English Literature

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN The period from 1798 to 1824 is termed as �The Romantic Age� of English Literature. In this period the writing was mostly poetry. A revolution was taking place in poetic language and its themes. Previously the head controlled the heart, now the heart controlled the head; for the previous poets feelings and imagination were dangerous, but for the Romantics reason and the intellect were dangerous. The romantic period is the most fruitful period in the history of English literature. The revolt against the classical school which had been started by writers like Chatterton, Collins, Gray, Burne, Cowper etc. reached its climax during this period and some of the greatest and most popular English poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats belong to this period. To have knowledge of the trends and characteristics of this age we are to discuss some of its prominent and representative figures. T...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN The Romantic period is the most fruitful period in the history of English literature. The revolt against the Classical school which had been started writers like Chatterton, Collins, Gray, Burne, Cowper etc. reached its climax during this period and some of the greatest and most popular English poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats belong to this period. This period starts from 1798 with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, and the famous �Preface to Lyrical Ballads� which Wordsworth wrote as a manifesto of the new form of poetry which he and Coleridge introduced in opposition to the poetry of the Classical school. Wordsworth chose the language of the common people as the vehicle of his poetry, because it is the most sincere expression of the deepest and rarest passions and feelings. This was the first point of attack on the artificial and formal style ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Wordsworth�s passion for nature is well-known. As De Quincey puts it, �Wordsworth had his passion for nature fixed in his blood. It was a necessity of his being, like that of a mulberry leaf to the silk-worm, and through his commerce with nature did he live and breathe.� Wordsworth had a complete philosophy of nature. Following major points in his creed of nature may be noted: Nature, A Moral Teacher Wordsworth emphasized the moral influence of nature. A careful reading of �The Prelude� shows that he received the best part of his education from nature. He regarded her as a great moral teacher, as the best mother, guardian and nurse of man, as an elevating influence. Like the senior Duke in �As You Like it� , he too found                    Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks     ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN �The Prelude�, a kind of �semi-autobiography� is only a record of the meaningful experiences of Wordsworth�s life. He tells the story of his inner life from earliest childhood up to 1798, the year of the �Lyrical Ballads�. It is not a self-portrait. In it, Wordsworth makes no attempt to bring his personality before the reader. It actually offers us a record of his mental and spiritual growth which starts from his very infant days. As it is concerned with the development of the poet�s sensibilities, only those aspects and events of his life which affected them are included. He selects only those of his actions and experiences which are significant for the evolution of his soul. It is the Nature inspired life which he lived through his childhood and youth that he tries to recapture and record. The introduction to �The Prelude� ends with a brief account of the paradisiacal state of childhood described ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN �The Waste Land� , a masterpiece of T.S. Eliot, is a long and complex poem about the psychological and cultural crisis that came with the loss of moral and cultural identity after the World War I. The critics have commented on the theme of this poem in different words: �vision of desolation and spiritual drought�. (F.R. Leavis); �the plight of the whole generation�. (I.A. Richards); �a sigh for the vanished glory of the past�. (Cleanth Brooks) �there is a life in death, a life of complete inactivity, listlessness and apathy�. (Spender) There are only two master themes in the poem, which in turn, generate many sub-themes. Disillusionment             The first of these major themes is the disillusionment, which indicates in the current state of affairs of modern society, especially the post-World War I Europe in which he lived. He illustrates this pe...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN The critics have taken objection to the form of �The Waste Land�. Some are of the opinion that it is a group of separate poems loosely strung together. Others feel that it is a parade of the poet�s learning. Some critics understand that there is no story or movement in the poem. The poet keeps beating about the bush without reaching any conclusion. However, on a careful study of the poem it has been found that there is a thin and subtle thread which runs throughout the poem and gives it a sort of unity. This pertains to the evils of civilization and how civilization can be saved. Tiresias, The Unifying Link Tiresias, the protagonist, imparts a sense of unity to the poem as a whole. Through the stream of consciousness method Tiresias reflects on the past and the present, and sees a lot of resemblances between them. Film Technique-Montage Eliot follows the film technique in representing scenes from the...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Undoubtedly, �The Waste Land� is a social document of our times, a poem which throws light on the problems, perplexities and disintegration of modern civilization. This integration is due to several reasons as mentioned below. Sexual Perversion Today, sex has been perverted from its proper function and is utilized for animal pleasure and monetary benefits. It has, therefore, become a source of degeneration and disease and a hurdle in man�s spiritual progress as well. Easy sexual relationships are found among all sections of society. Eliot cites the instances of German princess and the Lady of Situations. Further he mentions the story of Lil and the experiences of the three daughters of Thames. The typist girl has no emotional involvement in the sex act. She takes it as she would take as aspirin to get over a tension or a headache. Eliot sums up the story of the European lust through the words of St. ...