Literary Criticism 1

1.Discuss Aristotle’s definition of Tragedy and explain the importance of its constitutents and formative elements of Tragedy? Introduction : Tragedy in Greek means “a goat song”; and was used for players because of the practice of awarding goats to winners in a dramatic context. Dramas are divided into two categories i.e. Tragedy and Comedy. Tragedy is born of imitating the actions of noble men. Tragedy is considered a higher form than the epic. According to Aristotle “Tragedy is an imitation of action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude.” Constitutents of tragedy: • Tragedy is in the form of action through pity and fear, effecting proper catharsis of such emotions and bring out the catharsis. • The word serious means importance of action. Tragedy is a serious treatment of an action. • The action in tragedy imitates is its plot. The action must be complete and attracted by people. • The tragi action must be of certain magnitude and be in accordance with the laws of probability and necessity. • The size of a tragedy should be consistant with the unity of action and with the function it has to fulfil. PURPOSE OF TRAGEDY: The purpose of tragedy has to effect proper purgation and catharsis of pity and fear. FORMATIVE ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY: Aristotle mentions 6 elements of a tragedy. They are plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle and song. I)PLOT: plot means the arrangement of incidents. So it is an important constituent of tragedy. Aristotle says for tragedy, is an imitations not of men, but of an action and of life, and life consists in action. II) characters: characters determines the men’s qualities. Their actions make them happy. The characters are known by their deeds in a tragedy. So deeds are more important than characters in a play. iii)Diction: diction is choice of words. It should be lucid. iv)thought: thought is the power of saying whatever can be said. It imitates men’s mental and emotional reactions to the circumstances. v)Spectacles: It is the scenic effect of the stage; it is a part of the stage mechanics. It is the manner in which the play is presented on stage. Fear and pity can be produced by spectacular means. vi)song: or lyrical element is to be found to be choric parts of a tragedy. It is one of the artistic ornaments. It is one of the sources of pleasures of tragedy. Choir= band of singers

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2. write a short notes on Aristotle’s ‘poetics’ Aristotle’s masterpiece is ‘poetics’. It is one of the most influential books of the world. It explains many literary theories especially about poetry and drama. Aristotle systematized the work of his predecessors with an independent of judgment. Atkins says “the miracle of the ‘POETICS’ is that it contains so much that is of permanent and universal interest.” STRUCTURE OF POETICS: Poetics is divided into 26 brief chapters. The topics dealt with are chapters wise: • introduction to poetry and its division into different kinds. • Tragedy and comedy-limitations regarded as the common principles of all arts. • Tragedy and its formative elements. • Discussion on poetic diction. • Narrative poetry and its comparison with tragedy. • The nature of epic and the relative superiority of tragedy. • Elaborates and analyses the objections of critics against poetry. Poetics provided the foundation for all subsequent discussions.

3. How did S.Johnson defend Shakespeare Tragicomedy in his “preface to Shakespeare”? “Preface to Shakespeare” reveals mainly two aspects of Johnson’s ability as a critic. Johnson’s observations: • Shakespeare’s dramas can’t be divided into comedies and tragedies. They are compositions of a distinct kind, exhibiting the real state of nature. • Shakespeare combines laughter and tears in one composition. Almost all his dramas are divided between ludicrous and serious characters. Which sometime produce laughers and sometimes tears. • Shakespeare’s practice is contrary to the ruler of criticism; but there is always an appeal open from criticism to nature. Shakespeare mingled drama conveys all the instruction which comedy and tragedy can give. It is true to life and gives variety. Johnson defends Shakespeare’s mingled drama on the following arguments: i) In his mixing of the tragic and comic, he is true to nature. In real life too, there is a mixture of joy and sorrow. ii) Being much more natural than the pure species of drama, tragi-comedy is nearer to life than either tragedy or comedy. iii) the interchange of the serious and the gay does not interrupt the progress of the passions. It doesn’t result in any weakening of effect. iv) Shakespeare’s plays are beyond classification into the 3 types, i.e. comedies, tragedies, histories. Shakespeare himself did not divide his plays into such categories. v) Pleasure consists of variety and tragi-comedy can satisfy a greater variety of tastes than either tragedy or comedy. CONCLUSION Johnson’s approach was highly pragmatic and his defense of Shakespeare’s tragi-comedy is the natural product of that approach.

