Dystopian Literature and India in the literature of 20th century.

I am himanshi Parmar, here i write a blog on two questions, (1) Dystopian Literature and (2) India in 20th century Literature. Which was given as a part of thinking activity.

1] Dystopian Literature

What is Dystopia :-

According to Oxford dictionary,

"Dystopia is an imagined or society in which there is a great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post - apocalyptic."

  In another words, "Dystopia is a speculated community or society that is undesirable or frightening."

   Dystopia is basically refered as a antonym of utopian. A term which was coined by sir Thomas More. The word Dystopia, was derived from adding the Latin 'prefix dys', which means 'bad', to the word utopia. So a dystopia is a utopia gone wrong. Here i put a video, which shows, what kind of Dystopian world actually are.

What is utopia? 

According to Oxford Dictionary,

"Utopia is an imagined place or state or thing in which everything is perfect."

"Also utopia is an ideal society or state. "

It was first coin by sir Thomas More for his book Utopia, which describing a fictional island society in the new world.  The word 'Utopia' derived from the Greek Word 'Outopos'. Meaning 'no place' or 'Nowhere'. Also identical greek word 'Eutopos' means 'A good place'.  This is a video of utopian world.

Dystopian Literature :- 

   Dystopian literature is a form of writing novels or any other literary work, as a response of utopian literature. We can able to say that Dystopia or Dystopian literature is an Antonym of Utopia or Utopian Literature. Dystopian literature gives us a vision of future. It is a society that is dehumanizing and frightening. It is also a speculative fiction that explore social and political structure.

  We can also able to say that, Dystopian gener, create a world or society, where life is extremely bad, because of lot many reasons. like, human misery, such as squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, war, terror, political issues etc. We find such kind of Dystopian portrayal in novel, films, video games, comic books, graphic novels, short stories etc. Let me discuss some of the central Characteristics of Dystopian literature.

Characteristics of Dystopian Literature :-

1) Government control

2) Environmental destruction

3) Technological control

4) Survival

5) Loss of Individualism

1) Government control :-

  If we see any Dystopian literature. We find that, Government play vital role. Generally in Dystopian literature, either there is no Government or an oppressive ruling government. If we see in Ursula k. Le Guin's novel 'Always Coming home'. Written in 1985. Which is a science - Fiction. In this work we find the kesh repudiate a government system and are self organized. Also '1984' by George Orwell, the world is under complete government control. And we a find a very popular dialogue, "Big Brother is Watching you". Which means, people are under the strict government watch, who gave them no rights to do anything individually.

2) Technological Control :-

   In Dystopian World, we find extremeness of technology, and mainly technology and tools work for improving every day life. Technology was controlling by humans. Sometimes technology also creates fear and unemployment for people of that particular Dystopian Society. For example :

 1.  Aldous Huxley's 'Brave new World'. Which was written in 1932, in this work Huxley explores danger of technology.

2. Work of Philip K. Dick named 'Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?' Also talk about dangers of advanced technology. There are many robots who disguise as humans, and mass extinction led to artificial animal.

3. A novel written in 2002, titled 'Feed' by M. T. Anderson, is also Dystopian novel. Talks about a computer network, that is implanted into the brain of 73% of American Citizens.

3) Environmental Disaster :-

Dystopian novels and works are mainly set in destroyed places, or a places which are close to destruction. Mainly the settings are in gloomy, dark places. For example :

1. The Maza Running, a series by James Dashner, shows that how Dystopian world had been destroyed by massive solar flares and coronal mass ejection. In first book of series, a group of a teenage boys are stuck in an imaginary place called 'Glade' and try to find their way.

4) Survival :-

Dystopian story is also about survival of human. For example :

1. William Golding's 'Lord of the flies', written in 1954. It talks about a group of school boys, that abandoned on Island, and struggle of that boys to built civilization and fight for survival.

2. Jeanne Duprau's 'The city of Ember', which set in underground world, known as Ember. The city is constructed and impending disaster. And there where a group of teenagers who working to find their way out.

5) Lost of Individual :-

  Dystopian brings loss of individualism and represent needs of society, Rather than individual. For example :

1. 'We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin, written in 1920, follow a spacecraft engineer, living in the future nation called one state.

2. 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury, written in 1953. Mainly talks about protagonist, who is a fireman and whose job is to burn books.

 2] India in 20th century literature 

We find the references of India in many works of English writers. They portrayed both the good and bad side of India and its people. Here i shortly discuss about some of that works.

