Studies in English Language and Literature

Thorough and in-depth study or analysis of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" Act 1 Scene 1/ The opening scene of 'Macbeth' explained line by line and word for word At the outset, we all must know that William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is a psychoanalytic tragedy that consists of five acts. Now, we shall discuss the opening scene (Act 1, Scene 1) of the said drama or the mentioned play. In the tragedy "Macbeth", we get to know the three weird sisters or the three witches who meet in an abandoned place. Broadly speaking, it was a heath. When the three sisters came across one another, it was a hostile guise of nature; there was thunder and lightning. They resolved to re-meet in the same weather: "In thunder, lightning, or in rain". In course of time, the First Witch's dialogue was completed. Thereafter, the Second Witch gave the suggestion that they should meet after the 'hurlyburly'. Apart from that, she gave the idea that they

  Today, we shall discuss about Gerund in a nutshell. Gerund is actually derived from a verb. However, it is used as a noun. Hence, we may say that gerund is a verbal noun. Gerund is formed by adding ‘-ing’ to the base form of the verb. Well, we must still keep in mind that it conveys the sense of a noun. Let us take a glance at an example. So, when we say, “Where can I find some drinking water?”, we are actually using a gerund. It is conspicuous to note that the word written in bold font is actually used as a noun in this sentence, even though it appears to be different, perhaps. It will become easy indeed for us to understand the matter if we analyse the sentence in this way. Does the word qualify the noun ‘water’? The answer is “No”. Why? It is so because the water is needed for the sake of or for the purpose of drinking. Note that the water is not drinking; that is to say, the word ‘drinking’ does not modify the word ‘water’; it is not used as an adjective. However, the wat

  Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess : Explanation, Reference to Context, RTC “…………..This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together………..” Ans.  These lines have been extracted from My Last Duchess by Robert Browning. Broadly speaking, this extract gives us a vent to Browning’s one of the best dramatic monologues ever. Apart from that, these couple of lines delineate the climax of the same. These words were uttered by the Duke of Ferrara to the emissary or the envoy of the Count whose daughter was about to be the new Duchess. Thus, we come to know that these words were spoken at the time of their interaction about the new marriage of the Duke. Here, it can be discerned that the Duke murdered his jubilant, innocent and simpleminded Duchess. Even after that, he is conspicuously organised in his words. He never likes to stoop, thinking of his blue blood. He is transcendentally boastful of his aristocracy. These lines startle us with fear, as and when we come to perc

  William Blake, a mystic, a visionary, a pre-Romantic as well as a Romantic poet, is best known for his Songs of Innocence and of Experience . In his Songs , we get a reverberating message of the ‘two equal states of the human soul’. In this regard, we should note that The Lamb is the theme poem of his Songs of Innocence , while The Tyger is the theme poem of his Songs of Experience . However, here, we shall discuss a bit about his The Lamb . Broadly speaking, The Lamb is a poem of two stanzas with ten lines each. It is usually said that this poem is composed in nursery rhyme. It produces a jingling sound in our hearts, as we go through it. However, this creation by Blake, no doubt, conveys great messages to us, as and when we intend to discover those. It must be noted that this poem is spoken through the voice of a little human child to a lamb. Most strikingly, as we advance reading the poem, we, slowly but surely, come to discern the serious meanings of life in an easy way.

  How is the sea represented in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea ? /Write a brief note on the emblem of the sea as in Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea . /What does the sea epitomise in The Old man and the Sea ? /Give the pen-picture of the sea as drawn by Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea . In the novel named ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, we come to find a vivid pen-picture of the restless ocean. The marine world is a crony to manifold creatures living therein harmoniously. Still, there is a great truth that should be kept in mind: the ocean is merciful as well as malignant. It is full of very beauty indeed. Its grace and beauty probably points to its feminine approach, whereas its dominance and strictness, perhaps, speaks of its masculine force. In the course of the text, we come to know that the sea was thought to be the beloved by Santiago. The sea seemed to be his ‘beloved woman’. The Spanish expression la mar indicates so. Again, the sea was thought to

What is the definition of ‘aside’? / What is ‘aside’? / How do you define ‘aside’? / What does ‘aside’ mean to you? Write down the gist of Nitin’s aside as found in Bravely Fought the Queen by Mahesh Dattani. We come to discern the occurrences of or the examples of ‘aside’ in a drama or in a play. An ‘aside’ is a remark made by a character in the play or in the drama. However, the remark is made to the audience but not to the other characters in that play. The other characters are unaware of what is said in an ‘aside’.             Through his aside, Nitin gives a vent to his homosexuality in the concluding part of the play. In the course of the play, we come to find that Nitin had a homosexual relationship with Praful, who was Alka’s brother and who has been called deceptive. Since Alka was a sound sleeper, Nitin took advantage of her weak point.         After all of the lights were extinguished, Nitin, lying on the cot, waited for minimum an hour. After getting confirmed that Al

In Rajmohan's Wife , a novel by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, we come across the character of Suki’s mother in the twelfth chapter of the work. Portrayed as a bucolic character, she is a middle-aged woman. She had dark complexion with partial hair growth and a creased visage. Clad in abrasive clothes, she had a very simple appearance. She had a couple of friends named Kanak and Matangini. Apart from being sympathetic to Matangini, she was full of duty, responsibility and awareness of her household chores. Besides being helpful and supportive, Suki’s mother, by and large, loved and advised Matangini a lot. She was suffused with receptivity, compassion and affection. Moreover, she fostered a mind that was practical. Suki’s mother, with a heart full of mercy, with strong resolution, worked as a maidservant in Mathur Ghose’s residence. She was very much loyal too. However, nothing or nobody can be bereft of any ill act. Who can be perfect completely? Suki’s mother was not an except