The Character of Macbeth

The Supernatural element in the play “Macbeth”

The part played by the witches in the play “Macbeth”

“Macbeth” as a Shakespearean tragedy

Among William Shakespeare’s four tragedies such as Macbeth, King Lear, Othello and Hamlet, Macbeth is the shortest and the most beautiful and sublime tragedy. Macbeth is a man of noble character. He is called ‘Bellona’s bridegroom’, valiant cousin, bold and fearless. In the war, the Scottish army under the inspring leadership of General Macbeth crushed the enemies and won victory for Scotland. Grateful Duncan, the king of Scotland showered praises honours on Macbeth and he is promoted to the Thane of Cawdor. As a general, he is successful, as a husband, he shines better than any other Shakespearean heroes. His love for Lady Macbeth leads him to evil ways. It is a blind love.

 The most important feature of ‘Macbeth’ is the effective introduction of supernatural element. The three witches in the Ist scene of  First Act encourages the unbridled ambition of Macbeth. They predict that Macbeth will become the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. This leads him to murder Duncan, helped by Lady Macbeth. The witches gives sweet words into the ambitious ears of Macbeth and flatter him with false prophecies which has double meanings. Thus the witches are the evil forces in the play. Lady Macbeth may be considered the fourth ‘witch’ because it is she as the beloved wife plays an important role in the fall of the great General Macbeth. General Banquo is a foil to Macbeth, warns the hero of the deceitful ways of the witches. He says, “ …But’tis strange, and often times, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths/Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s / In deepest consequence”. But the overambitious Macbeth ignores this warning and murders Duncan and fulfills his great ambition. Macbeth becomes the king of Scotland and Lady Macbeth becomes the queen.

 But alas, “Nought’s had, all’s spent” Lady Macbeth painfully tells these depressing words. They lost peace of mind. They lost sleep for ever because they killed Duncan in his sleep. Retribution or Nemesis, the poetic aspect of justice is seen in Shakespearean tragedies, especially in ‘Macbeth’. After Duncan, he kills Banqo and the family of Macduff. Finally Macbeth fights bravely to death. We don’t hate Macbeth, but feels sympathy for this tragic hero. He is essentially a human being, a great poet-philosopher. In the beginning, he tries to withdraw from the deed of murder of Duncan, and his guilty conscience asks him not to murder Duncan, because he is his guest, his king and he should be protector of the precious life of the king. But Lady Macbeth provokes him to commit the murder.

 Shakespeare does not strictly follow the Aristotelian concept of ‘tragic hero’ and as a result we don’t feel pity and fear but ‘Macbeth’ is a sublime tragedy. The conflict in Shakespearean tragedies is external and internal. Macbeth suffers from conflict of external circumstances and also mental conflict. The dagger scene and ghost scene are examples. In the banquet, when the ghost of Banquo appears, only Macbeth feels the presence of Banquo and is terrified. The dagger scene appears in the IInd Act of the play. Macbeth is alone sitting and waiting for the bell of Lady Macbeth to murder Duncan. He sees the dagger coming to him with blood dropping from its blade. It reflects Macbeth’s mental conflict. He does not want to murder Duncan. But his over-ambitious mind and the force of Lady Macbeth leads him to the bed chamber of Duncan and murders the king. But soon  after the murder, his mind is full of guilt and he says that he cannot make prayers and he hears a voice crying “Macbeth has murdered sleeping Duncan, therefore Macbeth will never sleep and never get peace of mind. Yes we feel pity for the tragic hero Macbeth when he is killed by Macduff in the war. Misfortune after misfortune follows Macbeth till the end, the death of Lady Macbeth and the running away of his soldiers and lords to the side of Malcom  and the prophecies made by the witches one by one failed him,. The Great Brinam wood came to Dunsinane hill and Macduff who had no natural birth from a woman, confronted Macbeth in the battle and declared that he was not born of a woman shocked Macbeth and killed him. Macbeth fought bravely till his last breath, it was a heroic end, making the play a sublime tragedy.

1. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,

Hover through the fog and filthy air”

The three witches appear in the opening Act of the play ‘Macbeth” and sings these lines together. They are the devils and the enemy of humanity. So they attract ambitious people like Macbeth with some ‘trifles’ and finally trap them eternal hell. The witches are not interested in Banquo who is a very religious man. The witches live in dirty places like the marshes. They say that whatever is good for them is bad for human being. They always travel through fog and filthy air. Their prophecies have been fair to Macbeth and he always depend on these prophecies and committed many murders. Only in the end did Macbeth know that the fair was really foul.

2. “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”

This is the first sentence spoken by Macbeth, the tragic hero of the play of the same title. After having defeated Macdonald and the Norweyen king in the battle, both Macbeth and Banquo reached a heath where the three witches have been waiting for them. Macbeth tells Banquo that the day is a combination of good and bad. The good thing is that Macbeth fought bravely in the battle and won the war for his king Duncan. Thus Macbeth has proved that he is not only a great General of Scotland but a great patriot and many honours and praises will certainly shower upon him by the King and the people of Scotland. The bad thing may be the life and death fight in the war and the bloodshed. There is an inner meaning to it. The day is a turning point in the life of Macbeth, because he will meet the three witches and this lead to the fulfillment of his ambition, he will become the king of Scotland and the bad thing is that he will murder the king and many people and thereby he will become slave of the devil.