1) A passage to India :-

   This novel was written by English author E. M. Forster in 1924. Which is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian Independence movement in 1920s. The novel was also won many awards and selected as one of the hundred great works of 20th century English literature by the modern library. Also won James Tail Black memorial prize for fiction in 1924.

   The novel deals with political occupation of India by the British army and concluding relations between the English and native population. Also described friendship between two main characters Cyril Fielding and Dr. Aziz, with all it's obstacles.

2) To the lighthouse :- 

   In this novel India was represented as a exotic place, where lies great happiness, romance and adventures. We also found a character Augustus Carmichael have strong desire to go to India. And desire to get achievements. Which shows that India is portrayed as a place of desire. And it is also mentioned that, in India Jewelry is something which is related with richness and pride. And even India was very famous for it's jwelery and spices. This how we find india in this novel by Virginia Woolf.

3) Siddhartha (1922) :-

   The novel Siddhartha was written by  Herman Hesse in 1922. The novel is set six centuries, before the birth of Christ. In ancient India at the time of Gotama the Buddha. In this book, Author described about religion in India and as specially Brahmins. The entire story is about Siddhartha, who seeks for the meaning of life and embarks on a quest to find enlightenment. All the characters Herman, take from India and write a novel. Mainly the places or settings are also from India.

Conclusion :- 

There are some other books also, which mentions India and it's people, places,etc. Books Like H. G. Wells's, 'Around the world in eighty Days'. Written in 1872-73. Indian since ancient time, influenced many countries and that reflects in the works of the writers of various countries. 

Words :- 1234

Images :- 4

Videos :- 3

References :-

1) masterclass.com

2) Wikipedia.com

3) www.grin.com

4)vishaljasoliya.slideshare. com

5) sparksnotes.com

'Tradition And Individual Talent' T.S. Eliot

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar. Write this blog as a part of thinking activity, given as task of academic work.

Introduction :-

'Tradition and individual Talent' is an important essay written by a great poet and critic T. S. Eliot. The essay was published in 1919. And was in "The Egoist". The Egoist was literary magazine which is now considered a "England's most important modernist periodical".And later on the essay published in Eliot's first book of criticism called "The sacred wood" (1920). The essay 'Tradition and individual talent', is also available in few other books like, Eliot's "Selected prose" and "Selected essays".

About T. S. Eliot :-

   Mainly Eliot known for his poetry. He also contributed in criticism. He consider as a great cultural critic. Comparable to Sir. Philip Sydney and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was also well known poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry. Who was born on 26 September 1888. And died on 4 January 1965. His full name is Thomas Stearns Eliot OM.

He was Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, then he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work, and marry there. He became a British citizen in 1927 at the age of 39, subsequently renouncing his American citizenship. Eliot first attracted widespread attention for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in 1915, which was received as a modernist masterpiece. It was followed by some of the best-known poems in the English language, including "The Waste Land" (1922), "The Hollow Men" (1925), "Ash Wednesday" (1930), and Four Quartets (1943).He was also known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and The Cocktail Party (1949). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry".

The poet and critic T. S. Eliot gave shape to many of the concerns that would eventually declared him as a New Criticism. In essays such as "Tradition and the Individual Talent," rather than emphasizing the greatness of the individual poet, Eliot stressed the importance of directing criticism upon the poem itself.

   Now let me discuss about some of the important questions is in detail.

(1)Your understanding of the views expressed by Eliot in this essay.

 

And

(2) How would you like to explain Eliot's concept of Tradition? Do you agree with it?

The essay 'Tradition and individual talent' is divided in three parts, the parts are :

1) The concept of Tradition.

2) the theory of impersonal poetry.

3) the conclusion part.

In the first part Eliot talk about concept of tradition. He says that in English literature, The word is not taken as much positive way. As he sentenced that,

"Seldom, perhais, does the word (Tradition) appear except in a phrase of censure". Then later T. S. Eliot compare Englishmen with frenchmem and reflected the attitude of English's towards French literature. English writers habituated to feel proud on themselves. They proud for their creativity and also for their 'less' criticality. In french we found mass of critical writing. French also have habit of conclusion. This we see when Eliot wrote,

"“…we only conclude (we are such unconscious people) that the French are more critical than we; and sometimes even plume ourselves a little with the fact, as if the French were less spontaneous”.

