IGNOU BEGC 133 Solved Assignment Solution 2021 below
ASSIGNMENT
BRITISH LITERATURE
BEGC 133
Answer all the questions in this assignment.
SECTION A
I Explain the following passages with reference to the context.
- “Out, out brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” - “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not
sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh!” - “He did it like an operatic tenor—a regular handsome fellow, with flashing
eyes and lovely moustache, shouting a war-cry and charging like Don Quixote
at the windmills. We nearly burst with laughter at him; but when the sergeant
ran up as white as a sheet, and told us they’d sent us the wrong cartridges, and
that we couldn’t fire a shot for the next ten minutes, we laughed at the other
side of our mouths. I never felt so sick in my life, though I’ve been in one or
two very tight places. And I hadn’t even a revolver cartridge—nothing but
chocolate.” - “If thou shouldst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?”
10 x 4 = 40
Section B
II. Write short notes on the following:
a. The allegorical significance of Tennyson’s poem “Morte d’Arthur.”
4
- The role of Nature in Far from the Madding Crowd.
- The influence of Ibsen on the dramatic work of Bernard Shaw.
10 x 3 =30
III. Write a brief critical appreciation of Hardy’s novel Far from the Madding Crowd.
10
Section C
IV Write an essay explaining why Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man is
considered to be an “anti-romantic comedy”.
OR
Write a critical analysis of the sleepwalking scene in Macbeth.
20
Section A (Solutions)
1. “Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”
Ans: In the above lines, the brief candle is related with short life span and Macbeth in the state of numbness and pain after his wife’s death compares life with a brief candle, a walking shadow, a poor player, a tale told by an idiot. According to Macbeth, life is nothing but an illusion. Life is like a poor actor who worries for his short act on stage and is heard no more after that. Life is like a story told by an idiot, which is full of tantrums and dramas, but it has no importance.
We start to think that Shakespeare wrote these lines for Macbeth in the state of absolute pessimism. Macbeth throughout the play has been pictured as a weak character. He has no control over his actions and his entire deeds are controlled by his wife and witches, who take over his mind. His ambitions overshadow his conscience, he starts to think that he is above fate and can’t die. In the quote “Out out brief candle Life’s but a walking shadow“, he shows his pessimistic approach towards life.
2. “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh!”
Ans: In the above quote Shakespeare symbolizes the blood on Lady Macbeth’s hands.The blood recurs in many parts of the play starting from Act 1, Scene 1 to Act 5, Scene 8, in one form or the other. Lady Macbeth in this scene is concerned about the imaginary blood in her hands that is caused due to her past murders, or involvement in murders.
This is ironic because she only planned out to kill Duncan and is then unaware of Macbeth’s involvement in the murders of Banquo, and Macduff’s family. Nevertheless, she is plagued by the insidious acts she committed and confesses them during her sleep walks
3. “He did it like an operatic tenor—a regular handsome fellow, with flashing eyes and lovely moustache, shouting a war-cry and charging like Don Quixote at the windmills. We nearly burst with laughter at him; but when the sergeant ran up as white as a sheet, and told us they’d sent us the wrong cartridges, and that we couldn’t fire a shot for the next ten minutes, we laughed at the other side of our mouths. I never felt so sick in my life, though I’ve been in one or two very tight places. And I hadn’t even a revolver cartridge—nothing but chocolate.”
Ans: Reference:These lines taken from Bernard Shaw’s Play Arms ad the Man.
Explain: Bluntschli’s comments show taht he is a man of some sophistication to be able to compare Serguis to an operatic tenor as well as Don Quixote. It is also note worthy that while he describes the foolishnes of the Bulgarian soldiers, he is realistic about his own side. It’s the height of irresponsibilty that the Serbians did not have proper ammunition to retaliate.
The Bulgarians have won a victory out of sheer luck or else their strategy was suicidal. In his opinion Sergius ought to be court marshaled for being so unprofessional. It is important to notice that Bluntschli feels embarrassed when he recognizes Serguis in the protograph and learns that he is Raina’s lover.
4. “If thou shouldst never see my face again, Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend?”