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4. EXPLAIN THE TERMS PERIPETEIA AND ANAGNORISIS? Aristotle has laid down many rules and regulations for a tragedy in order to make it effective and delightful to audience. PERIPETY: means the reversal of the agent’s intension. The opposite of what the protagonist intends happens. This is full of tragic irony. This can be well understood in the peripety of Oedipus, the Greek hero and Duncan’s murder in “Macbeth”. Tragic irony forms the very basis of the plot. ANAGNORISIS: Anagnorisis is the discovery of the truth. It is a change from ignorance to knowledge bringing about a reversal in the fortunes of the tragic hero. Aristotle enumerates 6 kinds of Anagnorisis. They are… • It is brought about by signs. It is due to chance play and so unexpected. • It is introduced by the poet at will. It is quite inartistic and arbitary. • It depends upon memory. • It is quite ambiguous. It is interpreted as the device of laying false clues. A critic calls it “Discovery of bluff”. • The best anagnorisis is the most artistic kind of discovery. It grows out of action itself. SUFFERING The third element of tragedy is suffering. That is the depiction of tragic incident like murder, torture, wounding etc. Ex. The murder of the king Hamlet in the play ‘HAMLET’ HAMARTIA: Hamartia in Greek means “ missing the mark”. It is the tragic flaw or miscalculation of the tragic hero. The flaw(weakness) dooms the hero to his fall. It may not be associated with moral lapse, but only an error in judgment. In Shakespeare’s tragedies, the hero brings his fall due to his flaw. Ex. Macbeth is ruined due to his overreaching ambition. Othello causes his own destruction and the death of Desdemona because of his inferiority complex or suspicious nature. Hamartia arises due to 3 situations: I

Ignorance of some material fact or circumstance (i)

Error due to hasty or careless view of the special case. (ii)

An erroneous act Committed in anger. (iii)

Aristotle says “The tragic hero must be of the number of those in the enjoy-ment of great reputation and prosperity.”

5. How does Brooks establish that “ the language of poetry” is the language of paradox”? Paradox: means “seeming contradictory but conveying some truth”. Ex. More haste, less speed; child become the teacher of a father_Buddha. According to oxford dictionary paradox means a person or a situation that has two opposite features. Brooks establishes that the language of poetry is the language of paradox. He illustrates his viewpoint through an analysis of the poems of wordsworth and Donne. But these poets have very little in common with each other. Here he seeks a formula as a special kind of language with which 3

