Plato ( 427- 347 B.C.E.)
_ Plato laid the foundations of western philosophy.
_Plato says that the qualities of any object in the physical world r derived from the ideal forms.for example an object in the physical world is beautiful bcoz it partakes of the ideal form of beauty which exist in the higher realm.
- In the Ion Socrates points out that the rhapsody like the poet himself, is in a state of " divine possession " and speaks not with his own voice which is merely a medium through which a God speaks.
- poetry in its very nature is steeped in emotional transport and lack of self possession.
- " each one man must perform one social service in the state for which his nature was best adapted.
- He elaborates his famous triad we find three beds , one existing in nature which is made by God, another which is made by carpenter , and third which is made by painter or poet .
- He inscribed the words over the door of his Academy " let no one enter here who is ignorant of mathematics. "
- what we know is not learned but recollected.
- However the souls memories of its life r washed clean in the River Lethe the soul then returns as the soul of another person to live a new life from birth .
- What Socrates hoped his listeners would understand was that what they saw through sight was less clear n further from the truth than what they were able to see in their minds eye or understanding.
- In the beginning human had three types that were each composed of two people conjoined in a spherical shape female n female, Male n Male, Male n female. These creatures were strong n tried to storm Heaven itself. The God didn't want to destroy them but something had to be done. Zeus's solution was to weaken them by cutting each of the being in half. The result is that every human being is in search of their missing half . Men n women who were conjoined as hermaphrodites seek each other . Lesbians seek other women to compete themselves, n men who were joined to men r attracted to other men . Both Diotima n Aristophanes explanation of love clearly involves sexual consumption n r not Platonic.
- He served in military campaigns in the war against Sparta n was probably in the cavalry.
- He never married n when he died at the age 81 he was poor.
_ Plato laid the foundations of western philosophy.
_Plato says that the qualities of any object in the physical world r derived from the ideal forms.for example an object in the physical world is beautiful bcoz it partakes of the ideal form of beauty which exist in the higher realm.
- In the Ion Socrates points out that the rhapsody like the poet himself, is in a state of " divine possession " and speaks not with his own voice which is merely a medium through which a God speaks.
- poetry in its very nature is steeped in emotional transport and lack of self possession.
- " each one man must perform one social service in the state for which his nature was best adapted.
- He elaborates his famous triad we find three beds , one existing in nature which is made by God, another which is made by carpenter , and third which is made by painter or poet .
- He inscribed the words over the door of his Academy " let no one enter here who is ignorant of mathematics. "
- what we know is not learned but recollected.
- However the souls memories of its life r washed clean in the River Lethe the soul then returns as the soul of another person to live a new life from birth .
- What Socrates hoped his listeners would understand was that what they saw through sight was less clear n further from the truth than what they were able to see in their minds eye or understanding.
- In the beginning human had three types that were each composed of two people conjoined in a spherical shape female n female, Male n Male, Male n female. These creatures were strong n tried to storm Heaven itself. The God didn't want to destroy them but something had to be done. Zeus's solution was to weaken them by cutting each of the being in half. The result is that every human being is in search of their missing half . Men n women who were conjoined as hermaphrodites seek each other . Lesbians seek other women to compete themselves, n men who were joined to men r attracted to other men . Both Diotima n Aristophanes explanation of love clearly involves sexual consumption n r not Platonic.
- He served in military campaigns in the war against Sparta n was probably in the cavalry.
- He never married n when he died at the age 81 he was poor.
Horace ( 65 - 08 BC )
- The influence of Horace s Ars poetica has been vast exceeding the influence of Plato .
- In the realm of literary criticism he has conventionally been associated with the notion that " a poem is like a painting " that poetry should " teach and delight ".
- Horace insists that the " principal fountainhead of writing correctly is wisdom ".
- Hence the poet's work must be based on knowledge, not bookish knowledge but a detailed empirical knowledge derived from acute observation of actual life.
- " My instruction would be to examine that model of human life and manners as an informed copyist and to elicit from it a speech that lives."
- Horace remarks that ... a poet has matched every demand if he mingles the useful with the pleasant by charming n not less advising the reader that is a book that earns money for the publishers a book that crosses the sea n making its writer known forecast a long life for him .