  In the essay, Eliot also defending the role of tradition in helping new writers, to be modern. This is something a central point of Eliot's writing. Eliot favour 'Criticality'. He thinks that, "criticism is as inevitable as breathing ". Then he talk about tradition, Eliot admire the aspects which are different from poet's predecessors. They try to give "uniqueness" and "newness". They always find isolation of the poet from his immediate predecessors. Than Eliot write that, "everyone need to forget all the prejudice, and then only all can come to know about poet's individuality. Which are connected with his ancestors."

The most individual part of any work is which deal with the vigorous dead poet and their glory of writing. In this essay, Eliot, asserts that tradition and individuality go together.

Next Eliot write about Tradition and 'Historical sense'. And Eliot wrote that if form 'Tradition' follow blindly to the dead people or ancestors. Then might be such tradition should be destroyed. According to poet, tradition is not in following pre - generation only. But also it has a bit of novelty. He says that,

“Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labor. It involves in the first place, the historical sense.”

   With this historical sense they should have perception about its presence as well as about its 'pastness of past'. According to this historical sense, Eliot told writers to write not only with his own generation but also with the whole ags of the English literature. Historical sense make poet realise that the whole area of literature from Homer to his own generation has simultaneous existence. Which reflected two things, 'Timelessness' and 'temporality' in poet's work. Which makes poet traditional. As Eliot wrote that,

“No poet, no artist of any art has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation o the dead poets and artists. You can’t value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison among the dead.”

Eliot also says that nothing is individual, the influence of past are always there. Eliot also discuss aboutb 'Conformity between the old and the new'. New work is always connected with it's present and past. Eliot believed that nothing and nobody can valued alone. Eliot also wrote that, "Past is unchangeable, and past and present has strong connection with each other. He wrote that,

“…the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past. And the poet who is aware of this will be aware of great difficulties and responsibilities”.

(2) Explain: "Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry".

Or

(2) The theory of Impersonal poetry :-

In second part Eliot define the process of 'depersonalization',  and now it is relate to tradition. And the main thing or motif is relations of poetry and poet. For that Eliot says that,

“Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.”

  According to Eliot, most of the criticism only says about a name and creativity of poet, but there is no enjoyment of poetry we found or get. By this quote Eliot says that the difference between mature and immature poet, by liberty of special and varied feeling. Which enter into new combination. Also he says that honest criticism only possible when artist give their fullest to the work. When they sacrifice themselves, At that time poetry become more valuable.

Then later Eliot gives illustration from the field of science and chemistry. He compare 'Platinum' with the poet. When the process of being sulfurous acid take place. The two gases needed. OXYGEN and SULFUR DIOXIDE. and at that time they have a filament 'Platinum'. In this process platinum plays indirect role. And remain unaffected by any gases

 Eliot says that poet is also like platinum. They give total contribution, but when poetry comes out, they remain unaffected and oprate. Poet's mind is like utensil and full of fellings, phrases and images. And poets utilize them and unites them as poetry. Eliot also believe that, what poet express is defiantly a medium, but not a personality. He wrote that,

“…the poet has not a ‘personality’ to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality…”

(3) Explain: " Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality."

Eliot also talk about emotions and poetry. He says that in poetry, experience and impression comes together in unexpected way. And similarly some trivial experience and impression become so important for poetry. He says that without context, nothing can be understood,

“This balance of constructed emotion is in the dramatic situation to which the speech is pertinent, but that situation alone is inadequate to it.”

Then he gave example of Thomas Middleston's tragedy. And use some lines from that to explain the point.  He believes that personal emotions are simple where eles. Poetry is a complex to understand. And that is the reason that not all the time poet's own emotions take place in poetry. Poet used ordinary emotions most of the time. And deal with all known and unknown emotions. 

   He here change words, but reflect the sentence 'Emotions recollected in tranquility'. He use for this words like, 'An inexact formula'. According to Eliot, a poet who become personal while writing poetry, he will consider as 'Bad poet' because he wrote 'unconsciously'. And Eliot says that poet become conscious where he must be unconscious. When poet stop looking for his personality. Then only the glory and greatness comes out in poetry. Poet has no right to show his personal emotions in poetry. Which we see in the lines he wrote that,

“Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality but an escape from personality.”

(3) The Conclusion :- 

In the third part of conclusion. Eliot says that it will be so hard to only look into poetry. And ignore poet. Usually all can read poem only with name and fame of the poet. He wrote that,

“There are many people who appreciate the expression of sincere emotion in verse, and there is smaller number of people who can appreciate technical excellence. But very few know when there is expression of significant emotion, emotion which has its life in the poem and not in the history of the poet.”

