Mr. Collins is a pompous fool, though he is quite enthralled by the Bennet girls. Shortly after his arrival, he makes a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. She turns him down, wounding his pride. Meanwhile, the Bennet girls have become friendly with militia officers stationed in a nearby town. Among them is Wickham, a handsome young soldier who is friendly toward Elizabeth and tells her how Darcy cruelly cheated him out of an inheritance.

At the beginning of winter, the Bingleys and Darcy leave Netherfield and return to London, much to Jane’s dismay. A further shock arrives with the news that Mr. Collins has become engaged to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s best friend and the poor daughter of a local knight. Charlotte explains to Elizabeth that she is getting older and needs the match for financial reasons. Charlotte and Mr. Collins get married and Elizabeth promises to visit them at their new home. As winter progresses, Jane visits the city to see friends (hoping also that she might see Mr. Bingley). However, Miss Bingley visits her and behaves rudely, while Mr. Bingley fails to visit her at all. The marriage prospects for the Bennet girls appear bleak.

That spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte, who now lives near the home of Mr. Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she is staying. One day, he makes a shocking proposal of marriage, which Elizabeth quickly refuses. She tells Darcy that she considers him arrogant and unpleasant, then scolds him for steering Bingley away from Jane and disinheriting Wickham. Darcy leaves her but shortly thereafter delivers a letter to her. In this letter, he admits that he urged Bingley to distance himself from Jane, but claims he did so only because he thought their romance was not serious. As for Wickham, he informs Elizabeth that the young officer is a liar and that the real cause of their disagreement was Wickham’s attempt to elope with his young sister, Georgiana Darcy.

This letter causes Elizabeth to reevaluate her feelings about Darcy. She returns home and acts coldly toward Wickham. The militia is leaving town, which makes the younger, rather man-crazy Bennet girls distraught. Lydia manages to obtain permission from her father to spend the summer with an old colonel in Brighton, where Wickham’s regiment will be stationed. With the arrival of June, Elizabeth goes on another journey, this time with the Gardiners, who are relatives of the Bennets. The trip takes her to the North and eventually to the neighborhood of Pemberley, Darcy’s estate. She visits Pemberley, after making sure that Darcy is away, and delights in the building and grounds, while hearing from Darcy’s servants that he is a wonderful, generous master. Suddenly, Darcy arrives and behaves cordially toward her. Making no mention of his proposal, he entertains the Gardiners and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister.

Shortly thereafter, however, a letter arrives from home, telling Elizabeth that Lydia has eloped with Wickham and that the couple is nowhere to be found, which suggests that they may be living together out of wedlock. Fearful of the disgrace such a situation would bring on her entire family, Elizabeth hastens home. Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet go off to search for Lydia, but Mr. Bennet eventually returns home empty-handed. Just when all hope seems lost, a letter comes from Mr. Gardiner saying that the couple has been found and that Wickham has agreed to marry Lydia in exchange for an annual income. The Bennets are convinced that Mr. Gardiner has paid off Wickham, but Elizabeth learns that the source of the money, and of her family’s salvation, was none other than Darcy.

Characters -

The novel’s protagonist. The second daughter of Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth is the most intelligent and sensible of the five Bennet sisters. She is well read and quick-witted, with a tongue that occasionally proves too sharp for her own good. Her realization of Darcy’s essential goodness eventually triumphs over her initial prejudice against him.

Fitzwilliam Darcy

A wealthy gentleman, the master of Pemberley, and the nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Though Darcy is intelligent and honest, his excess of pride causes him to look down on his social inferiors. Over the course of the novel, he tempers his class-consciousness and learns to admire and love Elizabeth for her strong character.

Jane Bennet

The eldest and most beautiful Bennet sister. Jane is more reserved and gentler than Elizabeth. The easy pleasantness with which she and Bingley interact contrasts starkly with the mutual distaste that marks the encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy.

Charles Bingley

Darcy’s considerably wealthy best friend. Bingley’s purchase of Netherfield, an estate near the Bennets, serves as the impetus for the novel. He is a genial, well-intentioned gentleman, whose easygoing nature contrasts with Darcy’s initially discourteous demeanor. He is blissfully uncaring about class differences.

