Hello readers! I'm Insiya Alvani, a student of MK Bhavnagar University. This blog I have written as a response to a Thinking activity assigned by yesha ma'am. In this blog, I'm going to discuss Jane Austen's Novel Pride and Prejudice and servel questions like movie adaptations, character of Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy, narrative technique etc..
1) Which version of Novel is more appealing? Novel or film (adaptation)? why?
During the study of the novel Pride and prejudice we see the film directed by Joe Wright based on Jane Austen's Novel. Novel and film both versions are good. In the film all the dialogue was kept the same and almost the entire movie was going to be from the perspective of Elizabeth. So, after watching the film we easily connect the idea of the novel which was presented in the book but if you want to do both first read the book and then watch the movie it is better. Here I share the Trailer of pride & prejudice movie.
2) Character of Elizabeth
The second daughter in the Bennet family, and the most intelligent and quick-witted, Elizabeth is the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice and one of the most well-known female characters in English literature. Her admirable qualities are numerous, she is lovely, clever, and, in a novel defined by dialogue, she converses as brilliantly as anyone. Elizabeth Bennet, also known as "Lizzy" to her loved ones, is around twenty years old during the novel. She is considered attractive, with her eyes as a standout feature; however, she is not considered as classically beautiful as her eldest sister, Jane.
Elizabeth Bennet is bold, intelligent, and independent, with a witty sense of humor. She considers herself to be a proper young lady and a good judge of character. However, throughout the novel, Lizzy realizes that she is not perfect; she does misjudge people at times, and her pride eggs on these mistakes. Furthermore, her prejudice leads to her struggling to understand other peoples' points of view.
Elizabeth takes pride in her individuality. She knows who she is and what she wants in life and in a partner. She enjoys bantering with friends and family but makes sure to keep it polite. She teases Mr. Darcy finds it amusing when he turns down her invitation to dance: she has a self-aware sense of humor and enjoys making her friends laugh.
Elizabeth displays great common sense and intuitiveness; the latter she prides herself on to her own folly. Although Elizabeth would like to marry for love, she is wise enough not to pursue Mr. Wickham because he cannot provide for her, and physical attraction does not guarantee marital happiness. As for her intuitiveness, she is able to recognize the emotions of others and understand unspoken opinions. However, Lizzy misunderstands critical moments, which lead her to assume Mr. Darcy is a bad person based on his rudeness. On the other hand, Elizabeth also assumes Mr. Wickham is a good person because he has impeccable manners and appears upfront and honest with her. Hence, she believes him when he tells her Mr. Darcy ruined his life, when in reality, Mr. Darcy was only protecting his teenage sister.
Elizabeth Bennet is a strong character because she is multifaceted: she has flaws such as pride and leaping to conclusions, as well as strengths like loyalty, kindness, and intelligence. She learns and grows over the story.
3) Character of Mr.Darcy
In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy English aristocrat and the owner of Pemberley, a country estate. He inherited Pemberley, ''ten thousand a-year,'' and other wealth from his father, who passed numerous years prior. At the beginning of the novel, Darcy is staying with his close friend, Mr. Bingley at Netherfield Park. Jane Austen’s best realized male character, he displays all the worst, and the best, qualities of gentlemen at the upper end of the landed gentry class.
As Elizabeth Bennet is the main narrator of the story, Mr. Darcy's reception at Meryton is first explained through Elizabeth's observations of his interactions at the ball party. Elizabeth draws a distinction between the ''pleasant countenance'' of Mr. Bingley and the ''disgust'' of Mr. Darcy. While everyone agreed that Mr. Darcy was the better match for money and beauty, Mr. Bingley's kindness won the hearts of those in attendance at the ball party.
He likes Elizabeth and is a silent lover of her. When he proposed to her again(after being sure of Lizzie’s feelings towards him), he still didn’t force it on her and was willing to happily accept whatever her decision was, as evident by this dialogue –
"If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever."
Darcy is conscious of his superiority over others. He has a class prejudice against the low landed gentry of Longbourn neighbourhood and he makes no secret of his feelings. He is a man of reserved and refined nature. Because of his intellectual superiority over his friend he is a man of dominating personality. He in start of the play can be seen egoistic whereas a the end seems a different person. Perhaps, love forces him to change his nature. Elizabeth who once has rejected his proposal accepts him as her husband. With the passage of time Darcy learns from his mistakes. He becomes a gentleman in a true sense at the end of the novel.
