Biographia Literaria : a critical study

Name: Dave Nimesh B

Roll no.- 20

M.A.

Sem-1

Paper no.-3) Literary theory and criticism

Assignment topic: Biographia Literaria: a critical study.

Submitted to: DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH,

M.K. BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY.

Assignment

Assignment Topic: ‘Biographia Literaria: a critical study.’

ü      Introduction

Biographia Literaria is written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge's new technique of criticism is called 'appreciative criticism'. To quote a renowned critic, 'evidently the new poetry needed a new criticism and this was provided by Coleridge in the Boigraphia Literaria'.
He led the way in a new method in criticism, which sought no to judge but to appreciate and interpret.
he illustrated the tendency of romantic criticism to stress the effect of art upon the critic's emotions and to regard art as a source of moral and philosophical wisdom.
Coleridge sought to give charm of novelty to things of everyday objects- by making supernatural natural. he introduced dream like quality-element of mystery- wonder and supernatural. he went to middle ages a d created the atmosphere of magic and mystery. we find elements of mysticism in his diction and he lived in the world of fancy. he differentiates prose and poetry in diction.  

§  Coleridge’s critical work is contained in 24 chapters of Biographia Literaria (1815-17). In this critical disquisition concerns himself not only with the practice of criticism, but also, with its theory. In his practical approach to criticism, we get the glimpse of Coleridge the poet; whereas in theoretical discussion, Coleridge the philosopher came to center stage. In chapter 14 of Biographia Literaria, Coleridge’s view on nature and function of poetry is discussed in philosophical terms. The poet within Coleridge discusses the difference between poetry and prose, and poetry and poem. He was the first English writer to insist that every work of art is, by its very nature, an organic whole. At the first step, he rules out the assumption which, from Horace onwards, had wrought such havoc in criticism , that the object of poetry is to instruct; or, as a less extreme from of the heresy had asserted, to make men morally better.

 

ü Two cardinal points of poetry are discussed by Coleridge in chapter 14 of Biographia Literaria

§  Two cardinal points of Poetry :  Coleridge begins this chapter with his views on two cardinal points of poetry. To him these cardinal points are

ü The power of exciting the sympathy of the reader by a faithful adherence to the truth of natures and

ü The power of giving the interest of novelty by modifying with the colors of imagination.

o   According to him it was decided that Wordsworth would write poetry dealing with the theme of first cardinal point and the other was to be dealt by him. For the first type of poetry, the treatment and subject matter should be, to quote Coleridge, “The sudden charm, which accidents of light and shade, which moon- light or sun-set diffused over a known and familiar landscape, appeared to represent the practicability of combining both. These are the poetry of nature.”  In such poems , subjects were to be chosen from ordinary life; the characters and incidents were to be such, as will be found in every village and its vicinity, where there is a meditative and felling mind to seek after them, or to notice them, when they present themselves.

ü In the second type of poetry , the incidents and agents were to be supernatural . in this sort of poetry to quote Coleridge, “ the excellence aimed at was to consist in the interesting of the affections by the dramatic truth of such emotions as would naturally accompany such situations, supposing them real. And real in this sense they have been to every human being who, from whatever source of delusion, has at any time believed himself under supernatural agency.” Thus with the help of imagination the natural will be dealt supernaturally by the poet and the reader will comprehend it with ‘willing suspension of disbelief’

ü The Lyrical Ballads consists of poems dealing with these two cardinal points. Wherein, the endeavor of Coleridge was to deal with “persons and characters supernatural”, and that of Wordsworth “was to give the charm of novelty to think of novelty to think of every day, by awakening the mind’s attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us.”

ü Coleridge’s view towards Wordsworth’s poetic creed:-

ü In defense of Wordsworth’s poetic creed; - Coleridge even though he did not agree with Wordsworth’s views on poetic diction, vindicated his poetic creed in chapter 14 of Biographia Literaria. Coleridge writes in defense to the violent assailant to the ‘language of real life’ adopted by Wordsworth in the Lyrical Ballads. There had been strong criticism against Wordsworth’s views expressed in preface also. Coleridge writes in his defense ; “ Had Mr. Wordsworth’s poems been the silly, the childish things, which they were for a long time described as being; had they been really distinguished from the comossitions of other poets merely by meanness of language and inanity of thought; had they indeed contained nothing more than what is found in the parodies and pretended imitations of them; they must have sunk at once , a dead weight into the slough of oblivion, and have dragged the preface along with them.”

ü He wrote that the ‘eddy of criticism’ which whirled around these poems and Preface would have dragged them in oblivion. But it has not happened. They were founded too not in the lower classes of the reading public, but chiefly among young men of strong ability and meditative minds; and their admiration was distinguished by its intensity, I might almost say, by its religious fervor.” Thus, Coleridge gives full credit to the genius of Wordsworth.

ü It does not mean that he agreed with Wordsworth on all the points. Coleridge writes; “With many parts of this preface in the sense attributed to them and which the words undoubtedly seem to authorize, I never concord; but on the contrary objected to them as erroneous in principle, an as contradictory both to other parts of the same preface, and to the author’s own practice in the greater number of the poems themselves. Mr.Wordsworth in his recent collection has, I find, degraded this prefatory disquisition to the end of his second volume, to be read or not at the reader’s choice”. Hence, we may say that, Coleridge is frank enough to point out that some of the views of Wordsworth were wrong in principle and contradictory, not only in parts of the Preface but also in the practice of the poet himself in many of his poems.

Coleridge distinguish between prose and poem

ü The poem contains the same elements as a prose composition. But the difference is between the combination of those elements and objects aimed at in both the composition. According to the difference of the object will be the difference of the combination. If the object of the poet may simply be to facilitate the memory to recollect certain facts he would make use of certain artificial arrangement of words with the help of meter. As a result composition will be a poem, merely because it is distinguished from composition in prose by Metre, or by rhyme. In this , the lowest sense one might attribute the name of a poem to the well-known enumeration of the days in the several months;

ü twinkle twinkle little star,

how I wonder what you are

ü Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November , &c.

ü Thus , to Coleridge, mere super addition of meter or rhyme does not make a poem.

o   He further elucidates his view point by various prose writings and its immediate purpose and ultimate end. In scientific and historical composition, the immediate purpose is to convey the truth (facts). In the prose works of other kinds, to give pleasure in the immediate object of a work not metrically composed.

o   Now the question is “would then the mere super addition of meter, with or without rhyme, entitle these to the name of poems?” to this Coleridge replies that if metre  is super added the other parts of the composition also must harmonize with it. In order to deserve the name poem each part of the composition, including Metre, rhyme, diction and theme must harmonize with the wholeness of the composition. Metre should not be added to provide merely a superficial decorative charm. Nothing can permanently please which does not contain in itself the reason why it is so, and not otherwise. If metre is super added, all other, parts must be made constant with it. They all must harmonise with each other.

