Survey of English Literature II SKRIPTA

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard a poem by Thomas Gray, two main themes of this elegy are
transience(prolaznost) of life and potential talents wasted because of poverty.

The Deserted Village a poem by Oliver Goldsmith commenting on negative consequences of Enclosure Acts, it
praises rural life.

The Village a poem by George Crabbe showing a negative picture of rural life as a response to Goldsmith's The Deserted Village. To a Mouse a poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns, written in Scottish, two main messages of the poem are that man
should respect the Earth and its creatures and that plans can always go bad.

Reflections weitten by Edmund Burke, in it he expresses his conservative attitude against revolutionaries and for
aristocracy, considers that French Revolution has bad influence on Britain.

The Rights of Man Thomas Pane's response to Burke's Reflections, he states that two revolutions cannot be
compared.

Kubla Khan a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a typical example of Romanticism. She Walks in Beauty a poem by George Gordon Lord Byron, it says that true beauty is a mixture of spiritual and
physical beauty and a blending of oppositions.

When We Two Parted - a poem by George Gordon Lord Byron, it talks about departure of lovers who had a forbidden
afair.

Hymn to Intellectual Beauty an ode by Percy Bysshe Shelley inspired by Rousseau's and Wordsworth's works. Ode on a Grecian Urn a poem by John Keats, it represented a new development of the ode form. The Subjection of Women is an essay written by John Stuart Mill in 1869, stating an argument in favour of equality
between the sexes. At the time it was published, this essay was an affront to European conventional norms of views on the status of men and women.

Hard Times a novel by Charles Dickens criticizing Utilitarianism and industrial society. The Lotos-Eaters is a poem by Alfred Tennyson. The poem describes a group of mariners who, upon eating the lotos,
are put into an altered state and isolated from the outside world.

Porphyria's Lover a poem by Robert Browning weitten in dramatic monologue, it talks about abnormal psychology
a man who strangled his lover with her hair in order to preserve the moment in which she loved him.

The Blessed Damozel is the best known poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, it was partially inspired by Poe's The Raven,
with its depiction of a lover grieving over the death of his loved one.

The Renaissance written by Walter Pater, the author discusses about beauty and claims that beauty is relative, and
cannot have universal definition.

The Importance of Being Ernest a play by Oscar Wilde criticizing Victorian society. The Soldier a sonnet by Rupert Broke, it deals with death and accomplishments of a soldier and ironies of war. The General is a poem by Siegfred Sassoon, it talks about the massive loss of life during the war on the Western Front.

Heart of Darkness is a novella by Joseph Conrad. Its most important theme is Imperialism and its consequences. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a modernist poem by T.S.Eliot. It is a fragmentary poem about lonelliness
and alienation of a modern man.

The Dead is a short story by James Joyce from the collection Dubliners. It talks about the hypocrisy and spiritual
paralysis of Irish society.

Happy Days is a play by Samuel Beckett. It is a typical work of the Theater of the Absurd. Animal Farm is a pollitical allegory of Russian Revolution written by George Orwell. The Shield of Achilles is a poem by W. H. Auden first published in 1952. It is also the title poem of a collection of
poems by Auden, published in 1955.

Muses des Beaux Art a poem by W.H. Auden, the theme of the poem is the apathy with which humans view
individual suffering. The title refers to the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.

