The Iliad    -      Homer                                         

One of the finest achievements in Western literature, Homer’s ILIAD tells us the story of the darkest episode of Trojan War. At its centre Ahilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks and his conflict with his leader King Agamemnon. The story centres on the critical events in four days of the 10^th and final year of the war between the Greeks and Trojans that led to Achilles killing Hector the leader of the Trojans. The Iliad is written in the 10^th year of the Trojan War.

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The great heroes on the Trojan side are: Aeneas, Hector and Paris (Alexanderous). On the Spartan(Greek) side are: Ajax (there were two Ajaxes), Achilles, King Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus.   

Greek and Roman conceptions of myth. Mythology was at the heart of everyday life in Ancient Greece. Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history. They used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, traditional enmities and friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace one’s leaders’ descent from a mythological hero or god. The profound knowledge of the Homeric classics was deemed by the Greeks the basis of their acculturation.  Homer was the “education of Greece”. But Plato the great Greek philosopher expelled the study of Homer of the tragedies and of the related mythological traditions from his utopian ‘Republic’.

After the rise of philosophy, history, prose and rationalism in the late 5^th century B.C. the fate of myth became uncertain, and mythological genealogies gave place to a conception of history which tried to exclude the supernatural such as the Thucydidean history, while poets and dramatists were reworking the myths, Greek historians and philosophers were beginning to criticise them. A few radical philosophers like Xenophanes of Colophon were already beginning to label the poets’ tales as blasphemous lies in the 6^th century B.C. Zenophanes had complained that Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods “all that is shameful and disgraceful among men; they steal, commit adultery, and deceive one another”.  This line of thought found its most sweeping expression in Plato’s ‘Republic” and “Laws”.  Plato created his own allegorical myths (such as the vision of Er in the Republic), attacked the traditional tales of the gods’ tricks, thefts and adulteries as immoral, and objected to their central role in literature.

Plato’s criticism was the first serious challenge to the Homeric mythological tradition, referring to the myths as “old wives’ chatter. Nevertheless, even Plato did not manage to wean himself and his society from the influence of myth; his own characterization for Socrates is based on the traditional Homeric and tragic patterns, used by the philosopher to praise the righteous life of his teacher.  But perhaps someone might say, “Are you then not ashamed, Socrates, of having followed such a pursuit, that you are now in danger of being put to death as a result?” But I should make to him a just reply. “You do not speak well sir, if you think a man in whom there is even a little merit ought to consider danger of life or death, and not rather regard this only, when he does things, whether the things he does are right or wrong and the acts of a good or a bad man. For according to your argument all the demigods would be bad who died at Troy, including the son of Thetis, who so despised danger, in comparison with enduring any disgrace, that when his mother (and she was a goddess) said to him, as he was eager to slay Hector, something like this, I believe, My son if you avenge the death of your friend Patroclus and kill Hector, you yourself shall die”; for straightway, after Hector, is death appointed unto you”. Achilles, when he heard this, made light of death and danger, and feared much more to live as a coward and not to avenge his friend’s death and said “Straightway, may I die, after doing vengeance upon the wrongdoer, that I may not stay here, jeered at beside the curved ships, a burden of the earth.

The story of ILIAD begins with the quarrel between Achilles and King Agamemnon over a beautiful young girl called Briseis. She was given to Achilles by the Achaeans when they plundered the city of Thebes as his share of the loot. Achilles, the tower of strength of the Greek army loved the girl and she also was in love with the great Greek warrior and stayed with him in his tent in the ship. King Apollo sent pestilence upon the host (the Greek people who had come to the seashore of Troy in many ship and anchored in the sea around the city of Troy) The Greeks have been fighting with the Trojans for the last ten years over the issue of Helen, the wife of Menelaus who had been abducted by Paris (Alexandrus), the youngest son of King Priam of Troy. Menelaus is the brother of Agamemnon, the King of Greek people. Paris is the brother of Hector of Troy.