Mr. Bennet

The patriarch of the Bennet family, a gentleman of modest income with five unmarried daughters. Mr. Bennet has a sarcastic, cynical sense of humor that he uses to purposefully irritate his wife. Though he loves his daughters (Elizabeth in particular), he often fails as a parent, preferring to withdraw from the never-ending marriage concerns of the women around him rather than offer he

Mrs. Bennet

Mr. Bennet’s wife, a foolish, noisy woman whose only goal in life is to see her daughters married. Because of her low breeding and often unbecoming behavior, Mrs. Bennet often repels the very suitors whom she tries to attract for her daughters

George Wickham

A handsome, fortune-hunting militia officer. Wickham’s good looks and charm attract Elizabeth initially, but Darcy’s revelation about Wickham’s disreputable past clues her in to his true nature and simultaneously draws her closer to Darcy.

Lydia Bennet

The youngest Bennet sister, she is gossipy, immature, and self-involved. Unlike Elizabeth, Lydia flings herself headlong into romance and ends up running off with Wickham

Mr. Collins

A pompous, generally idiotic clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property. Mr. Collins’s own social status is nothing to brag about, but he takes great pains to let everyone and anyone know that Lady Catherine de Bourgh serves as his patroness. He is the worst combination of snobbish and obsequious.

Miss Bingley

Bingley’s snobbish sister. Miss Bingley bears inordinate disdain for Elizabeth’s middle-class background. Her vain attempts to garner Darcy’s attention cause Darcy to admire Elizabeth’s self-possessed character even more.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh

A rich, bossy noblewoman; Mr. Collins’s patron and Darcy’s aunt. Lady Catherine epitomizes class snobbery, especially in her attempts to order the middle-class Elizabeth away from her well-bred nephew.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner

Mrs. Bennet’s brother and his wife. The Gardiners, caring, nurturing, and full of common sense, often prove to be better parents to the Bennet daughters than Mr. Bennet and his wife.

Elizabeth’s dear friend. Pragmatic where Elizabeth is romantic, and also six years older than Elizabeth, Charlotte does not view love as the most vital component of a marriage. She is more interested in having a comfortable home. Thus, when Mr. Collins proposes, she accepts

Georgiana Darcy

Darcy’s sister. She is immensely pretty and just as shy. She has great skill at playing the pianoforte.

Mary Bennet

The middle Bennet sister, bookish and pedantic.

Catherine Bennet

The fourth Bennet sister. Like Lydia, she is girlishly enthralled with the soldi

The Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope

 P- 102 Assignment

Name - Nehalba Gohil

Papar - Literature of Neo classical period

Roll no - 15 

Enrollment no - 4069206420210009

Email id - nehalbagohil26@gmail.com

Batch - MA sem-1

Submitted to - S.B. Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakurarsinhji Bhavanagar University

Alexander Pope

The Rape of the Lock

Belinda arises to prepare for the day’s social activities after sleeping late. Her guardian sylph, Ariel, warned her in a dream that some disaster will befall her, and promises to protect her to the best of his abilities. Belinda takes little notice of this oracle, however. After an elaborate ritual of dressing and primping, she travels on the Thames River to Hampton Court Palace, an ancient royal residence outside of London, where a group of wealthy young socialites are gathering for a party. Among them is the Baron, who has already made up his mind to steal a lock of Belinda’s hair. He has risen early to perform and elaborate set of prayers and sacrifices to promote success in this enterprise. When the partygoers arrive at the palace, they enjoy a tense game of cards, which Pope describes in mock-heroic terms as a battle. This is followed by a round of coffee. Then the Baron takes up a pair of scissors and manages, on the third try, to cut off the coveted lock of Belinda’s hair. Belinda is furious. Umbriel, a mischievous gnome, journeys down to the Cave of Spleen to procure a sack of sighs and a flask of tears which he then bestows on the heroine to fan the flames of her ire. Clarissa, who had aided the Baron in his crime, now urges Belinda to give up her anger in favor of good humor and good sense, moral qualities which will outlast her vanities. But Clarissa’s moralizing falls on deaf ears, and Belinda initiates a scuffle between the ladies and the gentlemen, in which she attempts to recover the severed curl. The lock is lost in the confusion of this mock battle, however; the poet consoles the bereft Belinda with the suggestion that it has been taken up into the heavens and immortalized as a constellation.