Church Going a poem by Philip Larkin, it talks about church and it's purpose in contemporary society.
POETRY OF SENSIBILITY Poetry of sensibility can be considered as a forerunner to Romanticism. It contains elements of both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Like Neoclassicism, it sticks to the form and special style of language, but is against rationalism espoused by the Enlightenment. This kind of poetry tends to evoke sympathy in reader talking about deep emotional, moving experiences of human life. Nature, feelings and sense perception are of great importance. It often contains reflections about death. It can be said that poetry of sensibility opened peoples eyes for the beauty of nature. Representatives of this poetry are James Thomson(Winter), Thomas Gray(Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard), Oliver Goldsmith(The Deserted Village), George Crabbe(The Village), Robert Burns(To a Mouse) and William Blake(Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience). ROMANTICISM Romanticism was an international artistic and philosophical movement preceeded by Neoclassicism(the age of Enlightenment) and inspired by French Revolution. It was a breakaway from tradition and conventions. The beginning of the Romantic Period was marked by Lyrical Ballads(1798) and it lasted to 1832(death of Sir Walter Scott), internationally even to 1870. Romanticism redefined peoples view of self and world. In its works it echoed fears, hopes and aspirations of middle and low-class people(and not aristocracy anymore). Romanticism had a very personal viewpoint on the world(subjectiveness). Individual and its place in the world becomes one of the central themes. For Romantics, imagination(and not reason) is the supreme faculty of the mind. It is the source of inspiration and creative power, it enables humans to reconcile the oppositions in the world. Nature was the work of art created by divine imagination, it was a healing power offering escape from civilization, industrialization and artificiality. Romantics considered the nature is organic(and not a system of mechanic laws like by rationalists). In the desire to express the inexpressible they often used symbolism and mythology. They emphasized the importance of intuition, instincts and feelings(and not logic and reason) in act of creation, as Wordsworth said, all good poetry id the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. The Romantics illuminated the inner world. Poetry was very personal and subjective, it talked about the internal journey and the development of the self, which made artist a hero, the speaker and the poet were one. Romantic hero was an outcast or overachiever. There was also a special type of Romantic hero the Byronic hero(based on Byrons semiautobiographical work Childe Harolds Pilgrimage). Romantics were also interested in the exotic in time(e.g. the Middle Ages) and place(far-away countries),the supernatural(Gothic genre) and in developing of the folklore, culture, language, customs and traditions of their own country. They used simple, everyday, local-colored language. They liked to experiment and mix genres. The Romantic artist in society was either socially and politically conscious and influentional, or living a withdrawal life. The most important English Romantics were Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats. PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS

Lyrical Ballads by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth are considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. Preface to Lyrical Ballads was writtten by Wordsworth and it overthrew the
Noeoclassical(Enlightement) conventions. The first edition of Lyrical Ballads(1798) contained just an''Advertisement'' in which Wordsworth explained Lyrical Ballads as a poetry experiment with language of lower and middle social class. The ''Advertisement'' was developed to Preface, which was a poetic revolutionary manifesto about the nature of poetry. In it, Woedsworth rejects the principles of Neoclassicism: the hierarchy of genres and usage of decorum a special style and language for special genre. Wordsworth stood against poetic diction (the elevated language) and introduced the language really used by men(everyday language), and he considered that a poet should be ''the man speaking the men''(a poet for common people). He was against strict poetic form and talking about royality and aristocracy. Instead, he chose to describe situations and incidents from common life, and include common people, or even outcasts, peasants, criminals, children as characters. He considered that ''all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings'', that is: it is spontaneous in the act of creation, free of boundaries of strict form, genre and language. Wordsworth considered that the role of literature should be to keep human beings emotionally alive and morally sensitve in the modern era of technological and increasingly urban society and mass media. THE BYRONIC HERO As the name says, the Byronic hero is based on the personality of Romantic poet George Gordon Lord Byron and his semi-autobiographical work Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. The Byronic hero possesses desirable Romantic traits individuality, independence and disregard for laws, rules and society. He's an idealised, but flawed character. He's an allien, mysterious and gloomy spirit, inevitably doomed. He's superior in his passion and power, but often has a torturing memory or secret of an enormous guilt. The Romantic hero is absolutely self reliant in his isolation, cunning and able to adapt, cynical, emotionally conflicted, intelligent and perceptive, jaded, world-weary, magnetic, charismatic, seductive and sexually attractive, self-destructive, sophisticated and educated, treated as an exile, outcast or outlaw. Some examples of Byronic hero are Byron's Manfred, Polidori's Lord Ruthven in The Vampyre, Pushkin's Eugene Oniegin and Liermontov's Pechorin in Hero of Our Time. THE VICTORIAN AGE The Victorian Age is the period during the reign of Queen Victoria(1837-1901). In Victorian age everything was about the appearance and face value. The Victorians emphasized values such as duty, convention, ernestness, family life and proudence, but the majority only pretended to respect these values and live according to them, and beneath the surface reigned vices, narrow-mindedness, hypocrisy and immorality. The most developed literary form was novel(authors Dickens and Bronte sisters) especially social and historical novel. The most important themes discussed were the poor and their living and working conditions, the crisis of faith(religion vs. science), industrialisation and the woman question. COMEDY OF MANNERS A comedy of manners is a comedy that deals with the behavior of people, uses witty language and satire tone. It often criticizes upper class, their behaviour and pretensions. A lot of irony and sarcasm are used. Characters are stock they don't represent individuals, but certain type of people, the author often makes caricatures of them. Dialogues are funny and witty. Scenarios are cleverly constructed - situations are ridiculous and surreal, there is a lot of coincidents and rapid plot twists. Comedy of manners comments on trivial and superficial standards and norms of society. An example of comedy of manners is Oscar Wilde's Importance of Being Ernest. MODERNISM Modernisam is a literary period from 1890 to WW1. Thinkers that influenced Modernism were Nietzsche, Freud and Marx. Modernism has no strict definition, it is more a name for a number of literary works written in that time. Modernist texrs lose chronology, time is circular. There is little description, modernists like more to allude to things. The stream of character's consciousness is represented, that's why are the works often fragmentary, just as toughts of the characters(losing coherence and sense of purpose and value). The traditional modes of thinking are questioned social organization, religion, morality and the concept of the human self. Modernists rejected traditional realism chronological plot, continuous narrative, omniscient narrator and closed endings. THEATER OF THE ABSURD

