Jude the Obscure

 Thinking Activity :- Jude the Obscure

Hello Readers! This blog is responce to the Thinking Activity of Novel Jude the Obscure, assigned by Dilip Barad sir, The Department of English. In this blog I am going to present going to discuss some alloted question on the basis of my understanding.

Introduction of Writer :-

Thomas Hardy ( 1840 - 1928 ):-

"But no one came. Because no one ever does." - Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure 

Thomas Hardy was an English Novelist and Poet. He was a Victorian writer. He was a highly critical of much of in Victorian Society. He set much of his work in Wessex, England. Many of his Novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. His Notable works are below.

• Tess of the D'Urbervilles 
• Far From the Madding Crowd
• The Mayor of Casterbridge 
• Jude the Obscure
• A pair of Blue Eyes 

His Realism, prose style, characterization and social criticism in his novel are works of social commentary. He was a fierce critic of poverty with social stratification. Thomas Hardy is best known for his novels, all of which were published in the mid to late 19th century. His last novels, Tess of D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are generally considered as his finest work.

Jude the Obscure:-

Jude the Obscure is a Novel written by Thomas Hardy. It is published in book form in 1895. It is  a last work of Thomas Hardy. Jude Fawley,  fictional character , who is the protagonist of Novel. He is a poor Villagers, wants to enter the school at Christminster. Whole story is based on this character. Themes of novel are below.

Themes of Novel :- 

Marriage:-

In the Novel Jude the Obscure marriage is a major theme. Much of the Obscure the institution of marriage, which Hardy saw as flawed and unjust. The Novel's plot is organised to wring all the possible tragedy out of an unhappy marriage, as Jude is first guilted into marrying Arabella by her pregnancy, and Sue marries Philotson mostly to make Jude jealous. Marriage in Jude the Obscure:

Richard Philotson - Sue Bridehead and

Jude Fawley - Arabella Donne

But both the Character immediately regret their decisions, and realise how a single impulsive decision can affect their entire lives. when they meet each other and fall in love, Sue and Jude's pure connection is constantly obstructed by their earlier marriages, and Hardy even presents the tragedy of Little Father Time's murder - Suicide as a natural result of broken marriages and unhappy relationship.

The novel is not a simple diatribe against marriage, but instead illustrates a complex, contradictory situation. Sue and Jude want their love to be true and spontaneous, but also totally monogamous and everlasting. The epigraph to the novel is " the letter killeth," which comes from a quote from Jesus in the Bible. Hardy intended this quote to refer to marriage, where the contract of the institution kills Joy and true love , but Hardy purposefully leaves off the optimism of the spirit - Jude and Sue's Joy is fleeting even when they are only following "Nature's Law," and in the end they find no good answer for how to properly love and live together. By the Novel's tragic end Hardy still leaves the question of marriage unanswered emphasizing only his dissatisfaction with the institution as it stands. So, we can say that Marriage is a central theme of Jude the Obscure.

Women in Society:-

In the Novel Jude the Obscure Sue Bridehead is a protagonist. She is a modern, free minded and complex heroine. Through this Character Hardy brings up many gender related issues. Sue is unique in Victorian society in that she lives with men without marrying them, as with her undergraduate student friend. Sue is highly intelligent and very well read, and she rejects the traditional Christianity of her society. She also works alongside both Philotson partly to further her own teaching position.

Despite her intelligence and independence, Sue fails at her endeavors throughout the book, and through her suffering Hardy critiques the society that punishes his heroine. Sue, like others women, is expected to be the property of the man she marries, so Sue is bound to Philotson for life even after their separation. Sue is never allowed to advance in her work because of herk marital status. As an unmarried, disgraced women she has no power in society.

While Hardy was ahead of his time in creating such a strong female character, he still clings to many gender stereotypes about women: Sue is emotionally fragile and often hysterical, changing her mind at the slightest whim and breking down in the face of tragedy. As an opposite to Sue, Arabella is greedy, sensual, and vain - the stereotypes of everything Victorian society found bad and sinful in women. Though Arabella is usually the antagonist, she is also the character who ends up the most fortunate in the plot, showing just how unprepared society was for a character like Sue.