- " it will be permissible to destroy what u have not published the voice once sent forth can't return "
- The influence of Horace s Ars poetica has been vast exceeding the influence of Plato .
- In the realm of literary criticism he has conventionally been associated with the notion that " a poem is like a painting " that poetry should " teach and delight ".
- Horace insists that the " principal fountainhead of writing correctly is wisdom ".
- Hence the poet's work must be based on knowledge, not bookish knowledge but a detailed empirical knowledge derived from acute observation of actual life.
- " My instruction would be to examine that model of human life and manners as an informed copyist and to elicit from it a speech that lives."
- Horace remarks that ... a poet has matched every demand if he mingles the useful with the pleasant by charming n not less advising the reader that is a book that earns money for the publishers a book that crosses the sea n making its writer known forecast a long life for him .
- " it will be permissible to destroy what u have not published the voice once sent forth can't return "
*Bhabha, Homi K. (1949– )*
Homi Bhabha was born in India and educated at Bombay University and Christchurch College, Oxford (UK). He is currently Professor in the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where he teaches in the Departments of English and Art. Strongly influenced by the poststructuralism of Derrida, Lacan and Foucault, Bhabha argues against the tendency to essentialize ‘Third World’ countries into a homogeneous identity claiming instead that all sense of nationhood is narrativized. He also suggests that there is always ambivalence at the site of colonial dominance so that the colonizer and the colonized help to constitute each other.
For Bhabha, the instability of meaning in language leads us to think of culture, identities and identifications as always a place of borders and hybridity rather than of fixed stable entities, a view encapsulated in his use of concepts such as mimicry, interstice, hybridity and liminality.
Homi Bhabha was born in India and educated at Bombay University and Christchurch College, Oxford (UK). He is currently Professor in the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where he teaches in the Departments of English and Art. Strongly influenced by the poststructuralism of Derrida, Lacan and Foucault, Bhabha argues against the tendency to essentialize ‘Third World’ countries into a homogeneous identity claiming instead that all sense of nationhood is narrativized. He also suggests that there is always ambivalence at the site of colonial dominance so that the colonizer and the colonized help to constitute each other.
For Bhabha, the instability of meaning in language leads us to think of culture, identities and identifications as always a place of borders and hybridity rather than of fixed stable entities, a view encapsulated in his use of concepts such as mimicry, interstice, hybridity and liminality.
A Doll’s House:
• A Doll's House is a three-act play written by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen.
• A Doll’s House was published in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it premiered.
• Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879), written while Ibsen was in Rome and Amalfi, Italy, was conceived at a time of revolution in Europe.
• A Doll's House was based on the life of Laura Kieler (maiden name Laura Smith Petersen), a good friend of Ibsen.
• The play opens at Christmas time.
• A Doll's House tells the story of Nora, a housewife hides her financial problems from her husband Torvald. When Torvald learns of her deceit, he becomes angry.
• As a result Nora leaves him to become an independent woman.
• In order to protect her secret, Nora tries to defend Krogstad, one of Torvald’s employees.
• Torvald insists on firing the employee.
• He sends a letter to Torvald detailing Nora’s deceit.
• Torvald eventually reads the letter and gets angry with Nora.
• He dismisses the fact that she borrowed the money to save his life.
• After learning that the money does not need to be repaid, Torvald forgives Nora.
• But she cannot give forgiveness for his self-centeredness and leaves him and their children.
• Here in this novel Ibsen sharply defined marital roles.
• Ibsen presented Nora as a prime example of the “new woman,” .
• Some criticized that although a woman might leave her husband, she would never leave her children.
• Nora leaves her family in order to establish a separate identity.
• Further, Ibsen himself declared that he was not writing solely about women but instead about issues of his society and about the need for individuals, both men and women.
• Torvald’s pride leads him to treat Nora like a possession instead of loving her as an equal.
• Nora matures from a childlike, dependent role into an independent woman who understands her own worth.
• A Doll's House questions the traditional roles both men and women in 19th-century marriage.
• A Doll's House is a three-act play written by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen.
• A Doll’s House was published in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it premiered.
• Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879), written while Ibsen was in Rome and Amalfi, Italy, was conceived at a time of revolution in Europe.
