Hello readers, This blog is in response to the task ' The Rape of the lock ' assigned by Vaidehi ma'am. It answers the various assigned questions.
The Rape of the lock is a Mock-heroic epic genre. It is a written by Alexander pope. The original version , published anonymously in lintot's Miscellany in 1712, consisted of two cantos and 334 lines. In 1714, Pope revised and substantially enlarged it to make five cantos. So, The final version was published in 1714 and it was expended to five cantos.
The poem is based on an amorous prank played by lord petre, the son and heir of a prominent Roman catholic family, upon Arabella Fermor of the equally prominent Fermor family. The poem is mock- epic that Satirizes the upper class in London at the time. The story focuses on the central character Belinda, whose lock of hair is cut off at a social gathering by Baron. In this poem, Pope uses Belinda and Baron to mock two of his acquaintances, Arabella Fermor and lord Petre.
What pope does in The Rape of the lock is to accept the conventions, but to intensify the Mock-Heroic by extending the incongruity between theme and style. Pope's material is trivial in contrast to the grandeur of the subject matter of epics. The implied contrast to the Trojan War, occasioned by the 'rape' of Helen, which is the background of Homer's Iliad, makes it quite clear that the poet's intention is Satiric. Beside the 'rape' of Helen, which was of such momentous consequence as to disturb the peace of the Greek and Trojan world for several years, we have the trivial domestic incident of the 'rape' of a lock of hair. This ludicrousness of a petty theme exalted by an elevated treatment is the essence of the mock-epic.
Alexander Pope ( 1688-1744 ):
Alexander pope was born in London on 21 may, 1688. His father , also named Alexander, was a Roman catholic, a successful linen merchant in London. His mother, Edith Turner from Yorkshire, was also a catholic. This Roman catholic background is the most significant fact of pope's life. He is a poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the 18th century. Pope is a best known for his satirical and discursive poetry including
The Dunciad ( 1728 )
The Rape of the lock (1712-1714)
An Essay on criticism ( 1711 )
An Essay on man( 1733-34 )
Here we discuss his most famous work Mock-epic 'The Rape of the lock'.
Q.1 According to you , who is the protagonist of the poem Clarissa or Belinda? Why? Give your answer with logical reasons.
A protagonist is the leading figure in poetry, Narrative, Novel or any other story. In most of the books, protagonist is usually " Theperfect person" with looks and habits so perfect that the reader develops a progressive vision towards him or her. To the writer or poet, the protagonist can built an amazing plot. While thinking about protagonist of the poem. We must have to sight of both of their role and character traits in the poem. So here first of all I will look at both of their role and then I will give an explanation of protagonist.
Belinda :-
Belinda is a wealthy and beautiful young woman who travels to Hampton court. She is a central character of the poem. Pope has presented Belinda as a complex character. Her remarkable Beauty attracts the attention of the Baron, who snips off a Lock of her hair in his infatuation. Pope has presented her in different roles and under different shades, some are satirical other ironical. We can discuss her character under the following heads:
The Heroine of the poem:-
Belinda is the heroine of the story. It is her character around whom the story of the whole poems is woven. We see her sleeping till noon and her awaking by her lap dog "Shock". We are present at her toilet and watch the progress of the sacred rites of pride. Then we see her proceedings from the Thames River to the Hampton Court. Then her smiling looks upon the well dressed youths that crowds her. In short, she is the main character and heroine of the poem.
Belinda as Miss Arabella Fermor:-
Belinda is the Miss Arabella Fermor of real life. She was an acknowledged beauty of her time, when pope wrote this poem. Her different portraits show two locks of hair that rests on her shoulder. These two locks are the same that we found in Belinda's character and this poem is all about the rapping of these two locks by lord petre.
An object of Mockery and Adoration:-
Belinda is both object of ridicule and beauty which compel admiration. As a representative of the aristocratic class, she is mocked at. But, as a beautiful and Charming Lady, she deserves our admiration. On the other hand she is praised as a woman of beauty and charm. She is almost presented as goddess of beauty and youth.
Representative of her class:-
Belinda is represents lady Fermor of real life, whom lord Petre made angry by cutting her lock. Lord Petre in the poem is represented by the Baron. Both the families of Fermor and Peter's were inimical to each other but they were friendly to pope. Pope would not have been able in bringing them close to each other if he had not presented them satirically. Therefore, as an individual, pope praised them but in the full -fledged version he mocked at them. Belinda and lord Petre appeared to him as typically representative of their class and he satires them.