Characters 

Belinda

Belinda does her best to look beautiful, styling her hair at great length and otherwise worshipping at the altar of beauty. She also plays quite a game of Ombre, a card game. But beautiful and popular though she is, she isn't a mean girl. In fact, she's known for her good nature. The theft of her lock, however, drives her to distraction.

Baron

The Baron is a brash young fellow. He knows what he wants and plots to get it. He pretends to be involved in an innocent game of Ombre, but all the while he is plotting to steal Belinda's curl. He has many other souvenirs from other young ladies and wants to add Belinda's curl to them. He is entirely without sympathy.

Ariel

Ariel takes his job very seriously. He helps Belinda get ready and does a much better job than her maid, Betty, ever could do. He and the other sylphs flutter around, trying to protect Belinda when she plays cards. Ariel is also a master delegator, rather like the commander of an army. He assigns all the other sylphs jobs of protecting Belinda.

Umbriel is a born mischief-maker. When he sees Belinda's distress, he calls upon the Queen of Spleen to take advantage of the situation. He beseeches her to make Belinda more angry and tearful, and the Queen of Spleen agrees to help him. Umbriel then fans the flames in Belinda's conversation with the Baron.

Thalestris

Thalestris isn't a great friend to Belinda, even though she calls herself one. When Belinda is upset, she exacerbates the situation, reminding Belinda how hard she worked to get her hair just right. She also tells Belinda her reputation will suffer if her hair is displayed—and that as a result, Thalestris's own reputation will suffer if she tries to defend her.

Clarissa

Perhaps Clarissa is jealous of Belinda, or else she is in some other way a frenemy. First she helps the Baron to steal Belinda's lock. Then she lectures Belinda about how she needs to get over it. According to Clarissa in her very long speech, women need to be nice because their beauty will fade.

Sir Plume

Sir Plume is a vain and fashionable dandy with an amber snuffbox and a fancy walking stick. He pretty much answers to Thalestris's command. When Thalestris orders him to demand the Baron return the lock, he does so. He isn't able to get the lock back, but he tries, appealing to the Baron's civility.

Some of the major themes in The Rape of the Lock are beauty, religion and morality, femininity, pride, love, pursuits, and morality of upper class.

Major Themes in Rape of the Lock:

1.    Beauty:

Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” offers an ironic glance of court life in the 18th-century, highlighting societies centralized on beauty and appearance. The poem’s center of focus is around the experience of a beautiful woman, Belinda, who lost her lock of remarkable hair to a nobleman known as the Baron. As the poem starts to go along, it steadily becomes sillier and sillier and the characters collapse into a battle over the lock. Pope’s added Clarissa’s speech into the poem, which argues that women spend much time on their looks rather than thinking to become a better person and serve society. The main thesis of Pope was that this kind of self-obsession is useless and radically nonsense. However, the poem’s conclusion seems to suggest that true beauty would be of some value, but if it becomes the subject of poetry, thus it achieves a kind of literary immortality.

Pope mocks Belinda’s obsession with her beauty by comparing it with a hero which is about to go into battle. She beautifies herself all day and appears at court as insignificant. When she lost the lock of her hair, her furious reaction allowed Pope to poke fun at her vanity.  Alexander Pope kept defending the intellectual and moral authority of his female characters through the wisdom of Clarissa’s speech, demonstrating female intellect and morality. He further questioned the wisdom of such a maternal system by outlining the Baron’s behavior as immoral. His fellow male courtiers are foolish. They allowed him to suggest that a maternal society is both unfair and unfounded.

