Assignment Code: BEGC-107/2022-23

Course Code: BEGC-107

Assignment Name: British Poetry and Drama - 17th & 18th Century

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Max. Marks: 100

Answer all questions.

Section A

Write short notes on the following in about 200 words each. 2 × 5 = 10

a. Shakespearean Tragedy

Ans) Shakespeare wrote a lot of tragedies, but only four of them are called "Pure" tragedies. These are Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, and they are some of the best tragedies in both ancient and modern history. His tragedies are about pain that ends in death and misery that the tragic hero brings on himself, not because of fate, destiny, or some other outside force. Because of his "tragic defect," he makes a lot of mistakes that lead to his death. People say that Shakespeare's tragedies are "the apotheosis of the human spirit" because of this. His tragedies never make people sad. Instead, they calm, strengthen, and energise them.

Shakespeare also talks about things that don't make sense. He shows ghosts and witches who have supernatural knowledge. The supernatural is always close to where the action and characters are in the storey. Shakespeare's tragedies and Webster's tragedies both lack poetic justice. In other words, there is no such thing as poetic justice; there is only partial justice. This was the sad thing about Webster's legacy. He worked on it and made it his own in every way. In this style, he wrote a tragedy that is the best English tragedy after Shakespeare.

b. The Metaphysical Poets

Ans) In Europe, the Baroque period was one of the most important times for art and literature. In the first half of the century, Metaphysical poetry was the most popular form of English verse. Even though the poets who wrote metaphysical poetry had very different styles, they all loved Baroque literature very much. The critic Samuel Johnson (1709–1844) was the first person to call a group of English poets from the 17th century "metaphysical poets." These poets used conceits in their works in creative ways. These poets asked questions like "What is religion?" and "What is love?" to show how well they knew how to use words creatively.

Their writing was full of comparisons. The printing press, which had already been made, made it possible to make a lot of copies of the King James Bible (1616), which was by far the biggest benefit. The King James Bible was the first Bible written in English, and its influence can be seen in many types of literature. Famous Metaphysical Poets include John Donne (1572–1631), George Herbert (1593–1633), Richard Crashaw (1612–49), Andrew Marvell (1621–78), Henry Vaughan (1621–95), and Abraham Cowley (1618- 67).

Section B

Answer the following reference to the context in about 300 words each: 3 X 10 = 30

a) Forget thyself to marble, till

With a sad leaden downward cast

Thou fix them on the earth as fast.

And join with thee calm Peace and Quiet,

Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet,

And hears the Muses in a ring

Aye round about Jove’s altar sing;

Ans) The above lines are taken from ‘Il Pensoroso’ by John Milton. The poem was written in 1631, but it wasn't published until 1645. Darkness or the colour black is a sign of melancholy because it shows that a person is thinking and feeling sad. It lets the creative, divine, and spiritual parts of a person's life come out. The poem praises Melancholy for being sad, wanting to be alone, being smart, and thinking about religion. Like L'Allegro, a ten-line prologue gets rid of Mirth. The speaker then invites and praises Melancholy, calling it "saintly, holy, majestic," with a "rapt soul" and "black," which is the hue of wisdom. Her parents are Saturn and Vesta, who is the son of Saturn. Peace and Quiet, Spare Fast and Silence are her calm friends. Angelic contemplation is the main thing that goes with melancholy. In the opposite way of L'Allegro, this poem talks about the philosophical studies and tragedies that Melancholy's man enjoys at night. IL Penseroso hides from the Sun during the day, enjoying the groves, shadows, and deep, mysterious sleep.

The speaker tells Melancholy to come with its usual, regular look and slow, deliberate steps. Through her eyes, you can see that she is in touch with heaven and that its soul is enraptured. Her eyes are so full of holy passion that Melancholy forgets herself and looks down with a sad, heavy look, as if she were a marble statue. The eyes are fixed on earth with the same firmness as her face. Peace, Quiet, and Fasting are invited to join Melancholy. They often fast with gods and listen to the Muses sing in a circle on Jove's altar while they do it. Melancholy should also join Leisure, which is resting or hiding out in a well-kept garden. But Melancholy should first bring the most important friend with her, which is Contemplation. Contemplation comes on a chariot with golden wings and flies high into the sky. And with it will summon Silence unless the nightingale will design a sad song in her sweetest voice. The moon, on the other hand, will hold back her dragon yoke.

b) Heavens bless my Son, from Ireland let him reign

To farr Barbadoes on the Western main;

Of his Dominion may no end be known,

And greater than his Father’s be his Throne.