§  A poem therefore may be defined as, that species of composition, which is opposed to works of science by proposing for its immediate object pleasure, not truth; and from all other species it is discriminated by proposing to itself such delight from the whole, as is compatible with a distinct gratification from each component part.

ü Thus, according to Coleridge, he poem is distinguished from prose compositions by its immediate object. The immediate object of prose is to give truth and that of poem is to please. He again distinguishes those prose compositions from poem whose object is similar to poem i.e.to please. He calls this poem a legitimate poem and defines it as, ‘ it must be one , the parts of which mutually support and explain each other; all in their proportion harmonizing with and supporting the purpose and known influes of metrical  arrangement”.

ü Therefore the legitimate poem is a composition in which the rhyme and the metre bear an organic relation to the total work. While reading this sort of poem ‘the reader should be carried forward, not merely or chiefly by the mechanical impulse of curiosity or by a restless desire to arrive at the final solution; but by the pleasurable activity of mind excited by the attractions of the journey itself”    here Coleridge asserts the importance of the impression created by the harmonious whole of the poem. To him, not one or other part but the entire effect, the journey of reading poem should be pleasurable. Thus  Coleridge puts an end to the age old controversy whether the end of poem is instruction or delight. Its  aim is definitely to give pleasure and further poem has its own disatinctive pleasure, pleasure arising from the partsand this pleasure of the parts supports and increases the pleasure of the whole.

ü The differentiate between poem and poetry 

ü
in the last section of the chapter 14, Coleridge considers to distinguish poem from poetry. Coleridge points out that” poetry of the highest kind may exist without meter and even without the contradistinguishing objects of a poem” ha gives example of the writings of Plato, Jeremy Taylor and Bible. The quality of the prose in this writings is equal to that of high poetry. Then the question is what is poetry? How is it different from poem? To quote Coleridge; “ what is poetry? Is so nearly the same question  with what is a poem?  The answer to the one is involved in the solution of the other. For it is a distinction resulting from the poetic genius itself, which sustains and modifies the images, thought, and emotions of the poet’s own mind.  Thus the difference between poem and poetry is not given in clear  terms.

ü Even John Shawcross writes “ this distinction between ‘poetry’ and ‘poem’ is not clear instead of defining poetry he proceeds to describe a poet and from the poet he proceeds to enumerate the characteristics of ith imagination”. This is so because ‘poetry’ for Coleridge is an activity of the poet’s mind and a poem is merely one of the forms of its expression, a verbal expression of that activity, and poetic activity is basically an activity of the imagination.

ü As David Daiches points our, ‘poetry’ for Coleridge is a wider category than a ‘poem’; that is poetry is a kind of activity which can be engaged in by painters or philosopher or scientists and is not confined to those who employ metrical language or even to those who employ language of any kind. Poetry in this larger sense, brings, ‘ the whole soul of man; into activity, with each faculty playing its proper part according to its ‘ relative worth and dignity,. This takes place whenever the synthesizing, the integrating, power of the secondary imagination are at work, bringing all aspects of a subject into a complex unity then  poetry in this larger sense results.

ü David Daiches further writes in A critical History of English Literature’, “the employment of the secondary imagination is a poetic activity and we can see why Coleridge is let from a discussion of a poem to discussion of the poet’s activity when we realize that for him the poet belongs to the larger company of thise who are distinguished by the activity of their imagination”. By virtue of his imagination  which is a synthetic and magical power, he harmonize and blends together various elements and thus diffuses a tone and spirit of unity over the whole. It manifests itself most clearly in the balance or reconciliation of opposite or discordant qualities such as

ü Of sameness with difference

ü Of the general with the concrete

ü The idea with the image

ü The individual with the representative

ü The sense of novelty and freshness, with old and familiar objects

ü A more than usual state of emotion, with more than usual order

o   Judgment with enthusiasm  and while this imagination blends and harmonizes the natural and artificial, it subordinates to nature the manner to the matter, and our admiration of the poet to our sympathy wuth the poetry.

o   To conclude,

o   We  may say in his own words, he endeavored to establish the principle of writing rather than to furnish rules about how to pass judgment on what had been written by others.’

o   Thus Coleridge is the first English critic who based his literary criticism on philosophical principles. While critics before  him had been content to turn a poem inside out and to discourse on its merits and demerits, Coleridge busied himself with the basic question of how it came to be there at all.” He was more interested in the creative process that made it , what it was then in the finished product.

What is Perspectivism? evaluate with reference to the play The Purpose by T.P. Kailasam

Name: Dave Nimesh B

Roll No: 20

M.A.

Sem- 1

Paper: -4) Indian Writing in English

Assignment Topic: Explain what is Perspectivism? Or

How and why do you think T.P.Kailasam’s perspective differs from the myth of Mahabharata with reference to the Purpose.

Submitted to: Department of English, M.K. Bhavnagar University,(Gujarat, India)

ANSWER:-

Nietzsche’s Perspectivism

Perspectivism ( German: perspektivismus) is the term coined by Friedrich Nietzsche in developing the philosophical view (touched upon as far back as Plato’s rendition of Protagoras) that all ideations take place from particular perspectives. This means that there are many possible conceptual schemes, or perspectives in which judgment of truth or values can be made. This is often taken to imply that no way of seeing the world be taken as definitively ‘true’ but does not necessarily entail  that all perspectives are equally valid.           

     Perspectivism rejects objective metaphysics as impossible, claiming that no evaluation of objectivity can transcend cultural formation or subjective designation. Therefore, there are no objective facts  nor any knowledge of a thing-in-itself. Truth is separated from any particular vantage point, and so there are no ethical or epistemological absolutes. Rules are constantly reassessed according to the circumstances of individual perspectives. ‘truth’ is thus created by integrating different vantage points together.People always adopt perspective by default whether they are aware of it or not. And the concept of one’s existence are defined by the circumstances surrounding that individual Truth is made by and for individuals and peoples. This view differs from many types of relativism which consider the truth of a particular proposition of something that altogether cannot be evaluated with respect to an ‘absolute truth’  without taking into consideration culture and context.

          

      In the opening section of the book, Nietzsche, repeatedly refers to ‘perspectives’. In preface he says that perceptivity is the  fundamental condition of all life. He refers to the belief in the opposition of the values and the value of truth as foreground evaluations, temporary perspectives.The term perspective comes from the language of vision. we literally see things from and with particular perspectives. Our eyes are located at a particular space, from which something are visible and others are not, e.g. –the top of the table, but not its underneath. A scene looks different from different perspectives- from high up, we can see further and things looks smaller, from below  things ‘loom’ over us and we cannot see very far.                The idea of a perspective has a rich metaphorical life. Important of our projects, when someone seems to overreact emotionally, we tell them to ‘ get thing in perspective’- what has happened is nit important as they seems to think, they need to see the bigger picture or take the lower view. In emotional overreaction, the immediate experience ( which is near) dominates the person. This relates Nietzsche’s  talk of foreground evaluations. We talk what is near to us( in the foreground) as the standard by which we interpret the world.         