Originates from France in 1940's. It was influenced by the philosophy of existencialism that puts human existence in its center. According to existencialists, in a goddless universe human existence has no meaning or purpose, and therefore in the Theater of the Absurd all communication breaks down speech is irrational and illogical, and finally, there is silence. There is lack of contrast and conflicts, characters are allienated and caught in hopeless situations, forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions. Dialogues are full of cliches, word-play, repetition and nonsense. The world is incomprehensible, illogical and devoid of purpose. Characters are lost, faced with bare reality and stuck in routine.There are usually two characters, which are often stereotypical. Between them there is no understanding, no true communication and connection. A typical example of the Theater of the Absurd is Samuel beckett's play Happy Days. INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE DESERTED VILLAGE AND SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND SONGS OF

EXPERIENCE(THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER) The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith praises pastoral life and criticizes the negative consequences of Enclosure Acts,
which transformed common land into private property all over England. That forced peasants to move to industrial cities to earn a living. There they received low wages and lived under poor conditions. Farmers were evicted, their business failed because they were unable to compete with large land-owners. Villages like Auburn in this poem were abandoned and the land was left deserted. The pursuit of luxury broke the harmony of simple, natural rural life. William Blake gives a sharp criticism of society in The Chimney Sweeper. He highlights the problem of little children working hard as chimney sweepers. They were forced to work before they even learned to speak right, they had to get up before dawn to make chimneys clean and prepare them for the day. They lived and slept in soot(very unhealthy conditions). Children working in chimneys and mines was nothing unusual for this time, they had poor life conditions and were less payed than adults. ROMANTICISM IN KUBLA KHAN Kubla Khan by S.T.Coleridge is a representaive work of Romanticism. The element of the exotic is one of the Romantic conventions in this poem the setting is an unusual and mysterious place:the pleasure dome, Xanadu, the river Alph, chasm etc. Kubla Khan, a powerful Mongolian ruler, is the main character. The nature is represented as beautiful, powerful and astonishing. The elements of natural and supernatural/visionary are mixed. The speaker emphasises the importance of imagination, especially in the last part of the poem. A poet is the dominant creature gifted by gods with this supreme faculty, he has the ability to create whatever he wants in the imaginary world which, being immaterial, is indestructible(unlike Kubla Khan's material paradise on Earth). The whole poem is represented as a dream or vision. Coleridge uses a lot of mythological elements,e.g. Abysinia the paradise, the mountain of the gods Abora, thr sacred river Alph, there are also supernatural creatures mentioned such as demon and muse. This poem is very subjective, perceptive and spontaneous.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST CHARACTERS: Algernon(Algy) a figure of dandy; careless, likes to dress nice, leads a double life, in love with Cecily Jack/John Worthing in love with Gwendolen, leads a double life, has imaginary brother Earnest Bunbury Algernon's imaginary friend, Bunburying Algernon's term for leading a double life Lady Bracknell Gwendolen's mother, a hypocrite, cares only about money and appearance Gwendolen in love with Jack just because she thinks his name is Earnest, has a shallow view of love Cecily a girl in Jack's custody, wants to mary Algernon because she thinks his name is Earnest,has a shallow view of love Chasuble represents the hypocrisy of Church COMEDY OF MANNERS

