Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare UGC NET ENGLISH PAPER II, UNIT 1. MODULE 16

Important Points to Remember:

• A violent revenge play written about 1591 in collaboration with George Peele, one of the University Wits  (title to be pronounced as /ˌtaɪtəs ænˈdrɒnɪkəs/)
• Ravenscroft has criticised the play,: "'tis the most incorrect and indigested piece in all his works. It seems rather a heap of rubbish than a structure"
• Dr.  Johnson has also condemned the play that "the barbarity of the spectacles, and the general massacre which are here exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to any audience."
• T. S.  Eliot finds fault with Peele rather than Shakespeare whom he defends : "one of the stupidest and most uninspired plays ever written, a play in which it is incredible that Shakespeare had any hand at all, a play in which the best passages would be too highly honoured by the signature of Peele."
• In Mike Gene Wallace's words : This is a great play. We're talking fourteen dead bodies, kung-fu, sword-fu, spear-fu, dagger-fu, arrow-fu, pie-fu, animal screams on the soundtrack, heads roll, hands roll, tongues roll, nine and a half quarts of blood, and a record-breaking 94 on the vomit meter."

Critical Summary of the Play :

Tit for tat is the spirit of this drama. Titus Andronicus, a Roman general has lost his 21 sons out of 25 in the war and the play begins with his revenge on Tamora, queen of the Goths for this. She is made a captive and  her elder son is sacrificed in the ritual inspite of her plea. Her revenge on Titus for this and his counter revenge on her cover the remaining part of the play. 

Saturnicus the new emperor marries Tamora who plans for the downfall of Titus with the aid of her paramour Aaron the Moore.

 Persuaded by Aaron,  the two sons of Tamora - Chiron and Demetrius kill Bassianus,  brother of Saturnicus and also brutally  rape Lavinia,  Titus ' daughter.  Her tongue and hands are also cut off to silence her.  Lucius,  son of Titus is falsely accused of the murder of Bassianus and is banished from Rome.  

Then the revenge of raged  Titus begins.  He pretends to be mad and kills both Chiron and Demetrius and makes pie out of them that is served to Tamora.  Titus asks the emperor whether a father should kill his molested daughter.  The emperor says "yes", Titus kills his own daughter and also stabs  Tamora who is unknowingly tasting the feast of pie made up of by the blood of her killed sons. Enraged Saturnicus kills Titus but he himself is killed in turn by Lucius who has just now invaded Rome gathering a large army. Aaron refuses to repent till the end and therefore he is also buried chest-deep alive.  Thus the whole play is filled with violence,  death,  murder,  rape and bloodshed. 

Who are in the play?  Sinners.  What do they do?  Sins.  Who would watch this play?  Absolutely sinners.  

Ten Years War fought by Titus reveals his bravery.  His refusal of throne throws light on his magnanimity.  His pretension of madness  unfolds his cleverness but killing of his own pathetic daughter and making pie out of Tamora 's sons discloses his brutality.

Tamora arouses pity in our heart at her plea to Titus not to sacrifice her son but soon her Lady Macbeth 's heart earns disgust when she, being a woman, wants Lavinia to be raped by her own sons. No moral, no message, no admirable story prevails where the great dramatist Shakespeare writes the play with the piercing pen filled with blood. 

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Henry VI Part 1, 2 and 3 by Shakespeare UGC NET ENGLISH PAPER II, UNIT 1. MODULE 15

Background of the Play Henry VI:

• The first three plays of the historical tetralogy, the fourth play being Richard III
• Written in between 1590 and 1592
• Sources of the play: chronicles of Edward Hall and Holinshed
• Part I, by Shakespeare in collaboration with the university wits-Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe
• Henry VI trilogy -not written by Shakespeare in chronological order (Henry VI Part 1,  Part 3 and then only Part 2 and the concluding play Richard III)
• Henry VI Part 2 as a play with the largest cast of all - with more than 50 characters 
• Henry VI Part 3 as a play with the longest soliloquy and more number of battle scenes (6 battles)
• The Chief events in Part I: funeral of Henry V, coronation of Henry VI, the ongoing war of England against France to retain its English territories in France,  the beginning of war of Roses between English lords under the Head of Duke of Somerset wearing red rose  and Richard, wearing white rose,   the valour and death of Joan of Arc of France, peace treaty between England and France and the proposed marriage between Henry VI and Margret, daughter of Reignier the Duke of Anjou (France).
• Chief Events in Part 2: marriage of Henry VI with Margaret - the death of Duke of Gloucester and the banishment of his wife for using necromancy - the love affair of Margaret with Suffolk and his death -the death of Somerset and Lord  Clifford - the rise and victory of the Duke of York (Richard) against Henry VI at war. 
• Chief events in Henry VI Part 3: The frequent Civil war between the Yarkists and the Lancastrians (king's side) - death of Richard the Duke of York,  the final victory of yarkists, the death of Henry, Warwick and Prince Edward - the banishment of Margaret.

