The Importance of being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

Hello, i am Himanshi Parmar. Here i write a blog on The importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. Which was given to us as a thinking activity task for paper number - 4, Literature of the Victorians. Unit number - 2. Here i discussed about few of the questions and summary of the play.

The importance of being Earnest, A trivial comedy for serious people, was written by Oscar Wild. Was first published in 1898. The play was first performed on 14 February 1895. At the st. James's theatre in London. It is a farcical comedy in which the protagonist maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. The play set in London, and an estate in Hertfordshire. It is a comedy of identity and self-invention. It is a satire on the hollowness of Victorian society and has the themes of homosexual relationships. It was thought to be Wilde’s most original work, however, it has been borrowed from most of the other plays. Let me briefly discuss about the summary of the play.

Summary of the play :-

Act 1 -

Algernon Moncrieff (Algy) is seen waiting for his aunt Lady Bracknell and cousin Gwendolen Fairfax (her daughter). His servant comes and both talk about marriage and drink. Meanwhile, his friend ‘Ernest’ arrives.

  Algy comes to know that Jack has come from the country to propose Gwendolen whom he is in love with. Algy doesn’t like this idea. He doubts Jack’s identity and inquires about the inscription on his cigarette case that calls him ‘Uncle Jack’ which was given to him by Cecily (who is no other but Ernest’s ward).Ernest finally confesses that his real name is Jack and he is the guardian of Cecily. He visits London to meet his pretend brother Ernest and while in London he assumes the name of Ernest (a high-class name) as Gwendolen desires that the name of his lover should be ‘Ernest’.

Hearing this, Algy confesses that he also has created pretend friend in the countryside namely Mr. Bunbury (it refers to homosexuality) whom he often visits. He does this in order to search for Cecily whose love letters he often got (as well as the cigarette pack). 

Jack at once recognizes that the girl sending him letters is no other but his ward and Algy has fallen in love with him. Thus he tries to hide his address from Algy. Algy’s aunt and cousin arrive. Jack introduces himself as Ernest before Gwendolen and the latter exclaims, ‘my idea has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest’ and agrees to marry him. Lady Bracknell seeing her daughter and Ernest together orders Gwendolen to go-outs and starts asking questions to Jack. Upon knowing that he was adopted by Mr. Thomas Cardew (Cecily’s grand-father) after being found in a handbag at Victoria Station, she rejects his proposal and advice him to rather adopt some parents of high class.

In spite of knowing the fact, Gwendolen loves Jack. Jack gives her his address. Algy who has been secretly listening to them notes down his address. 

Act 2 -

Act II opens in the countryside. Cecily is seen watering plants. Miss Prism forces her to read books but Cecily tells that she hates reading books. Dr. Chusable, a local Vicar who is in love with Miss Prism enters. Both exchange love glances and then leave. While Cecily is alone, Algy arrives and introduces himself as Ernest, Jack’s wicked brother. As Cecily always longed for Ernest, she falls in love with him.

Jack who was supposed to return by Monday comes back the same day with fake news that his brother Ernest died. He is shocked to know that Algy has come to meet Cecily assuming himself as Ernest. He tries to get rid of Algy but the latter refuses to go back.While both are engaged in an argument, Gwendolen arrives and befriends Cecily. However both the ladies start quarrelling as both of them love Ernest, each claiming that Ernest belongs to her. Meanwhile, Algy and Jack arrive and get exposed. Both justify their relation and abuse other’s affair. An argument begins as who will be Christened as Ernest.

Act 3 -

Gwendolen and Cecily remain emotionless before Jack and Algy. After a short argument, both couples lock in an embrace. Lady Bracknell enters. She doesn’t approve the marriage proposal of Jack and prepares to leave.

Jack tells her about the status and fortune of Cecily. Lady Bracknell at once expresses her desire to marry Cecily to Algy. However, Jack as the legal guardian rejects her proposal and declares that he will give his consent only when she approves his proposal. While Lady Bracknell is preparing to leave, she happens to hear the name of Miss Prism. On seeing her she at once recognizes her as the maid of her sister who lost a child (of Lady Bracknell’s sister) in a bag and a novel book at Victoria Station because of her absent-mindedness. Jack brings the same bag and Prism recognizes it. Thus Jack turns out to be the son of Lady Bracknell’s sister and brother of Algy. It is also revealed that their father’s name was Ernest. Hence lovers are united at last.

To understand the play more clearly. Let me share here full video of movie based on this play.

The play repeatedly mocks Victorian traditions and social customs, marriage and the pursuits of love in particular. Through which situations and characters is this happening in the play :-

It is no exaggeration to say that “Importance of Being Earnest” is a social satire. Oscar Wilde has targeted the Victorian Society of England in his own language. A lot of symbols are there in this play, which in hidden meanings, are referring something to the audience. Every word, each dialogue and all characters of the play satirize the Victorian society. Oscar Wilde, through this play, tries to cover each and every aspect and manner of life, spent by people of his own era. Notwithstanding, he primarily focuses on elite class and shows us that if a society has no morality then it would not survive. Oscar Wilde is aware of the general principle that it is prime duty of every artist to satirize the society in case it is crossing its limits. As a result, he has written this play to give some morality to the audience. From “Importance of Being Earnest”, it seems that Oscar Wilde has fulfilled his duty. It is undeniable fact that “Importance of Being Earnest” is a social satire.

Oscar Wilde, like other dramatists, has considered that it is his responsibility to aware the people of their snobbish attitude. Doing so, he tries to correct the absurd behavior of people. The second reason is that the Victorian Society used to flee away from its responsibilities. It used to focus only on appearances. Showing off was their prime purpose. Not only Oscar Wilde but also many other writers tried their best to speak against it. In a usual manner, “Importance of Being Earnest” is a direct attack on Victorian Society.

To exemplify, Earnest flees from his house and enjoys luxuries of life. Similarly, a person can have children besides wedlock and no one is going to question him if his apparent image is maintained. Thus, that society was far away from morality. These reasons force Oscar Wilde to do social satire in form of “Importance of Being Earnest”.