• A Doll's House was based on the life of Laura Kieler (maiden name Laura Smith Petersen), a good friend of Ibsen.
• The play opens at Christmas time.
• A Doll's House tells the story of Nora, a housewife hides her financial problems from her husband Torvald. When Torvald learns of her deceit, he becomes angry.
• As a result Nora leaves him to become an independent woman.
• In order to protect her secret, Nora tries to defend Krogstad, one of Torvald’s employees.
• Torvald insists on firing the employee.
• He sends a letter to Torvald detailing Nora’s deceit.
• Torvald eventually reads the letter and gets angry with Nora.
• He dismisses the fact that she borrowed the money to save his life.
• After learning that the money does not need to be repaid, Torvald forgives Nora.
• But she cannot give forgiveness for his self-centeredness and leaves him and their children.
• Here in this novel Ibsen sharply defined marital roles.
• Ibsen presented Nora as a prime example of the “new woman,” .
• Some criticized that although a woman might leave her husband, she would never leave her children.
• Nora leaves her family in order to establish a separate identity.
• Further, Ibsen himself declared that he was not writing solely about women but instead about issues of his society and about the need for individuals, both men and women.
• Torvald’s pride leads him to treat Nora like a possession instead of loving her as an equal.
• Nora matures from a childlike, dependent role into an independent woman who understands her own worth.
• A Doll's House questions the traditional roles both men and women in 19th-century marriage.
download.pdf
1.2 MB
Emailing download.pdf
NTA-NET SET English:
Frankfurt School.......
In sociology and political philosophy, the term Critical Theory describes the neo-Marxist philosophy of the Frankfurt School, which was developed in Germany in the 1930s. Frankfurt theorists drew on the critical methods of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Critical Theory maintains that ideology is the principal obstacle to human liberation.[6] Critical Theory was established as a school of thought primarily by five Frankfurt School theoreticians: Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, and Erich Fromm. Modern Critical Theory has additionally been influenced by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci, as well as the second generation Frankfurt School scholars, notably Jürgen Habermas. In Habermas's work, Critical Theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism, and progressed closer to American pragmatism. Concern for social "base and superstructure" is one of the remaining Marxist philosophical concepts in much of contemporary Critical Theory.
Frankfurt School.......
In sociology and political philosophy, the term Critical Theory describes the neo-Marxist philosophy of the Frankfurt School, which was developed in Germany in the 1930s. Frankfurt theorists drew on the critical methods of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Critical Theory maintains that ideology is the principal obstacle to human liberation.[6] Critical Theory was established as a school of thought primarily by five Frankfurt School theoreticians: Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, and Erich Fromm. Modern Critical Theory has additionally been influenced by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci, as well as the second generation Frankfurt School scholars, notably Jürgen Habermas. In Habermas's work, Critical Theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism, and progressed closer to American pragmatism. Concern for social "base and superstructure" is one of the remaining Marxist philosophical concepts in much of contemporary Critical Theory.
The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists,[1] the best known members of which included Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey. This loose collective of friends and relatives were closely associated with Cambridge University for the men and King's College London for the women, and they lived, worked or studied together near Bloomsbury, London, during the first half of the 20th century.
The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Ageof English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Other members were John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St. John and Thomas Parnell. The group was founded in 1714 and lasted until the death of the founders, finally ending in 1745.