Hello Readers! I am Insiya Alvani student of MK Bhavnagar University. I write this blog in response to a Thinking activity assigned by Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I am going to discuss the term Post Truth, definition of post truth and various examples of this term.
Oxford University press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary and many other dictionaries, announces an Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year and an Oxford Dictionaries US Word of the Year; sometimes these are the same word. The Word of the Year need not have been coined within the past twelve months but it does need to have become prominent or notable during that time. Every year a team of language experts and lexicographers choose the word which trended in that particular year, capturing the ideas that ruled that year globally.
"Vax" the word of the year 2021
The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, which began in early 2020, can be widely seen even now. While "pandemic" and "lockdown" were some of the highly used words for 2020. for 2021 Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has announced the word "vax" as the word of the year for 2021. "Vax" is related to vaccines. Words related to vaccines have spiked in frequency in 2021 due to Covid, with double-vaxxed, unvaxxed and anti-vaxxer all seeing a surge in use.
In 2016 'Post– Truth' was the Oxford Dictionary's international word. The definition of post truth is "Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief." The term was named by Oxford Dictionaries "Word Of The Year." In 2016. Oxford dictionaries further note that post-truth was often used as an adjective to signal a distinctive kind of politics – 'post-truth politics.'
Its popular and academic treatments sometimes differ in respect to its meaning, but most associate it with communication forms such as fake or false news, rumors, hoaxes, and political lying.
This definition implies that post-truths are created from people’s perceptions of the world and what they believe to be true is derived from personal beliefs or perhaps influenced by others, and emotional instincts rather than facts. Drawing conclusions this way and creating ‘alternative facts’ means that almost anything can become true – whether it is correct or not. Alternative facts are not a new concept, they have been part of journalism and politics for centuries.
Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Sometimes independent media is used as a synonym of alternative news. indicating independence from large media corporations, but this term is also used to indicate media enjoying freedom of the press and independence from government control. Alternative media challenge the dominant beliefs and values of a culture.
On 8 November 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series. It also announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes in exchange for the demonetised banknotes. Following the demonetisation move in 2016, Zee News and Aaj Tak anchors had fueled rumours about GPS trackers on the new currency notes to tackle the menace of black money.
However, what was even more shocking was the endless tale on social media about how the new Rs 2000 notes will have a 'nano GPS chip', better known as NGC, which will be used to track the specific location of these notes from anywhere.
According to the rumours, these NGC chips would include ‘signal-reflectors’ that would help satellites to track the location of the notes, even if they are 120 meters below ground level. The theory was that satellites would track heavy accumulation of such NGC-enabled notes, and could trace them to enable authorities to take necessary steps.
In a promotional video for the upcoming season of popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati by the Sony channel, Bachchan asked Guddi, a contestant, to pick an option that had GPS technology. A typewriter, television, satellite, and a Rs 2,000 note were among the answers.
As the woman on the “hot seat” quickly replied that it was a Rs 2,000 note, the Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan asked if she was sure. She said that not just her, the entire country was sure. Bachchan then revealed that satellite was the correct answer, but the woman asked if he was joking.
"Why will I joke? The joke was what you considered as truth."
But the contestant did not seem satisfied. This was shown in the news, so wasn’t it the organisations’ fault, she asked. Bachchan then said that while it was possible that there was a lapse on part of news organisations but the loss was ultimately hers. He then went on to tell the audience,
"Gyaan jahaan se mile bator lijiye, par pehle zara tatollijiye"(gather information from wherever you get, but verify it first).
As a part of critical thinking, The Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University organised a two day thinking skills workshop by Dr. Milan Pandya sir. This workshop is very much related to the Term Post-Truth. We also discussed various examples releted to this terms. To visit my blog on Critical Thinking CLICK HERE
In this time, knowledge is everywhere, social media platforms like WhatsApp YouTube and other applications are easy source of gaining knowledge, but it is difficult to judge what is true and what is false. People believe some ridiculous things to be true. We also got the experience of this during the Corona pandemic. Constantly false rumors would go viral on social media platforms and people would believe them as true.
So in today's time media like alternative news has become very necessary. fact and non-fact based reports are treated equally in the public and, more worryingly, private realm. So, facts are replaced by alternative facts and truth is replaced by lies. Sometimes the majority of people believe non-fact reports as true fact. Which is very harmful for society.