3. “Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell:

Though all thing foul would wear the brows of grace,

Yet grace must still look so.”  - Explain

Malcolm, the elder son of Duncan says these words to Macduff in the IVth Act of the play when Macduff visits Malcolm in England. Macduff asks Malcolm to get an English army to fight against Macbeth and regain the kingship of Scotland to Malcolm. At first Malcolm thinks of Macduff as a spy sent by Macbeth and tells Macduff that he is more wicked than Macbeth. Macduff is helpless and confused and repeats the honest words that he is not treacherous. Finally Malcolm learns that Macduff is the greatest patriot of Scotland and tells him that ‘angels are bright still’. It means that good and honest people are always good and honest because Malcolm is the son of gracious Duncan and his wife always spent her time in prayer and meditation. According to the Bible, the first group of Angels created by God had fallen to hell. However angels are heavenly and bright and holy.

4. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas incarnadine,

Making the green one red” – Explain

These words are said by Macbeth to himself, soon after the murder of Duncan by him. Lady Macbeth has gone to the bed-chamber to keep the dagger with the sleeping guards in the room. Macbeth expresses horror at the sight of his blood stained hand says that if he washes his hands in the ocean, the ocean will be made red by his sinful hands. Such is the horror Macbeth has committed when he murdered his King who has come to his house as his guest.

5. “Here’s the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”  - Explain

These are the words of Lady Macbeth in her sleep-walking scene. She has been suffering from ‘somnambulism’ on account severe strain and guilt her mind received from the murder of Duncan who looked like her father when he was sleeping. She encouraged her husband to commit the murder and they became king and queen of Scotland, but they lost sleep and peace of mind. At night Lady Macbeth walks for a long time holding a lighted candle, keeping awake with open eyes while in deep sleep. She feels that her hands still carry the smell of Duncan’s blood and even the best perfumes of Arabia cannot wipe out the smell. It means she has committed the most hellish sin and she has no escape from the punishment. Soon after the murder of Duncan, she had said that “a little water clears us of this deed/ How easy it then”.

6. “Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still”   - Explain

Just before murdering Duncan, Macbeth sits alone thinking. He is in deep tension. Macbeth is haunted by inner conflict. Duncan has showered praises and rewards to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. He is so kind hearted that he has come to stay in the castle of Macbeth to honour both of them. In such a situation, Macbeth, the man is confused and wants to withdraw from the decision of killing the king. But his over-ambition and the force of his wife Lady Macbeth ask him to commit the murder. His inner conflict appears to him in the form of the apparition of a dagger comes to him dropping blood from its blade and guides him to the chamber of the king.

A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen

1. “A Doll’s House” fell like bomb into contemporary life” – Explain

2. How far Nora’s life a representation of social reality?

3. Justify the title of the play “A Doll’s House”

A Doll’s House is a realistic drama written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen in the year 1879. His plays attacked the age worn values of male dominated society.  He discarded outmoded dramatic techniques such as soliloquies and monologues.  The theme of the play “A Doll’s House” is individual freedom and emancipation of self. The protagonist of the play Nora is the wife of Torwald Helmer and they are married for the last eight years. They have three children. “Doll’s House” is a problem play because Ibsen deals with a social problem. It is the status of a woman in relation to her husband and home. Ibsen shows the pathetic situation of Nora being treated by her husband as a mere child who doesn’t know anything and she is called the squirrel, the skylark and a doll.

When the curtain rises, Nora is seen on stage telling innocent lies in a child-like manner. Helmer treats her like an irresponsible being – like a child, a bird (skylark), a squirrel, a possession, anything except as a woman. From his speech, it becomes clear that she is nothing but a plaything (a doll) for him. But underneath the surface of Nora’s mind, there is lurking a strong protest against the male domination with its laws, religion and social customs, all trying to crush the individuality, freedom  and dignity of woman. Her father and later, her husband have with the help of these male dominated social laws tried to keep Nora ignorant of the “true realities of life”, of her reasonable rights, of her obligations. From the First Act onwards, the gradual growth of Nora is seen and it reaches its climax in the IIIrd Act when she goes out of Helmer’s home slamming the door against the male-dominated ideas, laws and social customs.

Nora’s father committed forgery while working as a government employee. Torwald Helmer was appointed to examine the documents of Nora’s father.  It was during this verification of the documents that Torwald met Nora, fell in love with her and married her. Nora made supreme sacrifice in order to save the precious life of her husband. She borrowed money from Krogstad, an unscrupulous man for a trip to Italy for the medical treatment of her husband. Helmer was seriously ill and her father too had been on his deathbed. Not desiring to trouble her father at such a time for a loan and knowing fully well that Helmer would never agree to take a loan himself, Nora secretly borrows the loan without Helmer’s consent.  Nora signs her father’s name on the back of the promissory note (bond) given by Krogstad. Whenever Torvald has given money to Nora for new dresses and such things for home needs, Nora never spends more than half of it and bought the simplest and the cheapest things.  Thus Nora made great sacrifices for her husband and family.

