Anjali Rathod : October 2022

Monday, 31 October 2022

Thinking Activity- Macbeth

Thinking Activity

Macbeth- William Shakespeare

Feminist Reading of Lady Macbeth

This blog is in response to the Thinking Activity on Feminist reading of Lady Macbeth. This Blogspot is assigned by Barad sir, Department of English , MKBU. In this Blog i wrote my understanding about Female character Lady Macbeth of Feminist reading.

Macbeth is a play written by a well known writer Willian Shakespeare. In this Play, The central character of Macbeth. The play ‘Macbeth’ is divided into 5 acts. In Shakespearian works female characters like; Macbeth - Lady Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet- Juliet, As You Like it - Rosalind, The Merchant Of Venice - Portia.

Lady Macbeth is One of the most important characters in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth was a king of Scotland. In this Play, the role of Lady Macbeth was queen of England and her character’s primary motivations towards her husband.

Lady Macbeth is a Strong, rational and calculating woman. She is a strong and most powerful female character in the play of Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth persistently taunts her husband for lack of courage, even though we know that his blood deeds on the battlefield. In comparison , females were significantly limited in their ability to access political or patriarchal authority , as embodied by Lady Macbeth.

* Is Lady Macbeth a Villain or a Victim ?

When audiences first encounter Lady Macbeth, she seems to have a very forceful and dominant personality, and we can assume that she is the villain, or antagonist, of the play. She is single-minded in her lust for power.

Lady Macbeth has no loyalty to any cause beyond her own ambition, and is willing to manipulate her husband to achieve what she wants. Her desire for Macbeth to be king doesn’t stem from a belief he’d be a good ruler; she wants him to be king because she wants to be queen.

When we first see her ; she is already plotting Duncan’s murder and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. If we look more closely at the difference between who Lady Macbeth is and who she wants to be, we begin seeing a different side of Lady Macbeth, suggesting that she is not as villainous as we might have thought.

Sometimes it seems like she is the fourth witch. although one had to come before the other. Lady Macbeth is an enabler and instigator of King Duncan's murder, and she pressures Macbeth to go through with the regicide.

*Guilt of Lady Macbeth

In the beginning Lady Macbeth is a supportive and loving wife, who gets along well with her husband. When Macbeth tells her about the witches’ prophecy of him being king, she is happy for him. She then becomes ruthless in trying to get Macbeth to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth obsessively washes her hands in the fifth act of the play in order to wash off the imaginary blood on them, a reminder of the guilt she has over the killings she and her husband carried out.

Macbeth is a play full of dishonest deeds. Most of these deeds are brought up by power, hunger, and greed. In the end these deeds led to mostly death. In the first act Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Eventually she killed herself to escape the guilt.

* Ambition

In conclusion, an application of this interpretation justifies her ambitions from her desire for Macbeth to be king, her behavior which coerced him to kill Duncan and the effects of guilt from Duncan's blood that was attached to her hands. This proves this interpretation and that she deserved her fate. Man is born to be competitive and ambitious to survive. But if you think you are hurting people on your way up, that is no longer good.

Thank You…

[Words: 623

Images: 2]

Sunday, 30 October 2022

Thinking Activity- Hard Times

Thinking Activity

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

This BlogSpot is in response to the Thinking Activity on Hard Times by Charles Dickens Assigned by Barad sir. This blog is a part of our thinking activity. In this play I share my view of the Hindi Play Adaptations of Hard Times. Protagonist of the novel was Louisa Gradgrind and Thomas Gradgrind.

Hard times was written by a well known writer Charles Dickens. He was a writer , critic and the Greatest Novelist of the Victorian Era. Hard Times generally known as : ‘Hard times : For These Times’. The novel is a bitter indictment of Industrialization effects on Workers and Communities in the mid 19th Century in England. The novel was published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirizes the social and economic conditions of the era.

*Important Characters of The Novel ‘Hard Times’ defines below,

Thomas Gradgrind - Protagonist

Louisa Gradgrind - Important Figure

Tom Gradgrind - Son of Thomas Gradgrind

Bounderby- Friend of Thomas Gradgrind

Mrs. Sparsit - Widow

Sissy - Student of Thomas Gradgrind

Stephen Blackpool- Worker

Rachael

Bitzer

James Harthouse

Review :

In this Blog I am going to write my review of The Hindi play adaptation of Charles Dickens Novel Hard times. The Hindi Adaptation play was Directed by Kiran Deep Sharma. A whole novel was well Adapted on the stage by Hindi Play.

The Hindi play of " Hard Times" Started with a beautiful song. All the Characters came on the stage and they sang a song together ;

“ कमाल की कहानी ये हे तो बड़ी पुरानी जी। "

In this play we can see that there was a Conversation between two people, Sutradhaar and Nut. and used a dramatic technique. Then Louisa Married with Bounderby because of her Fathers wish. He also taught his students and even his childrens. Because he lives with his philosophy that life is nothing more than facts and statistics. We can understand that the theme of Marriage and Divorce also connected with the novel and Dickens usen in a satirical way.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is based on factuality . It is the assumption that human beings act in a way that highlights their own self-interest. Dickens provides three vivid examples of this utilitarian logic in Hard Times. The first; Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, one of the main characters in the book, was the principal of a school in Coketown.