Here, I write a blog about work of Alexander pope " The rape of the Lock" activity given by vaidahi ma'am.
1) According to you, who is the protagonist of the poem Clarissa or Belinda? Why? Give your answer with logical reasons.
The Rape of the Lock, mock-epic poem in heroic couplets by Alexander Pope. The first version, published in 1712, consisted of two canto; the final version, published in 1714, was expanded to five cantos. The Rape of the Lock recounts the story of a young woman who has a lock of hair stolen by an ardent young man.
There are several aspects of the personality of Belinda as portrayed by Pope in The Rape of the Lock. We see her as a vamp, an injured innocent, a sweet charmer, a society belle, a rival of the sun, and a murderer of millions.Belinda is the heroine of the story. It is her character around whom the story of the whole poem is woven. We see her sleeping till noon and her awakening by her lap dog “Shock”. We see her proceeding from the Thames River to the Hampton Court. Then her smiting looks upon the well dressed youths that crowd her. Pope compares Belinda to the sun and suggests that it recognizes in Belinda a rival. Belinda is like the sun not only because of her bright eyes and not only because she dominates her special world.
Belinda is a model who more specifically represents the fashionable, aristocratic ladies of Popes age. Such social butterflies in the eighteenth century were regarded as petty trifles, having no serious concern with life, and engrossed in dance and gaiety. Belinda's Fall indicates the decadence of her class. Through her, Pope describes the flippancy and depravity of the English society of his day. The paradoxical nature of Pope’s attitude is intimately related to the paradox of Belinda’s situation. If Belinda is to find her role of woman, she must lose the role of a virgin, and the more graceful her acceptance of loss the greater the victory she achieves through it.
She was as beautiful as every eye was fixed on her alone. She is like the sun in another regard,
"Bright as the sun,
her eyes the gazers strike.
And, like the sun,
the shines on all alike.”
Thus, we get the picture of her shallow outlook about religious faiths and beliefs. She is a worshiper of beauty who prays to the goddess of beauty and offers all the items of cosmetics before her. She is a typical presentation of women’s excessive attention to self decoration and embellishment. So, looking at these things it can be said that Belinda is the protagonist.
2) What is beauty? Write your views about it.
"The Rape of the Lock” offers a satirical glimpse into 18th-century court life, emphasizing society’s focus on beauty and appearance. Centered around the experience of a beautiful young woman, Belinda, who loses a lock of her hair to the scissors of an infatuated Baron, “The Rape of the lock" ” steadily becomes sillier and sillier as it goes along and the characters descend into a kind of pretend battle over the lock. Belinda was a very beautiful woman. She is a worshiper of beauty who prays to the goddess of beauty and offers all the items of cosmetics before her. Beauty is one of the main symbol of this work by the pope.
The world is beautiful if you know where and how to look. Beauty is known as the quality in something or someone that has the ability to attract someone. It is a sense of pleasure, love and appreciation. Defining beauty depends completely on the individual’s way of looking at things.
We may find a person with wonderful shape, long hair, and so on to be beautiful. Yet beauty is not limited to a person’s external appearance. The true beauty of a person is their decent behaviour, respect, the way they portray themselves, and so on. Our entire lives are dedicated to the pursuit of beauty in numerous ways. However, the truth of the matter is that inner beauty is the one we should be focusing on all of our lives. Because in the end, it's what is the most important . Outer beauty fades as we age, but our inner persona never goes anywhere.
In our society no one focuses on inner beauty. In our society it doesn't matter if the girl is independent or not well educated or not, what matters is she should be "Fair and Beautiful" we see this all things in social media also, even we also see advertisement state that "Fair Bano fair chuno"
Beauty is a means of empowering yourself, loving yourself for who you are and accepting others for who they are. Beauty is not only about having a pretty face, it's about having a pretty mind, pretty soul.
3) Find out a research 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.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, literacy can be defined as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy, Learning, and Teaching research papers discuss an order on a literature review of a multicultural education and cultural and linguistic diversity.
Here I give a brief look on research paper based on The rape of the lock". Dr. George kolenchery professor of Bayan college Oman - English language and literature. Firstly he introduced the writer of this work. Alexander Pope has been the most representative poet of the eighteenth century. He is as representative of his age as Chaucer was of the late fourteenth century and Tennyson of the Victorian Age that his age is known as the Age of Pope speaks of the sovereign position in his age. His most representative poem 'The Rape of the Lock' very faithfully mirrors at least a certain section of English society in the eighteenth century.