Central character of the poem:-
From the opening lines, it immediately becomes clear that Belinda is the central character. She is the heroine of this Mock-epic. Here in the fourth line, she is given a place which is higher than any others; she is both the end and means of the poem. She is accorded the status of the goddess of charm and beauty. Her character represents degradation of aristocratic class. This makes her character larger than other character of the poem. Some other points of her character are as under,
Her Romantic Nature
Her Habits
A creation of wit, Beauty and poetry
Clarissa:-
Clarissa is one of the attending women at the party described in the poem. She is party to the conspiracy of cutting off the lock of hair and lends a pair of scissors to the Baron to do this. Later, she utters a speech on the fleeting nature of beauty and the importance of good sense once a women's looks have faded.
In the beginning of canto 5, Clarissa delivers a speech in which she questions why a society that so adores beauty in women does not also place a value on "good sense" and "good humour". Women are frequently called angles, she argues, but without reference to the moral qualities of these creatures.
So, Both have different views towards life. Belinda believes in outer beauty or materialism while Clarissa believes in inner beauty or moral side of character. So, in the comparison of Belinda, Clarissa is a very clear and focused girl, who knows the traits of life very well. Though she gets only a small part of conversation or the play, she delivers the way of looking and ultimately truth regarding inner and outer beauty. But it is a bit confusing to consider one as a protagonist. As Belinda holds the central position in the play she is the heroine or the protagonist of the play, but if we think about maturity in a protagonist, Clarissa perfectly fits in it
Q .2 what is beauty? Write your views about it.
"Beauty is not in the face,
Beauty is a light in the heart."
I comply with the topic, "personality is more important than looks". Both of these adjectives fall under two different domains. There is something called
Inner Beauty and
Outer Beauty
Personality is something that we call inner beauty which refres to the mindset and character of a person and looks is something that we call outer beauty which simply refres to the physical appearance of a person. In my opinion, looks can never be a factor based on which an individual should be judged. There are many ways of jugdening beautiful people.
If we look at the poem The Rape of the Lock we can see this contract of beauty. Belinda present as a outer beauty and Clarissa present as a inner beauty.
What do you think makes a person beautiful?
For girls:-
Perfect curves
Fair skin
Blue eyes
Long and dark eyelashes
Glossy lips
Fit body
Good height
Good dress sense
For Boys:-
Money
Fair or dusky skin
Nicely trimmed beard
A good hairstyle
Dark brown eyes with thick eyebrows
Muscular arms
Good dress sense
Everybody sees these qualities in girls and boys. Which makes a person beautiful. But
Kindness
Honesty
Good heart
Empty and
Humbleness
Makes person beautiful too but people don't really love them. And even if they do, they will do so only after noticing the qualities mentioned in above part of the answer.
Take an example.
Who would you choose to date? Or go on a lunch/dinner? Or even simply spend some time?
This.
Or this.
The truth is,
At the end of the day, all we care about is looks. No one falls in love with your personality at first sight.
As a conclusion, I must say that a person should focus on and work on his personality. He should make sure that his behaviour and attitude are not hurting anyone and people consider him a wise and gentle person. Whatever beautyfulness and smartness you try to manoeuvre, but at the end of the day, if you don't get moral pleasure and peace of mind, that you have done right to all those you met throughout the day, you won't be considered a beautiful person. And this moral pleasure comes from nowhere other than people's blessings.
So, it doesn't matter at all whether you are good looking or not, you have to be well- behaved and possess inner beauty and you will be praised everywhere.
"Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it."
Q .3 find out a reserch paper on "The Rape of the Lock". Give the details of the paper and write down in brief what it says about the poem by Alexander pope.
Reserch paper on The Rape of the Lock:-
Depiction of contemporary life in The Rape of the Lock by Dr. George kolanchery :-
In this Reserch paper writer emphasis on major aspects of the poem.
The Rape of the Lock- a Mirror of the Age
The Frivolities (foolish behaviour) of womenfolk
Hellowness of the Gentlemen of the Day
Alexander pope has been the most representative poet of the eighteenth century. His most representative poem 'The Rape of the lock' very faithfully mirror at least a certain section of English society in the eighteenth century. The artificial tone of the age, the foolish behaviour of women fashionable beauty.
It is the ethos of this age has been caught in 'The Rape of the lock'. J. R. Lowell remarks 'The Rape of the Lock was a mirror in the drawing room but it gave a faithful image of society, yet still as human in its own way as the heroes of Homer I theirs'. The fashions, Frivolities, the vanities and the follies of the upper class of society are faithfully presented by Alexander pope.