Summary of Henry VI Part 1:
The play begins with the funeral of Henry V. After his death,  the Duke of Gloucester takes charge of the country,  Duke of Bedford rushes to war in France to retain English territories and Duke of Exeter arranges for the coronation of Henry VI. The petty quarrel between Duke of Somerset and Richard the 3rd Duke of York leads to War of Roses,  the former wearing Red rose with the support of some lords and the latter with the support of other lords wearing white rose. After becoming king,  Henry goes to war taking place in France and while returning to England he leaves Cavalry to the command of Duke of Somerset and Infantry to Richard whose conflict and misunderstanding leads to further defeats of England and the death of  powerful Talbot and his valiant son from English side.

Another reason for the set back by England is the powerful woman Joan of Arc whose visions, irresistible attacks, persuasion of Duke of Burgandy to fight for France brings significant victory to France but she is however captured by Richard and is burnt alive at the stake. Pope Eugenius IV and Roman Emperor Segismund force Henry VI to peace treaty with France.  The Play comes to an end with the Earl of Suffolk's persuasion of Henry VI to marry Margret,  daughter of Reignier the Duke of Anjou (France) against the warnings of Duke of Gloucester.

Summary of Henry VI Part 2:
The Play opens with Henry's marriage with Margaret who is but in secret love affair with the Earl of Suffolk who had persuaded Henry for the marriage.  The Wife of Gloucester longs for the throne and while trying necromancy, she is arrested and banished.  Gloucester is also accused of treason but before trial,  he is killed by murderers. Though Suffolk is banished for this, death of Gloucester is a great loss to the King.  Suffolk is killed by pirates and his head is sent to Margaret that leaves her in great agony.

Meanwhile the Duke of York is appointed by the King as a commander of Army to control the revolt in Ireland. On his return,  he claims to the throne. On the one side,  the 3rd Duke of York (Richard) is supported by his sons Edward and Young Richard and by other lords Salisbury and Warwick Amber . On the other side,  Duke of Somerset and Clifford take the sides of Henry.  In the war at St. Albans, however,  Henry loses the ground - Somerset and Lord Clifford are killed. Persuaded by Margaret,  Henry flees to London.  Young Clifford who vows to avenge his father's death joins with Margaret.   The curtain falls with the search of Duke of York and his supporters for the absconding Henry, Margaret and Young Clifford.

Summary of Henry VI Part 3 (1591):
The play begins where Henry VI part 2 ended. The entire play consists of nothing but frequent civil wars between the House of York and the Lancastrians (king's party). 

The first battle by Margaret:
After their victory against Henry VI, the yorkists seize the throne and their group consists of Richard,  the 3rd Duke of York (fathet), his eldest son Edward the Duke of York,  next sons George,  Young Richard and youngest son Rutland, the powerful Earl of Warwick  along with some of King's supporters. But soon Henry's party intervenes and makes an agreement with Richard,  the 3rd Duke of York that Henry is permitted to be king till death and after that the yorkists and their descendants will rule the country.  This will disinherit the descendants of Henry VI and so the supporters of King join with Margaret and Cliffort who attack the castle of the Duke of York and kills him by disgracing his honour in three ways : keeping him on the mole's hill, giving him the kerchief attained with the blood of his twelve years old son Rutland recently killed by Clifford to avenge his father's death,  and decorating him with paper crown. 