Chryses is the priest of  God Apollo and prayed to the God that he was dishonoured by the King Agamemnon. The old man had gone to the King Agamemnon and requested him to get back his daughter Chryseis and he was willing to give him ransom but the King was angry with the old priest and said that he would not free her and she would live in the household of King Agamenon. This is why King Apollo sent pestilence on the Greek people and they died in hundreds and thousands. An assembly was held and Achilles asked King Agamemnon to free the girl to her father. But Agamemnon demanded the girl Briseis from Achilles. Thus they quarrelled over the girl and she was taken away by force from the tent of Achilles by King Agamemnon. Achilles is the son of mortal Peleus and his mother is the Silver-footed Thetis a goddess. She is the daughter of old Merman of Oceanus and lives with her father in the Oceanus. Goddess Juno is the sister and wife to Father Jove, the dread son of Saturn. Juno has a son called Vulcan, the lame footed semi god, who is the smith of Olympus. King Apollo is also known as Foebus Apolo is the son of Jove and lovely Leto. Apollo is always seen as a hunter with a silver bow and a quiver upon his shoulder. When he shoots arrows one by one pestilence struck man, animals alike and fall dead like rain drops.

Furious at this insult, Achilles returns to his tent in the army camp and refuses to fight in the war any longer. He is now very angry with Agamemnon and the Achaean forces and asks his mother the sea-nymph Thetis to get the help of Zeus, king of the gods for the victory of Trojans. The Trojan and Achaean sides have declared a cease-fire, but now the Trojans violated the treaty and with the help of Zeus, they began to kill hundreds of Achaean soldiers. Several days of fierce conflict continues including the duels between Paris and Menelaus and between Hector and Ajax. The Achaeans make no progress: even the heroism of the great Achaean warrior Diomedes proves fruitless. Finally the Trojans pushed the Achaeans back, forcing them to take shelter behind the ramparts that protect their ships. A night mission formed by Diomedes and Odysseus walked to the camp of the Trojans to get information about their plans also failed. The next day several Achaean commanders become wounded and the Trojans attacked the Achaean ramparts and set fire to one of their ships. Now all the Achaean soldiers were frightened with fear because they cannot return home to Greece if their ships are destroyed in fire.

On seeing the defeat and destruction of the ships of the Achaeans, Achilles agrees to a plan proposed by Nestor, the old man in Achaean camp. Achilles allowed his beloved friend Patroclus to take his place in battle and thus help the Achaeans against the Trojans. Achilles gave Patroclus his own armour. Achilles warned Patroclus not to fight with Hector in the absence of Achilles. It would be the glory of Achilles alone to kill Hector. Patroclus agreed to this and marched to the battle field.  Patroclus is a great warrior, second only to Achilles in the Achaeans army. With the help of Patroclus, Achaeans pushed the Trojans away from the ships and back to the Troy city walls. But Patroclus forgot the advice of Achilles and went forward to fight alone against Hector. God Appollo knocks Patroclus’ armour to the ground and it was easy for Hector to kill Patroclus. Fighting was stopped and both sides try to lay claim to the body and armour of Patroclus. Hector put on the armour of Achilles which had been given to him by his mother the sea-nymph Thetis. But he cannot take the body of Patroclus. It was taken away by Menelus and others and managed to bring the body back to Achaean camp. When Achilles learns that his beloved friend Patroclus was killed by none other than Hector, Achilles was immersed in the sea of sorrow. He cried aloud like a child for a long time sitting by the dead body and finally Achilles is determined to reconcile with Agamemnon and rejoin the battle. Thetis goes to Mount Olympus and persuades the semi-god Vulcan to forge a new suit of armour for her beloved son Achilles which she presents to him the next morning. Achilles then rides out to battle at the head of the Achaean army.

Meanwhile, Hector, not expecting Achilles to rejoin the battle, has ordered his men to camp outside the walls of Troy. But when the Trojan army glimpses Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Achaean army, it flees in terror back behind the city walls.

