English literature and linguistics with ASMA SHEIKH: To The Light House” PAST PAPERS 2012-A TO 201...

English literature and linguistics with ASMA SHEIKH: To The Light House” PAST PAPERS 2012-A TO 201...: To The Light House” PAST PAPERS 2012-A   TO   2018-A FOR SUMMARY   AND SYMBOLISM VISIT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL Q:  What are the dis...

TO THE LIGHT HOUSE BY VIRGINIA WOOLF SUMMARY

To The Light House” PAST PAPERS 2012-A TO 2019

To The Light House” PAST PAPERS

2012-A   TO   2019-A

                                          VISIT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Q:  What are the distinctive qualities of Virginia Woolf as a novelist? Do not confine your answer to “ To The Light House” only. (2012-A)

Q. What is meant by stream of consciousness? How does Virginia Woolf use this surreal technique to depict the Ramsay family.

 (2012-S)

Q. Why does Virginia Woolf use stream of consciousness in this novel? How effective is it? What sort of a “feel” do you get from the characters? The setting? The novelist?

(2013-A)

Q :What are the differences and similarities in how Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay, and Lily approach time? (2013-S)

Q: To The Light House is one of Woolf’s most successful and accessible experiments in modernist mode, including stream of consciousness. Illustrate citing examples from the text of the novel. (2014-A)

Q. What is Lily’s dilemma throughout the novel regarding her wish to be an artist?

 (2014-S)

Q. What is the nature of relationship between Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe in To The Lighthouse? (2015-A)

Q: What is the narrative technique of the novel To The Lighthouse? (2015-S)

Q How do men and women in the novel respond to the gender roles that they perceive or that are imposed upon them in To The Lighthouse?

(2016-A)

Q: To the Lighthouse by Virginia  wolf is modern novel. comment.

(2016-S)

Q: To the Lighthouse is novel about Passion of expressing love without taking heed of soda pretension. Give examples.

( 2017 -A)

Q: compare and contrast Mr and Mrs. Ramsay .how are they alike how are they different ?

(2018-A)

Q.To the lighthouse is both symbolic and realistic novel. Illustrate (2018supply)

Q.How does the narrative style  in To the lighthouse strengthen and weaken human connections.(2019annual).

                                                                            PREPARED BY ASMA SHEIKH

                                                                                            SPECIAL THANKS TO  ZILL E HUMA

                                                                                           FIRST LADIES MA ENGLISH                                                                                                      LITERATURE ONLINE ACADEMY IN                                                                                                           PAKISTAN

Though, marriage is the end of Jane Austen’s novel, yet it evolves more than the conclusion of a simple love story.

Though, marriage is the end of Jane Austen’s novel, yet it evolves more than the conclusion of a simple love story. There is a depth, variety and seriousness in Jane’s treatment of these topics.
Marriage was an important social concern in Jane Austen’s time and she was fully aware of the disadvantages of remaining single. In a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, she wrote:
Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor – which is a very strong argument in favour of matrimony.
The only option for unmarried woman in Jane Austen’s time was to care for someone else’s children as Jane Austen herself did; as there were no outlets for women.
The novels of Jane Austen’s – especially “Pride and Prejudice” – dramatize the economic inequality of women, showing how women had to marry undesirable mates in order to gain some financial security.
The theme of love and marriage is one of the major themes in “Pride and Prejudice” . Through five marriages, Jane Austen defines good and bad reasons for marriage. Charlotte – Collins, Lydia – Wickham, Jane – Bingley and Elizabeth – Darcy are the four newly-weds. The old marriage is that of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.
Mrs. and Mr. Bennet are poles apart in their natural attitude. Mr. Bennet is sharp and witty. Mrs. Bennet is vulgar and discreet. Together they constitute a very ill-matched couple.
Her father, captivated by youth and beauty … had married a woman whose weak understanding and liberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her.
Mr. Bennet married for beauty. Soon he realized that Mrs. Bennet, due to her intellectual bankruptcy and narrow vision, would not make him an ideal wife.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet never enjoyed the marital bliss of emotional and intellectual understanding. The gulf between them had widened. Mr. Bennet becomes lazy and irresponsible and an odd mixture of ‘sarcastic humour, and caprice’ . He mocks Mrs. Bennet and exposes her to the scorn of their five daughters. The disadvantages of such marriage attend the daughters also. Elizabeth and Jane become what they are almost. Mary becomes a vain. Lydia grows into a selfish and deceitful flirt who elopes with a selfish and corrupt rake. The stupid and weak-spirited Kitty follows Lydia’s example and flirts with the military officers.
Charlotte and Collins are the first to get married. Collins, after, having a very good house and very sufficient income, intends to marry. He visits the Bennets to choose a wife among the Bennet girls. He sets out in detail his reasons for marriage:
First … it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances to set the example of matrimony in his parish. Secondly … it will add very greatly to my happiness, and thirdly … that is particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness.
Mr. Collins does not have any respect and affection for the girl he intends to marry. So, Elizabeth declines the proposal. Collins shifts contentedly to Charlotte who is herself eager to accept his proposal.
Mr. Collins … was neither sensible nor agreeable … But still he would be her husband … marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune.
Obviously Charlotte also does not think of love. She accepts Mr. Collins under economic pressure, knowing that she is going to marry an ass. Elizabeth is shocked at Charlotte’s engagement. Charlotte defends herself by saying:
I am not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home.
The next to be married are Wickham and Lydia. They elope before they get married. Compatibility and understanding are once again absent. Lydia is captivated by the external glamour of Wickham’s personality. She thinks, she is in love with him but she is only infatuated.
They were always moving from place to place in quest of a cheep situation, and always spending more then they ought. His affection for her soon sunk into indifference; hers lasted a little longer.
Jane and Bingley are sincerely in love with each other. Between them exists a great emotional compatibility. By nature, both are sweet and gentle, free from malice, ill will, affectation and duplicity, calm, unsuspecting, simple and willing to forgive readily. There is every likelihood that they will lead a happy married life.
Still, their marriage is timidly weak. Bingley is too weak-willed that in spite of loving Jane deeply, he does not take any initiative. Their temperamental harmony lacks the strengthening support of intellectual understanding and maturity.
Still they will be happy because Bingley is too good to offend consciously and Jane is too good not to forgive even any offense.
Elizabeth marries last and most desirably. When Darcy makes his first proposal, he had no doubts of a favourable answer. He acted as if he was offering prize which no sensible woman can refuse.
All the other characters believe Darcy to be a prize and that Elizabeth is falling for his wealth. Elizabeth rejects his proposal but accepts it for the second time.
Elizabeth and Darcy begin with prejudices and gradually move towards understanding. Elizabeth helps Darcy to shed his pride and be really the gentleman. Darcy in turn acts nobly and generously to win her love. Mutual affection and regards developed between them that form the basis of a sound marriage.
It was a union that must have been to the advantage of both.
Elizabeth has to assure that she loves and respects Darcy. Love and respect count most in a marital union, and having secured both, Elizabeth does not make any false or exaggerated statement when she says half-mockingly:
It is settled between us already that we are to be the happiest couple in the world.
Thus it is true that the chief preoccupation of Jane Austen’s heroines is getting married and life is a matrimonial game as women in her times had no other option of business or profession open to them. However, marriage is not treated merely as a romantic end. Rather it is dealt with a depth variety and seriousness to highlight ‘good’ marriage based on mutual understanding, love, good sense and respect..

SYMBOLISM IN TOTHE LIGHTHOUSE BY VIRGINIA WOOLF

TO THE LIGHT HOUSE BY VIRGINIA WOOLF SUMMARY

Definition, Characteristics and John Donne as a Metaphysical Poet:

#Metaphysical_Poetry
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Definition, Characteristics and John Donne as a Metaphysical Poet:

The term metaphysical or metaphysics in poetry is the fruit of renaissance tree, becoming over ripe and approaching pure science. “Meta” means “beyond” and “physics” means “physical nature”. Metaphysical poetry means poetry that goes beyond the physical world of the senses and explores the spiritual world. Metaphysical poetry began early in the Jacobean age in the last stage of the age of Shakespeare.
John Donne was the leader and founder of the metaphysical school of poetry. Dryden used this word at first and said that Donne “affects the metaphysics”. Among other metaphysical poets are Abraham Cowley, Henry Vaughan, Richard Crashaw, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Robert Herrick etc.