       Nietzsche talks about ‘perspective’ when he is relating beliefs to our values. He uses the word interpretation to mean a belief about something as if it is like this or that. An interpretation is an understanding of a world from a particular perspective, and so interpretations, like perspectives, relate back to our values.( different perspectives are defined by different values, differences in belief are not themselves enough. Two people with different religious belief, for instance, may occupy the same perspective I their belief reflects the same underlying set of values.                 So Nietzsche is saying that philosophical  belief about truth and goodness are part of a particular perspective on the world, a short  sighted, distorting perspective. One of its most important distortions is that it denies that it is a perspective, that its truths are unconditional, that it represents  the world as it truly is. But philosophers are wrong to think that it is possible to represent or hold belief about the world that are value free, objective, disinterested.This applies even to sense perception, which we might expect to be most responsive to how the world is. First we find world easier, argues Nietzsche, to reproduce an image we are familiar with than to remember what is new and different in our sense impression. We are averse to new things, and so already, our experience of the world is dominated by an emotion. Familiar emotions- what we fear or love will affect what we see.

Nietzsche’s concept of Truth:-  

According to Nietzsche there is not any universal definition of

truth. So he says: “there are no truths”. Nietzsche points that an individual tries to ‘çreat’ truth . so truth exist in an individuals perspective only. An individual’s perspective depends upon his or her personal subjective experience. So when a writer writes he or she creates a truth from his or her own individual perspective. That’s why there are  possibilities that the ‘created truth is biased’. Because of contradictory perspective one can not rely on the truth/ reality which is shown. It can be deceptive.

      

      How can one who believes that one’s conception of truth depends on the perspective from which one writes also posit anything resembling a universal truth?

        

  Given this idea that there is no truth outside of a perspective, a transcendent truth, how can a philosopher make any claim that all which are valid outside his personal perspective?

          In beyond good and evil, Nietzsche begins with a chapter entitled “On the Prejudices of Philosophers”. Almost immediately he begins to tear into the lack of integrity on the part of traditional philosophers who present their ideas as the product of pure reason. Nietzsche declaims, “they pose as having discovered and attained their real opinions through the self evaluation of a cold, pure, divinely unperturbed dialectic. While what happens at bottom is a prejudice, a notion, an inspiration, generally a desire of the heart sifted and made abstract, is defended by them with reasons sought after the event. 

Truth is not attainable. True reality is always hidden.

      

   If we are doomed to always view the world from our own point of view, then one can never know an absolute truth. Nietzsche states that in light of perspectivism the very idea of an absolute truth is unintelligible. So there can be no absolute truth to be known.

          Nietzsche perceives that a person cannot act while examining his action with an uncertain eye. A person must believe his or her actions  to be the true. And just ways to act even if this belief is a lie in the will to power, he writes his idea as ‘truth’ is the kind of error without which a certain being could nit live. To see that this certain kind of being to which he is referring is definitely humanity. One need only look to beyond good and evil, where he says that for the purpose of preserving beings such as ourselves,  such judgment must believed to be true. Although they might be of course still be false judgment. Therefore, we human need to act as if we are certain of what we are doing even though we cannot be certain.

‘The Purpose’

-T.P. Kailasam

T.P. Kailasam (1884-1946), dramatist, poet, and short story writer In Kannada and English, specialized In geology and went to London for further studies. He returned to Mysore state where he served the Geological Department for a brief while. He sought to educate the sympathies and challenge in prejudices of his audience. His five English plays are based on The Ramayana and The Mahabharata.

       

   the Purpose, written over a period of six years, is a tragedy in two acts, the main characters are Eklavya, Arjuna  and Drona. the central idea is that the aim of learner finally determines his proficiency. Behind the mighty characters of the play looms an unseen power, with its own purposes hidden even from the great Bheeshma.

                Kailasam has brought his theme from the Indian Epics and he says that

                “ these scenes and words you’ll see and hear

I’ve seen and heard before;

as King or priest, poltroon or peer,

somewhere…….some when of yore”

                Kailasam’s play have a uniform technical excellence for this, C.R. Reddy  has said,

                “ greater than any writer i have known is Kailasam in dramatic technique”. Kailasam tried to high light something which in original myth was neglected. The playwright has made change in original myth and gave it a totally new form.

                His English plays are his small but significant effort to perceive and convey an original pattern of reinterpretation of traditional myth. For this purpose he looked afresh into some of the fringe characters from the Mahabharata. He attempted to bring into limelight marginalized of fringe character such as Eklavya.

                Kailasam’s uniqueness lies not merely in evoking our sympathies for Eklavya but also in elevating them to the level of tragic heroes who were masculine, skilful and capable of achievement. In addition, Kailasam attempted to reveal in these heroes the features that the colonizers believe they possess and which accounted for their superiority over Indians.

                The Purpose highlights Eklavya’s  ambition to become the greatest archer in the world in order to protect his fawns from the wolves, just as it highlights the questionable motivation of other heroic characters  in their shabby treatment of the low born hero. There ‘purposes’ of Kailasam can be linked to the broader purpose of the nationalistic movement of India to rewrite India’s past as a foundation of the nationalistic feeling, movement and sense of self.    

                He investigates his characters beyond the roles assigned to them by the authorized versions of the great epics, and he transforms them from passive victims to active participants, thus fitting them into western definitions of ‘masculinity’.

‘THE PURPOSE’ by T. P. Kailasam is a drama in two acts, the story is based on Adiparva from the Mahabharata.

The story moves around Eklavya and Arjuna and their purpose behind learning archery. Both h want to learn archery from the great Dronacharya.

Now if we try to evaluate the story of the play The Purpose by comparing it with the story of Mahabharata, then we will find a vast different in both the things.

In ‘Mahabharata’, Arjuna is drawn as a heroic character possessing super human quality. He is drawn as noble, kind, warrior, committed to his duty kind of person. We cannot imagine him doing any bad things. About Arjuna we have very good image in our mind. He is the greatest archer in the world. This is the myth we heard from our childhood, so we cannot imagine this ideal character committing any wrong things.