 Achilles told Agamemnon that that he was going to battle to avenge the death of Patroclus and he would fight fasting and without food till Achaeans avenged the Trojans. Meanwhile Jove of many delled Olympus bade Themis gather the gods in council, whereon she went about and called them to the house of Jove. Jove told them that he would watch the fight of the Achaeans and Trojans and all other gods and goddesses can join either Achaeans and Trojans as they wished, but don’t fight against Achilles. Juno, Pallas Minerva, earth encircling Neptune, Mercury bringer of good luck and excellent in all cunning- all these joined the Achaeans. With them also the lame god Vulcan joined. On the Trojan side, Mars, Apollo, Diana, Leto ,the river god Xanthus and Venus stood. God Apollo encouraged Aeneas to fight against Achilles and they fought against each other like two lions. Aeneas drove his spear at the great and terrible shield of Achilles, but Aeneas’ spear did not pierce the shield, for the gold, gift of the god stayed the point. Achilles in his turn threw and struck the round shield of Aeneas and Achilles could have easily killed Aeneas, but Neptune helped Aeneas, because Jove loved Aeneas above all the sons born to him of mortal women. Noble Anchises for his father and Venus for his mother. Now Jove hated the blood of Priam, while Aeneas shall reign over the Trojans, he and his children’s children that shall be born hereafter.

Phoebus Apollo came upto Hector and said. ”Hector, on no account must you challenge Achilles to single combat; keep a look out for him while you are under cover of the others and away from the thick of fight”. But when Achilles killed Polydorus, the youngest brother of Hector, he could not control himself and fought against Achilles. Hector stood outside the gate of Troy city. But old King Priam asked every Trojan to get inside the gate and he wanted to shut the gate against Achilless. But Hector alone stood outside the gate of Troy city for he decided to battle with Achilles. King Priam again and again begged Hector to go inside the gate and not to fight with Achilles. “Hector, the old man cried, stay not to face this man Achilles, alone and unsupported, or you will meet death hands of Achilles, for he is mightier than you. Come, then, my son within the city to be the guardian of Trojan men and Trojan women, or you will both lose your own life and afford a mighty triumph to the son Peleus. Have pity on your unhappy father”. The old man tore his grey hair as he spoke, but he moved not the heart of Hector. His mother nearby stood and wept. “Hector, she cried, weeping bitterly the while, “Hector, my son, spurn not this breast, but have pity upon me too”. On hearing the words of beloved parents, Hector thought for a while with the heaviness of his heart that if he did not fight against Achilles all Trojans would blame him. Suppose Hector tries to settle with Achilles by giving Helen and all the wealth taken from Greece, Achilles would not accept them because he wanted to kill Hector, he alone wants the glory of it. So it is better to fight against Achilles and die a heroic death.

 At that moment Achilles rushed to Hector at it were Mars himself and he brandished his terrible spear and Hector fled in dismay before the gates while Achilles darted after him at his utmost speed. As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, sweeps down upon some cowering dove, the dove flies before him but the falcon with a shrill scream follows close after- Achilles make straight for Hector with all his might, while Hector fled under the Trojan wall as fast as his legs could take him. They ran for a long time along the waggon-road, hills and valleys. All the gods watched them and Jove said that his heart was full of pity for Hector. “So let gods decide whether we should save him or let him fall”. Then Minerva said to Jove, “Father Hector’s death is already decreed by you and you can do as you like, but we don’t feel pity for him” Then Jove said “it is your will shall be done”. On hearing this Minerava is happy and flew down to the plain of Troy and approached Achilles who is still running after Hector and said “You stay here and take breath while I go upto him and pursued Hector to make a stand and fight you”. Achilles obeyed her gladly. Then Minerva disguised herself as Deiphobus, the dearest brother of Hector and spoke to Hector in his voice “Dear brother, I see you are running for a long time and Achilles is chasing you at full speed round the city of Priam, let us wait and attack Achilles, we together”. Hector trusted the words of his brother and faced Achilles boldly. Achilles hurled his spear at Hector but Minerva snatched the spear and gave it back to Achilles without Hector’s seeing her. Hector hurled his last spear at Achilles, but it missed its aim and there was no weapon and cried for the help of his brother Deiphobus for a spear, but there was no man, then he saw the truth and said to himself “Alas! the gods have lured me on to my destruction” He took his sword and rushed to Achilles to kill him, but Achilles struck him with his sword on the neck of Hector and Hector fell headlong. Achilles then lashes the body of Hector to the back of his chariot and drags it across the battlefield to the Achaean camp. Upon Achilles arrival, the triumphant Achaeans celebrated Patroclus’ funeral with a long series of athletic games in his honour.  Each day for the next nine days, Achilles drags Hector’s body in circles around Patroclus’s funeral bier.