Religion:-

Religion is another most important theme in the novel. Along with marriage and society, Hardy spends much of Jude the obscure critiquing religion and the institution of Christianity. He often portrays Christianity as life - denying and belonging to "the letter" that "killeth". In contrast, Sue is introduced as a kind of pre - Christian entity, an ethereal, pagan spirit, and she first appears buying figures of the ancient Greek gods, Venus and Apollo. Jude, meanwhile, hopes to join the clergy as part of his intellectual pursuits. At a model of Jerusalem, Sue wonders why Jerusalem should be honoured above Athens or Rome, but Jude is mesmerised by this city which is so important to Christianity.

Hardy again adds more nuance - Christianity may be the "right" way for his country and time, but it can still be used for his country and time, but it can still be used for less - than - pure purposes. As "Nature's law" fails Sue and Jude, so "Heaven's law" also fails them, and the letter of the law of Christianity can seem less moral then human nature, Hardy gives many examples of this, including Sue's return to Philotson, which is a kind of adultery even though they are legally and religiously married. As usual, Hardy ends without any clear answer. Hardy seems to reject a Christianity that is overly concerned with laws and traditions, but he doesn't portray paganism or atheism as a particularly fulfilling alternative either. Thus, we can say that religion is a very important theme in the novel.

Education:-

In the novel education is very significant theme. Hardy highlights many kinds of education Jude the Obscure. Most obviously we have to Jude's desire to get a university  degree and become an academic. Jude is in experienced with women and with social situation more generally, he is especially susceptible to Arabella's education. In the novel, the level of traditional education one reaches is closely tied to the class system, and if someone from Jude's class wants to learn, they must teach themselves. Alto generator seems to admire Jude's willingness to teach himself; he also points out the limits of autodidacticism, nothing that despite Jude's near constant studies, he cannot hope to compete on the university entrance exam against richer men who have hired tutors. So , we can say that theme of education is one of the most important thing in the novel.

Thus, we can say that Hardy write that a Jude the Obscure is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion, morality and marriage. These themes conspire to destroy the lives of Jude and Sue. So, all the themes which I portray above are very important themes in the novel Jude the Obscure. 

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The Importance of Being Ernest

 Thinking Activity :- The Importance of Being Ernest

Hello Readers! This blog is responce to the Thinking Activity of play The Importance of Being Ernest, assigned by Dilip Barad sir, Department of English, MKBU. In this blog I am going to present some alloted question on the basis of my understanding.

Oscar Wilde ( 1854 - 1900 ):-

"Be Yourself, everyone else is already taken".

         - Oscar Wilde 

Oscar Wilde was a poet and Dramatist. Wilde was born of professional and literary parents. He was a spokesman for the late 19th century Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art's shake, and he was object of celebrated civil and criminal suits involving homosexuality and ending in his imprisonment. His Notable works are below.

• A Woman of No Importance
• Lady Windermere's Fan
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• The picture of Dorian Gray
• Salome

The Importance of Being Earnest in full The Importance of Being Earnest: A trivial Comedy for Serious People. It is a play and it's divided into three acts by Oscar Wilde. It is performed in 1895 and published in 1899. It is a Farcical Comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. A satire of Victoria social hypocrisy, the witty play is considered wild's greatest dramatic achievements. 

Summary of the Play :-

Jack Worthing is a protagonist of the play. He is a Fashionable Young man who leads double life. He lives in the country with his ward, Cecily Cardew. He has invested a rakhish brother named Ernest whose supposed exploits give Jack an excuse to travel to London periodically to rescue him. Jack is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, the Cousin of his friend Algernon Moncrieff. Gwendolen, who thinks Jack's name is Earnest, returns his love, but her mother, Lady Bracknell, objects to their marriage because Jack is an orphan who was found in a handbag at Victoria Station. Jack discovers that Algernon has been impersonating Earnest in order to woo Cecily, who has always been love with the imaginary rogue Ernest. Ultimately it is revealed that Jack is really Lady Bracknell's Nephew, and that Algernon is actually his brother. The play ends with both couples happily United. Here i put a video of summary of the play in Hindi language. 

Characters in the play - The Importance of Being Earnest:-

• Jack Worthing
• Algernon Moncrieff
• Gwendolen Fairfax
• Cecily Cardew
• Lady Bracknell
• Miss Prism 
• Lane
• Canon Chasuble
• Merriman

Jack Worthing:-

Jack Worthing is a protagonist of the play. He was a discovered as an infant by the Late Mr. Thomas Cardew in a handbag in the cloakroom of a railway station in London. Jack has grown up to be a seemingly responsible and respectable young man, a major landowner and justice of the peace in Hertfordshire, where he has a country estate. In Hertfordshire, where he is known by what he imagines to be his real name. Jack, he is a pillar of the community. 