#Characteristics_of_Metaphysical_Poetry

👉(1) Dramatic manner and direct tone of speech is one of the main characteristics of metaphysical poetry. In the starting line of the poem “The Canonization” – there is given a dramatic starting –
“For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love”.
👉(2) Concentration is an important quality of metaphysical poetry in general and Donne’s poetry is particular. In his all poems, the reader is held to one idea or line of argument. Donne’s poems are brief and closely woven. In “The Extasie”, the principal argument is that the function of man as a man is being worthily performed through different acts of love. He continues with the theme without digression. For instance,
“As ‘twixt two equal armies, Fate
Suspends uncertain victorie,
Our souls, (which to advance their state,
Were gone out,) hung ‘twixt her and me”.
👉(3) An expanded epigram would be a fitting description of a metaphysical poem. Nothing is described in detail nor is any word wasted. There is a wiry strength in the style. Though the verse forms are usually simple, they are always suitable in enforcing the sense of the poem. For instance –
“Moving of th’earth brings harms and fears
Men reckon what it did and meant,
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent”.
👉(4) Fondness for conceits is a major character of metaphysical poetry. Donne often uses fantastic comparisons. The most striking and famous one used by Donne is the comparison of a man who travels and his beloved who stays at home to a pair of compasses in the poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” –
“If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two,
Thy soul fixt foot makes no show
To move, but doth, if th’other do”.
We find another conceit in the very beginning couple of lines of “The Extasie” –
“Where like a pillow on a bed,
A pregnant bank swel’d up, …”.
👉(5) Wit is another characteristic of metaphysical poetry. So, here we find various allusions and images relating to practicality all areas of nature and art and learning-- to medicine, cosmology, contemporary discoveries, ancient myth, history, law and art. For instance, in “The Extasie”, Donne uses the belief of the blood containing certain spirits which acts as intermediary between soul and body –
“As our blood labours to get
Spirits, as like souls, as it can,
Because such fingers need to knit
That subtle knot, which makes us man:”
In the same poem, the Ptolemaic system of astrology is also used when he says –
“… We are
The intelligences, they the sphere”.
👉(6) Metaphysical Poetry is a blend of passion and thought. T. S. Elliot thinks that “passionate thinking” is the chief mark of metaphysical poetry. There is an intellectual analysis of emotion in Donne’s Poetry. Though every lyric arises out of some emotional situation, the emotion is not merely expressed, rather it is analyzed. Donne’s poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” proves that lovers need not mourn at parting. For instance,
“So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move,
‘Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love”.
👉(7) Metaphysical Poetry is a fusion of passionate feelings and logical arguments. For example, in “The Canonization”, there is passion expressed through beautiful metaphors:
“Call us what you will, we are made such by love;
Call her one, me another fly,
We are tapers too, and at our own cost die,
And we in us, find the eagle and the dove”.
But at the same time, the tone of the poem is intellectual and there is plenty of complexity involved in the conceits and allusions, such as the “Phoenix riddle”.

👉(8) Metaphysical Poetry is the mixture of sensual and spiritual experience. This characteristic especially appears in Donne’s poetry. Poems such as “The Canonization”, “The Extasie” – even though they are not explicitly discussed, the great metaphysical question is the relation between the spirit and the senses. Often Donne speaks of the soul and of spiritual love. “The Extasie” speaks of the souls of the lovers which come out of their bodies negotiate with one another. For instance,
“And whilst our souls negotiate there,
We like sepulchral statues lay;
All day, the same our postures were,
And we said nothing, all the day”.
👉(9) Usage of satire and irony is another characteristic of metaphysical poetry. Donne also uses this in his poems. For example, in “The Canonization”, there is subtle irony as he speaks of the favoured pursuits of people – the lust for wealth and favours.
“Take you a course, get you a place,
Observe his honour, or his Grace”.
👉(10) As far as Donne is concerned, the use of colloquial speech marks the metaphysical poetry. This is especially apparent in the abrupt, dramatic and conversational opening of many of his poems. For instance,
“For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love”
Or,
“Or the King’s real, or his stamped face”
(The Canonization)
👉(11) Carelessness in diction is another characteristic of metaphysical poetry. These poems reacted against the cloying sweetness and harmony of the Elizabethan Poetry. They deliberately avoided conventional poetic expression. They employed very prosaic words, if they were scientists or shopkeepers. Thus, we find, in their poetic works, rugged and unpoetic words. Their versification and their dictions are usually coarse and jerky.
👉(12) Affectation and hyperbolic expression is another character of metaphysical poetry. It is often hard to find natural grace in metaphysical writing, abounding in artificiality of thought and hyperbolic expression. The writer deemed to say “something unexpected and surprising. What they wanted to sublime, they endeavored to supply by hyperbole; their amplification had no limit, they left not only reason but fancy behind them and produced combination of confused magnificence”. For instance, the lines of “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” –
“Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to ayery thinness beat”.
👉(13) The lyrics of the metaphysical poems are very fantastic and peculiar. According to A. C. Word, “The metaphysical style is a combination of two elements, the fantastic form and style and the incongruous in matter and manner”.
Therefore, so far we discussed the salient features of metaphysical poetry, it is proved that John Donne is a great metaphysical poet.

John Donne as a metaphysical poet.

John Donne as a metaphysical poet.

Metaphysical poetry refers to a type of very intellectual poetry that was common in the 17th century. This type of poetry was known for bold and ingenious conceits, subtle thought and frequent use of paradox as well as the directness of language. Metaphysical poetry, in an etymological sense, is poetry on subjects which exist beyond the physical world.
In other words, it is a type of poetry dealing with abstract or philosophical subjects such as love, religion, God, beauty, faith and so on. But in reality the poetry which comprises the ideas or aspects that – physical love leading to spiritual union or religious, argumentative presentation of emotion, terseness of expression, use of conceit and wit in profusion, skillful use of colloquial language instead of Elizabethan lucid diction with the abrupt opening can be considered to be metaphysical. Originally the term ‘Metaphysical Poetry’ was coined by John Dryden and later popularized by Samuel Johnson and the features of the school which unite the various authors are quite numerous. As well as making widespread use of conceit, paradox and punning, the metaphysical poets drew their imagery from all sources of knowledge particularly from science, theology, geography and philosophy. However, John Donne is the founder of the school of metaphysical poetry and the other practitioners of the type of poetry are Crashaw, Cowley, Denham, Davenant, Herbert, Marvell, Vaughan.

Dryden expressed the view that “Donne affects the metaphysics” taking his cue from this statement, Dr. Johnson described Donne and his followers as the metaphysical poets. Ben Johnson followed classical rules and being a classicist, was a champion of decorum, discipline, symmetry and regularity, so he was not in favor of the bold liberty taken up by Donne.
But he appreciated Donne as well for revolting against Petrarchan Conventions. According to Dr. Johnson, the metaphysical poets were men of learning; the displayed an abundance of wit, if will be defined as a combination of dissimilar ideas. They ransacked nature and art for illustrations, comparisons and allusions. Johnson used the word, Metaphysical for Donne’s poetry in a rather contemptuous sense, even though much of what is said applies to Donne’s work. The wit of a metaphysical poet is more intellectual than that of the Elizabethan poets in general. his conceits are psychological, his lyrics are argumentative but the greatest achievement of a metaphysical poet is a blend of passion and thought. Intense emotional intellectuality is a leading quality of a metaphysical verse. In brief, the term, “Metaphysical Poetry” implies the qualities of complexity, fusion of emotions, outburst of passions and emotional intellectuality and an embodiment of reflective elements.

Qualities of Donne (‘s poetry) as a poet: Intellect and wit are the two prime qualities of a metaphysical poet. The poet interweaves these two elements with its emotional effects. Donne was a classical representative of this kind of poetry. He was a man whose instinct compelled him to bring the whole of experience into his verse. When we speak of Donne as a metaphysical poet, we generally have in mind the combination of passion and thought which characterize his work. His conceits are witty, his hyperboles are outrageous and his paradoxes astonishing. His mixes fact and fancy in an astounding manner. All these qualities need to be illustrated from his poems. The Good-Marrow is a poem of passion, but its intellectual quality is less obvious. The poem proves that the poet and the beloved are passionately in love. Each one is a world to the other. These lovers can never die because they love each other with equal intensity. Donne was the first poet who included thought and idea in poetry side by side as opposed to the Elizabethans. Originality in diction marks Donne’s poetry. He used scientific, technical as well as colloquial vocabulary. He rejected the conventional Petrarchan conceits and coined new images. His vocabulary is rich and diversified. He is the first poet who has delineated ecstatic joy of fulfilled love in the Sun Rising. We see originality, novelty and complexity so abundant no where but in Donne’s poetry.
The main aspects of the Metaphysical poetry are: Passionate thinking, Philosophical concept of the universe and ordinary experiences, obscurity and learning, unified sensibility, conceits and images, Affectation and Hyperbole, Diction and versification and excessive intellectualism. All these features of metaphysical poetry are abundant in Donne’s poetry for which he is labeled as a metaphysical poet.
Donne is a metaphysical poet in a literal sense too. He speaks of the soul and of spiritual love. Air and Angles is a metaphysical poem in this sense. In A Valediction and Forbidding Mourning, the poet speaks of the spiritual love. The love is so refined that the lovers do not much miss each other’s eyes, lips and hands which lovers normally seek. In the Relic, they do not even know the difference of sex. Donne deserves the title, Metaphysical also because of his obscurity which is sometimes terrible. His concentration, expanded epigrams, fondness for conceits and striking and subtle wit, combination of passion and thought, the use of common language and the profundity of thought and intensity are the qualities that make Donne a metaphysical poet.
Selected Love Poems for Analysis
The Good-morrow:
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears
Where can we finde two better hemispheres
If our two loves be one, or thou or I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die
Synopsis: One of the finest poems of Donne explaining the complex nature of love. Initially, it has an element of fun and sex but later it provides a complete world to the lovers and this pure love is neither subject to time nor death.
Song:
Goe, and catche a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake roote,
Synopsis: the poet, through a series of images, proves to show that it is impossible to find a true and faithful woman in the world as it is equally impossible to produce a child from a mandrake root. Petrarchan and Elizabethan poets honored woman as the heroine and goddess, but the metaphysical poets mocked at them. Frailty, thy name is woman was quite popular in Donne’s time.
The Sun Rising:
I could eclipse and cloud them with a winke,
But that I would not lose her sight so long:
She is all States, and all Princes, I,
Nothing else is.
Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime,
Nor houres, dayes, monthes, which are the rages of time.
Synopsis: This shows a lover’s vexation against sun-rising. The dawn is regarded as impertinence between the two lovers. The supremacy of love surpasses both time and space. I can blow out the sun with a wink but I don’t want to avert my attention from my lover even for this short duration. My sweetheart is all the states of the world rolled into one and I am all the princes of the world rolled into one. There are no states and princes except those described by me.

