Analysis of Tagore's "The Home and the World " as Socio-political Novel : Bimala- Nikhilesh- Sandip Tangle


Viewed purely as a socio political novelTagore's The Home and the World (Bengali Ghare Baire) seems to make a sharp distinction between two rival political impulses, Nikhilesh representing the pure passion for constructive work in swadeshi (nationalism), and Sandip its greed and destructive energy .Nikhilesh worships nothing but truth which is greater than the country, and which is alone all temporary crazes; for Sandip the success of the moment, no matter by whatever means it is the only thing that matters. For Nikhilesh, the Ideal is the principal ingredient in the Real; for Sandip the Ideal is tolerable only when it is a means to the attainment of the Real. Bimala, the central character of the novel, who has been given a large number of autobiographical narratives than the other two principal characters, is torn between these two contending forces which exercise a powerful fascination over her mind. Nikhilesh’s passion for absolute truth reminds us of the sages of ancient India, and the dominating force in Sandip’s character is greed which is the lane of modern western nationalism. The novel has been regarded as an allegory, Bimala, standing for modern India, Nikhilesh for ancient India and Sandip for modern Europe.

However, many would feel that the real meaning and interest of the novel lies in its moving portrayal of man -women relationship, in the psychological conflict, in the personal drama of husband and wife knowing each other both at home and in the world. The swadeshi agitation is a necessary political backdrop only became it is through this upheaval that an Indian wife can suddenly tear the moorings of a sheltered domestic life and float adrift in the high seas of a countryside agitation. The novel is full of political discussions and they are important only is so far as they help to reveal the working in the minds of Sandip, Nikhilesh and Bimala. Ibsen’s Nora (A Doll’s House) and Tagore’s Bimala belong to two different worlds. The former stands for an idea, which the latter is an individual woman who may be distantly connected with an idea. Unlike Nora, Bimala does not stand for women’s liberation. When, early is the novel, Nikhil urges Bimala, so long a typical Hindu wife to come out of her secluded existence and to meet the world, Bimala is at first indifferent to the idea, saying ‘what do I with the outside world.’, Nikhilesh is not a Torvald Helmer and does not make a doll of his wife, neither does he try to impose anything of his own on her. A mighty political agitation that sweeps over the country and breaks the barriers of age, gives the Indian wife an opportunity to come out of her secluded existence. Not only does Bimala leave the introverted; but her mind and sight, her hopes and desires become red with the passion of the new ages. And it is at this time she meets Sandip, a fiery nationalist, who thinks and feels differently from her husband. Sandip is frankly champion of greed and of the Nietzschean will to power. Bimala is fascinated by sandip’s impetuous vitality beside which her husband’s lour for truth, eternal and absolute, seems to be very thin. Bimala’s burning devotion to her country is mined up with her attraction for the country’s hero Sandip, who flatters her as the incarnation of sakti , the goddess from whom the son of Bengal will derive inspiration and energy.

Bimala does not share, Nikhilesh’s ideas, and therefore, although she notices that Sandip’s eloquence grows when he catches sight of her, she lets Sandip worm his way into her heart. Even when she finds herself on the high tide to excitement, she argues with her husband in support of Sandip’s doctrines. Although Bimala and Sandip are drawn towards each other by what seems to beam insuperable attraction, the adulterous impulse is soon checked, Bimala discovers that behind the sparkle of Sandip’s brilliance there is in him the slime of weakness, meanness and cowardice and she recoils in disgust.

Are we to believe that there has been a fundamental misalliance between Nikhil and Bimala which years of mutual devotion and trust have not been able to remove? Sandip, a keen observer and an analyst, says “How little these two persons, who have been together day and night for him years, knows something perhaps of their home life but when it comes to outside concern they are entirely at sea. Although Bimala does not explain anything, Nikhil fears that he might have acted as a fetter around her. Therefore, when the tension between them becomes acute, he tells her that she is free and he does not want to keep her as a garland around his heck. One sees therefore that Tagore’s treatment of Bimala- Nikhilesh- Sandip tangle is much more subtle than E. M. Forster recognizes when he calls the novel simply a variation on the theme of triangular love and little more than a boarding house flirtation.   