Jack Worthing is a gaurdian to Mr. Cardew's granddaughter, Cicely and has other duties and people who depend on him. For years , he has also pretended to have an irresponsible younger brother named Ernest, whom he is always having to bail out of some mischief. In fact, he himself is the reprobate brother Earnest.

Ernest is the name Jack goes by in London, where he really goes on these occasions.  More than any other character in the play. Jack Worthing represents conventional Victorian values. : he wants others to think he adheres to such notions as duty, honor, and respectability. But he Hypocritically flouts those very notions. Indeed, what wilde was actually satirizing through Jack Was the general tolerance for hypocrisy in conventional Victorian morality. Jack uses his alter- ego Ernest enables Jack to escape the boundaries of his real life and act as the wouldn't dare to under his real identity. Ernest provides a convenient excuse and disguise for Jack, and Jack feels no qualms about involving Ernest whenever necessary.

Jack wants to be seen as upright and moral. But he doesn't care what lies he has to tell his loved ones in order to be able to misbehave. Through Ernest has always been Jack's unsavory alter ego, as the play progress Jack must aspire to become Ernest, in name if not behaviour. Untill he seeks to marry Gwendolen, Jack has used Ernest as an escape from real life, but Gwendolen's fixation on the name Ernest obligates Jack to embrace his deception in order to pursue the real life he desires. Jack has always managed to get what he wants by using Ernest as his fallback. And his lie eventually threatens to undo him. Though Jack never really gets his comeuppance. He must scramble to reconcile his two worlds in order to get what he ultimately desires and to fully understand who he is. So the whole play is based on this Character. Thus, we can say that Jack Worthing's character is most important in the play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Gwendolen Fairfax:-

Gwendolen Fairfax is a female character in the play. Gwendolen suggests the qualities of conventional Victorian womanhood. She is artificial and pretentious. Gwendolen is in love with Jack. Whom she knows as Ernest and she is fixed on this name. This preoccupation serves as a metaphor for the preoccupation of the Victorian middle and upper middle classes with the appearance of virtue and honor. Gwendolen is so caught up in finding a husband named Ernest, whose name, she says, "inspires absolute confidence", that she can't even see that the man calling himself Ernest is fooling her with an extensive deception. In this way, her own image consciousness blurs her judgement.

Through more self consciously intellectual than Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen is cut from very much the same Cloth as her mother. She is similarly strong minded and speak with unassailable authority on matters of taste and morality, just as Lady Bracknell does. She is both a model and an arbiter of elegant fashion and sophistication. And nearly everything she says and does is calculated for effect. As Jack fears, Gwendolen does indeed show signs of becoming her mother " in about a hundred and fifty years," but she is likeable, as is Lady Bracknell, because her pronouncement are so outrageous.

Cecily Cardew:-

Cecily Cardew is another female character of the play. If Gwendolen is a product of London high society, Cecily is its antithesis. She is a child of nature, as ingenuous and unspoiled as a pink rose , to which Algernon compares her in Act II. Her ingenuity is believed by her fascination with wickedness. She is obsessed with the name Ernest just as Gwendolen is, but wickedness is primarily what leads her to fall in love with Uncle Jack's brother, whose reputation is wayward enough to intrigue her like Algernon and Jack, she is a Fantasist. She has invented her romance with Ernest and elaborated it with as much artistry and enthusiasm as the men have their spurious obligations and secret identities. 

Though she does not have an alter ego as vivid or developed as Bunbury or Ernest, her claim that she and Algernon/Ernest are already engaged is rooted in the fantasy world she's created around Ernest. Cecily is probably the most realistically drawn character in the play, and she is the only character who does not speak in epigrams. Her charm lies in her idiosyncratic cast of mind and her imaginative capacity, qualities that derive from wilde's notion of life as a work of art. These elements of her personality make her a perfect mate for Algernon. 

Thus, we can say that both the female character is play very vital role in the play. And Jack Worthing is also protagonist of the play Jude the Obscure. The Whole story is around these characters. So these all characters are very important of the play The Importance of Being Earnest.