Ans – Reference – These lines taken from Morte d’Arthur written by Alfred,
Explain – King Arthur asks the knight to feel comfortable from his side as his life is almost over. He has performed duties of his life. He hopes and prays that God may accept his work by purifying it of all its unworthiness. Then he asks the knight to pray for the peace if his soul does not find him alive in the world. King Arthur points out that more things are done by prayer than people think of. Sometimes prayers do wonders and unimaginable things. Therefore, King
Arthur asks his knight to pray for him day and night. But the prayer should be spontaneous like a fountain that flows on continuously. In this stanza the poet tells us the power of prayer and distinction between men and animals. The animals do not have brain. They can’t use their reasoning power. They have no knowledge of God. But man knows what God is. So he should pray to God for himself and for his friends.
Section B (Solutions)
a. The allegorical significance of Tennyson’s poem “Morte d’Arthur.”
Ans: Morte d’Arthur’ was written shortly after the death of Tennyson’s friend Arthur Hallam, and the portrayal of kingly Arthur may owe something to Hallam Hallam died in 1833, and Tennyson wrote Morte d’Arthur in 1833-34, before adding a prefatory poem, The Epic’, a few years later in 1837-38, before publishing the poem in his 1842 volume (his first in ten years). But that wasn’t the end of the poem’s involvement in Tennyson’s longstanding interest in all things Arthurian, for ‘Morte d’Arthur’ would later be incorporated (as The Passing of Arthur’) into Tennyson’s vast idylls of the king, written in the 1850s and 1860s, a medieval epic that T. S. Eliot scathingly described as ‘Chaucer retold for children’
Morte d’Arthur’ describes the death of the great British king, Arthur, and Bedivere’s depositing of Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, in the lake from which Arthur first acquired it Bedivere tends to the dying king, fo who hands his knight the sword and tells him to go and throw it in the lake Bedivere goes to the lake but finds he cannot bear to throw fo away such a mighty sword, so he hides it and returns to his king. Arthur can tell Bedivere has disobeyed him, so off Bedivere goes again, but once again he cannot bring himself to fling Excalibur into the water. When he returns to Arthur again, the king can tell that Bedivere has disobeyed him and commands him to go back. Bedivere succeeds on the third attempt, and once he has thrown the sword into the lake, a hand, clothed in white samite, rises from the water and grabs the sword, brandishing it three times before disappearing with it under the water. When Bedivere returns to the dying king, Arthur can tell from Bedivere’s shock, that the knight has thrown the sword back, and Arthur prepares to die. A barge arrives to carry him off to his final resting place and Arthur is placed on board, where he is tended by three queens. The barge sails off to the isle of Avilion (Avalon).
Morte d’Arthur’ is written in the blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) Tennyson also used for a number of his dramatic monologues written at this time, such as ‘ Ulysses’.
Although it isn’t a dramatic monologue, Morte d’Arthur’ is an attempt to stage a dialogue between Arthur and Bedivere, as well as fo describe Bedivere’s actions. There is also something decidedly fairy tale-like about its use of the pattern of three: Bedivere needs three attempts at getting rid of the sword, the Lady of the Lake brandishes Excalibur three times when she receives it back from Bedivere, and there are three queens aboard the barge which departs for Avalon with Arthur’s corpse. Tennyson is trying to summon the magic and myth of the Arthurian story, but it is revealing that he chose to focus on the death of Arthur at the beginning of his own poetic career. ‘ Morte d’Arthur’ is a poem about the passing of not only a great man, but a reat period in history. An important phase in Tennyson’s personal iston land also come to an end.
5. The role of Nature in Far from the Madding Crowd.
Ans – Thomas Hardy broke away from the traditional convention of representing women in the novels. This is due to the fact that Victorian patriarchal social structure unden/vent extreme pressure from the emergent feminist movement. This movement challenged the accepted norms of feminiriity. Thomas Hardy was deeply in touch with the feminist movement of his age. Hardy’s acquaintance with the timing of John Stuart Mill, Comte, Spencer and the feminist literature of his period helped him to realize the predicament of women in the society.
Hardy’s novels reveal the influence of these thinkers. John Stuart Mill was a champion of the ‘Individual’ against the tyranny of the society. Mill stressed that, there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling against the tendency of the society to fetter development and if possible prevent the formation of an individuality not in harmony with society.