Ans) The above lines are taken from ‘Mac Flecknoe’ by John Dryden. Mac Flecknoe is the king of nonsense poetry. He has been in charge for a long time, but now it is time for him to step down. In the end, he chooses his son Thomas Shadwell, a poet whose work is among the worst ever written. Shadwell is the worst writer in the world, which is why he is the best person for the job. When Shadwell gets to the city of August, also known as London, he is named king of the land of nonsense. During the coronation, Mac Flecknoe himself gives a short speech about his son's good qualities (or lack of them). At this point, pretty much everything stops happening, and the poem turns into a thinly veiled, full-force attack on Shadwell's writing and character by the speaker. In the end, Shadwell, who has been crowned and is ready to rule like his father, is set to take poetry to an even lower level.

This passage is Flecknoe's speech about how his son will be crowned king. He says that the kingdom goes all the way from Ireland to Barbados, which sounds impressive until you realise that he's talking about the Atlantic Ocean, which is huge but empty. (Insert sad trombone sound.) Flecknoe basically says, "Let my son's rule be even bigger and better than mine and let him write freely all over his domain."

Full of filial dullness, he stands for a long time to make a prophetic speech. Unable to stop the rush of poetic inspiration, he bursts out, asking the heavens to bless his son and let him rule from Ireland to far Barbados, and to stretch his pen beyond Love's Kingdom. He stops for a moment and cries again. Amen! This passage is Flecknoe's speech about how his son is going to be crowned king. He says that the kingdom goes all the way from Ireland to Barbados, which sounds impressive until you realise that he's talking about the Atlantic Ocean, which is huge but empty. (Insert sad trombone sound.) Flecknoe basically says, "Let my son's rule be even better and more impressive than mine and let him write freely all over his domain."

c) “The hoary prince in majesty appeared

High on a throne of his own labours reared,

At his right hand our young Ascanius sat

Rome’s other hope and pillar of the state

His brows thick fogs instead of glories grace,

And Lambent dullness played around his face”.

Ans) The above lines are taken from ‘Mac Flecknoe’ by John Dryden. Mac Flecknoe is the king of nonsense poetry. He has been in charge for a long time, but now it is time for him to step down. In the end, he chooses his son Thomas Shadwell, a poet whose work is among the worst ever written. Shadwell is the worst writer in the world, which is why he is the best person for the job. When Shadwell gets to the city of August, also known as London, he is named king of the land of nonsense. During the coronation, Mac Flecknoe himself gives a short speech about his son's good qualities (or lack of them). At this point, pretty much everything stops happening, and the poem turns into a thinly veiled, full-force attack on Shadwell's writing and character by the speaker. In the end, Shadwell, who has been crowned and is ready to rule like his father, is set to take poetry to an even lower level.

Henry Herringman was a publisher and bookseller. Both Dryden and Shadwell were published by him. "Hoary" means "white," and here it refers to how old Flecknoe looks. Ascanius was a hero and king who was written about in The Aeneid, an epic poem by Virgil. He was one of the first people to live in Rome. He got the throne from his father, just like Shadwell. The fact that Rome is mentioned here adds to the mock-epic tone, with the speaker comparing Shadwell's situation to that of the heroes of old. In a funny way, the speaker says that Shadwell's dullness is "lambent" or "glowing" around his face, as if it were wit or some kind of brightness.

Section C

Answer the following questions in about 800 words each: 3 X 20 = 60

Q1. Discuss the character of Bosola in ‘The Duchess of Malfi’.

Ans) In the play "The Duchess of Malfi," written by John Webster, he shows how good he is at making characters. He has given the play many important characters. The main point is that Bosola is a very interesting person. We learn about Bosola right at the start of the play. We see him as someone who is unhappy, a rebel, sarcastic, and sad. But it becomes clear that he is smart and knows a lot, but he has no social standing. We can think of him as a typical Renaissance person.

Bosola wants to do well in life, no matter how he gets there. It is what makes him a Renaissance man. When the play starts, he is already stuck in a bad situation. Circumstance made him a criminal. He used to study hard and try to learn as much as he could. He wanted to stand out by learning new things. But he couldn't get any of his money, so he used him to kill people. He was caught and spent seven years in jail. He was in a lot of pain. This pain has made him bitter and cynical. He starts to see the world in a bad way.

The playwright showed how a man turns into a criminal through the character of Bosola. He doesn't turn into an antihero. He hoped that the cardinal would give him a reward for killing the man. But the cardinal doesn't help him at all. Bosola feels some kind of bitterness. In him as he has become a victim of society's tyranny and betrayal. He finds fault with everything he sees. We can talk about what Antonio, the Duchess of Malfi's manager, said. Antonio later became the Duchess's husband. Antonio terms Bosola a court gall. Bosola says bad things about the princess, the women, and life in general. As an example, we could say that when Bosola sees an old woman, he yells at all the women.