 In the concluding scene Nora questions the foolish male-dominated religious ideas, spiritual laws, the legal system and the social views about man-woman relationships. How can a woman be herself in a male dominated society where women are mere dolls in the palms of men? In the society laws are made by men for their own selfish interests with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view. Nora has committed forgery, and she admits her forgery and she is proud of it because she has done it out of her love for her husband, to save his precious life.  But her husband with his conventional outlook on religion and social etiquette cannot understand it. To him forgery is a crime, a sin and a woman’s duty is to look after the needs of her husband and children. She has no duty to herself. Therefore Torvald accuses her of a cheat and a misfit for her children.

Krogstad is dismissed from the Savings Bank by Torvald Helmer as soon as he becomes the manager of the bank. In retaliation, Krogstad writes a letter to Torvald Helmer revealing the forgery commited by his wife Nora. Torvald reads the letter and is angry with Nora and tells her that she is a cheat and dishonest and not fit for bringing up their three children and in that moment Nora sees him for what he is actually is. His masked face is torn to pieces in the mind of Nora. She learns that Torvald is a hypocrite and has no love for her. Meanwhile another letter comes from Krogstad with the forged promissory note and cancelling all revengeful action against Nora. This made Torvald happy and relieved and he forgives Nora and tells her that she is once again his skylark and squirrel.  But Nora tells him that she had expected a wonderful thing from Torvald that he would certainly take up the blame of the forged bond on his shoulder and say publicly that it he who committed the crime and that he was the guilty one and not Nora. But that wonderful thing did not happen. So Nora goes out of Torvald’s home slamming the door against the male-dominated laws and social customs.

The play “A Doll’s House” has dropped a bomb into the male dominated society not only in Europe but all over the world. Social life in the cities has changed fast since the publication of this play and woman has gradually attained equal status with man in all fields of life.

4. The role and character of Mrs. Linde

Mrs.Linde is the best friend of Nora who calls her pet name Christine. She narrates her tragic story to Nora. Christine and Krogstad are childhood friends and they fell in love with each other. But Christine had to look after her ailing mother and two younger brothers and she needed money for them. Being highly practical minded, Christine consented to marry a rich man so that she could provide money for the education of her two brothers and the sick mother. Krogstad is jilted by Christine and he gets married to another woman. Christine does not want to lead a poverty striken life and this is why she has rejected the love of Krogstad and married a rich man. But fate did not allow her to continue enjoying the happy rich life. When her husband died, and his business has collapsed, leaving Mrs.Linde penniless and childless. But when her mother dies and her brothers begin to earn their livelihood, a sense of loneliness seizes her and she finds her life meaningless. So three years after the death of her husband, she has come down to city to meet her old friend Nora, because Christine urgently wants a job so that she can forget herself by doing the work. Nora tells her that her husband is going to become the Manager of the Savings Bank and he will give her a job in the Bank. Torvald Helmer gives Mrs.Linde a job in the Bank in the place of Krogstad. Nora tells her dreadful secret to Christine and Christine helps Nora. Mrs.Linde offers to marry Krogstad who is now a widower with three children. Krogstand is thrilled with joy and promises to undo the mistake he has committed. He returns to Nora the bond and cancels all revengeful action against Nora. This made Torvald happy and relieved and he forgives Nora and tells her that she is once again the skylark and squirrel for him. Thus Mrs.Linde has played an important role in averting the crisis that faces the Helmers.

5. The role and character of Krogstad

 Krogstad is introduced in the Ist Act of the play “A Doll’s House” as a villain. He is a lawyer and a widower with “several children”. His marriage life was very unhappy according to Mrs.Linde. He is dismissed from the Savings Bank by the Manager  Torvald Helmer and Mrs.Linde is appointed in his place. According to Dr.Rank, the family friend of Helmers, Krogstad, the lawyer suffers from a diseased moral character. Krogstad comes to Nora and threatens her that if he does not get back the job in the Bank, he will file a case against her in the court for forgery. He has paid her a loan of two hundred and fifty pounds for the medical treatment of her husband in Italy. Krogstad reminds her that she has committed a major crime by forging her father’s signature on the bond given to him for the loan. In the court Krogstad can easily prove the case against her because her father had died before the date on which the bond was signed.

 Nora tries her best to persuade her husband Torvald not to dismiss Krogstad from his post in the Bank but Torvald was adamant said that he made up his mind to dismiss Krogstad and appoint Mrs.Linde in the post. Torvald tells Nora that while working in the Bank as a clerk, Krogstad committed forgery and has never confessed the guilt. This is why Torvald has decided to dismiss Krogstad from the Bank. As soon as Krogstad receives the order of dismissal, he again comes to Nora and threatens to reveal the truth about the forgery of Nora to her husband. Krogstad sends a letter to Torvald revealing the forgery of Nora.  But here Mrs.Linde comes to the help of Nora and she offers to marry Krogstad who was once upon a time the lover of Christine. The love of Mrs.Linde has changed Krogstad from a villain to a kind-hearted human being. He sends his second letter to Torvald cancelling all revengeful acts against Nora and also the forged bond is attached with the letter.