It is important to note that the time Pope wrote the poem it was generally believed that women were both intellectual and moral inferiors of men. Pope seems to say that vanity itself is folly, but to appreciate great art, thus it can be said that one should be careful not to underestimate the role of beauty in inspiring great works like poetry. By using mock epic into the poem, he not only glam up the whole scenario by giving it huge fairy dust powder, but also entertains the question of responsibility in the poem.

2.    Religion and Morality:

Religion and morality is also also on of the major themes in Rape of the Lock. Pope’s poem is full of moral questions about religious culture and life in the 18th-century. The time when the poem was written, England’s last Catholic monarch had been deposed. England, once again, became a Protestant Nation. At that time, Protestant bitterly criticized Catholics, believing that Catholics had strayed from the worship of God.  Pope was from a Catholic family. Throughout the poem, it is possible to detect humorous evaluation of Protestantism. Protestants made life very difficult for Catholic families to own a land or live in London. Pope parodies the hypocritical religious rhetoric of that time and suggests that Christianity is not the best lens. It cannot be used to understand the mysteries of human behavior and self-obsession.

This has profound significance for Pope’s treatment of Christianity. At the heart of Christianity is that people are in control of their wills and actions, but God will judge people accordingly.

Pope shows his ideology that the whole Christian religion, Catholic or Protestant, follows human actions. These actions are mysterious and their motives are opaque. Because of this, it is absurd to believe that anyone could be straightforwardly judged.

3.    Theme of Immorality and Carefree Nature of Upper Class:

Pope has presented that in a matter of times the careless and casual response of high society is dangerous. He presented the society where the upper class is busy in pursuit of their own goals through trivial and vain. He portrayed that upper class people just think about themselves and obsessions. In this poem, the society displayed is one that fails to distinguish between things that matter and things that do not. What they care about is their personal life, luxuries, pomp, vanity. A life that is matchless to the ordinary and the common. He makes fun of their stupid deeds and self-obsessed attentions. He has disguised that this society just leads to immorality and distraction between humans. Alas, in the end, all upper-class people stay empty-handed.

 It is serious that a woman’s hair is cut but she has rejected a lord and such crimes are frivolities and fun of life in ease of nobility.

4.    Female Desire and Passion:

Pope has made fun of women; they just think and are concerned about their beauty aids alone. He presents Belinda like an epic heroine. He symbolizes that this mock-heroic epic is Belinda’s maidenhood. Pope says that women do not have a fair chance because they are even more self-conscious and limited by society’s rules and regulations than men are. Clarissa’s speech is a fine example of this attitude and also deals with the situation ideally with a smile rather than do anything to change it. Women, in the poem, are illustrated as being more in control of society than men are. 

It is obvious to us that if you put a bunch of attractive, well-off, and bored young men and women together. They will get attracted to one another, feel desire for one another, have dreams about one another; maybe they even fell in love. Pope depicts in The Rape of the Lock the trouble with the society is absolutely threatening and no way for anyone in it to safely express or act on his or her sexuality, desire, lust, life, feelings or love.

5.    Theme of Love in Rape of the Lock:

Pope thinks that love has no importance for the characters in this poem. For the Alexander Pope, the upper class believes only in victory and defeat. Love has no value in their unthinking minds. Belinda meets with a smile but yields and bow down to none. The poem has also symbolized Belinda’s character as a strong modern woman, who loves her beauty more than anything else. Baron loved to have an affair but without feelings and pure attention, it would be considered a victory. The society portrayed in The Rape of the Lock seems constructed to deny each other’s real feelings. For them, live-in relationships were common, but love in those relationships was counted as something odd.

 6.    Theme of Pride in Rape of the Lock:

Pride is also one of the major themes in the Rape of the Lock. We can say that the pride of a woman is natural to her, never sleeps, until modesty is gone. Beauty can be without pride and our dear Belinda handles it best of all. She takes care that no one would go without looking at her with a full glance. Baron decides to take revenge on Belinda by stripping her beloved lock of hair. Baron tried to get Belinda by force but not by marrying her, he tried to win over her but failed. As Belinda’s pride, self-respect and beauty were more important for her than anything else.  

