Thinking Activity : Macbeth

This Blog-post as a response of Thinking Activity on Macbeth, given by Dilip Barad Sir. 

• Feminist Reading of  Lady Macbeth:

Lady Macbeth is the historical character in English Literature which is highly appears in the controversy of critics or society. She is very strong and high speech character. Although, apart from all main characters, Lady Macbeth is completely Imaginary Character by William Shakespeare. 

• Her Education:

In Act-I, Scene-V she appear with reading a letter of her husband. This is high significant thing that on that time, during Elizabethan Age, perhaps there was woman education under the region.So we can appreciate this educational thing from Lady Macbeth.Because of her educational personality she argues for her rights and it is not in bad perspective. 

•  Her Character for Planning and Structure.  

Lady Macbeth observes King Duncan (Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole(British Painter), 19th century)

After reading a letter, she appear to be very influential in planning and deciding when and how they should kill King Duncan – and chiding her husband for not acting more like a man,despite this capabilities she continuously become a bad character in front of the reader. Because of she is the main reason to the murder of Duncan.But above all this things we have to notice about her quality to planning or structure making, despite of her bad thinking about murder.  

• Iron-willed Character:

“[pluck] my nipple from [my child’s] boneless gums, And [dash] the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this” (Act-I,scene-VII)

According to materialist feminism theory, despite her earlier show of strength, Lady Macbeth’s eventual weakness is a result of a patriarchal portrayal of her gender.This how as a reader we must noticed about patriarchy society. 

Despite of this character, typically, the most highly regarded literary works focus on male protagonists - Oedipus, Ulysses, Hamlet,Jones,Faust,the Three Musketeers,Captain Ahab,Huck Finn,Leopold Bloom– who embody masculine traits and ways of feeling and pursue masculine interest in masculine field of action.

But in the play, Macbeth's character is not completely in masculine action. So Shakespeare perhaps makes her as a masculine heroine of action.  

• Patriarchy :

Women themselves are taught, in the process of being socialized, to internalized the reigning patriarchal ideology (that is conscious and unconscious presuppositions about male superiority). Patriarchal society encourages Lady Macbeth to invest herself in the role of mother. Lady Macbeth is seen as selfish and abnormal when she confesses that there is a situation in which she would “[dash] [her child’s] brains out” (Act-I.scene-vii), a very unnatural statement according to patriarchy’s belief that women’s desire to have and protect children is a part of “their natural biological makeup.” Though intelligent and strong at the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is reduced to an insignificant person haunted by nightmares and guilt as a result of a patriarchal portrayal of her gender.Patriarchy defines Lady Macbeth’s intelligence as a flaw and as an indicator that she is unnatural and “unfulfilled” as a woman.So this is not fault of Lady Macbeth but actually is fault of Patriarchal Society or patriarchal ideology. Also noticed that Lady Macbeth, she not as bound to domestic duties as Lady Macduff,but her sharpness and intellectual capabilities she uses for her own self. 

In today's time, we as a audience or readers we can see that how Lady Macbeth appear as a strong woman with highly ambitious and educationally. 

Sources:

A Glossary of Literary Terms Page.no,124-125

Feminist Reading Journal Marion A. Davis

Words:574

The Neo-Classical Age

In the whole History of English Literature,we introduced Neo-Classical Age by it's three stages,

Neo word presents something new or innovative. In literature, after Elizabethan literature, people wants to go with their ancient ideas or classical literature. They sudden followed their classical styles in present way. This what literary scholar called, "Neo-Classical Age."  

1)Write a brife note on favorite work from the Neo-Classical Age. 

Robinson Crusoe(1719-1720)

The Novel in full,"The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years, All Alone in an Un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, Near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having Been Cast on Shore by Shipwreck, Wherein All the Men Perished but Himself. With an Account how he was at last as Strangely Deliver’d by Pyrates. Written by Himself." First published in 1719. It is Defoe's first first long work in Fiction. 

Summary of the Novel.

• Based on real life adventurer of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk.
• A lasting   literary legacy blending a unique prose style with survival narrative engaging easy to read language. 
• its structure is highly episodic, and Defoe’s uneven narrative pacing and niggling errors.
• the fact that it draws together features of the genres of romance, memoir, fable, allegory.
• Some argues that novel is the only label large enough to describe it. 
• Defoe’s novel was presented as a ‘just History of Fact’, but it exploits the freedoms of fiction.
• Crusoe’s story, a story Samuel Taylor Coleridge called ‘a happy nightmare’

2)Compare the major writer of the age with other major writer from the various age.

Points	John Milton	Alexander Pope
Era	Puritan	Neo-Classical(Augustan period)
Other profession	Served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.	No other profession
Central topic of the poem	Religious flux and political upheaval	Satirical and discursive
Poetic Style	Miltonic verse, Miltonic epic, or Miltonic blank verse	Heroic Couplets
Best work	Epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). Written in blank verse	An Essay on Criticism (1711).Written in heroic couplet.
Characteristics	Sublimity Love of Beauty Classicism Seriousness Spiritual Import Ancient and Modern Art	Heroic Couplets Morality and Virtue Satire and Imitation Critical of Other Poets

 

• Differences between two poems 

Paradise Lost	The Rape of The Lock
Disobedience is in center	spirituality in high society
A very serious poem in which one would contemplate death	Pope mocks society in a very satire way
Heavy tone	light and airy tone
No rhyme structure	Uses masculine rhyme
Words such as“forbidden” and “woe”	“compel”and “A gentle Belle”

 

 

Resources 

Summary of the novel

Differences between poems

Milton's Characteristics

Words:1022

Thinking Activity : John Bunayn

 JOHN BUNYAN(1628-1688)

As William J long wrote that John Bunyan is one poet enough to express the Puritan spirit, one commanding prose writer. Bunyan was a poor, uneducated tinker.He was born in the little village of Elstow, near Brdford, in 1628, the son of a poor tinker. When he was sixteen years old his father married the second time, whereupon Bunyan ran away and became a soldier in the Parliamentary army.