At last, the gods agree that Hector deserves a proper burial befitting to the great hero of Trojans. Zeus sends the god Hermes to escort King Priam who is Hector’s father and the ruler of Troy into the Achaean camp. Priam tearfully pleads with Achilles to take pity on an old father who lost his son.  He reminds Achilles of his own mortal father Peleus. On hearing the lamentations of Priam, Achilles is deeply moved, finally relents and returns Hector’s corpse to the Trojans. Both sides agree to a temporary truce, and Hector receives a hero’s funeral at Trojan city.

Kjt/16-02-2015

        Poetry and Poetic Diction (Preface to the Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads, 1800)

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1. Why did Wordsworth choose humble and rustic life as theme of poems

Answer is already given to the students

2. Defects of contemporary poetry, according to Wordsworth

In his Preface to the second Edition of Lyrical Ballads in the year 1800, Wordsworth accuses many contemporary poets of writing triviality and meanness, both of thought and language in their poetry. They followed the worn out Neoclassical style of poetry using a lot of artificial, bombastic phrases and dead personifications. In their poetry, actions and situations are more important than spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and passions.

3. Why several of Wordsworth’s friends were anxious about the success of the Lyrical Ballads?

Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridge together published their poems in a book called “Lyrical Ballads” in the year 1798. It was the revival of Romantic era in England. During that period, people of England were disgusted with the worn out style of the Neoclassical poetry which common people could not enjoy because of the polished and artificial language and situations. The poems of Lyrical Ballads were taken from the low, rustic situations of the common man and the language is the day to day speech of the rustics. At first Wordsworth did not publish the Preface for fear that people had been familiar with the Neoclassical style of poetry and he had no idea about the taste of the people. But people of England welcomed the Lyrical Ballads and the Second Edition was printed in 1800. Thus Lyrical Ballads became a great success.  The friends of Wordsworth were anxious about the success of the Lyrical Ballads, for, a new class of poetry namely Romantic poetry would be produced which will reflect the humble, rustic day to day speech and life of common man and all English people can enjoy reading poetry.

4. Two distinguishing quality of the poems included in Lyrical Ballads

William Wordsworth in his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads speaks about two distinguishing quality of the poems in the Lyrical Ballads. The first quality is that the poems are drawn from the humble, rustic life. The subject matter of the poem is taken from the day to day situations of the common man and the language is the day to day speech of the rustics because they are more poetical and philosophical than the polished urban language used by the Neoclassical poets. The second quality is that the feelings developed in these poems gives to the action and situation, and not the action and situation to the feeling.  The truth is that human mind is capable of being excited without much stimulants of action.

5. Why did Wordsworth avoid personifications in his poetry?

In his Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth speaks about the purpose of Romantic poetry which is very different from that of the Neoclassical style. The purpose of Lyrical Ballads was to come closer to the day to day speech of the rustics and the common man whose language of more permanent, more poetical and philosophical than the polished bombastic phraseology of the Neoclassical poetry. In simple, natural language of the  rustics, they don’t use personifications of abstract nouns. Personifications are the artificial poetic diction of the Neoclassical poetry.