                But Kailasam challenges this myth and makes an attempt to present this myth in a totally different way, with his own perspective. In the play ‘The Purpose’  Kailasam has drawn Eklavya a marginalized character in Mahabharata as a hero of the play, whereas Arjuna is drawn as not  good character . in the play Arjuna’s intention behind learning archery was not noble. He wanted to learn only because he wanted to became greatest archer in the world. This was the only his limited ambition. We cannot imagine a character like him thinking so selfishly but in this play it is not so. In contrast to this Eklavya, is a nishadha boy wanted to learn archery not for his personal ambition but he wanted to protect/ save animals. His intention was noble. He has no personal aspirations. He behaves like a real hero. And at some extent, playwright has shown him greater than Guru Dronacharya also. Eklavya is drawn here as a fast learner, noble and greater kind of character in comparison to Arjuna.

This all are the things when Kailasam’s perspective differs from the myth of Mahabharata.

                Arjuna and Eklavya both wanted to learn archery. Dronacharya teaches archery to Arjuna  but cannot accept Eklavya’s proposal because of his promise to Arjuna. Both of them have difference purpose behind to learn archery. Arjuna wanted to became the greatest archer in the world, and Eklavya explains that he wants to learn archery to save lives of innocent animals. Arjuna’s purpose behind learning archery is self- centered while Eklavya’s purpose is noble. This is the point where the perspective of writer differs.

                Rejected by Guru Drona, Eklavya leaves the Ashrama but with the firm decision to learn archery. Eklavya put guru Drona’s idol and because of his hard work and gurubhakti, becomes the great archer.

In the 2^nd act Eklavya is far ahead than Arjuna in archery. In anger Arjuna says that he will tell everyone that guru Drona has not kept his vow. To save his Guruji, from social criticism Eklavya gives willingly his thumb to Drona as GURUDAKSHINA.

                This is the change made by Kailasam. Here the perspective differs.

The behavior of Arjuna is unexpected in this play. It is my personal ambition to become greatest archer in the world- Arjuna. But how can a prince have personal ambition??? He must be patriotic, think about other. And more than that Arjuna says “ I have trouble” , at that time Drona says you usually have problem in learning, and your aim is wrong. This has double meaning. Now this Arjuna is different from Mahabharata. In the play he is a self obsessed child. His understanding is very limited. Whereas Eklavya learns after even watching behind the tree. Eklavya says that this boy Partha will never improve, he still making mistakes.

All this things shows the upliftment of the character of Eklavya. Thus the Kailasam has highlighted the character of Eklavya. Arjuna is portrayed as anti hero. Eklavya is nobler than Arjuna.

So the story told by MAHARSHI VED VYAS

, in the Mahabharata is conflicting with the story told by T. P. Kailasam in the Purpose.

In the Purpose T.P. Kailasam’s Eklavya is greater than Arjuna. Though Eklavya is a Nishadha boy, his purpose in learning archery is for the betterment of others. In actuality  it is the duty of the prince, but the prince the Arjuna is selfish.

The reader are looking at the story from different perspectives and that are of the writers. Both the writers have created truths in their individual perspectives. Their individual perspective are contradictory.

                The Mahabharata is a story of a princes and in the purpose Kailasam has given voice to marginalizes. 

Ø CONCLUSION

Ø  According to Nietzsche there is not any universal definition  of truth. So the readers can’t rely on the contradictory perspectives for to attain truth because what the writer have written in their subjective experiences and the reality presented by them is complex.

                 We cannot prove Ved Vyasa right and Kailasam wrong or vice versa. So the reality presented by the writer is just their individual perspective not the truth.

Discuss salient features of Renaissance in Dr. Faustus, Hamlet, Paradise Lost and in John Donn's poems. (paper -1 Renaissance literature)

Name: Dave Nimesh B.

Roll no- 20

M.A.

Sem -1

Paper no. (1) Renaissance literature

Assignment topic: Evaluate/discuss salient literary features of renaissance in Dr. Faustus, Hamlet, paradise Lost and in John Donne’s poems.

Submitted to: Dr. Dilip Barad

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

M.K. BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY, BHAVNAGAR, GUJRAT, INDIA.

Assignment :-

• ‘Evaluate/discuss salient literary features of renaissance in Dr. Faustus, Hamlet, paradise Lost and in John Donne’s poems.’

vIntroduction:-

During Elizabeth’s reign in Milton’s word we suddenly see England “ a noble and puissant nation, rousing herself, like a strong man after sleep and shaking her invincible locks”. With the queen’s character, a strange mingling of frivolity and strength which reminds one of that iron image with feet of clay.

        Under her administration the English national life progressed by gigantic leaps rather than by slow historical process, and English literature reached the very highest point of its development.

·      Literary features /characteristics of this age*

•  Abundance of output:-

•  The New Romanticism:-

• ü Poetry:-

• Renaissance age

• Ø Humanism

• Ø Nationalism

• Ø A new approach to life

• Ø A new spirit in art

• Ø Architecture

• Ø Literature and learning

• Ø The growth of the vernaculars and

• Ø Scientific investigation.

• 

ü New Classicism:-

By the time of Elizabeth the renaissance had made itself strongly felt in England. In particular, there was an ardent revival in the study of  Greek, which brought a dazzling light into many places of the intellect. The new passion for classical learning, in itself a rich and worthy enthusiasm. In all branches of literature  Greek and Latin usages began to force themselves upon English, which results not wholly beneficial. English did not emerge unscathed, from the contest but applied to this slight extent, the new classical influence were a great benefit. They tempered and polished the earlier rudeness of English literature.

As we have pointed out, the historical situation encouraged a healthy production. The interest shown in literary subjects is quite amazing to a more chastened generation. Pamphlets and treatises were freely written and literary questions became almost of national importance.

        The Romantic quest is for the remote, the wonderful and beautiful. All their desires were abundantly fed during the Elizabethan age, which is our first and greatest romantic epoch. On the one hand, there was revolt against past, on the other there was a daring and resolute spirit of adventure in literary as well as other regions. And most important of all , there was an unmistakable buoyancy and freshness in the strong wind of the spirit. It was an ardent youth of eng. Literature and achievement was worthy of it.

Though the poetical production was not quite equal to the dramatic, it was nevertheless of great and original beauty. As can be observes from the disputes of the time, the passion for poetry was absorbing and the outcome of it was equal to expectation.

ü Prose:-

For the first time prose rises to a position of first rate importance. The dead weight of Latin tradition was passing away. English prose was acquiring a tradition and a universal application. And so the rapid development was almost inevitable.

ü The Drama:-

The drama made a swift and wonderful leap into maturity in this age, yet it has still many early difficulties to overcome. On more than one occasion between 1590 and 1593 the theaters were closed owing to disturbances caused by the actors. In 1594 the problem was solved by the licensing of two troupes of players. Another early difficulty the drama has to face was its fondness for taking part in the quarrels of the time.

        In spite of such difficulties, the drama reached the splendid consummation of Shakespeare’s art but before the period closed decline was apparent.

ü Religious tolerance:-

        The most characteristic feature of the age was comparative religious tolerance, which was due largely to the queen’s influence. Upon her accession Elizabeth found the whole kingdom divided against itself, the north was largely catholic, while the southern countries were as strongly protestant.