  In this statement, he  tries to elaborate the view that to admire poem with poet's skill and fame is most easier thing. But to look only technical skills and art in poem is hardest thing. And he says that, reader must knows that when the work published, the relationship between art and artist is ended. And also he make all the poet aware that they has to sacrifice themselves totally for their work.

Words :- 1747

References :-

1) science. Jrank. Org

2) coursehero. Com

3)janiriddhi1315.blogspot.com

4)interestingliterature. Com

  

William Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads.

Introduction :-

“Preface to Lyrical Ballads” is an essay by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In 1798 Wordsworth wrote, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads. Believing that the poems were so novel in theme and style that they required some explanation, Wordsworth wrote a prefatory essay to accompany the second edition of the poems in 1800; he then expanded the essay for the third edition of 1802.

About William Wordsworth :-

 William Wordsworth was born in 7 April 1770, Cockermouth, United Kingdom. And died on 23 April 1850, Rydal Mount & Gardens, Rydal, United Kingdom. Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads. Some of the main features of Wordsworth's poetry are a spiritual veneration for nature, a dislike for modernity, an interest in the individual and the imagination, a fascination with childhood, and the employment of common language.

Now let me discuss about Wordsworth's preface of lyrical ballad.

“PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS” :-

“Preface to Lyrical Ballads” is an essay by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In 1798 Wordsworth wrote, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads. Believing that the poems were so novel in theme and style that they required some explanation, Wordsworth wrote a prefatory essay to accompany the second edition of the poems in 1800; he then expanded the essay for the third edition of 1802.

The “Preface” is often considered a manifesto of the Romantic movement in English literature. Wordsworth explains his intention in his poems to express incidents from everyday life in everyday language and imbued with poetic sentiment. He defines poetry as a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, and the poet as “a man speaking to men”. Because poetry speaks of universal human emotions, it should use diction that is natural rather than artificial and self-consciously literary. Thus, Wordsworth sets himself apart from classicist poets who addressed an elite audience in language that was tied to formal rules. Wordsworth argues that poetry and prose should be close in style and that the aim of poetry should be to imitate nature and inspire emotion in the reader in a way that emphasizes pleasure. In the final part of the essay, Wordsworth outlines the procedure whereby a poet may observe the world around them and compose poetry through deep reflection on their experiences.

(1) What, according to Wordsworth, is the relationship in his poems between feeling and action?

In the “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” Wordsworth argues that in order to compose a successful and impactful poem, the poet must immerse themselves in a sort of process for poetic creation, which includes observing the subject matter, recollecting his or her emotions, contemplating those emotions, reviving those emotions in a composition, and, finally, enjoying the pleasure that his or her poetry creates.

For Wordsworth, a worthy poet must be able to convey his or her own emotional sensibility to the reader. Wordsworth claims that emotions and thoughts are strongly intertwined: “For our continued influxes of feeling are modified and directed by our thoughts, which are indeed the representatives of all our past feeling.” The poet must be able to understand this connection, as someone who often thinks of the relationship between thoughts and feelings will become more emotionally sensitive and aware. Then, when one such sensitive person communicates his or her thoughts, the listener, “if he be in a healthful state of association, must necessarily be in some degree enlightened, and his affections ameliorated.” In other words, when a poet successfully communicates their emotions, readers will be vicariously enlightened. Because the poet is tasked with successfully conveying that “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” to his or her readers, the poet must engage in a process that allows him or her to find the right words to express himself or herself. But first, the poet must be uncommonly aware of emotions: the poet needs to have “a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind.” Such a sensibility allows the poet to “slip into an entire delusion, and even confound and identify his own feelings with [those of the people he describes.” In this way, a poet must be a sharp observer and must be able to contemplate and process the emotions that came with his or her observations.

The Wordsworthian poet ought to recollect their emotions “in tranquility" so that what he or she composes will not be momentary, but timeless. Wordsworth claims that “the poet is chiefly distinguished from other men by a greater promptness to think and feel without immediate external excitement, and a greater power in expressing such thoughts and feelings as are produced in him in that manner.” The purpose of this is so that the poet can better communicate their thoughts and feelings to others: “in order to excite rational sympathy, he must express himself as other men express themselves.” The Wordsworthian process for poetic creation involves not just contemplating emotions “in tranquility,” but contemplating those emotions until “by a species of reaction the tranquility gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind.” In other words, the poet should calmly process the emotions he or she initially experienced without distraction, until he or she feels in touch with those emotions again. Then, the poet may begin composing. This process allows the poet to create a distance between the initial emotion and the reader, in a way that tempers “the painful feeling which will always be found intermingled with powerful descriptions of the deeper passions,” and thus leads to greater pleasure. The process for poetic creation has so refined the poet’s composition, Wordsworth adds, that it will carry an enduring rather than momentary pleasure for its readers.