(Updated)
Ardhendu De 

Ref:  
1. The Home and the World - Wikipedia. (2016, November 1). The Home and the World - Wikipedia. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Home_and_the_World
2. Tagoreweb - The Complete Works of Rabindranath Tagore. (n.d.). Tagoreweb - the Complete Works of Rabindranath Tagore. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from http://tagoreweb.in/

Critical Study of “Songs of the Ganga” by A. K. Mehrotra



 Mehrotra is generally known for his surrealistic technique. His is the discovery of various modern, post-modernist and earlier avant-garde style and poetics. He likes to juxtapose bits and pieces of sensibility as represented by clichéd language, sentiments and situations. Surrealism, artistic and literary movement that explored and celebrated the realm of dreams and the unconscious mind through the creation of visual art, poetry, and motion pictures notably, the nostalgic moments and reminiscences of Allahabad can be seen in abundance in his poetry. Mehrotra's increasing pre-occupation with personal and local realities particularly Allahabadism can be seen in Songs of the Ganga.

Songs of the Ganga is a saga of Indian life and myth, a typical of Hindu culture. Like that of Carl Sandburg’s Chicago, Songs of the Ganga looking lovingly, if not cynically, at its countryside. In fact, Ganga has been worshiped   because of its usefulness, beauty, or fear-inspiring aspect. It is considered either as holy in them or as the dwelling places of spirits. The basis of Gangaism seems to lie in the world view of some societies that assume a specific relationship between human beings and the powers of nature, a relationship that serves as the foundation for a classificatory scheme. Gangaism may thus be interpreted as a conceptual device for sorting out social groups by means of natural emblems. Furthermore, some scholars point out that when different social groups within the same society draw their names and identities from Ganga, these ideologies serve as symbolic devices showing that society, although divided into many groups, still remains a whole. 

In the opening lines of Carl Sandburg's Chicago addressed and described the city of business:
“Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders . . .”

Similarly Songs of the Ganga begins with an emphatic ‘I’- the Ganga, a source of life stream which flows en-route hills and valleys and carries its small streams into the sea of life. It also entails the business of it's own merits as well as mythical introspection of every Indians. But notably Ganga is not a feminine gender- it is  an emblem of humanity. Remember, world cannot be created either by men or women. Thus, it is unified self:

I am both man and woman

Metaphorical   ambiguity in the quoted line reminds the diversified actions of river Ganga. Ganga, the daughter of the mountain god,   Himalaya can wash away one’s sins, and ashes placed in the river can reach to heaven. Such numerous references to the Ganga are found in Hindu mythology and literature. Indian bards have written extensively about the beauty of the Ganga. Mehrotra’s Songs of the Ganga   is a poem in praise of Ganga in its ability to control the life of Indians. It has geographically mothered fertile plains, steep foothills and many a streams assimilate into the river:

I am the plains
I am the foothills
I carry the wishes of my streams
To the sea

Ganga flows through varying diversities cleansing impurities in us both physically and spiritually. We all mythically wish that great things to happen. Now the wishes of the streams and the wishes of the masses metaphorically blend together. Truly we cannot meet the sea of life i.e. the zenith of spiritualism unless we share our living experiences with that of the Ganga.  