Criticism part 2 Aristotle short questions and answers

Criticism part 2  Aristotle short questions and answers
4- CRITICISM
• Answer the following questions.
• What is literary criticism?
Ans. Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literary works like poem, drama, and novel etc. Plato's cautions against the risky consequences of poetic inspiration in general in his "Republic" are often taken as the earliest important examples of literary criticism.
(ii) What does Aristotle say about poetry?
Ans.poetry,as Aristotle defines it is first and foremost a,  medium of imitation, meaning a form of art that seeks to duplicate or represent life.
(iii) what are Plato’s three main objections to poetry?
Ans.Plato’s three main objections to poetry are. Poetry is not ethical, philosophical and pragmatic.
(iv) What does 'Poetics' deal with?
Ans.the Poetics is chiefly concerned with tragedy, which is regarded as the highest form of poetry and much of the Poetics is a covert reply to Plato.
(v) which is the best kind of anagnorisis
Ans.recognition that arises through the structure of the plot
(vi) In what three ways does Aristotle differentiate various art forms from one another?
Ans.medium of imitation, manner of  imitation, objects of imitation
(vii) What is the difference between epic poetry and tragedy?
Ans.tragedy is more concentrated and compact, it’s size is much more limited, the length of epic can be greater than that of the tragedy. The epic is the mode of narrative while the mode of tragedy is dramatic
(viii) define tragedy according to Aristotle.
Ans.tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, and also having magnitude, complete in itself in language with pleasureable accessories…in dramatic form not in narrative form, with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewhith to accomplish it’s catharsis of such emotions.”
(ix) what are the four requirements of a character '?
Ans.goodness,Appropriateness ,likeness and consistency
(x) What according to Aristotle, is the primary purpose of tragedy ?
Ans.aristotle says that tragedy is an imitation of a serious action.,and that its primary purpose is to arouse pity and fear
(xi) what are the main qualities of tragic hero ?'.
Ans.1. He should be a good man, a noble but not a paragon of virtue. 2. He must be of high status and good family. 3. He must have some flaw or tragic error in him. 4. A hero must be shown passing from prosperity to adversity.
(xii) which is the worst kind of plot according to Aristotle ?
Aristotle regards episodic plot as the worst, for they are the plots in which the episodes are not properly interlinked with the main design, so they don’t form an organic part of the whole.
(xiii) What are the six parts every tragedy must have? Which, according to Aristotle, is the most important?
Ans.plot,character, diction, thought, spectacle and song,. The most important element of tragedy, according to Aristotle is plot.
(xiv) What, according to Aristotle, are the quantitative parts of tragedy?
Ans.prologue,episode,exode and choric song.
(xv) Among the three unities Which one is called Aristotlelian?
Ans. Among the three unities the unity of action is called Aristotlelian

POST MODERN AGE LITERATURE.

POST MODERN AGE LITERATURE.

👉🏼👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Postmodernism is a broad movement that developed in the mid- to late 20th century across philosophy, the arts, architecture, and criticism and that marked a departure from modernism. The term has also more generally been applied to the historical era following modernity and the tendencies of this era.

👉🏼Postmodernism is a broad movement that developed in the mid- to late 20th century across philosophy, the arts, architecture, and criticism and that marked a departure from modernism.[1][2][3] The term has also more generally been applied to the historical era following modernity and the tendencies of this era.[4] (In this context, "modern" is not used in the sense of "contemporary", but merely as a name for a specific period in history.)

While encompassing a wide variety of approaches, postmodernism is generally defined by an attitude of skepticism, irony, or rejection toward the meta-narratives and ideologies of modernism, often calling into question various assumptions of Enlightenment rationality.[5] Consequently, common targets of postmodern critique include universalist notions of objective reality, morality, truth, human nature, reason, language, and social progress.[5] Postmodern thinkers frequently call attention to the contingent or socially-conditioned nature of knowledge claims and value systems, situating them as products of particular political, historical, or cultural discourses and hierarchies.[5] Accordingly, postmodern thought is broadly characterized by tendencies to self-referentiality, epistemological and moral relativism, pluralism, and irreverence.[5]

Postmodern critical approaches gained purchase in the 1980s and 1990s, and have been adopted in a variety of academic and theoretical disciplines, including cultural studies, philosophy of science, economics, linguistics, architecture, feminist theory, and literary criticism, as well as art movements in fields such as literature and music. Postmodernism is often associated with schools of thought such as deconstruction  and post-structuralism, as well as philosophers such as Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Derrida, and Fredric Jameson.

When listing the chracteristics of postmodernism, it is important to remember that postmodernists do not place their philosophy in a defined box or category. Their beliefs and practices are personal rather than being identifiable with a particular establishment or special interest group. The following principles appear elemental to postmodernists:
There is no absolute truth - Postmodernists believe that the notion of truth is a contrived illusion, misused by people and special interest groups to gain power over others.

Truth and error are synonymous - Facts, postmodernists claim, are too limiting to determine anything. Changing erratically, what is fact today can be false tomorrow.

Self-conceptualization and rationalization - Traditional logic and objectivity are spurned by postmodernists. Preferring to rely on opinions rather than embrace facts, postmodernist spurn the scientific method.

Traditional authority is false and corrupt - Postmodernists speak out against the constraints of religious morals and secular authority. They wage intellectual revolution to voice their concerns about traditional establishment.

Ownership - They claim that collective ownership would most fairly administrate goods and services.

Disillusionment with modernism - Postmodernists rue the unfulfilled promises of science, technology, government, and religion.

Morality is personal - Believing ethics to be relative, postmodernists subject morality to personal opinion. They define morality as each person’s private code of ethics without the need to follow traditional values and rules.

Globalization – Many postmodernists claim that national boundaries are a hindrance to human communication. Nationalism, they believe, causes wars. Therefore, postmodernists often propose internationalism and uniting separate countries.

All religions are valid - Valuing inclusive faiths, postmodernists gravitate towards New Age religion. They denounce the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ as being the only way to God.

Liberal ethics - Postmodernists defend the cause of feminists and homosexuals.

Pro-environmentalism - Defending “Mother Earth,” postmodernists blame Western society for its destruction.

‘The Rape of the Lock’ as a satire/social satire.

((()))))THE RAPE OF THE LOCK ((()))))

‘The Rape of the Lock’ as a satire/social satire.
                           OR
Belinda as a symbol of the moral degeneration of the contemporary life
                          OR
Documentary value of ‘The Rape of the Lock’
                          OR
Element of satire in ‘The Rape of the Lock’
                          OR
Pope as a moralist in ‘The Rape of the Lock’
                          OR
The Rape of the Lock as a satire on the contemporary beau monde.
                          OR
Character of Belinda in ‘The Rape of the Lock’
                          OR
  Pope as a critic of women/fashionable life
                           OR
Pope's attitude towards women

Alexander Pope is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever satirists of all times (Walker, 1925). He is a poet of society (Griffin, 2015) the largest part of whose poetry is satirical and didactic (Warton & Rounce, 2004). His masterpiece The Rape of the Lock serves as a true embodiment of the Neo-classical values (Pope, 2016) and the protagonist, Belinda, the moral degradation of the contemporary English beau monde (Szwec, 2011). But, thanks to Pope’s poetic genius, the otherwise ordinary account of a family feud transcends the contemporary age and exposes universal evils of pride, vanity, hypocrisy, sentimentality, class-consciousness and indifference. Pope has painted a detailed picture of the following evils infecting these women.

1))))Illicit relations
These women have illicit relations with the beaus, exposed by the poet through such sexual symbols as ‘melting maids’, ‘midnight masquerades’, ‘softening music’, ‘dancing fires’, etc. They indulge in these activities because they are dazzled by the charms by the fashionable life.

2))inconsistency in love
Because of their illegitimate relations, they are inconsistent in love and are not contented with anyone:

“With varying vanities, from every part
They shift the moving toyshops of their heart.”

3)))Ambivalent attitude
It is interesting to note that just before the cutting of Belinda’s lock, when Ariel searched ‘the close recesses’ of her heart, he found ‘an earthly lover (Baron) lurking at her heart”. It shows the ambivalent attitude and confused as well as mixed feelings of these women. It is difficult to guard the chastity of these women as they themselves do not desire so. Pope warns:

“Oft have we known that seven-fold fence to fail,
Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of whale;
Form a strong line about the silver bound,
And guard the wide circumference around.”

4)))Slanderous Attitude
Their attitude is defamatory and libelous. When they sit together, they have nothing to do except to allure the beaus and slander other fashionable ladies who are their competitors:

  “A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At every word and reputation dies.”

5)))Preferring social reputation to chastity
For them, social reputation (‘Honour’) is more important than chastity and they can sacrifice anything for it:

“Honour forbid! At whose unrivalled shrine
Ease, pleasure, virtue, all our sex resign.”

That’s why, Belinda, after the loss of the lock, complains:

“Oh hadst thou, cruel ! been content to seize
Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these!”

So she is not shocked at the loss of chastity (‘Hairs less in sight’) but at the loss of her reputation (‘any hairs but these’, means the curls which were visible). The reason is that these curls enabled here to ensnare beaus.