to identity and defend the literary language as a special kind of language. Brooks finds this formula a ‘paradox’. He illustrates his viewpoint through an analysis of the poets have very little in common, with each other. Here, he seeks a formula as a special kind of language with which to identity and defend the literary language as a special kind of language. Brooks finds this formula a ‘paradox’. According to Brooks – paradox is a device for contrasting the conventional views of a situation. Paradox is a self-contradictory statement or a statement which brings together opposite ideas, which convey some essential truths. Paradox often used to create a sense of surprise. It goes contrary to what is accepted. Brooks establishes that paradox is the language appropriate and essential for poetry. But the language of science is free from any trace of paradox. The language of poetry is paradoxical. Though it may appear to be an overstatement ‘the truth which the poet utters can be approached only in terms of paradox.’ Critical monism Cleanth Brooks presents his views on paradox, irony, metaphor forcefully. But he has been the target of attack by scholars on the one hand and the neo-Aristotelians on the other. Douglas Bush finds Brooks often perverse (showing a stubborn desire to behave un-acceptably) because he does not use of the findings of scholarship. r.s.crane and others have accused him. Critical monism: i.e. harping on only singular approach of considering the poem as a poem. It is regarded as a set of phrases and concepts like paradox, irony and metaphor. • brooks approach is monistic – means if you want to know about a poem look into the poem only. • Brooks is against irrelevant use of extrinsic factors. • David lodge regards Brooks approach as anti-historical. Brooks illustration on Donne’s Canonization: Brooks illustrates Donne’s “as an example of a poem based on paradox and irony. The very title of the poem reflects a basic metaphor. It underlines a paradox of treating profane love as if were divine love. • the word canonize literally means to state officially that somebody now is a saint.” The canonization here is not of the saints but it is of the lovers who do not renounce (formally gave up) the world. • a close analysis of the poem reveals that Donne takes both love and religion seriously. Here love of the lovers is serious, intense sincere. Donne takes both love and religion seriously is a clue to understand the paradox in the poem. 6. according to I.A.Richards: what are the obstacles to understanding a poem? Explain how his four kinds of meaning helps to understand a work of art? Introduction: I.A.Richards has great significance as a literary critic. He, along with T.S.Eliot is regarded as a pioneer of new criticism. Richards emphasizes textual and verbal analysis in his ‘practical criticism’. The protocols is the basis for this book. He highlights probable abstracts to understanding the poem. They are… • The difficulty of making out the plain sense of poetry. • Difficulties of Imagery and sensuous apprehension. • Stock responses – sentimentality and inhibition. • Technical presuppositions.

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• Irrelevant personal relations. Richards points out four kinds of functions which lead to four kinds of meaning. They are sense, feeling, tone, intention. Total meaning of the word depends on these four factors. 1.SENSE: Literal meaning of a word is sense. • It is the message communicated through literal meaning. • This sense is convaded by means of sound sequences to convey meaning. • It is a mediating between world of sounds. Sense is predominant in scientific text bodies. • Scientific language needs clarity and precision. So sense is predominant in scientific books. 2.FEELING means ‘attitude of a writer towards the subject’. • We give emotional colour to feelings. • We have some feelings about what we say and we use language to express these feelings. • The listener picks up the feeling what we want to convey. • In poetry feeling is predominant. 3.TONE: means attitude of the speaker towards a listener. The speaker chooses words keeping in view the kind of listeners. The tone changes as the audience varies. Tone is predominant in politics before elections. 4.INTENTION: means purpose. • It is the effect he tries to promote. • Every speech has a purpose which modifies the way one speaks. • Unless we know the intention of the speaker it is not possible for us to measure the success of the speaker. The intention of the speaker may be Just to express his thoughts to express his feeling about an event. Ex. My soul is a ship in full sail is misunderstood as a profitless kind of contribution to psychology.

7. Explain “Dramatic Monologue”? The Dramatic monologue is not strictly a dramatic form. 1. dramatic monologue is written in the form of a speech addressed to a silent listener. 2. its aim is character study or psycho analysis. 3. the person who speaks the dramatic monologue is made to reveal himself and the motives that urged him at some crisis in his life. 4. the author intends to show us the inner man. He may speak in self-justification or in a mood of detached self-explanation. 5. the poet takes a character, shakes it about, analyzing its content, folding or un folding it to get different lights and aspects, but never giving us the whole. Ex. My last duchess, Fra lippo lippi and Andrea del sarto

8.How do you define a critical approach to literature? Or what are the different approaches to literature? Introduction: Criticism is an important aspect in the study of literature. The readers, if endowed with critical sense, can derive greater pleasure from reading.

