Literature Syllabus:
Interpretation of Literary Forms
i) Poetry – (Sonnet, Ode, Elegy, Ballad, Lyric, Dramatic Monologue, Meter,
Diction, Imagery, Prosody).
Ex:- William Wordsworth ( 1. Anecdote for Fathers
2. A Spring Morning.
Alfred Tennyson ( 1. Home they brought their Warrior
Dead)
ii) Prose - (a) Drama (In terms of Structure, Characters, Dialogues, Setting).
Ex:- W. Shakesphere (1. Macbeth)
T.S. Eliot (1. Murder in the Cathedral)
(b) Novel (Fiction , Point of View, Setting, Style, Narration).
Ex:- Oscar Wilde (1. The Nightingale and the Rose)
Stepin Leacock (1. How to Live to be 200)
ANECDOTE FOR FATHERS – William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798).
Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge".[1] Wordsworth was Britain's poet laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850.[2]
"Anecdote For Fathers" is a fifteen stanza poem with four lines in each. The poem is rhymed as ABAB and is written in iambic-tetrameter and triambic-biameter.
Analysis
"Anecdote For Fathers" is a poem written by William Wordsworth. This poem is somewhat funny but also heartwarming. The poem is a story about a boy of five years walking along his farm with his father and talking. The father is at first daydreaming, but then changes his attention to his boy. He asks him, would you rather be here or at the shore? The boy thinks about it for a while, but then says he would rather be on the shore because there isn't a weather-cock there.
ANECDOTE FOR FATHERS – William Wordsworth
(title suggests maybe there is something fathers can learn)
I have a boy of five years old; His face is fair and fresh to see; (fair and fresh – alliteration) His limbs are cast in beauty’s mold And dearly he loves me. (It immediately opens in a touching and sentimental manner; The simpleness in these lines is immediately apparent. The form and structure of the piece, the light and jovial use of rhyme easily conveys the emotion of gentle and honest love; rhyme scheme abab; colloquial, simple language) One morn we strolled on our dry walk, (morn – colloquial, simple language) Or quiet home all full in view, And held such intermitted talk As we are wont to do. (he mentions the "dry walk" and the fact that his house is coming into view, which not only sets the scene but is of significance later in the poem. The subtitle for the poem "showing how the art of lying may be taught" starts to become significant in the next verse which is to become one of the main talking points in the poem)
My thoughts on former pleasures ran; I thought of Kilve's delightful shore, (old house) Our pleasant home when spring began, A long, long year before. A day it was when I could bear To think, and think, and think again; With so much happiness to spare, I could not feel a pain. (liked his new house, no pain on leaving his old house) My boy was by my side, so slim
And graceful in his rustic dress!
And oftentimes I talked to him
In very idleness. (unoccupied)
The young lambs ran a pretty race;
The morning sun shone bright and warm;
“Kilve,” said I, was a pleasant place,
And so is Liswyn farm.” (The clear yet detailed description gives the reader a good idea about the setting. According to Wordsworth, a poet is a reflective man who recollects his emotion in tranquility.)
“My little boy, which like you more,”
I said and took him by the arm—
“Our home by Kilve’s delightful shore,
Or here at Liswyn farm?” (Repetition from previous stanza)
“And tell me, had you rather be,”
I said and held-him by the arm, (Repetition from previous stanza)
“At Kilve’s smooth shore by the green sea,
Or here at Liswyn farm?” (Repetition from previous stanza)
In careless mood he looked at me, While still I held him by the arm, And said, "At Kilve I'd rather be Than here at Liswyn farm." (Repetition from previous stanza) "Now, little Edward, say why so: (The reaction to this which the father gives could be taken for one of mild surprise and even gentle hurt) My little Edward, tell me why;" "I cannot tell, I do not know." (innocence, simplicity – no reasoning, no materialism) "Why, this is strange," said I. "For, here are woods, hills smooth and warm: There surely must some reason be Why you would change sweet Liswyn farm For Kilve by the green sea." At this, my boy hung down his head, He blush’d with shame, nor made reply; (being overpowered by adult dominance – feeling shameful that his response does not match the adult’s response; There is a conflict in the poem as to where the boy wanted to live versus where the father wanted to.) And five times to the child I said, "Why, Edward, tell me why?" His head he raised---there was in sight, It caught his eye, he saw it plain--- Upon the house-top, glittering bright, A broad and gilded vane. Then did the boy his tongue unlock,
And thus to me he made reply; "At Kilve there was no weather-cock; (innocence;first thing to catch his eye) And that's the reason why." (It is upon these lines that we realise the boy didn't want to hurt his father's feelings by expressing the real reason he prefers his old home, instead he lies in order to protect his father's feelings. Though it is to last stanza which the real wisdom is to be found in the poem aside of intimate moments between the boy and his father.)
O dearest, dearest boy! my heart For better lore would seldom yearn, (knowledge on particular subject enhanced by legends) Could I but teach the hundredth part Of what from thee I learn. (Here we have the father realizing too that his boy has lied in order to protect his feelings and the father is as touched as we are. He then muses on the wisdom to be found in the innocence and natural wonder of youth. His boy is but five years of age though is able to teach him a great deal about humanity.)
Lessons learnt: how he was forcing his son to accept his choice by asking him reasons; how he ignored his son’s innocence and simplicity; attempted to make him materialistic
Theme: how we are ignoring the importance of nature and teaching the next generation the same; reference to Ode to Immortality – child’s related to celestial light (with ref to nature)
Background Notes
"Anecdote for Fathers" taken from Wordsworth's hugely influential "Lyrical Ballads" is a touching rendition of the relationship between father and son. It is a beautiful, simple and uplifting poem representative of the style used throughout Wordsworth's famous collection of poems first published in 1798.
This poem is a true representation of the type of poems to be found in the "Lyrical Ballads" both in subject theme and in the simplistic nature of its construction. The poem features at its heart a conversation from father to son during a walk one day in the glorious Lake District. It immediately opens in a touching and sentimental manner.
Above all "Anecdote for Father's" despite its simplistic tone, or indeed because of its simple, child-like construction, is able to convey to the reader a heartfelt moment in the relationship between parent and child. Wordsworth therefore helps to remind us of those little precious moments in our lives by allowing us a brief glimpse into his world, which he captures so effortlessly in this delicate but enduring poem. The poem was written in colloquial like language very clear and easy to comprehend, that shows William’s desire for the public to understand this poem and also highlights the element of reality.
It does have some integral reflection on Wordsworth's attitudes to the relationships between parents and children, and the importance of not imposing rational thought on children. The fact that it's subheaded with something like 'showing how the practice of lying may be taught' just shows how adults corrupt children by forcing them to conform to logic and reason instead of accepting them as they are.
Structure – Consistent metric sequence. Metric refers to the recurrence of regular beats in a line. Iambic octameter- 8syllables; iambic hexameter – 6 syllables; in a stanza 8886 syllables – establishes rhythm
Link to Romantics
In the wider scheme of things it shows how the Romantic writers were keen on expressing the power of innocence, partly as a reaction against what they saw as the repressive nature of the Industrial Revolution, as well as the power of individuality over conformity. Adults' learning from the innocence of the child is something which is found throughout the Romantic poets, but especially in Wordsworth and Blake. The child can also be taken as a symbolic representation of hope, hope in what must have been seen as a troubling time for lovers of the natural world and the old ways of living.
The age of Romanticism is characterized by the need for emotions and communication of feelings. The period emphasizes sentimentality and passion, the use of imagination, and creativeness. There is sympathy towards the environment and towards the person being more nature-involved.
In his "Anecdote for Fathers", Wordsworth portrays the characteristics of Romanticism. He strongly asserted feeling into his writing which keeping it serene. " This description of the setting is vivid and depicts the real image.
He glorifies beauty and the importance of nature. Romanticism placed a large emphasis on a person's individuality; man was thought to be good-natured. These expressions represent the mind-set of Romanticism. Both locations, Kilve and the Liswyn farm, are illustrated to be picturesque. The poem itself describes the point of view of a father who has been strongly influenced by his child's thoughts.
A Spring Morning
Words Worth
“Resolution and Independence,” known in manuscript as “The Leech Gatherer,” is a poem of 140 lines divided into twenty stanzas. The published title suggests the thematic moral learned by the speaker from an encounter with the leech gatherer, who supplies the manuscript title.
The poem is written in the first person, the speaker probably being the poet himself (when he was about to be married), who describes a strange experience he had one spring morning when he met an old man while walking across an English moor. The first two stanzas set the scene of an animated landscape filled with sounds of birds and rushing water, sights of bright sunshine reflected from wet grass, and a rabbit kicking up a mist as it runs away.