There are a lot of examples in the play which prove that the play is a mockery of Victorian Society. Lady Bracknell’s character is important in this context. She being representative of upper class/Victorian Society performs a negative role. She is a greedy and fashion conscious lady. In that age, when people become wise, Lady Bracknell has become foolish. However, she knows the importance of money. She has prepared a list of people, who are wealthy and is going to interview them to select a rich husband for Gwendoline. She rejects Jack because his parentage is unknown. In her eyes, if her daughter solemnizes marriage with Jack, it would disrespect her. She is a narrow-minded, conservative, and ruthless woman.It seems that Oscar Wilde has presented her in the play to create humor but it is also true that the primary purpose of her is to tell people about the foolishness of Victorian Society.

The character of Algernon Moncrieff is also of the same kind. He also belongs to the same class. Life of Algernon Moncrieff is comfortable but his bills are overdue. He has nothing to eat but his dresses are up-to-date. For a living, he does nothing. Even in poor condition, he shows off. He has created a fictional character named “Bunbury” to save himself from obligations and duties. Lady Bracknell utters an important dialogue, which is worth referring here. She says, “Algernon has nothing but his debts to depend upon”. He has no worries. He has nothing to do with responsibility. His attitude is evident from his actions. For instance, he tears his letters, which are actually bills, because he cannot pay them. This character satirise such kind of people of Victorian age. Who showcase more than their ability.

Title of the play “Importance of Being Earnest” itself is a social satire. The word earnest is loveable. Both the girls of this play are in love with the person having name “Earnest” instead of his moralistic qualities. In Miss Gwendolen Fairfax eyes, this word has music of its own. It is not the person who is charming but the name itself. It is the case with Miss Cecily Cardew; she writes letters to Earnest and imagine him in her dreams without knowing him. Oscar Wild through this character wants to prove that the typical girls of Victorian society have created their ideals and they live with them in imaginary worlds. Moreover, they focus on self-improvement.

Tea ceremony scene in Act-II is fully satirical. Gwendoline and Miss Cecily start a foolish war while serving tea. Servants become just spectators of it. Both these ladies are representative of young girls of Wilde’s era. The audience can watch and laugh at their unwise behaviors. It also moralizes the audience and compels them to think twice on their attitude in case the audience belongs to the upper class. Thus, these incidents also prove that “Importance of Being Earnest” is a social satire.

Canon Chasuble maybe is the minor character of this play but his role is important. He belongs to the religious class and is supposed to be a serious person but he surprises us through his dialogues. Indeed, his dialogues directly come from the mouth of Oscar Wilde and he has deliberately written them to prove that not only the elite class is corrupt but also the religious class. Religious people like Dr. Chasuble also take part in corrupting the society. Both moral and physical corruptions have been shown in the play. Remarks of Canon Chasuble about Miss Prism are full of sexuality. He always praises her physical body. Somewhere he talks about her lips and somewhere about her hairs. For instance, in a dialogue, he says:

“Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism’s pupil, I would hang upon her lips.”

Although he, in the next dialogue, tries to cover his wish by declaring his statement as a metaphor yet the audience knows that he is morally and physical corrupt.

Also Whide is satirizing the institution of marriage, as it is not based on love, but on more vain superficial criteria. Although in this case there is exaggeration used to satirize the vanity of the aristocrats, Wilde still brings across the point that both Gwendolen and Cecily may have refused to marry the ‘men of their dreams’ if their names weren’t ‘Ernest.’ Cecily clearly states to Algernon,

“There is something in that name that seems to inspire absolute confidence. I pity any poor married woman whose husband is not called Ernest.”

Apart from it, many other incidents are there in “Importance of Being Earnest” which demonstrate that the play was written for the purpose of social satire. The dramatist has presented the upper class and has shown their snobbery. Through farcical comedy, he has exposed the reality of so-called upper-class Victorian society. Perhaps, the only purpose of “Importance of Being Earnest” was to uncover the stupidity of society. In order to achieve his goal, Oscar Wilde freely uses artistically techniques like epigrams, humor, and paradoxes. In an interesting manner, he, in hidden words, says those things which can never be said directly to the people.

Which of the female character is the most attractive to you among Lady Augusta Bracknell, Gwendolen fairfex, Cecily Cardew, and miss prism. Give your reason for she being most attractive among all :- 

Lady Bracknell is first and foremost a symbol of Victorian earnestness and the unhappiness it brings as a result. She is powerful, arrogant, ruthless to the extreme, conservative, and proper. In many ways, she represents Wilde's opinion of Victorian upper-class negativity, conservative and repressive values, and power.

She is portrait as a strong woman among all other women of the play, but in negative way. She constantly interrupting between jack and Gwendolen's marriage. First she denied their marriage because she found jack orphan or the person who knows nothing about his parentage. And in the scene where she come to know about affair of Jack and Gwendolen, she told jack that she wants to ask him few questions, and then only she decide that he is perfect mach for Gwendolen or not. This show that she has certain kind of authority. And no one dare to move against her.

Even Gwendolen and Jack waited long to her approval for marriage. His nephew Algernon and Cecily also ask her many times for approval. This thing prove that she is one of the strong women. Who held authority, which make her more attractive and strong among other women in drama.

Another is, she is very practical woman, more than other females of play. Gwendolen and Cecily seems unpractical and the girls who are living in their imaginative world. Miss prism is also shown as a practical woman but at some point we found her unpractical like when she forgotten the child at railway station, put the child is in bag.

Where at another point Lady Bracknell is far practical than them. Her dialogue in last part, that for marriage, one person among to is needs to be wealthy. So that both can leave happily. Shows her practial natur. Even she asked Cecily that how much fortune she has. Which is needed to live happily and she know that well. She also married to a wealthy man, just because of to live happy, rich life. Which show that she is a practical women. Who not just think about present, but also think for future.

Thats why i found her so strong, most influencial, and attractive character among all other female character of play.