1. Who wrote the famous American play The Iceman Cometh?
(a) John Osborne
(b) Eugene O'Neill ✔️
(c) Earnest Hemingway
(d) Walt Whitman
🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶
(a) John Osborne
(b) Eugene O'Neill ✔️
(c) Earnest Hemingway
(d) Walt Whitman
🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶
*a. Mathew Prior’s Alma is an imitation of Hudibras.*
*b. Solomon is a long and serious poem by Addison.*
*c. Pope’s two translated works are Iliad and Odyssey.*
*d. Moral Essays was written by Pope.*
*e. Horace Walpole: Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel.*
*f. Treasure Island is a famous moment of Stevenson.*
*g. Sheridan’s play The Rivals came out in 1775, his School for scandal came out in 1777.*
*h. Robinson Crusoe – Friday (Cannibal). The Vicar ofWakefield – Moses, Olivia, Sophia.*
*i. The first of the ‘robot’ books – Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley.*
*j. Don Quixote (a Picaresque novel) – Written by Cervantes, Moll Flanders (a picaresque novel) – written by Defoe.*
*k. There are 18 books in Tom Jones. This novel by Fielding is dedicated to George Littleton.*
*l. Thomas Chesterton (1752-70), a poet of the Pre-Romantic period committed suicide at the age of 18.*
*m. Doer’s Lament has the constant refrain “that was lived through, so can this be” or in other words, “his sorrow passed away, so will mine”.*
*n. Ulysses (1922) a novel by James Joyce is set in a single day in Dublin, the hero is leopald Bloom.*
*o. Of Human Bondage (1915), the autobiographical novel of Somerset Maugham is a study in frustration.*
*p. Dylan Thomas' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog(1940) is a collection of short stories.*
*q. Robinson Crusoe an adventurous tale by Daniel Defoe (1659-1731) which appeared in 1719 was inspired to a slight extent by the adventures of the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, whome Defoe had interviewed atBristol.*
*r. A Tale of Tub, a brilliant satire on roman Catholics and Calvinists, on critics and bad writers; The Battle of the books, a satiric by product of the Bentley controversy;Gulliver’s Travels – written by Swift.*
*b. Solomon is a long and serious poem by Addison.*
*c. Pope’s two translated works are Iliad and Odyssey.*
*d. Moral Essays was written by Pope.*
*e. Horace Walpole: Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel.*
*f. Treasure Island is a famous moment of Stevenson.*
*g. Sheridan’s play The Rivals came out in 1775, his School for scandal came out in 1777.*
*h. Robinson Crusoe – Friday (Cannibal). The Vicar ofWakefield – Moses, Olivia, Sophia.*
*i. The first of the ‘robot’ books – Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley.*
*j. Don Quixote (a Picaresque novel) – Written by Cervantes, Moll Flanders (a picaresque novel) – written by Defoe.*
*k. There are 18 books in Tom Jones. This novel by Fielding is dedicated to George Littleton.*
*l. Thomas Chesterton (1752-70), a poet of the Pre-Romantic period committed suicide at the age of 18.*
*m. Doer’s Lament has the constant refrain “that was lived through, so can this be” or in other words, “his sorrow passed away, so will mine”.*
*n. Ulysses (1922) a novel by James Joyce is set in a single day in Dublin, the hero is leopald Bloom.*
*o. Of Human Bondage (1915), the autobiographical novel of Somerset Maugham is a study in frustration.*
*p. Dylan Thomas' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog(1940) is a collection of short stories.*
*q. Robinson Crusoe an adventurous tale by Daniel Defoe (1659-1731) which appeared in 1719 was inspired to a slight extent by the adventures of the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, whome Defoe had interviewed atBristol.*
*r. A Tale of Tub, a brilliant satire on roman Catholics and Calvinists, on critics and bad writers; The Battle of the books, a satiric by product of the Bentley controversy;Gulliver’s Travels – written by Swift.*
Forwarded from English Literature for NET, SET, PGT Etc.☺️
Some Q & A
👇👇👇👇👇
1. What ‘I’ is The Chinese Book Of divination?
Answer: I Ching.🌹
2. Who wrote the poems “Ozymandias” and “Ode to the West Wind”?
Answer: Shelley.🌹
3. What ‘TOTH’ Is A. A. Milne’s play taken from a book by Kenneth Grahame?
Answer: Toad of Toad Hall.🌹
4. What book about four days in Iowa took Robert J. Waller two weeks to write, and topped bestseller lists for seven months?
