English Literature

Hareshwar    Shaw is the father of the comedy of ideas. He is a genius. He commands attention by his wit and humour. He is the first British playwright to write intellectual dramas. He takes social, political, economic, religious, philosophical and moral problems as the subject of his play.    Shaw's Saint Joan is considered to be his best play. It studies religion and intellectual conflict. The problem of genius is its keynote. It shows the conflict between individual judgement and established authority. It means that it presents the fight between Protestantism and the traditional dogma. It records man's attitude towards saints and geniuses.    To show the above-mentioned things, the outline of the story is needed. Joan is an extra- ordinary girl. She is guided by the voice of god and saints. Thus she achieves miracles. She develops confidence in soldiers and common people. Dauphin's slumber is broken. Due to her acti...

The discovery of the modern novel is the typical growth of the 18'th century. It is the original contribution of England to the world of literature. The novel as a popular genre began with Richardson 's Pamela in 1740. But the root of the English novel plunges deep through the centuries. In 14'th and 15'th centuries the novel was in the process of formation. In those early days the novel was in the form of romantic tales based upon adventures and romantic episodes. A certain amount of prose fiction did exist in the 16'th and 17'th centuries also. The Beginning : Malory's Morte D'Arthur is a noticable romance. It was the first English romance. With this book the English novel took a distinctive forward step. Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales have all the qualities of the latter day fiction. In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer produced the first English novel. Another great work of value before the Elizabethan fiction was Thomas More's Ut...

William Congreve is the best and finest writer of the comedy of manners. His ' The Way of the World' is considered as a pure comedy of manners. Here we find an ironic commentary on the ways of the society of the time. Here Congreve has depicted the social life of the fashionable men and women of the Restoration Age. During this period gravity, spiritual zeal, moral earnestness and decorum were thrown to winds. This was a peculiar age. The king was thorough debauch. He had a number of mistresses and numerous children. He was surrounded by corrupt and degenerate courtiers. There was no moral code for them. Corruption was rampant in all walks of life. The ladies and gentleman of upper classes were busy in love and lust. The pursuit of women was the main business of men. The man had become licentious animal. The ideal of love was corrupt. There was complete absence of sexual morality. The fond of fashion created a unique type of culture. There was complete freedom among the wome...

             The end of the Victorian era is the beginning of modern age. The first half of the 20'Th century is very important in the history of English literature. It marks a clear departure from the compromise and stability of the Victorian period. The following are the important characteristics of the modern age: [1] Interrogation and Anxiety : The 20'Th century is known as the age of interrogation and anxiety. In this century the scientific revolution shook man's faith in the authority of religion and church. The social, moral, political and economic scenario was changing fast. People were not ready to accept anything without testing it on the touchstone of reason. Modern industrial and technical progress gave birth to the spirit of competition. It increased frustration, anxiety and cynicism. The literature of this period reflects all these tendencies. [2] Art's for Life's Sake : In the modern age the doctrine of art for ar...

The period from 1660 to 1700 is named as the Restoration period. In 1660 King Charles II was brought to the throne. The people of England were suffering from tension due to strict rule of Cromwell. Thus the nation welcomed the Restoration of Charles II. This Restoration brought about a revolutionary change in social life and literature. The following characteristics distinguish this period: [1] THE RESTORATION : During this period gravity, spiritual zeal, moral earnestness and decorum were thrown to winds. The king was a thorough debauch. He had a number of mistresses. He was surrounded by corrupt courtiers. Corruption was rampant in all walks of life. [2] Religious and Political Quarrels : In the Restoration period we see the rise of two political parties. They were the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs were opposing and the Tories were supporting the king. The rise of these parties gave a fresh importance to men of literary ability. Both the parties supported the...

Dr. Hareshwar Roy INTRODUCTION: Edward Said is a great revolutionary modern critic. In an era of globalisation, he espoused the cause of Orientalism. He countered the structuralist and post structuralist theory of literary criticism. In fact, he is a great authority on the orient. In Orientalism he proves that the west has lashed a nasty propaganda against the orient. In order to impose its superiority it has painted an unworthy picture of the oriental nations. Edward Said exposes the hypocrisy of the western countries by his opinion. ORIENTALISM: Orientalism is a discourse of the West about the East. It is a Western style for dominating, restructuring and having the authority over the orient. The notion of Orientalism is based on travel book and guidebook. Such texts express imaginative, baseless and unreal picture of a particular place or country. They do not deal with the originality of the author and the reality about the place or country. According to Said...