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Criticism: means judging the merits and demerits of a work of art. Criticism implies careful and serious reading critical reading of literature presupposes some knowledge of literature. It requires critical tools on the part of the critic. It involves a serious and systematic attempt to understand, analyze, interpret, assess and sometimes judge a work of art. Why the criticism differs: • There are no uniform standards to literary criticism. • The purpose set by a critic and the special area of knowledge are significant in evaluating a work of art. • Each critic approaches a text from a different perspective or approach. So there are different kinds of approaches to literature. They are.. 1. the moralistic approach 2. the psychological approach 3. the sociological 4. the mythical or archetypal approach 5. the formalistic approach Significance of Moralistic approach: generally two questions are addressed to a literary text. They are what of literature? – for the theme and content of literature. How of literature? – looking for the form and technique of a Literature. • Moralists have attended to the “what” of meaning. • The Moralistic critic believes that man is distinguished from the animal by his reason and by his concern for moral standards. • A work of art written without a purpose (or) message is useless. So the moralistic critic approaches a work of art to judge its significance on the basis the message it gives to the society. Ex. though pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” is a technical masterpiece, it is Considered inferior to Milton’s “paradise lost” because of its noble religious purpose of justifying the ways of God to men. • The moralistic criticism can be traced to Plato. Plato was concerned with the moral effect. The poet might have in his ideal republic. • The neo-humanists of the 20th century considered literature as a “criticism of life”. They are concerned not with the means but with the ends of literature as affecting man. They want to unite moral earnestness based on a thoughtful and dignified concept of man’s nature with moral sensitivity. • It is interesting to note that much of the criticism of the Marxists is at base moral, though the image of man they propose differs them from that of the humanists. So, Moralists judge the greatness of literature on the basis of its moral standards and purpose. 2.Psychological approach: The results of researches Freud, Adler and others have added a new dimension to literature and criticism. This psychological approach is very much affected by Freud. He put special language to express. According to Freud “Artist is Neurotic”i.e. A neurotic is one who express his repressed desires by means of art.

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Freud has given the “image of iceberg” to suggest that one cannot judge on the basis of what is apparent. Man’s external behavior is not everything. And what is happening in the mind is more important. We must understand his unconscious intentions and thoughts. Psychology has provided the critic with a more precise language with which to discuss the creative process. It helped the critic to probe ‘the interior life’ of the writer. This helps him in a better understanding and more exact interpretation of his art. Sometimes they are explained by tracing them back to the writer’s life and unconscious feelings. Edmund Wilson in his ‘the wound and the bow’ applies psychology to the study of the lives of authors as a means of understanding their art. The relationship between the artist and the art becomes similar to that between the patient and the dream. LIMITS: This psychological approach is criticized on the ground of over simplification. The interpretation of art as dream is also not accepted. Because art is different from dream. 3. The Sociological approach: Sociological criticism believes that arts’ relations to society are very important. It is written by an author fixed in time and space, answering to a community. • Literature is the consequence of the moment, the race, and the milieu. • Carl mark and Engles introduced a fourth factor, the methods of production and developed a special branch of sociological approach called Marxist criticism. In this, dialectic materialism became the touchstone of criticism. They asked whether a work of art subscribed to the Marxist theory or not. This approach became dogmatic in the course. The impact of society on literature can’t be ignored. Harry Levin says “Literature is not only the effect of social cause, it is also the cause of social effects.” Without a reflection of social life, literature will never become popular. 4. The Archetypal/mythical approach: This approach tries to trace some basic cultural pattern of universal meaning and appeal to humanity in a work of art. It reflects the contemporary interest in myth. Carl Jung parted ways to this approach through his theory of collective unconsciousness. Collective unconsciousness: the knowledge of prehistoric inheritance of unconsciously to modern people is known as collective unconsciousness. This archetypal critic tries to discover the existence of underlying mythological patterns in literature. He finds that the deepest meanings which extend to a whole body of books are to be sought in archetypal symbols “to which writers compulsively turn”. Myth, as Erich Fromm defines “ a message from ourselves to ourselves.” The artist thus is not a neurotic but a mythical maker. Archetypal criticism thus “aims to discover and decode the secret language in literary works so that it may have for us a more rational.” 5. The formalistic criticism: • The formalistic approach is one of the most influential approaches of the 20th century. • It gives importance of the form-i.e. how of a work of art. These critics concentrated more on the technique. • This separates the reader and other extrinsic factors such as society, psychology. So it is regarded as “intrinsic.” • It seeks to analyze the rich structure and texture of a work of art through close scrutiny and assess its value. • Coleridge’s concept of organic unity reflects formalism. 7

T.S.Eliot, a major force in the formalistic criticism viewed poetry as an independent organism. In his “Tradition and the individual talent” he placed the theory Impersonality theory of poetry saying that Poetry is an escape from personality and emotion.