MACBETH
-William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (/ˈʃeɪkspɪər/; 26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.[2][3][4] He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".[5][b] His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays,[c] 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[7]
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Some time between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 around 1613, he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, which has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.[8][9][10] These speculations are often criticized for failing to point out the fact that few records survive of most commoners of his period.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.[11][12][d] His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language.[2][3][4] In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623 John Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.[13] It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as "not of an age, but for all time".[13]
In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
Macbeth- Key Facts
full title · The Tragedy of Macbeth
author · William Shakespeare
type of work · Play
genre · Tragedy
language · English
time and place written · 1606, England
date of first publication · First Folio edition, 1623
publisher · John Heminges and Henry Condell, two senior members of Shakespeare’s theatrical company
tone · Dark and ominous, suggestive of a world turned topsy-turvy by foul and unnatural crimes
tense · Not applicable (drama)
setting (time) · The Middle Ages, specifically the eleventh century
setting (place) · Various locations in Scotland; also England, briefly
protagonist · Macbeth
major conflicts · The struggle within Macbeth between his ambition and his sense of right and wrong; the struggle between the murderous evil represented by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and the best interests of the nation, represented by Malcolm and Macduff
rising action · Macbeth and Banquo’s encounter with the witches initiates both conflicts; Lady Macbeth’s speeches goad Macbeth into murdering Duncan and seizing the crown.
climax · Macbeth’s murder of Duncan in Act 2 represents the point of no return, after which Macbeth is forced to continue butchering his subjects to avoid the consequences of his crime.
falling action · Macbeth’s increasingly brutal murders (of Duncan’s servants, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her son); Macbeth’s second meeting with the witches; Macbeth’s final confrontation with Macduff and the opposing armies
themes · The corrupting nature of unchecked ambition; the relationship between cruelty and masculinity; the difference between kingship and tyranny
motifs · The supernatural, hallucinations, violence, prophecy
symbols · Blood; the dagger that Macbeth sees just before he kills Duncan in Act 2; the weather
foreshadowing · The bloody battle in Act 1 foreshadows the bloody murders later on; when Macbeth thinks he hears a voice while killing Duncan, it foreshadows the insomnia that plagues Macbeth and his wife; Macduff’s suspicions of Macbeth after Duncan’s murder foreshadow his later opposition to Macbeth; all of the witches’ prophecies foreshadow later events.
Context
The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeare’s death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson hailed his works as timeless.
Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about Shakespeare’s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people have concluded from this fact and from Shakespeare’s modest education that Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by someone else—Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular candidates—but the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars.
In the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of the thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeare’s plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and culture ever after.
Shakespeare’s shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general (Macbeth) who receives a prophecy from a trio of sinister witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed with ambitious thoughts and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for himself. He begins his reign racked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a tyrannical ruler, as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath swiftly propels Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to arrogance, madness, and death.
Macbeth was most likely written in 1606, early in the reign of James I, who had been James VI of Scotland before he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. James was a patron of Shakespeare’s acting company, and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote under James’s reign, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright’s close relationship with the sovereign. In focusing on Macbeth, a figure from Scottish history, Shakespeare paid homage to his king’s Scottish lineage. Additionally, the witches’ prophecy that Banquo will found a line of kings is a clear nod to James’s family’s claim to have descended from the historical Banquo. In a larger sense, the theme of bad versus good kingship, embodied by Macbeth and Duncan, respectively, would have resonated at the royal court, where James was busy developing his English version of the theory of divine right.
Macbeth is not Shakespeare’s most complex play, but it is certainly one of his most powerful and emotionally intense. Whereas Shakespeare’s other major tragedies, such as Hamlet and Othello, fastidiously explore the intellectual predicaments faced by their subjects and the fine nuances of their subjects’ characters, Macbeth tumbles madly from its opening to its conclusion. It is a sharp, jagged sketch of theme and character; as such, it has shocked and fascinated audiences for nearly four hundred years.
Plot-Summary:
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.
Macbeth - Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis who is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned King of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Ultimately, Macbeth proves himself better suited to the battlefield than to political intrigue, because he lacks the skills necessary to rule without being a tyrant. His response to every problem is violence and murder. Unlike Shakespeare’s great villains, such as Iago in Othello and Richard III in Richard III, Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He is unable to bear the psychological consequences of his atrocities.
Lady Macbeth - Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide. Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being deeply in love, and many of Lady Macbeth’s speeches imply that her influence over her husband is primarily sexual. Their joint alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, seems to strengthen the attachment that they feel to each another.
The Three Witches - Three “black and midnight hags” who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches’ true identity unclear—aside from the fact that they are servants of Hecate, we know little about their place in the cosmos. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings.
Banquo - The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’ prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo’s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo’s ghost—and not Duncan’s—that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying Macbeth’s guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he did not emulate Banquo’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy.
King Duncan - The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.
Macduff - A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth’s murder of Macduff’s wife and young son.
Malcolm - The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland’s return to order following Macbeth’s reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder.
Hecate - The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth.
Fleance - Banquo’s son, who survives Macbeth’s attempt to murder him. At the end of the play, Fleance’s whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to rule Scotland, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s sons will sit on the Scottish throne.
Lennox - A Scottish nobleman.
Ross - A Scottish nobleman.
The Murderers - A group of ruffians conscripted by Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance (whom they fail to kill), and Macduff’s wife and children.
Porter - The drunken doorman of Macbeth’s castle.
Lady Macduff - Macduff’s wife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness.
Donalbain - Duncan’s son and Malcolm’s younger brother.
Important Quotations Explained
(Dialogue)
1.
The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry ‘Hold, hold!’
Lady Macbeth speaks these words in Act 1, scene 5, lines 36–52, as she awaits the arrival of King Duncan at her castle. We have previously seen Macbeth’s uncertainty about whether he should take the crown by killing Duncan. In this speech, there is no such confusion, as Lady Macbeth is clearly willing to do whatever is necessary to seize the throne. Her strength of purpose is contrasted with her husband’s tendency to waver. This speech shows the audience that Lady Macbeth is the real steel behind Macbeth and that her ambition will be strong enough to drive her husband forward. At the same time, the language of this speech touches on the theme of masculinity— “unsex me here / . . . / . . . Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall,” Lady Macbeth says as she prepares herself to commit murder. The language suggests that her womanhood, represented by breasts and milk, usually symbols of nurture, impedes her from performing acts of violence and cruelty, which she associates with manliness. Later, this sense of the relationship between masculinity and violence will be deepened when Macbeth is unwilling to go through with the murders and his wife tells him, in effect, that he needs to “be a man” and get on with it.
2.
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly. If th’assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success: that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all, here, But here upon this bank and shoal of time, We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgement here, that we but teach Bloody instructions which, being taught, return To plague th’inventor. This even-handed justice Commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice To our own lips. He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued against The deep damnation of his taking-off, And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’other.
In this soliloquy, which is found in Act 1, scene 7, lines 1–28, Macbeth debates whether he should kill Duncan. When he lists Duncan’s noble qualities (he “[h]ath borne his faculties so meek”) and the loyalty that he feels toward his king (“I am his kinsman and his subject”), we are reminded of just how grave an outrage it is for the couple to slaughter their ruler while he is a guest in their house. At the same time, Macbeth’s fear that “[w]e still have judgement here, that we but teach / Bloody instructions which, being taught, return / To plague th’inventor,” foreshadows the way that his deeds will eventually come back to haunt him. The imagery in this speech is dark—we hear of “bloody instructions,” “deep damnation,” and a “poisoned chalice”—and suggests that Macbeth is aware of how the murder would open the door to a dark and sinful world. At the same time, he admits that his only reason for committing murder, “ambition,” suddenly seems an insufficient justification for the act. The destruction that comes from unchecked ambition will continue to be explored as one of the play’s themes. As the soliloquy ends, Macbeth seems to resolve not to kill Duncan, but this resolve will only last until his wife returns and once again convinces him, by the strength of her will, to go ahead with their plot.
3.
Whence is that knocking?— How is’t with me, when every noise appals me? What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.
Macbeth says this in Act 2, scene 2, lines 55–61. He has just murdered Duncan, and the crime was accompanied by supernatural portents. Now he hears a mysterious knocking on his gate, which seems to promise doom. (In fact, the person knocking is Macduff, who will indeed eventually destroy Macbeth.) The enormity of Macbeth’s crime has awakened in him a powerful sense of guilt that will hound him throughout the play. Blood, specifically Duncan’s blood, serves as the symbol of that guilt, and Macbeth’s sense that “all great Neptune’s ocean” cannot cleanse him—that there is enough blood on his hands to turn the entire sea red—will stay with him until his death. Lady Macbeth’s response to this speech will be her prosaic remark, “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.65). By the end of the play, however, she will share Macbeth’s sense that Duncan’s murder has irreparably stained them with blood.
4.
Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,—why, then ’tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?
These words are spoken by Lady Macbeth in Act 5, scene 1, lines 30–34, as she sleepwalks through Macbeth’s castle on the eve of his battle against Macduff and Malcolm. Earlier in the play, she possessed a stronger resolve and sense of purpose than her husband and was the driving force behind their plot to kill Duncan. When Macbeth believed his hand was irreversibly bloodstained earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth had told him, “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.65). Now, however, she too sees blood. She is completely undone by guilt and descends into madness. It may be a reflection of her mental and emotional state that she is not speaking in verse; this is one of the few moments in the play when a major character—save for the witches, who speak in four-foot couplets—strays from iambic pentameter. Her inability to sleep was foreshadowed in the voice that her husband thought he heard while killing the king—a voice crying out that Macbeth was murdering sleep. And her delusion that there is a bloodstain on her hand furthers the play’s use of blood as a symbol of guilt. “What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account?” she asks, asserting that as long as her and her husband’s power is secure, the murders they committed cannot harm them. But her guilt-racked state and her mounting madness show how hollow her words are. So, too, does the army outside her castle. “Hell is murky,” she says, implying that she already knows that darkness intimately. The pair, in their destructive power, have created their own hell, where they are tormented by guilt and insanity.
5.
She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
These words are uttered by Macbeth after he hears of Lady Macbeth’s death, in Act 5, scene 5, lines 16–27. Given the great love between them, his response is oddly muted, but it segues quickly into a speech of such pessimism and despair—one of the most famous speeches in all of Shakespeare—that the audience realizes how completely his wife’s passing and the ruin of his power have undone Macbeth. His speech insists that there is no meaning or purpose in life. Rather, life “is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” One can easily understand how, with his wife dead and armies marching against him, Macbeth succumbs to such pessimism. Yet, there is also a defensive and self-justifying quality to his words. If everything is meaningless, then Macbeth’s awful crimes are somehow made less awful, because, like everything else, they too “signify nothing.”