Paper boats made by Children, fishing net thrown by Fishermen or holy prayer by Shaven monks are equally met by Ganga. It mirrors the every movement near and around. Like that of omniscience, it mentors every essence of lives and litters:

I am paper boats for children
I am habits for the fisherman
I am cloud for shaven monks
I reflect all movements

Ganga is said to be the bridge between life and death, from materiality to spirituality, from time distant. The description of Ganga is related to three aspects of God in some way, seen through the eyes of Hindu culture- Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. These are Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer.  They are fort, archer, and dissolver. In all cultures, human beings make a practice of interacting with what are taken to be spiritual powers. These powers may be in the form of gods, spirits, ancestors, or any kind of sacred reality with which humans believe themselves to be connected.
Sometimes a spiritual power is understood broadly as an all-embracing reality, and sometimes it is approached through its manifestation in special symbols. It may be regarded as external to the self, internal, or both. People interact with such a presence in a sacred manner—that is, with reverence and care. Ganga is the term most commonly used to designate this complex and diverse realm of human experience in Indian context:

“I am the bridge.
I am the fort and the archer taking aim.
I am the great dissolver of men.”

 Again, Ganga is all the forces of nature, both physical and spiritual. Ganga is the source of whatever happens, good or bad.   Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind bids its supreme power as:

 “Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!”

Ganga too is hailed as Destroyer and Preserver when it says:

“I give life and I take it too.” 

Thus in conclusion it is far to say that Songs of the Ganga  by A.K. Mehrotra offers a vivid exploration of the Ganges River, blending personal experiences with cultural and historical references. It fact it a tale told through generals and as if it is a vein that runs through the world's oldest civilization. The poems display lyrical beauty and evoke a sense of spirituality that culminates into the complexities of human existence and the river's sacred significance.

Ardhendu De    

References 
1. Mehrotra. (2022). Collected Poems [English]. Shearsman Books.

Rabindranath Tagore’s Poetry in English: Evaluation and Controversy in Reading Gitanjali (Song Offerings)


Some literary problems never seem to go away. In spite of various attempts to look at Rabindranath Tagore’s English translation critically, there persists certain blindness to the possibility that his early poems in English did not uniformly merit the great affection they received. For example , after taking note of some critics who said that Tagore’s poems were “too  thin and ethereal “ and that they “locked in intensity and passion”, Humayun Kabir ignored and begged the question by concluding , “Tagore’s standing as a poet is so unquestioned that it is not necessary even to discuss these aspersions of his critics.”  However, it cannot be denied that his Bengali works are much more effective in the original rather than being translated! 

Character of Mrs. Meldon in John Ervine’s One- act Play “Progress”


 In John Ervine’s one- act play “Progress”, we get two opposite views on war. One is held by Henry and the other by his sister, Mrs. Meldon. The drama is based on the conflict of these two views on war. Henry holds that war is inevitable because human beings are too pugnacious. Read More Drama The horrors of war do not affect him in the least. To him the purpose of war is killing, and so it is no use being sentimental about death and destruction caused by war. He claims to have invented a far deadlier weapon than anything ever used in wars. And he is firm in his belief that his invention is the result of a great progress of human knowledge and skill. According to him, man’s progress consists in the invention of devastating weapons to shorten the duration of war.

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner by T. S. Coleridge - Story of Crime & Punishment? Students' Notes



There are several sub-themes in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' relating to Christianity and the supernatural, and two primary themes. The first primary theme concerns the potential consequences of a single unthinking act. When the mariner shoots an albatross, he does it casually and without animosity. Yet this impulsive, destructive act is his undoing. Similar to other Romantics, Coleridge believed that the seeds of destruction and creation are contained each within the other. One cannot create something without destroying something else. Likewise, destruction leads to the creation of something new. The loss of the mariner's ship, shipmates, and his own former self ultimately leads to the regeneration of the mariner. The Ancient Mariner is a story of crime and punishment. It falls into seven sections, each telling of a new stage in the process. The first section tells of the actual crime. To us the shooting of the bird may seem a matter of little moment but Coleridge makes it significant in two ways: firstly, he does not say why the Mariner kills the albatross. There is essential irrationality of the Mariner crime. Secondly, the crime is against nature, against the sanctified relations of guest and host the bird which has been hailed in God’s name as if it had been a Christian soul, and is entirely friendly and helpful is wantonly and recklessly killed.