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Frankenstein - Movie Review

 Frankenstein - Movie Review

Hello Readers! This blog is response to the Thinking Activity. Which is inspired by Yesha ma'am, Department of English, MKBU. In this blog I am going to discuss about movie review on Frankenstein.

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is an Novel written by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley started writing the story when she was only 18 years old. Frankenstein novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who creates a creature. Here is a list of various Movie Adaptation of Novel Frankenstein.

• Frankenstein ( 1931 )

Director:- James Whale 

Cast :- Boris Karloff

Major changes were made to the Novel's plot for this classic horror movie, most significantly, karloff's Monster is neither intelligent nor articulate.

• The Curse of Frankenstein ( 1957 )

Director:- Terence Fisher 

Cast :- Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing

The Curse of Frankenstein is more a horror movie than it is an adaptation of Shelley's novel. Frankenstein is a murderer, when monster is violent and dengerous from the moment of his creation.

• Flesh for Frankenstein ( 1973 )

Director :- Paul Morrissey

Cast:- Udo Kier , Joe Dallesandro

Frankenstein dreams of restoring Serbia to glory , so he builds male and female monsters whose children will become the new master race. Determined that they be fruitful, he aims to equip the male body with the brain of someone possessing powerful libido. 

• Bride of Frankenstein ( 1935 )

Director:- James Whale

Cast:- Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester

Frankenstein decides to leave his evil experiments. But, Dr Pretorius kidnaps his wife, forcing the scientist to help create a new creature to rescue his spouse.

• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ( 1994 )

Director:- Kenneth Branagh 

Cast:- Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham - Carter, lan Holm 

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a 1994 science fiction horror film. It is directed by Kenneth Branagh who also stars as Victor Frankenstein, with Robert De Niro portraying Frankenstein's monster. It is a considered as most faithful film adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, despite several differences and additions in plot from the Novel, the film follows a medical student named Victor Frankenstein who creates new life in the form of a monster composed of various corpses' body parts.Mary Shelley's Frankenstein premiered at the London Film festival, and was released theatrically on November 4, 1994,by TriStar Pictures. 

Victor Frankenstein is a protagonist of the film. He want to do something different and that is why he preserved different body parts and was making one creature. Victor was doing all kinds of experiments. Elizabeth comes to see him. After creating a creature, Victor felt very bad and guilty that what he had made because the creature's appearance was very ugly and he himself become horrified on his own creation & become ill. After all this things happened monster thought about taking revenge. He killed Elizabeth and Victor's brother. At the end of movie monster want Elizabeth but Victor replies him, she was mine not your. They both died in the last scene of movie.

There are some similarities between movie and novel. In novel and movie the entire story revolves around two main character, Victor Frankenstein and Monster or creature. The monster kills people without any morality. In both the novel and movie victor Frankenstein wants to destroy the Creature. Creature also wants to dear ones of Frankenstein. And Victor Frankenstein's health getting worse after creating the creature.

Thus, we can say that there are many differences and similarities between movie and Novel. And also say that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that it illustrates both the good and evil qualities in each of its characters.

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Youth Festival - 2022

 Amrut Rang - Youth Festival 2022

This blog is part of Sunday reading. In this blog I am going to present my experience and also events and compition of the youth festival 2022 ( Amrut Rang Mahotsav - Yuva Urja Mahotsav ). Which was  a organised by Maharaja KrishnaKumarsinhji Bhavnagar University on 18 to 21 September, 2022.

Kalayatra :-

The Youth Festival begins with Kalayatra. In Kalayatra  every student of colleges and departments participates. In Kalayatra we students of the English Department also participated with the theme of 'Literature and Social Media'. The pictures of Kalayatra are below.

Youth Festival Day - 1 ( 19-09-2022 ) :-

On the First day of the youth festival there were so many different compitition. First program starts with the opening ceremony which is held at the Amphitheatre. The pictures of opening ceremony are below.

Here is a list of first day compititions with places and list of winners:- 

Mimicry ( Atal Auditorium ) :-

Every participant present a different kind of voice of animals, birds and people. list of winners are below.

1. Sardar patel group of colleges, Bhavnagar ( Herma Raviraj )

2. Shree Swami Sahajanand college of commerce and management ( Rayjada Mahiraj )

3. K. R. Doshi group of colleges, Bhavnagar ( Kaba Ravi )

Bhajan ( Old Court Hall ):-

List of winners are below.

