Topic- Woman's character of novel

Name-  Mansi D Rajyaguru

Paper-  Indian Writing in English

Topic- Woman's character of novel

Class- M.A 2 (Sem 1)

Year-2012-13

Submitted to,

Heenaba Zala,

Dept of English,

M.K Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar.

Topic- Woman's character of novel

 *The traditional pariarchal framework expects a lot from a woman. "During the time of gender construction, the girl child acquires pre-knowledge of her rights and responsibilities and roles an relations to be observed at both the natal as well as in-law's homes and gets tuned in such a way that the girls themselves submit to the tradition in which they are born and brought up. The woman ideally fancies. Preferably, she should think and act from the other's perspective only." Ideally she is expected to remain devoted to the desires of her husband and her in-laws. Further, she is supposed to serve them for a fight against British and this  'freedom to fight' in a symbolic way does not represent the ideal role of woman in the patriarchal framework of the society.

*In the Hindu mythology especially in Puranas, there is a cult of worshiping female idols symbolising the Mother, consort of lord Siva. Mother or Sakthi is the symbol of power-the power to create and the power to destroyed. Women have enjoyed a significant place in the Hindu mythology. But Puranas, mythology and Epic are dominated by male gods. It is not a question of equality of rights and the privileges between men and women's awareness of self in relation to social and political set up in society.

*Raja Rao in Kanthapura has portrayed women as active participates or revolution against the social and political disturbances during the satyagraha movement in India. In the opening chapter of the novel there is a folk song which is an invocation to the godesses Kenchamma, whome the villagers belive to have killed a demon to save their young ones:

Kenchamma, Kenchamma,

Goddess benign and bounteous,

Mother of earth, blood of life,

Harvest-queen, rain-crowned,

Kenchamma, Kenchamma,

Goddess benign and bounteous

This is symbolic. The women folk in  the village drawn inspiration from the great goddess showing tremendous courage when they come in contact with the British soldiers.

*Epic dominates the folklore. Similarly the upper caste women are shown as revolutionary, unlike the lower caste women. No significant role has been given to Dalit women. They are shown only as obedient wives and as followers of Rangamma. But in women as a whole, there is a transformations and prove that they are equal to men though they are not given equal status in the freedom stuggle.

*According to Raja Rao Moorthy is to Gandhi as Hanuman is to Rama. The frequent references to gods and goddesses are only from upper caste. This shows the importance given to little traditions. But the British rule in India gave dalits and women an opportunity to display their anger and power which in a subtle way foretells that they are capable of fighting any type of oppression.

 

Topic- Tragic Hero

Name-  Mansi D Rajyaguru

Paper- Literary Theory & Criticism

Topic- Tragic Hero

Class- M.A 2 (Sem 1)

Year-2012-13

Submitted to,

Dr. Dilip Barad,

Dept of English,

M.K Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar.

Topic- Tragic Hero

A tragic hero, in Shakespeare and such, is a character born noble, but no necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance.

ie. great intelligence, ambition, honour.

*This great aspect of his personality is often his weakness, as well as his greatest personality trait, leads him into conflict. However often a lesser man would have been able to escape this tragic end because he wouldn't have this trait to such an abundance that it can interfere with his perceptions.

*During this conflict the hero is torn by internal struggles. This tragic flaw leading to either action or inaction is the beginning of the character's downward sprial, which was originally caused by his great character trait.

" It is his greatest attribute, and his greatest weakness. "

Definition of "TRAGIC FLAW"

a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy

Aristotle on Tragedy : Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero's powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature. Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia). The hero need not die at the end, but he/she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis--"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate."

 The Tragic Hero:

The tragic hero is "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake."

a) a great man: "one of those who stand in great repute and prosperity, like Oedipus and Thyestes: conspicuous men from families of that kind." The hero is neither a villain nor a model of perfection but is basically good and decent.

b) "mistake" (hamartia): This Greek word, which Aristotle uses only once in the Poetics, has also been translated as "flaw" or as "error." The great man falls through--though not entirely because of-some weakness of character, some moral blindness, or error. We should note that the gods also are in some  sense responsible for the hero's fall.