Words :- 2496

Paragraphs:- 11

Images:- 2

Videos :- 3

References :-

1)Englishsummary.com

2)maenglishselfstudy. Wordpress.com

3) askliterature.com

4) cliffnotes.com

The Rover by Aphra Ben

Hello, i am himanshi parmar. Here i write a blog about The Rover by Aphra Behn. As a task of thinking activity of paper number - 1, Literature of the Elizabethan and Restoration period. Unit number - 3.

   Angelica concider marriage and prostitution, both the relationships are somehow same because both the relationships are relay on financial negotiation. Of course, they both are entirely not same. But if we look from Angelica's perspective, then we can't able to deny her point. Here, writer satire to the society, by the statement of Angelica. Marriage can be turned as amoral as proatitution, if people can relate it with monetary value. Instead of looking for love and culture or social value and state.

To under state the point of Angelica, it is very important to know about the entire plot of the rover. So let me here put summary of the play firstly.

Summary of the Rover :-

The Rover, or The Banish’d Cavaliers is a 1677 play in two parts by the English author Aphra Behn. A rewriting of a similar play, Thomaso, or The Wanderer written thirteen years earlier, it focuses on the adventures of a group of Englishmen who have traveled to Naples to celebrate Carnival. A bawdy, humorous play, it is considered one of Behn’s most ambitious works and features a twist-filled story with many characters. Behn, a loyalist to the crown during a time of much dissent, frequently put her politics into her work and the play is noted for its rough treatment of Puritans. The titular “rover” is Willmore, a Naval captain who falls in love with a young woman named Hellena who is being sent to a convent. However, when a powerful woman sets her eyes on Willmore, their love story is complicated. In a side story, Hellena’s sister Florinda is seeking to marry her true love Colonel Belvile rather than her arranged marriage. The third main story focuses on the misadventures of Blunt, who finds that the girl he has fallen for is not everything she appears to be.

In act one, Hellena and Florinda discuss Florinda’s love life. Florinda is in love with the English Colonel Belvile, but their father wants her to marry an elderly man named Don Vincentio. Their brother, Don Pedro, wishes her to marry his friend Don Antonio, but encourages her to obey their father. When Florinda refuses, Pedro agrees to help her by arranging her marriage to Don Antonio the next day. Florinda and Hellena disguise themselves to go to Carnival. Meanwhile at Carnival, three men, Belvile, Blunt, and Frederick, are enjoying the festivities, although Belvile is depressed because his love’s father has denied him permission to marry her. They meet up with their friend Willmore, and enjoy the night. They are soon joined by Florinda, Hellena, and their cousin Valeria, who are disguised as Gypsies. Willmore and Hellena hit it off, while Florinda and Belvile arrange to sneak off together in the middle of the night. Blunt, meanwhile, who is seen as the most foolish of the group, becomes infatuated with a local woman, Lucetta, and sneaks off with her. Frederick informs his friends that Angellica Bianca, a powerful courtesan, has arrived in Naples.

In act two, as Willmore, Belvile, and Frederick head over to see Angellica, they meet up with Blunt who believes that Lucetta is in love with him. He becomes angry when they imply she is planning to cheat him. Angellica, whose price as a courtesan is high, is frustrated by the lack of takers. She decides to pursue Don Pedro and Don Antonio, but they get into a fight over who has claim to her first. As they challenge each other to a duel. Willmore attempts to steal a portrait of him. When he is caught, Angellica asks him to stay behind with her. Although he attempted to steal from her, she doesn’t particularly care and is instead excited by this rogue she has encountered. He attempts to con her into sleeping with him for free, and she agrees because she has apparently fallen in love with him. Her maidservant, Moretta, warns her off, but she ignores her.

In act three, we catch up with Florinda, Hellena, and Valeria. Still in disguise, Hellena cannot stop thinking about Willmore, but when the men return without him she worries. Willmore is retrieved and brags about having been with Angellica for free. Hellena pretends she hasn’t heard anything and she and Willmore begin to flirt again, but Angellica has followed him in disguise. She sees that Willmore is not true to her. When Hellena confronts Willmore, she makes him promise not to see Angellica again.  Florinda and Valeria attempt to test Belvile’s loyalty by attempting to seduce him in disguise, but he holds firm. The locket Florinda gives Belvile makes him think Florinda’s been kidnapped. Meanwhile, hapless Blunt is seduced by Lucetta, and is promptly robbed and falls into the sewer. He emerges, angry at being tricked. That night, Florinda waits for Belville, but Willmore enters drunk and mistakes her for a prostitute. He attempts to rape her when Belvile and Frederick arrive. The ensuing fight attracts Pedro and is servants, and the Englishmen flee. Belvile is enraged, and Willmore runs off to seek refuge at Angelica’s house. When he arrives, Antonio is already there, and they fight. Willmore injures Antonio and flees. When Belvile arrives in pursuit of Willmore, he is arrested for attacking Antonio.

In act four, Antonio believes Belvile has attacked him, and orders him to take his place in the duel with Pedro. Belvile agrees, believing the duel to be over Florinda. Meanwhile, Florinda worries that Belvile did not come to find her that night. At the duel, the various mistaken identities and disguises are revealed when Wilmore comes crashing in, and Pedro refuses to bless the union. As Willmore, Angellica, and Hellena pursue and follow each other, Florinda runs off and hides in Belvile’s house to avoid her brother. Blunt finds her and is convinced she’s a prostitute. He attempts to rape her due to his anger at all women, but Frederick thinks she might be valuable like Angellica and suggests they lock her up for ransom.

Act five concludes the story Blunt tells his fellow men that he’s captured a woman. They decide to have their way with her, but Valeria gets Pedro out of the room and Florinda reveals her identity. Florinda and Belvile are quickly married by a local priest, and Blunt and Frederick are horrified by what they almost did. Angelica bursts in with a gun and threatens to kill Willmore. Don Antonio’s deception is revealed, and Pedro reluctantly agrees to the union between Belvile and Florinda - only to find out it’s already occurred. As Angelica decides to let Willmore live, Hellena and Willmore reunite. They become engaged, and the group enjoys Carnival, their dramas settled at last. 

Here i share three videos of all three Separate acts of The Rover.

