Assignment Code: MEG-02 / TMA / 2022-23

Course Code: MEG-02

Assignment Name: British Drama

Year: 2022 - 2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Answer any five questions.

All questions carry equal marks.

Answer each question in about 350 to 400 words.

Q1. Discuss Waiting for Godot from the perspective of the theatre of the Absurd. (20)

Ans) The play Waiting for Godot exemplifies the extreme irony that can be found in traditional theatre. The world that Godot inhabits is devoid of significance; it is empty of both matter and form. The audience is left feeling disappointed due to the lack of action in Godot; Godot never appears. The play Waiting for Godot is a brilliant simulation of real life, in which aspiration is thwarted by the everyday.

The metaphorical significance of the scene in which despondent bumpkins congregate around a stage that features only a tree skeleton cannot be overstated. Because the characters lack distinguishing characteristics and are given no context, it is difficult to view them as empirical entities; rather, they come across as abstract symbolic representations. In the seminal essay that he wrote on the topic, Esslin argues that the Theatre of the Absurd is comparable to mystery plays from the Middle Ages because both the characters and the situations are too ambiguous to signify anything in particular. The ineffectiveness of Vladimir and Estragon hints at the failure of human thought on all scales, from the macro to the micro.

Without plot development or contingency, the play's discrete activities—walking, talking, falling—fail to form a coherent drama. Vladimir and Estragon live moment-to-moment. They can recite songs and quote the Bible, but this is timeless, abstract knowledge. They cannot relate past events to the present. Climbing the Eiffel Tower and picking grapes along the Rhone seem impossible in the subtracted world; it seems more likely that these memories are not their own or from another life. Thus, Vladimir and Estragon live in a world of inscrutable repetition, walking, talking, and falling down.

"Waiting for Godot" is a ridiculous play because not only is the plot sloppy, but the characters are also just mechanical puppets with their incoherent dialogue. Above all, its theme remains a mystery. It lacks characterization and motivation. Its dialogue technique is completely absurd, as there is no witty repartee or pointed dialogue. What a reader or viewer hears is simply incoherent babbling devoid of clear and meaningful ideas. Nothing noteworthy occurs in the play, nor is there any significant change in the setting. The situation is almost unchanged, and an enigmatic thread runs throughout the play. "Nothing happens, no one comes... no one leaves, it's terrible!"

Godot remains a mystery and curiosity still holds a sway. The wait continues; the human contacts remain unsolved; the problem of existence remains meaningless, futile and purposeless. All this makes it an absurd play.

Q2. Discuss the typical Shakespearean comic elements in the play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (20)

Ans) A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare c. 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.

Shakespearean comedies usually contain elements such as irony, word play, and metaphors. Comedies also contain elements of love or lust, with obstacles that the lovers must overcome throughout the play. Mistaken identities are often used in both intentional and unintentional ways for comic relief. Additionally, a staple of the Shakespearean comedy is ending in a reunion or marriage(s). Finally, comedies contain complicated plots with twists that often keep the audience guessing what will happen next.

Having students create storyboards that depict the elements of this genre will help them to understand the comedy behind the play. It will also help them follow the multiple plots and interweaving of characters, while bringing the genre to life!

Comedic Elements of a Midsummer Night’s Dream

Love Obstacles: Hermia's father tells her she must be with Demetrius even though she loves         Lysander!

Mistaken Identities: Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius, and Titania mistakes Bottom for a person (even though he looks like a donkey)

Plot Twists: Hermia and Helena are split by jealousy. The men want to fight over someone neither of them loves. Titania is fooled by her own kind. But it all works out in the end.

Marriage or Reunion: In the end, Helena marries Demetrius, Hermia marries Lysander, and the Duke marries Hippolyta.

Midsummer focuses on the characters’ situations rather than their emotions. For example, in the play’s first scene, rather than dwelling in despair because they are forbidden to be together, Hermia and Lysander focus on a solution and make a secret plan to escape. Later, the fairy king Oberon witnesses Helena pledging her devotion to Demetrius and immediately decides to intervene when Demetrius harshly rejects her. Both the lovers’ decision to go into the forest and the fairies’ decision to intercede in the lovers’ lives create situations that confuse and trouble the lovers.

However, as audience members we are never seriously worried that the outcome will be anything but happy because the play’s fantastical situations and overwrought language distance us from the lovers’ pain. Secure in our knowledge that the magical mistakes will eventually be repaired, and that order will be restored, we can enjoy watching the drama unfold.

Q5. Discuss the play Pygmalion as a romance? Elaborate. (20)

Ans) Pygmalion, romance in five acts by George Bernard Shaw, produced in German in 1913 in Vienna. It was performed in England in 1914, with Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle. The play is a humane comedy about love and the English class system.

Bernard Shaw has called the play Pygmalion, and added a subtitle to it, “A Romance“. As is well known, Shaw was an anti-romantic and in one play after another he has punctured age-old romantic notions. Thus, in his Arms and the Man, he has shattered the romantic notion of love and war, and in his Man and Superman he has shown that it is the woman, and not the man, who is the courter and the chaser. It is the woman who chases her man relentlessly and ultimately marries him. Beauty and sex appeal of a woman are shown to be a trap to capture the man who is likely to make a suitable father and husband.