Answer: The Bridges of Madison County.🌹
5. Which comic actor and writer co-wrote the book “Life and How to Survive It”?
Answer: John Cleese.🌹
6. What town was the birthplace of William Shakespeare?
Answer: Stratford-upon-Avon.🌹
7. Who wrote Myra Breckinridge, Lincoln and Julian?
Answer: Gore Vidal.🌹
8. What ‘N’ is the bird Keats wrote an ode to?
Answer: Nightingale.🌹
9. What was the only novel to be written by Margaret Mitchell?
Answer: Gone with the Wind.🌹
10. Which Author created The Sleuths Miss Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot?
Answer: Agatha Christie.🌹
11. Which 4 letter word for having sex first appeared in a dictionary in 1986?
Answer: Bonk – not the obvious one!🌹
12. Which ‘JE’ is Governess to The Ward Of Mr Rochester, in the book bearing her name?
Answer: Jane Eyre.🌹
13. How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write?
Answer: 154.🌹
14. Which authors first (unsuccessful) book was inland voyage?
Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson.🌹
15. Who wrote “An Outcast of the Islands”?
Answer: Joseph Conrad.🌹
16. Who wrote Charlie And The Chocolate Factory?
Answer: Roald Dahl.🌹
17. In which Thomas Hardy novel does the character BathSheba Everdene Appear?
Answer: Far from the Madding Crowd.🌹
18. Who wrote the science fiction novel Slaughterhouse Five?
Answer: Kurt Vonnegut.🌹
19. What seven words provide the opening line of the Shakespeare play Richard III?
Answer: Now is the winter of our discontent.🌹
20. Which group of fans are the only ones to be mentioned in the Oxford English Dictionary?
Answer: Trekkies.🌹
21. Who wrote the novel Invisible Man In 1952?
Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson.🌹
22. John Ridd is the male lead in which book with a girl’s name as its title?
Answer: Lorna Doone.🌹
23. Which great book was started in Bedford Jail In 1675?
Answer: The Pilgrim’s Progress.🌹
24. The authorised version of the Holy Bible was made at the order of which king?
Answer: James The First (1611).🌹
25. Which novel opens with the words, ‘Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again … ”
Answer: Rebecca🌹
26. Who wrote about a pig called the Empress of Blandings?
Answer: P G Wodehouse.🌹
27. Whose 1995 novel The Moor’s Last Sigh enraged Hindu militants in
India?
Answer: Salman Rushdie’s.🌹
28. Which county shares its name with the first name of an English author?
Answer: Somerset (Maugham).🌹
29. What title is held by Shakespeare’s Cymbeline?
Answer: King of Britain.🌹
30. Excluding the word Hawaii what is the only word in the English dictionary that has a double i?
Answer: Skiing (Possibly Radii).🌹
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
English Literature for NET, SET, PGT Etc.☺️
https://m.facebook.com/English.Literature.NET.SET.PGT/
👇👇👇👇👇
1. What ‘I’ is The Chinese Book Of divination?
Answer: I Ching.🌹
2. Who wrote the poems “Ozymandias” and “Ode to the West Wind”?
Answer: Shelley.🌹
3. What ‘TOTH’ Is A. A. Milne’s play taken from a book by Kenneth Grahame?
Answer: Toad of Toad Hall.🌹
4. What book about four days in Iowa took Robert J. Waller two weeks to write, and topped bestseller lists for seven months?