Angelica considers the financial negotiations which one makes before marrying a prospective bride the same as prostitution. Do you agree?

Women in seventeenth-century Europe had few options in terms of marriage. They could not initiate relations with men, and often their parents made the final decision about whom they would marry. Families sometimes used marriages to seal business and political relationships, ignoring the daughter’s interests. This is something seems similar to prostitution system. That they sell their daughter for money or business. Similarly the whore sell her body for money. The practice of paying a dowry was also still common. Most families would invest their dowry money in the eldest daughter, vying to marry her into the best family possible. And to find richest family. Younger daughters often were consigned to a convent, thus reducing expenses, while at the same time “contributing” to the church. In poorer families, prostitution became a viable option. Once married, often to a man she neither knew nor liked, a woman became his property, as did all of her belongings. With no means to prevent pregnancies, the wife became a baby “machine,” producing heirs for the family and very often mourning their early deaths, since child mortality rates were shockingly high. Nevertheless, men expected sexual gratification from their wives, as well as from their mistresses and required obedience and fidelity.

In The Rover, Aphra Behn portrays the typical pattern of options available to women. As the eldest, Florinda is to be married to a man of her father’s choosing. Hellena wryly describes the loveless marriage, bed that lies in store for Florinda if she marries the aging Don Vincentio. However, since their father is away, her brother has jurisdiction over her and has chosen his best friend as her mate. Because he is wealthy enough. Hellena, he has dispatched to a nunnery. She has come home for a brief visit before taking her vows. Neither Florinda nor Hellena wants to obey Pedro’s wishes, yet they have no recourse but to try to enjoy a day and night of freedom before their fates are sealed. That they both end up with the man they love and the freedom to marry him is nothing more than a matter of blind luck. Similarly willmore is a person who don't love Angelica, but just want physical pleasure by her. And thats why when he saw Hellena and found her beautiful so he try to seduce her. But when the matter of marriage come, firstly he neither choose Angelica nor Hellena. Because he only think both as a thing to enjoy pleasure. But at the end we find that he will be ready to marry Hellena. Because she find her noble woman. And refused Angelica because she has no social status, and she is prostitute. So the concept of protitution and marriage plays vital role in it.

Also when we see the character of Hellena, she is the lady who is seems independent but when it comes to marriage. She Also choose Willmore even if she know that he has affair with Angelica, he seduce Angelica, and also try to seduce Florida twice or thrice. And still she is ready to marry willmore. This show her weaker personality. It reflect the poor situation of that age. Similarly even if Frederic, Blunt try to seduce florida, still she forgive them, and also forgive willmore. Because this is something normal thing in that age. Which prove that the statement of Angelica is fully true.

in Behn’s play is the clear distinction that was made between “ladies of quality” and “whores.” Frederick, who nearly gang-rapes Florinda, along with Blunt, exclaims that he would not want to be “trussed up for a rape upon a maid of quality when we only believe we ruffle a harlot.” The shift in terminology from “rape,” which is an act of violence, to “ruffle,” which connotes a harmless trifle, aptly represents the vast difference in social responsibility between the two classes of women. The distinction between women seeking men for marriage and women who sell themselves for money lies at the heart of Behn’s play. As Elin Diamond explains in her essay “Gestus and the Signature in Aphra Behn’s The Rover,” this play “thematizes the marketing of women in marriage and prostitution.”

To read more about the play Rover, it's themes, character sketches, symbols (click here)

Words :- 1905

Paragraphs :- 8

Images :- 3

Videos :- 3

References :-

1)Gradesaver.com

2) suppersummary.com

3) encyclopedia.com 

Pamela as a reliable narrator or not?

Hello, i am Himanshi Parmar. As a task of thinking activity given for paper number -2, neoclassical literature. Unit - 4, samuel Richardson's pamela ; Or, The virtue rewarded. Here i write a blog on given question, is pamela a reliable narrator? Yes, then why? If not, then why?

Befor writing about the Pamela is a reliable narrator or not! Let me give over view about the plot and some factual information about the novel.

Pamela structure and plot construction :-

Panela ; or, virtue rewarded is a very well known apistolary novel by Samuel Richardson. First published in 1740 by

Messrs Rivington & Osborn. Richardson was a very famous English writer, wrote the novel very well. And in this novel he put his views about marriage.

Pamela tells the story of a fifteen-year-old maidservant named Pamela Andrews, whose employer, Mr. B, a wealthy landowner, makes unwanted and inappropriate advances towards her after the death of her mother. Pamela strives to reconcile her strong religious training with her desire for the approval of her employer in a series of letters and, later in the novel, journal entries all addressed to her impoverished parents. After various unsuccessful attempts at seduction, a series of sexual assaults, and an extended period of kidnapping, the rakish Mr. B eventually reforms and makes Pamela a sincere proposal of marriage. In the novel's second part Pamela marries Mr. B and tries to acclimatise to her new position in upper-class society. The full title, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, makes plain Richardson's moral purpose. A best-seller of its time, Pamela was widely read but was also criticised for its perceived licentiousness and disregard for class barriers. Furthermore, Pamela was an early commentary on domestic violence and brought into question the dynamic line between male aggression and a contemporary view of love. The action of the novel is told through letters and journal entries from Pamela to her parents. Richardson highlights a theme of naivety, illustrated through the eyes of Pamela. Richardson paints Pamela herself as innocent and meek to further contribute to the theme of her being short-sighted to emphasize the ideas of childhood innocence and naivety.

Here i put a video of summary of the novel pamela. The video is in hindi. But much easier to understand.

 Afater knowing the story let me discuss about the question Is pamela a reliable narrator? Yes then why? If No then why?

I don't find the pamela as a reliable narration. the story consists of Pamela's first person narration, offered via her letters to her parents. The main story opens with just such a letter, with Pamela lamenting "I have great Trouble, and some Comfort, to acquaint you with".