The Rape of the Lock, reveals that the central concerns of the poem is pride, at least for women like Belinda and other social ones found in that society. Pope wants us to recognize that if Belinda has shown all her typical female weakness, then that would be against her pride, partly it is because she has been educated and trained to act in this way. The society as a whole community is as much to blame as she is or the men free from this judgment.

 

 

Macbeth

 P- 101 Assignment

Name - Nehalba Gohil

Paper- Literature of Elizabeth and Restoration period

Roll no- 16 

Enrollment no- 4069206420210009

Email id- nehalbagohil26@gmail.com

Batch - MA sem-1

Submitted to - S.B Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavanagar University

Macbeth William Shakespeare

The play begins with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one from Ireland, led by the rebel Macdonwald, and one from Norway. Following their pitched battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches as they cross a moor. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also prophesy that Macbeth’s companion, Banquo, will beget a line of Scottish kings, although Banquo will never be king himself.

The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies skeptically until some of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he will be crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened.

Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband’s objections and persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlains drunk so they will black out; the next morning they will blame the murder on the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they will remember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a vision of a bloody dagger. When Duncan’s death is discovered the next morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains—ostensibly out of rage at their crime—and easily assumes the kingship. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well.

Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth hires a group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night. Macbeth becomes furious: as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power remains insecure. At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth. When he sees the ghost, Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, who include most of the great Scottish nobility. Lady Macbeth tries to neutralize the damage, but Macbeth’s kingship incites increasing resistance from his nobles and subjects.

Frightened, Macbeth goes to visit the witches in their cavern. There, they show him a sequence of demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: he must beware of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to the throne; he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman; and he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure, because he knows that all men are born of women and that forests cannot move. When he learns that Macduff has fled to England to join Malcolm, Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seized and, most cruelly, that Lady Macduff and her children be murdered.

When news of his family’s execution reaches Macduff in England, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth’s forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical and murderous behavior. Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in which she bemoans what she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. Before Macbeth’s opponents arrive, Macbeth receives news that she has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair. Nevertheless, he awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane, to which he seems to have withdrawn in order to defend himself, certain that the witches’ prophecies guarantee his invincibility. He is struck numb with fear, however, when he learns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood. Birnam Wood is indeed coming to Dunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’ prophecy.

In the battle, Macbeth hews violently, but the English forces gradually overwhelm his army and castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth encounters the vengeful Macduff, who declares that he was not “of woman born” but was instead “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb (what we now call birth by cesarean section). Though he realizes that he is doomed, Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff kills and beheads him. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone.

 

 

 

 

 

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Jude the Obscure

Arabella :

 Jude’s first wife, a vain, sensual woman who is the daughter of a pig farmer. She decides to marry Jude and so tricks him into marrying her by pretending to be pregnant. Arabella sees marriage as a kind of entrapment and as a source of financial security, and she uses whatever means necessary to get what she wants. After Jude fails to provide for her, Arabella goes to Australia and takes a new husband there. She is often contrasted with the pure, intellectual Sue, as Arabella is associated with alcohol and sexual pleasure. When she wants Jude back she gets him drunk and forces him to marry her, and when he dies (or even just before) she immediately starts seeking a new husband.

Arabella Donn Quotes in Jude the Obscure

The Jude the Obscure quotes below are all either spoken by Arabella Donn or refer to Arabella Donn. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Classics edition of Jude the Obscure published in 1998.

Sue Bride headache

The novel’s other protagonist and Jude’s cousin. Sue’s parents were divorced and she was raised in London and Christminster. She is an extremely intelligent woman who rejects Christianity and flirts with paganism, despite working as a religious artist and then teacher. Sue is often described as “ethereal” and “bodiless” and she generally lacks sexual passion, especially compared to Jude. Sue marries Phillotson as a kind of rebuke to Jude for his own marriage to Arabella, and is then repulsed by Phillotson as a husband. She is portrayed as inconsistent and emotional, often changing her mind abruptly, but she develops a strong relationship and love with Jude. Though she starts out nonreligious, the death of her children drives Sue to a harsh, legalistic version of Christianity as she believes she is being punished for her earlier rebellion against Christianity, and she returns to Phillotson even though she never ceases to love Jude.