The Second and Third Battle:
The Second Battle of Albans does not take place on the stage but is reported by Warwick that his army too was defeated by Margaret. The third battle is the Battle of Towton in which the sons of dead Richard - Edward,  young Richard and George, and the powerful Earl of Warwick join together, fight against Henry and become victorious.  Clifford is killed and the eldest son of dead Richard (Edward ) becomes the King.  The other two sons George and young Richard become the Earl of Clarence and the Earl of Gloucester respectively.  Warwick at his best tries for the marriage of Lady Bona, sister-in-law of French king Louis XI with Edward but he becomes a laughing stock before Edward who has become a prey to the beauty of Lady Grey and has made her Queen Elizabeth.  Warwick abandons Edward and swears allegiance to Lancastrians (king's party).

The Fourth Battle :
Warwick becomes so loyal to King Henry by giving his daughter Anne in marriage to Edward, the Prince of Wales (Henry's son). George and Earl of Montage also join with Warwick who, collecting French troops fight against Edward the Duke of York and defeat him and take him as a prisoner.  His pregnant wife Queen Elizabeth escapes to a sanctuary.  Henry makes Warwick and George as his Lords Protectors.

The Fifth and Sixth Battle:
The escape of Edward from the prison with the help of Richard,  Hastling and Stanley leads to the fifth battle of the Play - the battle of Barnet in which Warwick is betrayed by George who takes the side of his brother Edward. Eventually Warwick's army is defeated and Warwick and Montage are killed. Once again the Yorkists become victorious.   King Henry is sent to the Tower of London as a prisoner.  However there takes place the Sixth battle - the battle of Tewkesbury in which the lancastrians troops headed by Earl of Oxford and Somerset joining with Margaret 's and French forces fight against the Yorkists. But the Yorkists win the battle. The result is so disastrous -Margret is banished; Her son Prince Edward is stabbed to death; Henry in the Tower of London  is stabbed to death by Richard; Life sentence is for Oxford and Death sentence is for Somerset.

Edward is reunited with his wife Queen Elizabeth and his new born son. The long Civil war comes to an end and the moment brings great celebrations for the Yorkists who but scarcely know the villainous mind of Richard longing for the throne.

The Iliad by Homer

Important  points to remember:

•  Also known as song of Ilium (Troy) 
• the greatest epic poem by Homer
• written in Greek in 15693 lines, 
• in 24 books in Dactylic hexameter (heroic hexameter) 
• written in 8^th century BC 
• dealing with few weeks battles and events in the last year of 10 years of Trojan war 
• Odyssey, as the sequel of Iliad

Major Characters into three categories:

•     the Greek:

1.       Agamemnon, leader of the Greek army

2.       Achilles, the Greek warrior, hero of Iliad and son of Thetis

3.       Odysseus, King of Ithaca

4.       Menelaus, king of Sparta,  brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen whom Paris of Troy has stolen away

•          the Trojans:

1.       Priam, king of Troy

2.       Paris, prince of Troy whose love for Helen is the main cause of Trojan war

3.       Hector, brother of Paris and prince of Troy

4.       Pandarus, famous archer of Troy

5.       Aeneas, son of Aphrodite (Venus) and one of the important Trojan heroes

•          Gods and Goddesses:

1.       Zeus, king of the gods of Mount Olympus – god of sky and thunder, supporting the Trojans

2.       Hera, queen of the gods – goddess of marriage, family and childbirth, supporting the Greek

3.       Athena, goddess of wisdom, supporter of the Greek

4.       Apollo, god of music, dance, poetry and archery, supporter of Trojans

Short Summary:

The epic begins  in the middle. Agamemnon and Achilles share the two most beautiful captives Chryseis and Briseis respectively. But Chryseus, father of Chryseis is the priest of Apollo. So, threatened by a plague for 9 days on the Greek army, finally Agamemnon returns Chryseis to her father but takes over Briseis in compensation for this. Achilles, gravely insulted by this, asks his mother goddess Thetis to request Zeus to teach a lesson to the Greek so that they will realize his importance in the Trojan war. How much the Greek suffers in the war without Achilles is described from 2^nd book to 17^th book.  And only in the 18^th book, Achilles comes back to the battlefield at the death of his friend Patroclus.

 War is going on for more than 9 years and this is the 10^th year.  At one stage, both sides agree to end up the war with a duel between Paris and Menelaus because the former has taken away the wife of the latter who wants justice through the war. When Paris is about to be killed, Aphrodite, goddess of love rescues him and takes him away from the war without the knowledge of others. The Trojan war almost ends here at the victory of Menelaus but Pandraus from the Trojans side shoots an arrow at the Menelaus and restarts the war. Diomedes the Greek warrior not only  kills Pandraus but also wounds Aeneas and even the gods Aphrodite and Ares. Another Greek warrior Odysseus also kills a number of Trojans. But with the arrival of Hector, prince of Troy (book 7),  the Greek army is driven back to their camp.