6)))Endless competition to hunt beaus
This is a type of society in which there is endless competition among the ladies to surpass each other in their ability to hunt the fashionable boys. That’s why, Belinda’s own friends are insincere. So we see her friend, Clarissa, providing the scissors to Baron to cut Belinda’s lock and another friend, Thalestris, trying to make her disgrace public:

“Belinda burns with more than mortal ire, 
And fierce Thalestris fans the rising fire.”

7)))Never ending obsession with the beau monde
Pope humorously tells us that these women are so obsessed with the fashionable life that even after their death, they turn into spirits and perpetuate their interest in the fashionable circles by supervising the living ladies:

“Think not, when woman’s transient breath is fled,
That all her vanities at once are dead:
Succeeding vanities she still regards,
And though she plays no more, o’erlooks the cards.”

8)))Self conceit
These aristocratic ladies suffer from self-conceit and each one of them considers herself some heavenly creature. The dream in which Belinda hears the address of a spirit, Ariel, is just a form of her self-praise and self-conceit. ‘Fairest of mortals’ is, in fact, an epithet which Belinda chooses for herself. But when reality is revealed to her, it is too late. Ultimately, the fashionable women who look down upon the whole world end up dying friendless, isolated and lonely.

Pope describes their pathetic condition in these ominous words:

“And she who scorns a man, must die a maid.”

English literature and linguistics with ASMA SHEIKH: Raymond Williams Past papers 2012 TO 2018 SUPPL...

English literature and linguistics with ASMA SHEIKH: Raymond Williams Past papers 2012 TO 2018 SUPPL...:   Raymond Williams  Past papers 2012 TO 2018 SUPPLY Q; how does modern tragedy encounter the issues of order and accident 2012 ...

Raymond Williams Past papers 2012 TO 2019 SUPPLY

 Raymond Williams 

Past papers

2012 TO 2019 SUPPLY

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Modern Tragedy By Raymond Williams 

Important Questions 

1. Critical Appreciation of 'Tradition and Tragedy'
2. Critical Appreciation of 'Tragedy and Contemporary Ideas'
3. Critical Appreciation of 'Rejection of Tragedy'
4. Raymond Williams' Concept of Tragedy
5. Tragic Hero From the Classical to the Modern Times
6. Raymond Williams As a Critic

Q; how does modern tragedy encounter the issues of order and accident

2012 annual

Q;" by a change of dramatic view. We have to look not only at the isolated experience of the martyr but at the social process of his Martyrdom" how does the statement point out the departure of Brecht from the classical notion of tragic hero and tragic experience.

2012 annual

Q; the aristotelian concept of tragedy requires considerable modification in the light of later development in the field of tragedy. What are Raymond Williams Chief observations in this regard?

2012 supply

Q; what are Raymond Williams view regarding culture and tragedy discuss in detail.

2013 Annual

Q; "the tragic action in its deepest sense, is not the affirmation of disorder, but its experience, its comprehension and its resolution" discuss in the light of Raymond Williams modern tragedy.

2013 supply

Q; why in Raymond Williams view greek tragedy is unique and cannot be reproduced in modern Times? Discuss with reference to modern tragedy.

2014 annual

Q; what are the main features of Renaissance tragedy? Discuss in the light of Raymond Williams modern tragedy.

2014 supply

Q; what according to Raymond Williams are the distinctive features of secular tragedy?

2015 annual

Q; how far Would you agree that Raymond Williams has successfully advocated the value of tradition in writing tragedy even in Modern Times?

2015 supply

Q; what are Raymond Williams views regarding culture and tragedy discuss in detail?

Annual 2016

Q; " the tragic action in its deepest sense, is not the formation of disorder, but its experience , its comprehension and its resolution." discuss in the light of Raymond Williams modern tragedy

Supply 2016

Q; critically analyse some of the major arguments presented in Williams modern tragedy.

Annual 2017

Q; william sees treasury both in terms of literary tradition and in relation to the tragedy of modern society of revolution and disorder and of individual experience. Explore in relation to modern tragedy.

Supply 2017

Q; modern tragedy is not what happens to the hero but what happens through him. Elaborate with reference to Raymond Williams book modern tragedy

Annual 2018

Q; how far Would you agree that elizabethan drama is thoroughly secular and its immediate practice but undoubtedly retains a Christian consciousness? Discuss with reference to Raymond Williams modern tragedy.

Supply 2018

Q.There is no justice and external law, but there is hurt and revenge, exposure and hatred, a simply  human struggle. Explain with reference to Raymond Williams's concept of tragedy?

Annual 2019

 Q. Williams defines tragedy as "the conflict between an individual and the forces that destroy him" Discuss. 

Supply 2019

Q.  " the tragic action in its deepest sense, is not the formation of disorder, but its experience , its comprehension and its resolution." discuss in the light of Raymond Williams modern tragedy.                                                                              

 2020 Annual

      
Prepared by

ASMA SHEIKH TUTOR

Diphthong

Diphthong

• Diphthong: Sounds which consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another.
• Pure Vowel: A vowel which remains constant, it does not glide.
• Diphthongs have the same length as the long vowels.
• The first part (sound) is much longer and stronger than the second part.
• Example: aɪ in the words ‘eye’ and ‘ɪ ’ consists of the ‘a’ vowel, and only in about the last quarter of the diphthong, does the glide to ‘ɪ’ becomes noticeable.
English has 8 diphthongs.
Centering diphthong:
1. three (3) ending in ‘ə’ : ɪə, eə, ʊə
Closing diphthong
2. three (3) ending in ‘ɪ’: eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ
3. two (2) ending in ‘ʊ’: əʊ, aʊ
Examples:
• ɪə : beard, weird, fierce, ear, beer, tear
• eə: aired, cairn, scarce, bear, hair,
• ʊə: moored, tour, lure, sure, pure
• eɪ : paid, pain, face, shade, age, wait, taste, paper
• aɪ: tide, time, nice, buy, bike, pie, eye, kite, fine
• ɔɪ: void, loin, voice, oil, boil, coin, toy, Roy
• əʊ: load, home, most, bone, phone, boat, bowl
• aʊ: loud, gown, house, cow, bow, brow, grouse

Triphthongs

• A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and the to a third, all produced rapidly and without interruption. For example, a careful pronunciation of the word ‘hour’ begins with a vowel quality similar to ‘ɑ:’, goes on to ‘ʊ’ then ends in ‘ə’.
• It says /aʊə/
• Triphthong : 5 closing diphthongs with ‘ə’ added on the end.
– eɪ + ə = eɪə . as in layer, player
– aɪ + ə = aɪə. as in lire, fire
– ɔɪ + ə = ɔɪə, as in loyal, royal
– əʊ + ə = əuə, as in lower, mower
– aʊ + ə = auə, as in power, hour.

Syllabus M.A. English Sargodha University

Syllabus M.A English Sargodha University 

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Syllabus course outline of MA English part 1 & 2 / I & II / One / Two  Sargodha University / UOS   

SYLLABUS M.A. ENGLISH

ANNUAL SYSTEM

UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA 
M.A ENGLISH PART-I EXAMINATION 

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1ST ANNUAL 2013
Paper-I (Classical Poetry) ……………………………… 100
Paper-II (Drama-I) ……………………………………………100
Paper-III (Fiction-I) …………………………………………. 100
Paper-IV (Prose) …………………………………………... 100
Paper-V (American Literature) ……………………………. 100
Total…………… 500
3
(SYLLABI AND COURSES OF READINGS)

PAPER ONE (CLASSICAL POETRY)

1. GEOFFREY CHAUCER The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales

2. EDMUND SPENSER Farie Queen (Book 1, Canto-1)

3. JOHN MILTON Paradise Lost
Book-I (line 1-100 & 5 Speeches of Satan)
Book-IX (Speeches of Adam & Eve)

4. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
(Sonnets) i. When I Consider Everything That Grows
ii. Shall I Compare Thee to A Summer’s Day?
iii. Weary with Toil, I Haste Me to My Bed
iv. Why Didst Thou Promise Such A Beauteous Day?
v. That Thou Hast Her It Is Not All My Grief
vi. Take All My Loves, My Love, Yea Take Them All
vii. What Is Your Substance, Whereof Are You Made
viii. O, How Much More Doth Beauty Beauteous Seem

5. JOHN DONNE
(Selection from Love &
Divine Poems)
i. The Good Morrow
ii. Goe, and Catch a Falling Star
iii. The Sunne Rising
iv. Song: Sweetest Love, I do not Goe
v. A Valediction of Weeping
vi. A Valediction- Forbidding Mourning
vii. The Expiration
viii. Holy Sonnet-------Hymne to God, The Father
ix. Holy Sonnet--------A Hymne to Christ
x. Holy Sonnet--------A Hymne to God,My God.

