Studies in English Language and Literature

Question: Examine Shelley’s imagery in relation to his theme in Ode to the West Wind . The term ‘imagery’ refers to a collection of images to signify the objects and qualities of sense perception, whether by literal description, by allusion or in the analogies used in its similes and metaphors.  Perhaps the most beautifully imaginative of the English Romantic poets was Shelley. He was particularly excellent in his ability to convey sensations in terms of imagery, predominantly visual. he was a poet of profound idealism and prophetic passion. Shelley invariably aspired to the infinite and the eternal. The method in many of Shelley’s poetry was to find in natural objects symbols for his emotional and imaginative patterns. In Ode to the West Wind , Shelley found, in the central and pervading image of the all-powerful West Wind, a dualistic role of destruction and preservation. At the very outset of  the poem, the West Wind is presented as an enormously powerful agency....

Some explanations from Eliot’s The Waste Land with reference to context   I sat upon the shore Fishing, with the arid plain behind me Shall I at least set my lands in order? Answer : This excerpt has been taken from the last section of T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land . The excerpt reminds is of the speaker persona’s fishing experience in a nasty canal in lines 189 – 192 of the same poem. We are reminded of the Fisher King in the Grail Legends and the Arthurian Romances. The speaker is surrounded by an ‘arid plain’ or a ‘waste land’ where there is no symptom of rebirth and regeneration. The European civilisation, in the wake of World War I, became as ‘arid’ and shattered as a wasteland where there is no question of life and hope. Everything is shallow and numb. The utmost crisis led to nothingness, disillusionment etc. the speaker wonders and questions himself whether he will ever be able to “set” his “lands in order”. Here the poet has ...

Question: Comment on the symbolism of the skylark in Shelley’s ode "To A Skylark". One of the legacies of the Romantic period is the heightened concern in literature. It is full of the types of psychological experiences outside the usual limit of consciousness. What seems to take place is a sudden jump or transference of consciousness to another realm, or alternatively, an invasion from the transcendent into human life, and his poetry attempts to describe such an experience. So does Shelly speak of in To a Skylark . As the poem begins, the poet addresses the song-bird. The skylark seems to be no bird at all, but rather a disembodied Spirit of joy. The skylark is an emblem of the celestial permanence to which men aspire, and are invariably associated with images of light, fire, stars, the sun and the moon in keeping with the Platonic implications. The ode is a striking example of what was common poetic procedure with Shelley and Keats. Thus, the skylark symbolises a cele...

A brief note on Negative Capability propounded by John Keats Answer : Negative capability is a paradoxical term. It was propounded by John Keats. Poetic capability is achieved through a process of negation. One morning, John Keats noticed many sparrows chirping, and abruptly, he felt himself identical to that species of sparrows. Poetic self is the negation of one’s personal self. Keats used this phrase ‘negative capability’ in one of his letters to his friend, Reynold. Poetical process is a process of negation. According to the Modernists, a poet should ne gate his personal self in order to join another self. The Romantics may be called to have formed a bridge between the post-Romantics and the Modernists. According to Keats, sensuousness is an instrument that will help him attain ‘negative capability’. The keywords to the writing " A brief note on Negative Capability propounded by John Keats" Negative capability, paradoxical term, poetic ca...

Question: Symbols in Blake’s poem The Tyger . Answer: William Blake, the precursor of Romanticism as well as a mystic, was the son of an engraver.  The Lamb  is the theme poem of his Songs of Experience while  The Tyger  is the theme poem of his Songs of Innocence . ‘Innocence’ and ‘Experience’ represent ‘the two contrary states of human soul’ altogether.  The tiger in Blake’s poem is a ferocious beast and an apocalyptic animal. It is made of fire. It symbolises Experience. It is rather opposed to the meek and mild lamb symbolising Innocence.  The tiger ‘burning bright’ is not evil. However, it fosters the force to conquer evil. He is rather symbolic of Christ as He fought against evil to achieve the higher state of Innocence. In utmost amazement and awe, the speaker utters, "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright/ In the forests of the night/In what immortal hand or eye/ Was framed thy fearful symmetry?"  The Tyger is constructed in the form of a series o...

Question: Doctor Faustus as a tragic hero / the subject matter of this tragedy is aspiration and frustration / the various stages of Faustus’s damnation / character of Doctor Faustus Answer : Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe is a tragic drama of five Acts written in blank verse and prose. The legend first appeared in the ‘Faustbuch’ published in 1587. It was translated into English as The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus . Marlowe in his play followed such an outline of the story.  Many critics have interpreted that Doctor Faustus is a genuine tragedy in English literature. In the other plays like Tamburlaine , The Jew of Malta etc, Christopher Marlowe had concentrated on the theme of ambition or aspiration. Naturally, Doctor Faustus as a tragic play is no exception. It is outstanding in its maturity and brilliance in the grand tragic conception as well as its execution.  In Act I or in the opening section of the play, we se...

Question: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is a ‘spiritual autobiography’. – Discuss. Answer : Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a complete novel in every sense. While this work of art is basically about the actions and the adventures of the narrator-protagonist named Robinson Crusoe, it has multi-layered meanings from multidimensional angles. Some critics say that this novel is a ‘spiritual autobiography’. The others say that it is an allegory or a fable. Apart from delineating Crusoe’s thirst for survival, this novel depicts the spiritual upliftment of the protagonist. We notice, at the outset, that Crusoe was a bohemian, a vagabond, a daredevil and an adventurous boy. He was born at the city of York in England. From the very beginning, he used to dream of seafaring and so, his father used to advise him again and again that middle station invites fewest disasters and troubles. Perceiving that his father was against his dreams of seafaring, he began to...