He described the incident of young Lord Petre having snuck up behind a young lady, Belle Fermor, and snipped off a lock of her hair without her consent. That actually happened. Neither Belle nor her parents appreciated this assault on her hairstyle, especially since they had been considering Lord Petre as a potential husband for her. He gives a definition of words 'Rape' also. How we used this word in now time it's significance the horror but in the time of pope the term rape had a broader definition.
He described the rape of lock in this word - a mirror of the age, The frivolities of womenfolk 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 colours on the one hand and with scathing satire on the other. While he shows the grace and fascination of Belinda’s toilet he indicates the vanity and futility of all. There is nothing deep or serious in the lives and activities of the fashionable people – all is vanity and this pope is revealed with brilliance and art.
4) Write your views about the significance of hair. Is it symbolic?
A classic example of Eighteenth century rape of the lock is written by Alexander pope. In this work the hair symbolizes both vanity and chastity. At certain moments in the poem, Belinda's obsession with her hair seems like the foolish preoccupation of a young woman who is rather silly and unserious. However, at other times, it represents her virtue. In that sense, the hair could also be said to represent the experience of womanhood more generally. Belinda's lock of hair comes to symbolize the absurdity of the importance afforded to female beauty in society. Pope offers a hyperbolically metaphorical description of the two locks in Canto II, humorously framing the locks as alluring enough to virtually incapacitate any man who looks at them.
To begin with, the hair 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 of. Belinda is depicted in The Rape of the Lock as a beautiful woman with marvelous hair and “nourished two locks. There is no doubt that hair makes every woman beautiful, especially long golden hair, as often depicted in fairy-tales. After all, all the magic stories with female characters present their heroines with long splendid hair like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and others which serves as a symbol of their beauty. In addition, the hair symbolised the character's youth.
What else should be mentioned is that hair is the symbol of social position in The Rape of the Lock. Though this is never mentioned in the poem, Belinda belongs to the upper class. There are several moments which testify to this fact. At those times men preferred to choose wives among women of equal social status. Besides, the Baron must have known Belinda from the like social events which are organized for wealthy people. Hair was often regarded as a sign of social rank. For instance, in many countries only young women who belonged to the upper classes were allowed to show their hair in public. In our time we see old age ladies tie-up their hair. Thus, in case with The Rape of the Lock the hair symbolizes high social rank of its owner, Belinda. So,We can consider this as a main symbol of this work.
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Wordsworth's preface
1) What is the basic difference between the poetic creed of "classicism" And "romanticism"?
Literary periods are spans of time for literature that shares intellectual, linguistic, religious, and artistic influences. The history of English Literature is spread over different Eras. Classical period and Romantic period of English literature both are very different in their literary forms. The 18th century in England is called the classical age or the Augustan age in literature. It's also called the age of good sense or the age of reason. This age is typically divided into three periods:
The restoration age
The Augustan age
The age of Johnson
The term "classic" refers in general appeals to writery of the highest rank in any nation. This term was first applied to the works of the great Greek and Roman writers, like Homer and Virgil. As the writers of the Eighteenth century in England tried to follow the simple and noble methods of the great ancient writers, they began to be called classical writers. During this period the English writers rebelled against the exaggerated and fantastic style of writing prevalent during the Elizabethan and Puritan ages, and they demanded that poetry, drama and prose should follow exact rules.
The term Romanticism does not stem directly from the concept of love, but rather from the French word "ROMAUNT" which means a romantic story told in verse. Romanticism focused on emotions and the inner life of writers. Romantic writers saw nature as a teacher and source of infinite beauty. The Romantic period began with the publishing of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Difference between classicism and Romanticism:
Classicism: intellect is the guiding force
Romanticism: imagination is the guiding source
Classicism and Romanticism both have different ideologies.
Classicists and Romanticists different in their views of nature. Classicism was based on the idea that nature and human nature could be understood by reason and thought. On the other hand, Romanticists viewed nature as mysterious and ever changing.