Macbeth’s statement that “[l]ife’s but a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage” can be read as Shakespeare’s somewhat deflating reminder of the illusionary nature of the theater. After all, Macbeth is only a “player” himself, strutting on an Elizabethan stage. In any play, there is a conspiracy of sorts between the audience and the actors, as both pretend to accept the play’s reality. Macbeth’s comment calls attention to this conspiracy and partially explodes it—his nihilism embraces not only his own life but the entire play. If we take his words to heart, the play, too, can be seen as an event “full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.”
MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL
T.S.Eliot
T.S. ELIOT
Thomas Sterns Eliot is considered one of the most controversial and influential literary personalities of the twentieth century. Eliot was born to a wealthy and respectable family of merchants in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 26, 1888. His grandfather, the Reverend William Greenleaf Eliot, established the first Unitarian Church in St. Louis. He was also a founder of Washington University and became its Chancellor in 1872. T.S. Eliot's father, Henry W. Eliot, was the president of the Hydraulic Press Brick Company. Eliot's mother was a woman of intellectual and literary interests. It is not surprising that Eliot's youth was filled with education, religion, and family closeness.
Eliot entered Harvard University in 1906 and graduated in three years. He received his Master's Degree in his fourth year at Harvard. While in school, he began his literary career by writing poems for the undergraduate literary magazine, "The Harvard Advocate." He also became the editor of the publication. During his undergraduate years, Eliot was deeply interested in literature, religion, and philosophy; he read extensively, especially the literature of the French poets. After graduation, he continued his study of philosophy and French literature. He attended the Sorbonne in Paris and Oxford in England. Although he wrote a dissertation for his Ph.D., he never received the degree.
After completing his studies, Eliot began to write. His first efforts were largely poetic. His early volumes of poetry include "Prufrock and Other Observations" (1917) and "Power" (1919). He started his own magazine, "The Criterion," which was published in London. His famous poem, " The Waste Land" first appeared in this magazine. Written in postwar disillusionment, "The Waste Land" portrayed Eliot's beginning search for his own religious faith. In 1925, he published another volume of poems entitled "The Hollow Man." In 1927, Eliot declared that he was a Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature, and a monarchist in politics.
From 1930 until 1960, Eliot produced a variety of literature. He produced two major poems, "Ash Wednesday" (1930) and "Four Quartets" (1943). The latter one is considered as his masterpiece. His "Selected Essays" was published in 1932. In 1934, he wrote "The Rock" and in 1935, he wrote "Murder in the Cathedral"; both are religious dramas. "The Family Reunion" (1939), "The Cocktail Party" (1959), "The Confidential Clerk" (1955) and "The Elder Statesman" (1959) are his other well-known plays. His essays like "Tradition and Individual Talent" brought him repute as a literary critic.
In 1927, T.S. Eliot became a British citizen. In 1932, he was appointed as the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard. In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1965. Today, Eliot is one of the eminent poets of the English language.
CONTEXT
In 1935, T.S. Eliot, famed poet of modernist despair and convert to the Anglican Church, was commissioned to write a play for Kent's annual Canterbury Festival. There were few explicit restrictions on subject matter.
That Eliot chose to dramatize the death of Thomas Becket in his play Murder in the Cathedral was therefore both totally appropriate and somewhat unexpected. Considering that Eliot was such an innovative writer, his decision to tread the familiar ground of Canterbury's death posed an interesting question about what he would bring to the story.
What Eliot created in the play was a mixture of theology and tragedy. The play is set solely around Canterbury in the days after Thomas returned from seven years of exile in France. Though based around historical record, the play eschews psychology and political interpretations in favor of a more serene and spiritual consideration of the sacrifice of martyrdom. Written to be performed in the actual Canterbury Cathedral, the play is sculpted to mirror the experience of a Catholic mass; Eliot even gives the actor playing Thomas a sermon during the Interlude that he would have preached alone at the pulpit.
The play was a great success at the festival, and soon enough opened in London, after which it toured England. Since that time, Murder in the Cathedral has remained Eliot's arguably best known and most produced play. It has spawned several film and theatrical interpretations and remains an important part of the Thomas Becket myth in the Western world.
SUMMARY
Murder in the Cathedral is a fictionalized verse drama of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket written by TS Eliot and first performed in 1935. Written and performed at a time when fascism was on the rise in continental Europe, the play considers the agency of the individual in resisting temporal authoritarianism.
In life, Thomas Becket was a close personal friend and chancellor of Henry II, though he had decided to devote his life to the (Catholic) Church from a relatively young age. During this time Becket enjoyed the earthly pleasure of wealth and influence in the state and even led contingents of knights too fight alongside the king. It was ultimately Henry who suggested that the vacant Archbishopric of Canterbury Cathedral (the highest Church office in England) go to Becket, even though he initially refused. Becket was conscious that were he to become Archbishop the two would likely no-longer be friends, and Henry may even come to hate Becket because the king had been infringing on the rights of the Church, which Becket would not allow. Eventually, despite his protestations Becket was elected to the seat, and as predicted his relationship with the king became strained. After his appointment Becket lived piously, his influence and friends at court ceased to be of importance to him, and he and the king often clashed over the relative powers of the Church and the State. After several other conflicts between the two, the final straw occurred in 1170 wherein Becket excommunicated the Archbishop of York and two other bishops for presiding over the coronation of Henry II’s son, which was the traditional right of Canterbury. Angered by this latest assertion of power Henry condemned Becket. Regardless of the king’s intent, it appeared to those in attendance to be an order for Becket’s death.
Becket had been seeking refuge in France and the counsel of the Pope, but decided to return to England even though it appears from historical accounts that he was both aware of the danger and had predicted his own imminent death. After his return to England, four knights rode to Canterbury Cathedral, hid their weapons outside and demanded that Becket leave with them by order of the king. When he refused, the knights gathered their weapons and returned to the cathedral. They killed Thomas Becket and cut off his head on December 29, 1170. A monk, Edward Grim was in attendance and sustained an injury to his arm attempting to defend Becket. His account of the murder heavily informs Eliot’s version. Becket was canonized just three years after his death and is revered as saint in both the Catholic and Anglican faiths.
The play is in two parts, separated by a short interlude. Following in the traditions of Greek drama, the play begins with the entrance of the chorus, which serves as a narrator of sorts and also passes judgements on the action of the play. Half the chorus is comprised of women, gone to the cathedral for shelter from the growing danger and oppression of the state. The other half of the chorus is made up of priests, who also foreshadow the coming struggle. Although Becket is a good leader, they wish him to remain in France and in safety. However, Becket returns to the Cathedral and bids the women stay and bear witness to the coming events.
Four tempters arrive, each offering Becket a way to save his own life, or glorify his memory at the expense of his true beliefs. The first tempter reminds Becket of the friends that he once had at court, and suggests that if Becket were to be less severe and relax his principles, he might escape his fate; Becket refuses. The second tempter reminds Becket of the power he wielded as chancellor to the king, and that he could wield such power again and no one would oppose him. He says that holiness is only useful for the dead and power is necessary for the living; Becket refuses him as well. The third tempter recommends Becket overthrow the crown, giving the church supremacy over England, and again Becket refuses. The fourth tempter is the most difficult for Becket to resist, because he suggests that Becket continue on his path, and seek the reverence and glory of martyrdom. Becket realizes that allowing himself to be killed for personal glory would be a sin against his faith, and sends the man away. The scene alludes to the three temptations Christ, and also foreshadows the four knights who arrive to kill Becket on the King’s behalf.
In the interlude Becket gives a sermon on Christmas day, ruminating on the inherent conflict of a day devoted both to celebration and lamentation, a conflict that is also applied to martyrs. Becket is aware of his imminent death. The second half of the play is concerned with the murder of Thomas Becket by the four knights who arrive to charge him. They defend their actions, stating that they will not benefit from carrying out the orders of the King, and will instead by exiled. The King himself will mourn the loss, because (as they tell it) he had raised Becket to the Archbishopric in the hopes of united the powers of church and state, and it was Becket who sought supremacy and a martyr’s death for himself. They conclude that his death must be viewed as a suicide and leave, while the chorus mourn.
Key Literary Elements
• Setting • Characters • Conflict • Plot • Themes • Mood • Background Information • Literary/Historical Information
KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
The play is set in two locations, the Cathedral of Canterbury and the Archbishop's hall, as they existed in medieval England. The play opens at the point of Becket's arrival in Canterbury, at Christmas time, after seven years of sojourn in France.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Thomas Becket
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the protagonist of the play. His character is basically drawn from historical sources during the later part of twelfth century. Becket was close to King Henry II, but differences in their attitudes toward power drew them apart.
Henry II
The king who is never presented on stage, but whose invisible presence towers over the entire proceedings of the play. He is omnipresent.
Minor Characters
The Women of Canterbury in the Chorus
They represent the voice of the common person. They sum up the past, bring the situation into the present, and express a lurking fear of Becket's doom, which the audience shares.
The Three Priests
They are genuinely worried about Becket's well being. They hold Becket in great respect and fear for his life.
The Four Tempters
The most important minor characters. They throw sidelights on Becket's character. They fail to tempt him with any of their proposals.
The Four Knights
Reginald Fitz Urse, Sir High de Morville, William de Traci and Richard Brito: they play the role of assassins of Becket, and Reginald Fitz Urse assumes the leader's role among them.
The Messenger
He breaks the news of Becket's arrival back home.
CONFLICT
The conflict exists between the King and the Pope; that is between temporal power and spiritual power. Although the King of England and the Pope never appear on the stage, their forces clash throughout the play.
Protagonist
The protagonist is Thomas Becket, who represents the church and who resists Temptation.