The intervention of Gods from both sides is too much in the Trojan War. Some support the Greek and some others, the Trojans and the gods and goddess themselves fight in the war but suddenly disappear from the war and reappear again after sometime.  For example, Zeus, king of gods supports the Trojans whereas Hera, his wife, queen of gods supports the Greek.   Sometimes the Greek drive the Trojans upto the Troy wall and other times the Trojans drive the Greek up to their fortification and ships. This goes on happening book after the other with the astonishing fight of great warriors on both sides.

Paris is advised to return Helen to end up the war but he declares an offer to give everything looted from the Greek except Helen but the Greek refuses to accept this offer and so again the war continues.  Similarly Agamemnon comes forward to offer a lot of gifts to Achilles to make him return to the war but Achilles rejects it. (book 9).  The war continues. Agamemnon, Diamedes and Odysseus  are greatly wounded. (book 11). The Greek wall is attacked by the Trojans and Hector breaks in the gate.(book 12). With the help of Hera who makes Zeus to fall asleep and prevents him from helping the Trojans, the Greek takes back the upper hand in the war and drives the Trojans again to the plain. (book 14)But Zeus awakes and again the Greek loses their ground. The Trojans forces them to return to their ships and set fire to the ships of the Greek. At this time enters Patroclus, friend of Achilles who has been sent by Achilles to fight against the Trojans with his armor.

Patroclus drives the Trojans back to the wall of Troy and even kills Sarpedon, son of Zeus. This infuriates the Trojans. Hector kills Patroclus and takes away his armour however the body of Patroclus is recovered by Achilles by returning to the battlefield in rage. (book 18) A new set of armour and a magnificent shield are made by Thetis for his son Achilles. Now even Agamemnon is ready to return Briseis  but Achilles is indifferent to all worldly gifts. With his great spear, shield, new armour  and the immortal horse Xanthos, he rushes towards the Trojans in his chariot and starts slaughtering all on the Trojans on the way. He goes on cutting the heads and fills the river Skamandros with their heads.  Hector is warned by his parents  but he ignores it and encounters Achilles face to face only to be chased by him around the city of Troy. Finally after a brief duel, he stabs him at the neck and drags his dead body behind his chariot. (book 22) Hector’s father Priam begs him for his son’s body and Achilles moved by his tears returns the body that is buried in Troy and the Trojans mourn for the death of Hector.(book 24). Though the death of Achilles is also predicted by his immortal horse, and Hector before his death, Achilles does not die in this epic.

Themes in Iliad:

•      Fate determines everything
•     The intervention of immortal gods into the life of mortals
•     The battle for woman
•     The battle for body and armour
•     The illegal love and cowardice of Paris
•     The Wrath and Return of Achilles
•     The Fall of Troy

Symbolism in Beowulf

Facts about Beowulf:

• Old English Epic poem with 3,182 lines 
• by anonymous poet 
• Story set in 6^th c. 
• Story in nutshell: Beowulf, the hero of Geats, North Germanic Tribes helps Hrothgar, king of Danes by killing the monster Grendel first, then killing Grendel’s mother and finally after 50 years killing the dragon but dying wounded by the dragon in the final battle. People respect his valour erecting tower in his memory.

Symbolism in Beowulf

Grendel is not wrong because its rage is because of the noise in the Heorot, the feast hall by Hrothgar.

Grendel’s mother is also not wrong because she comes to avenge her son’s death.

The dragon is also not wrong because a slave has stolen a cup from the dragon’s cave and this has made it boil with rage and fire everything on the way.

Thus in all cases animals are not wrong. It is only human beings who are wrong.

The brave always encounter the enemies alone and Beowulf is no exemption. In the first battle, he refuses to use any weapon. In the second, he takes a special sword got from a warrior but it is of no use. He jumps into the lake and reaches the liar and face Grendel’s mother alone. In the third battle too, he asks his men to wait in the mountain and he rushes to attack the dragon alone, that is , he is with the same spirit that  he had 50 years before.