Towards the end of the 18th century, romanticism emerged as a response to classicism. Classical writers have rigid and stern structure and the Romanticists thought of the world as a place to express their ideas and beliefs. Classicists and Romanticists also deferred on their approaches towards reason and imagination. Classicism attached much more importance to reason than imagination because imagination could not be explained by their laws. To the Romantic writers, imagination was ultimately superior to reason. Classicists thought that it was literature's function to show the everyday values of humanity and the laws of human existence. Romantic writers stressed the human potential for social progress and spiritual growth. This discussion can be concluded by saying that both movements played a significant role in the development of literature.
2) Why does Wordsworth says what is poet? Rather than who is poet?
William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads. According to a well defined definition of poetry by Wordsworth that "The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility"
It is a matter of feeling and temperament. True poetry cannot be written without proper mood and temperament.
Definition of poetry:
According to Wordsworth, poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge, the impassioned expression that is in the countenance of all science. It is like a morning star which throws its radiance through the gloom and darkness of life. Poetry is the instrument for the propagation of moral thoughts.
Definition of poet:
Wordsworth defines a poet as "man speaking to man endowed with more lively sensibility more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature and more comprehensive soul, who rejoices, is more than other man in the spirit of life; habitually impelled to creative volitions, passions and situations where he does not find them." So, Poet is a person who writes not for his own pleasure, but primarily to communicate his own thoughts and emotions to his readers. The poet is such a human being who is overall in degree a far better human being than ordinary human being.
Thus Wordsworth elaborately describes the function of poetry and of the poet in his critical essay preface to lyrical ballads. In both the cases he avoids classical tendencies and adopts a romantic and nature loving attitude. By this definition Wordsworth defines what is a poet. Is it more important than who the poet is?
3) What is poetic diction? Which sort of poetic diction is suggested by Wordsworth in his preface?
In general, Poetic diction is a choice of words. It refers to the operating language of poetry, language employed in a manner that sets poetry apart from other kinds of speech or writing. The term diction refers to the kind of words, phrases, sentences, and sometimes figurative language that constitute any work of literature.
The Neoclassical poetic diction was mainly derived from the classical poets. Classical poets used to write poetry by using embellished language and particular decorum, other prominent features of that period where the extensive use of difficult words, allusions the personification of abstract and avoiding of things considered as low or base.It was only subjected to the people with high intellect and of high status in the society. Wordsworth rejects the classical features of poetry.
Wordsworth published Lyrical Ballads in 1798. In the preface of Lyrical Ballads he mentions that " The Language As Really Used By Men". According to Wordsworth language near to the language of men was as appropriate for poetry as it was for prose. Wordsworth’s aim was to write poetry which symbolizes life in its simple and rustic state. The poetry, for Wordsworth, must be like the part of daily life speech. It should be written in such language that anyone who wants to read it could comprehend it easily. He only justifies the use of an embellished language of poetry when it is naturally suggested by the feelings or the subject matter of the poetry. The poetry, for Wordsworth, is the expression of natural feelings and these feelings cannot be communicated with the help of fake and version of upper-class speech but with the actual speech of “humble and rustic life”.
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 passions by men living close to nature. Wordsworth also attributes the quality of giving pleasure to the natural poetic diction. It must not contain any vulgarity and disgusting element. The poet must, through his language elevate the nature and human feelings.
4) What is poetry?
Definition from Oxford languages:
"Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature".
According to Wordsworth:
"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility".
Poetry is a type of literature that aims to evoke an emotional response in the reader through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. There are lots of different types of poetry. Blank verse, rhymed poetry, free verse,haiku, sonnet etc..
Here we discussed the definition of poetry by Wordsworth. There are four stages in the process of poetic creation. These are observation, recollection, contemplation and imaginative excitement. At the first stage, the poet observes some objects, situations or phenomena of nature. However, the poetic expression doesn't take place at that very moment. Rather the observations are stored in the poet’s heart. Next, in a moment of tranquility, the poet recollects those emotions excited by the objects, situation or phenomena.
After contemplation, there comes the gradual revival of the emotion kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation. Thus the poet is once again in a similar emotional excitement to what he experienced when he first saw the object. Wordsworth says that “in this mood successful composition generally begins.”
Here we discussed Daffodils with reference to Wordsworth's poetic creed
DAFFODILS:
The speaker, likely William Wordsworth himself, is wandering down the hills and valley when he stumbled upon a beautiful field of daffodils. I wandered lonely as a cloud” or “Daffodils”, William Wordsworth has presented the beauty of nature at its best. In this poem he compared himself to a cloud that floats high over valleys and hills.