Sue Bridehead Quotes in Jude the Obscure

The Jude the Obscure quotes below are all either spoken by Sue Bridehead or refer to Sue Bridehead. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Classics edition of Jude the Obscure published in 1998.

In Memoriam

In Memoriam A.H.H is a poem by the British poet Lord Tennyson published in 1850 

Summary :

Prologue

The poem's speaker addresses the Christian figure of the Son of God. He declares his faith in God despite a lack of evidence. The speaker then expresses hope that humanity will grow in both knowledge and reverence for the Divine

Grief (Cantos 1–2

After the death of his best friend Arthur Henry Hallam, the speaker gives in to sorrow and sleep. His writing seems like a feeble antidote for despair. Awaiting the ship bringing Hallam's body home, the speaker struggles with strong and often contradictory emotions. He imagines himself as a piper in a pastoral elegy recalling the friends' joyful times together. Despite his anguish, he wants to prove his love will outlast time

Doubt and Despair (Cantos 28–7

The family's Christmas celebration is shadowed by grief. The speaker imagines the superior celestial form his friend occupies in eternity. He wonders if he and Hallam will communicate again and what their reunion will be like. Contemplating humanity's fate as a biological species bound for extinction, the speaker struggles to believe in a higher purpose for mankind

Rising Hope (Cantos 78–10

A second Christmas holiday is somber but more hopeful. Slowly the speaker sees the wisdom and insight his sorrow has given him. Though doubt and fear still linger, Hallam's memory brings comfort and consolation. One night during a memorable trance, the speaker feels connected to a larger divine spirit. He later prepares to move to a new home with his family, leaving the places he shared with Hallam behind

Final Affirmation (Cantos 104–13

The family holds a solemn Christmas celebration honoring Hallam. As bells ring in the New Year, the speaker looks forward to renewed joy and progress for all mankind. He describes Hallam as a brilliant, kindhearted man who sought wisdom as well as knowledge. Since Hallam is now "mix'd with God and Nature," the speaker loves and reveres his friend even more

Looking to the future, the speaker renews his faith in a divine plan for human existence. He encourages humanity to grow wiser and noble

Epilogue

Nine years after Hallam's death, the speaker attends the wedding of his sister Cecilia. The celebration is full of joy. The speaker says his love for Hallam and his own faith have grown over the years. He anticipates that the superior descendants of the human race will have

 

The Rover Aphra Behn

Introduction : 

The rover is a play in two parts that is written by the English author Aphra Behn. It is a revision of Thomas Killigrews play Thomason or The wanderer and features multiple plot lines dealing with the amorous adventures of a groups of Englishmen and women in Naples at carnival time according to Restoration post John Dryden. It lacks the manly Vitaliy of Killigrewls Play but shows greater refinement of expression . The play stood for three centuries as Behns most popular and most respected play.

1) Angellica 

Considered the financial negotiation which one makes before marring a prospective bride the same as pristutution 

Angellica Bianca 

Angellica is a famous courtesan in Spain . She is the mistress of a once powerful decreased Spanish general and she has returned ti Naples to put herself up for sale. Her monthly fees is 1,000 Spanish crowns and her primary potential suitors are Don Pedro and Don Antonio , Angellica is a beautiful woman who we are led to believe would have no problem securing the monthly fees for which she has put herself on the market Don Pedro and sum however Angellica falls in love with Wilmore to whom she promises her heart' when she discovers that willmore has not been true' to her she confrontes him with a pistol and threatens to kill him with it. 