The Rape of the Lock very faithfully mirror the Frivolities of the womenfolk of that time. Belinda represents the typical fashionable ladies of that time. There is not the slightest glimpses of seriousness or sincerity, goodness in any of her words and actions.
She is a beautiful lady; she has a host of admirers; she is a coquette. She controls the mood of the people around her- Belinda smiled and all the world was gay.
Pope's satirical tone is shown at his best when he shows the outward charms and the inward frivolity of fashionable ladies.
"Their hearts are toy shops . They reverse the relative importance of things ; the little with them is great and the great Little."
The gentleman are as frivolous as the ladies. Lord petre and his fellows are the representatives of the fashionable society of the time. They all are ideal, empty- minded folk, and seem to have nothing else to do except love making or flirting if their ladies. The battle between the ladies and the gentlemen shows emptiness and futility of their lives. In The Rape of the Lock, ladies and gentlemen alike meet in the Hampton Court "to taste the pleasure of a court.
So, we can say that this was the kind of life led by the fashionable people of the upper classes in the age of pope and pope has described it in gorgeous colour on the one hand and with scathing satire on the other. These is nothing deep or serious on the lives and activities of the fashionable people - all is vanity and emptiness and this pope has revealed with brilliance and art.
Thus, the paper is about the dipiction of contemporary life in The Rape of the Lock.
Q.4 write your views about the significance of hair. Is it symbolic?
Belinda's lock of hair comes to symbolize the absurdity of the importance afforded to female beauty in society.
To begin with, the hier in The Rape of the lock symbolizes Belinda's beauty and youth, which is why she feels humiliated when the lock is cut off. From the immemorial, long hair was the sign of women's beauty which they were immensely proud off. Rape is a serious matter and we have a question that how Rape and lock suppose to be connected with perticular work.
Whole story is around the cut of hair of Belinda. Baron cut off the lock of Belinda's hair shows that he wished to deprive Belinda of her beauty , or at least to take away some of her pride in her beauty.
Moreover, hair symbolizes Belinda's social status; firstly , it signifies her belonging to the upper social class. So , we can say that poem is all about Hair locks. There is also a second meaning of the concept of beauty. It also present a upper class and arristicratic class. In this poem we learn about beauty and society. For a batter understanding about poem you can watch this video,
Bridge course : W. Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads
This blog is in response to the Bridge Course about Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In this blog I am going to deal with major points of Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads.
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge :-
William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English Literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads ( 1798 ). Partnership between Wordsworth and Coleridge, rooted in one marvelous year ( 1797-98 ) in which they "together wanton in wild poesy", had two consequences for Wordsworth. Lyrical Ballads was first published in 1798 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. The "preface to Lyrical Ballads" to the second addition contains Wordsworth's famous definition of Poetry as the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" and his theory that Poetry should be written in "the language really used by men."
Q.1 What is the basic difference between the poetic creed of 'classicism' and 'romanticism'?
The classic and Romantic are literary movements. Romentic movement began in England with publication of lyrical ballads in 1798 by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It also marks the ending of the Neo classical Age, in which poets and writers and their way of writing. So after the publication of lyrical ballads, there was new enthusiasm and ways of writing. For this reason, we first have to understand the difference between classicism and Romanticism.
Different between classicism and Romanticism:-
Classicism and Romanticism are opposing movements and styles which influenced all the major arts like Architecture, painting, music and literature. Both have different ways of looking and thus different ideologies. In classicism, intellect is the guiding force, while in romanticism imagination is the guiding force. In classicism there were certain restraints but in romanticism there was liberty, freedom and free play of emotions and feelings. Here is a chart of different between classicism and Romanticism.
Classicism defines beauty which demonstrates balance and order, as it originates in the Greek and Roman societies. The name "classical " was given by Renaissance writers. The major writers of the romanticism are Wordsworth, Shelly, Keats, Coleridge. But the moment we come to Wordsworth, Shelly, Keats, Coleridge, we find that it is the rustic life is in the country side that attracts them most; they seen the glory of rural people. They seen the glory of life so different from what we find when we come to romantic poetry. Another difference is that romantic poetry is basically subjective. For them as Wordsworth you must have read in the content also Wordsworth definition says good poetry is a ' Spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling recollected in tranquility so that they believed in subjectivity.
