English Literature

↑ Grab this Headline Animator G.B. Shaw is the father of comedy of ideas. His saint Joan is considered to be the best play. Intellectually and emotionally, its trial scene is one of the most effective scenes. In this scene Joan is tried for heresy. This scene is the most romantic and thrilling part of the play. It has contributed much to its popularity. Its artistic excellence and beauty received high praise. The sixth scene of the play is the great trial scene. It is the best scene of the play. Joan is captured and tried for heresy in the castle of Rouen. Cauchon, the presiding judge at the trial, the promoter and many others are present. In the beginning of the scene Earl of Warwick warns them to be quicker with the trial. When Warwick points out the political necessity of burning the maid, Cauchon becomes fierce and says that the church does not recognize any political necessity. But the Inquisitor points to him that the maid herself appears determined to be burnt. A...

↑ Grab this Headline Animator Samuel Beckett is a revolutionary playwright. He is an iconoclast and an image breaker. He has shattered conventions and pioneered a new kind of drama. His drama is above categories of tragedy and comedy. It is called absurd drama. His plays show the situation in which we are. They expose us in our existential predicament. Waiting for Godot  is an absurd drama. In fact, absurd drama presents human life and human situation as absurd. This type of drama is free from traditional plot, story or division into acts and scenes. Here we get few characters. They have symbolic significance. Dialogues are very short and crisp. Nothing significant happens on the stage. It prefers existential themes. Things are not explained but they are merely hinted at. One can find all these features in  Waiting for Godot . Lack of action is one of the major characteristics of an absurd play. There is nothing significant in the play. So is the case with...

↑ Grab this Headline Animator J.L. Nehru was a great politician. He had an inborn instinct for writing. The Glimpses of the World History, The Discovery of India and An Autobiography are his famous books. His autobiography entitled as An Autobiography is an outstanding piece of prose. It has immense literary value. The writings of Nehru bear the imprint of a scholarly mind and sensitive heart. His writings are marked with a unique style. It is lucid, spontaneous and suggestive. It has poetic richness. Tom Wrightington is of the view that Indians can learn English not from Macaulay or Gibbon but from Nehru. Albert Einstein, R.N. Tagore and Narasimahaiah have praised Nehru’s mastery over English and his rhythmic style. In short, he is one of the greatest prose writers in the annals of Indian English Literature. His writings are as powerful as his personality. Nehru’s autobiography is a milestone in the history of Indian Writing of English. It was written...

Introduction: Steele earned an everlasting renown as an essayist. His contribution to The Tatler and The Spectator is very significant. They are the hallmarks of periodical essay writing. He wrote with an aim to bring moral reforms, order and decorum in the society. The Tatler and The Spectator became effective mediums in his hands. Expression of Social Life: Steele worked with Addison and established the essay as a very important form of literature. His essays appeared as the expression of the social life of the nation. Thus he is known as a great social critic in the history of English literature. In his essays he beautifully satirized the vices of the society of his time. He exposed the false arts of life. He pulled of the disguises of cunning, vanity and affectations. He inculcated good morals among the people of his age. He recommended general simplicity in our dress, discourse and behavior. He recommended truth, innocence, honour and virtue as the chief ornaments of l...

Introduction: Joseph Addison is one of the greatest English essayists. His literary reputation rests upon the essays from The Spectator and The Tatler . As an essayist he earned wide acclaim. He is regarded as one of the greatest masters of English prose and as one of the greatest prose stylists. Middle Style: Addison’s prose style has been praised as middle style. It is never slipshod or obscure or unmelodious. He chose the words carefully for their meaning and music. His style suits the subject matter. According to Dr. Johnson, Addison prose is the model of the middle style. It is pure without scrupulosity and exact without apparent elaboration. It is always equable and always easy. Here there is no room for glowing words or pointed sentences. The prose of Addison is thus suitable for miscellaneous purpose. It is suitable for newspaper and political work, for history and for biography. This style can be compared with the style of Swift and Defoe. Sentence and Sy...

Joseph Addison is one of the greatest essayists in English Literature. He is memorable for his contribution. He is known as the consummate painter of life and manners. The 18 th century prose has been enriched to a great degree by him. He earned wide acclaim due to his contribution to the two periodicals named The Tatler and The Spectator . The essay Sir Roger at Home is taken from The Spectator . This essay is remarkable for the fine character portrayals of Sir Roger and Chaplain. Here Sir Roger is the central figure. He has been depicted as a country gentleman. Here the art of characterisation is significant. It has enhanced the prestige of Joseph Addison. The subtle remarks about the English rural society bring additional interest to the essay. The ease and grace of Addison’s style is consistently reflected in the essay. In this essay we find some glimpses of a country gentleman named Sir Roger. Here his personality and household affairs have been described. He h...

Francis Bacon is called the father of English essay. As an essayist he enjoys a glorious reputation. His essays are the results of his direct observation of men and matters. He has written a number of essays on various subjects. OF STUDIES is one of them. This essay deals with three aspects of studies. These three aspects are the uses, effects and purpose of studies. Bacon says that studies are useful in three ways. They give delight in our private life. They render our talk in society interesting and witty. They develop our powers of decision and judgment. The essayist says that studied are disliked by crafty men. They are admired by simple people. Wise men use them profitably. Books must not make us contagious or dogmatic. But they should make us critical. Bacon is of the view that some books are to be read. Many books may be read by summaries. According to him a few books are to read deeply and thoroughly. The essayist says that we should read in order to gat...

She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education. Her tastes were simple because she had never been able to afford any other, but she was as unhappy as though she had married beneath her; for women have no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or family. their natural delicacy, their instinctive elegance, their nimbleness of wit, are their only mark of rank, and put the slum girl on a level with the highest lady in the land. When she sat down for dinner at the round table covered with a three-days-old cloth, opposite her husband, who took the cover off the soup-tureen, exclaiming delightedly: "Aha! Scotch broth! What could be better?" she imagined delicate...