9. What is the relationship between Aesthetics and philosophy according to the Indian aesthetics? Introduction; M.Hiriyanna contributed a great deal to the study of Sanskrit and aesthetics . The essay “The Main aspects of Indian Aesthetics”. Relationship between aesthetics and philosophy; • Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of the concept of beauty. This deals with the enjoyment of a work of art. • Aesthetics is regarded as part of philosophy in the west. It is because every prominent philosopher regards the question of beauty as part of the problem he is attending to solve. • But, in India, aesthetics is carried on by a separate class of thinkers i.e. Alamkarikas [or] literary critics. They have implicit relation with philosophy. The have implicit relation with philosophy. The Indian philosophers may not deal with beauty in art. But, they do describe beauty in nature, though implicitly. Their neglect of beauty in art is due to the fact that it will not lead us to-Moksha. So, aesthete tics can’t be separated from philosophy. Advantages of the combination of Aesthetics and philosophy: • By the combination it is free from ideological limitations. • According to Indian aesthetics, this diversity of views does not hold good in a theory of art. Thus we have the freedom to assume Vyangyartha (i.e. suggested sense). This theory of meaning throws new light on the nature of art. Aesthetics regards logic as irrelevant to its purpose. Art is shortcut to the ultimate value of life. Main aspects of Indian aesthetics: According to M.Hiriyanna 1. Nature and art 2. Art experience 3. Content of art 4. Method of art 5. Relation between art and morality 1.Nature and art : Hiriyanna, the famous Indian aesthetic distinguishes between nature and art. • According to idealists, nature as a whole is beautiful. But seen in parts, it may not be so lovely. • For those who take a synoptic view of nature, art may be unnecessary. But it is not so far many people and critics. • According to Vedanta, when man realizes the highest truth (i.e. parama satya), he sees the glory of being everywhere and is brahmananda – supreme bliss. Till then, he can have complete beauty in art. • We need the creations of art which are not subject to these changes of time and attitude. • According to pessimistic view, beauty in nature is surely associated with ugliness. Beauty depends on how we see it. The famous saying is “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and not in the object/person.” 8

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Art is the sole means of satisfying the quest for unmixed joy or the need for escaping from the struggles of day life. Thus there is a need for art in life and nature. Art is the presence of an ideal within us. Art is, thus a device for the provisional attainment of the final ideal of life. 2.Art experience Hiriyanna vividly describes art experience. The aim of art is to give peculiar kind of experience. It is an ultimate value which is sought for its own sake. It can be attained only when self-perfection is achieved. There are 2 aspects of art experience. The first is spontaneous unselfishness. Art is free from selfishness. Man grows so unselfish that he forgets his private life. It is a disinterested contemplation of beauty. The second is art gives us experience which is free from pain. It yields a kind of joy which is pure and transcendental in nature. Art experience is identified with the ultimate goal of life or brahmananda. That is a state of bliss attained when the soul unites with god. Art experience gives escape from worldly concerns and worries. 3.Content of art Life is raw material for art. Proper blend of form and content give shape to art. Content of art is drawn from real life. Person will idealize the content to acceptable everyone. There are two kinds of views on this. They are The Alamkarika view: This view holds the content of art as its meaning. Particular things of common experience are transformed into general ones. There by they induce a detached attitude in the spectator. Reality is not falsified. Art objects assume a unique character. They are neither real nor false. Cognition of art objects takes place on four planes. Art objects real

unreal doubtful similitude T.S.Eliot says – Art emotion is different from life emotion. Hiriyanna says “we do not life a logical view of art objects. We neither believe nor disbelieve in their reality.” The Rasadhvani view: In 9th century Aesthetics laid more importance on emotion. First – emotion is experienced by the producer. Second – emotion is experienced by the Artist. Third – emotion is experienced by the Viewer also. Here Rasa is evoked indirectly. This indirect method is known as suggestion. 4.Method of Art: Words expressing hatred and love only convey the idea of the corresponding feelings. Such feelings may be conveyed only through a proper portrayal. According to Ananda vardhana and Abhinavagupta it is Dhavani. The new school held out that Dhavani was the “sole method” of the best type of art. This was the result of recognizing Rasa to be the aim of the artist. The subject first rate art is divided into three kinds. They are--i. Rasa – dhvani : emotion when resulting experience.