The Importance of Being Ernest can be regarded as a satire, farce, parody, but it is mostly a comedy of manners. This
play criticizes upper class, ridicules their behaviour, flaws, and pretensions, that can be seen especially in the character of Lady Bracknell she is an exemple of Victorian hypocrisy, she cares only about money and appearance, for her marriage is business and love is not important, she has no regard for sick or handicaped people. Dialogues are witty and contain sarcasm and irony. Characters are stock, they don't represent individuals, but certain type of people, Wilde criticizes the whole society by making caricatures of characters. Through humor Wilde shows how ridiculous the behaviour of Victorians is. Life of arictocracy is based on hypocrisy(e.g. Lady Bracknell doesn't accept Jack as her son-inlaw under excuse that his origin is unknown, but when she finds out that he is actually very rich, that doesn't bother her), superficiality and artificiality. Money and property has primar importance. As it is said in the play:''We live in an age of surfaces.'', all characters are shallow and don't care about real values in life, such as earnestness or love. The scenes are cleverly constructed situations are ridiculous and surreal(which provokes humor), there is a lot of coincidents(e.g. Gwendolen and Cecily find out that they are both engaged to a man named Ernest). MARRIAGE/LOVE In this play, marriage is represented as a matter of business, not pleasure or love. That can be seen in Lady Bracknell's conversation with Jack, who wants to mary her daughter, it looks like a business interview, she questions him his income and social position. Gwendolen wants to marry Jack because she thinks his name is Ernest, not carrying if he really possesses the qualities that comprize earnestness, she also doesn't care how her marriage will look like, is she going to be happy with Ernesr, but that her proposal is done according to tradition. Algernon is cynical about marriage, for him it is only an unavoidable obligation until he falls in love. Jack thinks marriage should be a pleasure(perhaps because he's already in love). Miss Prism's attitude is that all respectable men should get married bachelors permanently become temptations for women if they stay single , it is their duty to stop leading women astray, young women are ''green'', they should wait to marry until they are mature enough to value their husbands. Miss Prism embraces responsibility and duty for her marriage is a social responsibility. Cecily believes in happily ever-after, but doesn't understand the seriousness of marriage because of her youth. HARD TIMES CHARACTERS: Thomas Gradgrind local teacher and politician, tries hard to exert Utilitarianism and force it on everybody around him Mr Choakumchild teacher, teaches children facts and only facts Mr Josiah Bounderby rich businessman, banker and salesman, owner of the factory, He has no moral or regard for human suffering, he exploits and humiliates the factory workers Louisa Mr. Grdgrind's daughter, her father raised her on facts, married to Bounderby Cecilia(Sissy) Jupe daughter of a circus performer, adopted by Mr. Gradgrind, represents the balance between fact and fancy, her story has a happy ending Tom(the Whelp) Gradgrind Mr. Gradgrind's son and Louisa's brother, egoistic and immature, has problems with debt and gambling, ends up alone and away from home Stephen Blackpool one of the factory workers, he is fair, good and honest, has an alcoholic wife, falsely accused for robbery, ends tragically Mrs Sparsit Bounderby's landlady, used to be very rich, she's a spy and cabbaler James(Jem) Harthouse represents fading aristocracy, bored with life, finds Louisa enigmatic and seduces her Bitzer a product of fact school, only self-interest is important to him INDUSTRIALIZATION

