WAITING FOR GODOT

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot presents a highly absurd situation of two tramps- Vladimir and Estragon, waiting for someone called Godot, who doesn't come. Both the tramps follow the same routine every day, come and stand under a tree, wait for Godot, indulge in senseless activities, keep on waiting the whole day, decide to begin afresh the next day. They wait for Godot, try to pass their time, but be never arrives. Estragon and Vladimir symbolise the human condition as a period of waiting. In the second act, the play is a mere replication of the first act with only one or two changes. Lucky accompanied by his master Pozzo comes in the first act, but in the second, the situation is reversed. Lucky is the master, Pozzo is his slave, who is blind now.  Same way the boy arrives and informs that Godot will not be coming that day and be will arrive the next day. But Godot never comes and their waiting becomes endless as it is said, "Waiting is an endless process."

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER

Oliver Goldsmith's Comedy, She Stoops to Conquer opens with a prologue in which an actor mourns the death of the classical low comedy at the altar of sentimental, 'mawkish' comedy. He hopes that Dr. Goldsmith can remedy this problem through the play about to be presented. The play's heroine and the 'she' of the title is Kate Hardcastle, daughter of Mr. Hardcastle who falls in love with Charles Marlowe. Marlowe is extremely shy around refined ladies of upper class but comfortable with women of humble birth. Be mistakes Kate for a woman of the lower class and she allows him to continue to mistake her identity. She poses as a maid so that be becomes comfortable. The subplot revolves around the romance between Marlowe's friend, George Hastings and Constance Neville, niece of Mrs. Hardcastle. The play ends with the two couples, Marlowe and Kate and Hastings and Constance- united and ready to wed. The play deals with the theme of social class. 

Sense and Sensibility By Jane Austen

The novel Sense and Sensibility is a satire on sentimentalism. Elinor represents sense, while sensibility is represented by her sister Marianne. Mrs. Henry Dashwood with her three daughters Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, is left in a very straitened situation on the death of her husband. They have to entire to Devonshire where they begin to live in a very humble cottage. Edward Ferrars is the brother of Mr. John Dashwood. John is the step son of Mr. Henry Dashwood. He had been entrusted by the latter to take care of his wife and daughter after his death. But he does not discharge his responsibilities in his respect. Edward and Elinor fall in love with each other. Marianne falls in love with a poor, unscrupulous young man, John Willoughby. Willoughby suddenly leaves for London. Marianne and Elinor go after him, But Willoughby says that he is going to be married to a rich heiress. Elinor also learns that even her lover, Edward, has been untrue to her, as he is already engaged to Lucy Steel who is the niece of Edward. Edward’s mother is not happy with his engagement to Lucy, and settles her property on his younger brother, Robert, who is a fool of the first water. Then Robert and Lucy are married, while Edward stands rejected. Then Edward marries Elinor. Marianne who has been wooed by Colonel Brandon, marries him.

PARADISE LOST Book- IX

Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost was originally published in ten books in 1667. The second edition of the poem came out with twelve books in 1674. It is based on the biblical story of the fall of Adam or Eve. It begins in hell, where Satan and his followers are recovering from defeat in a war they had waged against God. All of them plan to take revenge against God by seducing Man, his favourite creation. Satan transforms into the form of a serpent and successfully seduces Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan's eloquent rhetoric forces Eve to partake the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam, resigned to join in her fate, also eats the fruit. As a result of it, their innocence is lost and they become aware of their nakedness. Adam and Eve are exiled from Paradise because of the sin of disobedience to the word of God. Milton announces his main subject as 'Man's Disobedience' and the overall theme of his epic poem as 'Justifying the ways of God to men'.

The Metaphysical Poets

The term 'metaphysical' is loosely applied to a group of 17th century poets such as John Donne, Andrew Marvell, Henry Vaughan, George Herbert, and Richard Crashaw. These poets did not belong to a school of poetry, but were united by 'Common characteristics of wit, inventiveness, and a love of elaborate stylistic manoeuvres." Their poetry was rich in intellectual complexity. John Dryden was the first to use the term 'metaphysic' in his criticism of Donne. In his Discourse Concerning Satire, Dryden had stated that Donne in his poetry "affects the Metaphysics...in his amorous verses, where nature only should reign; and perplexes the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy, when be should engage their hearts." While Dryden had used the term in reference to Donne, Samuel Jonson extended it to a group of poets. In The Lives of the Poets, Jonson stated that "about the beginning of the 17th century appeared the race of writers that maybe termed the Metaphysical poets." Both Dryden and Jonson had used the term metaphysical in a negative sense to criticise the excesses of this group of poets. Jonson believed that metaphysical poets only wanted to 'show their learning'. In their poetry, "The most heterogeneous ideas were yoked by violence together".