Answer: The Bridges of Madison County.🌹
5. Which comic actor and writer co-wrote the book “Life and How to Survive It”?
Answer: John Cleese.🌹
6. What town was the birthplace of William Shakespeare?
Answer: Stratford-upon-Avon.🌹
7. Who wrote Myra Breckinridge, Lincoln and Julian?
Answer: Gore Vidal.🌹
8. What ‘N’ is the bird Keats wrote an ode to?
Answer: Nightingale.🌹
9. What was the only novel to be written by Margaret Mitchell?
Answer: Gone with the Wind.🌹
10. Which Author created The Sleuths Miss Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot?
Answer: Agatha Christie.🌹
11. Which 4 letter word for having sex first appeared in a dictionary in 1986?
Answer: Bonk – not the obvious one!🌹
12. Which ‘JE’ is Governess to The Ward Of Mr Rochester, in the book bearing her name?
Answer: Jane Eyre.🌹
13. How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write?
Answer: 154.🌹
14. Which authors first (unsuccessful) book was inland voyage?
Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson.🌹
15. Who wrote “An Outcast of the Islands”?
Answer: Joseph Conrad.🌹
16. Who wrote Charlie And The Chocolate Factory?
Answer: Roald Dahl.🌹
17. In which Thomas Hardy novel does the character BathSheba Everdene Appear?
Answer: Far from the Madding Crowd.🌹
18. Who wrote the science fiction novel Slaughterhouse Five?
Answer: Kurt Vonnegut.🌹
19. What seven words provide the opening line of the Shakespeare play Richard III?
Answer: Now is the winter of our discontent.🌹
20. Which group of fans are the only ones to be mentioned in the Oxford English Dictionary?
Answer: Trekkies.🌹
21. Who wrote the novel Invisible Man In 1952?
Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson.🌹
22. John Ridd is the male lead in which book with a girl’s name as its title?
Answer: Lorna Doone.🌹
23. Which great book was started in Bedford Jail In 1675?
Answer: The Pilgrim’s Progress.🌹
24. The authorised version of the Holy Bible was made at the order of which king?
Answer: James The First (1611).🌹
25. Which novel opens with the words, ‘Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again … ”
Answer: Rebecca🌹
26. Who wrote about a pig called the Empress of Blandings?
Answer: P G Wodehouse.🌹
27. Whose 1995 novel The Moor’s Last Sigh enraged Hindu militants in
India?
Answer: Salman Rushdie’s.🌹
28. Which county shares its name with the first name of an English author?
Answer: Somerset (Maugham).🌹
29. What title is held by Shakespeare’s Cymbeline?
Answer: King of Britain.🌹
30. Excluding the word Hawaii what is the only word in the English dictionary that has a double i?
Answer: Skiing (Possibly Radii).🌹
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
English Literature for NET, SET, PGT Etc.☺️
https://m.facebook.com/English.Literature.NET.SET.PGT/
#The_Theme_of_Doctor_Faustus
♦ 1. Marlowe and the spirit of Renaissance
At the very outset we should note that Marlowe belonged to the age of Renaissance and he was to a very great extent the product of Renaissance with its spirit of revolt, with its supreme lust for wealth and power without any regard for moral limits ,with its great yearning for limitless knowledge and craving for worldly and sensual pleasures. And all the tragic heroes of Marlowe are embodiment of the Renaissance spirit.
♦ 2. Faustus-an embodiment of the epoch
Doctor Faustus is also an embodiment of the epoch. Hii mind and soul is afire with an inordinate desire for attaining supreme power through knowledge by any means, fair or foul. With the revival of learning, people began to believe that knowledge enabled rrlan to become all powerful. So Faustus even after getting his degree of Doctorate and studying all the important branches of learning like Philosophy, Physic, Law and Divinity realises that he is ’still but Faustus and a man’. All are inadequate and none of these subjects can help him to become as powerful ’on earth, as Jove in the Sky’. Faustus’s dream is to gain super-human power so that :
”AH things that move between the quiet poles, Shall be at my command: emperors and kings, Are obey’d in their sev’ral provinces, Nor can they raise the wind, or rend the clouds. But his dominion that exceeds in this, Stretched as far as doth the mind of man.”
♦3. Decision to become a magician
This inordinate desire to attain super-human powers is absolutely in keeping with the adventurous spirit of the age of Renaissance. And to attain this Faustus • makes the supreme but tragic decision of his life :
”A sound magician is a mighty god;
Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity”.
But immediately after Faustus feels the prick of conscience as he isgoing to do something against the will of God. But the Evil Angel or the over-riding desire carries the day, as Faustus ,dreams of becoming as powerful :
” as Jove is in the sky,
Lord and commander of the elements”.
♦ 4. To attain super-human power at any cost
And he would attain this power at any cost even by selling his soul to the Devil. Knowledge is no doubt power; but Faustus, who is the embodiment of the dreams and desires of the rising bourgeoisie of his age forgets in his fit of passion that there is a limit to man’s powers and possibilities and that knowledge may also become a source of ruin and destruction if it is abused. Puffed up with his vast knowledge and learning he ignores the fact that to make an attempt to fly too near the sun with waxen wings means certain doom and destruction. Thus to Faustus :
”Nothing so sweet as magic is to him, Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss.”