Kjt/19-09-213

CHURCH GOING (poem) [ Philip Larkin ]

“Church Going” is one of the best of Philip Larkin’s poems.  The title itself is puzzling. It gives us two different meanings. One meaning is that it is a regular visit to a church. The other shows the decline of the institution because people lost faith in God and religion. His greatest virtues are clarity and close observation of social life, perfect control over feeling and tone. The language is always simple and lucid and the idiom has great variety. Through his poetry Larkin advises us not to be deceived by illusions or ideals.  He asks us to have a better awareness of man’s weaknesses. Larkin is called a sceptic poet. He enters the church as a sceptic who does not have any faith in the church. But he slowly realizes the truth that church fulfils a deeply felt human need and that it is “a serious house on a serious earth it is”.

Making sure that nothing is going on inside, the speaker of the poem enters the church and closes the door behind him. He finds that it is just like any other church.  He also notices the furniture, furnishings such as the plate, the pyx, prayer books, the Bible, flowers cut for Sunday holy Mass, matting, seats, the baptismal font and the organ. There are no worshippers in the church and the silence tensed him. He looks around him with contempt and he feels a bad smell when he stands staring at the altar where the church services are conducted. Having observed these details, the speaker takes off his cycle-clips in an act of mock-reverence. He did not wear a hat.

The speaker then moves forward and touches the baptismal font with his hands. He notices that the roof looks almost new but he does not know whether it has been cleaned or restored because he is not a regular church-goer. Then he mounts the lectern and began to read out a few verses from the Bible.  After that he comes back to the door and signs the visitor’s book and donates an Irish six pence which has no value in England. Thus all his activities and manners inside the church show that he is a sceptic who has no faith in the church service. Finally he thinks that his time is wasted, because the place is not worth visiting at all.

But the speaker could not avoid the church. Over and again he visited the church and each time his skeptical attitude grew less and less. This time he stood inside the churching thinking about its future. As science and technology began to develop, people lost faith in the institution of church. In future, churches will become empty and completely out of use.  A few cathedrals may be preserved as museums for future generation because of its great art and architectural value. Their parchment, the plate and the pyx may be kept in locked cases. But other church buildings will become sheltering centers for sheep and other animals and poor people during rainy time. Sometime people may avoid such places as unlucky because of its graveyard. The speaker of the poem thinks that perhaps the church will become the centre of superstitions in the coming years. But if faith disappeared, naturally superstition will also be disappeared because both are connected with each other. Finally the church buildings will tumble down and only its concrete pillars would be standing as silent witness of the past glory of the church. The church path will be over grown with grass, weeds and creepers. It will become a deserted place. In course of time future generation will forget even the shape of the churches.

Now the speaker of the poem reflects who will be the last person to visit the church for its purpose. It may be a lover of antiquity who is eager to see very old things or some Christmas-addict who visits church only on important occasions such as the Easter or Christmas and he wants to enjoy the smell of myrrh burnt, the flowers, the choir music, the dress worn by the choir and the priest and the music of the organ.

Finally the speaker realizes that the church is a serious house on a serious earth. A church is a symbol of man’s sincere search for the ultimate meaning of life. Science and technology cannot solve his spiritual needs. That is why the speaker himself comes to the church again and again when he is tired of the problems of life. A church is equipped with baptismal fond, flowers and the graveyard where “all human glories are buried” with his bones. Thus the ceremonies of most important events in man’s life such as birth, marriage and death are conducted in the church. In this sense we can say that this is a religious poem. Thus the first meaning of the title “Church Going” is affirmed. The poem underlines the truth that the power and the glory of God cannot be destroyed by the advancement of science and technology. On the other hand the church will continue to be the centre focusing universal love and peace and giving spiritual solace to man’s problems and sufferings in his life.

Annotate the following

1)      Back at the door

I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,

Reflect the place as not worth stopping for

2)      But superstition, like belief, must die,

And what remains when disbelief has gone?

3)      For, though I’ve no idea

What this accountred frowsty barn is worth,

It pleases me to stand in silence here.

4)      A serious house on serious earth it is,

In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,

Are recognized, and robed as destinies

Paragraph questions

1)      Larkin’s description of the church

2)      Larkin’s views on the function of religion

Essay: Write an essay on Larkin’s fears and hopes about the future of the church.

Note: My dear students study the poem as well as this note and prepare your own answers. Printed on 20-10-2012 at Changanacherry.

Kjt/

To A Skylark [ P.B.Shelley ]

P. B. Shelley is a great revolutionary Romantic poet in English literature. In the poem “To A Skylark”, Shelley wants to learn the skylark’s poetic skill, so that he can make such a wonderful music full of revolutionary ideas for the making of a new civilization based on equality, liberty and fraternity. He says that the skylark is invisible but its melodious music is overflowing the sky and the earth and the poet is absorbed in “a flood of rapture so divine. The poet believes that the skylark is not a mere bird of the world, but a divine spirit, for she sings in full hearted ease and her poem is unpremeditated art. It is spontaneous and natural just as her flight in the depth of the sky. And the music is everlasting. This poem is addressed to the skylark.