Spontaneous overflow, it's subjective but classical poetry believed in objectivity that good poetry should be objective. Romantic poets were inspired by the ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty which is a words of the French revolution. So it is a different in their approach to how they look at poetry.
1. Classicism
The imitation or use primarily of the style and aesthetic principal of ancient Greek and Roman classical art and literature. The term Neo classicism is often used in refering to revivals of classicism.
2. Romanticism
It is a movement in the literature that lasted from about 1759 to 1870'charactrise by reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression, and an idealization of nature.
Lyrical Ballads:-
Lyrical Ballads was first published in 1798 by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It is a collection of poems. It marks the beginning of the romantic movement. In the year 1800, two year after publication of lyrical Ballads, the second edition William Wordsworth composed an essay, named the preface to the lyrical Ballads, which was expanded by him in the third edition in 1802. In the purpose behind the collection of poems: it was an experiment to determine whether poetry written in the real language of men could be successful. In preface he gives definition of poetry as,
"Spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling;it takes its origin from emotion recollected in Tranquility."
Q.2 Why does Wordsworth say 'What' is poet rather than who is poet.
Wordsworth gives the definition of what is poet to justify his argument.
" A poet is a man speaking to men, endowed with more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, who rejoice, more then other men in the spirit bof life: habitually impelled to creative volition, passions and situation where he does not find them."
By his definition we can understand that what is poet, poet is a man speaking to man so what is poet is a man speaking to men.
Now which means poet although the Romantics place a lot of importance on the inherent talent within a person to come up with poetry that kind of a talent is missing in general people but a poet is a person who certainly does not come from any other planet, he is a man speaking to men then we will find in continuance this observation.
This is what Wordsworth has to say about what is a poet so the entity called poet is such a human being who is overall in degree a far better human being than ordinary human being. Poet is different from other men he has great thinking power, creative and critical mind and different way of expressing his thoughts and feelings.
Q.3 What is poetic diction? Which sort of poetic diction is suggested by Wordsworth in his preface?
Poetic diction generally means,
"Choice of words" which then lends a unique style for each individual poet or author. In the third edition of lyrical Ballads published in 1802, he elaborately explain his theory of poetic diction. He defines poetic diction as a language of common men. It is not the language of the poet as a class but the language of mankind. It is the simple expression of pure passion by men living close to nature. The poetic language is the natural language; therefore, it must be spontaneous and instinctive.
The Preface to the Lyrical Ballad is a masterpiece of work from which we will analyse Wordsworth's poetic diction in detail. In the theory of poetic diction he explained in detail his aim of poetic diction;
Simple language
Low of rustic life
Common man
Nature
Emotions
Simple language in Wordsworth's poetic diction:-
In Wordsworth's poetic diction, the main Focus was on language. The age before romanticism or Wordsworth's age was an age of imitation where writers have only copied their ancient masters and followed their ancient masters and followed their trend, rules, and diction. It is known as pseudo-classical writers. Wordsworth revolted against the pseudo-classical writing and presented a new type of literature. Literature for common men.
Wordsworth was a poet who presents a new type of poetry as Lyrical Ballads. In which he uses language that is really used by the common men. He suggests language should be as simple as common people and their lives because simplicity opens vast areas for expressing ideas and thoughts clearly and we can only depict the true Nature through simple language. As Wordsworth says poetry is a Spontaneous overflow of emotion that's why he argued to use the simple and common language.
Low and Rustic life:-
The poetry of Wordsworth deals with low and Rustic life. It means Poetry's subject matter dealt with the life of common people. The people who live in rural areas are the farmers, commoners and the rustic people. His poetry theme mostly reflects the common life, a domestic life full of imagination.
Common Man:-
As Wordsworth was a poet of common life. His poetry is for the common man. The infrastructure of his poetry is totally based on common people. He used the language of common people, he wrote his poetry for common people. The subject matter was from the rustic rural areas that only depend on nature and simplicity.
The common man's life is really near to nature and more realistic as compared to city life. He uses the color of imagination to make those incidents quite imaginative and charismatic, helping the reader to understand a better way of human nature.
Nature in Wordsworth's poetic diction:-
At the time of Wordsworth, the era was moving towards instructions, and urbanization which made the life of people completely disturbed and Wordsworth thinks that this majesty caused people's minds to grow numb. The creativity and simplicity turn apart from their lives, and people become more materialistic.