        Elizabeth favored both religious parties, and presently the world saw with amazement Catholics and protestant acting together as trusted counselors of a great sovereign. The defeat of Spanish armada established the reformation as a fact in England. And at the same time united all Englishman, in a magnificent national enthusiasm. For the first time since the reformation, the fundamental question of religious toleration seemed to be settled. And the mind of man, freed from religious fears and persecutions turned with great creative impulse to other forms of activity. It is partly from the new freedom on the mind that the age of Elizabeth received its greatest literary stimulus.

 Social contentment:-

        It was an age of comparative social contentment. The rapid increase of manufacturing towns gave employment to thousand who had before been idle and discontented. Increasing trade brought enormous wealth to England.

        The increase of wealth, the improvement of living, the opportunity for labor, the new social content- these are factor, which help to account for the new literary activity.

 Age of dreams,adventure and unbounded ENTHUSIASM:-

        It is an age of dreams, of adventures, of unbounded enthusiasm springing from the new lands of fabulous riches revealed by English explorers. Drake sails around the world, shaping the mighty course which English colonizers shall follow through the centuries, and young philosopher Bacon is saying “ I have taken all knowledge for my province”.       “ THE MIND MUST SEARCH FARHTER THAN EYES”. With new rich lands opened to the sight, the imagination must create new forms to people the new worlds. While her explorers search the new worlds for the fountain of youth, her poets are creating literary work that are young  forever. Cabot, Gilbert, Raleigh- a score of explorers reveal a new earth to  men’s eyes, and instantly literature creates a new heaven to match it. So dreams and deeds side by side and THE DREAM IS EVER GREATER THAN DEED. That is the meaning of literature.

        To sum up, the age of Elizabeth was a rime of ‘intellectual liberty’, ‘of growing intelligence’ and ‘comfort among all classes’, ‘of unbounded patriotism’ and ‘of peace at home and abroad’.

In the age of Elizabeth literature turned instinctively to the drama (rise of drama) and brought it rapidly to the highest stage of its development.

The characteristics of renaissance are…

The renaissance stood for Humanism, the sympathetic and devoted study of mankind, instead of the theological devotion of the middle ages. Petrarch is regarded as the father of Humanism. this movement could be regarded  for the turning away from the medieval tradition of asceticism and theology towards an interests in man’s life on earth.

        The rise of rational spirit and of scientific investigation gave rise to a new approach to life whereas the medieval approach was based on reason. It laid emphasis on the importance of critical examination and evaluation of ideas and principles.

   

     The Renaissance led to  significant results. It brought about a transition from the medieval to the modern age. The period witnessed the end of the old and reactionary medieval spirit, and the beginning of the new spirit of science, reason and experimentation. The Renaissance gave a great impetus to art, architecture, learning and literature which reached tremendous heights.

Dr. Faustus :-

·     Introduction:-

                Dr. Faustus( the Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus) is a classic creation of the great Renaissance writer Christopher Marlowe.

       

The setting of the play is 1580s , and the time and place when Dr. Faustus was written is 1590s , England. And at that time queen Elizabeth was on throne. It was just the beginning of the Renaissance(Reawakening)(dawn). The people were slowly and steadily coming out from the Medieval ideas, from the dark age. Yet it was just Dawn of Renaissance, Medieval thinking was still there. So religion was over powering upon people, darkness was over powered on them.

        But Christopher Marlowe challenged that medieval ideas with the help of his great works. Christopher Marlowe’s heroes were hungry for more. Marlowe broke that classical rules and regulation and started to write in Blank Verse. During Renaissance the drama made a swift and wonderful leap into maturity. For the first time it rises to a position of first rate importance. Yet Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Spencer, Sackville were still to come.

        Doctor Faustus is a protagonist, tragic hero of the play. He is brilliant 16^th century scholar from the Wittenberg, Germany. He was born to a simple parents. He was very profound, intelligent learner. He had acquired all the knowledge available, like Aristotle’s Analytics, Economy, physics, logic etc. He says “ I have also learned Physics (medicine) if I become doctor than I will be rich –earn gold, but I don’t want that”. “I want to become immortal”

• “couldst thou make men to live eternally
• Or being dead, raise them to life again’’

-first monologue

Dr faustus don’t want to earn name, fame and money. But he wanted to reach at place where no one was reached ever before- and this is the Spirit of Renaissance this thing we can see in the first monologue that he don’t wanted to become lawyer or doctor. But he wanted to do something extraordinary, which make him God. So he says he wants to make dead person alive. So he decided to turn toward necromancy.

   

     This play epitomizes the ideals of the renaissance; egocentrism, the over-indulgence of knowledge and the lust of power. He represents the spirit of renaissance with its rejection to the Medieval, god centered universe, and its embrace of human possibilities. Faustus, at least early on his acquisition of magic is the personification of possibility. Because Faustus gave his life and soul to satan himself for the sake of gaining greater knowledge is the proof that he is a Renaissance hero. He rebels against the limitation set forth by medieval ideas and makes a contract for knowledge and power.

vMedieval  versus Renaissance

        The play is a clash between the medieval world and the world of emerging renaissance.

The medieval world(dark age) placed God at the centre of existence and shunted aside man and natural world. They thought that if you try to cross the set limit or to try to go beyond something then god will be unhappy and punish you.

      

  The Renaissance was a movement that began in ITALY and soon spread throughout Europe , carrying with it a new emphasis on individual, on classical learning and on scientific inquiry into the  nature of the world. In medieval academy, theology was the queen of the science. In the Renaissance, though, secular matters took centre stage.

• ·   Quest for knowledge
• ·    To go beyond what nature had given to us
• ·   Quest for power
• · A desire to be ‘omnipotent’ or ‘demigod’
• ·    Hunger to achieve impossible (Faustus)
• You can achieve anything you wish, neither religion (internal) nor outer world will trouble toy
• ·   The insatiable spirit of adventure
• ·   Enthusiasm to reach a place where no one had reached before
• ·   Challenge to the ideas of myth and religion
• ·   Thinking beyond something
• ·   Try to do impossible
• This all are the spirit of renaissance, which we find in Dr. Faustus.
• 
  

Good Angel  Vs  Evil Angel

The legend of Faustus was believed to be a terrible and ennobling example, and a warning to all Christians to avoid the pitfalls of science, pleasure and ambition which had led to Faustus’s damnation. But it has to be noted that the renaissance value represented in what the devil has to offer, and one is loft wondering whether it is the religious life or the worldly life that is more attractive.

        All that the good angel in this play has to offer is “warnings”, for instance, the good angels warn Faustus against reading the book of magic because it will bring God’s “heavy wrath” upon his head, and ask him to think about heaven. To this the Evil Angel replied: “ No, Faustus, think of honor and of wealth”

        At another point in the play the Evil Angel urges Faustus to go forward in the famous art of magic and to become lord and commander of the earth.