Chinua Achebe's "A Man of the People" (1966): Position of Women in Post Colonial Nigerian Society


It is interesting to study how the women in A Man of the People ( Chinua Achebe) play an important role in Odili and Nanga’s strategies. Here we find two contrasting groups of people from a political and social aspect based in West Africa.  The groups are the old and the new generations of politics and two characters represent them.  Odili, the narrator, represents the new intellectual generation, while Chief Nanga, Odili’s former teacher, represents the old style of bush politicians.  The conflict between the old and new ways is portrayed through the two characters as they not only disagree and quarrel over political views but also women.  Achebe captures the inside reality of the lives of the contrasting characters as he demonstrates energy and brightness as well as violence and corruption. 

Analysis of Wilfred Owen's “The Send-off” as Anti-war Poem


"Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity."
Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918)

Wilfred Owen is a soldier-poet without any romantic enthusiasm for war. While Rupert Brooke glorifies war, Owen sings of the pathos and tragedy of war alike Siegfried Sassoon, a poet and novelist whose grim antiwar works were in harmony with Owen's concerns. Like his other war poems, The Send-off ” reveals the massacre of precious human lives that war involves. The poem “The Send-off” begins with a description of the coming of a band of soldiers to a railway station in the darkness of the evening. They were being sent to the battlefield. They came marching down narrow village paths. They were singing all the way, not in joy, but to keep their thoughts away from the impending death they were going to embrace in the battle-field. The train that was to carry the soldiers was waiting at the siding-shed. So the soldiers came to the siding-shed and stood in a row along the train to board it. Their faces looked grave, but cheerful. They were outwardly merry. This state of mind of theirs is nicely described in the opening lines:

 “Down the close, darkening lanes they sang their way
To the siding-shed,
And lined the train with faces grimly gay.”


The breasts of the soldiers were covered with white flowers and garlands that were given by their sweet-hearts or near and dear ones at their village. The white flowers ironically suggest that the soldiers were going to die in the battle-field; and so the white flowers were offered to them as if in anticipation of death. As dead men’s breasts are covered with white flowers, so also the breasts of the soldiers were stuck all white with wreath and spray.

Some porters watched them indifferently the sight of the soldiers at the siding-shed roused no curiosity in them. A vagabond was standing nearby, looking intently at the soldiers. He felt sorry because he would no longer see them in the upland camp. Then came the time for the train to start. The signals were given and a green lamp was shown to the guard, giving all clear sign. The train started:

Dull porters watched them, and a casual tramp
Stood staring hard,
Sorry to miss them from the upland camp.
Then, unmoved, signals nodded, and a lamp
Winked to the guard.”

Thus the soldiers were sent to the battle-field in the darkness of the evening. There was none to give them a hearty send-off. They departed rather secretly. None knew where they were sent. Even the soldiers themselves were unaware of their destination. The whole thing was kept secret for the purpose of security (!) The soldiers were sent as secretly as sinful acts are hushed up:

“So secretly, like wrongs hushed-up, they went.
They were not ours:
We never heard to which front these were sent.”

The secret dispatch of the soldiers is compared to the suppression or concealment of evil deeds. The soldiers did not belong to the regiment or unit to which the poet belonged. So he says: “They were not ours.” Some women presented them with garlands of white flowers as tokens of love and good wishes. But these tender sentiments had no significance to the soldiers who were going to die. To them it was a mere routine-work to receive flowers from women before going to fight. So the poet wonders if the soldiers mocked at the love of the women who gave them flowers.

The train carried a number of soldiers. But when the war is over, very few will come back. Most of the soldiers will be killed in the battle-field and very few will survive. So the train will not be crowded with soldiers, who will be mad with joy for their home coming. There will be no ringing of bells, nor there beatings of drums or shouts of joy to welcome the few survivors. The poet repeats the word “few” in order to emphasize the fact that the number of soldiers who will come back home will be very few. They will come back slowly and silently. Their minds are now filled with horrors of war. They are crippled, both in body and mind. They have almost forgotten the roads in their native village. They move along. “half-known roads” and creep back to their village homes:

A few, a few, too few for drums and yells,
May creep back, silent, to still village wells
Up half-known roads.”
Owen’s The Send-off ”, traditional in form, is a passionate   expression      of   outrage   at the horrors  of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is suffused with the horror of battle, and yet finely structured and innovative. Owen’s use of half-rhyme which  pairing words which do not quite rhyme, gives his poetry a dissonant, disturbing quality that amplifies his themes. 