Antagonist
The antagonist is the state (or King Henry II) whose casual remark that the priest should be taken out of his way brings about the death and ultimate martyrdom of Thomas Becket.
Climax
In the course of the play, the climax of the action occurs with the temptation by the four tempters who offer Becket various items ranging from money to unlimited power. Becket resists them all.
The play really opens at the true point of climax when the whole city of Canterbury is rejoicing, but the peasant women of the Chorus have a strange intuition of death. The tension is accompanied by a feeling that death is unavoidable, and it is almost accepted by the Chorus and the priests. What is left is only the ritual of killing and the prayer thereafter.
Outcome
The play ends in tragedy with the murder of Thomas Becket; thus, the protagonist (Becket) is overcome by the antagonist (the state).
NOTE
Murder in the Cathedral was written for a ritualistic presentation. Hence, the reader does not find elaborate treatment of these components of the plot. The whole play has an economy of scenes and action. It has the effect of unity of action on a single theme of how martyrdom takes place
PLOT (Synopsis)
The play can be said to begin at the climax, for the tension and fear imposed by the state have reached the people at the lowest level. At the beginning of the play, there is a sense of doom that hangs heavy in the air. Everyone fears that Becket's return will result in tragedy, clearly foreshadowing the end of the play from the very beginning.
The plot centers on the changed friendship between King Henry II and Thomas Becket. Henry has raised Becket to the post of Chancellor and later makes him the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Chancellor's position is that of the first subject in the Kingdom, controlling the ecclesiastical patronage of the King. The post of Archbishop is the highest religious head, next to the Pope. After becoming the Archbishop, Becket stops supporting the radical changes the King wants to introduce in England. Becket opposes the King's thirst for power, as he tries to raise the standard of the Crown higher than that of the Pope. Before the play begins, Becket has undergone a transformation and has started living a very pious life, giving up all the enjoyment he previously shared with the King. When disputes develop between the two, Becket flees to France.
With this background, the play begins with the news of Becket's return to England after seven long years in France. The people of Canterbury are overjoyed to have him back, and their welcome to him, though a small one, is astonishing. England is eagerly waiting for their beloved religious head that has always strongly supported and guided the poor peasants and countrymen. As the people are busy meeting and welcoming the Archbishop, the three priests have an apprehension that Becket is not fully reconciled with the King. Both of them are proud and strong personalities; as a result, they may not be able to renew their old tie of friendship. The priests worry that the homecoming may cost Becket his life.
The women of Canterbury represent the simple folk of the town. They have lived a hard life, and they know that it is their fate to suffer and struggle whether the King rules or the barons' rule. During the seven years of Becket's exile, their lives have been even more painful. Now since Becket is back home, they are happy; but they feel a curious sense of doom. They gather outside the cathedral and await Becket. They are asked to put on cheerful faces as Becket arrives. When Becket arrives, the priests greet him and apologize for their simple welcome. Becket informs them that his letters have been interrupted by spies and that his assassins have been waiting for an opportunity to kill him, like hungry hawks.
The tempters enter the stage and suggest if Becket pleases the King on his terms, he can become happy and prosperous. The temptations include a life full of fun and feasting; Chancellorship and the status of the post; joining hands with barons to overthrow the tyrannous King; and finally, dying at the hands of the assassins and becoming a martyr. Becket faces each tempter. The first temptation has no effect on him because he is no longer fascinated by feasting and good times. The second temptation of Chancellorship is also a weak one, for Becket is already a Keeper of "the Keys of heaven and hell." He is the supreme power in England and, hence, Chancellorship cannot lure him. The third temptation of overthrowing the King for the sake of the Normans is also brushed aside. Becket says that he will not act like a wolf and betray the King. The last temptation is sudden and unexpected. By allowing the King's assassins to kill him, he can acquire the glory of martyrdom. Becket soon realizes that even the desire of martyrdom if filled with sinful pride and will lead him to damnation. He refuses to commit the sin of cherishing the desire.
THEMES
Major Theme
The major theme shows that it is a sin to seek Martyrdom. A martyr is born, per the will of God. A true martyr never wishes to be a martyr or acts to become one, but gives up his life to God with total surrender of his will. Thomas Becket becomes aware that the sole purpose of his life is to be God's servant. However, to serve God in order to gain the glory of martyrdom is an act against the will of God, a sinful act. Becket refuses to try and become a martyr. As he is attacked, he does not resist, nor is he excited; he simply accepts the murder. In this state of true acceptance of God's will lies his greatness. In becoming a martyr, Becket inspires his followers with strength and courage.
Minor Theme
Life is filled with temptations: the temptation of the luxurious life, the temptation of subduing and using others, and the ultimate temptation of power. In his earlier life, Becket admits he was not always able to overcome temptation. But he has fully repented and put pride aside. Now in seeking to do only the will of God, he finds great strength. In truth, overcoming temptation always takes strength of faith and character, but the rewards of heaven are higher than the rewards of earth.
MOOD
The mood of the play is totally serious and somber, with a constant undercurrent of impending tragedy throughout.
LITERARY/HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Thomas Becket was born in Cheapside, London in 1118. He was of Norman descent on both sides and was proud of his heritage. He was educated at Mortar Priory, various other schools, and finally, in the School of Theology at Paris. He also learned law and practiced the use of sword and lance, traditional knightly exercises. His study of law helped him in his quarrels with the king. His expertise in the use of the sword and the lance helped him in the campaign of 1159-1160, when he defeated a French knight in a single combat.
In 1141, Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, took Becket into his household. From then on, his rise was rapid. In 1154, he was ordained and appointed the Archdeacon of Canterbury. Henry II gained the throne in the same year, making Becket's future even brighter. Becket became Henry's favorite religious leader. Henry would often entertain Becket, as well as seek his advice. The King also increased Becket's importance. He first appointed Becket to the position of Chancellor. When Theobald died in 1162, Becket was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury by Henry II.
After 1162, the relationship between Henry and Thomas Becket, both proud and men of strong character, became more and more bitter. Henry wanted to reduce the power of the clergy, and Becket fought fiercely against it. Henry wanted criminal priests to be tried in the civil courts while Becket wanted them to be tried in the ecclesiastical courts. The quarrel went on. In 1164, Henry, in the Constitution of Clarendon, tried to define the relationship between the Church and the State. Becket quibbled, quarreled, made promises he did not intend to keep, and sacrificed his principles to retain his power. To protect himself, Becket fled to France, forfeiting his worldly goods to the Crown.
Becket returned from his exile after seven years. Both the King and Becket tried to enlist the support of the Pope against each other. The turmoil and bitterness between them ended with the murder of Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. Becket was canonized in 1184.
St. Thomas Becket was immortalized in literature for the first time by Chaucer in his "Prologue" to "The Canterbury Tales." In the first eighteen lines, Chaucer mentions that at the beginning of spring, people go on pilgrimages, particularly to Canterbury, to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket. The pilgrims seek to honor the holy blessed martyr who had helped them when they were sick.
In his play, T. S. Eliot portrays the struggle between the church and the state, depicted in the struggle between Becket and Henry II. In truth, King Henry's reign was a reign of terror, causing misery and ruin to the common citizens. This is depicted in the words of the chorus at the beginning of the play. The people found in Becket hope and sustenance. The king found this undesirable and got his supporters to tempt Becket with various baits. In fact, the knights come in and tempt Becket during the course of the play. When Becket refuses to be tempted, Henry II has him murdered in the cathedral.
Dailogue:
Seven years and the summer is over
Seven years since the Archbishop left us,
He who was always kind to his people.
But it would not be well if he should return.
King rules or barons rule;
We have suffered various oppression,
But mostly we are left to our own devices,
And we are content if we are left alone.
Chorus, p. 176
Here, the Chorus reveals their complicated feelings about Thomas and the Church. While they lament his absence of seven years, noting that he was good to them, they worry about his return. What concerns them most of all is the idea that their lives, already marred by suffering, will grow more complicated. They do not consider themselves immersed in the political world of kings and barons, and worry that any controversy Thomas stirs up by returning will cause them trouble. This attitude – of miserable complacency over spiritual responsibility – is what will change for them through the ritual of Thomas's sacrifice.
For good or ill, let the wheel turn.
The wheel has been still, these seven years, and no good.
For ill or good, let the wheel turn.
For who knows the end of good or evil?
Third Priest, p. 179
Here, the Third Priest introduces the concept of the wheel and the theme of patience, when he chides the other two priests for conjecturing so excitedly and anxiously about the effects of Thomas's impending return. He is calmer than they, and stresses that they do not understand the way God runs the world. He invokes the image of the wheel, which in medieval theology represents how God sits at the center of a moving wheel while humans are on the edges. Therefore, God understands the meaning and cause of rotations, whereas humans are disoriented by its movement. Stipulating this as truth, the Third Priest insists they ought to show patience and faith rather than concerning themselves with potential earthly causes beyond their control. This philosophy is similar to that which Thomas will manifest in his martyrdom.
Seven years we have lived quietly,
Succeeded in avoiding notice,
Living and partly living.
There have been oppression and luxury,
There have been poverty and license,
There has been minor injustice.
Yet we have gone on living,
Living and partly living.
Chorus, p. 180
Here, the Chorus expands upon the extent of its complacency, and begin to expand on the level of suffering they bear. The women of Canterbury admit that their lives are complacent and unhappy – they must accept that their lives are comprised of "partly living." Their persistence is less from strength than from necessity. Their pains are terrible but predictable. Because of this attitude, all things – "oppression and luxury" – are shades of the same lingering trouble. What is interesting is that the Chorus accepts this, and is more terrified of the opposite option, which Thomas's death will give: the option to live a fuller, more engaged and passionate life devoted to God. The cost of this second option would be more pain, since they would have to confront the iniquity of the world head-on.