6. Alexander Pope Rape of the Lock (canto 1, 2, 5)

PAPER TWO (DRAMA)
1. SOPHOCLES Oedipus Rex
2. CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE Jew of Malta
3. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Othello
The Tempest
4. OSCAR WILDE Importance of Being Earnest

PAPER THREE (NOVEL)
1. Henry Fielding Joseph Andrews
2. Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice
3. Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
4. George Eliot The Mill on the Floss
5. Thomas Hardy Tess of the d’Urbervilles

PAPER FOUR (PROSE)
1. Sir Francis Bacon Of Truth, Of Revenge, Of Ambition, Of Studies, Of Great
(Essays) Places, Of Friendship, Of Adversity, Of Simulation &
Dissimulation
2. Jonathan Swift Gulliver’s Travels (Book 1& 4)
3. Lytton Strachey
Selection from
Eminent Victorians (i) End of General Gordan
(ii) Florence Nightingale
4. Bertrand Russell
Selection of Essays i. Philosophy and Politics
ii. The Future of Mankind
iii. Philosophy For Laymen
iv. The Functions of a Teacher
v. Ideas That Have Helped Mankind
Vi. Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind
5. Edward W. Said Introduction to Culture & Imperialism

PAPER FIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE
Poetry
Walt Whitman i. There was A Child Went Forth
ii. I Saw in Louisiana A Live-Oak Growing
iii. One’s-Self I Sing
iv. Poets to Come
v. O Captain! My Captain!
vi. To A Stranger
vii. Shut Not Your Doors
viii. The Carols

Robert Frost i. Mending Wall
ii. After Apple Picking
iii. The Road Not Taken
iv. Tree at my Window
v. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening
vi. Acquainted with the Night
vii. The Pasture
viii. Meeting and Passing
John Ashbery i. Melodic Trains
ii. The Painter
Richard Wilbur i. After The Last Bulletin
ii. Still Citizen Sparrow
Drama
Eugene O’Neill Mourning becomes Electra (Homecoming)
Arthur Miller The Crucible
Novel
Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms
Tony Morrison Jazz

M.A ENGLISH PART-II

1
ST ANNUAL 2014
The four papers are compulsory, the other four are optional. The candidates are
required to opt for any one of the four optional papers.
Compulsory Papers
Paper-I (Modern Poetry).………………………………….100
Paper-II (Drama-II) ..……………………………………….100
Paper-III (Fiction-II) ………………………………………...100
Paper-IV (Literary Criticism)………………………………..100
Optional Papers
Paper-V (Short Stories)....………………………………….100
Paper-VI (Linguistics)………………………………………100
Paper-VII (Essay)…………………………………………...100
Paper-VI (Literature in English around the World)……………..100
Total: 5009
Compulsory Papers10
(SYLLABI AND COURSES OF READINGS)
PAPER ONE (MODERN POETRY)
(SECTION-I)
1. William Blake
(Songs of innocence and Experience)
(Selection) i. The Divine Image
ii. Holy Thursday, I
iii. The Little Black Boy
iv. The Chimney Sweepers
v. A Poison Tree
2. William Wordsworth i. The Prelude Book-I,(Lines 1-100)
ii. Tintern Abbey, Revisited
iii. Ode on Immortality
3. P.B. Shelley i. Ode to the West Wind
ii. The Cloud
iii. Hymn to Intellectual Beauty
iv. To a Skylark
4. John Keats i. Endymion (1-50 lines)
ii. Ode to Autumn
iii. Ode to a Nightingale
iv. Ode on a Grecian Urn
(Section-II)
1. T.S. Eliot i. Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock
ii. The Waste Land
2. W.B. Yeats i. Wild Swans at Coole
ii. When You Are Old
iii. No Second Troy
iv. The Second Coming
3. Philip Larkin i. Mr. Bleaney
ii. Church Going
iii. Ambulances
iv. 1914
Reading List
• Comel R. (ed)(1971). Critcs on Yeats . London
• Drew, Elizabeth: T.S.Eliot
• Gardner, H. (1968) The Art of T.S Eliot. London
• Kenner, Hugh: ‘The Invisible Poet’s
• Southern, R. (ed) (1971) A Students’ Guide to the Selected Poems of T.S. Eliot.
• Unterecker, J. (ed) (1970) Twentieth Century Views . London 11
PAPER TWO (DRAMA)
1. Henrik Ibsen Hedda Gabler
2. George Bernard Shaw Arms and the Man
3. Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot
4. Edward Bond The Sea
5. Anton Chekhov Cherry Orchard
Recommended Readings:
• Bishop, Thomas. Pirandello and the French Theatre. New York: 1961.
• Chothia, Jean, English Drama of the the Early Modern Period 1890-1940. New York:
Longman, 1996.
• Gray, Ronald. Bertolt Brecht. New York: 1961.
• Kitchin, L. Mid-Century Drama. London: 1960 (For Osbone).
• Northam, John, Ibsen’s Dramatic Method. London: 1953. 12
PAPER THREE (NOVEL)
1. Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
2. D.H. Lawrence Sons and Lovers
3. Virginia Woolf To the Light House
4. Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart
5. William Golding Lord of the Flies
Reading List
• Allen, W. (1954) The English Novel: A Short Critical History. Penguin
• Allot, M. (1959) Novelists on the Novel. Routledge and Kegan Paul
• Bradbucy, M. (1973) Possiblitities: Essays on the State of Nvel. OUP
• Ghent, D. The English Novel: Form and Function
• Green, M The English Novel in the Twentieth Century James. McMillan
• Kennedy, A. (1979) Developments in Criticism Since Henry
• Kettle, A An Introduction to the English Novel (1&2) 13
PAPER FOUR (LITERARY CRITICISM)
1. Aristotle Poetics
2. Philip Sidney An Apology for Poetry
3. T.S. Eliot i. Tradition and Individual Talent
ii. Metaphysical Poets
iii. Milton-1
iv. Milton-2
4. Cleanth Brooks
Selection from
“The Well Wrought Urn”
i. What does poetry communicate?
ii. Gray’s Storied Urn,
iii. Keats’ Sylvan Historian: History
without footnotes,
iv. Yeats’ Great Rooted Blossomer
5. Catherine Belsey Critical Practice
6. Practical Criticism (Compulsory)
Reading List
• Abercrombie, L. Principles of Literary Criticism.
• Abrams, M.H. (1977), The Mirror and the Lamp, OUP
• Arnold, Mathew, (1966), Essays in Criticism, Second Series. McMillan
• Atkins, J. W. H. Literary Citicism in Antiquity
• Atkins, J.W.H, History of Literary Criticism
• Buckley, Vineent. Poetry and Morality: Students in the Criticism of Arnold. Eliot and Leavis.
• Daiches, David ,(1967), Critical Approaches to Literature, Longman,
• Eliot, T.S,The use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism. Faber and Faber.
• James, S. The Making of Literature
• Read, Herbert, Collected Essays in Literary Criticism. Faber and Faber
• Read, Herbert,The True Voice of Feeling. Faber and Faber
Richar, I.A Principles of Criticism
• Saintsbury, G. History of Literature
• Wismatt and Brooks Literary Criticism
14
OPTIONAL PAPERS
15
PAPER FIVE (SHORT STORY)
1. Edgar Allen Poe The Man of The Crowd
2. Anton Chekhov The Man Who Lived In A Shell
3. James Joyce The Dead
4. Franz Kafka The Judgment
5. D.H. Lawrence The Man Who Loved Islands
6. V.S. Pritchett The Voice
7. Ernest Hemingway A Clean, Well Lighted Place
8. H.E. Bates The Woman Who Had Imagination
9. Naguib Mahfouz The Mummy Awakes
10. Doris Lessing A Sunrise on the Veld
11. Nadine Gordimer Once Upon aTime
12. Flannery O’Connor Everything That Rises Must Converge
13. William Trevor A Day
14. Brian Friel The Diviner
15. Chinua Achebe Civil Peace
16. Kamau Brathwaite Dream Haiti
17. Ali A. Mazrui The Fort
18. V.S. Naipual The Night Watchmen’s Occurrence Book
19. Alice Walker Strong Horse Tea
20. Amy Tan The Voice From The Wall
21. Sara Suleri The Property of Woman
22. Hanif Kureishi My Son The Fanatic
23. Ben Okri What The Tapster Saw 16
PAPER SIX (LINGUISTICS)
1. What is Language?
2. Characteristics of Human Language
3. Origin of Language
4. Language Universal Tripods
5. Functions of Language
6. What is Linguistics?
7. Linguistics as a science
8. Branches of Linguistics
9. Some major linguistics concepts
10. Levels of Linguistics
11. Phonetics & Phonology
12. Morphology
13. Syntax
14. Semantics/Pragmatics
15. Sociolinguistics/Psycholinguistics
16. Stylistics
17. Linguistic schools of thought
Recommended Reading
• Aitchison.J 2000 Linguistics (Teach Yourself Books)
• Akmajian, A; Demers, R.A; Farmer, A.K & Harish, R.M 2001. Linguistics: An introduction to
Language & Communication 4th ED ,Brace College Publishers, New York,Cambridge CUP
• Coutlhard, Malcom. 1985 An introduction to Discourse Analysis new ED.
• Crystal. D (1991), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
• Farmer, A.K; Demers, R.A.A Linguistics Work Book
• Finch, G How to Study Linguistics: A Guide to Understanding Linguistics.
• Formkin, V.A; Roadman, R and Hymas, M 2002. Introduciton to Language. 6th ed.
• Gee, J.P 2005 An introduction to Discourse Analysis.Kristen Malmkjaer (ed) (2000)London.
Longman.
• Lyons.J.(1990) Language & Linguistics Massachusetts: MIT.
• McCarthy, Micheal 1991. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers Moonbean Publications.
New York: Heinly.