The poem contains four stanzas of six lines. First three stanzas in past tense and the last stanza in present tense. So, as we discussed further according to Wordsworth, at the first stage of the poem, the Poet observed objects, situations and then recollected his/her emotions and experience. In this poem we can see the first three stanzas in past tense so we can say that the Poet is reclining on a couch and recollecting his nature walk.
The poem ends with
"then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils".
The poet says that whenever he lies on his couch and is in low spirits or when he is sorrowful, the sight of the daffodils flashes in his mind and becomes the source of joy in his solitude. The memory of daffodils takes away all his sorrows and boredom thus making him happy and it seems to him as if his heart is dancing with the daffodils.
Thus the poem 'Daffodils' holds true to his own statement about what poetry should be. William Wordsworth's idea of poetry is that it originates from “the overflow of feelings, recollected in tranquility”.
Hello Readers! Here I write the blog in response to the thinking activity of Romantic Poets assigned by yesha ma'am.
"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her."
-William Wordsworth
Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The Romantic Era in English literature began in the 1790s with the publication of the Lyrical Ballads of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Romantic poetry is the poetry of sentiments, emotions and imagination. William Wordsworth, P.B Shelley, Willam Black, John Milton, Matthew Arnold are the major poets of the Romantic Era. A major theme in Romantic poetry is the "Relationship between humans and their emotions and the natural world."
Romantic poets tried to heal the Sorrows of human beings by writing their verses about nature. Thus romantic poets believe that Nature is a source of revelation. Many poets include descriptions of nature in their poems. They describe the world around them in writing for a purpose. They not only try to show us what they see, they try to make us understand how they feel. Nature has always been a very important subject for poets and prose writers. According to Romantics, the solution was "back to nature" because nature was seen as a pure and spiritual source of renewal.
As a part of our study we students of the English department, MK Bhavnagar University visited Victoria Park Bhavnagar.
Sem-1 & Sem-3 Students
Victoria Park is one of the popular tourist destinations located in Bhavnagar. This is one of the largest man-made forests. Victoria Park was set up in 1888 by Maharaja Takht Sinhji of Bhavnagar. It was designed under the supervision of counselor Mr. Proctor Sins.
"Stay Close to Nature" is our motto of visit. It was organised by yesha ma'am to make us understand how the romantic poets used to write in the lap of nature. Taking a nature walk is good for the soul, being in nature helps us to feel alive. Nature can generate a multitude of positive emotions, such as calmness, joy, creativity and can facilitate concentration.
Whenever I go to nature, I get lost in a different world. A different world free from pollution, vehicular noise. Who gives me a sense of happiness, peace and joy. It makes me feel better emotionally and as well as it contributes to our physical wellbeing. Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. In this visit I also try to understand romanticism. I also reflected on how the romantic poets used to write in the lap of nature.
It was 20 July, we all were so excited because it's our first visit together. Yesha ma'am was with us on this visit. We stayed there for the whole day. It was a really amazing experience. Under the guidance of ma'am we visited observation points. There was an amazing lake in the park. It was a rainy day so we were not able to see animals, But so many peacocks were there, as I say it was a rainy day and peacocks were dancingthere. It was a wonderful view and I tried to capture this view.
I tried to click many photos of surrounding nature. This is a wonderful memory that we will always cherish.
At the end, especially Thanks to yesha ma'am for organizing this visit.
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor. The Tragedie of Macbeth is a tragic drama by William Shakespeare. In this play Lady Macbeth is strong, ruthless and ambitious. Who suggests to Macbeth that they should kill Duncan in order to make the witches' prophecy come true. Macbeth is a play that seeks to understand morality, especially how it relates to healthy and unhealthy expression of gender.
Feminism is a movement seeks equality for all people and elimination of classical ideas about gender.feminism is the belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women. so many feminist gave their views on character of lady Macbeth.
A psychoanalytic and feminist look into one of literatures most famous women.
From the very beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is shown as a character that is relents in creating rebellious plots. According to Lois Tyson, "women invest themselves in the accomplishment of their husband and son. "Another female character in Macbeth, Lady Macduff does not connect some evil plot because she invests all of her intellectual power into the achievements of her husband and children.