 Plot

Aristotle distinguished six elements of tragedy: "plot, characters, verbal expression, thought, visual adornment, and song-composition." Of these, PLOT is the most important. The best tragic plot is single and complex, rather than double ("with opposite endings for good and bad"--a characteristic of comedy in which the good are rewarded and the wicked punished). All plots have some pathos (suffering), but a complex plot includes reversal and recognition.

In literature, the tragic flaw is a character trait that brings about the downfall of the protagonist; ironically, in some works, this "flaw" is the character's greatest strength taken to an extreme. The tragic flaw may be a lack of judgment or self-knowledge, but most often it is pride or hubris. Regardless of intention, worthiness, station in life, or the character's best efforts, the tragic flaw will bring about the destruction of the character. Along with a change from ignorance to knowledge (anagnorisis) and a negative reversal of fortune (peripeteia), the tragic flaw (hamartia) is one of the three necessary elements of a classic tragedy.

My Views on tragic hero and "Hamartia"

According to Aristotle in his work "Poetics" a tragic hero is "A man not pre-eminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune is brought upon him not by vice and depravity but by some error in judgment.

The story starts with the narrator explaining how Santiago, the old man, had gone 84 days without catching a fish.

Here in this novel the hero Santiago has an error of judgment. Owing to his pride, he goes too far in the sea. Though he is too old to sail or catch fish, he goes too far in the sea and the result of the story clearly shows hubris caused his defeat. If he had gone out too far for the fish, he wouldn't have lost the fish. Here one can see the error of Judgment in the character of Santiago.

         One can say that the old man broke the rules of fisherman by going out too far. That was the sin of arrogance for that he is punished by losing the fish. So with the help of the character of Santiago we can say that he is a tragic hero with hamartia.

Topic- Hamlet as a Tragedy

Name-  Mansi D Rajyaguru

Paper- Renaissance Literature

Topic- "Hamlet" as a Tragedy

Class- M.A 2 (Sem 1)

Year-2012-13

Submitted to,

Dr. Dilip Barad,

Dept of English,

M.K Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar.

Topic- Hamlet as a Tragedy

Although Hamlet has good intentions, his tragic flaw, the inability to act produces negative outcomes of unforeseen death, tragic dramatic irony, and prevailing evil. Under these provisions, Hamlet presents itself as a classic example of tragedy.

*The Tragic flaw

Simply put, the tragic flaw refers to the quality of a hero that is the primary cause of his/her own demise. It is the aspect of their core personality that causes a deviation from the desired path of success. This may not only be a quality, but a mistake or unforeseen lapse in judgment or decision–or in the case of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet“, no decision at all.

*Tragic Hero

A tragic hero, in Shakespeare and such, is a character born noble, but no necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance.

i.e. great intelligence, ambition, honour.

*In Shakespeare's "Hamlet"

Hamlet is a prime example of a tragic hero. First of all, Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark which clearly shows his nobility in society. He is an intelligent man who, because of thinking too rationally, does not fully achieve what he desired in the end. One of his goals he succeeded in was to claim revenge for his father’s death by slaying Claudius, but he did it too late. His rational thinking made him verify the ghost’s information, as well as fail to murder Claudius because he believed he was praying. The delay in his actions was his hamartia in turn led to Hamlet’s downfall where because of his powerlessness to act, everything he loved was destroyed. Hamlet realizes his flaw in Act Five, Scene 2 when he is speaking with Horatio before he accepts the challenge to sword-fight against Laertes. Here, Hamlet does not care if he dies because he now accepts fate’s duty.

Hamlet's suffering in his melancholy, in his hesitation, in his inaction at a crucial moment in his life, in each one of the aspects of his many-sided personality; he typifies some one or the other phase of human nature.

*Death and Tragedy

Death is utilized in all sorts of tragic plays and stories. It is the ultimate expression of human suffering, the primary ingredient of tragedy. Death evokes deep emotion within characters in the play, and the audience/reader.

*Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is often employed in  tragedies to engage the audience into what is taking place. By having knowledge of something that is occurring, the audience is able to witness a character’s error of action which other characters are unaware aware of. In turn, the knowledge gives the audience foresight of the particular character’s fate. It is the foresight induces the audiences tragic feeling’s of sorrow and grief.

The dramatic irony in Hamlet is used to emphasize the how mischief and dishonesty can lead to tragic occurrences. This can be seen through the deaths of Polonius and Queen Gertrude, as well as the rise of Fortinbras, as the new King of Denmark.