He wants his people to be close to nature and to keep his readers emotionally , morally and sensitively alive. His poems have a purpose to bring people back to nature. So his poetry is centred on nature. Nature poem allow the reader to
Experience simplicity
Countryside joy
Ordinary life
Purity
Lovely Nature and
Aesthetic joy
Emotions:-
As Wordsworth says;
Wordsworth defines poetry as the Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. It makes its origin from emotions recollected in tranquility.
He says good poetry is a composition of powerful feelings and emotions, poetry which raises the expression of the reader while reading the poetry. He always has to engage in the process to find out the best words to express his feelings and emotions. Emotions are the prime component of poetry that make poetry expressive and more imaginative.
In Biographia Literaria s.t. Coleridge shows strong disagreement to Wordsworth's poetic diction, he asks Wordsworth what does mean by language "really used by men". Which means what reality, which real men, implying that are the people who are erodied city dwellers not real men. There is a famous poem by Wordsworth or Michael. He is amidst nature. Now this is something a person of eighty years old, hell and hearty and amidst nature and that age need not be true with everybody who lives in countryside. So you are selecting somebody exclusive again. You are not talking about real life as real in the sense that happens with everyone and therefore neither your choice is real man nor the diction of a language truly speaking what you say really used by those men.
Q. 4 what is poetry? Discuss 'Daffodils- wandered as a lonely cloud' with reference to Wordsworth's poetic creed.
Definition of poetry:-
"Poetry is a Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, it takes its origin from emotions recollected in tranquility."
This means that the poet observes an object, it sets off powerful emotions in his mind and lets them sink into his mind. At a later moment, he Recollected those emotions in tranquility and produced a poem. Poetry has its origin in the internal feelings of the poet. It is a matter of passion. Romantic poetry is dominated by only the genre of poetry. We can see that after Dryden, Wordsworth offers this definition. Here is Wordsworth's famous definition from his poem Daffodils,
Daffodils also known as "I wandered lonely as clouds". It is a lyrical poem by Wordsworth. It was first published in 1807 in poems, In two volumes and as a revision in 1815. The poem contains four stanzas. First three stanzas in past tense and fourth stanza in present tense. The poem begins with,
"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on High O'er vales and hills."
The first stanza of poetry in the past tense. Poet describes how he walked around and felt lonely as a cloud. While roaming in the valley he suddenly sees a crowd, a host, of golden Daffodils. It shows that the poet is sharing something that took place in the past, but if we look towards the last stanza the poet uses the present tense,
"For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude."
In the fourth and final stanza, the poet says that while sitting on his couch and in vacant or pensive mood, the memories of those Daffodils flash upon his inward eye i.e. his spiritual or romantic vision.
Their memory then becomes the source of joy in his solitude. His heart is then filled with pleasure and dance with the Daffodils. Thus the memory of the Daffodils becomes his companion in his solitude and taking away all his sorrows and boredom makes his spirit dance with them.
According to his definition of poetry, if we follow Daffodils stanza by stanza we will find just looking at the tense gives us how this Recollected in tranquility happens and then the poem ends. We can see how very well this poem in a nutshell, the small poem works out the definition of Wordsworth.
So, we can say that Daffodils is a perfect example of his preface to Lyrical Ballads. This poetry is totally based on his poetic ideas. So we can say that Wordsworth was a Nature poet and revolutionary poet and his poetry is simple, full of emotion and imagination.
Hello..! I am payal Bambhaniya. I am pursuing master's degree in department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. I am writing blogs to improve my writing skills.
Here I am writing blog about to my hobby, passion and creative writing. I writes a first creative writing or poem about music. Music can raise someone's mood get them excited, or make then calm and relaxed. Music has the power to make us feel happy and at peace. And I also write for who likes the listening music and it's also make people delightful. Everybody likes different kind of music like sad, happy, sorrowful and etc. It's depends on his or her mood. If someone who in happy mood they listen the happy music and if someone who in sad mood they listen sad music.
Dear Music
When I listen music,
I forgot everything.
I feel music as a
Beat of heart and
Soul of body.
Music is a therapy for depression,
It's modify me into a delightness.
When I am in sadness,
It's become my happiness.
I feel music as a
Freedom of thoughts and
Freedom of emotions.
Music is a peace of mind and
Positivity of my life.
When I am in happy mood,
It's lyrics that touches my heart.
When play the melody of music
It's like lyrics play in my blood.
Music is a universal language of the world,
It's brings people together where ever they lives.
- payal Bambhaniya
Further I want to add one another poem which is written by Dr. Jitubhai vadher. He is a English teacher of higher secondary school which name is jalaram highschool, pithalpur. Mostly I like this poem.