2. While sitting at home one evening Shelley heard a sweet music and it delighted his sad mind. It is the music of a skylark, which is invisible in the sky. The bird sings as easily as its flight in the blue. Its poetic skill is “unpremeditated art”. A poem is created by human poet after hundreds of corrections and many months of hard work. Even then the poem is not perfect and sweet as the song of the skylark.

3. Shelley is a master of using beautiful and striking similes in his poetry especially in his poems “Ode to the West Wind” and “To A Skylark”. The skylark is compared to the sun in the morning. When the sunlight becomes brighter, the sun goes invisible. Similarly the skylark is invisible, but the poet feels its presence in the sweet music, which is overflowing everywhere.

4. Again the poet compares the marvelous poetic skill of the skylark to a “poet hidden” and to a “high-born maiden” imprisoned in a palace tower. The hidden poet is singing hymns which create feelings of hopes fear and sympathy in the hearts of the listeners. The highborn maiden is kept in the palace tower and she is singing about her lover.  The music is as sweet as love, which is overflowing the palace tower and the passers-by enjoy the music. But they don’t see the beautiful singer who is hidden in the tower. 

5. The flow of comparisons continues and the skylark is compared to a “glow-worm golden” and a rose hidden by leaves. People feel the presence of the glow-worm by its golden light. Next example is about the “embowered rose flower:” The beetles don’t see the flower, but they are attracted by its sweet smell. Similarly Shelley knows well the skylark is there, although he cannot see the bird, for its music is overflowing everywhere and the poet himself is absorbed in the magical power of the music. And this music gives him “a flood of rapture so divine”.

6. Shelley tells the skylark that her music is far sweeter and more beautiful than all the beautiful sights in human world. The sound of rain falling on the twinkling grass and the rain-awakened flowers are joyous and clear and fresh. But the skylark’s music surpasses everything in the world. Therefore the poet requests the bird to teach him the secret of her poetic skill.  Wedding songs and victory songs are the sweetest songs, which delighted all people alike. But even these human songs are empty sounds compared with the bird’s music.

7. Shelley thinks that the skylark’s clear joyful music contains no dullness or irritation. Her love is divine for there is no dullness in her love.  On the other hand human beings are mortals and they are always afraid of death, diseases and sorrow. They can never be satisfied in their life. They suffer from hate, pride and fear. That is why man made music is dull and imperfect. Sorrow and anxiety follow every man like a shadow till his death. So even the sweetest songs of men contain the tinge of sad thoughts and they cannot delight men.

The poem ends in hope because P.B.Shelley requests the Skylark to teach him the divine poetic skill of the bird which is unpremeditated art so that the poet will compose such sweet songs and the world will listen to him. In his poems he will give his revolutionary ideas to the world, so that a new civilized society can be built up based on equality, liberty and fraternity.

Kjt/1/12/2012

"Refugee Mother and Child" [ Chinua Achebe ] AND "I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS" - Maya Angelou

Chinua Achebe is a great Nigerian novelist poet and short story writer.  His first novel “Things Fall Apart” has been translated into 45 languages.  His poem “Refugee Mother and Child” is a celebration of motherhood. It is a refugee camp somewhere in Africa. The poet gives us a realistic picture of a mother and her child. Hundreds of poor people are thrown out of their homes due to political disturbances or natural calamities. The refugees are in a miserable condition. There are innumerable mothers and children in the same miserable condition in the refugee camp. Their children are slowly dying of poverty and diseases.

 But the poet draws our attention to a particular mother and her child. They are compared with St.Mary holding infant Jesus in her arms. Madonna loves her child because Jesus is the saviour of mankind and the son of God. The world worships her and her child. Juxtaposed with this, the poet introduces a poor ordinary, unknown mother and child. The mother knows her child is slowly dying. It is of no use caring for him. Other mothers in the camp know this truth about their children and so they are careless about their dying children. They don’t want to further waste their time and energy and love for the dying children. It is futile for them. So they are passive. The air was heavy with odours of diarrhoea of unwashed children.

 But this mother is very different. She is the epitome of motherhood. She loves her child. Her love for him is infinite and divine. She does not want anything in return for her love and sacrifice. She combs his dirty hair left on the skull of his head. She carefully parts the hair as if she were preparing him to his school in the morning. She is doing a lot of work including kissing his forehead. It was an act of putting flowers in his small coffin- the last love of a mother to her son. The poet uses the words ‘ghost’ and ‘rust’ as metaphors of death. The mother keeps smiling while combing his hair, because she knows that very soon the child will die. While carrying infant Jesus in her arms, St.Mary too knows well that her son will be nailed to the cross for the benefit of humanity. Therefore he would become the Saviour of mankind. But the refugee mother cannot be proud of any such achievement of her poor son. His death is not a matter for the world. Yet her maternal love for her child surpasses even the love of Madonna for her infant Jesus. The refugee mother cannot expect anything in return for her sacrifice and maternal love for her poor sick child. Still her love and care continues for him till his last breath. The comparison with Madonna and Infant Jesus serves to heighten the emotional appeal of the poem. Simple and direct, the poem “Refugee Mother and Child” touches our hearts with love and compassion and enhances the dignity of motherhood.