• Radford, A.Atkinson, M.Britain, D.Clahsen, H.Spencer.A (1999) Linguistics: An Introduction.
Rutledge. London & New York.
The Linguistics Encyclopedia.
• Todd, L (1987). An introduction to Linguistics.
• Victoria, F & Roadman.R (1998) An Introduction to Language Harcourt
• Yule, G 2006. The Study of Language. 2nd Edition. CUP. 17
PAPER SEVEN (ESSAY)
The paper on Essay will be designed to test the ability of the candidates in areas of
literary movements and history of English Literature. 18
PAPER EIGHT LITERATURE AROUND THE WORLD
Drama
1. Lorea House of Bernada Alba
2. Brain Friel Translations
Novel
1. Nugugi The River Between
2. Solzhynestsin A Day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch
Poetry
1. Taufiq Rafat Thinking of Mohenjodaro
The Stone Chat
The Last Visit
2. Daud Kamal Reproduction
The Street of Nightingale
A Remote Beginning
3. Maki Qureshi Air Raid
Kite
Christmas
Letter to my Sister
4. A. Hashmi Encounter with the Sirens
Autumnal
But where is the sky?
5. Zulfiqar Ghose Across India
February, 1952
The Mystique of Root
A Memory of Asia
6. Shirley Lim Monsoon History
Modern Secrets
7. Vikram Seth Humble Administrators
Garden
8. Annat Akhmatova Prologue Epilogue
9. Derek Walcott Far Cry From Africa
10. Ben Okri African Elegy
11. Achebe Refugee Mother & Child
Mango Seed
12. Nasim Ezekiel Night of the Scorpion
Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa
13. Moniza Alvi The Country at my Shoulder
Important Note/Instructions:
Books prescribed for different courses are the representative works of selected writers. The
students/candidates are required to have thorough knowledge/information of the writers’ life,
age, history and other works. Proper weightage will be given to all the writers included in the
courses of studies in all semesters. 19 20


Aims_and_perspectives #Stylistics

#Aims_and_perspectives

#Stylistics

#MA_English

Stylistics is linguistics analysis of text. When we say text what do we mean by that? Which text? Here text may include a poem and when we go for literature analysis linguistically we treat literature as text.

When we focus on literary criticism of literature then we treat literature as discourse. But combination of both literature as text and literature as discourse is what stylistic does. Many writer believes stylistics as discipline but Widdowson believes that stylistics is neither a discipline nor the subject but lies somewhere in between; it is like meditation between discipline and subject. It related
discipline with subject like language with linguistics and literature with literary criticism. For instance he says; “I want to define discipline as set of abilities; concepts; ways of thinking associated with a particular area of which one inquires, geneticists, biochemist, linguist, and literary critics, for example all follow certain principles of inquiry which characterizes different discipline” meaning Genetic, Biochemistry, they all are different discipline what are subjects then? Subject is that from which it is derived like subject is derived from discipline; discipline provides material from which subjects are derived, because discipline is a broader term. English language is subject; you’re reading different subject in your school, English language, Math, Science; science includes chemistry, biology, and physics but as you go on subject will go on move towards discipline. You talk something general then you go to specify it. “By stylistics I mean the study of literary discourse from a linguistics orientation and I shall take the view that what distinguishes stylistics from literary criticism on the one hand and linguistics on the other hand is that it is essentially a means of linking the two and has (as yet at least) no autonomous domain of its own.” “Stylistics, however involves both literary criticism and linguistics, as its morphological make-up suggests; the ‘style’ component relating it to the former and the ‘istics’ component to the latter.”

Haliday defines stylistics as “the linguistics analysis of literary text” according to him stylistician can comprehend literary text through a comprehension of their language structure. Literary text is seen to consist of patterns and properties which are part of language. Those patterns of language can be at level
of:
a) Arrangement of graphic and phonic symbols
b) The lexico-grammatical patterns
c) The semantic or pragmatic patterns
The goal of stylistic is to show why and how the text means linguistically.
Language is subject and linguistics is its discipline same as literature is a subject and literary criticism isits discipline. Discipline is studied to understand the subject. Stylistic is neither a subject nor a discipline but it tells relation between them.

Disciplines:  linguistics           literary criticism
                                   ↖                     ↗
                            Stylistics
                                   ↙                                   ↘
(English) language                 (English) literature

For Example: a painting to a learner is nothing but use of colors but a critic may find a hidden message behind that painting. Further when a non-verbal message is written into a verbal message it further gives forms to understand this is possible through literary criticism.

Primarily critic concerned is with message of a literary piece which a writer wants to convey. Linguist direct attention to how language is used in the piece of literary text.

HOW TO fill Examination form, Registration form OF PUNJAB UNIVERSITY

THOMAS HARDY AS A NOVELIST

GEORGE ELIOT CONCEPTION OF NOVEL

GEORGE ELIOT AS AN INTELLECTUAL NOVELIST

OEDIPUS REX IN URDU/HINDI

The Crucible past papers 2015 to 2018 supply

Touchstone Method

Touchstone Method is a term coined by Matthew Arnold, the famous Victorian poet and critic.

He introduced the term in his essay “Study of Poetry” to denote short but distinctive passages, selected from the writing of great poets, which he used to determine the excellence of passages or poems which are compared to them.

As Arnold puts it, “There can be no more useful help for discovering what poetry belongs to the class of the truly excellent . . . than to have always in one’s mind lines and expressions of the great masters, and to apply them as a touchstone to other poetry.” He quotes eleven passages, three from Homer, three from Dante, three from Milton, and two from Shakespeare; all of them have a tone of melancholy about them.

Lines of intense poetic quality must be treasured by us, and kept well in our minds as guiding touchstones to great poetry. This concept has aroused a lot of controversy. However, we must realize that Arnold did not wish his touchstones to be compared unimaginatively with some other passages of other poets.

On the flip side, the touchstones have only a short range. Single passages do not prove his theory. Great authors and centuries of national traditions cannot be represented in a line or two.

The touchstone method also runs counter to the principle of totality in a work.
It's a theory put forward by Matthew Arnold. He suggests that the best way of judging excellence is to have at one's command some passages from the great masters such as Dante,Shakespeare et al. and such passages can be used as a “touchstone" with which to evaluate one's poetry. According to this theory, the critic must allow himself to feel the presence of high poetry in the select passages to avoid giving a falsely high estimate of inferior poetry.

Simply..Suppose if you are writing a poem,then you should compare that poem with a well-known poet's poem.This will make you understand the differrence and helps you in producing better poem.

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS past papers TILL 2018 SUPPLY

THEMES MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS 3

THEMES MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS 2

THEMES MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS 1

HOW THE CRUCIBLE REPRESENTS THE REAL CHARACTERS OF THE REAL AMERICAN OCIETY

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PLOT AND CHARACTER PART 1

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PLOT AND CHARACTER PART 2

English literature and linguistics with ASMA SHEIKH: THE CRUCIBLE BY ARTHER MILLER

English literature and linguistics with ASMA SHEIKH: THE CRUCIBLE BY ARTHER MILLER

Q: Discuss how the play “The Crucible” Presents the Real Characters from Real American Society.

“The Crucible” by Miller

Q: Discuss Salem, Witchcraft, Puritanism and the Puritans in The Crucible. Also discuss the title of the play.

Q: Discuss how the play “The Crucible” Presents the Real Characters from Real American Society.

Q: Discuss major themes in the play and The Corruption of Justice.

Background to the Crucible

Before the Crucible:

The playwright Arthur Miller was born in New York on 17 October 1915, to a non-Orthodox Jewish family. Miller had a comfortable childhood, but when his father was ruined in the Depression of 1929, the family moved to Brooklyn, at that time almost a country suburb. Arthur Miller's school career was unpromising; he worked briefly in his father's business and then took a variety of casual jobs, some of them manual, which provided the background for several plays.

Salem

The village had developed as the agricultural hinterland of Salem, a thriving trading town on the coast five miles away. Rivers and sea inlets lay between the town and the village, which was in reality a collection of scattered farmsteads. Farmers living further inland had to grow their produce on much less fertile terrain. Added to jealousies about land were disputes over appointing a minister. The town continued to demand taxes to exercise authority over the villagers.

Puritanism

Although officially part of the Church of England, the 1630 Puritans were closer in belief and practice to Presbyterian Calvinism. They believed that every soul was predestined for Heaven or Hell. Old Testament law applied to every area of life. The Puritans blamed any temptations to break their stern code on the Devil and other evil spirits. Those who broke the rules had to confess in public and suffer severe punishment. To work on Sunday was a serious offence. The Puritans disapproved of most forms of relaxation. They confined private reading to the Bible and other religious texts. Children had to live up to this code of behaviour from their earliest years and take their share of adult work from the age of seven. Miller discusses the effects of this highly demanding self-discipline in his notes to Act I of The Crucible.

Witchcraft

Like most people in the seventeenth century, the Puritans believed in witches. The idea of witchcraft existed long before the Christian era. The Old Testament states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”. This was the basis of the witchcraft laws. In prehistoric societies, magic and sorcery were a feature of religion; the early Christian Church regarded them as the remains of paganism. There were laws against the practice of witchcraft, but no systematic persecution.

The Puritans

In 1620, the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock in Massa­chusetts and founded the first permanent settlement in New England. They had left England to escape religious persecution and to establish a New Jerusalem in the New World. This Pro­mised Land, however, contained many new dangers. In the face of a harsh climate, fierce animals, hostile Indians and a vast, godless wilderness, the Puritans drew together in a tightly unified group with extremely strict rules and an autocratic leadership. Through a combination of bitterly hard work, rigid discipline and harsh justice, the Puritans succeeded in taming the land that no one before them could conquer.

The Crucible   :      Summary

The Crucible, a historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, takes place in a small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692. The witchcraft trials, as Miller explains in a prose prologue to the play, grew out of the particular moral system of the Puritans, which promoted interference in others' affairs as well as a repressive code of conduct that frowned on any diversion from norms of behavior.