Four key points in Wilfred Owen's poem "The Send-off" that make it an anti-war poem:

  • 👀The poem describes the soldiers as being "grimly gay", suggesting that they are aware of the danger they are facing but are trying to put on a brave face.
  • 👀The poem uses religious imagery, such as the reference to crucified Jesus, to suggest that war is a destructive and dehumanizing Satanic force.
  • 👀The poem ends with the line "Shall they return to beatings of great bells/ In wild trainloads?", which is a powerful indictment of the senseless slaughter of war which will reduce the number of returnee.
  • 👀The poem's overall tone is one of sadness, regret, and despair, which reflects Owen's own view of war as a pointless and destructive enterprise.
Ardhendu De

References

The war poems of Wilfred Owen : Owen, Wilfred, 1893-1918 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/warpoemsofwilfre0000owen

The Poems of Wilfred Owen (edited by Jon Stallworthy) (book) : Wilfred Owen : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/wilfredowen_a


Rereading of Chinua Achebe through Nigerian Sociopolitical and Cultural Aspects



African colonization by European settlers and the aftermath has wide, descriptive and analytical coverage in Chinua Achebe’s novels. Particularly there is an avid examination on the Nigerian sociopolitical and cultural aspects. More specifically, Achebe’s novels depict Igbo tribes either in south-East Nigeria or elsewhere in the world dating from pre-colonial era to the present. His novels cover the timeline of Nigerian history and like a prophet his writings are visionary of long desired Nigerian peace and prosperity. Reading thorough his novels it can also be determined how women is such a vital studies for lasting peace and prosperity in Nigeria. This research paper will interrogate, compare and contrast women’s different roles as they relate to Chinua Achebe’s fictionalization of female characters. It will examine women's roles in this fast changing tribal society as seen in Achebe’s novels illustrating specific examples from the same. Women in tribal societies were often forced to undergo several changes and these changes can be well traced in Achebe’s novels. The complex individual, social and tribal-political relations in pre-colonial and post- colonial Nigeria can be seen in the same. It will provide not merely the context for the search for Igbo women identity, but also to a large extent determine its intellectual conclusions. This paper will examine the societal disallowance to women. It will cover the journey of women from Igbo to Igbo Christianity and subsequent impact on it. In this regard it requires a logical argument for the historical journey of multicultural Igbo women through Nigerian society and researching cultural aspects of them in Achebe’s novels. It needs a thorough search for a more general understanding of issues of tribal womanhood.

English Teaching Objectives for the First Language (L1) and Second Language (L2): General Concept of Text Book


Even though the English teaching objectives for the L1and L2 groups are different, the gap is narrowing fast. And in the first quarter of 21st century any book, intended for the students of vernacular in Indian subcontinent, should contain passages for the study of English as First language (L1) as well as Second language (L2) in no water tight compartment. While compiling any anthology   a number of tentative teaching objectives and selective pieces that might be used in realizing them are need to be meticulously chosen.

There were complaints that for several years a number of students who are considered at risk of educational failure because of limited English proficiency have been finishing school with but little command of English. This confirms in the general finding, arrived at through an analysis of the students performance in the  examinations, that by far the largest majority- of the L2 group need a great deal more practice in comprehending and writing simple English than hitherto given or practiced. They need more practical and tactical text to deal with the problems. But much as we should like to take advantage of the modern methodology of teaching English as a Second or Foreign language, we cannot ignore the fact that the use of English literature as a means, if not the sole means, of mastering the language is firmly established in this region. Here we can follow this guidance while providing best anthology to the students. Truly thus, most educators consider programs in English as a Second Language (ESL) to be neither remedial, developmental, nor special education but a separate category of educational support. 