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ii. Alamkara – dhvani: imaginative situation. iii. Vastu – dhvani: fact representation. Hiriyanna says “that dhvani lacks the element of necessity, which is essential to what is strictly a logical process.” 5.Art and Morality: Art is connected with morality. Art experience is basically disinterested. This disinterestedness is the very root of all morality. Aesthetic attitude is influenced by an external stimulus. It is lost with the removal of the external stimulus. Where as the unselfishness characterizing ethical attitude springs from inside. It lasts long. Even if art experience brings out perfect selflessness, it influence on the moral side of man may be very little. Art cant be merely a selfish escape from life. It must influence life permanently. Art influences through characters. An old Indian authority says “that is a true poem which treat of the doings of the good.” The great epics life Ramayana and Mahabharata are the best examples for this. Hiriyanna says that art should have a moral view to fulfill its true purpose. Thus art must have a moral influence on the spectator, without his knowing that he is being so influenced. The artist have to deal with the theme of higher aspects of life to reflect morality.

10.What is touchstone method suggested by Arnold? Introduction: Mathew Arnold, the greatest of Victorian critics, is a strange combination of strength and weakness. He has been considered the founder of modern movement in English Literary criticism. Touchstone method: • Arnold is the first person to do this “touchstone method”. • According to Arnold a critic should be proficient in two languages and enriched with great works. • Arnold was of the opinion that great lines from the great poets life Shakespeare and Milton, Dante which posses the highest poetic quality should be used by critics as “Touchstones’ to judge the worth of the poets. • The touchstone passages which exemplify high seriousness and superiority of diction will help critics to distinguish the best poetry from the inferior. • Short passages , even single lines, great in matter and substance have beauty, worth and power. Ex. Water saw its lord and blushed. Ex. Love laughs at locksmiths.Shakespeare. Arnolds theory of critical estimation: Arnold says there are 3 kinds of estimates which help a critic. They are historical estimation, personal estimation, real estimation A critic should guard against first two as they mislead him. An enthusiastic dependence on historical estimation may result in over estimation. Similarly, personal estimation may result in exaggerating the worth of the poet. It may create a halo around his head. A critic should not be prejudiced but be open-minded. This leads a deeper enjoyment of what is truly excellent. This is possible only when ‘real’ estimation is followed by the critic. 11. Explain Arnolds concept of “disinterestedness”? Introduction:

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Mathew Arnold is a poet, essayist, and critic. He defines criticism as an objective and detached activity. Disinterestedness is the most important quality of a good critic. Disinterestedness: Definition; A critic who is not attached to any particular ideology can be a disinterested critic. • Disinterested criticism is a force play of the mind on all subjects. If a critic is confined to a particular ideology it hinders and cripples his free play of mind. • Disinterestedness is keeping a loof(loaf) from the practical view of things. It is following the law of its own nature, which is to be a free play of mind. • A critic has to try to interpret a work of art with more detachment. • Arnold identifies disinterestedness with the Indian virtue of detachment which reminds us Nishkama Karma – action without having any interest in its result. So according to Arnold criticism should be unbiased and not motivated by personal interests.

12.Comment on Lenin’s views on art as a weapon of social change? Some people think that art can be used as a weapon of social change. It can be a tool for propaganda as thought by some Marxists. Lenin considered himself “an organizer and fighter.” He believed in specialization art as a weapon of social change. Lenin was greatly impressed by Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. Lenin says “You could not find a genuine peasant in literature till this count game came upon the scene.” He believed that art should be a weapon of social change. And each must work in its own chosen field towards this goal of social change. But this view is not correct.