        There can be no doubt that the devil here represents the natural ideals of renaissance by appealing to the vague but healthy ambitions of a young soul which wishes to launch itself upon the wide world. No wonder that, Faustus A CHILD OF RENAISSANCE, cannot resist the devil’s suggestions. We like him for his love of life, for his trust in nature, for his enthusiasm for beauty.

        In a word, Marlowe’s Faustus is a martyr to everything that the renaissance valued- power, curious for knowledge, enterprise, wealth and beauty. The play shows Marlowe’s own passion for the Renaissance values.

        It is said that Good Angel and Evil Angel are the presentation of Faustus’s inner conflict/ mental struggle. At the same time we can also say that Good Angel is symbol of Medieval ideas and Evil Angel is symbol of Renaissance spirit(ideas)The legend of Faustus was believed to be a terrible and ennobling example, and a warning to all Christians to avoid the pitfalls of science, pleasure and ambition which had led to Faustus’s damnation. But it has to be noted that the renaissance value represented in what the devil has to offer, and one is loft wondering whether it is the religious life or the worldly life that is more attractive.

        All that the good angel in this play has to offer is “warnings”, for instance, the good angels warn Faustus against reading the book of magic because it will bring God’s “heavy wrath” upon his head, and ask him to think about heaven. To this the Evil Angel replied: “ No, Faustus, think of honor and of wealth”

        At another point in the play the Evil Angel urges Faustus to go forward in the famous art of magic and to become lord and commander of the earth.

        There can be no doubt that the devil here represents the natural ideals of renaissance by appealing to the vague but healthy ambitions of a young soul which wishes to launch itself upon the wide world. No wonder that, Faustus A CHILD OF RENAISSANCE, cannot resist the devil’s suggestions. We like him for his love of life, for his trust in nature, for his enthusiasm for beauty.

        In a word, Marlowe’s Faustus is a martyr to everything that the renaissance valued- power, curious for knowledge, enterprise, wealth and beauty. The play shows Marlowe’s own passion for the Renaissance values.

        It is said that Good Angel and Evil Angel are the presentation of Faustus’s inner conflict/ mental struggle. At the same time we can also say that Good Angel is symbol of Medieval ideas and Evil Angel is symbol of Renaissance spirit(ideas)

Good Angel- Medieval thinking

Evil Angels- Renaissance thinking

Good Angel:- "o Faustus, lay that damned book aside,

And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul,

And heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head!

Read, read the scriptures- that is blasphemy."

Evil Angel:- "Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art

Where in all Nature’s treasure contain’d:

But thou on earth as Jove in the sky,

Lord and commander of these elements".
  

Good Angel:- "sweet Faustus, leave that execrable are.

-prayer, repentance will bring thee unto heaven!"

Evil Angel:- Rather illusion, fruits of lunacy

Good Angel:- sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things

Evil Angel:-No Faustus, think of honour and wealth

This conversation of Good and Evil Angels sounds as they are presenting the Medieval and Renaissance ideas. Medieval idea was that one should not think apart from god, think only about heaven and god. But the renaissance deconstructs the center. According to Renaissance man is at the center, not god. Rather than giving to much importance to the heaven and god, they preferred art, science, new knowledge and thinking. It becomes quite clear that Good Angel is a medieval idea which wants to restrict Faustus in boundary, while the Evil Angel which is a Renaissance Spirit is freely allowing him to enjoy his life, to do whatever he likes, free play of mind is there.- all are Renaissance Spirit.  

 Faustus as a man of Renaissance:-

        Faustus’s inexhaustible thirst for knowledge, his worship of beauty, his passion for the classics, his skepticism, his interest in sorcery and magic, his admiration for Machiavelli and for super human ambition and will in the pursuit of ideals of beauty of power, or whatever they may be prove the Faustus to be a man of Renaissance.

Faustus appears as a man of the Renaissance in the very opening scene when rejecting the traditional subjects of study, he can subjects of study. He turns to magic and considers the varied user to which he can put his magic skills after he has acquired it. He contemplates the “ world of profit and delight, of power, of honors, of omnipotence” which he hopes to enjoy as a magician. In dwelling upon the advantages which will accrue to him by the exercise of his magic power. He shows his ardent curiosity, his desire for wealth and luxury, his nationalism and his longing for power. These were precisely the qualities of the Renaissance, which was the age of discovery.

Faustus desires gold from East Indies; pearls from the depth of the sea, pleasant fruits and princely delicates form America. Thus, Faustus’s dream of power includes much that had a strong appeal for the English appeal including Marlowe himself.

The Renaissance man was fascinated by new learning and knowledge. He took all knowledge to be his province. He regarded knowledge to be power. He developed an in satiable thirst for further curiosity. Knowledge, power, beauty, riches, worldly pleasure and the like. The writer of this age represented their age in their work. Marlowe is greatest and truest representative of his age. So, the renaissance influence is seen in his every plays Dr.Faustus represents it in many ways.

 Thirst for Knowledge/ Intellectual curiosity : -

The most important desire of renaissance man finds expression in Faustus. In the very beginning of the play, he has studied various subjects, logic, metaphysics, Medicine , law , theology. He remarks ‘ yet art thou still but Faustus , and a man.’    So he decides to study “metaphysics of magician and regarded necromantic books as heavenly” with the help of knowledge he wanted to acquire power and to become “as powerful as Jove in the sky”

There was an intellectual curiosity during the renaissance. The new discoveries in science and developments in technology went beyond mere material advances. It was a youthful age to which nothing seems impossible. Before the European, this period opened a new world of imagination and led them to believe that  the infinite was attainable. In Dr. Faustus Marlowe has expressed such ideas, when   Dr. Faustus says

O , what a world of profit and delight,Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,

Is promised to the studious artisan!

All things that move between the quite poles

Shall be at my command.
Wealth and explorarion.

The renaissance man desired wealth and worldly pleasure. After his agreement with devil he would have spirit at his command to do whatever he liked. He would like them to bring gold from India, pearls from oceans and delicates from every part of the world. So with the help of Mephistopheles he traveled to distant countries and

He views the clouds, the

Planets and the stars

The tropes, zones, and quarters of the sky

From east to west his dragons swiftly glide

Love and Beauty.

Beside having love of knowledge, power, worldly pleasures Dr. Faustus has the Renaissance spirit of love of beauty. So he wanted to have a wife and fairest maid. As he wanted to see the most beautiful woman in the world, he conjured the HELEN

He expresses his feeling of great delight in following words.

Was this the face that

Launches a thousand ships?