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS                                                                                             Maya Angelou

Dr.Maya Angelou is an African American poet, memoirist, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, dramatist, civil rights activist, film maker, director and teacher. She won international recognition with the publication of the poem “I know why the Caged Bird Sings”. Maya Angelou portrays white supremacy by comparing the white people to free birds because the whites believe that the history of America is the history of whites only. But in truth America is a land of various cultures and nationalities. It is the Blacks who built today’s America with the sweat and blood of their forefathers. The whites think that they are the inheritors of the national tradition. So the poet says that “the free bird leaps on the back of the wind and dips his wing in the orange sun’s rays”.

Maya Angelou evokes sympathy for the black by comparing them to caged birds who can only be silent witness of the injustice around them. The caged bird sings of freedom. The Blacks have been oppressed and enslaved by the whites for centuries. The caged bird’s “wings are clipped and his feet are tied”. It means that its wings are useless because it cannot fly in the cage.  Every bird is born to fly in the blue sky. It is his birth right. Similarly freedom and citizenship rights are the birth right of the blacks. The bird opens his throat to sing of the freedom. On the other hand the free bird stands for the whites of America. They enjoy freedom and all other pleasures of life. So they don’t know the pain of the caged birds. They dream of more and more profits and pleasures of life. In the past they were engaged in slave trade, taking innocent people away from Africa and are sold to various parts of Europe and America and made huge profits. But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams. It means the Blacks are the silent witness of the injustices around them. They are helplessly watching the segregation and discrimination in their country. In this poem Maya Angelou inspires the blacks in the USA to continue their protests under the leadership of Martin Luther King for their constitutional and God given rights.

 The poet compares the whites to the free bird and the black to the caged bird. The metaphor is a poetic technique which adds charm to the poem. The wings of the caged bird are clipped and its feet tied. By means of this metaphor she convinces us of the world of the miserable and pathetic living condition of the blacks in America. With the use of another metaphor “fat worms” the poet speaks about the greed and profit that the white people are still dreaming of.  When the free bird is thinking of opportunities of trade, the caged bird stands on the grave of dreams. This is another metaphor for the unfulfilled dreams of the blacks about their freedom and citizenship rights.

Telephone Conversation Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka is a renowned African novelist and poet.  Soyinka was the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.  “Telephone Conversation” is a simple and amusing poem.  As the title suggests, it is a conversation over ‘phone between an African and a white lady who is the owner of the apartment in London.  The narrator is looking for a rented apartment in London. In this poem, the poet is able to portray the hypocrisy and cold inhumanity of the white lady who rejects the African only because he is ‘black’. Thus the poem is a strong satire on racial prejudice.

The speaker of the poem is an African. He is well educated, cultured and willing to pay the rent demanded by the landlady. At first the white English land lady is very happy that a tenant has come to stay in her apartment. The location of the building is not good. But the African is not worried about it. For him, the rent is reasonable and the landlady promises that she is living in another place. Therefore the Nigerian is also very glad to get such an apartment in London City. But he has a big problem. His skin is black. So he is afraid whether the white lady likes him or not. The flora and fauna in Nature have different colours. The colour of the skin is not a problem for animals, birds and other objects in the world. The sky is blue, the rose is red, the oak is black, the crow is black, orange is yellow, there are black dogs and cows and here the colours are blessing and beautiful. Nature is blessed with all the colours given by God. But man hates man if his skin is not white. So the African confesses to the white lady that he is an African. It is a rude shock to the white lady as if “African” is a criminal. There is a prolong silence. This silence hurts the African. He is insulted. Humanity is insulted. After some time she asks politely ‘how dark he is’?  She enquires whether he is light black.

She does not say that she does not want an African. Instead she asks again whether he is dark or very light. She uses two terms such as plain or milk chocolate to describe his dark skin.  He tells her that he is “West African sepia in his passport”.  Again there is a long silence. Her words were compared to stinking or polluted air because her words are poisonous.

Now the African knows that he will not get the apartment, because the landlady does not want a black man as her tenant.  So the African tells her that the colour of his face is dark brown (brunette), but unfortunately certain parts of his body are very dark. The palm and sole of his feet are semi dark. But the bottom is raven black because of friction by sitting and requests her to see it by herself personally. At that moment the white lady knows that she is insulted by the African and she angrily puts the ‘receiver on the thunderclap. Thus the poem proves that it is the white people who believe in the colour prejudice are always insulted. The colour prejudice boomerangs upon the white people themselves!

Answer in a paragraph of not more than 100 words

1.       Comment on the use of satire, irony, sarcasm, imagery and pun in this poem

“Telephone Conversation” is a vehement attack on racial discrimination. The poet uses various poetic devices such as satire, irony, sarcasm, imagery, pun, alliteration and assonance have been used to bring home to the reader the hypocrisy and racial discrimination of the white landlady. “Location indifferent”, Nothing remained but self-confession”, “Caught I was foully” are all used in ironical tone. The speaker very politely tells the English landlady over phone that he hated a wasted journey- he was an African is irony because he speaks that he is an African is like a crime.There is also pun here because African means a criminal. “Plain or milk chocolate” is also a pun.“Silence for spectroscopic flight of fancy” is an example for double alliteration of ‘s’ and ‘f’. The satirical poem reaches its climax with the words ‘wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?” shows the irony in judging people based on the colour of their skin.