Bathsheba is depicted with the subversive aspirations for social, political and cultural equality in the society. She challenges the male P dominated corn market and her unconventional role threatened the masculinist ideology of womanhood. She is represented by Hardy as a proud, spirited and virile woman. She denies to be a man’s property’ through conventional marriage. But the traditional forces of the society tries incessantly to break her self-confidence as an efficient manager and imposes on her the ideology of marriage. Bathsheba courageously repulses the attempts of the society to chain her in the conventional roles. Her attempts at self-preservation and self-identity proves futile at the end of the novel and she is forced to embrace the conventional role of a wife. Hardy’s conception of Bathsheba foreshadows some of the themes of New woman in the late Victorian novels. But Hardy has no idea of the issues of the New Woman’ O during his writing of this novel.
Bathsheba is shown to be under constant pressure of her suitor’s expectation of marriage of the three suitors Farmer Boldwood’s marriage obsession after receiving the valentine card from Bathsheba sows the seeds of future tragedy. Being unware of the traps and Loopholes of the patriarchal society, Bathsheba commits the indiscretion. For her sending the valentine card is a whimsical freak originating with Liddy. The working of chance is symbolised by the tossing of a hymn book to decide whether the recepient is to be little Teddy Coggan or William Boldwood Bathsheba having earlier noticed Boldwood’s indifference to her and wanting to test his response to her, sends him the valentine card writing ‘ it. Marry Me on it
6. The influence of Ibsen on the dramatic work of Bernard Shaw.
Ans: Traditionally, Henrik Ibsen’s influence in Bernard Shaw has been framed almost exclusively in what the British critic and playwright discussed in The Quintessence of ibsenism. Although this can be taken as partially true, we must add some considerations about Ibsen, and more specifically, about Shaw’s interpretations of such an Ibsenism. Therefore, the goal of this essay is going to have a double scope. On the one hand, the analysis of how their contemporaries perceived shaws interpretations of ibsenism will occupy the first stage.
On the other one, it is essential to specify and clarify how shaw developed his interpretation of Ibsenism, expressed not only in the Quintessence, but also in other pieces of criticism, and in most of his plays. In order to determine whether shaw misunderstood and misinterpreted ibsen, an author for whom he professed the greatest admiration, it is necessary to examine all his Ibsen criticism. It is true that Shaw was a novelist, journalist, critic, and dramatist; therefore, considering in which of these capacities he wrote about ibsen is essential. many occasions, Shaw tried to persuade his readers of what he considered a false and superficial influence of ibsen in his plays. But he never went as far as when he said: ” What! I a follower of ibsen! My good sir, as far as England is concerned, ibsen is a follower of mine!” (Quintessence 25).
This remark was made by Shaw in the first edition of the Quintessence, and it is characteristic of his treatment of the subject. Shaw frequently denied that he was influenced by Ibsen. Nevertheless, the similarities are so obvious in some cases, that a reconsideration of them is not worth it. The starting point of the essay is based on the assumption that shaw was in debt with the Scandinavian playwright
(iii) Write a brief critical appreciation of Hardy’s novel Far from the Madding Crow
Ans: In Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy’s first widely acclaimed novel, an examination of the ego states of the characters and of transactions between them may help reveal Hardy’s attitude toward Love, maturity, and happiness”. We may be able to discover more precisely the qualities and actions which Hardy believes determine a man’s success or failure in life and to express explicitly or implicitly. these values more clearly with a new vocabulary. Often in his writing Hardy describes his characters using the traditional dichotomy of “passion” and “reason,” of heart and head.
In transactional analysis, a third element is added. Depending on its psychological source, reason may involve either or both the Parent and Adult ego states. The Adult is predominant if the thought emerges from a thorough evaluation of possibilities and a resultant rational decision. But if the thought or action is based on Parental dictates or social norms, the person is dominated at that moment by the parent in studying the novel from a transactional viewpoint, a distinction between these two ego states is sometimes essential when Hardy uses the term “reason.”
Thomas Hardy’s own descriptions provide the beginning of our analysis of the dominant ego states of each character From the transactional approach, the best-functioning Adult (in the sense explained in the previous chapter) of all the characters in Far from the Madding Crowd is Gabriel Oak, whom various critics have designated as the victorious hero in the novel because of his stability, his harmony with nature, or his rationality. Hardy introduces him as “a young man of sound judgment.
in structural terms, his Adult was active in data processing.” He could weigh information and make appropriate decisions. Hardy again says, “His intellect and his emotions were clearly separated: he had passed the time during which the influence of youth indiscriminately mingles them in the character of impulse, and he had not yet arrived at the stage wherein they become united again, in the character of prejudice, by the influence of a wife and family. This statement, distinguishing between Adult, Child, and parent, could almost be found in a transactional analysis text Gabriel’s Adult can clearly see the emotions of the Child and hold them in check; it can also monitor the parent to prevent prejudices from clouding his reasoning ability.