Avoid Individual Preferences: Educators have to attempt a curriculum devoid of personal preferences. While selecting appropriate texts and   a balanced and purposeful design in the syllabus must be considered. The texts, both in Class X or + 2 either in L1 and L2, have to be selected after a careful consideration of the objectives stated in the syllabus. Indeed, the passages for   the L1 group can be literary; those for the L2 group are by and large so. Text be can be also provided with some additional materials so that the anthology may offer scope for future changes in the module of the study for  serious and inquisitive students, if they choose to do so may also benefit from the extra reading materials.

A Right Combination: Generally the answers offered for the exams show that most of those who go in for English as their L1 have a fairly good command of the language. Therefore, it is considered appropriate that the difficulty level of the literature they are to study measures up to the standard expected of one study in the literature in one’s mother tongue at this stage. In addition to the passages to be prescribed from their text book, they will be required to study standard works of literature written in different centuries. The final examinations will require them to interpret literature in accordance with their cognitive maturity.

For the L2 group what are now to be prescribed are not just relatively easy literary passages but, more importantly language work on them. The L2 can be said a taunting task because at the post + 2 stage in graduation they have to equal the entry level with L1. Thus, at this point it may be urged to the concerned with preparing this group for the exams to note that questions will be so set as to discourage memorized answers. So the students must be taught to write answers themselves rather than be given prepared answers to memorize.

The questions set on the passages from the text will require for the L2 group to show a thorough acquaintance with the passages concerned. For the purposes of examination no passage, or part thereof, will be considered more or less important than the rest. No unfair demand will be made of the examinees. Those who follow the course in all its components may expect to get good marks and also lead to maturity.

Different Components: The weightage on the different components of the course will be so distributed as to reward every bit of learning that the student achieves. In measuring comprehension, for example, maximum credit will be given for the examinees’ understanding of the given passage, while his power of precise expression in correct English will be measured by a number of different questions.  The passages for comprehension test will be unseen which will be a sum of theirs vocabulary content, for though comprehension is of considerable value in life, such comprehension can be measured only by confronting the examinees with reading materials that he has not seen before.   English newspapers and other appropriate sources can be alternative texts for them.

 For both L1 and L2 some phoneme transcription (stressed) can be introduced as a beginning of the teaching of pronunciation with the original intentions that the educators   will   teach this part and demonstrate in class how words like these are correctly stressed and pronounced in speech. The transcription   can be included for the guidance of the teachers and enthusiast students also.

Since, as has been already noted, success with the text materials presented in any ideal text book will considerably depend on how effectively the learner grapples with the other parts of the course. Reading Writing speaking   are the specialized skills which is not difficult to impart to the thousands of students if we have ideal text book and motivated texts.

An ideal text is an on-going process. Unfortunately in India neither the text books nor the syllabuses of which they form part can be revised as often as they are in richer countries, but the more innovations are on the way. Finally, it can be said that the ideal English text must be constructed keeping in view the cognitive level of the students, the infrastructural inadequacies of school plant resources, as well as the nationally accepted objectives of teaching English at the class X and +2 stage.

Cleopatra: Complex Inscrutable, Indefinable Heroine


Shakespeare's Cleopatra embodies mystery. Shakespeare chose to keep her feminine mystique inexplicable. She is, in turn, vain, sensual, violent, cruel, bawdy, cowardly, beautiful, witty, vital, and intelligent, a strumpet, a gipsy, lass unparalleled, a triumphant lady, royal wench, a great fairy, a rare Egyptian. She is all these and more – a source of Perini fascination.

 She grows, starting as a courtesan-cum-enchantress. She presses her love through dramatizing (playacting) and dialogue. But inwardly she ultimately proves to be vulnerable. Her love for Antong intensifies into something more than sexual passion (her playacting in outwitting the astute Caesar).

