Notes, Guide and Study material
Give a short account of the 20th Century poetic drama The modern poetic drama evolved during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th c. as a reaction to the Realistic prose drama of Henrik Ibsen and Bernard Shaw. Isben adopted prose as the medium of dramatic communication. As … Read more
Discuss “The Blessed Damozel” as a Pre-Raphaelite poem D. G. Rossetti was the leader of both the Pre-Raphaelite painters and poets. Art was his only passion, and he devoted himself to the pursuit of art exclusively. He was attracted by the decorative workmanship in medieval art and architecture. He had great artistic gifts; his poetry … Read more
Discuss Yeats’ treatment of the Byzantium myth in his Byzantium Byzantium explores the antithesis of time and eternity. Byzantium was the name of the capital of the Eastern wing of the Holy Roman Empire. It was famous for its mosaic work and gold enamelling. It was a reputed centre of art and culture, but in … Read more
Madness Scene in “The Duchess of Malfi“ Webster has made a two-fold use of madness in The Duchess of Malfi. Firstly, Ferdinand employs the madmen to torture the Duchess in her imprisonment, and thus to horrify the readers. Secondly, he tortures her by putting a dead man’s hand in her hand and also by showing … Read more
Chorus in Samson Agonistes In the preface to Samson Agonistes, Milton himself points out that he has introduced the chorus in this play after the Greek’s manner. However, in the use of the chorus Milton follows the example of Sophocles rather than that of Euripides. Unlike the chorus of Euripides Which remains aloof from the … Read more
Comment on the use of the supernatural elements in Hamlet Shakespeare, in Hamlet, makes effective use of the popular superstitions and beliefs in the supernatural and wonders at the inexplicable mysteries of death, prevalent in his time. But unlike his contemporaries, his use of supernatural agencies was neither crude nor gross, nor was it a … Read more
The Financial Expert Summary Narayan’s sixth novel, The Financial Expert (1952), is his masterpiece, and Walsh calls Margayya, the hero of the novel, “probably Narayan’s greatest single comic creation.” An extremely well-constructed novel, in five parts corresponding to the five Acts of an Elizabethan drama, The Financial Expert tells the story of the rise and … Read more
The Dark Room Summary The Dark Room, Narayan’s third novel, was published in 1938. Critics do not rate it very high. Thus, A.N. Kaul regards it as insignificant and one of Narayan’s failures, and S. Iyengar regards its end as “Cynical Conclusion.” The Dark Room is a moving tale of a tormented wife. Ramani, the … Read more
The Bachelor of Arts by R K Narayan Summary His next novel, The Bachelor of Arts, was published in 1937. It is a mature work than the earlier novel and it deals with a later stage in a young man’s career when he is about to leave college and enter life when he is neither … Read more
Doctor Faustus as a morality play Both Mysteries and Miracle Plays deals primarily with the teachings of the church, theological and devotional and Morality Play tried to bring home to the men’s mind this ethical doctrine. Though the Morality Plays began in the reign of Edward (about 1340) the old extant form of these plays … Read more