Women
She came treading softly
Like I saw a dream.
In her fairness
Was the effulgence of gold
In her kohl- dark eyes
Gems sparkled
In her soft tender lips
Flowers blossomed
When she laughed pearls glistened.
She was beautiful
In her ignorance
And virtuous.
In her simplicity I opened my eyes
And she vanished
Casting a spell of magic
That still lingers on.
So sometimes
She calls 'Najuk'
And her loveliness
We like to call 'Najakat'.
-Jitubhai vadher ( Najakat )
He is a good writer and he recently published his book in gazal form, it's name is ' એક સદીનો પોરો '. He is a also my teacher of higher secondary education. And I inspired by him. At last I want to add some lines in gujarati language that is,
બુરાઓને અસર નથી કરતી સોબત ભલાઓની, ફૂલોનો રંગ કાંટાને કદી લાગી નથી શકતો.
This blog is a responses to the Thinking Activity Of the tragedy of Macbeth.
The Tragedy Of Macbeth by William Shakespeare :-
Macbeth:-
"Fair is Foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air." - William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is one of the most iconic Character ever created. It is a famous tragedy of William Shakespeare. It is based on history of Scotland. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophesy from a trio of witches that one day he will become king of Scotland. Consumed by Ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders king Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth into the realms of madness and death. Here you can see the trailer of Macbeth.
As a tragedy, Macbeth is a dramatization of the psychological repercussions of unbridled Ambition. The main themes of the play is
- Loyalty
- Innocence and
- Fate
all deal with the central idea of AMBITION and its consequences.
Q.1 Feminist reading of lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth :-
"Be bloody, bold and resolute.
laugh to scorn the power of man,
for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth."
Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. As the wife of the play's tragic hero , Macbeth, lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes queen of Scotland. In this play , there are more male characters than female. There are only two women, lady Macbeth and lady Macduff , but both are opposite in nature. But there is not a single scene where two ladies are together. So in this sense, we can evaluate that Shakespeare has presented an inverted image of women, who generally want to be together. There is complete isolation for lady Macbeth as she has no female companion in the play. Three witches are also portraying women.
Among all these woman characters, lady Macbeth is different in each way. Shakespeare's portrayal of lady Macbeth leads us to think more about the concept of feminism. Whenever we try to analysis a character in feminist perspective, We first have to know what is the general concept of feminism.
According to Cambridge English Dictionary meaning of feminism,
The belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way.
Feminism is a movement that seeks equality for all people, and an elimination of classical ideas of gender ( male intelligence versus female inferiority; male strength versus female emotional weakness ) as gender is a social construct rather than something that a person born into. We first have to look towards the situation of women in the time of William Shakespeare.
condition of women in plays of Shakespeare :-
During the times of Shakespeare and reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I , English ideas of sex and gender, the legal rights of women and the social expectations of Femininity all played a significant role in the way that theatre was performed, the stories it told and who told them. In addition to other legal restrictions on the rights of women there was considerable social pressure on women to behave according to specific social roles. Women were expected to be subservient, quiet and homebound, with their primary ambitions entirely confined to marriage, childbirth and homemaking; granted, social status and economic class played into what degree these expectations manifested, with the chief example being Queen Elizabeth I herself. Here I Put a video of condition of women in plays of Shakespeare.
In Shakespeare's tragedies and his plays in general, there are several types of female characters. They influence other characters, but are also often underestimated. women in Shakespearean plays have always had important roles, sometimes the leading role. whether they are there to change the story or Stabilise it, they are there for a reason. Some women are stronger than others, and their effect on the play is different for each one. They often surpass the male heroes.
Here is a list of 7 most coveted roles for women in Shakespeare's plays:-
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth
Portia, The Merchant Of Venice
Cleopatra, Antony and Cleopatra
Juliet, Romeo and Juliet
Rosalind, As You Like It
Emilia, Othello
Viola, Twelfth Night
Here we can see that different women characters in Shakespeare's play like lady Macbeth from Macbeth, Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Emilia from Othello are all character of women who took action to control their own lives. Here we talk about lady Macbeth as a feminist.
Lady Macbeth is strong , ruthless and ambitious.
Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. when we first see her, she is already plotting Duncan's murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point , she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. Her name suggest that she should be just as her name says, a lady, an accessory to Macbeth himself, her protagonists, defies the definition of the traditional female gender role defined by Tyson as she is neither emotional nor submissive. Here is one dialogue from Macbeth,
"O Never
Shall the sun that morrow see!
your face, my thane, is as a book
where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue. look like th'
innocent flower,
But be the serpent under 't. He that's coming
Must be provide for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch,
which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and Masterdom.