In Hard Times Dickens sharply criticizes the poor living conditions of the working class in industrial towns. He depicts life in a fictive industrial town Coketown as a symbol for a typical industrial town in Northern England of that time. It is a place full of exploitation, desperation and oppression. Soot and ash is all over the town; it is a dirty and suffocating place. The workers have low wages and work long hours. The work begins before sunrise, the production is important and there is no regard for the rights and suffering of the low class. Children in school are taught according to Utilitarianism philosohy they should accept and live according to facts and facts alone, they are not allowed to fantasize or think for themselves. In Coketown machines cause great pollution. The industrial workers have no chance of progrees in life. The upper-middle class ignores their misery(Bounderby) and denies imagination and creativity(Gradgrind). Utilitarianism exerts mechanisation of society and human mind. The character of Sissy Jupe represents the personification of fact vs fancy conflict, she tries hard to learn facts, but is unable to, she freely thinks and imagines. She is the most stable character because she succedes to find balance between the two. Dickens points out the flaws and limitation of the newly created industrial society and the necessity of social reform. WOMEN This novel is deeply conservative in its concept of women. The Victorians believed that women embodied the traits of compassion, moral purity and sensitiviy, they idealized the redemptive powers of femininity, so in Hard Times we have the female angelic types Sissy and Rachael. Sissy is innocent and has the desire to serve because of her belief in humanity. She's compassionate and tender-hearted, she brings salvation from facts. Because of her goodness she is rewarded with a happy life. Rachael is hard-working, compassionate, moraly pure and sensitive. She is a nursemaid to Stephen's hateful wife, she improves the lives of those around her. Then, there is Louisa. Gradgrind removes the burden of ideal femininity of his daughter but outside her family she's unable to fulfill the idealized role of mother and wife. Her emotions are dormant and hidden until they burst out in the end, but she gets lost because she doesn't know how to deal with her emotions. Loiusa and Sissy point out the flaws of fact-philosophy. There is also a type of degraded woman embodied in Stephen's wife. She is monstruous and barely human, has to be kept hidden.Women in this story often see things more clearly than men and remain strong and composed in crisis situation. UTILITARIANISM Utilitarianism is the philosophy that leaves nothing to imagination, everything is to be explained by the help of logic and facts. The goal of every individual should be to receive most pleasure out of life. Utilitarianism intercedes for utility, wellbeing and pleasure in life. From the beginning of the novel Dickens introduces us to the utilitarian way of thinking . Gradgrind and Bounderby are the most outstanding representatives of the utilitarian philosophy. Children are taught factual school from the early age(Louisa, Tom, Bitzer). Gradgrind thinks that only facts are important in every situation,e.g. for him love is not the major issue in marriage. Loiusa gets free of the fact school in the end, but cnnot stand up to the world of fancy and imagination because she's taught the opposite all the time. Tom commits every action out of self-interest. At the end of the story, when Loiusa comes desperate to her father, Mr. Gradgrind says that he never knew she was unhappy, he wasn't able to identify his child's emotions. Everything he believed in is shattered, but he wants to make it up to Loiusa. The whole system falls apart when Gradgrind loses confidence in it. On the other side, Bounderby keeps a firm belief in the system, so in the beginning and in the end he's in the same situation(a bachelor), his character doesn't go through personal development. He represents the ideology of facts, but himself lives in an illusion of a self-made man. Sissy accepts the situation she found herself in, but never accepts the factual world, she keeps her inner value, she is the mediator between two worlds(fact and fancy). Stephen is the opposite from ideology of facts he is genuine, driven by feelings and not spoiled by any political or ideological opinions. Stephen/Bounderby represent the ideologies, Sissy/Gradgrind hold them together. In Hard Times, Dickens is subjective and influences on the shaping of the reader's opinion, he's against the Utilitarian system, against the egoism and lack of imagination.

HEART OF DARKNESS CHARACTERS:

Marlow the speaker of the frame narrative, starts to question his beliefs and attitudes when in Africa The Manager a corrupted Imperialist, for him only economical gain is important, no matter the cost Mr. Kurtz chief of the station, imposed himself as a god to the natives, a spiritually degenerated man COLONIALISM/IMPERIALISM The Setting of Conrad's novella is Congo in the late 19th ct.,which was then a colony of Belgium, but Heart of Darkness can be observed as a criticism of all European Imperialist countries, especially Britain. Under the excuse that they are going to bring the light of civilisation to the degenerated African brutes, the Imperialists exploited the country for a long time. They gained maximum profit at minimum cost slaves, ivory and rubber in large amounts. The Thames is describes as ''one of the dark places on Earth(as it is a point of departure for Imperialist ships). Conrad portrays British Imperialism in the naive character of Marlow, who is glad to see the "vast amount of red" on the Company's map; signifying the British territory. He is glad that "real work is done there"; meaning salvation, religion, culture and commerce. The reality of the Colonialism is portrayed by Conrad in the form of the District Manager; a real Imperialist, taking full advantage of his position and that of the colony. Marlow's opinion of Imperialism is dented time and again by his witnessing the lengths the Imperialists would go for profit. This opinion is destroyed, totally; when Marlow actually meets Kurtz, and realizes that; far from conquering the darkness, Kurtz himself has been conquered by the darkness. The European's pure faith in Kurtz's good nature contrasts with Marlow's knowledge of his corruption. The roles of Kurtz's 'Intended' and the African woman who appeared to be his misstress are often noted to be of great importance. Conrad sets the Intended up to symbolise the removedness of the British from the events in Africa. She is grief-stricken and full of the dreams of what might have been, had Kurtz not died. Kurtz's 'mistress' shows not grief at Kurtz's departure, but a definite defiance; she being the only native still standing after Marlow sounded the steamer's whistle. The Intended's knowledge of Kurtz, whilst she claimed to have known 'him best' was incomplete, even illusory. The memory she is left with is itself a lie; provided by Marlow. The African woman may symbolise the fact that Africa did not need Britain's 'salvation', contrary to the British belief, based upon a lie, propaganda symbolised by the Intended's faith.