On the other hand, Lady Macbeth, not as bound to domestic duties as Lady Macduff, sharpens her intellectual capabilities for her own use. While intelligence from a male character would be seen as a beneficial trait, patriarchy defines Lady Macbeth’s intelligence as a flaw and as an indicator that she is unnatural and “unfulfilled” as a woman. Lady Macbeth shown to be leader as it is her ambition that is the driving force behind the murder plot and her husband's action. She had the strength to go through with the plan to kill King Duncan and holds it together for both she and Macbeth after the murder is complete.
Finally, in Elizabethan England get the idea that women could be capable of such evil wrongdoing would have been inconceivable. The fact that Lady Macbeth had murderous thoughts makes her equal to the man 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. A popular speculation on why the oppression of women is not more commonly recognized than the oppression of certain ethnic and religious groups, is that "women's allegiance to men from their own background always supersedes their allegiance to women from different classes."While certain social and economic factors separate people from different walks of life, within these groups womens are always separated from each other.
Feminist theory looks at the power relations within a text, so in order to understand lady Macbeth's character and her eventual demise, we must first examine that dynamic between her and her husband, and the extent to which they adhere to traditional gender roles within their relationship. Such roles entail the assumption that men are brave, commanding and determined while women are warm, nurturing and subservient. The play is established in the first act: Lady Macbeth sees it as her husband's manly duty to elevate their status and improve their lives by killing Duncan, but has some doubts. Thus, Lady Macbeth claims, "when you durst do it, then you were a man."
Patriarchal society encourages Lady Macbeth to invest herself in the role of mother. Lady Macbeth is seen as selfish and abnormal when she confesses that there is a situation in which she would
"Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this"
Her statement about her own child was a very unnatural statement according to patriarchy's belief that women's desire to have and protect children is a part '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. According to previous discussion the murder of king Duncan serves as a turning point for the play: prior to this event, gender roles appear to be reversed for lady Macbeth and her husband, as she is the more dominant figure within the relationship, whereas afterwards, it is she who succumbs to guilt and eventually commits suicide despite her intial determination and pertinacity.
Soliloquy of lady Macbeth
2) Macbeth: the tragedy of ambition: How do you view ambition in today's time?
"Thou wouldst be great art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it"
•Macbeth Historical play
A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from three 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. Shakespeare's source for the story is the account of Macbeth, King of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles. A History of England, Scotland, and Ireland familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries, although the events in the play differ extensively from the history of the real Macbeth.
Macbeth the king of Scots from 1040 until his death. He ruled over the kingdom of Alba, which covered only a portion of present day Scotland.
Macbeth was the son of Findláech of Moray and may have been a grandson of Malcolm Il. In 1040, Duncan I launched an attack into Moray and was killed in action by Macbeth's troops. Macbeth succeeded him as King of Alba.
His 17-year reign was mostly peaceful, although in 1054 he was faced with an English invasion led by Seward, Earl of Northumbria, on behalf of Edward the Confessor.
Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057 by forces loyal to the future Malcolm III. He was buried on Iona, the traditional resting place of Scottish kings.
•Ambition in play Macbeth
The theme of Ambition is a universal theme because it relates to many aspects of the world. This popular theme is evident in society, popular culture, and in literature. The term “Ambition” means to aspire to achieve a goal, which requires a great amount of perseverance and dedication. In the play ambition is presented as a dangerous quality. It is the driving force of the play. Macbeth's ambition caused him to lose Lady Macbeth to suicide and to no longer have moral sense.
The weird sisters' prophecies spur both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to try to fulfill their ambition, but the witches never Make Macbeth or his wife do anything. Macbeth and his wife act on their own to fulfill their deepest desires. Macbeth, a good general and by all accounts before the action of the play, a good man, allows his ambition to overwhelm him and becomes a murdering. Lady Macbeth, once she begins to put into action the hidden thoughts of her mind is crushed by guilt. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth want to be great and powerful and sacrifice their morals to achieve that goal. By contrasting these two characters with others in the Play, such as Banquo, Duncan and Macduff,who also want to be great leaders but refuse to allow ambition to come before honor, Macbeth shows how naked ambition, freed from any sort of moral or social conscience. Macbeth's true downfall is his own ambition. Lady Macbeth is as ambitious as her husband, encouraging him to commit murder to achieve their goals. Both Macbeth's fail to see how their ambition makes them cross moral lines and will lead to their downfall. Overall, Shakespeare presents ambition as something which can corrupt a character and lead to an inevitably tragic fate for them.