In these lines, in ACT 1 Scene 5, lady Macbeth tells her husband to leave everything to her: she'll set up Duncan's murder that evening. In the meantime, she tells Macbeth, he should try to look as innocent as possible. The lines show lady Macbeth pushing her husband to kill Duncan. we can't know if Macbeth would have decided to murder his king if his wife hadn't encouraged him so strongly.
In the construction of the female gothic this scene is of great importance, as it displays lady Macbeth's qualities, the supernatural, evil and womanhood. Shakespeare reveals lady Macbeth's assessment of her husband
"Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o'th milk of human kindness"
suggesting that Macbeth is weak willed and he will not commit murder because he is too noble of a character. Milk also suggests the motherly tone of lady Macbeth, suggesting that Macbeth has not been brought up to be a brutal murderer but a man of honour ,conveying the virtue of his character. It also foreshadows the destruction that lady Macbeth will impose upon her husband therefore suggesting that she could be viewed as a 'femme fetale' figure. From the very beginning of Macbeth, lady Macbeth is shown as a character is relents in creating rebellious plots.
Furthermore, she openly rejects her femininity through the words
"Come...unsex me here...come to my woman's breasts, and take my milk for gall..." To make her worthy of murder, she asks spirits to "Unsex me here", implying that being a woman means she can not be powerful. This is the first example of lady Macbeth purposefully rejecting her femaleness to gain power.
Guilt of lady Macbeth:-
Lady Macbeth obsessively washes her hands in the 5th act of the play in order to wash off the imaginary blood on them, a reminder of the guilt she has over the killings she and her husband carried out. The guilt of lady Macbeth is presented in her Soliloquy, where she is continuously rubbing her hands. she is also Suffering from somnambulism. she commits suicide out of guilt what she has done before. so now she is completely opposite what she was earlier at the beginning.
Lady Macbeth as Fourth Witch:-
Lady Macbeth is sometimes been called "The Fourth Witch" of the play. To Goethe, she is 'The super witch. In Fact, lady Macbeth's commanding role in murdering Duncan, her cruel and witch like approach to the horrid deed is simply amazing. In the play there is three witches ignites a personal desire of Macbeth but, if lady Macbeth would force him to kill Duncan, he would not done that. It is also believed that destruction of Macbeth is not only because of the desire and force of lady Macbeth. Shakespeare's witches are not the only characters who help push Macbeth's natural ambitions over the edge. His wife, Lady Macbeth, possesses a similar desire for Macbeth to become king.
Patriarchal society encourages Lady Macbeth to invest herself in the role of mother. Lady Macbeth is seen as selfish and abnormal when she confess that there is a situation in which she would, a very unnatural statement according to patriarchy's belief that women's desire to have and protect children is a part of "their natural biological makeup" Though intelligent and strong at the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is reduced to an insignificant person haunted by nightmares and guilt as a result of a patriarchal portrayal of her gender.
So, We can say that Lady Macbeth finds the classical concept of Femininity repulsive, but cannot deny womanhood without denying morality as well. The fact that Lady Macbeth had murderous thoughts makes her equal to the men she was surrounded by. It is through these points that Lady Macbeth's character can be both vilified and explored as a feminist role model. she is the real feminine power in the plays of William Shakespeare.
"To be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." - William Shakespeare
'Creativity involves breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way.' - Edward De Bono
Hello..! Myself PAYAL BAMBHANIYA, I am student of English Language and Literature. writing this blog for special event and that was the workshop for thinking skills by the very good resource person PROF. MILAN PANDYA.
MILAN PANDYA is a teacher, trainer, and educator in the field of thinking skills, critical, creative and design Thinking ,English Language Teaching & Communication Skills. with more than 12 years of teaching experience, MR. PANDYA has authored of two books and presented and published a number of research papers in national and international conferences and journals. MR. PANDYA has BA & MA in English Literature, M.PHIL in English language Teaching & his PH.D involves study into online teaching and critical thinking. He currently holds a position of vice president of advancement at critical thinking , solutions company in Ontario, Canada, and teaches at multiple colleges such as Conestoga and Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada.