H. Granville Barker, in Preface to Shakespeare second section, comments, “This is the Woman herself, quick, jealous, imperious, mischievous, malicious, flagrant, subtle; but delicate creature too, and the light, glib verse seems to set her on tiptoe”.

 Cleopatra is an enchanting sorceress. It is ambiguous if she really betrayed Antony at Actium. Does she love Antony? Shakespeare uses a retrospective, flashback method for the answer. The infinite variety precludes easy judgment. Plutarch disliked her, portraying her in unflattering light. Her violence towards the messenger indicates frustration and insecurity in love (Elizabeth temper?).

 Isis was represented as a cow where there is no physical fear Cleopatra shows courage. She can Egyptiamize even the high Roman fashion, transforming death into a sensuous pleasure. Shakespeare intensifies her in the final senses. Here poetry makes up for politics, lyricism files over materialism and love transcends power. The compassion and passion in her bridal outfit implies that she is one her way to facilitate her reunion with Antony in the Kingdom beyond death, in the realm of the blest, “Where souls do couch on flowers”. Cleopatra will remain Cleopatra. Shakespeare’s use of the word “bliss” (1/3/35-8) suggests the quasi-divine nature of their love which will blossom again in Elysium.

 Cleopatra is the female counterpart of Hamlet. She is Shakespeare’s greatest female character embodying the supremacy of imagination over reason, of spirituality over maternity.

Ardhendu De

George Orwell’s ‘‘Animal Farm’’ is the most Effective Political Satire



George Orwell’s ‘‘Animal Farm’’ is   an animal fable to present the evils of soviet political methods. The novel is a systematic satire on the Soviet Union during the Stalin Era. It is the mocking voice of a socialist at the expense of Soviet experience. It is a telling satire on the Stalinist period of Russian History. It is also a warning of what seems to Orwell the inevitable lot of mankind, in the certain conditions and ultimate object of power-seekers and demagogues of any country. Read More Novel It is a protest against totalitarianism. It is a satire upon dictatorship. It seems to be a socialist mockery. It tells the fate of all type of revolutions. It deals with the various virtues and ices of man. Modeled on a relatively simple premise, the novel begins as the animals of Manor Farm unite against farmer Jones to overthrow his tyrannical rule. Understandably ecstatic over their sudden and rather unexpected good fortune, the animals create a new order for the future based on equality and equity. The novel contains lucidity and simplicity of language. Its accurate language has led to clarity and effectiveness. Its style is candid and correct. It is fresh and appealing. It has sufficiency, exactness and accuracy. Read More Novel The novelist is careful in the choice of words and phrases. The paint is hardly dry on their barnyard manifesto, however, when the hated forces and attitudes that triggered their revolt begin to reemerge, eventually to destroy their dream of emancipation. Orwell undoubtedly passes judgement on the fate of revolution by comparing ideological promises with their practical application.  

John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi: Analysing the Faults of Duchess



 "Ambition, madam, is a great man's madness."-
 John Webster (1578? - 1632?)

There was a group of dramatists writing plays for the London theater manager Philip Henslowe. The group included many gifted playwrights, among them Thomas Dekker, John Marston, and Thomas Heywood, with each of whom Webster collaborated occasionally. John Webster 's genius as a writer was first fully revealed in his great tragedies The White Devil, produced in 1612, and The Duchess of Malfi, staged about 1614. Both plays depict a world of extravagant passions, dark intrigue, and fratricidal violence. Both plays ensured Webster's long-lasting critical acclaim and both are still produced. Despite their melodramatic themes, Webster's plays are redeemed by his soaring poetic dialogue and his grasp of human psychology.