6. What is prosaism in poetry, according to Wordsworth? OR “Poetry sheds no tears such as Angels weep but natural and human tears” – Explain

In the Preface the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth explains the language of the metrical composition and the prose writing.  According to Wordsworth, there is no difference between good prose and verse. When the line in a poem is naturally arranged and according to the strict laws of metre, it does not differ from that of a good prose.  There are innumerable passages from great poets like John Milton, Thomas Gray and others to show that the language of their poem does in no respect differ from that of good prose. But many contemporary critics, when they stumble upon these prosaisms, imagine that the poet does not know his profession and these men would establish a new canon of criticism which the reader must utterly reject. Quoting a line from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” Wordsworth says that poetry sheds no tears such as angels weep, but natural and human tears. She can boast of no celestial ichor that distinguishes her vital juices from those of prose. It means that both prose writing and metrical composition are made by human poets and his poetry is made for the pleasure of his fellow beings- the men and women on the earth. Poetry is not written by Angels in heaven, but composed by man for the pleasure of man on the earth.

7. The function of poetry or the function of a poet according to Wordsworth

In his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth explains in detail the importance of the poet and the function of poetry. He defines good poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected at tranquility. He says that a poet is a man speaking to men. But the poet is endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm, and tenderness and who has greater knowledge of human nature and a more comprehensive soul.  He is a man pleased with his own passions and he rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him. A poet is a teacher who teaches his fellow beings about the beauty of life and Nature. So every poem is the image of man and Nature. The poet writes under one restriction, namely the necessity of giving immediate pleasure to men. This pleasure is the acknowledgement of the beauty of Nature.  The poet, singing a song which all human beings join with him, rejoices in the presence of truth as our visible friend and hourly companion. Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge. It is the impassioned expression which is far greater than all science. Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge. Therefore Poetry is the purest of all science.

Comment on the dramatic significance of the Christmas tree and the Tarantella dance in the play ‘A Doll’s House’

Henrik Ibsen’s famous play ‘A Doll’s House’ portrays a woman’s assertion of her independence and individuality by breaking off her family bonds. Nora Helmer is the protagonist of the play. She is treated as a doll by her self-righteous husband Torvald Helmer. In the Ist Act of the play Nora comes home after shopping for the Christmas and is brought home a Christmas Tree. This tree is set on the middle of the room and she makes a lot of decorations on the tree. The tree with its ornaments is a symbol of family happiness and security. While she is doing decorations on the branches of the tree, Nils Krogstad comes to her and threatens to write a letter to her husband enclosing the bond in which she fraudulently put the signature of her late father if she does not force her husband to reinstate him in his job in the bank. Poor Nora is desperate and lost interest in decorating the Christmas tree. She asks her maid to put away the Christmas tree. In the IInd Act we find the tree stripped of its ornaments with burnt down candle ends on its branches and standing in the corner of the piano. Thus the tree shows the loss of happiness and family security of Nora Helmer.

Another important symbol of the pain and sorrow of Nora is her Tarantella dance. She learned this dance from Capri in Italy when Nora took her husband to Italy for the medical treatment. The term tarantella is the name of a poisonous spider. Tarantella is a famous music for a fast whirling Italian drama usually performed by a single couple. Once upon a time this dance was supposed to be a ritualistic performance as a remedy for spider bite. In the play ’A Doll’s House’ tarantella is a music played by Torvald Helmer on the piano and according to the tune of the music, his wife Nora dances. When she is doing the rehearsal, she insists that her husband must give her coaching for two days up to the last minute and he must not open a single letter in these two days. He also is forbidden to open the letter box during these days. Torvald agrees to these conditions. Nora is afraid that at any moment Nil Krogstad comes and drops the letter in the box and the letter will ruin her family life for ever. In the rehearsal, both Torvald and Dr.Rank, the family friend of both Nora and her husband attend. But she dances so violently that both men were afraid that she went mad. In fact the violent tarantella dance that she performed in the rehearsal shows the desperate feelings and anxieties of Nora.  