Bosola was not given enough attention. He has learned to make his own way through hard times. Bosola turns into a devil to stay alive. So, he couldn't get a good picture of how people live. He says that people are like the most dangerous animals. He loses hope as time goes on. Here are some of the things he says about the earth:

O, this gloomy world!

In what a shadow of deep pit of darkness, doth womanish and fearful mankind live!

Cardinal and Ferdinand, the two bad brothers, hired Bosola to work in the palace of the Duchess. He acts like a spy in the palace. Bosola plays the role of giving the Duchess all of the hidden information about her palace well, and as a result, he gets all of the secret information from the Duchess. Bosola is smart and has a lot of cunning. But he put it to work for the bad brothers.

Sometimes Bosola's philosophy is quite accurate. It's clear when he talks about the Duchess's two bad brothers. He said that the cardinal and his brother Ferdinand were like the crooked palm trees by the pond. People can't eat the fruit from these crooked trees because it falls into the dirty water of the pond. These palm trees are like the two brothers. In reality, the brothers don't help any man at all. But the plain truth is that Bosola starts to think like Machiavelli. He will do anything to get what he wants. Bosola is used as a tool by the two brothers. The two brothers hurt their own sister in horrible ways. She was finally locked up, and some crazy people were let loose around the Duchess to shout and frown all day and night. But the brothers told Bosola to kill the Duchess by strangling her. He also strangled Coriola, one of her servants, and the Duchess's children. Bosola is evil because he only wants to make money off of the brothers.

It is strange that the evil brothers told Bosola to lock up the Duchess. And so, he becomes a victim himself. Bosola brings darkness into Duchess's life, but that same darkness fell on him when the two brothers took away his reward. He tries to get out of the shadows. He uses his mind. He knows that killing the Duchess was a very bad thing to do. But Bosola was already too late. Now he is out to get his revenge. Now, he makes up his mind to kill the two bad brothers. At night, he sneaks into the palace to kill the cardinal. He stabbed Antonio, but he did it in the dark. He was very shocked by how bad his mistake turned out to be.

We are merely the star’s tennis balls, struck and banded.

Which way please them

So, Bosola does not do well in life. We can say that Bosola is a very hard to understand. He is a mix of a philosopher, an honest grump, and a Machiavellian villain. Of course, he ends up being the victim of his situation.

Q2. Write a critical appreciation on ‘On His Blindness’.

Ans) Everyone agrees that "On His Blindness" is Milton's best sonnet. It is a sublime example of English poetry at its best. In fact, it's not just a poem. It is the voice of a man who has given up everything and given himself over to God's will. He depends only on God's mercy and justice.

Since On His Blindness is written in the first person, it is easy to think that the poet himself is speaking. The poet loses his sight at a young, productive age, which makes him feel like he might not be able to finish his life's work. He worries that the poetic talent God gave him won't be used, and that if it isn't used, God will be angry with him. He says that not being able to use his talent is like dying physically, mentally, and spiritually. He asks if God still needs him to do work even though he has lost his eyesight. The poet has doubts about his own abilities and wonders if God still needs him to do something for Him. Suddenly, he realises it was stupid of him to doubt God. God doesn't need people to work for Him, and He doesn't take back gifts He gives to people. He is all-powerful and the best. So, it is a mistake for him to think that God needs his help.

In fact, the people who serve God the most are those who give up their will and accept all of the spiritual, mental, and physical pain that God sends their way without complaining. With some calm and careful thought, the poet concludes that there is no question of doing God a disservice. He is, of course, all-powerful, Lord of all lords, and King of all kings. He has many divine servants, angels, and other beings who can carry out His orders on land, water, and in the air in the blink of an eye. In the end, the poet says that even if he is blind and cannot help Him in any way, he should still be loyal to Him. It is important to remember that even just being there is a way to serve Him.

This sonnet is written in an Italian style. It shows that Milton's faith in God cannot be shaken. It is a sonnet that means a lot to the poet. The sonnet tells us that Milton went blind after running only half of his life's race. He was only 44 years old when he went blind. He was crushed by grief, disappointment, and hopelessness. His only hope was that God would be merciful, kind, and fair. The poem shows us some of Milton's ideas about how to live. There is a lot of sadness in the sonnet. It shows how sad and hopeless the poet Milton was in his own life. People thought the poet had a noble and high-minded personality, and his actions matched his nature and temperament. So, he does not lose hope or cry like other people do. He takes pain with strength, and he deals with losing his sight in a brave and manly way. This poem also answers a question that has been asked for a long time. The question is whether or not God needs people to serve him. Milton has to be patient to figure out this puzzle. The answer is that God's best servants are those who accept his will and desires without question. This idea is repeated twice in this sonnet, each time with a lot of emphasis.

