My thoughts!

          Introduction Desai spotlights an extremely complex nature of life. The real life has an infinite variety; it may take as many forms as there are individuals. Her notion of reality of life seems to have been greatly influenced by Virginia Woolf who says that " Life is not a series of big lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelopes surrounding us from beginning of consciousness to the end. " A Psychological conflict in Cry the Peacock Desai's heroines represent not ordinary, mainstream women but are mostly from effluent families and do not have to worry about daily subsistence. They are more concerned with their needs.  The journey from selfhood to freedom is an important contribution made by Anita Desai. The motif of self exploration was new, especially for the women of the sixties. As Anita Desai's main emphasis is on the inner world rather than on the outer world, she uses the technique of stream of c

        Introduction Existentialism, a philosophical movement emerged in the writings of several nineteenth and twentieth century philosophers such as Albert Camus etc. Man's autonomy assertion of his subjective self, his flouting of reason and rationality, his denial of traditional values, institutions and philosophy, his exercise of will and freedom, and his experience of the absurdity and the nothingness of life are some of the existential themes, which are reflected in the writings of the exponents of existentialism. Existentialism has been explored to a great extent in Indian English literature. Writers like Anita Desai, Arun Joshi, Kiran Desai are some of the novelists who seriously concentrated on the tenets of existentialism.     What is existentialism?  Jean Paul Sarte, a French philosopher introduced the term existentialism and popularised his three word's formula " Existence precedes essence ." He strongly believed that there is no God, no ori

         Introduction Anita Desai is one of the best known contemporary women writers of Indian fiction in English. Born to a Bengali father and a German mother, she is an excellent example of the bicultural heritage of postcolonial India. Desai grew up in Delhi, receiving her education first at Queen Mary's school and later at Miranda House, one of the Delhi University's prestigious colleges. She began to write in English at the age of seven and published her first story at the age of nine. She brought out her first novel, Cry the Peacock in 1963. This work immediately established her as a major voice in Indian literature in English. Since then Desai has steadily published novels, short stories and children's literature. Well versed in German, Bengali, Hindi and English, Anita Desai has always preferred to write in the English language. A concerned social visionary, Anita Desai is a keen observer of the society and the position of the women in the contemporary soci

           Introduction Anita Desai is a prominent modern writers in Indian writing in English and considered to be one of the eminent Indo Anglian Novelists . A study of her works will reveal that she tries to explore the psychological state of a characters, because she thinks that inner life of a man or woman besides his or her character more than the external conditions of life. She brought in fame with the publication of our first novel ' Cry the Peacock ' and ' Voices in the City '. Anita Desai's notion of modern ideal building of the society free from male domination. Desai represents the theme of consciousness and sensibility of women as compounded with the men and how they suffer on the basis of emotional as well as physical repression and become the victim of male dominated social and cultural order.          What is Feminism?  The term ' feminism ' has its origin from the Latin word 'femina' meaning 'woman' and thereby

         Introduction Indian English poetry is remarkable in the sense that it gives us the perspective of various cultural aspects of our country. It has stood out both during pre-independence period as well as as post independence period. Arun kolatkar, Marathi poet from Kolhapur has been a leading literary voice of his generation. His poetry has now obtained the canonical status in the Indian English poetry.        Poems on Jejuri The selected poems of Arun kolatkar are chosen from his poetry collection, entitled Jejuri. It is a collection of 31 poems and the first poetry book to win the Commonwealth Prize. Jejuri is a place of pilgrimage near Pune, Maharashtra. Jejuri is known for the temple of Lord Khandoba located on a hill. Khandoba, the local God of the temple especially worshipped by a community called Dhangar community. The Dhangars are associated with cattle herding and fall under the economically backward classes. Khandoba is a manifestation of Lord Shiva who

           Introduction Arun kolatkar was one of India's greatest modern poets. He wrote prolifically, in both Marathi and English, publishing in magazines and anthologies from 1955, but did not bring out a book of poems until he was 44. His first book of poetry, Jejuri, won him the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. His third Marathi Publication, Bhijki Vahi, won Sahitya Academy in 2004. Both an epic poem, or sequence, celebrating life in the Indian city of that name in the state of Maharashtra, Jejuri was later published in the US in the NYRB Classics series, with an introduction by Amit Choudhary, an edited version of which was published by ' The Guardian ' in 2006.          Kolatkar's work Always hesitant about publishing his work, kolatkar waited until 2004, when he knew he was dying from cancer, before bringing out two further books, Kala Ghoda poem (a portrait of all life happening in Kala Ghoda, his favourist street) and Sarpa Satta. A posthumous selection