Angellica Bianca is a renowned courtesan who charges 1000 crown's a month for companionship . She hangs an advertising poster outside her home and prides herself on the power she has over men. Although she brags that she has never fallen in love this changes when she meets willmore. She in charmed and offers him her heart and  her body with no change but his Love in return . She also gives him money to spend . When he is instantly unfaithful to her she vows revenge . Angellica is a character who is powerful within her own sphere and she is used to being treated with respected . However the event of the plau put her into positions where she lacks that power and it takes a severe toll on her  she despiars when she learns her rival for willmores affection is a noblewoman felling unable to complete with money and power . Her desire for willmores and her humliliation that he does not return her love drive her to the brink of Murder. While she ultimately decided to leave his punishment up to the universe she is clearly overwhelmed and distraught. 

Importance of being Earnest

Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

The importance of Being Earnest Trivial comedy for serious poepel is a Play by Oscar Wilde first performed in 14 February 1895 at the St James's theatre in London . It is a farcical comedy in which the protagonist maintain fictitious  personae to escape burdensome social obligation working within the social conversation of late Victorian London the play's Major themes are the triviality with which it treats institution as serious of Victorian ways. Some contemporary reviews praised the play's humours and the culmination of Wilde's others were cautious about its luck of social massage it's high farce and witty dialogue have helped make. The Importance of Being  Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play 

The successful opening night marked the climax of wilds career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry whose son lord Alfred Douglas was Wilde's lover planned to present the writer with a bouquet of Rotten vegetables and disrupt the show Wilde was tipped off and Queensbury was refused admition . Their feud for libel . The arrest trial and conviction on charges of gross indecency . Wilde's home sexuality was revealed to the Victorian public and he was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard lobour . Despite the play's early success Wilde's notoriety caused the play to be closed after 86 performances After his release from prison he published the Play from exile in Paris but he wrote no more comic or dramatic work's. The importance of being Earnest has been revived many times since it's premiere . It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. 

Characters : 

• Jack Worthing 
• Algernon moncrieff
• Geendolen Fairfax
• Lady  Bracknell
• Cecily Cardew
• Miss prism
• The Reverend Canon chasuble
• Lane
• Merriman

Hard Time

 1) Discuss the theme of  Utilitarianism with illustrations from the novel.

Charles Dickens

He was born on 7 February 1812 Portsmouth on the southern coast of England . He was a British novelist journalist editor illustrator and social commentator . Hard Time published 12 August 1854.

Hard time for theses time is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens first published in 1854 . The book surveys English society and economic conditions of the era . Hard Times is ususal in several ways it is by far the shortest of Dickens novel barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also unlike all but one of his other novels . Hard Times has neither a perface no r illustration moreover it is his only novel not to have scence set in London instead the story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial coketown a generic Northern English mill Town in some ways similar to Manchester though smaller coketown may be particully based on 19th century Preston one of Dickens reasons for writing Hard Times was that sales of his weekly periodical household words were low and  it was hoped the novel's publication in instalments would boost circulation as indeed proved to be the case since publication it has received a mixed response from critics.

Theme of Utilitarianism with illustrations :

In the novel Hard e Charles Dickens connived a theme of Utilitarianism along with education and industrialization Utilitarianism is the belief that something is  morally right if it helps a majority of people . It is a Princy involving nothing but facts and leaves no room for ereativity or imagination . Dickens provide symbolic examples of this  Utilitarianism in Hard Times by using mr Thomas gradgrind one of the main character in the book who has a Hard belief in Utilitarianism . Thomas Gradgrind is so into his philosophy of rationality and facts that he has forced this belief into children and as well as his young students Mr Josiah bounderby Thomas best friend also studies utilitarianism but he was more interested in power and money than in facts . Dickens uses Cecelia jupe daughter who is the complete opposite of Thomas Gradgrind to provide a great contrast of a Utilitarianism belief. 

 Dickens uses Thomas Gradgrind to demonstrate exactly how a basic philosophy of rationality self interest Thomas Gradgrind has faith that human nature can be restrained calculated and ruled completely by facts certainly his schooling attempt to turn young children into thing machines Dickens main goal in Hard Times was to exemplify the risk of letting human become nothing but machine singnifying that the lack of kindness and imagination in life whould be intolerable Louise balms her father for only teaching her lesson on facts and nothing on life she feeling that .