Thomas Gradgrind was a firm believer in utilitarianism and instilled this philosophy into the students at the school from a very young age, as well as his own children. Mr. Josiah Bounderby was also a practitioner of utilitarianism but was more interested in the profit that stemmed from it. Utilitarianism such as loves, imagination, and humors.

Thank You.

[Words 444

images 3

video 1]

Absalom & Achitophel

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

( Satirical Poem ) By

John Dryden

I am going to write another blog on Satirical Poem , Absalom and Achitophel. This Blogspot is in response to the Classwork on Absalom and Achitophel assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir.

Absalom and Achitophel is a Satirical poem by John Dryden. Satire is a kind of Poetry. Dryden was written in Heroic couplets. It was written in 1681. The Poem tells the Biblical tale of the Rebellion of Absalom against King David and the Exclusion Crisis (1679–1681). The poem also references the Popish Plot (1678) and the Monmouth Rebellion (1685).It is also described as an allegory regarding Contemporary Political events.

About the Author

John Dryden(1631-1700) was a well known playwright, English Poet, literary critic and translator. He was best known as a Satirist , although he wrote only two great original satires. His most famous Poem, Absalom and Achitophel. Dryden was educated at the University of Cambridge. His poetry celebrating Restoration so pleased Charles the Second that he was named Poet Laureate(1668) and Two years later, royal historiographer.

About the Poem

Absalom and Achitophel had a specific Political motivation. It was connected to the Popish Plot and moved to exclude. King David’s bastard son , Absalom , represented Monmouth. King David was the Third king of Israel. Charles the second’s Catholic brother was James, Duke of York. Charles’s bastard son , James , Duke of Monmouth. While rumors existed that Charles had secretly married Lucy.

Absalom and Achitophel is "generally acknowledged” as the finest political satire in the English language. John Dryden’s publication of Absalom and Achitophel had a specific political motivation. This poem is a landmark Political satire. Dryden wrote the poem during the threat of revolution in England.

Each of the main characters corresponded to a real-life person in Dryden’s time.

David’s bastard son Absalom represented Monmouth. Achitophel represented the Earl of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury had introduced to Parliament the Exclusion Bill to prevent York from taking the throne. Zimri as George Villiers, the duke of Buckingham .

David's dishonest counsellor, Achitophel, begins to stir up resentment for David and encourages Absalom to rise up against his father to ensure that David's brother will not ascend the throne. Both Absalom and Achitophel confuse David's mild nature for weakness, and after David runs out of patience, he is forced to excerpt his God given power over the people of Israel and remind Absalom, Achitophel, and the people that he can stick them all down if he chooses.

Dryden’s choice of the Bible as allegory proved appropriate for his era. Most educated individuals agreed that the Bible could be used as a type of gloss to reveal truths civic, as well as religious. In the first, Achitophel tempts Absalom to overthrow his father. By referencing only the biblical characters to maintain his allegory , Dryden accomplished his purpose, which was to comment on the folly of the political clash between the Protestant Whigs and Catholic Tories. Dryden’s direct address “To the Reader” preceding the lengthy poem proves of interest. This poem used various allegorical represents:

David- The king of Israel

Absalom - James , the Duke of Monmouth

Achitophel - Antony Ashley Cooper, The Earl of Shaftesbury

Zimeri - George Villiers

Jonas - William Jones

David’s Catholic brother - James the Second

Shimei - Slingsby Bethel

Corah - Titus Oates

Jotham - George Savile

Against Charles the Second : Absalom , Achitophel, Corah , Zimeri, Shimei all the characters are against David.

Thank You.

[Words: 566

images: 2]

Youth Festival - 2022

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Amrut Rang - 2022

30th Inter college Youth Festival

Hello Readers!

This blog is a part of Sunday reading. I am going to write about The 30th Inter college Youth Festival - Amrut Rang - Yuva Urja Mahotsav -Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav 2022 organised at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University from the host Institute the Takshshila Institute of Science and Commerce.

This Function was held after a two year gap , in 2022 because Covid 19. This Function includes many events and competitions like Drama , Kalayatra , Skit Poetry Recitation , Essay , Debate, Short film , Mono Acting , Elocution, Mimicry and other activities.

This function was started on the 18th September by Kalayatra. The Route of Kalayatra From the Victoria Park Water Tank to The University Amphi Theatre. In Kalayatra , Department of English students participated in the Theme of Literature and Social Media. 44 colleges of Bhavnagar University had Participated in this function. Kalayatra was organised as a part of Kala Pradarshan. Some photos of Kalayatra,

‘Shiksha ki Guarantee Raftar Bharat ki’

It is emphasised in value based education. And various arts and sports are included here.

On 19th september , Chief guest of the Opening Ceremony was Safin Hussain sir, IPS Officer of Bhavnagar District , KIrtiben Danidhariya , The Mayor of Bhavnagar, SP officer , Ravindra Patel, Jitubhai Vaghani , Education Minister of Gujarat.