This sonnet, which is not just a poem, has a universal appeal, which is the most important thing about all great and good poetry. It is almost a divine message from the suffering people of the world to everyone who has complete faith in God's kindness and love. The poem is full of good ideas, high thoughts, and unending happiness. It makes people think very highly of Milton and gives him a place in history. This poem by Milton is very good because it uses both allegory and personification. An allegory is a storey in which the characters and events stand in for other people and situations. In this poem, the persona "I" of the poet may stand for all people whose spiritual eyes are closed. Personification, on the other hand, is a way to show how abstract ideas and feelings, like love, hate, and jealousy, look like people. In this sonnet, Milton turns "patience" into a person who talks to him and helps him out of his problem. If we look at how this sonnet is put together, we will see that it is different from a Shakespearean sonnet or an Italian sonnet. The rhyme scheme is abba abba cde cde, but the sestet and octave are not clearly separated like they are in an Italian sonnet. The sestet's sentence starts on the line of the octave.

Q3. Discuss Paradise Lost as an Epic.

Ans) John Milton is one of the best poets from England. His Paradise Lost is one of the best English epics ever written. Here, the poet has kept up the tradition of writing epic poetry. An epic is a long poem that tells a storey. It has a compelling hero, compelling events, and a compelling style. Paradise Lost by Milton has all three of these things in it. Aristotle made a list of the most important parts of an epic. It is important to have a good fable, topic, cast, plot, episodes, machinery, honesty, emotion, and a great style.

Addison also listed three things that an epic must have. The storey, all of the action, and the beauty of the action are all these things. When we look at Paradise Lost and judge it, we can see that it has all of these qualities. The storey is one of the most important parts of an epic. People think of it as the start of an epic. The most important thing an epic poet has to do is choose a moral to show and explain. In Paradise Lost, Milton used his main idea to teach a lesson. The lesson here is to "explain God's ways to people." So, The Paradise Lost meets the first and most important thing an epic need to have.

There are three things that can be said about what the activity is. It should only take one step, that step should be complete, and it should be a great step. All of these things can be found in the book Paradise Lost. This epic follows the strict uniformity of the old epics to the letter. Its action fits together perfectly. The main part of the epic is The Fall of Man. This activity is the centre of everything. Eve eating the fruit is the most important part of this whole epic. The fight between God and Satan is really just the first part of the show. So, Satan's death was not a single, clear-cut event. All of the action in Paradise Lost is one, short, and fantastic.

The theme of an epic must be big, grand, and wonderful. It needs to be great and complete. It has to be something that everyone wants. All of these important parts are part of the theme of Paradise Lost. The main theme is The Fall of Man. The goal is to get men to agree that God is wise. It is a good idea. It talks about Satan's rebellion in Heaven, battles in the heavens, and getting rid of rebels. The main character in an epic poem must be great. He should be a very important person in the universe or even in the country. He must deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Adam is the main character in Paradise Lost. He has all of the qualities of an epic hero. He is a stand-in for all people. So, the First Man, who was made in the image of God, is the greatest hero of all time. Milton's Paradise Lost is a classic epic, and it has a lot of different kinds of characters. They are all regular people.

Milton's Paradise Lost follows almost all of the rules of a classic epic. At the beginning of this epic, the poet calls on the goddess "Muse." The poet has reached his goal with the help of paranormal tools. Heaven is in charge of everything and can see how things are done. The style of Paradise Lost has the grandeur and beauty that an epic need. Here, the depth of thought and the depth of style are in perfect sync. Milton has improved his language in every way possible. He uses metaphors that are bold, true, and almost never wrong. He wrote some great blank verse. Everything about this place is well thought out. As a poet, he never does anything careless or without a reason. One thing that stands out about Milton's style is that he often uses Homeric similes. He uses myths from the past as metaphors because they are suggestive and have meaning. Because of this, Milton's Paradise Lost is a great epic. It is one of the best-known epics in the Western world. It stands out because of how grand its style is and how high its ideas are.

Milton has his own style, that much is clear. In Paradise Lost, Milton seems to be trying on purpose to use English syntax in unusual ways. He doesn't write in simple language very often. For the poetics, this kind of backwards, sometimes hard to understand syntax is needed to keep the right metre. Other times, the strange syntax seems to be Milton's style. Some parts of it can be criticised, but given what he did with Paradise Lost, it's hard to see how such a work could have been written better in another style. In a real way, Milton's description of the style of the English epic was the end of the genre. With Milton and Paradise Lost, the English epic genre comes to an end.