They know and do not know, what it is to act or suffer.
They know and do not know, that acting is suffering
And suffering is action. Neither does the actor suffer
Nor the patient act. But both are fixed
In an eternal action, an eternal patience
To which all must consent that it may be willed
And which all must suffer that they may will it,
That the pattern may subsist, for the pattern is the action
And the suffering, that the wheel may turn and still
Be forever still.
Thomas, p. 182
Thomas spells out one of the play's main conflicts when he chides the Second Priest for speaking harshly to the Chorus right before his entrance. In the quote, he proposes a dichotomy between acting and suffering. The former is action, best understood as an individual's attempt to influence his own fate. The latter is suffering, best defined as "patience to endure" rather than as a sensation of pain. It calls to mind the women of the Chorus, who simply assume that what will come will come. Thomas stresses that these two opposites are interlinked in the order of the universe, and invokes the concept of the wheel to suggest that God alone understands its structure. Ultimately, he will accept in Part I a mindset of active patience, one in which he wills himself to be submissive to God's will. By fully embracing the contradiction, he comes closer to transcending the limits of human existence, thereby nearing the serene existence God enjoys at the center of the wheel.
Real power
Is purchased at price of a certain submission.
Your spiritual power is earthly perdition.
Power is present, for him who will wield.
Thomas, p. 186
Thomas easily repudiates all of the first three tempters, but in this response to the Second Tempter, he explains the serenity that allows him to so easily ignore them. He stresses a dichotomy between power and submission. The Second Tempter has offered him palpable power by suggesting he reclaim the mantle of Chancellor. However, Thomas suggests that real power is inexorably linked with "submission." Active power must involve passive submission; the opposites must be embraced. He admits that spiritual power means a difficult life on Earth, but that spiritual power is not compromised. He is no longer interested in the trappings of earthly power, which is why he can so easily defeat the Tempters who offer him worldly temptations. He wishes to "wield" the greater Power known only to those who make themselves available as God's instruments.
Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
Thomas, p. 196
The dramatic crux of Part I occurs in silence for the protagonist. As the Chorus, Priests, and Tempters speak together about the uncertainty of life, Thomas retreats into himself to consider the Fourth Tempter's promise that he could find glory if he wills martyrdom for himself. When he speaks again, beginning a long speech with the above lines, he has firmly committed to dying for the right reason. Thomas's arc in the play (which begins and ends in Part I) is to first acknowledge that his pride is leading him towards "the right deed for the wrong reason," and then to rid himself of the "self," the personality, that is keeping him from being God's instrument. Once he speaks these words, Thomas will not be waylaid from his purpose, and the Chorus becomes dramatically more important.
Have I not known, not known
What was coming to be? It was here, in the kitchen, in the passage,
In the mews in the barn in the byre in the market place
In our veins our bowels our skulls as well
As well as in the plottings of potentates
As well as in the consultations of powers.
What is woven on the loom of fate
What is woven in the councils of princes
Is woven also in our veins, our brains,
Is woven like a pattern of living worms
In the guts of the women of Canterbury.
Chorus, p. 208
One quality Eliot gains by appropriating the structure of Greek tragedy for Murder in the Cathedral is the evocation of the idea of fate, which he uses to reinforce the play's meaning. Here, in an Act II speech of despair as the murder approaches, the Chorus acknowledges that Thomas's impending martyrdom is known to them, which suggests that it was an inevitable occurrence. This imbues it with a mythic power that raises the stakes for this Chorus, who must decide whether to dedicate their lives towards being worthy of the sacrifice. They also stress the existence of fate by suggesting that all humanity is small and powerless against these greater forces. What they have felt in their "guts" is the same feeling that haunts princes. What makes it most complicated of all is that Thomas's death is of course a marvelous Christian sacrifice, and yet it is also a terrible event worthy of being compared to "a pattern of living worms." As Thomas explains in his Interlude sermon, in martyrdom lies the cause for both celebration and mourning.
You think me reckless, desperate and mad.
You argue by results, as this world does,
To settle if an act be good or bad.
You defer to the fact. For every life and every act
Consequence of good and evil can be shown.
And as in time results of many deeds are blended
So good and evil in the end become confounded.
It is not in time that my death shall be known;
It is out of time that my decision is taken
If you call that decision
To which my whole being gives entire consent.
I give my life
To the Law of God above the Law of Man.
Thomas, p. 212
Thomas frequently stresses that his decision to accept an active patience by making himself God's instrument is a decision out of time. He is not hemmed in by the limitation of time that humans, on the exterior edge of the wheel, must confront. Here, as he chides the priests for insisting he hide from the knights, he further details the earthly structure that he wishes to repudiate. He notes how humans tend to see events in terms of their effects and to justify whatever happens by its purpose. This focus on efficiency over goodness leads to rationalization, wherein "many deeds are blended" and a human can justify his behavior based on its outcome. The attack has particular resonance considering how well it aligns with the political behavior that has defined Thomas's career as both Chancellor and Archbishop. Thomas wishes to rid himself of such limiting thoughts and attempts to transcend to a higher plane of awareness. The first step, however, is to ignore "the Law of Man," which is too limited to achieve true goodness.
The speakers who have preceded me, to say nothing of our leader, Reginald Fitz Urse, have all spoken very much to the point. I have nothing to add along their particular lines of argument. What I have to say may be put in the form of a question: Who killed the Archbishop?
Fourth Knight, p. 218
In his direct address to the audience after the Archbishop's murder, the Fourth Knight provides a representative example of the rationalizations and cause/effect political systems that Thomas wishes to repudiate by allowing himself to be martyred as God's tool. All four of the knights speak in prose (as opposed to the usual verse) to convince the audience that they are logically not guilty of Thomas's murder, but the Fourth Knight's argument is the most subtle. This conforms to the subtle arguments of the Fourth Tempter, with whom the character would have been double-cast. There is a fascinating disconnect between the Fourth Knight's suggestion – "Who killed the Archbishop?" – and what the audience only moments ago saw enacted on stage. Eliot is allowing the knights to tempt the audience, to give the audience a chance to repudiate these logical, political, cause/effect arguments that Thomas repudiated, to disavow the relativism of modernity in favor of a more serene and pure faith.
Forgive us, O Lord, we acknowledge ourselves as type of the common man,
Of the men and women who shut the door and sit by the fire;
Who fear the blessing of God, the loneliness of the night of God, the surrender required, the deprivation inflicted;
Who fear the injustice of men less than the justice of God…
…Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Blessed Thomas, pray for us.
Chorus, p. 221
In its final address, the Chorus reveals that it has indeed changed over the course of the play. At the beginning, the women were most concerned with maintaining their status quo, which involved much suffering but was predictable; it allowed them to ignore the larger world. Through Thomas's example, they have recognized and accepted their share of the "eternal burden": they must endeavor to confront the iniquity of the world and allow themselves to be God's instruments. In their final speech, their only bright and positive speech in the play, they acknowledge their previous shortcomings – they feared "the injustice of men less than the justice of God" – and promise to attempt better. However, they know that most men and women lack the fortitude of Christ or even of Thomas, and that they will need the forgiveness and mercy of both figures. This speech thus ends in one of the most commonly repeated phrases of Christianity: the Kyrie eleison, or "Lord, have mercy upon us; Christ, have mercy upon us; Lord, have mercy upon us."
T.S. ELIOT: MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL CONTEXTS
1. LITERARY HISTORICAL DRAMA In contrast to the historical novel, historical drama is very ready to place real people at( the foreground of the action; The dramatist will have his own interest in the events and characters he deals with,( and this interest is likely to be something other than historical – psychological, perhaps, or religious or ideological. (Eliot’s interests may be compared with Bolt’s.)
2. SOCIAL, HISTORICAL The historical context: the quarrel between Henry II and Becket culminating in( Becket’s “murder in the cathedral”; The struggle between two types of power, secular and ecclesiastic, in England;( An early challenge to the Papal power; a forerunner of the Reformation;( Eliot’s interest in martyrdom;( Eliot’s interest in the revival of poetic drama.(
THEMES Flesh vs spirit( Spiritual power vs temporal power( Obedience( Sacrificial death/martyrdom( Individual will/conscience vs secular and ecclesiastical power(
AO2: DRAMATIC METHODS STRUCTURE The outcome is known. The inevitability of events is indicated from the first stages of( the play and throughout through prophecy, foreboding and statement; Becket – and the audience – knows that he will die. The only uncertainty is his frame( of mind as he meets death. This is finally clarified by the temptation scene; Plot and characterization are very limited:( - sketchy characterization of the three Priests, - some variation and contrast among the four Tempters, - some paralleling of the four Tempters and the four Knights, - some characterizing details offered for Becket, - compression of time and place; Chorus – very different from the moderate and cautious Sophoclean chorus. Eliot( said, “I wanted to concentrate on death and martyrdom. The introduction of a chorus of excited and hysterical women, reflecting in their emotion the significance of the action, helped wonderfully”; Role of the Chorus is to wait, watch and witness. For the poor (“the scrubbers and( sweepers of Canterbury”), there is no action; The play is divided into two parts. In Part 1 we see the “perfecting” of Becket’s will.( Then, after an interlude in the form of a sermon in which we hear him say “A Christian martyrdom is never an accident, for saints are not made by accident”, Part 2 shows his acceptance of his fate; Deliberate use of anti-climax as the Knights address the audience. Their reductionist( views of Becket’s death are then countered by affirmation from the Priests and the Chorus.
The Nightingale and the Rose
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde:
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish author, playwright and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.