Ode to Duty

 Williams Wordsworth

Wordsworth was born 7 April 1770 amd died 23 April 1850 was an English Romantic poet who with Samuel Taylor , Coleridge helped to launch the romantic Age in English literature with their jont publication . Ode to Duty written in 1805 in published in 1807 is a Poem an ode .

Introduction: 

Ode to Duty reveals that Wordsworth has a great concern with moral and ethical values and devotion to duty and integrity . The  poet believed that following the path of Duty and mortality one could rise to noble heights of success in his life . Ode to Duty is a landmark in the history of Wordsworth mind . His most significant message to humanity is the message of plain living and high thinking . Wordsworth takes Duty as the divine postulates of universe . Heaving bodies like the sun and the earth maintain the system and decorum which give freshness and strength to the most ancient heavens.

Summary : 

The popular poem Ode to Duty was composed by William Wordsworth in 1805 it was published in his poems in the  volumes in 1807 in this poem the post personifies Duty as a goddess. He got inspiration to compose this ode from Gray's Ode to Adversity in which he personifies Adversity . According to the post duty is most important part in the life of human beings . He personifies Duty as the strict daughter of God 

.

 The poet compares Duty to the light that shows the right path to human being . It guides human beings to do the right things in life. It helps a man in removing mental conflicts and also help to overcome fears in his life . The poet says that there are also some persons who so not required the help of duty to do the right things in their life. They do them naturally as their voice guide them to do it . They are happy persons . They are men of noble characters . If sometimes they fail to perform their Duty well then duty helps them to choose the right path. 

Duty is a strict daughter of god's voice . According to the poet Duty is always hard to perform but she has very kind expression . She has always a divine smile on her face .like human being the objects of nature also perform their Duty . As flowers bloom in the garden and spread their fragrance all around because it is their Duty to spread fragrances all around . As all the planets move in their direction always performing their Duty to the universe.

Pamela

 Samuel Richardson

Was born 19 August 1689 died 4 July 1761 was an English writer and printer best known for three epistolary novels. Pamela or virtue Rewarded . Clarissa or the History of a young lady . The history of sir Charles Grandison. He printed almost 500 works in his life this novel first published in 1740 by English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels it serves as Richardson version of conduct literature about marriage . Pamela tells the story of a fifteen years old maidservant named Pamela Andrews whose employer. Mr.B a wealthy landowner makes unwanted and inappropriate advances towards her after the death of her mother . Pamela strives to reconcile her strong religions training with her desire for the approval of her employer in a series of latters and later in the novel journal entries all addressed to her improverished parents. 

Plot Summary : 

Pamela Andrews is a pious virtuous fifteen years old the daughter of unporerished labourers who works for lady Bedfordshire estate. Following lady B's death' her son Mr B inherits the estate and begins to play Pamela Romantic attention first gifting her his mother's fine clothes and then attempting to seduce her Pamela rejects Mr D.S advances multiple times by fleeing and locking herself in her bedroom. In one instance she faints and finds the laces of her stays have been cut.

When Mr B attempts to play her to keep his failed seduction secret she confides  in her best friend and housekeeper of the estate Mrs Jervis Later . Mr B hides in Pamela's closet and tries to kiss her when she undresses for bed causing Pamela to consider leaving her position and returning to her parents to preserve her innocence . The Lincolnshire housekeeper Mrs Jewkes is odious and unwomaning devoted to Mr B and keeps Pamela as her bedfellow. 

Characters : 

• Pamela Andrews
• John and Elizabeth Andrews
• Mr. Williams
• Mr B 
• Lady B 
•  Lady  Davers
• Mrs Jervis
• Mrs Jewkes
• Sally Godfrey
• Monsieur Colbrand
• Miss Godwin

Volume 2 

Pamela hides a parcel of latters to her parents in the garden but they are seized by Mrs Jewkes who gives them to Mrs B . He sympathies with Pamela on reading her account of their relationship and once again proposes . Pamela still doubtful of his intentions begs him to let her return though vecxed he does so on leaving Pamela is strangely sad and on her way home he sends her an apologetic letter that prompts her to realise she is in fact in love .