The first part of the story is a series of letters Pamela writes to her parents relating her problems with Mr. B. and asking for their advice. And through this letters, pamela narrates the story.when Readers read the novel they come to know about the storyline, by the letters of pamela. In The second and much longer part is a journal that she keeps, still addressing her parents as though writing a long letter to them, telling them of her trials and assuring them of her determination to preserve her honor. She also tries to analyse people’s motives, including her own.

Richardson chose the epistolary form because of its immediacy. The first-person voice of someone in the throes of the experience does draw in the reader. Unfortunately, Pamela’s voice did not remain interested very long. It soon began to find her endless complaining tiresome and her infinite perfection quite irritating. Even if, she is writing to her parents, so it is natural to relay compliments that she has received, knowing that they would enjoy hearing praise of her, but she goes on at such length about how everyone finds her so remarkable, so good, so smart, so beautiful, that it’s hard not to think “and so vain”.

It is very difficult to say that is pamela reliable narrator or not. Because Pamela’s story is far more than the narration of the experience of a

servant girl. Pamela’s storytelling is wondrous the method by which the narration is especially important. Letters help to ground this book in reality, while their information smooth over problems of narration and make Pamela an unreliable narrator. However, in defiance of Behn and Defoe, Pamela’s unreliability makes sense; after all, she has to be careful that nothing she writes about could condemn her to further mistreatment by the Master who harasses her.

When readers come across the letters written by pamela to her parents. They must attached with pamela. And feel sympathy towards her. But when the story moves ahead, we find that the flow of letters by pamela still going on. But its seems like unworthy and give us a boring sign. It seems like she is praising herself all the time. And tried to potray Mr. B as a bad man to potray herself good and virtuous. Of course, Mr. B is not proved as a good man at all. But we also find that pamela is also have duel personality. many times, She got chance to go back to her parents, but by one and another reasons She refusing it. And readers come to know about the reasons by her letters. But when we deeply analysis the letters. We must find that somehow the reasons are not valuable and acceptable. She just try to hide her inner little desire to marriage with Mr. B.

When we read the starting points when pamela used start writing letters to her parents. She most of the time write about only mr. B and praising her. This narration show us that she is interested in mr. B but later on when mr. B asked her for marriage at first time, she refused her. So that i thought pamela is nor reliable narrator at all. Because she has a duel personality which is also reflected in her writing.

To read more about the narration in pamela; Or, The virtue rewarded. (Click here)

Words :- 1029

Paragraphs :- 8

Images :- three

Video :- one

References :-

1) bmorrison.com

2) Wikipedia.com

3) shmoop.com

4)riseofthenovel. wordpress.com

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Hello, i am himanshi. Here i write a blog about Hard Times play review, as a part of Thinking activity. Given from the paper no - 4, Literature of the Victorians. But before discussing about the play. It is very important to know about the original novel and it's author. So let me first write about the novel.

Hard times by Charles Dickens :-

"Hard Times: For These Times", is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times, a social protest novel of nineteenth-century England, is aptly titled. Not only does the working class, known as the "Hands," have a "hard time" in this novel; so do the other classes as well. Dickens divided the novel into three separate books, two of which, "Sowing" and "Reaping," exemplify the biblical concept of "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap". Firstly let me discuss about the short summary of novel Hard Times.

Summary of the novel : Hard Times :-

Before summary let me put video of the movie based on novel Hard Times.

Thomas Gradgrind, a wealthy, retired merchant in the industrial city of Coketown, England, devotes his life to a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and fact. He raises his oldest children, Louisa and Tom, according to this philosophy and never allows them to engage in fanciful or imaginative pursuits. He founds a school and charitably takes in one of the students, the kindly and imaginative Sissy Jupe, after the disappearance of her father, a circus entertainer.

As the Gradgrind children grow older, Tom becomes a dissipated, self-interested hedonist, and Louisa struggles with deep inner confusion, feeling as though she is missing something important in her life. Eventually Louisa marries Gradgrind’s friend Josiah Bounderby, a wealthy factory owner and banker more than twice her age. Bounderby continually trumpets his role as a self-made man who was abandoned in the gutter by his mother as an infant. Tom is apprenticed at the Bounderby bank, and Sissy remains at the Gradgrind home to care for the younger children.

In the meantime, an impoverished “Hand” Dickens’s term for the lowest laborers in Coketown’s factories named Stephen Blackpool struggles with his love for Rachael, another poor factory worker. He is unable to marry her because he is already married to a horrible, drunken woman who disappears for months and even years at a time. Stephen visits Bounderby to ask about a divorce but learns that only the wealthy can obtain them. Outside Bounderby’s home, he meets Mrs. Pegler, a strange old woman with an inexplicable devotion to Bounderby.

James Harthouse, a wealthy young sophisticate from London, arrives in Coketown to begin a political career as a disciple of Gradgrind, who is now a Member of Parliament. He immediately takes an interest in Louisa and decides to try to seduce her. With the unspoken aid of Mrs. Sparsit, a former aristocrat who has fallen on hard times and now works for Bounderby, he sets about trying to corrupt Louisa.

The Hands, exhorted by a crooked union spokesman named Slackbridge, try to form a union. Only Stephen refuses to join because he feels that a union strike would only increase tensions between employers and employees. He is cast out by the other Hands and fired by Bounderby when he refuses to spy on them. Louisa, impressed with Stephen’s integrity, visits him before he leaves Coketown and helps him with some money. Tom accompanies her and tells Stephen that if he waits outside the bank for several consecutive nights, help will come to him. Stephen does so, but no help arrives. Eventually he packs up and leaves Coketown, hoping to find agricultural work in the country. Not long after that, the bank is robbed, and the lone suspect is Stephen, the vanished Hand who was seen loitering outside the bank for several nights just before disappearing from the city.

Mrs. Sparsit witnesses Harthouse declaring his love for Louisa, and Louisa agrees to meet him in Coketown later that night. However, Louisa instead flees to her father’s house, where she miserably confides to Gradgrind that her upbringing has left her married to a man she does not love, disconnected from her feelings, deeply unhappy, and possibly in love with Harthouse. She collapses to the floor, and Gradgrind, struck dumb with self-reproach, begins to realize the imperfections in his philosophy of rational self-interest.