The Note of Romance

However sexual love is an essential element in a romance and this element of romance is provided by the Freddy-Eliza love-story. Freddy falls deeply in love with Eliza when he meets her at the house of Mrs. Higgins is simply fascinated by her and from that day onwards he begins to how Wimpole Street where Eliza lives in Higgins’ house. Freddy keeps looking at Eliza’s room every night until the lights goes out, when he says: “Good night darling, darling, darling.” Freddy thus becomes a love-lorn man.

Significance of Eliza-Freddy Love story

When one night, Eliza comes out of Higgins’ house because she can no longer endure his neglect and bullying, she encounters Freddy in the street and asks him what he is doing there. Freddy replies that he spends most of his nights here in this street because it is the only place where he feels happy. He then tells her that she is the loveliest, the dearest being for him; and then, losing all self-control, he smothers her with kisses. She, hungry for comfort, responds fully to his lovemaking; and they stand there in the street in each other’s arms till they are interrupted by a police constable.

The lovers then flee from that spot and halt at another place where again they embrace each other but are once again interrupted by another police constable. Eventually, they get into a taxi and spend the rest of the night driving about the town. Subsequently, Eliza tells Higgins that Freddy has been writing very lengthy love-letters to her and that she has decided to marry him. Now, this whole episode is romantic even though it appears only towards the end.

Q6. Discuss the art of characterisation in The Playboy of the Western World? (20)

Ans) Christopher Mahon, a young man who claims to have perplexed his father, is the Playboy of the Western World. Christy is ordinary and unremarkable on the morning of the play, except for his ability to tell a good storey — specifically, the storey of how he murdered his father. His storey elevates him to the status of an idol among his audience. Their admiration for him boosts his self-esteem. He is a better man by the end of the play.

Flaherty, Margaret Enough, quick-witted cantina owner's son who has a crush on Christy Mahon. Her musketeers address her as Pegeen Mike, or just Pegeen. At the end of the play, when Christy leaves her community without coordinating with her, she cuts a sad figure.

Flaherty, Michael Father of Margaret (Pegeen) Flaherty and owner of the cantina where the play takes place. He enjoys going to wakes (night-long viewings of corpses before burials), where liquor and lively conversation flow freely. Throughout the majority of the play's onstage action, he is offstage attending a wake with his musketeers.

Keough, Shawn Dull, spineless young planter who has received Michael Flaherty's permission to marry Margaret (Pegeen), his alternate kin. Shawn irritates her.

Michael Flaherty's musketeers, Philly Cullen and Jimmy Farrell, attend his wake.

Widow Quin Crafty is a 30-year-old opportunistic who makes a play for Christy. Rumor has it that her husband died at her hands.

Sara Tansey, Susan Brady, and Honor Blake are the girls who fall in love with Christy after hearing about his murderous tendencies.

Town Crier, Peasants, Growers

Mahon the Elder The father of Christy Mahon. He survives Christy's attempts to kill him due to his thick cranium. Although he has always despised his son, he comes to admire him at the end of the play after Christy reveals himself to be a man of whimsy and daring-do.

Reilly, Father The original Roman Clerk with no qualifications. He does not appear in the play, but his presence is felt because Shawn Keough frequently mentions him. Shawn needs the Catholic Church's blessing to marry the object of his affection, Pegeen, because he is a relative. As a result, Shawn is constantly concerned about how his actions will be perceived by Father Reilly, a supposedly strict clergyman.

Kate Cassidy, the original occupant, has left. Flaherty and his musketeers attend her wake.

Q 9. Write an essay on British Drama in the twentieth Century. (20)

Ans) The twentieth century in British drama - The descriptions of Irish peasant life were central to the lyrical literalism that emerged in the early twentieth century. Lyrical literalism was used by many writers, including John Millington Synge, W.B. Yeats, and Lady Gregory. Their portrayal of peasant life was frequently unappealing, and many cults reacted cruelly. Many poetically realistic plays have unwelcome themes running through them, such as lust between a son and his stepmother or the murder of a baby to "prove" love. These plays used myths as a substitute for real life to allow the audience to experience the unwelcome plot without fully connecting to it.

The female characters developed from a crushed, useless woman to an empowered, disenchanted woman. They were used to raise subversive social order questions. Several female characters portray the author's mannish views on women and their place in society. Write an essay on twentieth-century British drama. However, as time passed, ladies began to gain commission. G.B. Shaw was one of the first English playwrights to follow Ibsen's lead and create settings with real women. Mrs. Warren, Major Barbara, and Pygmalion are all strong female protagonists. Women made their first steps forward in 1918. Later in the century, ladies (and men) were both subordinated to the discontent of society and were frequently not given names to indicate to the audience the character's worth in the play.

After the wars, taboos were broken, and new writers, directors, and actors emerged with new perspectives. Many experimented with the concept of reality; some were radically political, while others escaped verismo and questioned the legality of initially untouchable beliefs. Due to the number of plays conjuring history in order to defy and accept it, the term "theatre of exorcism" came into use toward the end of the century. Playwrights of the late twentieth century include Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Brian Friel, Caryl Churchill, and Tom Stoppard. The final act of the century was a return to literalism, as well as the establishment of Europe's first children's artistic centre.