Another greatness of the poem is that the poet doesn’t want any recognition, any fame and name and leaves his poem anonymously. There is not even a title for this poem. Only the hero’s name later adds title to it.

Besides, the words in Beowulf themselves carry symbolic meaning:

battle-blame = sword

life-lord = God

ring-giver = king

whale-road = sea or ocean

Shepherd of sins = Grendel

flame-snake = dragon

watch the trailer of Beowulf here:

The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare UGC NET ENGLISH PAPER II, UNIT 1. MODULE 14

A) Background of the Play :

• A comedy written in 1592 
•  probably Shakespeare's second play 
• the hero Petruchio reappears in Fletcher's "The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed", a comedy written in 1609-1611  in which he is tamed by his second wife Maria after Kate's death 
• "Kiss Me, Kate", the popular musical play first produced in 1948, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter has derived its title from this Shakespeare's play in which Petruchio repeats three times requesting 'kiss me, Kate' 
• source of the play: "Supposes", a comedy in prose by George Gascoigne in 1566 adopted from Ariosto's "I suppositi" 
•  an American-Italian Comedy film produced in 1967  staring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is also based on this Shakespeare's play and has the same title

B) Summary of the Play :
The whole five acts play of Taming of the Shrew is quite unusually performed within another story in the form of Induction I and II.  Induction here is thus a framing story in which a local lord wants to play a prank on a poor drunken tinker - he orders his servants to take the tinker Christopher Sly to his bed,  dress him like a lord,  provide him with good wine and food . He also orders a troupe of players to perform a play and entertain the tinker and the lord's page boy Bartholomew has to join in the jest dressed in the attire of the tinker's wife to convince him that the happenings around him are real and he has just recovered from his long insanity. The play performed to entertain the tinker is the Taming of the Shrew.

The shrew mentioned in the title is Katherine and the hero who tames this shrew is Petruchio. The play is set in Padua where Baptista has two daughters -the elder daughter wild Catherine and the younger daughter mild Bianca. He wants a tutor for Bianca and a suitor for Catherine first.  Now even the already available hopeless suitors for the younger daughter  Hortentio and Gremio have to first find someone to marry Katherine. Petruchio who comes to Padua looking for a wealthy bride doesn't care about Katherine's nature and weds her at once and takes to his country house where he has planned to tame the shrew.

On the other side,  Lucentio who comes to Padua for further study is carried away by the beauty and submissive nature of Bianca. He pretends to be a tutor of classical language, wins the heart of Bianca and weds her eloping with her to the local church. Baptisto later forgives the couples since it's Lucentio's sincere love for Bianca that made him do so.  Hortentio who also tried to win Bianca in vain pretending to be a music teacher, now changes his mind and marries a wealthy widow.

How Petruchio trains his wild wife to bend to his will and succeeds in his attempt is the remaining part of the play.  Petruchio pretends to care for his wife more but at the same time makes her want of food,  sleep, fine clothes and all comforts. For instance,  he rages at the servants for the meals not being hot enough for his wife  and pushes the whole meals off the table wantonly to make the hungry Katherine still more hungry. The play ends with Katherine's stunning change into submissive nature and Petruchio's success in the competition for three Wives - Bianca, Katherine and the Widow (Hortentio's wife) to find out who among them is so submissive to their husbands.  Katherine, to everyone's surprise, gives a speech on the duties of a good wife to her husband.

C) Critical Appreciation of the Play:
Christopher Sly controlled by the local lord is a play thing to the lord just as the uncontrollable Katherine is a toy in the hands of Petruchio. "Shakespeare has no heros, only heroines. " said Ruskin. It's true with Shakespeare's most of the plays,  especially with Portio in The Merchant of Venice. But here in this play Shakespeare has given much weightage to the hero Petruchio and even Hortentio later proposes to come to this country 'taming school ' to learn the art of controlling one's wife.  The element of disguise is popular device to Shakespeare to produce dramatic irony but here the disguises are too much and the audience is likely to get lost - Lucentio in the disguise of a tutor called Camio, Hortentio disguised as a music teacher,  Lucentio's servant Tranio disguised as Lucentio, second servant as a servant to the disguised Tranio... What happened to Christopher Sly, the watcher of this entire play is completely ignored. However this second play from young Shakespeare is surprisingly rich in plot and characterisation.