The play begins in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter, Betty, lays ill. Parris lives with his daughter and his seventeen-year old niece, Abigail Williams, an orphan who witnessed her parents' murder by the Indians. Parris has sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, believing his daughter's illness stems from supernatural explanations. Betty became ill when her father discovered her dancing in the woods with Abigail, Tituba (the Parris' slave from Barbados) and several other local girls. Already there are rumors that Betty's illness is due to witchcraft, but Parris tells Abigail that he cannot admit that he found his daughter and niece dancing like heathens in the forest. Abigail says that she will admit to dancing and accept the punishment, but will not admit to witchcraft. Abigail and Parris discuss rumors about the girls: when they were dancing one of the girls was naked, and Tituba was screeching gibberish. Parris also brings up rumors that Abigail's former employer, Elizabeth Proctor, believes that Abby is immoral.

Thomas and Ann Putnam arrive and tell Parris that their daughter, Ruth, is sick. Ann Putnam admits that she sent Ruth to Tituba, for Tituba knows how to speak to the dead and could find out who murdered her seven children, each of whom died during infancy. When the adults leave, Abigail discusses Betty's illness with Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren, the servants of the Putnams and the Proctors, respectively. Abigail threatens them, warning them not to say anything more than that they danced and Tituba conjured Ruth's sisters. John Proctor arrives to find Mary and send her home. He speaks with Abigail alone, and she admits to him about the dancing. In the past, John and Abigail had an affair, which is the reason why Elizabeth Proctor fired her. Abigail propositions John, but he sternly refuses her. When Betty hears people singing psalms from outside, she begins to shriek. Reverend Parris returns, and realizes that Betty cannot bear to hear the Lord's name.

Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse are the next to visit. The former is a contentious old man, while the latter is a well-respected old woman. Rebecca claims that Betty's illness is nothing serious, but merely a childish phase. Parris confronts Proctor because he has not been in church recently, but Proctor claims that Parris is too obsessed with damnation and never mentions God.

Reverend John Hale arrives from Beverly, a scholarly man who looks for precise signs of the supernatural. Parris tells him about the dancing and the conjuring, while Giles Corey asks if there is any significance to his wife's reading strange books. Hale questions Abigail, asking if she sold her soul to Lucifer. Finally Abigail blames Tituba, claiming that Tituba made Abigail and Betty drink blood and that Tituba sends her spirit out to make mischief. Putnam declares that Tituba must be hanged, but Hale confronts her. Upon realizing that the only way to save herself is to admit to the charge, Tituba claims that the devil came to her and promised to return her to Barbados. She says that several women were with him, including Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn, and the girls join in the chorus of accusations, name more people they claim to have seen with the devil.

The second act takes place a week later in the Proctor's home. John Proctor returns home late after a long day planting in the fields, and Elizabeth suspects that he has been in the village. Mary Warren has been there as an official of the court for the witchcraft trials, even after Elizabeth forbade her. Elizabeth tells John that she must tell Ezekiel Cheever, the constable that Abigail admitted that Betty's sickness has nothing to do with witchcraft, but Proctor admits that nobody will believe him because he was alone with Abigail at the time. Elizabeth is disturbed by this, but Proctor reprimands her for her suspicion. Mary Warren arrives and gives Elizabeth a poppet that she made in court. Mary tells them that thirty-nine people have been arrested and Sarah Osburn will hang, but not Sarah Good, who confessed. When Proctor becomes angry at Mary, she tells him that she saved Elizabeth's life today, for her name was mentioned in court.

John Hale arrives. He tells the Proctors that Rebecca Nurse was charged, then questions Proctor on his churchgoing habits. Finally he makes Proctor state the Ten Commandments; he can remember nine of the ten, but Elizabeth must remind him of adultery. Proctor tells Hale what Abigail admitted about Parris discovering her in the woods, but Hale says that it must be nonsense, for so many have confessed to witchcraft. Proctor reminds him that these people would certainly confess, if denying it means that they be hanged. Hale asks Proctor whether he believes in witches, and he says that he does, but not those in Salem. Elizabeth denies all belief in witchcraft, for she believes that the devil cannot take a woman's soul if she is truly upright.

Ezekiel Cheever arrives to arrest Elizabeth on the charge that she sent her spirit out to Abigail and stuck a needle in her. Cheever finds the poppet, which has a needle in it, but Mary Warren says that she made the poppet in court that day, although Abigail witnessed her making it. Upon hearing the charge, Elizabeth claims that Abigail is a murderer who must be ripped out of the world. Proctor rips up the warrant and tells Cheever that he will not give his wife to vengeance. When Hale insists that the court is just, Proctor calls him a Pontius Pilate. He finally demands that Mary Warren come to court and testify against Abigail, but she sobs that she cannot.

The third act takes place in the vestry room of the Salem meeting house, which serves the court. Giles Corey arrives with Francis Nurse and tells Deputy Governor Danforth, who presides over the trials, that Thomas Putnam is charging people with witchcraft in order to gain their land. He also says that he meant nothing when he said that his wife read strange books.

John Proctor arrives with Mary Warren, and presents a deposition signed by Mary that asserts that she never saw any spirits. Parris thinks that they are there to overthrow the court, and Danforth questions whether Proctor has any ulterior motive, and tells Proctor that his wife is pregnant and thus will live at least one more year, even if convicted. Proctor also presents a petition signed by ninety-one people attesting to the good character of Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. Parris claims that this is an attack upon the court, but Hale asks Parris if every defense is an attack on it.

Putnam arrives at the court, and Giles Corey charges him with murder. Giles tells Danforth that someone told him that Putnam prompted his daughter to accuse George Jacobs so that he could buy his land. Giles refuses to name this person, and so is arrested for contempt. Abigail then arrives with the other girls, and Proctor tells Danforth how Abigail means to murder his wife. Abigail pretends that she feels a sharp wind threatening her. Proctor grabs her by the hair and calls her a whore, finally admitting his affair.

Danforth orders that Elizabeth be brought to the court. If Elizabeth admits to firing Abigail for her affair, Danforth will charge Abigail with murder. Elizabeth, thinking that she is defending her husband, only claims that she fired Abigail because of poor work habits. Proctor cries out for Elizabeth to tell the truth, and Hale admits that Elizabeth's lie is a natural one to tell. Abigail then claims that Mary Warren's spirit is attacking her in the form of a bird. Although Mary claims that the girls are lying, she soon breaks down and tells Danforth that Proctor is in league with Satan and wants to pull down the court. Proctor cries out that God is dead, and that a fire is burning in Hell because the court is pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore. Hale denounces the proceedings and quits the court.

The fourth act takes places several months later in the autumn at the Salem jail cell. Cheever details how the town is in shambles because so many people are in jail. Hale has been begging Rebecca Nurse to admit to witchcraft. Parris arrives and tells Danforth how Abigail has vanished with Mercy Lewis and stolen his money. Parris worries about the rumors of rebellion against the witchcraft proceedings in Andover, but Hathorne reminds Parris how there has only been great satisfaction in all of the Salem executions. Parris reminds him that Rebecca Nurse is no immoral woman like the others executed and there will be consequences to her execution. Still, Danforth refuses to postpone any of the executions.

Danforth calls for Elizabeth Proctor, and Hale tells her that he does not want Proctor to die, for he would feel responsible for the murder. He tells Elizabeth that God may damn a liar less than a person who throws one's life away, but Elizabeth claims that this may be the Devil's argument. Finally Elizabeth agrees to speak with Proctor, who is brought in bearded and filthy. Proctor and Elizabeth discuss their children, and Elizabeth tells him how Giles Corey died: when he refused to answer yes or no to his indictment, and was thus pressed with stones until he would answer. He only gave the words "more weight" before they crushed him.

Proctor says that he cannot mount the gibbet as a saint, for it would be a fraud to claim that he has never lied. Elizabeth says that she has her own sins, for only a cold wife would prompt lechery. Finally Proctor decides that he will confess himself. Danforth demands a written confession and, to prove the purity of his soul, he demands that Proctor accuse others. Hale suggests that it is sufficient for Proctor to confess to God, but Danforth still requires a written statement. Proctor refuses, because he wishes only to keep his good name for the respectability of his children. Danforth refuses to accept his confession, and orders that he be hanged. Hale begs Elizabeth to plead with Proctor to sign a confession, but Elizabeth claims that Proctor now has his goodness, and nobody should take it away from him.

Major Themes of the Play

A crucible is a vessel in which metal is heated to a high temperature and melted for the purposes of casting. It can also refer, metaphorically, to a time in history when great political, social, and cultural changes are in force, where society is seemingly being melted down and recast into a new mold. The word is also remarkably similar to crucifixion, which Miller certainly intended in choosing it as the title of his play. The picture of a man and a society bubbling in a crucible and the crucifixion of Christ interweave to form the main themes of the play: the problem of making the right moral choice and the necessity of sacrifice as a means of redemption. Both these themes, of course, take place in the context of the larger struggle of good versus evil.

The choice John Proctor must make is between saving either himself or society. His failure to do well initially allows events to get out of hand and eventually forces him into a position where he must make a choice. Reverend Hale, while not subject to the same moral quandary as Proctor, also suffers a crisis of consciousness for his failure to strive hard enough to stop the proceedings of the court. In contrast to them both are Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor, whose moral and emotional steadfastness represents society at its best.

In a society at odds with itself and where reason and faith in the society has been replaced with irrationality and self-doubt, a clever manipulator can cause chaos. The Reverend Parris, Danforth, Hathorne, and Putnam represent the corruption of society by self-interested parties preying on society's fears. Through them, Miller highlights the destruction that manipulation and weak-mindedness can thrust upon society.