Wilde's parents were successful Anglo-Irish Dublin intellectuals. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life. At university, Wilde read Greats; he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the rising philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles. As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art", and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the bestknown personalities of his day.
Synopsis:
In The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde we have theme of love, sacrifice, selflessness, pity, materialism and gratitude. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that the young boy is very much in love with the young girl. If anything his actions demonstrate that he is love-struck. His every thought is of the girl and being able to dance with her at the ball. So strong are the boy’s desires for the girl he is preoccupied with her as though his life is not worth living unless he manages to dance and spend time with the girl. The Nightingale’s actions throughout the story are also important as she flies from one rose tree to another trying to find a red rose before sacrificing her life at the one tree that can give her a red rose. Even though the Nightingale knows that the thorn pressing against her breast may kill her she still perseveres. Thinking only of the boy’s happiness and overcoming the pain of the thorn piercing her breast. If anything the Nightingale is acting selflessly. Her number one priority is the young boy’s happiness. The Nightingale can also see how very much in love the boy is with the girl and this acts as a trigger for the Nightingale to find a red rose. Even if it is to cost the Nightingale her life.
It is also interesting that none of the other animals in the garden help or warn the Nightingale. It is possible by doing so Wilde is suggesting that love is not understood by all. It is clear to the reader that the Nightingale knows what love is however the same cannot be said for the other animals in the garden. Why this might be is difficult to say for certain. It is possible that the other animals may have experienced love at one stage in their lives but things did not work out for them. It is also possible that the other animals no longer see the joy that can come from love and rather than viewing it as something that can bring good to people they may have a certain amount of animosity towards love. Regardless of this the Nightingale shows great determination in her efforts to find a red rose. Even though as readers we are aware that the Nightingale is sacrificing her life for the boy and his pursuit of love.
A rose is also a thing of natural beauty unlike the jewels that Chamberlain has sent to the girl. The rose has a story behind it that is more compelling than any story that might come from the jewels. The young girl appears to be swayed by materialism and it is on this decision alone she decides to go to the dance with Chamberlain. Despite having previously promised to go to the dance with the young boy. It is possible that Wilde is pitting the rose against the jewels and suggesting that the young are swayed by material things. Things that are given to impress a person but which have no roots in love. Unlike the rose. The introduction of the jewels also serves to highlight the fickle nature of love. It is clear that girl is swayed by shinning jewels rather than the normality or simplicity of a rose.
However there is nothing normal about the Nightingale’s rose. She has taken pity on the boy and sacrificed her life for him. Though at the end of the story her death may have been in vain due to the boy discarding the rose in the gutter. Something he may not have done if he knew the real beauty of the rose. If he was aware of the sacrifices others have made for him he may have been more careful. The rose acted as a path to any girl that the boy would have liked to bring to the dance however he cannot see this. He has fixated on the one girl who does not deserve his affections. It is also noticeable that the boy gives up on love after being defeated by Chamberlain. This is not something that the Nightingale has done. She allowed the thorn push further and further into her breast till the thorn on the rose killed her. Throughout the story there is a sense that it is only the Nightingale who has understood the true meaning of love. For the boy he was no more than lovelorn and preoccupied with the one girl and when rejected decides that love is not something that a person should spend their time on. In reality the only one who has understood love in the story is the Nightingale and she may very well have made a sacrifice for a boy who is unready to understand the complexities of love. Devoting his entire energies into the one girl who doesn’t appreciate him and then giving up on love completely. It may very well be that the boy is not grateful for the sacrifices made by the Nightingale.
An overview of literary facts
Plot : Student in love with his professor’s daughter. The girl demands a red rose. No roses. A nightingale hears this and demands a rose from rose trees. The res rose trees ask for a sacrifice. The nightingale representing a romantic love offers her lifeblood. A rose blooms and the student takes it to his lover. But she rejects it and him on the grounds that she loves the Chamberlin's son. She is vain and unfeeling. The rose which is born out sacrifice is discarded and crushed under a cart wheel.
Characters :
The Nightingale -genuine and intense. Symbol of romantic love, sacrifices her life for love.
Student- immature, mixed up,theatrical,has no depth.
The girl- superficial, flirtish
Themes….
1. Love-romantic and unselfish, selfish and self seeking.
2. Hypocrisy and pretension
3. Vanity
4. Knowledge(as derived from books) vs. experience
Techniques….
1. Symbols
2. Irony
3. Personification
4. metaphors
Salient features:
Initial conflict
A young boy is in trouble in not having a red rose to be given to his fiancée. Because she has demanded a red rose only if the boy wants to dance with her. He wants to take her a red rose as a token of love. The boy is desperate at the loss of the red rose.
Development of the action
A nightingale in a nearby tree hears the wailing of the desperate young lad and the plight of the kid touches the heart of the birdie. Further the appeal of the boy fuels the long standing will of the bird in meeting a true lover and it is more than pleased for the bird to help him. He flies around in finding a red rose and meets three rose bushes which demand it to make a sacrifice.
Climax
the red rose bloomed in the garden of the boy which in fact of the result of a great sacrifice made by the bird surprises the boy. He gives it away to the girl with full of hopes but it is flatly rejected.
Falling action/Conclusion discarding of the flower into the gutter and the withdrawal of the boy back to his usual academic works
Structure
“The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde is structured around the main event – the deadly sacrifice a nightingale makes for Love. The story respects the traditional plot line having an exposition, a rising action, a climax, a falling action and a resolution.
However, the short story is also constructed using numerous fairy-tale elements such as:
The natural world (birds, animals, insects, trees, etc.), feelings and concepts are personified and given human traits.
The allusion to the use of magic: the nightingale needs to perform a ritual for the tree to create a red rose.
The use of the magical number three: the bird goes to three trees and sings three songs the night she dies.
Still, the story has an unconventional ending for a fairy-tale, as the protagonist’s sacrifice proves to be in vain because the rose she created at the cost of her life does not bring the two lovers together.
Title
The title of the short story indicates that the narrative may be a fable (fables are stories which have a moral and feature animals) or a fairy-tale, but also that there may be a hidden symbolism behind it. As the story reveals, the main character of the short story is a real nightingale,...
Beginning
The short story begins directly, in media res (in the middle of events) with the intrigue: a young Student needs a red rose to be able to dance with the woman he loves:
“She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,” cried the young Student; “but in all my garden there is no red rose.” From her nest in the holm-oak tree the Nightingale heard him, and she looked out through the leaves, and wondered.
Middle
The middle of the short story includes the rising action which follows the Nightingale after she decides to help the Student get the red rose that the woman he loves required. The writer introduces the magical number three, as the Nightingale travels the garden until she reaches the third rose tree after the first and second do not make red roses but white and yellow ones.
Then, the test element is also introduced marking a tension point. The Nightingale’s devotement to the idea of love and to helping the Student...
Ending
The story ends with a sad irony. In the falling action, the Student awakes, finds the rose and runs to offer it to the woman he loves without ever knowing about the Nightingale’s sacrifice. But the Professor’s daughter rejects both the...
Characterisation of the Nightingale
The most important character in the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde is the Nightingale, who functions as the heroine or the protagonist. The Nightingale is a bird, but she is personified by the author, who gives her speech, thoughts and feelings like those of a human being.
Except that the Nightingale is a female bird, the outer characterisation of the protagonist also informs us that “her voice was like water bubbling from a silver jar” and that she has a “nest in the holm-oak tree”.
Inner characterisation
The bird’s inner characterisation reveals that her most important traits are empathy and altruism/self-sacrifice. Empathy is revealed from the very beginning, when she is impressed by the Student’s love pains and seems to be the only one who understands him: ““Here at last is a true lover,” said the Nightingale. “Night after night have I sung of him, though I knew him not; night after night have I told his story to the stars, and now I see him.”; “But the Nightingale understood the secret of the Student’s sorrow, and she sat silent in the oak-tree, and thought about the mystery of Love.”
Characterisation of other characters
Here we will focus on the collective character of the natural elements (lizard, butterfly, daisy and trees) and the secondary characters of the Student and the Professor’s daughter from the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde.
The Natural elements
Several natural elements add to the story’s fairy-tale features, as they are personified and act like humans.
The Lizard, the Daisy, and the Butterfly fill the role of the cynics and the realists in human society, as they cannot understand why the Student is crying over a rose, and implicitly, over love:
“He is weeping for a red rose,” said the Nightingale. “For a red rose!” they cried; “how very ridiculous!” and the little Lizard, who was something of a cynic, laughed outright.
The “holm-oak tree”, fills the role of the Nightingale’s home and friend, as he is sorry to hear that she will self-sacrifice for creating a rose, and asks her to sing to him one last time:
The Student
The Student is an important character in the short story because it is his love lamentations that push the Nightingale to help him. Apart from the fact that he is a philosophy student, his outer characterisation also conveys his physical traits from the Nightingale’s perspective: “His hair is dark as the hyacinth-blossom, and his lips are red as the rose of his desire; but passion has made his face like pale ivory, and sorrow has set her seal upon his brow.””
Inner characterisation
The young’s man inner characterisation presents him as being desperately in love with a girl whom he wants to take to a ball, but who has asked him a red rose in exchange for her company:
If I bring her a red rose she will dance with me till dawn. If I bring her a red rose, I shall hold her in my arms, and she will lean her head upon my shoulder, and her hand will be clasped in mine. But there is no red rose in my garden, so I shall sit lonely, and she will pass me by.
What is interesting and ironical about the Student is that tough he is wise in matters of philosophy, he cannot see that the woman he desires is playing with his feelings and demands things (the rose) in exchange for her attention and affection.
All the Student sees is how “wretched” he is. Still, the Nightingale believes his suffering is evidence that he is a “true lover”.