For Wordsworth, the essence of poetry comes in the form of a profound rendering of emotions, which helps the reader understand themselves better. As Wordsworth writes in his “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” the important thing is “that the feeling therein developed, gives importance to the action and situation and not the action and situation to the feeling” poetry, in Wordsworth’s eyes, hinges on emotion even more so than the actual event or situation it’s describing. This how Wordsworth consider emotions and action in his preface to lyrics ballads.

(2) What, according to Wordsworth, is the "great spring of the activity of our minds"?

According to Wordsworth, the spring of mental activity comes from contrast between different things. In poetry, the different things he contrasts are regular rhyme and rhythm schemes and rural themes and language. The combination of disparate parts confuses and stimulates the mind, and produces engagement and beauty.In the "Preface to Lyrical Ballads " Wordsworth discusses the pleasure we receive from the deployment of regular metrical language in a poem. This is Wordsworth's way of reassuring his readers that although his conception of poetry is indeed revolutionary in terms of its language and subject matter. And it is very hard to understand it's deep meaning. It made exercise of mind. And that's why Wordsworth said that, "great spring of the activity of our minds".

(3) What sort of truth does poetry give? How is this truth communicated? To what tribunal does it appeal?

Aristotle was the fist who declared poetic truth to be superior to historical truth. He called poetry the most philosophic of all writings. Wordsworth agrees with Aristotle in this matter. Poetry is given an exalted position by Wordsworth in such a way that it treats the particular as well as the universal. Its aim is universal truth. Poetry is true to nature. Wordsworth declares poetry to be the “image” or “man and nature”. A poet has to keep in mind that his end (objective) is to impart pleasure. He declares poetry will adjust itself to the new discoveries and inventions of science. It will create a new idiom for the communication of new thoughts. But the poet’s truth is such that sees into heart of things and enables others to see the same. Poetic truth ties all mankind with love and a sense of oneness.

Conclusion :-

Here, i covered mainly preface to Lyrical ballad, about William Wordsworth as a poet, and some of the important questions related to the preface of Lyrical ballad by Wordsworth.The Preface is an essay, composed, for the second edition of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads, and then greatly expanded in the third edition of 1802. In his preface we found he agrees the Aristotle's view and argues according to that. And beautifully described such things like, what is poet, what is poetry, great spirit of activity, diction, language of poetry, universal human emotions,made argument about poetry and prose, and also talk about his personal experience.. and many more.

Words :- 1507

References :-

1) Supersummary.com

2) Englishsummary.com

3) Wikipedia.com

4) enotes.com

5) litcharts.com

6) words.cat.com

Dryden's essay on dramatic Poesy.

Introduction :-

“An Essay of Dramatic Poesy” was probably written in 1666 during the closure of the London theaters due to plague. It can be read as a general defense of drama as a legitimate art form taking up where Sir Philip Sidney’s “Defence of Poesie” left off as well as Dryden’s own defense of his literary practices. The essay is structured as a dialogue among four friends on the river Thames. The four gentlemen, Eugenius, Crites, Lisideius, and Neander. begin an ironic and witty conversation on the subject of poetry, which soon turns into a debate on the virtues of modern and ancient writers. It is how the Dryden structured the book. Now let me discuss about the views of Dryden in the essay, but before that let me give information about Dryden shortly.

John Dryden :-

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was appointed England's first Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. Romanticist writer Sir Walter Scott called him "Glorious John". John Dryden is rightly considered as “the father of English Criticism”. He was the first to teach the English people to determine the merit of composition upon principles. With Dryden, a new era of criticism began. Before, Dryden, there were only occasional utterances on the critical art. Like Ben Jonson and Philip Sidney. Though Dryden’s criticism was of scattered nature; he paid attention to almost all literary forms and expressed his views on them. Except An Essay of Dramatic Poesy, Dryden wrote no formal treatise on criticism. His critical views are found mostly in the prefaces to his poetical works or to those of others.

Dryden's essay on dramatic poesy :-

 An Essay of Dramatic Poesy deals with the views of major critics and the tastes of men and women of the time of Dryden.

The work is in the form of semi-drama thus making abstract theories interesting. In the late 17th century, Shakespeare was severely criticised for his careless attitude towards the mixing of genres. It was Dryden who elevated Shakespeare to height for his natural genius.The narrative of An Essay of Dramatic Poesy has four debaters among whom, Neander is the one who holds the views of Dryden. Unlike other characters, Neander does not diminish the arguments that are on contrary to his views. Though he himself favours modern drama, he does not blame others.