THE DEAD CHARACTERS: Gabriel Conroy self-absorbed individual, cares only about himself and how others see him, paralysed by his selfconsciousness, avoids conflicts and has the superiority complex Gretta Gabriels wife. Love for Michael Furey in her youth left a mark on her life Lilly the poor, hard-working servant Aunt Julia and Kate & Mary Jane the hosts, try to keep Irish tradition of hospitality alive Freddy Malins a cousin who always comes drunk to the family party Mr. Browne an Englishman, a protestant, indirectly discriminated by others on the family party PARALYSIS In The Dead Joyce criticizes the Irish society(as he was deeply disappointed in it, he egziled himself from Ireland). The Irish are seen as hypocrites, spiritually and morally paralysed by the nets of soctal norms and conventions. The best example of this is the main character Gabriel. He cares only about himself and is obsessed with the impression he leaves on others, he has to have everything in control, otherwise he doesnt know how to act. Being an intellectual and overly educated, he doesnt know how to conversate with people of different social class and education. Hes paralysed by his self-consciousness. He feels uncomfortable when someone is opposing his attitudes, and, instead of defending himself diplomatically as an intellectual, he runs away from conflicts. Gabriel is spiritually dead, as hes unable to move forward and feel deep emotions, hes walking around in circles like old Morkans horse. But, in the end of the story he receives the epiphany revelation and disillusionment as he finds out that his marriage wasnt based on true,

passionate love. His wife, Gretta, knew a boy in her youth, Michael Furey, who loved her so much that he was ready to sacrifice his life for her. Realizing that he could never feel what the young boy felt, Gabriel starts to observe his life in a new way all his beliefs and attitudes about life are shattered. He no longer knows who he really is or what is his real worth and imprtance, he becomes a stranger to himself. Gretta is also paralysed, being a person who lives in past and memories. Both Gretta an Gabriel live in world of their own, and not in reality. Snow is an important symbol that may represent the spiritual paralysis, as it covers all of the Ireland, the living and the dead.

HAPPY DAYS CHARACTERS: Winnie the female character, shes stuck in a situation that is only geting worse, but she is optimistic and trying to make something out of her life Willie Winnies husband, totally passive, ignores Winnie THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD This play is an example of the Theater of the Absurd, which was highly influenced by the philosophy of Existencialism. In Happy Days, Winnie and Willie are confronted with bare reality, they are stuck in monotony and meaningless life. Winnie is burried in a mound and shes going deeper and deeper down in it. She cannot move or protect herself from the sun. In spite of all that, she is optimistic and trying hard to improve her conditions. Her bag is only thing she has and she ritually rumages in it to fill up her day. Winnie is lonely, she is talking all the time, asking desperatelly for attention. On the other side, Willie is in a slightly better positon, he is able to move and hide in the shade. He is the opposite of Winnie he is passive and silent. He crawls, has no aspirations and wants only to be left alone. He accepts his situation and doesnt try to change it. So there are only two characters in the play, which is typical for the Theatr of the Absurd. The scene is simple, only essential things are on the stage. Winnie is talking in cliches, she repeats herself, her thoughts are discontinuous and incomprehensive. There are a lot of pauses. The fact that she is talking in meaningless monologue shows that shes alienated, there is no real communication between the characters, language has degenerated and lost its purpose. Winnie is caught in a hopeless situation and forced to do repetitive and meaningless actions (rummaging through her bag, reading the inscription on the toothbrush etc.). Winnies and Willies relationship shows a stereotypical and empty marriage.

ANIMAL FARM CHARACTERS: Mr. Jones a parallel for Czar Nicholas II, the last Russian ruler Old Major the old pig, an allegory for Marx/Lenin Snowball Napoleons partner at first, an allegory for Leon Trotsky, had a good way of realizing socialism Napoleon the dictator pig, an allegory for Stalin, valued power for his own sake Squealer the propagandist, represents power of language in political manipulation Mollie the vane white mare, shes apolitical, only cares about herself Benjamin the donkey, cynical, realises what is really happening on the farm, but doesnt take action Moses the raven, acts lile a prophet/priest Boxer the working class hero, sacrifices his life for the benefit of community POLITICAL ALLEGORY