The Student is incapable of understanding the Nightingale, but he appreciates her song, though he believes it has no meaning.
The Professor’s daughter
The woman whom the student desires is a Professor’s daughter whose defining trait is materialism.
From the beginning, when we find out that she asks a red rose from the Student to be his partner at the ball, the girl’s gesture strikes as conditional.
Setting
“The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde is set in a timeless, placeless fairy-tale setting, in a time of princes and balls, in what seems to be a magical garden where most of the natural elements seem to speak and think.
Physical setting
Consequently, the main physical setting is represented by the garden in which the Nightingale lives and where the Student also has his room. Another element of the physical setting is the Professor’s house, where the woman the student desires lives in.
What is important to note about the physical setting of the garden is that it is animated and personified; the trees and animals talk, think and feel, just like human beings. But the author also offers very vivid descriptions of these natural elements, such as in the following example:
Suddenly she spread her brown wings for flight, and soared into the air. She passed through the grove like a shadow, and like a shadow she sailed across the..
Social setting
The social setting illustrates two worlds, the world of men and the world of plants and animals which mirrors that of men, but is filled with certain magical and idealistic traits.
In the world of animals and plants, like in the world of men, there are some beings who are idealistic (the Nightingale) and some who are cynical (the Lizard), while other elements show friendship, pain, pity (the trees, the Nightingale).
Narrator and point of view
The short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde is a third-person account, rendered by a storyteller who is outside the action and has extended knowledge on most of the characters.
The narrator can understand and knows what the Nightingale and other natural elements think and feel, unlike the Student, who is incapable of grasping the bird’s message:
Language and symbolism
In what follows, you can read useful information as concerns the language and symbolism of “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde.
Language
The language of the story is very descriptive and full of figures of speech, yet the choice of words is fairly simple, related to feelings and natural elements, so the overall understanding of the text is not a problem. This should be connected to the fact that the story is part of the collection “The Happy Prince and Other Tales”, which was intended by the author to target the children readership.
An interesting aspect which strikes the eye in terms of language is that the author has capitalised common nouns such as the Student, the Professor, Love, Power, Life, the Nightingale, the Tree, etc. in order to further emphasise their typology (in the case of the student) or their personification (in the case of natural elements, feelings, and concepts).
The author does not employ dialogue lines but uses quotations when characters speak. This direct speech is mixed with descriptive and narrative passages, which make the story more dynamic and complex.
As we have mentioned, the story abounds in figures of speech which embellish the text, so we recommend that you also pay attention to some of them:
Imagery
Similes
Metaphors and personifications
Repetition
Imagery
Imagery is created through the use of descriptive words with the aim of conveying certain general images in fiction. In this case, most of the imagery is related to natural elements. One such example is the imagery created in connection to the Rose-trees or to the creation of the red rose: ““My roses are white,” it answered; “as white as the foam of the sea, and whiter than the snow upon the mountain.
Metaphors and personifications
The text abounds in personifications of natural elements, which also form metaphors at times. Basically, all the natural elements are personified in one way or another. Personification is first suggested through capitalisation of the names of the natural elements, feelings and concepts, such as in the following example: “Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty.”
But natural elements and concepts are also personified by attributing them human traits: they speak, they feel, they think, they are wise or in some other humanly way. Given that all these elements are personified, you will not find it hard to identify numerous examples of personification in each page of the story.
Themes and message
The main themes of the short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde are sacrifice, love of love and materialism. The narrative can also be interpreted as a satire to Romanticism, as its end shows a painful morale: love involves risks and sacrifices and does not always triumph.
Sacrifice
The theme of sacrifice is solely explored in the short story through the character of the Nightingale. The bird illustrates willpower and the capacity of self-sacrifice in the name of an idea and for the sake of others. When she hears the Student lamenting his bad faith because he is unable to be with the girl he loves because he does not have a red rose, the Nightingale immediately relates to him and understands his sorrow.
First, she is willing to sacrifice her time and give away her songs to get the rose.
Love of love
The theme of love of love is also explored in the short story through the Nightingale. Although the bird sets off to help a Student in love (a practical example of love), the bird seems also very inspired by the idea of love itself, which the Nightingale describes in almost absolute terms:
Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the market-place. It may not be...
Materialism
Materialism is explored in the short story through the human characters: the Student, the Professor’s daughter, and the Chamberlain’s nephew. All these characters are materialistic in some sense.
The Student evokes the rational side of materialism as he needs to see a practical end in all endeavours. He needs his love to manifest at the practical level...
How to live to be 200
-Stephen Leacock
Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock, FRSC (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humorist in the world.[1] He is known for his light humour along with criticisms of people's follies.[2] The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour was named in his honour
GENERAL INTRODUCTION: -
“How to Live to be 200” is humorous, exaggerated, satirical and advisable essay by Stephen Leacock. He is famous Canadian political scientist, historian and humourist. His stories are mostly a criticism of foolish habits and behavior of the contemporary society. In this essay, his style is both humorous and satirical.
MAIN IDEA OF THE STORY: - (Theme)
This essay, as the very title of it indicates, is a humorous and highly exaggerated essay, as it is almost impossible to enjoy an age of 200 years in the present times. In it, the writer has pointed out the human complexes about health in form of Mr. Jiggins, who is suffering from health mania. Inspite of taking hard exercises regularly; he died in his youth and could not see his old age. In fact, the purpose of the writer is to correct the follies and thoughts of such people, especially young men of today who leave no stone unturned to keep them fit and live long.
SUMMARY: -
The essay is about a funny character, Mr. Jiggins who was a health maniac. He had divided his 24 hours in such a way that most of his time was allocated to exercise. He used to take a clod bath to open his pores, and hot bath to close them. Before going to office, he used to breathe at an open window without undershirt in the severe cold to expand his lungs. Then the used to take sandow exercise by fastening himself like a dog in harness. In his office, he would lie on stomach on the floor and lift himself up with his knuckles. In the evening he would lift iron bars and dumbbells, and haul himself up to the ceiling. He walked in his room for half the night before sleeping to calm down his brain. Moreover, he was extra-cautious in the matter of food. All these exercises and routine of Mr. Jiggins are an act of exaggeration and sheer, obsession. Inspite of all these exercises and care about different foods, he suffered from a common disease and died of it.
Through the example of Mr. Jiggins, the writer laughs on the modern young generation who are suffering from strange “Health Habits”. Some people become obsessed on seeing others doing some specific task. But the inner-self and personal inclinations play the main role in copying others. The writer says about such people. “They are ridden by the health Mania. They make themselves a nuisance.” They get up at early down, run long distances, walk barefoot on the cold dewdrops, and seek for fresh oxygen. They avoid meat for having much nitrogen, and ignore fruit for not having much nitrogen. All the time, they are afraid of germs. Even then they die young like Jiggins
However, after going through the character of Mr. Jiggins, the question arises: which is more important, to enjoy life’s pleasure or to sacrifice some of them to keep physically fit? It is well side: “Health is wealth”. If we have good health, we can get full mental and spiritual gratification. But the thinks, which is dangerous in this regard, is the overindulgence in the physical activities. If a person thinks al his 24 hours about his health, he is deprived of many pleasures of life. However, to counteract against health mania, Stephen Leacock humorously gives his own suggestions. According to him, a man should neither indulge in overuse nor reject anything; rather should have a balance. He should get up after enjoying sound sleep; not worry about fresh air; take reasonable amount of exercise; and should eat what he likes without worrying for starch or nitrogen. If he wants to have to have them, he should better buy them from the market. He should not worry about germs and bacteria, as we have neither time nor instruments to remove them. According to Leacock, exercise, fresh air, good food and cold baths are not the basis of long life. We enjoy life if we are keeping a balance between the material and spiritual needs of our body. Neither of the two can be sacrificed on the other. Hence, unlike the maniac, we should divert our attention away from our body-care and attend the enjoyment of life like a carefree person. We should remember that the more we enjoy the joys of life, the more we will become healthy
CONCLUSION: -
To conclude, we can say that the whole essay is a fine example of exaggeration in a humorously ironic style. The writer has used such an exaggeration to ridicule the health obsession of modern people who indulge themselves in heavy physical exercises to live long. In fact, it is worry about health that us of many pleasures of life. So, he disagrees with Jiggins and suggests candidly that there should be a balance between life’s pleasures and exercises to live for 200 years.
Quotes: "If you see a bacilli, walk right up to it, and look it in the eye. If one flies into your room, strike at it with your hat or with a towel. Hit it as hard as you can between the neck and the thorax. It will soon get sick of that." Leacock delivers his counterpoints to Health Mania's nonsensical practices with some utterly absurd practices of his own. Smacking a bacilli with a hat or towel? How utterly crazy! (However, those of you who are fellow Hitchhikers know full well the powers of a towel. Do YOU know where your towel is right now?) "And after all their fuss they presently incur some simple old-fashioned illness and die like anybody else." How...lovely? Leacock's writing up to this point paints a picture of the determinism of those afflicted with Health Mania, a grand picture painted on a huge wall. Sort of like a Norse Saga.
Exaggeration:With the entire essay exaggerated, Leacock has his readers laughing to themselves. As well, it acts to easily serve Leacock's purpose of turning serious topics into absurdities. As well, one could say that his extreme exaggeration is also for the reader's benefit, as it desensitizes them to the topic at hand so they may remain neutral, as well as see both sides of the essay, rather then the one side they typically support. Rhetorical Questions: While most of these are used jokingly, they are still rhetorical questions. They can be said to serve Leacock's purpose of turning everything into absurdities because you may think upon them the first few times, and then realize that you were duped into thinking seriously on something that makes little sense in the end. Atmosphere: The atmosphere of absurdity throughout the whole essay gives the reader a sense of Leacock's intentions, as well as an idea of how silly the seriousness of people on both sides really is.
Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead
-Lord Alfred Tennyson
About the Poet:
Lord Alfred Tennyson (August 1809- October 1892) was a Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during the reign of Queen Victoria. While he still remains one of Britain’s most popular poets till date, some of his short-lyrical works include “Break, Break, Break”, “Tears, Idle Tears” and “Crossing the Bar”. His work has become a strong pillar to the foundation of modern English Literature and continues to inspire poets till today.
Introduction to the poem:
This poem by Alfred Tennyson is about the story of a window who has just received the body of her husband who seems to have been a soldier and was wounded in a war. The widow’s maidens weep profusely but later get worried when the widow is shell-shocked and cannot emote any sorrow. They try and talk about the soldier’s conquests and what a noble warrior he was to try and get the lady to weep but all their efforts are in vain. The lady finally weeps after it is revealed that she isn’t just a window but also a mother.
Setting of Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
According to the characters, the poem seems to be set in the Victorian era during the time of wars. The expired warrior is brought home to his wife who is now a widow. The house has plenty of maidens who cry at the death of their master and hence a strong connection of their relation is depicted. The window is mum with shock but cries later, not with sorrow for her husband’s death but with fear for her child whom she will now have to raise all by herself.
Poetic Devices in Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
Alliterations:
Line 1: “Home they brought her warrior”
Line 2: “She nor swoon’d”
Line 4: “She must weep or she will die”
Line 6: “truest friend and noblest foe”
Line 7: “Neither spoke nor moved”
Line 10: “Took the face cloth from the face”
Line 12: “Rose a nurse of ninety years”
Line 13: “Like summer tempest came her tears”
Simile:
Line 14: “Like summer tempest came her tears”
Personification/ Metaphor:
Line 14: “Like summer tempest came her tears”
Symbolism:
The lines “She must weep or she will die” uttered by the maidens symbolizes the fact that the lady in subject who hasn’t shed a single tear after the body of her husband being brought back home after war. She is said to die if she doesn’t weep because she is in a state of shock and cannot express her pain which will soon be the reason for her death.
Style of Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
“Home they brought her warrior dead (A)
She nor swoon’d nor utter’d cry (B)
All her maidens, watching, said, (A)
She must weep or she will die.” (B)
Summary of Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
The poem is about a warrior whose body has just arrived back to his home and the proceedings mentioned in this poem are the events that follow soon after his body reaches his home. The maidens in his household cry a river, but his wife who seems to have lost her senses with the shock and cannot express her emotions at all. The maidens devise ways to make her weep but do not succeed. Finally she weeps but not of sorrow and that of fear instead- the fear of raising her child all alone.
Critical Analysis of Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
This poem by Alfred Tennyson is a medium for the reader to become a spectator to the sorrowful life of a warrior’s wife. The life that follows after the death of a warrior is depicted clearly in this poem. The reader is made to perceive the sorrows of the maidens and especially the wife whose emotions have been broken up with the idea of her raising their only child all by herself. The concern of a mother is narrated clearly in these actions as Tennyson aims to portray the wife caring more about the livelihood of her child than the death of her husband.
Central Idea of Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
The poem revolves around the death of a warrior and his lady who is so shocked by the death that she is unable to emote any feelings onto her face. The maidens try to get the lady to weep by narrating the great conquests and the noble nature of their expired master but still do not manage to succeed. Eventually after the sheet from the warrior’s face is removed, the lady weeps but not at her husband’s feet but at the face of her young child whom she now has to raise on her own.
Tone of Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead:
The poem begins with the maidens weeping while they notice their lady emotionally shocked in sorrow. She doesn’t seem to weep at all which worries the maidens as they think that her shock could be a reason that could lead to her death. They narrate the brave acts of her husband and comment on his noble character but yet do not seem to get their lady to cry. Finally catching onto reality, the lady weeps not with sorrow but with fear as she cradles her child whom she thinks to be the only reason for her existence.
Conclusion:
The poem is a reflection of the sorrowful life of a widow who has to worry about her child after the sole bread winner of the family is no more. The poem brings the reader to see through the eyes of the grieving maidens and also through the eyes of the concerned mother that is the widow whose only sole reason for living is for the sake of their children. Tennyson beautifully portrays the strong and over bearing nature of motherhood that forgets all the sorrows in the world when their child is in most need of their love and affection.
Summary:
Home They Brought Her Dead Warrior
The poem Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a poignant account of what befalls the young woman, with an infant child, when her husband has had an untimely and unexpected death. The title suggests that she must have seen him brave and valiant and probably he says he was “…her warrior” [line 1].
Tennyson probably wants to express that it is very much hard for the wife to get over the sudden death of her husband. Grief seems to be dominant theme as the setting is the house where death has occurred and mourners come and grieve the death. “She nor swooned, nor uttered cry” [line 2] reveals the shocking grief which had been pounded ever since she saw her husband being brought home, lifeless.
Tennyson also refers to the emptiness of life when one loses the most valued person or possession and the determination to continue with life for the wellbeing of those who need us- ‘Sweet my child, I live for thee.’ [Line 16] The young widow feels that there is nothing left for her but her child for whose she sake she says will live.
The first stanza tells us the reader the impact of the death of the man on his wife.“Home they brought her warrior dead” [line 1] sets a melancholy tone to the poem and renders the setting sad and quiet.
The second stanza where the man is praised by the mourners appears to be deliberate attempt by the poet to stir the reader from the first which is drowned in grief- Then they praised him, soft and low [line 8] The alliteration “Truest friend and noblest foe” [ line 7] tells the reader that the mad had been a trusted friend and even to his enemies he seemed to have been just and fair. Though the word ‘foe’ used in the context of praise, it is given a meaning through the word ‘noblest’
In the third stanza, Tennyson tells the man’s wife could be moved to tears which is only indicative of the inexpressible grief coursing their body and mind. –Yet she neither moved nor wept [line 12]. The poet reiterates shock and possibly unsurmountable grief that has taken control of her ever since she saw his mortal remains being brought home.
The fourth and final stanza tumultuous flow of grief – Like summer tempest came her tears [ line 15] The simile comparing the woman expression of grief to summer tempest makes the reader empathize with the hapless and dependent women who grieve the sudden death of their husbands. By equating her tears to the summer tempest, the poet tells us the grief has been long suppressed only waits to pour out suddenly. Tennyson recounts the value of a mother when the woman says,” Sweet child, I live for thee” Even as she feels distraught and hopeless in the face of her husband’s death she wants to make her life meaningful for her child.
This poem analysis of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘Home they brought her Warrior Dead’ is divided into three parts – context, rhyme scheme and rhetorical devices, and contrasts.
Context: The first part of the poem explanation focuses on the context in which ‘Home they brought her Warrior Dead’ was published. This short lyric was published in 1847. It appeared as a part of the fifth canto of Tennyson’s much-acclaimed long narrative poem The Princess. Since The Princess is known for being a poetical treatise on women’s higher education, this lyric may seem inconsistent with its theme. However, grief is an essential part of Tennyson’s poetry as seen in one of his most famous works In Memoriam which consists of lyrics written over a span of seventeen years, all commemorating the death of his dear friend Arthur Henry Hallam. Thus ‘Home they brought her Warrior Dead’ may seem atypical in the context of The Princess, but is quit typical in the larger context of Tennyson’s poetic oeuvre as a whole.
Rhyme Scheme and Rhetorical Devices: The second part of this poem analysis focuses on what gives ‘Home they brought her Warrior Dead’ its musical quality. The rhythm that is inherent in the poem is a result of the simple rhyme scheme used by Tennyson. Each of the four stanzas of this poem uses an ABAB rhyme scheme. This makes reading the poem an easy and enjoyable experience.
The rhetorical device used by Tennyson that greatly enriches this poem is simile. A simile is used in the third line of the forth stanza. The narrator uses the simile to compare the widow’s tears with a storm that occurs in summertime. The relatively calm summer months do not provide any clue to what violent storms can occur during this time. The storms come down suddenly, and without warning, in a great and forceful manner that shocks everybody. In the same way, after the widow had refused to seem fazed by her husband’s death for so long, her tears had also shocked and amazed all the onlookers. Her tears too had come down suddenly and with great force.
Contrasts: This part of the poem explanation focuses on the multiple contrasts that Tennyson has brought into the poem, that testify to his superior poetic craft and skills. The first contrast that we observe is between the form and the content of ‘Home they brought her Warrior Dead’. While the rhyme scheme used by Tennyson is light and cheerful, the content of the poem is heavy and distressing. Death and grief are hardly things we take lightly. However, the rhyme scheme does not detract in any way from moving the readers of the poem into experiencing profound emotions when confronted with the brevity of all mortal men’s lives.
The second contrast that we observe is between the visible and the invisible signs of grief. The visible signs of grief are the ones that the onlookers expect to see in the widow, such as swooning or weeping. On the other hand, the invisible signs of grief are the widow’s immobility and speechlessness. This lack of words and actions speaks of the shock that has resulted from the grief over her husband’s death.
The third contrast is between old age and youth. The nurse who places the widow’s child on her lap is ninety years old. As opposed to this, the child is young, and reminds the woman of her duty to her family. It is the youthfulness of her child that jolts her back to reality, and finally makes her cry.
The fourth contrast is between death and life. It is not the lifeless corpse of her husband that moves the widow, but her flesh-and-blood child that tells her that life must go on. The movement of the poem is from death towards life, from shock and despair towards hope, and this provides a clue into Tennyson’s mind as well, for he believed that death is not the be all and end all of life. ‘Home they brought her Warrior Dead’ is a testament to this belief of Tennyson’s.
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