Hence, in the end just like other tragic heroes of Marlowe, Faustus. also with his limitless lust for power and pelf, ultimately finds with horror how the flush and glory of his temporary success brings about his doom and eternal damnation. This is the theme of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus,
♦ 5. Theme revolving round Faustus-surrenders his soul to Devil
We find the theme entirely revolving round Faustus, a great German scholar with a degree of Doctor of Divinity. Even with his great achievements in different branches of learning he took to the study of unholy necromancy to gain super-human power on this earth. He discarded the advice of the Good Angel, rather turned a deaf ear to the voice of his conscience, and conjured up Mephistopliilis, a deputy of great Lucifer the Prince of the Devils, haustus was prepared to surrender his soul to the Devil after enjoying for twenty five years a life full of voluptuous pleasure and after acquiring mastery over the black art of Magic to enable him to display miraculous feats. Mephistophil.’s was also to become his slave for the whole period and carry out all his commands whatever they might be. Even he wrote a deed of gift to this effect with his own blood.
♦ 6. Conflict between conscience and passion
But then very often doubts and diffidence arise in his soul
♦ 1. Marlowe and the spirit of Renaissance
At the very outset we should note that Marlowe belonged to the age of Renaissance and he was to a very great extent the product of Renaissance with its spirit of revolt, with its supreme lust for wealth and power without any regard for moral limits ,with its great yearning for limitless knowledge and craving for worldly and sensual pleasures. And all the tragic heroes of Marlowe are embodiment of the Renaissance spirit.
♦ 2. Faustus-an embodiment of the epoch
Doctor Faustus is also an embodiment of the epoch. Hii mind and soul is afire with an inordinate desire for attaining supreme power through knowledge by any means, fair or foul. With the revival of learning, people began to believe that knowledge enabled rrlan to become all powerful. So Faustus even after getting his degree of Doctorate and studying all the important branches of learning like Philosophy, Physic, Law and Divinity realises that he is ’still but Faustus and a man’. All are inadequate and none of these subjects can help him to become as powerful ’on earth, as Jove in the Sky’. Faustus’s dream is to gain super-human power so that :
”AH things that move between the quiet poles, Shall be at my command: emperors and kings, Are obey’d in their sev’ral provinces, Nor can they raise the wind, or rend the clouds. But his dominion that exceeds in this, Stretched as far as doth the mind of man.”
♦3. Decision to become a magician
This inordinate desire to attain super-human powers is absolutely in keeping with the adventurous spirit of the age of Renaissance. And to attain this Faustus • makes the supreme but tragic decision of his life :
”A sound magician is a mighty god;
Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity”.
But immediately after Faustus feels the prick of conscience as he isgoing to do something against the will of God. But the Evil Angel or the over-riding desire carries the day, as Faustus ,dreams of becoming as powerful :
” as Jove is in the sky,
Lord and commander of the elements”.
♦ 4. To attain super-human power at any cost
And he would attain this power at any cost even by selling his soul to the Devil. Knowledge is no doubt power; but Faustus, who is the embodiment of the dreams and desires of the rising bourgeoisie of his age forgets in his fit of passion that there is a limit to man’s powers and possibilities and that knowledge may also become a source of ruin and destruction if it is abused. Puffed up with his vast knowledge and learning he ignores the fact that to make an attempt to fly too near the sun with waxen wings means certain doom and destruction. Thus to Faustus :
”Nothing so sweet as magic is to him, Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss.”
Hence, in the end just like other tragic heroes of Marlowe, Faustus. also with his limitless lust for power and pelf, ultimately finds with horror how the flush and glory of his temporary success brings about his doom and eternal damnation. This is the theme of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus,
♦ 5. Theme revolving round Faustus-surrenders his soul to Devil
We find the theme entirely revolving round Faustus, a great German scholar with a degree of Doctor of Divinity. Even with his great achievements in different branches of learning he took to the study of unholy necromancy to gain super-human power on this earth. He discarded the advice of the Good Angel, rather turned a deaf ear to the voice of his conscience, and conjured up Mephistopliilis, a deputy of great Lucifer the Prince of the Devils, haustus was prepared to surrender his soul to the Devil after enjoying for twenty five years a life full of voluptuous pleasure and after acquiring mastery over the black art of Magic to enable him to display miraculous feats. Mephistophil.’s was also to become his slave for the whole period and carry out all his commands whatever they might be. Even he wrote a deed of gift to this effect with his own blood.