Summary :-

The beginning of the narrative An Essay of Dramatic Poesy or Of Dramatic Poesie is as follows. A battle is going on between England and the Netherlands.

Four gentlemen namely Crites, Eugenius, Lisideius and Neander are travelling by boat to see the battle and start a discussion on modern literature. 

Crites opens the discussion by saying that none of his contemporaries (i.e. moderns) can equal the standards and the rules set by ancient Greeks and Romans. Eugenius restrains him from wasting time on finding demerits. He asks him to find relative merit in Greeks and Moderns.

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1) Do you find any difference between Aristotle's definition of Tragedy and Dryden's definition of Play?

Dryden defines Drama as: “Just and lively image of human nature, representing its passions and humours, and the. changes of fortune to which it is subject, for the. delight and instruction of mankind.”

Aristotle's Definition of Tragedy is, “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear,effecting the proper purgation- catharsis of these and similar emotions.”

Comparison :-

Dryden was influenced by the definition of tragedy by Aristotle. And then he wrote his own new definition. In his definition dryden use the words like "just and lively" image. It means it means the real life. Where eles Aristotle present imagery life. In Aristotle ’s definition the line, ‘Tragedy, then is an imitation of an action’. Which says that tragedy is an imitation not an actual so it is copied. But Dryen wrote that it present real life, not a copied one.

This are the difference between definition of both Dryden and Aristotle.

2) If you are supposed to give your personal predilection, would you be on the side of the Ancient or the Modern? Please give reasons.

I would like to be a side of modern. Because the argument of Dryden that Discussion of ancients and moderns should not be for who is ‘better’. It should be more fundamentally about how history itself functioned and should be read thus it should be about the relationship between past and present humanity and nature and human understanding and knowledge. This is seems quite true. And the argument of him against ancient is also seems understandable.

The morden writers are supposed to be not following the rules of time, action, place. But they only look for entertainment. And according to me entertainment is something much important than rules. Because if the rules are followed but the audience feel no interest and entertainment.

The another thing is ancient dramas are not divided into acts and which makes that play boring sometimes and also a too long play reflect bad vibes. Where eles modern plays are divided into acts, as well as into scenes which make the play short and it gives a Chance to perform it more influential way.

Also as eugenius argued that, ancient have lack of originality, because their plot are always based on well known stories, so the charm of ancient found less than modern.  

Of course, modern are follow ancient in many way. But still they succeeded to creat it's own identity and that's why i would like to favor modern.

(3) What would be your preference so far as poetic or prosaic dialogues are concerned in the play?

I like poetry, because it gives better understanding in much shorter form. And also it is effective because of it's lyrical way of singing. Dialogues sometimes became much long and it turns into boring felling. But poetry is always found lively and melodious.

I also agreed that poetry is sometimes hard to understand, but dialogues are much easier than poetry to understand. So if we see with that view then dialogue are also good.

Conclusion :-

Here i give information of all about Dryden's dramatic poesy and some of the other questions related that.

Words :- 1113

Reference :-

1) poetryfoundation.com

2) eaJournal.org

3) Wikipedia.com

4) Englishsummary.com

5)Alpaponda.blogspot.com

6)bhumijoshi2014-16.blogspot.com

Aristotle's Poetics

Hello, I am Himanshi Parmar. Here i am writing a blog as a part of Thinking activity. In this blog i write about Aristotle's Poetics, about Aristotle, some of the text which are follows Aristotle's concepts, and some  texts which are not follows.

Introduction :-

    Before discussing about Aristotelian poetics, it is very important to discuss that what is poetics. According to Oxford Dictionary, poetics is :

"The art of writing poetry."

"Poetics is the study of linguistic technique in poetry and literary."

"Poetics is the theory of literary forms and literary discourse. "

      Meaning of poetics :-

The term poetics derives from the Ancient Greek word poietikos, it means "pertaining to poetry", also "creative" and "productive".In the Western world, the development and evolution of poetics featured three artistic movements concerned with poetical composition:

1)  the formalist,

 (2) the objectivist,

 (3) the Aristotelian. 

  

       During the Romantic era, poetics tended toward expressionism and emphasized the perceiving subject. Twentieth-century poetics returned to the Aristotelian paradigm, followed by trends toward meta-criticality, and the establishment of a contemporary theory of poetics. Eastern poetics developed lyric poetry, rather than the representational mimetic poetry of the Western world.