Prolecult: views of Lenin: There emerged a group in Russia called prolecult. They aimed at monopolizing the control of Soviet Literature. Lenin opposed it insisting that art and prolecult culture are produced only by natural evolution.

13.What is Drama? Explain different schools of drama? Drama ; drama is a form which appeals to people of all ages. Drama has the ability to arrest the attention of the audience. The illusion of reality that a play creates on the stage is immense and has more popularity. Different schools of drama: Drama is basically a visual art. Dramas can be classified according to some school. Each school follows particular features techniques. They are 1. classical plays 2. neo-classical plays 3. school of realism 4. school of naturalism 5. plays of symbolism 6. The theatre of absurd 1.classical plays: The earliest school of dramas was the classical one. They are the art forms of the ancient Greek or roman model. 2.neo-classical plays: This refers to more recent dramas. They are written in the classical mode with emphasis on 3 unites as advocated by Aristotle. The chorus, poetic language are some of its features. There was a bold style of acting support by rhetorical speeches. Shakespeare, Marlowe were great playwrights in the 16th century. This was a golden age of drama.

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3.school of realism Real life experiences were presented on stage. The events of the play and the language were of the everyday variety. The promoters of realism are Isben and Bernard Shaw. 4.school of naturalism: This is an extension of realism. Here, the playwright shows the seamier side of life. He maintains the natural events and acts of will are decided by earliest causes. 5.plays of symbolism: This was emerged from naturalism. This encouraged a return to poetic language. Poetry and music, and dance are the ideals of the symbolist. Ex: Eliot's “Murder in the cathedral”. 6.The theatre of absurd: Here the representatives of time is reflected in the absence of plot and characterization. Characters lack purpose. Farce and comic elements are being used. Ex. Samuel Becketts-waiting for Godot..

14. Is metre ( 

 essential to poetry?

Metre is one of the general and constant characteristics of poetry. Poetry has a certain form of expression. The form is regularly rhythmical or metre. Metre: for Sidney – merely an appeal Bacon-is for feigning felt that it was welt in prose as in verse. • The perfection of the poetical spirit demands metre and rhythmic language. The circle of its enthusiasm beauty and power is incomplete without metre. • Poems with metre, life music will have greater appeal to the readers. Sonorous words of alliteration or rhyme lift us into the world quite different. • Metre should become a vital aspect to become a distinctive and fudamental characteristic of poetry. Ex. Each line in stanza is divided into feet. Pentameter contain 5 feet. Metre with musical element apt diction and effective expression of fellings and emotions becomes a means of producing aesthetic pleasure.

15.How does Coleridge distinguish between fancy and imagination? Coleridge is the first critic to distinguish betweem them. He explained their individual peculiarities. Coleridge says fancy is not a creative power and it is a mode of memory liberated from the order of time and pace. So, he explaines ‘fancy is the arbitrary bringing together of the things that live remote into unity.’ For coleridge fancy is a combinatory and imagination is a unifying force. In a mixture, as in creation of fancy the ingredients are brought together. But they donot lose ther original properities. Where as in “Imagination” the products do not remain infact. They become dissolved, diffused, to form a new substance altogether.” The imagination creates new things by fusing and unfying different impressions from the external world. Ex. Fancy poetry=John Donne and Cowley. Product of imagination=Shakespeare and Milton

16.what is poetic truth? One chief element of poetry is its revealing power. It opens our eyes to sensuous beauties and spiritual meanings in the world of human experience.