Clara, the Osu, Caught in Taboo Igbo Cultural Traditions in No Longer at Ease


Chinua Achebe’s second novel No Longer At Ease, which is a study of post independent Nigeria and its expectations and failures, however, reveals Achebe’s increasing preoccupation with women studies. The heroine of the story, Clara’s position in the story is not luminary or peripheral. Her story is intricately interwoven into Obi Okonkwo’s experience and a relatively positive strength of character is revealed in her. One observes some measure of self-esteem, which is a preamble to self-definition in Clara who is an osu. Achebe also consider Igbo cultural traditions that make some groups of people, or some individuals, "taboo" because it's forbidden in Igbo culture to marry an osu, since the osu class is dedicated to a particular god because of religious, cultural, socioeconomic, racial, or other reasons. Now the question raised if is it a necessary part of human social systems or is it always wrong?

The reality that has been dealt in Achebe’s story is that Clara and her family is taboo. If Obi who is a British graduate marries her and has children, what will happen to those children, socially and culturally? Obi may feel that the time is ripe to end certain cultural customs, but he has failed to understand how some traditions are so important to people that they cannot change overnight. Clara is a practical girl, not to mention smart and hard working. Though she is Igbo, she is educated in the Western tradition and lives a modern lifestyle. Clara was right when she first told Obi that he didn't really love her and she would regret giving in to his flattery. Soon we discover she has a secret. Her secret is culturally specific – something only another Igbo would care about. She is an osu, part of a social caste forbidden to marry because one of her ancestors was dedicated to a god. They are considered taboo. As Isaac points out, marrying her would be like marrying a leper. Once Clara admits this to Obi, she tries to break up with him. She says it's not fair to keep the relationship going; she doesn't want to come between Obi and his family.

 Clara knows that Obi's parents will never accept her as a daughter-in-law, even though they are Christians and should, theoretically, disagree with a tradition like this. However, Clara seems to lack the disdain Obi has for traditional culture. Every fault Obi has, Clara counter-balances.  Clara's parents are Christians, too, but that hasn't changed their status as osus or the fact that they are outcasts, even in the church. Clara keeps trying to break up with Obi because of this fact, and Obi keeps stubbornly refusing to be broken up with, the relationship's demise is clear, at least to her. Clara understands what Obi isn't saying – that his parents will never accept their relationship. She breaks up with him. It was, however, discovered that she's pregnant. At the abortion doctor's office, the doctor asks Obi why he doesn't marry Clara. She's just sorry, in the end, that she didn't do something about it before she ended up pregnant. That is what makes her bitter. Clara says she has no interest in marrying Obi. Clara's abortion turns septic and she is hospitalized. Though Clara was educated in England, and probably wonders about the justice of her taboo status, she never voices those thoughts aloud. Instead, it's clear that she understands how deeply these traditions run. Clara sees the end is near. Achebe’s account of Clara makes a penchant voice against such practices of osu but at the same time trough deep contemplative moods.

On the other hand, No Longer At Ease, Achebe shows how in corrupt Nigeria women offer their bodies, in return for favors and services. It is evident in scholarship interview where a girl offers her body to earn the scholarship. 

 Ardhendu De


Arthur, Gakwandi, Shatto. Novel and Contemporary Experience in Africa. Holmes & Meier Publishers Inc, 1981.
E. Modupe Kolawole, Mary. “Mutiple Inscriptions and the Location of Women in China Achebe’s Novel”. Chinua Achebe An Anthology of Recent Criticism. Ed. Mala Pandurang, Pencraft International, Delhi, 2010.
Sircar, Rupali. “Masculinity, Femininity and Androgyny: Igbo Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”. Chinua Achebe An Anthology of Recent Criticism. Ed. Mala Pandurang, Pencraft International, Delhi, 2010.
Pandurang,   Mala. “Chinua Achebe and the ‘African Experience’: A Socio-Literary Perspective”. Chinua Achebe An Anthology of Recent Criticism. Ed. Mala Pandurang, Pencraft International, Delhi, 2010.
Booth,   James. Writers and Politics in Nigeria. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1981.

Buy My Books

Buy My Books
Objective Questions from English Literature

Recent Posts