In the IIIrd  Act of the play, the fancy dress ball ‘Tarantella is staged upstairs of their residence. Nora danced as a little Capri maiden, the poor fisher woman. The tarantella dance performed by Nora is a tremendous success. The audience admired the beauty and skill of Nora in her fancy dress ball. As soon as the dance is over, Torvald forcibly took Nora out of the hall. As soon as the fancy dress ball is over, both Nora and her husband has engaged in heated argument and in the end Nora goes out of her husband’s home for good.

Kjt/09-02-2015

Write short notes of any four tragedies of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare’s four tragedies have been briefly given in this essay. They are Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Othello, the Moor of Venice, ‘King Lear’ and Macbeth, William Shakespeare, the greatest of the English playwrights and poets was born in the year 1564 at Stratford upon Avon in England. At nineteen he married Anne Hathaway, a woman eight years his senior. Shakespeare composed his greatest tragedies such as Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet and Othello during the eight years from 1601 to 1608.

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare describes the tragic story of the prince of Denmark whose father the King of Denmark is brutally murdered by the king’s brother and uncle of Hamlet and young Hamlet had to confront with a lot of obstacle which led to the tragedy of the unfortunate prince Hamlet.  Prince Hamlet is depressed having been summoned to Denmark urgently from his school in Germany to attend his father’s funeral, and he is shocked to find his mother Gertrude already remarried. The queen has wed Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, the dead king’s brother!  To Hamlet, the marriage is “foul incest”. Worse all, Claudius has had himself crowned King of Denmark. It is a violation of the rule of inheritance which says Prince Hamlet is his father’s heir to the throne. Hamlet suspects foul play. In the dead of night the ghost of Hamlet’s father visits the castle of Elsinore and confirms Hamlet’s suspicions. The ghost tells Hamlet that he is unable to rest in peace because he was murdered by his brother Claudius, the present king of Denmark. The ghost requests his son Hamlet to avenge his murder but to spare Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, to let Heaven decide her fate.

Hamlet pretends to be made and this madness is a kind of mask for him to observe the intrigues in the castle of Ellsinore.  In order to test the ghost’s sincerity,  Hamlet has arranged to stage a play “The Mousetrap” in which the scenes of the murder as described by the ghost of his father has been added. It is a tremendous success. The guilt of Claudius is well reflected on the king’s face. Hamlet resolves to kill his uncle Claudius. But as Hamlet observes “conscience doth make cowards of us all”.  In his reluctance, Hamlet actually causes six ancillary deaths. The first death is Polonius whom Hamlet stabs through a wall hanging as the old man spies on Hamlet and his mother Gertrude in the queen’ chamber. Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius is gone mad and drowns in the river singing sad love songs cursing the fate of a spurned lover Hamlet. Her brother Laertes falls next. In the duel, Laertes drops his poisoned sword. Hamlet retrieves the sword and cuts Laerts. The lethal poison kills Laertes. Before he dies Laerts tells Hamlet that he was also wounded by the same sword and he would also die soon. Gertrude, believing that Hamlet’s hitting Laertes means her son is winning the fencing match, has drunk a toast to her son from the poisoned cup Claudius had made for Hamlet. Thus the queen dies. Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned sword and then pours the last of the poisoned wine down the throat of the King Claudius.