INTRODUCTION: Nissim Ezekiel is a very great Indo- Anglican poet. Versatility is the outstanding characteristic of his poetry. He has experimented endlessly with form and craft. He has made a valuable contribution to stylistic felicities in Indo- Anglican poetry. TECHNIQUE AND STYLE: Ezekiel is perhaps the first Indo- Anglican poet to show consistently that craftsmanship is as important to a poem as its subject matter. He does not regard the writing of a poem as a casual affair. According to him the writing of a poem involves a lot of toil. He says,' We must labour to be beautiful'. In one of his poems Ezekiel is of the view that the best poets wait for words. He regards a poem as an organic, integrated composition. Thus the form, the structure, the words and phrases used by him become very important and a matter of vital concern. EZEKIEL'S LANGUAGE: Ezekiel is economical in the use of language. He believes in clarity, economy and directness. ...

  INTRODUCTION:  Nissim Ezekiel is a great Indo-Anglican poet. Versatility is the outstanding characteristic of his poetry. The Indian contemporary scene, modern urban life, human relationship, love and sex and spiritual values are the major themes of his poetry. He has experimented endlessly with form and craft. Flawless craftsmanship makes his poetry unique. AS A POET OF INDIAN URBAN LIFE:  Ezekiel is a poet of city life. In his poem we find the description of Bombay. It is symbol of any modern city. Through this symbol the poet has presented the ugliness, dirt, wickedness, inhumanity and squalor of life. According to him the city reduces human personality to a zero. In 'In Morning Walk' the poet says: Barbaric city, sick with slums, Deprived of seasons, blessed with rains Its hawkers, beggars, iron lunged Processions led by frantic drums. LOVE AND SEX:  Love and sex occupy prominent place in Ezekiel's poetry. In fact, Ezekiel is a poet of body. The celebration of ...

INTRODUCTION:   Ramanujan is one of the leading Indo- Anglican poets. He is a born poet who has given a new direction to Indian poetry in English. He composes poems in Kannada and English with equal command and mastery. His greatness lies in his unsurpassable ability to translate his experience. His status as a poet can be compared with that of Ezekiel and Kamala Das. But Ramanujan's real greatness lies in his craftsmanship. In this context, he towers above most of the Indo- Anglican poets. MASTER OF LANGUAGE:   A. K. Ramanujan is a great and gifted artist. He is certainly one of the greatest masters of English language among the Indo- Anglican poets. Apart from his theme he ranks very high for his use of the English language to express himself. His interest in linguistics influenced his conception of poetry and poetic craftsmanship. Most of the critics accept that Ramnujan has a great control over the English language. Commenting upon his linguistic excellence K. N....

INTRODUCTION:  Ramanujan is one of the leading Indo- Anglican poets. He is a born poet who has given a new direction to Indian poetry in English. He composes poems in Kannada and English with equal command and mastery. His greatness lies in his unsurpassable ability to translate his experience. His status as a poet can be compared with that of Ezekiel and Kamala Das. But Ramanujan's real greatness lies in his craftsmanship. In this context, he towers above most of the Indo- Anglican poets. MASTER OF LANGUAGE:  A. K. Ramanujan is a great and gifted artist. He is certainly one of the greatest masters of English language among the Indo- Anglican poets. Apart from his theme he ranks very high for his use of the English language to express himself. His interest in linguistics influenced his conception of poetry and poetic craftsmanship. Most of the critics accept that Ramnujan has a great control over the English language. Commenting upon his linguistic excellence K. N...

INTRODUCTION: The winner of Sahitya Academy Award, R.K. Narayan is one of the greatest Indian Writers in English with World fame. His novels have a universal appeal. They have been translated into most of the important languages of the world. Narayan is a simple and pure artist. He is popular as 'crusader scholar' and 'idealist machinery'. THE GUIDE: R.K. Narayan has produced more than a dozen novels. These work deal with human relationship. 'The Guide' is one of them. It brought a worldwide reputation for the novelist. It was published in 1958 and won Sahitya Academy Award in 1960. It has also been filmed in 1962 with Devanand and Wahida Rahman. 'The Guide' introduces the human relationship and relationship between sex and money in a very attractive manner. PLOT OF THE GUIDE: To discuss the major themes of family relationship and love and sex, it would be better to trace the story of  'The Guide' in short. Raju, a railway guide...

  INTRODUCTION:   Kamala Das is a very popular Indo- Anglican poet. Her poetry is confessional and autobiographical. It is the poetry of introspection and self-analysis. Here we find the best expression of feminine sensibility. The poet expresses her need for love with astonishing frankness and openness.    AS A CONFESSIONAL POET:  Kamala Das is a confessional poet. In this context she can be compared with Ramanujan, Ezekiel, R. Lowell, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and J. Wright. As a true confessional poet she takes her readers into confidence about her private life. She shows with remarkable frankness the wrongs, injustice and the humiliation that she suffered in a male dominant world. She has candidly described her traumatic experiences of lovemaking and of the sexual act. We can easily find the tone of confession in her poems like 'The Sunshine Cat', 'The Invitation', and 'The Looking Glass'. In 'The Invitation' she has shamelessly described her sexual ...