Sissy, who loves Louisa deeply, visits Harthouse and convinces him to leave Coketown forever. Bounderby, furious that his wife has left him, redoubles his efforts to capture Stephen. When Stephen tries to return to clear his good name, he falls into a mining pit called Old Hell Shaft. Rachael and Louisa discover him, but he dies soon after an emotional farewell to Rachael. Gradgrind and Louisa realize that Tom is really responsible for robbing the bank, and they arrange to sneak him out of England with the help of the circus performers with whom Sissy spent her early childhood. They are nearly successful, but are stopped by Bitzer, a young man who went to Gradgrind’s school and who embodies all the qualities of the detached rationalism that Gradgrind once espoused, but who now sees its limits. Sleary, the lisping circus proprietor, arranges for Tom to slip out of Bitzer’s grasp, and the young robber escapes from England after all.

Mrs. Sparsit, anxious to help Bounderby find the robbers, drags Mrs. Pegler a known associate of Stephen Blackpool in to see Bounderby, thinking Mrs. Pegler is a potential witness. Bounderby recoils, and it is revealed that Mrs. Pegler is really his loving mother, whom he has forbidden to visit him: Bounderby is not a self-made man after all. Angrily, Bounderby fires Mrs. Sparsit and sends her away to her hostile relatives. Five years later, he will die alone in the streets of Coketown. Gradgrind gives up his philosophy of fact and devotes his political power to helping the poor. Tom realizes the error of his ways but dies without ever seeing his family again. While Sissy marries and has a large and loving family, Louisa never again marries and never has children. Nevertheless, Louisa is loved by Sissy’s family and learns at last how to feel sympathy for her fellow human beings. This how novel runs and conclud.

Now after knowing about storyline of the novel, let me discuss about the drama based on novel Hard Times.

Review of the Hindi play based on Hard Times :-

"Hard Times", a musical adaptation of Dickens novel of the same name, by khilona theatre for children. The play is in hindi and very well portrayed. The play takes 1 hour 47 minutes to complete for. We had already studied all the characters in advance and also a storyline of the novel. So it was very easy to us to understand the play well. And we enjoyed it a lot. The characters are similar to novel. And even therw where many minor changes they made in drama. Let we discuss about the cast team and actors of the drama.

Cast team and actors in drama :-

Director and costume designer :- kiran deep Sharma.

Adaptation and editing :- V. K. Sharma

Lyrics :- V. K. Sharma.

Music director :- Kashish sharma.

Voice training and flute :- Esraseher jung

Arti vasan :- Jane and Josephine.

Akash Hingorani :- Josiah Bounderby, clown.

Abhishekh :- childrens, jupe, doctor.

Chitra :- clown, mrs. Pegler.

Isha :- mrs. Gradgrind, mrs. Sparsit.

Jyotsana :- louisa

Kajori :- Rachel

Kiran deep sharma :- singer

Kunal :- Tom, Clown

Lakshya goel :- Stephen, narrator, stunts man.

Prakash :- mr. Sleary, james Harthouse.

Pulkit :- butler, clown

Santosh :- Dilkhush, circus crowd.

Saif :- Bitzer, stuntsman.

Sajid Anwer :- mr. Chokumchild, kidder, stephen's wife.

Shubham :- sissy

Sudipto Banerjee :- mr. Gradgrind.

V. K. Sharma :- narrator.

Lighting :-

Lights are very well used in the drama. They did Very good use of spot lights in some parts. For example when Cecelia tell her experience to Louisa, director use two spot lights one for louisa and tom and another for sissy and mr. Mcchoakumchild. It seems quit interesting to the audience and seems like the drama has high dramatic qualities. Also when the situation gets serious or the scene in which something abnormal act take place, at that time they used red light on the whole stage. Which is the symbol of tension or we can say problems. So that thing was also mentioned there well.

Dialogues :-

Script is seems like stick to the original novel. Many times they used original lines from novel, Is in English. As specially the person who is narrating the play uses this kind of lines and words from original text. As he introduced the cocktown and imaginative characters, that is crested curiosity among the audience for play. Most of the script is simply translation of original play. But even if in hindi it was performed so well by all the characters.

Loud expressions :-

Sometimes while watching drama. We may feel that expressions of all characters are quite louder. And we can say not normal. For example josiah Bounderby and mrs. Sparsit gave the expressions loud according to incidents.

Time, place, action and other stage rules :-

  the three principles derived by French classicists from Aristotle's Poetics; they require a play to have a single action represented as occurring in a single place and within the course of a day. These principles were called, respectively, unity of action, unity of place, and unity of time. When we analyses the play. We may find that this unities are not followed exactly in the play. Of course the play starts and end in the cocktown, an imaginative town.and that is the sighn that unity of place is followed well. But the drama is not completed within a course of day, so unity of time declined there. The play starts with the childhood of Luisa and sissy and ends with their young age. It means the story runs more than 20 or 30 years. And that is something against to unity of time.

Also when we think about unity of action, we find that, something makes us disagree that the play followed the unity of action.there where many other rules also for drama and stage. One of that i found which followed well in the drama, you should not show death and fire, war scenes on stage. And that was followed when Stephen Blackpool is almost close to death they sent him off to stage while is in novel he is died in the lap of Rachel. Also they wasn't show war scenes and fire scenes on stage. So that rules are also followed well.

Direction of the play :-

The play directed so well. If we analyses the whole play, we find that at many place we found the charm of best direction. As they start the play with song.The various setting on same time, in one stage, one is in imagination and one to show present condition, and lighting according to it. That is enough to show that the play directed well. Also they show flashback in drama very well. Symbol of stare case, and luisa step down from stare case is good attempt to show her downfall. At the end of the play where tom is in circus, that seen played very interestingly by performing various stunts with ring and joker, and with the music.

Use of mime :-

 The another form of drama used well in the play. They used mime form to portray some elements such as fire and tree. The actors themselves created fire by waving their hands and became a tree by standing in such kind of positions. So here we find combination of two different drama forms.