Animal Farm is a political allegory on Russian Revolution, but it can also be applied on every revolution. This work attacks generally the quest for power. It observes the psychological foundation of revolution, its processes and the irony of displacement of an opressive regime by the new revolutionary order. If we observe the farm as Russia, then Mr. Jones represents Czar Nicholas II, the last Russian ruler. Old Major(Marx/Lenin) gave his noble idea of equality of all animals and actuated the animals to unite and rebell against common enemy, and so they did. His philosophy is called Animalism, it represents the ideas of socialism/communism, but this ideology got perverted and missused by Napoleon(Stalin) an individual greedy for power, without regard for fellow animals. He exiled his partner Snowball(Leon Trotsky) who had a good way of realizing socialism(he builds, educates). Napoleon gained the absolute power step by step. He got controll over food and suffocated every idea or debate. The working class animals got gradually brainwashed with Squealers propaganda, that could turn black into white. The history is being rewritten, so the next generations would believe a lie, due to Squealers persuasion, the animals memories become less and less reliable. Napoleon also uses sheep, who are there to outvote every different opinion, Moses and Minimus(the official poet) to additionally brainwash the animals. Finally, tirany becomes extreme when Napoleon starts to evoke fear with the dogs(KGB), who kill everybody who try to disagree. Via their intelligence, pigs gain power and exploit the less intelligent animals. But Orwell doesnt only criticise the authority, but also the types of citizens who allow such tyrants to do so. POWER OF LANGUAGE Language is a powerfull tool which can be used to manipulate and control people in order to bring about change. Napoleon and Squealer maximally abuse the power of language to manipulate the animals. The initial, noble ideology of Old Major is being twisted and distorted. The word equal is abused the most because the pigs preach equality all the time, and do the opposite, and finally, there is the paradox All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than the others., which emphasizes the corruption of the authority. Songs, poems and slogans serve as propaganda and idealize the leader/dictator. They are another form of social control and inforce the loyality. Accusing Snowball for everything bad that happens on the farm, pigs focus the animals on a supposed common enemy and away from their manipulation. There are also the yes-men; the sheep whose role is to outvote everybody with different oppinion. Memories of animals are also being influenced,e.g. pigs gradually change the Seven Commandments and through persuasion, Squealer makes it hard for animals to rely on their own memory, and the next generetion will believe the lie completely. Totalitarianism is achieved by telling people exactly what to think.

THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK Sio credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, siodo il vero, Senza tema dinfamia ti rispondo. This is the epigraph from Dantes Inferno. It talks about knowing the answer before you ask the question(paradoxical). This epigraph is important for the understanding of the poem because the speaker tells his story as hes sure the listener wont tell it to anybody else, just as Prufrock expresses his thoughts like a personal confession. The listener is as lost as the speaker(compassion and understanding). The epigraph explains Prufrocks character as a person afraid of rejection, a soul trapt in its own hell. LET us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherised upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious intent To lead you to an overwhelming question

Oh, do not ask, What is it? Let us go and make our visit. The speaker(Prufrock) speaks in a dramatic monologue, he adresses somebody - you can be either the reader, the woman hes in love with or his alter ego.This part is the beginning of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. It is melodic, with a lot of rhyme, which gives the lines a sing-song character. There is also an allusion to descent, we go from sky to the streets, deeper and deeper, just as Prufrocks state gets more and more hopeless.Etherised means anesthesized, unconscious, which alludes on Prufrocks state. Half-deserted streets allude to lonelliness. Restless nights in one-night cheap hotels and oyster-shells allude that Prufrock may adress a woman hes attracted to with these lines. The streets seem all alike, like an argument you want to end, they mirror Prufrocks situation hes stuck and unable to progress, hes overwhelmingly afraid and insecure about the question he has to ask. He never says what the question is, so we can guess that it might be:How to get out from the hopeless situation?, Is life worth living? or Will you marry me? if we observe these lines as an adress to a woman. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. These lines are the refrain of the poem, they also contribute to a sing-song manner of the poem. The room is some defined place where Prufrock is supposed to go. There is probably a sort of a tea party of academics in trivial discussion about famous artists. This party includes women-they are educated and intellectuals, and Prufrock is afraid to approach to one of them as he is afraid hes not good enough and is going to be rejected.

And indeed there will be time For the yellow smoke that slides along the street, Rubbing its back upon the window-panes; There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea.

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In these lines Prufrock is convincing himself that he has plenty of time to ask his overwhelming question. He is constantly putting it off(repetition of the word time) as his fear is growing. Hes constantly considering and reconsidering his plan and intention of asking the question(a hundred visions and revisions). With the overstatement on duration of time hes alluding to Marwells To His Coy Misstress(but in opposition, Marwell is emphasizing in his poem the shortness of time). To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet means that people are not being themselves, under the pressure of norms and prejudices they have to prepare a face, that is, act the way society expects of them. Women are also seen as faces, they are all the same to Prufrock(deindividualized). Murder and create denotes change, that Prufrock is trying to put off. Hes wasting his time going to tea parties, but never takes an action. And indeed there will be time To wonder, Do I dare? and, Do I dare? Time to turn back and descend the stair, With a bald spot in the middle of my hair 40 [They will say: How his hair is growing thin!] My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin [They will say: But how his arms and legs are thin!] Do I dare 45 Disturb the universe? In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