Kjt/23-03-2013

THE ILIAD HOMER

The Iliad continues…..

While Father Jove was sleeping peacefully on the crest of Ida embracing his wife Juno, far down below on the earth the spirit Sleep rushed to Neptune the sea-god to do his best for the victory of Ahaeans for Juno has hoodwinked her husband Jove to bed with her and she asked me to give him sound sleep. As a result Hector, the bravest warrior of Trojans fought fiercely against Neptune on the side of the Achaeans and they fought like wolves. As a band of reapers mow swaths of wheat or barley upon a rich man’s land, and the sheaves fall thick before them, even so did the Trojans and Achaean soldiers fall upon one another as blood-stained dead bodies. Hector first aimed his spear at Ajax but his aim missed and Ajax took a huge stone and struck Hector at his neck. Hector spun round like and top and fell like a huge tall oak tree and bite the dust. Achaeans came running with a loud cry towards him, hoping to drag the dead body away to their ships. They also tried to would Hector with their arrows, but the princess Polydamas, Aeneas, Agnor, Sarpedon protected the body of Hector and took him to the nearby stream Xanthus and washed him with the sacred water of the river. Then Hector breathed again and opened his eyes. Then he vomited blood, but soon fell back on to the ground, and his eyes were again closed in darkness for he was still stunned by the blow.

When Father Jove woke up from his deep sleep, he saw far below, Hector lying on the ground with his comrades gathered round him, gasping for breath. Jove felt pit for him and looked angrily on Juno who is lying on the bed beside him. He called her ‘mischief-making trickster, ‘you are the greatest vixen living’  Do you not remember one upon a time I had you hanged, fastened two anvils on to your feet and bound your hands in a chain of gold for many days and no god could help you. So don’t repeat this cheating! Juno trembled as Jove spoke and apologised. She also said that it was the doing of Neptune and she was innocent. On hearing this Jove became happy and asked her to go and tell Neptune to leave off fighting and go home. He also advised her to go and tell Apollo lord of the bow to send Hector again into battle and give him fresh strength so that he will forget his present sufferings, and chase the Achaeans back in confusion till they fall among the ships of Achilles. Achilles will then send his comrade Patroclus into battle, and Hector will kill him in front of Illius after he has killed many warriors including my own noble son Sarpedon. Achilles will kill Hector to avenge Patroclus, and from that time I will bring it about that the Achaeans will continue to drive the Trojans back and in the end the Achaeans will take Ilius and thereby fulfilling the counsels of Minerva.

King Apollo helped Hector and Trojans to reap victory by killing hundreds of Achaeans and they have almost reached the ships of Achaeans. Eurypylus,a great warrior of Achaeans was critically wounded in the fight against Hector and Patroclus took him to his tent in the ship and began nursing  him.

Finally Patroclus approached Achilles and told him that all the great warriors of Achaeans have been wounded and hiding in the ships. Many Achaeans are being slaughtered by Hector and his allies. So Achilles must act now and only he could defeat the onslaught of Hector and his allies. Achilles advised Patroclus to go and fight the Trojans. He could put on the armour that Achilles’ mother had made for her son. He asked Patroclus to fall upon the Trojans and save the ships of Achaeans otherwise the Trojans would burn all the ships of Achaeans and they could not return to Greece and perish in the sea. As soon as Patroclus has driven the Trojans from the ships, he must safely come back to Achilles. Though Juno’s thundering husband should put triumph within Patroclus’ reach, do not fight Trojans further in the absence of Achilles, and it would be the glory of Achilles alone to kill Hector and Patroclus never tempts to rob the glory, don’t go near Hector or fight with him. Achilles warned him. Meanwhile Achilles went about everywhere among the tents and asked his Myrmidons put on armour.  Fifty ships had noble Achilles brought to Troy and in each ship there was a crew of fifty oarsmen, over these he set five captains whom he could trust, while he was himself commander over all the Myrmidons. Achilles asked Patroclus to lead all the Myrmidons to the battle against the Trojans to drive them away from the ships.

 Patroclus called out his men at the top of his voice “Myrmidons, followers of Achilles, be men my friends, fight with might and main and drive away the Trojans from all Achaean ships, so that King Agamemnon would be sorry for his mistake in humiliating Achilles”. Patroclus drove his chariot everywhere in the field looking for Hector. Sarpedon, seeing Patroclus, jumped down from his chariot and ran towards Patroclus and he also jumped down to fight Sarpedon and fought like two eagle-beaked vultures. The son of Saturn (Jove) was looking down from Ida saw the fight of Sarpedon and Patroclus and he felt pity for his own son Sarpedon and said to Juno who was his wife and sister “Alas,that it should be the fate of Sarpedon whom I love so dearly to perish by the hand of Patroclus. I am in two minds. Should I save him or let him die, I don’t know what to do. What’s your opinion? He asked Juno. She said, “he is only a mortal, let him die” The matter ended there.