And burnt the topeless tower of Ilium.

same happen with Dr. Faustus.

v   Conclusion

Thus in many ways Dr. Faustus is a Renaissance play.

INTRODUCTION:-

Hamlet is the very famous drama of the immortal Shakespeare.   

        Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist, about thirty years of age at the start of the play. Hamlet is the son of the queen Gertrude and the late king Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king Claudius. We can say that Hamlet is a play concerned with son’s revenge for the murder of his father. It is a story concerned with murder, sudden violence and the slower but more deadly reaction to that violence.

dual personality, to be or not to be

Ø      Salient features of Renaissance in ‘HAMLET

Hamlet – a Renaissance character in a medieval world.

                     In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Fortinbras and Leartes are medieval characters. As character of this era they are driven by chivalry and hence the duty of revenge through murder. However, in the medieval world that comprises the setting of the play. Hamlet represents a character of an altogether different age. Shakespeare shapes Hamlet as a thinker who questions and examines the world around him in his own pursuits of revenge. Thus, because of his fundamentally different approach to the world than the medieval character of Fortinbras and Leartes, Hamlet can be considered as a Renaissance character. More specifically Hamlet’s renaissance view on his worlds develops him both as an Elizabethan ere Humanist and Nihilist. Thus, through Hamlet, Shakespeare illustrates humanity’s struggle with the purpose and meaning of man.

ü      HUMANISM:-

As an Elizabethan character, Hamlet is part of Renaissance era movement, which believes in worth of all humans and that truth can be found through introspections.

  

     Another aspect of Renaissance thinking was what modern society would call NIHILISM, which proposes that human existence in fact has no meaning and thus there is no purpose to life. These two philosophy of renaissance, an appreciation that life is essential meaningless cause Hamlet’s inner strife and set him apart from the medieval characters, who are solely driven by chivalry.

       As a Humanist, education and individual thought bring Hamlet to examine the purpose of man’s existence. With the exception of Horatio, a fellow student from the Wittenberg. Hamlet is the only character in the play with academic and intellectual aspirations. Hamlet’s wish to go back to school in Wittenberg demonstrates his desire for Knowledge, a yearning not present in the vast majority of characters in Hamlet. Thus, with Hamlet’s humanistic intellectual pursuit, Shakespeare separates him from his medieval counterparts.

   

    Hamlet’s individual thought also leads him to exclaim to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ‘what a piece of work is man, how noble of work in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals’.

       In his speech Hamlet asserts that he values man and states that he believes that man is marvel, close to perfection and thus through these lines, demonstrates Hamlet’s Humanism. however, Hamlet’s intellect and insight leads  to his self-doubt regarding the importance of man and brings about his conflicting nihilism, establishing him as a character at odds.

   

    Hamlet’s speech to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern concludes with an expression of his nihilism. He states “ and yet, to me what quintessence of dust? Man delights not me, no, nor woman neither”. these nihilistic sentiments questions the purpose of life, suggesting that all humanity will eventually become dust. Indeed, in a sense these statement is a contradiction of hamlet’s previous words of admiration for mankind, and Shakespeare use this passage to clarify the identify the two forces pulling in Hamlet- his Humanism and his nihilism. Hamlet’s nihilism once again becomes apparent in his character close to the end of the play in the scene with gravediggers, when he states, “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returned  to dust; and dust is earth, of earth we make loam”. His nihilism  also brought him to conclusion that Alexander, Julius Ceaser and all human eventually died.

       Despite his wish to take revenge he is not able to kill Claudius because the inability to carry out the medieval style of revenge, because  his renaissance thought pattern represent a tension between the rhetoric of medieval society and reasoning of Elizabethan  era.

       The word renaissance literally means “rebirth”, in the context of the English renaissance , the rebirth refers to a renewal of learning, especially in terms of new beliefs and ways of doing things differently from the middle ages. Characteristics of renaissance include a renewal interest in classical antiquity, a rise in humanist philosophy( a belief itself , human worth and individual dignity) and radical changes in ideas about religion, politics and science.

Here are some characteristics which we found in HAMLET

ü      Classical Antiquity:-

       Hamlet has lot if references to classical Greek and Roman stories, characters and historical events. We can find a murderous king (Pyrrhus) and a queen in mourning over the murdered husband (HECUBA) which mirrors the main plot of the play.

ü      Humanist Philosophy:-

In act 2 , scene 2 , line 311, Hamlet asks: “ what a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties….”. in this speech we can see a clear assertion of humanist ideas about the uniqueness and extraordinary abilities of the human mind.

ü      Politics:-

       There were a big political changes taking place during the time that Shakespeare wrote  Hamlet. This Is reflected by Hamlet’s questioning of Claudius’s to ascend the throne in his father’s place. It was new idea to question anything having to do with the ‘natural’ hierarchical structures that maintain political power.

ü      Religion:-

In Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy , which begins ‘TO BE OR NOT OT BE’, he alludes to an unknown afterlife. “the undiscovered country”, strict belief that people either go to heaven or hell when they die.

ü      Science:-

This point is illustrated by  Shakespeare’s use of the ‘Play within Play’ in Hamlet. Here prince Hamlet’s play, THE MOUSETRAP  , is presented to the court supposedly as entertainment , but Hamlet’s intent is to go rather obvious evidence of Claudius’s guilt for the murder of his father. Says Hamlet “………the play’s the thing where I’ll catch the conscience of the king”

Ø      *Conclusion*

Thus , in many ways we can say that HAMLET is a Renaissance play.

 ‘Paradise lost’

-       John Milton (1608-74)      

Milton was born in Bread street cheapside, London. He was educated at St. Paul’s school, London, and at Cambridge.

The great bulk of Milton’s poetry was written during two periods separated from each other by twenty years.  (1) the period of his University career and his study at Horton, from 1629 to 1640 and (2) the last years of his life , from about 1660 to 1674. The years between were filled by few sonnets.

        Milton’s style of writing is very Grand,(lofty style) so he became difficult to reads than other poets. it Is said that there was nothing written or printed which was not read by Milton.

Paradise Lost is a long epic poem in 12 books. The story of the epic is taken from the Bible. Major theme of this poem is Disobedience. The time and place of poem where it was written is 1656-1674, England, which is regarded as a Renaissance era of our English literature. Milton was also located in that time so that we can see effect of renaissance in his work paradise lost also.

 Renaissance features in paradise Lost

Ø Freedom

Ø Free will to exercise power

Ø Human choice (will power)

Ø Humanism

Ø Questioning spirit

Ø Adventure (of Eve)

Ø Love for human (humanism/ Adam- Eve)

Ø Wish/desire to become superior, powerful like God

Ø Challenge to God

Ø Not blind follower of Religion

Ø Ambition/aspirations

Original story of the Paradise Lost is taken from the Bible. Every character comes from the Bible. In the Bible all the characters are marginalized except god. It does not put fair emphasis on human and human perspectives. But Paradise Lost is a work of literature and literature always have human perspective. And as a result of human perspective Milton had scope to draw the characters freely. And Milton was situated in the renaissance era, so that Milton gave Paradise Lost a renaissance touch.