Day:- 1
The Workshop started on 13th august,2022. DR. DILIP BARAD SIR first warmly welcomed him and then give brief information about MR. MILAM PANDYA and his achievements and also his work areas. It was extremely enriching as well as hard nuts to cracked. Many things were discussed like,
CRITICAL & CREATIVE THINKING:-
On the first day of the workshop sir started the session by asking a question, 'what is the meaning of critical or creative thinking'. critical and creative thinking both are having own values like the creative thinking lead us towards the ideas which are not chewed and also having it's worth within itself. when we talk about thinking skills, it covers three main areas,
1. Logical
2. Rational and
3. scientific Thinking
Thinking means when we start to apply our mind on anything that we come across. we all have thinking power , it is necessary to evaluate things rationally. when we think about anything we all have some doubt towards things and then we started logical and rational thinking. people should not accept things as it is presented and shown to us. we need to be Sceptical , because only this things led us to the truth. At that time it is necessary for us to the truth. sir also mentioned the great philosopher Socrates. I want put a quotation by this philosopher,
"I know you want believe me but the highest form of human excellence is to be question Oneself and Others."
Further sir gave a definition of critical thinking that ,
'Thinking about Thinking in order to improve Thinking.'
Here the act of thinking is for the act of improving the thinking process that how we can think in certain kind of patterns and flows. further he talk about FACT & OPINIONS. According to him , facts are those which are not going to be change ever, and opinions are those which can change anytime. if you need to take decision you need thinking. He also told that , Human being is rational being.
Further he explain that , context is everything in critical thinking. when we look at anything we have to be critical about what else has to be true. for this he also use this line,
'If Something is true , what else has to be true in that.'
so we always have to think in different ways and perspective. he also gave some examples like,
1. scene from KAREENA KAPOOR'S advertisement of lux soap:-
This is a advertisement of lux soap about 3 Ruppe discount on lux soap. Kareena Kapoor is belong to richest background and in the add she is smiling for just 3 ruppe discount.
2. A Tweeter post of the well known actor SATISH SANTOSH.
In this post he says that ," The very same TIRANGA DHWAJ my mother had got during quit INDIA movement, 1942. If we look at it critically, we would find that the flag which he has in his hands was made after the independence of INDIA in 1947. Before that it was not like there was another symbol, not ASHOK CHAKRA, so if we are not aware of history we take it as truth. while he talking about this things , he explored various incidents and thought about the questions asked by students. like fact of nature and gravity. we need to see possible and plausible aspects of the things or events.
Possible and
Plausible
3.Photo of Kerala shared by Sunny Leone.
This photo shows many controversies. Kerala is considered as the most literate state , people are on the road for our home minister AMIT SHAH'S welcome. Here He tries to differentiate literary and education. The whole road is covered by people so there can be problems for people to manage their daily work, it can cause traffic, and disturbing in schools and hospitals. By all these pictures, sir explain that always be a critic. for that we need to search for the truth. He also presented a quote by LAO TE CHING,
"Your teacher might be wrong, learn to think for yourself."
Milan sir talked about it is very clear that, how we can think and how we should think for ourselves rather than do not believing in the things which are told to us and taught to us by the teachers. He also talked about other things by quotes that ,
'you don't need anything when you start to think of yourself.'
DAY:-2
The second day is all about thought experiments. children are very interesting to observe every things. Man is rational animal. But we cant say that man is born with rationality, for that cultivation training plays a vital role.
"No one is born critical or creative, they have to train themselves.
when we look at anything , it is very difficult to come to a conclusion whether it is creative or not. To test our creative power , sir gave us a picture.
In this picture we can see that there are so many objects together come out. It was kind we have to find out various categories the objects can be put under that. There are so many things of various fields. we all tried to differentiate things and some best categories which was imagined, presented and emerged by the classmates are,
Nature verses Men
Birth and Death
Materialistic world
Implements
Red color as symbol of love
Religion verses science
fast food or cafeteria
Black art
The Nobility
Book names:- Othello, Macbeth, The Gun Island.
weapons
we can considered all as a metaphor. It is call a thought process. It help us to train our mind. As well as creativity. It Is Important to look beyond the thing from different angles. And it is change our way of thinking skills. By that we got the glimpse of how criticism and creative thinking skills are difficult to have. And also at last sir told that it's the life skill not only thinking skills. He told that,
'you are what you are, because of thinking.'
so by the workshop I learn lots of things connected to creative and critical thinking. I Really like a thought experiments. At last sir gave a four P to understand the creative and critical thinking.,
Person
Process
Press and
Product
lots of thank to Barad sir and Milan sir for this Wonderful workshop & session.