Sarpedon aimed a spear at Patroclus, but it missed him and Patroclus aimed his spear right at the chest of Sarpedon and it went straight to his heart and he fell like some oak or silver poplar or tall pine fell on the ground stretched full length in front of his chariot and horses, moaning and clutching at the blood stained dust. Death closed his eyes and Patroclus planted his heel on his breast and drew out both spear point and Sarpedon’s soul at the same time.

Father Jove is very sad that his own son Sarpedon was killed by Patroclus. So he decided to kill Patroclus with the help of Hector. Therefore he filled pride and foolishness in the mind of Patroclus.

Meanwhile, Patroclus, with many a shout to his horses pursued the Trojans in the pride and foolishness of his heart. Had he but obeyed the warning of Achilles, he would have escaped death, but the cousels of Jove pass man’s understanding; he will put even a brave man to flight and snatch victory from his grasp. On the advice of Father Jove, Phoebus Apollo has taken his stand upon the wall to defeat Patroclus’ purpose of taking the wall of Troy and also help Trojans. Thrice Patroclus charge at an angle of the wall, and thrice did Apollo beat him back. When Patroclus was coming on like a god for yet a fourth time, Apollo shouted to him an awful voice and said “Draw back, noble Patroclus, it is not your lot to sack the city of Trojan chieftains, nor yet will it be that of Achilles who is a far better warrior than you are”. Patroclus withdrew and avoided the anger of Apollo. Meanwhile Hector weas waiting with his horses inside the Scaean gates, in doubt whether to drive out again and continue fighting or call the army inside the gates. Then Apollo approached him in the form of his maternal uncle whom Hector loved much and spoke to Hector thus: “Hector, why have you left off fighting?, drive straight towards Patroclus and if so be, that Phoebus Apollo may grant you a triumph over him, and you may rule him”. These words encouraged Hector and he asked his charioteer Cebriones to drive again into the fight. They drove straight to Patroclus who seeing Hector, spring from his chariot to the ground with a spear in his left hand, and in his right a rough stone as large as his hand could hold. He threw the stone, which hit Cebriones, a bastard son of King Priam and he dropped dead from his chariot. Hector sprang from chariot to the ground and both of them fought for the dead boy like two lions fight fiercely over some high mountain over the body of a stag that they have killed. But the gathered Achaeans forcibly took the body of Cebriones and stripped his armour from his shoulders. Then Patroclus sprang like Mars and his shouting was terrific upon the Trojans and he alone killed twentyseven Trojans in a shortwhile. While he was engaged in human slaughter, Phoebus Apollo walked in thick darkness and the god struck him from behind his back and broad shoulders with the flat of his hand andPatroclus’ eyes turned dizzy and his mind become clouded, and his limbs failed him and he stood as one dazed. On seeing this Hector forced his way through the soldiers and struck Patroclus in the lower part of his belly with a spear, driving the bronze point right through it. Patroclus fell on the dust and Hector shouted at him “Patroclus, you thought that you should sack our city, rob our Trojan women of their freedom,and carry them off in your ships to your own country. Fool; Hector and his fleet horses were ever struggling their utmost to defend them.  I am foremost of all the Trojan warriors to protect Troy and it people”. Then as life ebbed out of Patroclus, the brave warrior said,” Hector, you enjoy victory because Father Jove and Apollo have given you victory. But you too shall live but for a little season; death and the day of your doom are close upon you”. While saying thus, his eyes were closed in death, his soul left his body and flitted down to the house of Hades. Hector stripped Patroclus of his armour and dragged him away to cut off his head and take the body fling before the dogs of Troy. But Ajax came up with his shield like wall before him, on which Hector withdrew under shelter of his men and sprang on to his chariot, giving the armour over to the Trojans to take to the city, as a great trophy for himself. After some time Hector changed his mind and took the armour of Achilles that Patroclus wore in his last hours in the battlefield. Hector put on the armour of Achilles which had been given to Achilles by his mother Tethys.

 Seeing Hector in the armour of Achilles, Jove said to himself, ”You have killed Achilles’ comrade, a brave strong warrior, but it was not well that you should strip the armour from his head and shoulders. For this you shall not return from battle to lay the armour of Achilles before Andromache”.

Meanwhile the fleet runner Antilochus rushed to Achilles and told him the sad news that his greatest comrade Patroclus had fallen and his armour was put on by Hector. A dark cloud of grief fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with dust from off the ground, and poured it over his head, disfiguring his handsome face, letting the dust settle over his shirt so fair and new. He flung himself down at full length, and tore his hair with his hands. Then Achilles gave a loud cry and his mother Tethys heard him as she was sitting in the depths of the sea by the old man her father and she also screamed. She went upto Achilles as he lay groaning. “Mother, my dear comrade Patroclus has fallen- he whom I valued more than all others and loved as dearly as my own life. So I will not live nor go  about among mankind unless Hector fall by my spear”. Thetis wept and answered “Then, my son, is your end near at hand-for your own death awaits you full soon after that of Hector. Tomorrow at break of day I shall be here and will bring you goodly armour from King Vulcan”

Achilles arranged a fitting burial for his comrade Patroclus. The famed lame god Vulcan made a beautiful armour and gave it to Thetis and she took the rich and goodly armour to the ships and gave it to her son Achilles.

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 allthe 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.

Kjt/23-02-2014