•Ambition in today's time:
Shakespeare was a famous writer till today. Shakespeare's works have strong themes that run through each piece. These themes are still relevant today; love, death, ambition, power. So Shakespeare's works are timeless and universal. That also makes them relatable. His plays were written a long time ago but they are based on his view of life as a whole. Of course, social factors did have some influence. For example, The Elizabethan audience believing in witches, would have gained a lot from Macbeth. These factors were never the main focus of his works, though.
There is a question: Why do we study the works of writer who died over 400 years ago? But if you take into consideration that we quote him everyday and can still relate to his characters, stories and themes, the answer becomes a lot clearer.
Some of the themes in Macbeth that are relevant today are the corruption of power, Ambition and fate. However, too much ambition has many negative impacts which we learn from Macbeth. Many people who are told they can be greater, have a surge of ambition, which causes them to become blind to reality. The ambition of succeeding this goal causes them pain in the end, just like Macbeth.
Ambition is good, it is motivation for people to do what they want but too much ambition has many negative impacts. I think Macbeth is relevant for young people in our time, mainly because it examines the idea of corruption and how easily it is led by ambition. This is very relevant for today's society because some leaders are corrupt, run a dictatorship and do not listen to their people. In our history there are so many examples: Julius Caesar of Rome, Hitler, Ala-ud-din khilji. In our time we also see politicians like Macbeth. So many people also take shortcuts to get rich overnight, because of their ambitions, Many people suffer a lot.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Workshop - Thinking skill
The department of English MKBU had a Two days thinking skills workshop by the professor Milan Pandya.
Milan Pandya is a teacher trainer and educator in the field of thinking skills, critical creative and design thinking, English language teaching and communication skills. With more than 12 years of teaching experience, Mr Pandya has authored two books and presented and published a number of research papers in National and international conferences and journals. Mr Pandya has BA and 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 a critical thinking solutions company in Ontario, Canada and teaches at multiple college Conestoga and Sheridan college in Ontario, Canada.
First day workshop started with the introduction of Milan Pandya sir which was given by Barad sir. We warmathly welcomed Milan Pandya sir in our department. During the welcome speech Barad sir told us that you are free to ask any question. 'The stupidest Questions can bring the smartest Answers.' Firstly, sir, ask a question: what is critical thinking? After the discussion sir gave a definition
'Thinking about thinking in order to improve thinking'
Critical thinking is related to three points:
1.logical
2.Rational
3.Scientific.
Humans are rational animals. Our life depends on thinking that's why we are better than animals. In our session we see examples of critical thinking.
A Twitter post of well known actor Satish Santosh
Inthis post he says "The very same TIRANGA DHWAJ my mother had got during the Quit India movement 1942" If we look at the picture we find that the TIRANGA DHAWJ was made after independence. In 1942 The Indian flag was different. It is shown that we are not aware of history. We discussed facts, context and during discussion sir introduced a new word plausible.
By all these examples and discussions, sir explains that always be a critic. For that, think in a different way, search for the truth and always think about it from various perspectives. He presented a quote by Lao Tzu,
"your teacher might be wrong, learn to think for yourself"
14 August 2022 is the second and last day of our workshop. It's a cheerful and amazing day. Milan Pandya Sir also talked about how to develop thinking skills with the help of mind exercise games. I especially like this task the most.
In this picture, there are so many objects of different fields. In this activity we all tried to differentiate things and categorise in different fields like,
food items, vehicles, Birthday parties, space related things, Tragedy of Shakespeare Macbeth and Hamlet, religion V's science, natural things and artificial things, gravity, proverbs like pen is mightier than sword, movie names extra…
For this activity it is important to treat our mind to see each thing from different angles. After this, sir presented the photos of toothbrush, paper pin, goggle and asked what are the other uses of these things apart from daily uses.
Thought experiment: it was a mind blowing task. Sir gave us a different situation in which we had to say what we should do in this situation and sir took our opinions and also asked us why we chose this. What's the logic behind this? In this activity there is a logical argument that is more important than answers.
During these two days we learned lots of things. We see so many things around us and it's our habit to accept things as they are. After this session I learned to first analyze the thing whether it's true or not. See each thing differently and look at its plausibility.we ended our session with the feedback of students. Thanks to Dr. Dilip Barad sir and Milan Pandya sir.