About Aristotle :-

Aristotle (c. 384 B.C. to 322 B.C.) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist who is still considered one of the greatest thinkers in politics, psychology and ethics. When Aristotle turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing. Some of his most notable works include Nichomachean Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics, Poetics and Prior Analytics.

Aristotle's Poetics :-

Aristotle, a greek philosopher wrote a book named 'Poetics', written around 335 B.C. it was a time of classical period. John Dryden said about Aristotle that, "Aristotle is first literary critic." But before him, Plato also used proved as a well known critic. Plato wrote his book called, 'Republic', and in this book he wrote that "All poets are liers".  And to the contrast this concept, Aristotle wrote a book named, 'Poetics'.

   Aristotle believes that criticism means to judge. But creation is must needed, to criticise something. So according to him creation comes first than criticism. Here again he create contrast with his Teacher Plato. In his work Poetics, Aristotle discuss about dramatic theories, poetry, variations in poetry, Tragedy, Plot, Tragic hero, and epic poetry. Mainly in his book Aristotle wrote about three main forms :

1) Epic

2) Tragedy

3) Comedy

   Firstly he wrote about poetry. And qualities and structure of poetry, and also noted that how to divide poetry in various parts. He give one vary famous definition of poetry,

"Poetry is an art of imitation".

  It means all poets are imitators. They imitate the things which they found in the world, in the nature, in the human behavior, and what they feel. They reflects that all in their poetry. And thats why poetry also have it's own importance and also poet have certain kind of importance. They are not liers, wrote Aristotle.

Aristotle in his book divided poetry in various parts like,

1) Epic poetry

2) Tragedy

3) Comedy

4) music Poetry

When it origin, it was divided in two parts :

1) for nobles

2) for means

Mainly the poetry which was written in tragedy, focuses on upperclass or noble people. But Poetry which written in Comic way are quite different. It focuses on middle class people and lower class people. And by thik kind of writing they used to mock on lower and middle class people and they mannerless behaviour. But in tragedy, hero or we can say protagonist must taken from upper, noble class. And the end of this kind of hero creats catharsis among audience. And that's why Aristotle tell that tragedy is superior than comedy. Comedy is shown as a vulgar, trivial thing but tragedy has it's own value.

Aristotle also show difference between Tragedy and epic poetry.

              Tragedy                       

                        

1- Limitations of time.     

2- Complete in Fix time.

3 - no single miter.

4- plot, Character, thought, diction, song and spectacle.

5- written in various forms.

6- show action in dramatic form

7- superior

            Epic poetry

1- no limitations of time.

2- single type of meter.

3- no use of songs and spectacles.

4- not placed in particular place.

5- written in  Hexameter

6- speak in verse narration form.

7- less important than tragedy.

   According to Aristotle, tragedy is superior than Epic comedy and than any other form of poetry. Because its includes Plot, characters, thoughts, diction, songs, and spectacles. Among which plot is most important in tragedy. Because it is only thing which help to create Hamartia. But if we see in epic poetry, it is not use songs and spectacle. And might be because that reason it seems less interesting.

   Tragedy has a limitation of time. But epic poetry is a long poem. Written in hundreds of lines and because of that it is not possible to perform it at one time. So it has no boundaries and time limit. Epic poetry uses single type of meter. But Tragedy use different kind of meters.  Epic poetry should written in Hexameter.and speak in verse narration form. But for tragedy, it is not written in one particular form. It must be written in various forms. Tragedy mainly show action in dramatic form. This how Aristotle differentiate tragedy and Epic poetry.

With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write brief note on the texts which followed Aristotelian literary tradition (i.e. his concept of tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia etc)

And 

With reference to the literary texts you have studied during B.A. programme, write brief note on the texts which did NOT follow Aristotelian literary tradition. (i.e. his concept of tragedy, catharsis, tragic hero with hamartia etc.)

1) Othello

(1) Hamartia :-

Othello was a powerful leader who deeply loved his faithful wife. He was tricked into believing his wife had cheated on him. His suspicion then overpowered him and he murdered his wife in a jealous rage, never even giving her a chance to defend herself. When he discovers he was deceived, he remains a noble character. He realized everything was his own fault and punished himself by committing suicide. In this case, Othello's hamartia, or internal tragic flaw, is his extreme jealousy. It is this jealousy that enables him to be tricked and allows him to create his own destruction.