Songs in play :-

There are five songs are there in drama. And preformed beautifully. One song is in starting as a corus, one in ending, and other three in between. By the use of songs they tried to potray either the situation of industrial revolution time or show the condition of character. And that is something marvellously done in it.

Language in drama :-

Language is also uses in very symbolic way. Circus people used metaphorical language. Their life and language is reflected emotions, composition, imagination. Where in another side characters like Bounderby and Gradgrind uses straight language. Language filled with logic, and Rationality. In the another part of drama where Luisa compared her life with Fire. That is also ironical images he portrayed for her poor condition and his causes. Mrs. Gradgrind feels that there is something missing by them in life. And she feels it when Sissy is around her. She try to explain the lack of emotions and love in their life by this metaphorical language. Show her inner confusion about life through it.

Here, is the video of full play,  Which i review in this blog.

Words :- 2157

Paragraphs :- 12

Images :- 3

Videos :- 2

References :-

1) cliffsnotes.com

2) sparknotes.com

3) Brittanica.com

Religion and PK movie

Hello, i am himanshi parmar. As a part of thinking activity related to book, A tale of tube by Jonathan Swift, here I write a blog about religious controversy in movie pk. Also i mentioned here the story outline of PK, cast of PK, awards to this movie, some of the discutable news about PK movie. The question given to us is -

Identify any one movie/web series/song/poem/novel which talks about the sensitive topic like religion. Write in brief about it and explain what kind questions are raised through that work.

     The Bollywood movie pk is about an alien who comes to earth on research mission, and lost his remote, was stolen and sold to a godman. Then the alien and his friend journalist quest to retrieve remote, and superstitions, and unlogical beliefs. PK is one of the best movie who satire so harshly on religion with humour. It is a 2014 Indian Hindi language science fiction comedy drama film. Which was directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi. Also it was jointly produced by Hirani and vidhu vinod chopra, under the banners, Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vidhu Vinod Chopra films respectively.

Cast of the Film :-

Directed by :-  Rajkumar Hirani

Written by :-  Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi

Produced by :- Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani

Starring :- 

1)Aamir Khan

2)Anushka Sharma

3)Sushant Singh Rajput

4)Sanjay Dutt

5)Boman Irani

6)Saurabh Shukla

Narrated by :- Anushka Sharma

Cinematography :- C. K. Muraleedharan

Edited by :- Rajkumar Hirani

Music by :- 

Songs :- 

Shantanu Moitra

Ajay−Atul

Ankit Tiwari

Background Score :-

Sanjay Wandrekar

Atul Raninga

Production companies :- Vinod Chopra Films and Rajkumar Hirani Films

Distributed by :- UTV Motion Pictures

Release date :- 19 December 2014

Running time :- 152 minutes 

Country :- India

Languages :-

Hindi

Bhojpuri

Rajasthani

Budget :- ₹85 crore ($13.9 million)

Box office :- ₹854 crore

($140 million)

After the success of 3 Idiots (2009), Hirani and Joshi's began scripting their next project; finding similarities with the plot of Inception (2010), they scrapped the film. It was later rewritten with a different angle and tone. During production, the film was first titled Talli and later Ek Tha Talli before being changed to PK as the latter title was found too similar to Ek Tha Tiger (2012). The film's soundtrack was composed by Shantanu Moitra, Ajay−Atul and Ankit Tiwari with lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire, Amitabh Varma and Manoj Muntashir. UTV Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights of the film. PK was the first Bollywood movie to be shot in Belgium.

Awards to film PK :-

PK was released on 19 December 2014. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for the performances, particularly by Khan, and its portrayal of superstitions. The film received eight nominations at the 60th Filmfare Awards, winning two. Additionally, it won five Producers Guild Film Awards, and two Screen Awards. PK garnered the Telstra People's Choice Award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Produced on a budget of ₹850 million (approx. $12 million), PK was the first Indian film to gross more than ₹7 billion and US$100 million worldwide. At the time, it emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of all time and ranks as the 70th highest-grossing film of 2014 worldwide. The film's final worldwide gross was ₹854 crore (US$140 million). It currently stands as the 5th highest grossing Indian film worldwide and 5th highest-grossing film in India.

Characters of the movie :-

Aamir Khan as PK, a humanoid alien

Anushka Sharma as Jagat "Jaggu" Janani Sahani, a news reporter & Sarfaraz's love interest

Sushant Singh Rajput as Sarfaraz Yousuf, a Pakistani Muslim & Jaggu's love interest

Sanjay Dutt as Bhairon 'Bhaia' Singh, PK's beloved friend

Boman Irani as Cherry Bajwa, Jaggu's boss

Saurabh Shukla as Tapasvi Maharaj, the godman

Parikshit Sahni as Jayprakash Sahni, Jaggu's father

Amardeep Jha as Mrs. Sahni, Jaggu's mother

Ram Sethi as the old man in Belgium who betrayed Sarfaraz & Jaggu

Sai Gundewar as the Belgium show Ticket Seller

Rohitash Gaud as Mr. Pandey, a police inspector

Ranbir Kapoor as a fellow alien from PK's home planet (special appearance)

Reema Debnath as Phuljhadiya, the prostitute

Sachin Parikh as Tapasvi's manager

Michael Pekala as bystander in train station

Rukhsaar Rehman as Pakistan embassy receptionist

Plabita Borthakur as Jaggu's sister

Anil Mange as character dressed as Shiva

Brijendra Kala as idol seller at a temple

Alok Pandey as a Reporter

Rajeev Gupta as Inspector of the New Delhi railway station

Monali Thakur as a Kashmiri girl

Maanvi Gagroo as Mitu, Jaggu's colleague

Shaji Chaudhary as Tapasvi Maharaj's bodyguard

This is the list of all the characters, who played a role in the movie. Now let us discuss about the story line of the film and then pk and religion, and controversy between it.

Storyline of the movie :-

An alien (Aamir) lands on earth and is immediately robbed of the only thing he's wearing - his remote to get back to his planet. Wandering desperately, the alien learns he must wear clothes, which he steals from couples making out in 'dancing cars'. He also learns he needs notes to buy food - and he needs to learn a human language which he can only do by holding hands for six hours.