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Poetic truth is different from scientific truth. It is not merely confied to facts as in science. Sometimes interpretation of nature is based on scientific knowledge and the emotions stirred by this. Ex. Shelly’s “The Cloud”. Wordsworth says that the objects of the poet’s thoughts are everywhere. They eyes and senses of man are his favourite guides. Poetic truth is a quality of sanity. It is the truth of the things as seen different from science. “there is no truth cognisable by men which may not be shape itself into poetry.” By the vitality of imagination, the truth shapes itself living images. So, the poetic truth has a human value to which scientific truth cannot lay claim. 17.How does Johnson defend Shakespeare’s violation of the Aristotelian unites in his

plays? (or) How does Johnson defend Shakespeare’s violation of three units? (or) Write a note on Johnson’s attack on the dramatic unites? Introduction: In his “Preface to Shakespeare”, Johnson enumerates the violation of the laws regarding the unities of drama. Johnson subjects the unites of time and place through a thorough analysis of dramatic illusion. Critics views on three unities: • Johnson observes that Shakespeare’s historical plays are not subject to the laws of 3 unities. • In plays of Shakespeare, the unity of action is strictly preserved. His plan was commonly, what Aristotle requires, the beginning, a middle and an end. But he shows no regard to the unites of time and place. • The critics argues that the spectator, who knows that he sow the first act at Alexandria, can’t suppose that he sees the next at Rome. And also knows that place cannot change.

Johnson’s charge against 3 unites: • • •

• • • •

According to Johnson, the unities of time and place are a burden to the dramatist and they don’t give pleasure to spectators. Rules regarding the unities of time and place are not applicable to drama since it creates delusion ( ) which has no certain limitation. The viewers are always in their senses. They know from the first act to the last, that the stage is only a stage, and that the players are only players, and drama exhibits successive imitations of successive actions. So, the secondary imitation may represent an action that happened years after the first. The drama presents an imitation of life and creates illusion. The reflection that strikes the heart is not that the evils before us are real evils. When we read a play we are not worried about considerations of time and place. The unities of time, place are not essential to just drama. The unities may sometimes conduct to pleasure that they are always to be sacrificed to the nobler beauties of variety and instruction. Johnson persisted in violating the unities. Such violations of rules are natural to a great genius like Shakespeare.

18. Explain “stream-of –conscious novel “ with example.

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In 20th century a group of writers experimented to make novel realistic. So, they used streamof-conscious technique. “stream-of – conscious” is the name given to a special mode (or) narration which gives us the full and continuous flow of a character’s mental process. • This gets ideas from the “principles of psychology” by William James. • This method is also called Interior monologue. Here the mind of the character jumps from one thought to another randomly. • Ex: James Joyce. • James Joyce is well know in literary circles as the exponent of the stream-of-conscious ness technique. With the publication of Ulysses he stormed in to renown as the “best living prose writer”. • The Dubliners collection is based on a particular sequence. These stories show the charactermoving forward being passive feeler and observer doer and maker. • His Ex; Ulysses; 1. Virginia woolf; In her novels “To the light house”, “The waves”, “The voyage out” the specific characterization of plot construction melts into discontinuities the fragmentation. Basically her novels are a depiction of woman’s sensibility and sensitivity in sharp contrast with the materialism of world dominated by men

19. what are the views of words worth on poetic dictions? Introduction: Wordsworth is “preface to Lyrical Ballads” con be considered the manifesto of the new poetic theory. He made a daring departure in diction, theme etc.. His theory of poetic diction is partially a reaction against the criticism of the neo-classical theory of poetic diction. He tried to find a suitable language for the new sector of human life. Wordsworth views: • Worth holds that “poetry is spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. So it is free expression of poets thoughts and feelings. • He believes that the poet is necessarily “a man speaking to men”. So poet should adapt such language as is spoken by men. • Poetic diction should be chosen from the language spoken by the peasants and shepherds. In lyrical Ballads also he used simple, clear, language which is free from regional variation. • wordsworth's aim is to use as far as possible “the very language of men’. So he prefers to avoid poetic diction. • Wordsworth is true to nature. He has used a natural style which is more correct and sensible. • Wordsworth against the use of personification as a merely technical, stylistic device. So he avoids all stylistic devices. According to Wordsworth, in poetic creation there are 4 stages. They areObservation Recollection Contemplation Imaginative excitement. Ex: Daffodils.

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