(2) Catharsis :-

Othello– while at the time it was written, it was considered one of the best examples of catharsis. However, this may not hold true anymore as, given the importance of relatability, context is also very important to catharsis.

At the end of the play, Othello has a catharsis and realises Iago led him astray, and that it was his own trust, naivete, and jealousy that led him to take Desdemona’s life. His tragic flaw was that he blindly trusted a friend. The Elizabethan audience can immediately relate to it, as in Elizabethan era Britain, war and betrayals were all too common and the common folk were used to seeing monarchs and leaders die at the hands of people they believed to be friends. When they watched Othello, they could relate both to the setting and his betrayal immediately.

Othello’s catharsis results in his suicide, and the audience feels his betrayal– realising that trusting a friend blindly can have severe consequences. The audience thus never needs to experience the feeling of betrayal in reality, as Othello’s catharsis has taught them to be more aware. In a way, they are ‘purged’ of the unhealthy feelings that would result from betrayal. For the present day audience, given the setting of the play, Othello may not be as relatable and his catharsis may not necessarily translate into their own catharsis.

This proved the words of Aristotle that time and plot is most important in tragedy.

Tragic hero and tragedy :-

Shakespeare's play, “Othello, the Moor of Venice,” is a powerful example of a tragedy and it’s main character, Othello, is an excellent illustration of what Aristotle constitutes as a tragic hero. The play imitates life through basic human emotions such as jealousy and rage. In addition, Othello is far from being a perfect character - another quality that meets Aristotle's requirements. Othello also matches Aristotle's ideas of tragic hero because our Othello realizes the error of his ways, causing us to feel sympathy for him. If we carefully examine the third scene in the third act, we can see how Othello fits into Aristotle's definition of tragic hero. This passage reveals how much Othello has deteriorated as far as his ability to reason or consider things with Desdemona logically. Humanity seems to unravel in this scene as we watch Othello experience a myriad of emotions that only push him closer to the proverbial edge. We feel fear, sympathy, and pity as we watch the man transform before our eyes

Not followed Aristotle :-

low the idea of what Aristotle had for the perfect tragedy. Greek tragedies had a musical element that “Othello, the Moor of Venice” lacked.

2) All my sons 

 Peripeteia :- 

Chris sees it as a reminder of his brother, with it standing he cannot live in peace with his fiance, Ann.

Joe ignores the tree because it is a reminder of the son he lost possibly of his own doing. This thing shows peripeteia in 'All my sons.'

Catharsis :- 

All My Sons is the epitome of the modern tragedy. While adhering to the elements of an Aristotelian tragedy, Miller expresses new truth and perspective on the original definition of the tragedy. Miller provides us with the common hero to illustrate that tragedy is found in everyday life. The audience understands that tragedy can exist over a two day period in a small suburban town in America. Tragedy is relative to the human experience rather than the aristocratic experience.

Catharsis according to Aristotle, is a release of emotions, especially pity and fear, at the end of the play. In All my Sons, the audience does develop a sense of pity for the characters and their hardships as well as fear for their futures, but there is no clear catharsis. After Joe dies, Chris is left with a sense of guilt for his father's death and the mother is left grieving for both her dead son and now her dead husband. The audience does not get the satisfaction of releasing their emotions, but is rather left with tension and curiosity.

Tragedy in All my sons :-

All My Sons by Arthur Miller has been argued by many to be a modern tragedy while others claim that his play, All My Sons, cannot be considered a tragedy. However, to truly debate if Miller was able to created a modern tragedy, one must first know what a tragedy is. “Tragedy”, as first coined by Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, is defined as a play that portrays the fall of a good character because of a catastrophic mistake by the protagonist. A true tragedy must also evoke pity and fear in the audience which is called catharsis. A tragedy incorporates a tragic hero which must be the protagonist who is neither entirely good nor pure evil and this tragic hero or protagonist must be consistent and realistic as to relate to the audience. We find fall of good character in All my son. As fall of father of Chris.

But some how we find that it is not totally a Aristotelian tragedy. Because it fails to create catharsis among people.

Conclusion :-

Here we see that Aristotle in his poetics, give a definition of tragedy, definition is “Tragedy,” says Aristotle, “is an imitation [mimēsis] of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude…through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation [catharsis] of these emotions.” through this definition he give certain rules for tragedy.like importance of Hamartia, Catharsis, Tragedy and end of Tragedy etc. Which we discussed here with reference of several texts.

Words :- 2032

References:-

1) sparksnotes.com

2) Wikipedia.com

3) biography.com

4) 123helpme.com

5) study.com

6) prezi.com