          Introduction "... that gender is a choice, or that gender is a role, or that gender is a construction that one puts on, as one put on clothes in the morning, that there is a 'one' who is prior to this gender, a one who goes to the wardrobe of gender and decides with deliberation which gender it will be today."                                                -Judith Butler,                                                 Gender Trouble That theatre is an effective medium of expression is universally acknowledged. It can at times be propagandist and negotiating and even subversive too. Mahesh Dattani, seen as one of the pioneers of Modern Indian Theatre, effectively uses it to uncover issues which have traditionally been kept hidden so as to maintain the status quo and keep away any speck of rupture which can put to question their 'normative' existence. Among many such issues is the question of gender representation which is brought into

           Introduction Drama is a powerful medium of communication to exhibit and explore human world in various dimensions. It is not simply constructed with the plot and characters. Intelligent stagecraft and dramatic techniques of a playwright convey many things beyond her/his words and actions. Mahesh Dattani is a brilliant dramatist and excellent stagecraft, who makes his audience to react to the elements on stage and script, and draws his spectators and readers to comprehend matter of life even in some lifeless properties on stage. Unless understanding his stagecraft and techniques, no one could comprehend his place in a right sentence. His stage direction, movement, settings, drama techniques are matters to understand his texts especially his plays Tara and Dance Like a Man.  Dramatic Techniques in Dance Like a Man Mahesh Dattani is considered as one of the most effective dramatic voices in Indian English dramatic world. Dance Like a Man is a play that highlights

          Introduction Drama is considered as fine arts; it's afforded pleasure and finds expression in acting with dialogues. Its unique inevitable part of human culture and knowledge coupled with emotions and concerned with expression. A man expresses himself through any forms of art thus the creation of " art of drama ". Mahesh Dattani is one of the few leading Indian English dramatist in India. First, who had wrote in Indian English drama in original in English language. He has taken the fame as a modern Indian English dramatist. In addition, he is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Academy Award, the highest award for literary work in India for his book " Final Solutions and Other Plays ". We are talking about Mumbai based playwright, stage-director, screenwriter, filmmaker and dancer. In 'Dance Like a Man' the story revolves around three generations, their personal ambition, their sacrifices, their struggle and compro

Oxford movement, 19th century moment centred at the University of Oxford that sought a renewal of "catholic", or Roman Catholic , thought and practice within the Church of England in opposition to the Protestant tendencies of the church. The movement is also known as Anglo-Catheism or Angletheism . The argument was that the Anglican church was by history and identity a truly " catholic " church. An immediate cause of the movement was the change that took place in the relationship between the state and the Church of England from 18282 1832. Laws that required members of municipal corporations and government office holders to receive the Lord's supper in the church of England was repealed, and a law was passed - that removed most of the restrictions formerly imposed on Roman Catholics. For a short time it seemed possible that the Church of England might be disestablished and lose its endowment. Leaders of the movement were John Henry Newman , a clergyman and s

The Pre-Raphaelite Movement is an important landmark in the history of English literature. In 1810 Cornelius and Querbeek , the two German painters, founded a society called the German Pre-Raphaelites Brethen. The epithet " Pre-Raphaelite " was applied to all those painters who came before Raphael. They found sweetness, beauty and sincerity in the painters before Raphael. In 1848, D.G.Rossetti, W.H.Hunt and John Millais formed a Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. Later Christina Rossetti and Swinburne also join this group. Rossetti himself was not only a writer but he was also a painter. As a result, the Pre-Raphaelite insisted on keen observation of nature and revival of the traditions of the past painters. Some of the characteristics of this school are: a. Medieval Outlook The pre-raphaelites derived inspiration from chivalry and superstition of the middle ages. By including mediaeval elements, the pre-raphaelites glorified the past literature. b. Art for art's sak