♦ 6. Conflict between conscience and passion
But then very often doubts and diffidence arise in his soul
. He thought of saving Y:> soul by means of prayer and repentance. The Good and Evil Angels had their share in trying to exert influence over him in ’.heir own ways. A bitter conflict raged in his soul between Ks conscience and passion. But threatened by the Devil, he subrr aed to him once more without any reserve and renewed the
deed with his blood again. With his mastery over the black art and with the help of Mephistophilis, his constant slave, he gained immense super-human power and moved across the earth and sky to well-known cities, had the spirit of Helen, the matchless beauty as his paramour and demonstrated miraculous feats before kings and courtiers.
♦ 7. Tragic and terrible end
But the sands of tims were running out. Ultimately the final iiour approached when Faastus was to surrender his soul to the Devil. The fervent appeal of his scholar friends at the last moment to ’look up the Heaven’ was of no avail.
He realised that ’Faustus’s offence can never be pardoned. Finally, he was left pitifully alone m his room to face his inevitable doom and damnation. Horror of the impending doom made him tragic and his terror-stricken soul fervently wished that movement of time might stop or the final hour might be lengthened so that he could have a last chance to repent -ind pray for God’s mercy. But nothing is of any avail. The Devils appear and carry away the soul of Faustus for eternal damnation. And thus:
Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,
And burned is Appolo’s laurel-bough. That sometime grew in this learned man”.
8. Doctrine of medieval Christianity
Thus by depicting the terrible end of Faustus, Ma rlowe has also presented in this drama the most awe-inspiring doctrine of the medieval Christianity that tells us that
to practise more than heavenly power means ’eternal damnation’.
♦ 9. Conclusion
In the end we may quote a few words from J. A. Symonds to elucidate in brief the theme of this great drama: ”Marlowe concentrated his energies on the delineation of proud life and terrible death of a man in revolt against the eternal laws of his own nature and the world, defiant and desperate, plagued with remorse, alternating between the gratification of his appetities and the dread of God whom he rejects without denying”.
#CRITICAL_QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of ”Doctor Faustus” ?
2. What is the leading idea of the play ”Doctor Faustus” ?
3. ”Doctor Faustus” is the tragedy of a Christian who runs foul of God’s law. Comment.
4. What is the symbolic meaning of the tragedy of ”Doctor Faustus” ? Discuss.
deed with his blood again. With his mastery over the black art and with the help of Mephistophilis, his constant slave, he gained immense super-human power and moved across the earth and sky to well-known cities, had the spirit of Helen, the matchless beauty as his paramour and demonstrated miraculous feats before kings and courtiers.
♦ 7. Tragic and terrible end
But the sands of tims were running out. Ultimately the final iiour approached when Faastus was to surrender his soul to the Devil. The fervent appeal of his scholar friends at the last moment to ’look up the Heaven’ was of no avail.
He realised that ’Faustus’s offence can never be pardoned. Finally, he was left pitifully alone m his room to face his inevitable doom and damnation. Horror of the impending doom made him tragic and his terror-stricken soul fervently wished that movement of time might stop or the final hour might be lengthened so that he could have a last chance to repent -ind pray for God’s mercy. But nothing is of any avail. The Devils appear and carry away the soul of Faustus for eternal damnation. And thus:
Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,
And burned is Appolo’s laurel-bough. That sometime grew in this learned man”.
8. Doctrine of medieval Christianity
Thus by depicting the terrible end of Faustus, Ma rlowe has also presented in this drama the most awe-inspiring doctrine of the medieval Christianity that tells us that
to practise more than heavenly power means ’eternal damnation’.
♦ 9. Conclusion
In the end we may quote a few words from J. A. Symonds to elucidate in brief the theme of this great drama: ”Marlowe concentrated his energies on the delineation of proud life and terrible death of a man in revolt against the eternal laws of his own nature and the world, defiant and desperate, plagued with remorse, alternating between the gratification of his appetities and the dread of God whom he rejects without denying”.
#CRITICAL_QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of ”Doctor Faustus” ?
2. What is the leading idea of the play ”Doctor Faustus” ?
3. ”Doctor Faustus” is the tragedy of a Christian who runs foul of God’s law. Comment.
4. What is the symbolic meaning of the tragedy of ”Doctor Faustus” ? Discuss.
FileHandler-3.pdf
478.5 KB
Emailing FileHandler-3.pdf