1. Shamaldas Arts college, Bhavnagar ( Kunchala Ajeet )

2. Maharani shree Arts and Commerce college, Bhavnagar ( Kanjara Bhumi )

3. Gopinathji Mahila college, Bhavnagar ( Parmar Pooja )

Tatkal Chitr ( External Department ):-

Hina Parmar - A student of English Department participated in Tatkal Chitr.List of winners are below.

1. Shree Swaminarayan College of Commerce and Management, Bhavnagar ( Vaghela Hiral )

2. Samaldas Arts college, Bhavnagar ( Makvana Gunjan )

3. Maruti Vidhya Mandir Group of colleges, Bhavnagar ( Solanki Vivek )

Swarachit Kavya Pathan :-

Himanshi Parmar - A student of English Department participated in this event and she got a third rank. List of winners are below.

1. Department of Psychology ( Kamal Shrushti )

2. Shree Swami sahajanand college of commerce and management, Bhavnagar ( Vyas Ghei )

3. Department of English, Bhavnagar ( Parmar Himanshi )

Lok Nritya ( Amphitheatre ):-

List of winners are below.

1. Shree Swami Sahajanand College of Commerce and Management, Bhavnagar 

2. Sir P.P. Institute of Science, Bhavnagar

3. MJ College of Commerce, Bhavnagar 

Wonderful Evening view - MKBU 

Mime ( Atal Auditorium ):-

List of winners are below.

1. Maruti Vidhya Mandir Group of colleges, Bhavnagar

2. Shree Swami Sahajanand College of Commerce and Management, Bhavnagar 

3. MJ College of Commerce,Bhavnagar 

Halvu Kanthy Sangit - Sugam Geet ( Juno Court Hall ) :-

List of winners are below.

1. Shree Swami Sahajanand College of Commerce and Management, Bhavnagar 

2. Maharani shree Nandkuvarba  Arts and Commerce, Bhavnagar

3. Nandkuvarba Mahila Arts and Commerce college, Bhavnagar 

Youth Festival Day - 2 ( 20-09-2022 ):-

Here is a list of second day Compititions with the places.

1. Samuh Geet - Western ( Amphitheatre )

2. Ekanki ( Atal Auditorium )

3. Shashtriy Gayan ( University Court Hall )

4. Poster Making ( External Department )

5. Western Song - solo ( Amphitheatre )

Emisha Ravani - A student of English Department  participated and she got third rank in that.

6. Lok Geet ( University Court Hall )

7. Clay Modeling ( External Department )

Jheel Barad - A student of English Department participated in Clay Modeling and she got third rank.

8. Mono Acting ( Atal Auditorium )

9. Shashtriy Vadan ( University Court Hall )

10. Mehndi ( External Department )

11. Nibandh ( Department of English )

Divya Parmar - A student of English Department participated and she secure third rank.

12. Shashtriy Nritya ( Atal Auditorium )

13. Tatkal Photography ( External Department )

14. Short film ( Department of English )

5 Students of English Department participated in short film and they secure third rank.

15.  Lok Vadhy Vrund ( Amphitheatre )

16. Skit ( Atal Auditorium )

17. Shashtriy Vadan - Sawar Vadhy ( University Court Hall )

18. Cartooning ( External Department )

19. Duha - Chand ( Amphitheatre )

Youth Festival Day - 3 ( 21 - 09  - 2022 ):-

Here is a list of third day compititions with the places. 

1. Samuh Geet ( Amphitheatre )

2. Elocution ( University Court Hall )

Dhvani Rajayguru - A student of English Department participated in Elocution and she got a First Rank. 

3. Rangoli ( External Department )

Jheel Barad - A student of English Department participated and she got a third rank.

4. Installation ( External Department )

Sem - 1 Students of English Department participated.

5. Debate ( New Court Hall ) 

Students of English Department participated and they got a second rank.

Students of English Department participated in various Compititions and won the prizes.

Here I share a video of Prize Distribution of Department of English, MKBU.

The youth festival of 2022 ended with wonderful Ceremony. In this ceremony VC of Bhakt Kavi Narsinh Mehta University presented as a chief guest. RJ Akash and Ishani Dave also Came in ending ceremony. They make ending ceremony memorable. In this festival I enjoyed a lot and learned many new things. 

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