HAMLET by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

The king of Denmark has recently died. On his death, his son, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, who is a student at the University of Wittenberg, is summoned to the Danish court. Hamlet feels miserable that his father’s throne has been seized by his uncle, Claudius and his mother has married him. Another shock comes to Hamlet when his beloved, Ophelia, rejects his suit on the advice of his father, Polonius. Hamlet learns from his friend, Horatio, and two officers that they have sighted his father’s ghost. As Hamlet himself encounters the ghost, the latter tells him the reality that his father had been poisoned by his uncle. The ghost also burdens Hamlet with the responsibility of avenging his death. Claudius appoints two spies, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to keep a watch on Hamlet. The latter arranges the staging of a play “The murder of Gonzago” to which the king is also invited. The king’s abnormal behavior while watching the play (in which the murder of a king in a manner similar to that in which Hamlet’s father is killed is staged) convinces Hamlet of Claudius’s guilt. Having been convinced of Claudius’s and his mother’s collusion in the murder of his father, Hamlet scolds his mother in a closed room. But as he hears an echo from behind the curtain, he thrusts his rapier at the person hidden. This is how Polonius who was eavesdropping gets killed. Claudius tries his best to know the real cause of Hamlet’s “madness”, “ecstasy” or distraction, but having failed in his effort, he decides to send him out to England. In the ship with the two spies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet opens the sealed letter which contains the orders for his execution on his reaching England. He cleverly replaces these orders for the execution of the spies who lose their life in the venture. On learning about the death of her father, Ophelia goes mad, while her brother Laertes burns with the desire for revenge which is sharpened by Claudius. As Ophelia’s dead body is being lowered in the grave, Hamlet grapples with Laertes. The two have a bloody duel in which both of them are badly wounded. When the two fighters are dying the villainy of Claudius is divulged by Laertes and Gertrude, the Queen. Hamlet kills Claudius with his poisoned rapier and soon Fortinbras arrives to be the next ruler of Denmark. 

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS

Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is a work of social and political satire, which was published in 1726. It was a controversial work when it was first published. It was not until almost ten years after its first printing that the book appeared with the entire text that Swift had originally intended it to have. The protagonist of the novel, Captain Lemuel Gulliver, narrates and speaks directly to the reader from his own experience. Swift uses Gulliver's journey to various lands as the backdrop for his satire. Gulliver embarks on four distinct journeys- Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan, to the country of Hounynyms. The Lilliputians are small but full of self-importance. They represent the English. The Brobdingnag are physically a lot larger than Gulliver; however, they are less threatening than the small Lilliputians. They do not have gunpowder, as they do not see the point of it and the king is upset t Gulliver's description of Europe, considering Europeans to be violent. The Laputans are obsessed with knowledge and spent a great deal of time studying, but failed to produce anything productive. The Hounynyms represent a successful society, which benefits all of the Hounynyms and considers them all equal. On the other hand, the Yahoos represent all i.e. bad with human beings as they are uncivilised, greedy and violent.

FRANKENSTEIN

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is a Gothic novel which was published in 1818. The novel begins with a series of letters from the explorer Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. It is Walton, who finds Victor Frankenstein near death, listens to his tale and records it in letters. The protagonist  of the story is Victor who creates an intelligent, but grotesque monster, from whom  be recoils in horror. The subtitle of the novel alludes to Frankenstein as a Promethean figure, striving against human limitations to bring light and benefit to mankind. His fall results from his failure and inability to give love to his creature. The monster seeks a female mate for him. When Victor refuses to create one, the monster narrates his tragic story. From the time be took birth, be endured rejection from mankind, but never retaliated. As a result, be decides to take revenge on his creator's family to avenge the injury and sorrow be endures from others. The monster kills his near and dear ones, even killing his wife on their wedding night. Victor Frankenstein vows to devote the rest of his life to find the monster and exacting his revenge and be soon departs to begin his quest. Frankenstein chases the monster through Europe and Russia. be is on the verge of death, when the monster comes to visit him for the last time. The monster mourns for all that he has done, but maintains that he could not have done otherwise, given the magnitude of his suffering. At the end of the novel, the monster disappears in the waves and darkness.

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

The play opens with the chorus with announces the theme of the play i.e., the story of a scholarly doctor who has his end because of excessive lust for knowledge in the field of magic and necromancy. At the start Faustus looks at several fields of study such as logic, Medicine, Law, Divinity, etc. But he finally settles at magic. Then appear the Good Angel and the Evil Angel. The former warns Faustus against the holy studying magic book. He asks him to study the holy books. But the latter encourages him so much to study the Magic book. His end is as tragic as it can be. He has not indulged or little indulged is sensual pleasures. What makes his sin more serious in Theological circles in his association with Satan and the satanic forces-demons, ghosts, devils etc.? So, he gets no forgiveness and relief of any kind despite all his wailing and is taken away to hell by the Devils.

                                                                                                                                                               

Routes and Escape Routes

Datta Bhagat's Routes and Escape Routes is a play which is a translated form of Marathi version composed by Maya Pandit. The act deals with the universal phenomenon of the 'downtrodden' within the specific framework of Indian Society. A burning issue of the society is depicted here. The dalits are kept down from ages are vying for a prestigious seat in the society. But there is a creamy layer among the dalits also has taken all the benefits of reservation. The dalit movement is passing through a difficult phase with different ideologies. In this act, each character represents a different generation and a different stage of the movement. 

CHOCOLATE

'Chocolate' by Manju Kapur is a story of revenge, an unusual revenge. In this story, a wife satisfies her urge for revenge upon her husband who used to mock her rolls of flesh. He himself was chiefly to blame for her plump hands and flabby cheeks. The protagonist of this story was carrying on an affair with some other woman. As a cover up of his guilt and to shut her mouth, he brought to his wife Swiss chocolates. When she got a smell of his unfaithfulness, she fed him on greasy food to make him overweight, to break off his affair and to humiliate him. In this dual drama, the key role is of food. Both put on fat because of heavy food. Tara gets even with Abhay by secretly romancing with Abhay's friend. Finally, she becomes a happy mother who pains to provide self-supporting professional education to her daughter.