The religious ferment of the age made a tremendous impression on Bunyan's sensitive imagination.Here is full biography of Banyan. 

Bunyan read the books. 'The Plaint Man's Pathway to Heaven' and 'The Practice of Piety.' which instantly fave fire to his imagination. He saw nwe vision and dreamed terrible new dreams of lost souls; his attendance  at church grew exemplary; he began slowly and painfully to read the Bible for himself.

• The Pilgrims Progress - This world to That which is to come:

The Pilgrims Progress- Christian allegory which was probably written in prison, but which for some reason he did not publish till long after his release. This book made him most popular writer.There is two parts of this Novel. First part was published in 1677 and second was published in 1684. 

Bunyan wrote the novel at Bedfordshire country  prison. 

Story of Pilgrim Progress

As William J Long wrote that , "It is perhaps sufficient answer to quote the simple fact that 'Pilgrim's Progress is nit exclusively a Protestant study, it appeals to Christians of every name and to Mohammedas and Buddhist in precisely the same way that it appeals to Christian."

• Other works

• The Holy War, published 1665 is the first work of Bunyan. 
• Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners published in 1666, twelve years before Piligrim's Progress.
• The life and death of Mr. Badman, a realistic character study which is a precursor of the modern novel.

Sources :

About the auther

About the story - Video

William J Long History

Words:326

Thinking Activity : Renaissance Literature

Monday,27 September.2021 

This blog post is response of thinking activity which assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir.

• Write in brief about Chaucer or Edmund Spencer or Ben Jonson or Francis Bacon or on any of their works.

In the whole history of english literature, Elizabethan Age is know as The Golden age. The period was full of Dramatic personalities, enthusiastic atmosphere and especially Individuality in literature which all were under the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. There were many writers or poets and so many literary personalities were also gives the golden part of their writing styles. 

Edmund Spenser:

As William J.Long mentioned,

"only a poor scholar knows how to create for himself he read the classics, made acquaintance with the great Italian poets, and wrote numberless little poems of his own."

Three Periods Of His Life:

Edmund Spenser was an english poet(1552-1599),birth and death place both are London.Chaucer was his "beloved"He was a busy man of affairs but in him the poet and the scholar always predominates. He wrote "View Of the State Of Ireland (1596) Only one prose work. Its only prose work in which he submits a plan for"pacifying the oppesses and rebellious people." In his life,there was one financial problem occurred that a yearly pension of fifty pounds given by queen Elizabeth, but rarely paid, and the poet turned back to exile, that is, to Ireland again. 

In 1594 he married Elizabeth, an Irish girl and also celebrating his wedding with his "Epithalamion," one of the most beautiful wedding hymns in any language written by him. In 1595, he published "Astrophel,"an elegy on the death of his friend Sidney, and three more books of the Faery Queen.

According to Ben Jonson he died "for want of bread"; but whether that is a poetic way of saying that he had lost his property or that he actually died of destitution.

According to Camden, "casting their elegies and the pens that had written them into his tomb."

About his work:

As we know that Spenser is the famous for his writing on magical or lyrical way of poetry. His poems are the treasury of  the power which always attract to readers towards him. Also, the power of beauty is strongly shown by readers. I think, Spenser shown himself as the great example of individuality of Elizabethan Age. Here, one list about the famous literary legends of the Elizabethan Age:

• Sir Phillip Sidney 
• Edmund Spenser
• Walter Raleigh
• Richard Hooker
• Christopher Marlowe
• William Shakespeare
• John Webster

 

 

Why Spenser known as Poet's Poet?

In very short answer by W.J.Long that:

It is Spenser's idealism, his love of beauty and his exquisite melody which have caused him to be known as "Poet's Poet"

Characteristics of Spenser's poetry:

• a  perfect melody 
• a rare sense of beauty
• a splendid imagination 
• the thronging ideals of Renaissance
• a lofty moral purity and seriousness 
• a dedicate idealism, which could make all nature and every common thing beautiful

About Faery Queen:

Faery Queen is very famous or great work of Spenser. First three parts of book were published in 1589 and later on again three were published in 1596. One of the longest poem in english language. Spenser's original plan regarding this poem that will write twenty four books, but its was not possible. He completed only six books. Some key points about the poem are:

• adventure and triumph of knight
• each one represented a moral value
• twelve private Moral Virtues
• poems tells the story of the conflicts
• purely allegorical
• life as struggle between good and evil
• characters like, Knight of Red cross representing Holiness,the second with Temperance, the third with Chastity,the fourth with friendship, fifth with Justice and last sixth with Courtesy.
• use of Spenserian Stanza as invited a new verse of poetic form by Spenser.

Comparison between Chaucer and Spenser:

                                                                       

Why Spenser choose only Morality in his poetry?

As we know that Spenser known for his Morality poems. Likewise Faery Queen or Shepherd's Calendar. In both works his central idea is Morality. But my argument is that why he not choose religion or other political matters which were occurred on that time?

As William J. Long said,

"Under her administration the English national life progressed by gigantic leaps rather than by slow historical process, and English literature reached the very highest point of its development."  

RESOURCES:

Images:

Edmund Spenser-Wikipedia

Faery Queen-Wikipedia

Books:

William J. Long History

Edward  Albert History