One day, the alien - whose name becomes 'PK' after people think his bizarre antics mean he's drunk - gets knocked down by rustic musician Bhairon Singh (Sanjay Dutt). Bhairon likes the strange guy and thinks he's longing for a woman, so he takes him to a bordello. Here, PK holds a girl's hand all night - and thereby her language, Bhojpuri, is transmitted to him, finally enabling him to express himself.

PK tells Bhairon his valuable remote has been stolen. Bhairon tells him to go to Delhi to search for it but in Delhi, PK is only chased away by unsympathetic cops. People brush him off, telling him God knows where his remote is. Seeking God, PK now goes to temples, churches and mosques but he's utterly confused as each has different ways to worship and different rules. PK can't find God and starts handing out pamphlets seeking the divine. This is how he meets Juggu (Anushka), a TV reporter who saves him from being beaten in a temple, then follows him to the lock-up to learn his story.

Juggu is shocked to hear that PK's remote is now with Sadhu Tapasvi ji (Saurabh Shukla), her family guru, but is determined to get it back for him - using his straight, simple, clear questions and honesty as weapons. Using PK's concept of 'wrong numbers' to the divine against fake god-men, she convinces her channel head Cherry (Boman Irani) to produce a show pitting PK against Tapasvi. PK meanwhile has fallen in love with Juggu but can't say it when he learns she's broken-hearted, thinking her Pakistani boyfriend Sarfaraz (Sushant Singh Rajput), who met her as a student in Belgium, had ditched her, which Tapasvi ji had warned her father (Parikshet Sahani) about and which caused a huge family rift for Juggu.

Meanwhile, Bhairon catches the thief who had looted PK's remote and brings him to Delhi, but both perish in a terror bomb blast which leaves PK shaken. In the TV show later on, Tapasvi ji challenges PK to tell the truth of Sarfaraz's story and take back his remote. PK reveals how a mistaken letter - and not religious differences - parted Sarfaraz and Juggu. Cherry rings the Pakistani Embassy in Belgium live on TV and Juggu and Sarfaraz are reconciled after which PK wins back his remote.

PK is escorted by Juggu to the desert where he's called his spaceship. As he leaves, she discovers he loves her but PK has also learnt to lie and says he's carrying back various sounds from earth where in fact his transistor tapes only contain Juggu's voice. She later writes a book on PK, saying how much she misses him and how he gave her two great gifts - her father's love and Sarfaraz.

PK returns to earth one year later with a new research team, also containing Ranbir Kapoor as an alien.

Watch the full film here -

Pk and religion :-

Khan plays an alien in the film who comes to visit the earth and almost immediately falls victim to human greed.His "remote control" - a device without which he cannot go back to his planet - gets stolen.From that moment, he embarks on a journey to discover the world. He meets people, "both good and bad", visits places and learns the language. He painstakingly discovers that many people believe that only god can help him find his remote control.

So that he visits remote temples, mosques and churches. He follows advices given by priests and religious leaders to convince the god of every faith. And suffer a lot for this. But he can not get any result and hope to get his remote back.pk slowly finds out that some self-styled gurus or "godmen" use superstitions and "fraud" to "cheat" people. And concider themselves very close to god. And their conversation with god as a "Tapasya". But when we see the movie, we find that There where a harsh satire on religious priests and god men. There is one scene in the movie where one priest doing magic and evils gold chain in his hand. At that time one man from audience asked him that if you are this much capable to produce gold by your own, then why you asked for a money to us for your religion, temple works and why don't you pay all the dues of nation. That time we feel that it has some logic in the dialogue of the man. And that force us to think of it.

In one of the scenes, a priest tells a man to take an arduous journey to a temple in the Himalayas to ensure that one of his sick family members gets well. PK jumps into the conversation and asks the priest if it's true that god considers all humans as his sons and daughters. Yes, says the priest. PK follows up with another question: "Which father would send an already troubled son on an arduous journey?". Such simple but important questions have made the movie a thought-provoking drama.

The another satire he claims on people that people only remember the God when he is in trouble. If everything will run smoothly then no one can going to remember god. And to prove this point in the movie, there is one scene is mentioned. In which pk and the team of T. V reports go out of the one college. Where the exams is running on. And there pk take one stone, colour it and put it under the tree. And after a few minutes students started praying to that stone. And started putting coins and money there. This how the film makers satire on two concepts, first the concept of "dakshina". And other one is concept of "god and fear".

The another satire on casteism we find in the part of movie where jaggu fell in love with a pakistani Muslim man named sarfraaz Yusuf. And when her family, the biggest disciple of hindu prist called "Tapasviji",came to know about this they denied to their love because of tapasviji's suggestion. Who claims prophecy that the muslim Pakistani man can definitely betray jaggu. And the prophecy also comes true. But at the end audience come to know that it was happened because of misunderstanding not of prophecy.

 When we all fighting for casteism and religion conflicts and harming human being. The movie pk satire on casteism by single dialogue that, " where is the symbol on human body whuch reveals that he or she belongs to this cast and this religion." God made no changes among all human being. That is we who distributed our selves among the boundaries of cast and religion.

We also come across ‘wrong numbers’, which are priests whom falsely bless their worshippers with fake solutions. As the public come to terms with P.K. they begin to notice how they are being fooled, thus causing hype around the country. And we are also able to find certain kind of situations around us, in our society and in religion. And we also started analysing all this things, so basically this movie gave us such vision to see all the superstitions by being out of the box.

Controversial script of PK :-

Many of the controversies occurs after the publishing of movie. His script is also can not be apart from this. Because the famous author Kapil Isapuri accused that the concept and many of the Themes and dialogues are stolen from his book, titled "Farishta". And he filed case against the team of PK. To read full information about this script controversy (click here).

Words :- 2142

Paragraphs :- 12

Videos :- 7

Images :- 5

References :-

1) filmibeat.com.

2)https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PK_(film)

3) timesofindia.com

4) bbc.com