Renaissance spirit can be seen in the Paradise Lost. For example Eve’s quest for knowledge. Eve is not satisfied with what she had. Adam tells her many times that be careful about he Satan. But then even Satan succeeds in tempting Eve. And basic element in happening so is her desire, quest for knowledge. After so many warnings she ate forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. In her heart she had strong desire to get something more which is the basic spirit of renaissance.

        The renaissance is the rebirth of the human consciousness, the consciousness of being an individual, aspiring for the infinite. The renaissance was a breaking free from the restrained imposed by the feudal-ecclesiastical combine of the middle ages that reduced human being to cogs in the social machinery, enforcing a struck hierarchical and preventing upward   mobility for the imaginative journey.

The renaissance was therefore the rebellion of the free mind which would seek to realize its infinite potentiality and man of universalism. ‘nothing less than infinite can satisfy man’ declared Blake, the romantic imbued with the spirit of the renaissance. Satan imbued with the same renaissance ambition would rebel against god and thereby achieve infinite power such as Troletsch has pointed out ‘ the renaissance spirit would exploit his circumstances, the government as well as religious machinery  in order to ascend , socially, intellectually and spiritually.

        In telling the story of the fall of the man , Milton fully expresses the spirit of the renaissance . one of the fundamental attributes of Milton’s character was his love of freedom and the spirit of independence. In the story of the Adam there was the conflict between pre destination and free will. Without entering into theological controversy we can say that Milton was all for freedom, and pointed out how Adam plucked the fruit  out of his free will.(included no doubt by Eve) though he had been commanded by god not to do so. And as a result of Disobedience he fell under the heavy wrath of the god.

        Paradise Lost is great by reason of its vast imaginative range, and its deep moral earnestness. It was the influence of the renaissance, with spirit of humanism.

        After eating the first bite of the fruit from  the  forbidden tree of knowledge Eve thinks to became Equal and Superior to Adam. She also asks questions a lot to Adam.

“Are we free if we are inferior?”- EVE

 Eve also questions/ challenges god by telling them that Maker (God)  told them that they are free to do anything, but they constantly live under fear of Satan. In Paradise God told them to be happy but how can be they happy? Eve asked, where is happiness and free will if they have to live under fear?- wonderful question asked by Eve. ‘MAKER IS NOT PERFECT’. EVE challenges god . above all questions and arguments shows the questioning spirit of renaissance.

        Adam and Eve are also adventurous that they  dare to eat fruit which was forbidden be god. they  were aware about the heavy wrath of the heaven, though they eat, which is renaissance spirit.

        She taste the fruit because of desire to become God. she wanted to know more, to be more powerful. Adam and Eve are free to do anything, thus free will is also renaissance spirit depicted in the Paradise Lost.

Humanism/ love for human:-

When Adam comes to know about Eve’s taste of the forbidden fruit, he told that he can’t live without Eve. So he willingly takes step to eat the fruit. He knowingly disobey the god, for the sake of love. His intention was noble. Love for Eve (human) dragged him to do so. He sacrificed himself, thinks for other. He is not selfish. He prefers Eve over paradise and god. This all are the spirit of renaissance in the Paradise Lost.

Ø conclusion

        Thus quest for knowledge, Humanism, questioning spirit, desire to became god, ambition etc are the Renaissance characteristics in the Paradise Lost.

‘JOHNDONNE’(1573-1631)

Born: between 21 Jan. and 19 June, 1573, London, England.

Died: 31 march 1631 (aged 59) London, England.

Occupation: poet, Priest, lawyer

Alma mater: oxford university

Genre: satire, love poetry, elegy, sermons.

Subject: love, sexuality, religion, death.

Literary movement: Metaphysical Poetry

        Donne is considered the pre eminent representative of the Metaphysical poet. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, song satires, and sermons.

     
   His poetry is noted for vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially to that of his contemporaries. Donne’s style is characterized by abrupt opening and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocation. These features along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of English society and he met that knowledge with sharp criticism.   

Another  important theme in Donne’s poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering about which he often theorized. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems. he is particularly famous for his mastery  of the metaphysical concepts.

Donne’s earliest poems showed a developed knowledge of English society coupled with sharp criticism of its problems. his satire dealt with common Elizabethan topics, such as corruption in the legal system, mediocre poets, and pompous courtiers. His images of sickness, vomit, manure and plague reflected his strongly satiric view of a world populated by all the fools and knaves of England. His third satire however, deals with the problem of true religion, a matter of great importance to Donne.

Donne’s early career was also notable for his erotic poetry, especially his elegies, in which he employed unconventional metaphors, such as a Flea biting two lovers being compared to sex. In his elegy ‘To His Mistress going to bad, he poetically addresses his mistress and compare the act of fondling to the exploration of America.

Donne is generally considered the most prominent member of the metaphysical poets, a phrase coined in 1781 by Samuel Johnson. In his book Johnson refers to the beginning of the 17^th century in which there ‘appeared a race of writers that may be termed the Metaphysical Poets.  

Donne is considered a master of metaphysical conceit, an extended metaphor that combines two vastly different ideas into a single ideas, often using imagery.

An example of this is his equation of lovers with saints in ‘the colonization’. Unlike the conceits found in other Elizabethan poetry, most notably Petrarchan conceits, which formed clichéd comparison between more closely related objects. Metaphysical conceits go to a greater depth in comparing two completely unlike objects. One of the most famous of Donne’s conceit is found in “A Valediction: forbidding Mourning” where he compares two lovers who are separated to the two legs of a compass.

Almost all the metaphysical poets made an attempt to display their learning by making use of the far-faced images and conceits. They didn’t depend upon easily available images. They brought their images from the various fields just like, science, engineering, architecture, geography, agriculture and many other fields.

The poems like ‘pulley’, ‘the church porch’, ‘to his coy mistress’, the sun riding’ are some of examples of far faced images for the expression of love and also for the expression of faith in god.

John Donne and his followers made a conscious attempt to differ from the poets of the previous age- the Elizabethan age. They believed in ‘go beyond something’, ‘to do something which no one had ever done before’.

All this are the characteristics of the renaissance in John Donne’s poem.

Ø Conclusion

I THINK ,In assignment of literature sky is the limit, but I have tried to show/write salient features of renaissance in ‘Dr. FAUSTUS’, ‘HAMLET’, ‘PARADISE LOST’, and in ‘John Donne’s poems’  as per my comprehension with the help/reference of sir (Dr. Dilip Barad), classroom discussion, many text and reference books and super power INTERNET.  Thank you.