Hardy’s use of the onmiscient third-person narrative technique allows him to see into and comment on the personalities of his characters. From these descriptions of what Hardy sees in his characters, the reader can begin to make preliminary assumptions about their ego states. A further examination of transactions between characters in scenes of dramatic action in the novel may lead to a better understanding of these ego states and their determinative effect on the outcome of the novel
Section C (Solutions)
(iv) Write an essay explaining why Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man is considered to be an “anti-romantic comedy”.
Ans: As the play opens we learn about Raina’s romantic nature. We Learn she is rich as she is covered by “a mantle of furs, worth on a moderate estimate, about three times the furniture of her room. In a single sentence Shaw tells us that “Catherine Petkoff, a woman over forty. imperiously energetic, with magnificent black hair and eyes, who… might be a very splendid specimen of the wife of a mountain farmer, but is determined to be a Viennese lady, and to that end wears a fashionable tea gown on all occasions. The play begins with excitement.
Bulgaria has won a victory over the Serbs under the leadership of Sergius, Raina’s lover. Raina expresses all the emotions appropriate for a romantic girl. She wonders if she is worthy of sergius, she is happy that all she had imagined about Sergius has come true and she also feels remorse that there were moments of doubt about the heroism of her lover. The fact that she doubted the heroism of Sergius is in her favor as it shows that she has a practical side to her nature. Right away there is a lot of activity after the announcement of the victory.
There are gunshots and reports of Serbians retreating through the town with Russian troops following to capture them.On stage there is activity, as Catherina and Louka, the maidservant, enter Raina’s room to shut all the doors and windows to safeguard Raina. In a sweeping statement Shaw tells us about Louka’s appearance as well as her nature. She is a pretty proud insolent fo Bulgarian girl who lacks servility. Notice the skillful management of plot: Louka tells Raina that the bolt of the shutter in the balcony. is missing thus preparing us for the plausibility of the fugitive’s. entrance from the balcony. Raina is elated since her lover has proved to be all that heroism means. When Catherine wishes her goodnight she says, ” Wish me joy. This is the happiest night of my life – if only there are no fugitives.” Ironically, it proves to be the happiest night of her life because there is a fugitive. The reader or the audience is now in suspense as they hear gunshots and Raina darkens the room. We know the balcony shutter is not bolted. The fugitive comes in through the balcony.
When Raina spots him, he threatens to kill her if she makes a noise. Its only later we learn that his revolver is not loaded. In Act One we FO don’t meet Sergius but through the stage directions and comments of the characters we have an accurate picture of a brave and handsome fo soldier. Bluntschlí is a contrast to him. When we first see him he is in a deplorable plight, bespattered with mud and blood and snow.” His fa tunic is torn. Instead of being courageous, he is afraid to die. One by one he shatters the illusions that Raina (and the audience) have about war when the officer comes to search the house Bluntschli grabs her cloak so that her modesty will act as a protection for Bluntschli
When the officer •quickly gives her the cloak proving that he is kind and considerate. Raina hides him and assures the officer that there is no fugitive in her room she too reveals the kindness in her nature. When Catherine, Louka and the officers leave the room, Bluntschli and Raina resume their conversation. Now she learns that the revolver is unloaded that he prefers to carry chocolates instead of cartridges. Raina is “outraged at her more cherished ideals of manhood”. She thinks only schoolboys carry chocolates. What Shaw is telling us is that food is as important for the soldier as ammunition. Scornfully Raina offers him the box of chocolate creams.
There are general contrasts in this act. Raina’s dreamy romantic nature is a contrast to her mother’s energetic manner. Bluntschli’s shabby state is marked by a contrast to the smart appearance of Sergius in the photograph. Notice also the reaction of Bluntschli when he sees the photograph. Raina showed him the photograph expecting some admiration but in contrast, Bluntschlí laughs at the photograph. There is dramatic irony in this Act and a contamination of it in Act two and three as well. When Bluntschlí describes the cavalry charge The compares Sergius to Don Quixote not knowing that he is Raina’s Lover
Write a critical analysis of the sleepwalking scene in Macbeth.
Ans: NA
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