Miller suggests that in such times good can only triumph through a sacrifice upon the altar of society, that the crisis might only be able to be rectified by the death of those who struggle to uphold society's values. The death of John Proctor, though it might seem a tragic waste, is necessary, both for his own personal redemption and that of his society. The sacrifice of Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey and others, recalls the sacrifice of Christ for the sake of humankind. In the end, The Crucible focuses on a historical event to drive home issues that essentially characterize all societies at all times, which makes the play both universal and enduring.

The Individual Vs Authority

Miller’s concept of the parallel between 1950s America and seventeenth-century Salem emerges most clearly in the Themes of his plays. In both cases, Government assumed the right to control citizens’ beliefs as well as their actions; in both, the consequences were the same.

The reality of Communism and the generally accepted non-reality of witchcraft are beside the point. In The Crucible, John and Rebecca are not standing up for individual rights in the modern sense. Salem villagers all believe in witches and infallibility of the Bible. What the victims oppose is the abuse of power. This is relevant to any age or culture. In late seventeenth-century New England, the balance began to turn to greater individual freedom. This did not please the rulers.

Until the eighteenth century, religion played a large part in the running of most European states or colonies. In particular, those affected by the protestant Reformation conformed to some form of theocratic (god-ruled) system. Laws were based on the authority of the Bible, and the Church used them to control every aspect of people’s lives. The modern idea that religious belief is a matter of private conscience would have been considered blasphemous. Nevertheless, even in seventeenth-century New England, a more tolerant and diversified society was emerging. This movement towards change stirred up great social tensions.

The Reformation had made people more responsible for their own salvation. It substituted public disapproval for the penances of the Catholic Church. Yet the wealthier frequently escaped punishment.

In Act I, ‘I have trouble enough… He says there’s a party’ John Proctor shows his resentment when Parris criticizes his infrequent church attendance. He is absent for practical reasons—Elizabeth’s illness, his own work, and no doubt the ten-mile walk. He feels Parris does not deserve respect. Rebecca, more obedient, knows that Parris is unworthy, but is still shocked by John’s remarks. Reverend hale later reprimands him for daring to question Parris’s God-given authority.

Act II demonstrates the helplessness of people who try to stand up for their rights in a theocratic state. Once the witch-hunt has started, the potential for conflict escalates. Anyone who doubts the so-called evidence is questioning God’s will. The judges’ handling of the trial relates more to corruption of justice. They cling so inflexibly to their point of view that law-abiding characters like Rebecca and Francis Nurse are pushed into defiance. Even Hale, an establishment figure, finds he is unable to ignore his conscience. He finally denounces the court. Those whose honesty is stronger than their fear of death inevitably destroy themselves. Rebecca refuses to damn her soul with a lie; Giles values his land more than his life, and willingly accepts a horrible death.

The Effects of Fear

Fear is a dominant emotion in The Crucible. Mr. Parris is afraid that his rebellious Parishioners will use Betty's strange illness to oust him from his position; Abigail fears that Reverend Hale will find out what she did in the forest; so she embarks on an elaborate hoax that almost destroys the village. Ashamed to confess his affair with Abigail, John Proctor speaks up too late. This is only to say that the villagers of Salem are like people everywhere - they have secrets to hide and worry about their reputations.

The unique feature that drew Miller to Salem was the fear that erupted there in 1692. Puritans believed that the Devil was constantly working to tempt human beings away from God. At the end of the play, Tituba is waiting for Satan to transport her to the singin' and dancin' in Barbados. All other references to witchcraft are connected with fear, suspicion, and the collapse of normal social values. The stricken community can no longer defend itself or protect vulnerable individuals.

There are two types of accusation in the play. The first comes from characters seeking revenge or exploiting the panic for personal gain. Others pass on the blame for their misfortunes, but they are not necessarily malicious. Irrational fear deludes them into believing whatever they are told. (No one ever stops to ask why Rebecca should want to harm Mrs. Putnam's babies.)

In both the McCarthy trials and the Salem witch-hunt victims could escape punishment if they denounced others. Supplying names would of course imply that the accused were guilty themselves. In both episodes, only the strongest stood up to their judges. In his autobiography, Time bends, Miller describes his reaction to friends who were called up before the McCarthy tribunal and saved themselves by denouncing others. Similarly, in The Crucible, we meet characters that confess to practising witchcraft and accuse others of doing the same. This is the second type of accusation.

Tituba is the first to be interrogated. Mr. Putnam’s threat of hanging produces the desired answer, and thereafter the demoralized slave repeats any names suggested to her. Miller builds a prolonged scene around this minor character to show exactly how the prosecutors went about their business. Tituba represents all that were terrified into naming the 'witches'.

The pressures of irrational fear are most vividly illustrated in their effects on Mary Warren. Mary is terrified from the moment she steps inside the court, but she bears up well under cross-examination; Encouraged by Proctor, she refuses to withdraw her claim that the girls are fraudulent even when bullied by judge Hathorne. Yet she begins to crumple as soon as Abigail sets the girls loose on her within minutes, Mary is caught up in their hysteria and she disintegrates. In her final moments on stage, she rushes for protection to the very person responsible for her ordeal.

The Corruption of Justice

It is hard for anyone today to regard a trial for witchcraft as anything other than a mockery of justice. To pick out what goes wrong in The Crucible we have to put aside disbelief and look at the details of charging, arrest and trial. The process of arrest is chaotic as well as brutal, as we see when Cheever and Herrick arrive at the Proctors' farmhouse to take Elizabeth to jail. Cheever will not tell her why he is looking for 'puppets'. During the trials, Danforth manipulates both defendants and legal procedure to suit his purpose. He never attempts to look at probabilities, or weigh the defendants' motives. Despite his authority and experience, he presides over an unruly court. He allows Hathorne to score points based on sheer verbal trickery - 'How do you know, then, that you are not a witch?' Danforth does the same himself when he entraps Elizabeth into lying to save her husband's reputation. He also uses leading questions to get the answers that suit him (though not always successfully):

'Might it be that here we have no afflicting spirit loose; but in the court there were some?'

                 'You deny every scrap and tittles of this?'

The Crucible – The Title

Arthur Miller cleverly picked the title "The Crucible" for his play about the Salem witch hunts of the 1660's because of the word's many meanings. Throughout the play, Miller has characters face severe tests that make them question their own self. A crucible is also an earthen pot that is used for melting metals. In a way the town of Salem was a crucible as people were brought before the court and blasted with allegations from others as being witches. They were either forced to give in and live a lie or be hanged.

The term crucible could also be used to describe the heat of the situation. Innocent people were caught up in the witch hunt were thrown into an overheated situation that had been blown completely out of proportion. The crucible may also symbolize Hell. As substances in a crucible melt and disintegrate they form a completely different substance. This could symbolize the society of Salem disintegrating and forming into a completely new one. After the situation had been heated what you are left with are the remnants of society that once existed.

By the end of this play, the true meaning of the word crucible was a severe test. John Proctor underwent the most severe test and as a result his character underwent a drastic change throughout the play. The ultimate test that John Proctor undergoes is the final decision that he makes before he dies. The town of Salem was deeply religious and they were willing to believe the word of a deceitful young girl rather than believe in the integrity of people like John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Rebecca Nurse.

“The Crucible” Presents the Real Characters from Real American Society

In a sense, The Crucible has the structure of a classical tragedy, with John Proctor as the play's tragic hero. Honest, upright, and blunt-spoken, Proctor is a good man, but one with a secret, fatal flaw. His lust for Abigail Williams led to their affair (which occurs before the play begins), and created Abigail's jealousy of his wife, Elizabeth, which sets the entire witch hysteria in motion.

Once the trials begin, Proctor realizes that he can stop Abigail’s rampage through Salem but only if he confesses to his adultery. Such an admission would ruin his good name, and Proctor is, above all, a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation. He eventually makes an attempt, through Mary warren's testimony, to name Abigail as a fraud without revealing the crucial information. When this attempt fails, he finally bursts out with a confession, calling Abigail a “whore” and proclaiming his guilt publicly.

Only then does he realize that it is too late, that matters have gone too far, and that not even the truth can break the powerful frenzy that he has allowed Abigail to whip up. Proctor’s confession succeeds only in leading to his arrest and conviction as a witch, and though he lambastes the court and its proceedings, he is also aware of his terrible role in allowing this fervour to grow unchecked

Proctor redeems himself and provides a final denunciation of the witch trials in his final act. Offered the opportunity to make a public confession of his guilt and live, he almost succumbs, even signing a written confession. His immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. He, still, wants to save his name, but for personal and religious reasons rather than public reasons.

Proctor’s refusal to provide a false confession is a true religious and personal stand. Such a confession would dishonour his fellow prisoners, who are brave enough to die as testimony to the truth. Perhaps more relevantly, a false admission would also dishonour him, staining not just his public reputation, but also his soul. By refusing to give up his personal integrity Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that such integrity will bring him to heaven. He goes to the gallows redeemed for his earlier sins. As Elizabeth says to end the play, responding to Hale's plea that she convince Proctor to publicly confess:

“He has his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”

Of the major characters, Abigail is the least complex. She is clearly the villain of the play, more so than Parris or Danforth: she tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths. Throughout the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations never seem more complex than simple jealousy and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. The language of the play is almost Biblical, and Abigail seems like a Biblical character—a Jezebel figure, driven only by sexual desire and a lust for power. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out a few background details that, though they don’t mitigate Abigail’s guilt, make her actions more understandable.