Victorian age is also known as intellectual Renaissance . The Victorian era was the period of reign of Queen Victoria. It is an age of ideological conflict. It is an era in which the conflict between science and religion, rationality and mysticism, and the technical progress and religious orthodoxy is found cum and clear. In Victorian era there were two camps, one which believes in the supremacy of God and autonomy of religion and another camp which believes in science. Tennyson was the one who try to bring two ideological poles together. The most obvious example of this was the theory of evolution made popular by Charles Darwin . There was a group in the Victorian age which believed that man was created by the miraculous act of God . As contrasted to it, Darwin in his book ' On the Origin of the Species ' (1859) propounded that man was created not by a miraculous act of God as depicted in the Biblical Genesis but by a process of ' gradual evolution '. Tennyson say

         Introduction The Blessed Damozel in D.G.Rossetti's single most important literary work. It constitutes D.G. Rossetti's most important interpretation of his Dante and inheritance. As a "double work of art" it is unusual in D.G. Rossetti's corpus because the poems preceded the pictorial treatments.  The poem operates at the three levels, or from three points of vintage: the demozel's (from heaven), the lover's (from his conscious reflection). The last of these is signalled in the text by parentheses, which enclose the lover's thoughts on the vision of his desire. The pictures of course have their own integral meanings, but they should also be seen as "readings" of their precursive texts.  The Blessed Damozel must have been for his lover a dreamgirl. He was destined to love and loose. The Blessed Damozel evidently a maiden who had attained heaven after these dreams for ten years that his lover may also come to heaven and when h

              Introduction The Pre-Raphaelite Movement is an important landmark in the history of English literature. In 1810 Cornelius and Querbeek, the two German painters, founded a society called the German Pre-Raphaelite Brethen. The epithet "Pre-Raphaelite" was applied to all those painters who came before Raphael. They found sweetness, beauty and sincerity in the painters before Raphael. In 1848, D.G. Rossetti, W.H. Hunt and John Millais formed a Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. Rossetti himself was not only a writer but he was also a painter. As a result, the Pre-Raphaelite insisted on keen observation of nature and revival of the traditions of the past painters. In short, they wanted to make literature appealing. The dominant characteristics of Pre-Raphaelite poetry include, among others are 1. a medieval emphasis on setting, mood, and vocabulary and subjects that are correspondingly morbid, melancholy or poignant; 2. Spenserian like sounds and elaborate psychologi

           Introduction A major poet of the Victorian period, Browning was basically a dramatic poetry. Though a great admirer of Shelly, he drew more from the tradition of John Donne. As a dramatic poet his chief interest lay in the drama of the human mind. Obviously in his poetry the stress was on 'incidents in the development of the soul'. Browning perfected the dramatic monologue form, and this remains his distinct contribution to English poetry. As a poet his supreme achievement lies in his dramatic lyrics and monologues. Borrowing held a dynamic view of life, based on trust in the love of God and faith in a life after death. Though modern critics view him more as a septic, a faith that looks through death informs his entire poetry.   The poem as a dramatic monologue The Last Ride Together is one of the finest dramatic monologues of Browning. The dramatic monologue as perfected by Browning is a poem in which a speaker other than the poet, speaks to an imagina

Among all women poets of the English speaking world in the 19th Century, none was held in higher critical esteem or was more admired for the independence and courage of our views than Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Both in England and in the United States she had a wide following among cultured readers. She was the first woman to write sonnets in English literature. She is well known for her remarkable sequence of forty-four love poems written to the very famous poet Robert Browning; " Sonnets from the Portuguese ".     " How do I love thee'       let me count the ways. "                                -Sonnet 34 In this Sonnet the poet expresses the eternal nature of love and its power to overcome everything, including death. The poet says that there are many ways to love that she is counting. This Sonnet is the celebration of the love. In her sonnets she followed the petrarchan style. The rhyme scheme of a poem is abba abba cdc cdc. She follows iambic pen

The dramatic monologue is not strictly a dramatic art form, but it is a poetic form. It is cast in the form of speech addressed to a silent listener. The purpose of dramatic monologue is to reveal the ' inner man '. Its aim is character study or " psycho-analysis " without the other dramatic adjuncts of incidents and dialogues. The setting of such poem is dramatic. As the poem begins, we find the main character reveals us many secrets or hints about something he would not say consciously. The character is revealed by means of ironic discrepancy so that the reader is made to make their own judgement about the character's real characteristic. Dramatic monologue, aside and soliloquy are all literary counterparts. It courts comparison with the soliloquy, but it is actually quite different because it is addressed to a passive listener, whose reaction to what is being said is hinted at by the speaker. Soliloquy is not supposed to be heard, the dramatic monologue is me