The duration of the events of the play Othello is only for three days. The theme of the play is the jealousy of Othello, the moor of Venice on the chastity of Desdemona who is far younger and beautiful than the black-skinned Othello who is the military Captain of the Duke of Venice. Desdemona, the only daughter of Brabantio, a senator of Venice is in love with the middle aged Othello and eloped in the night. Iago who wants to take revenge upon Othello for promoting his junior Cassio as his lieutenant, becomes the villain of the play.Brabantio complains to the Duke of Venice, but Desdemona tells the Duke she loves Othello as her husband. Brabantio tells Othello “Look to Desdemona, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee”. The seeds of suspicion fell on the mind of the Moor. Soon after their wedding, they go to Cyprus. The honeymoon night is disturbed by the skilful maneuvering of Iago and his assistant Roderigo, a good for nothing young Venetian who loves Desdemona and is encouraged by Iago to come to Cyprus. Iago wants money from Roderigo in return for the chance to meet Desdemona. Roderigo is a day-dreamer and a rich fool who comes to the sea-port town, Cyprus with Iago. Every time young Roderigo comes to Iago with a bag full of money and persuades Iago to give him a chance to fall in love with Desdemona. For Iago, Roderigo is a goldmine. Iago succeeds in the dismissal of Cassio by Othello and Iago steps into the shoes of Cassio. Soon Iago has achieved another score by making Othello believe that Desdemona is in love with Cassio because he is very young and handsome Venetian. Iago also makes believe Othello that Desdemona does not love the black skinned old aged Othello and he blindly believes whatever Iago said about Desdemona. On the third day of their honeymoon night, Othello smothers Desdemona to death.

Shakespeare has borrowed the story of the play King Lear from a very ancient folk-lore of the same title and improvising the theme to suit English Nationalism. King Lear decided to divide his British kingdom among his three daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia according to their degree of love for him. Goneril and Regan vie each other in flattering the old king and he was pleased. But Cordelia said that her love for her father was just as a child loves its father, no less no more. The furious old king divided his kingdom between the two daughters and Cordelia was reduced to a beggar. The king of France is ready to marry her and Cordelia becomes the queen of France. King Lear has decided to live with the daughters Goneril and Regan every month alternately. When he lived with Goneril for a week, the old king saw the wolfish mind of his daughters and soon he is kicked out of their homes and reduced to the level of a beggar wandering in the heath in cold night, facing violent wind, lightning and thunder. The fool alone follows him as his confident, and shadow every where.  Cordelia comes to England with a French army and in the war the king and Cordelia are taken as prisoners of war. Cordelia is killed, the king dies of broken heart. Goneril and Regan want to marry one man Edmund and Goneril poisons Regan to death. Goneril commits suicide. There is a subplot in the play King Lear. It is the story of the earl of Gloster and his two sons Edgar and the bastard son Edmond. Gloster’s two eyes are plucked out on the advice of Edmond by Cornwall, the husband of Regan and while the blind old man is walking along the way he says                               “ As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,

                                       They kill us for their sport”.  

In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare shows his skill as a great poet and philosopher. In Hamlet and Macbeth, Shakespare uses supernatural elements. In Hamlet, the ghost of the murdered king of Denmark visits his son Hamlet and reveals the secret of his death and asks him to avenge the murder. In the play Macbeth, three witches appear on the heath when Macbeth and Banquo return home after having won the battle of the day. The witches make prophecies to Macbeth that he will become the thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. Thus the seeds of ambition have been sown in the mind of Macbeth and they began to grow in time with the help of his wife Lady Macbeth, better known as the ‘Fourth witch’. Macbeth murders Duncan the king of Scotland when he stays at the palace of Macbeth as his guest. Thus Macbeth becomes the king and Lady Macbeth the queen of Scotland. Since then Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lost peace of mind and sleep. Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance, but Fleance escapes. The ghost of Banqo appears in the banquet of the King Macbeth. He goes to witches again and they assure him that until unless the Birnam wood walks to Dunsnane hills, he cannot be defeated. They also tell him that no man, who is born of woman can kill him. On this assurance Macbeth orders the family of Macduff murdered. When he finds that the witches deceived him, Macbeth is not afraid and the brave soldier fights alone to death. The somnambulism of Lady Macbeth and the appearance of ghost of Banqo and the dagger scene have made the play a sublime tragedy.

Kjt/16-02-2015