Prufrock continues to torture himself with question Do I dare?(to ask the question). Every time he makes up his mind, he turns back in the last moment and goes deeper down in the desperation (Time to turn back and descend the stair.). Time passes and he is growing old(he starts to bald and shrink physically). Hes bothered with the comments and opinions of others, which makes him more afraid and indecisive. He doesnt dare disturb the universe, that is, his private universe hes afraid of change and doesnt want to upset his life. For I have known them all already, known them all: Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, 50 I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; I know the voices dying with a dying fall Beneath the music from a farther room. So how should I presume? Again, Prufrock is generalizing and putting all women into the same category, he spent a lot of time with them and sees them like being all the same. Hes wasted his life at trivial, meaningless social gatherings(I have measured out my life with coffee spoons). Hes unable to presume whether he would be rejected or not if he asks the question. And I have known the eyes already, known them all The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, Then how should I begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways? And how should I presume? 55

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Prufrock sees people/women/society as eyes(deindividualizing them) who examine and judge him(which shows his allieanation), but also he shows in this lines that women dont look at him as an individual, they are putting him into a category, and then he loses his will to talk about himself and loses the will to presume whether he will be rejected or accepted by them. And I have known the arms already, known them all Arms that are braceleted and white and bare [But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!] It is perfume from a dress 65 That makes me so digress? Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. And should I then presume? And how should I begin? . . . . . Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. . . . . . Here we have the ellipsis-women are not presented as a whole, but just as the arms. They are ellegant and pretty, but in the lamplight, when you observe them closely, they are wearing a facade, hiding their flaws. Dusk and smoke contribute to the heavy, gloomy atmosphere, and narrow streets to the feeling of claustrophobia and suffocation. Lonely men shows that Prufrock is just one of many lonely and alienated modern men, he doesnt want to be one, but with his cowardice is certainly about to become one. The floors of silent seas denotes that he has reached the bottom of his desperation, wishing that he were just a simple animal, without the faculty of reason, so he would just exist and not have to think about anyithing. He also doesnt find himself to be worthy to be a man, as he states that he should have been a crab an animal that lives on rubbish. 70

I grow old I grow old 120 I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. Prufrock is aware that he is growing old, time is passing and death is closer and closer. He has shrunk phisically and has to roll his trousers. He wonders whether he should make his appearence better and pretend that he is younger by covering the bald parts of his head with the hair that has left.. He wonders if he has the courage to enjoy in life or have a sexual intercourse with a woman(peach being a symbol for sex), peach is also a heavy fruit for old people, signifying how old he has grown. He doesnt find himself worthy enough for mermaids to sing to him, mermaids here being symbols dor women, being attractive and dangerous at the same time.

William Blake The Chimney Sweeper (from Songs of Innocence) qoutes In this poem Blake shows the bleak picture of reality of a chimney sweeper and criticises society for their bad situation and life conditions. 1. stanza:

When my mother died I was very young, And my farher sold me while yet my tongue Coluld scarcely cry''weep!weep!weep!weep!'' So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep. The setting of this poem is London of 18th ct., where was usual that poor families sell their children into apprenticeship. Small children could easily move in chimneys, so they worked as chimney sweepers. The speaker(1st person) is one of these children who was sold by his father at such a young age that he couldn't even speak right, so we can consider words ''weep!weep!'' as this child advertising his job but unable to say ''sweep'' because he cannot pronounce ''s''(he is so young), or we can understand ithem literally as weeping of a little child, With words ''So YOUR chimneys...'' the speaker adresses the reader,i.e. the society, the people who want to live nice and have their chimneys clean so they make little children work and no one is doing anything to stop this cruelty. The chimney sweeper cannot escape his condition even at night, so he sleeps in soot. Figures;aliteration(repeating of consonants), anaphora repeating of the word weep and metonimy tounge-cry

1.

stanza

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head That curled like a lamb's back,was shav'd, so I said ''Hush Tom!,never mind it,for when your head's bare You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'' In this stanza the second character, Tom Dacre is introduced. ''White hair'',''lamb'' symbolise his purity and innocence. The speaker tries to console Tom, and from his naive words we can conclude thatt he is only couple years older than Tom. The loss of Tom's hair signifies the loss of innocence. 1. stanca

And so he was quiet & that very night, As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned or Jack. Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black. Tom falls asleep consoled by speaker's words. Black coffins resemble the darkness in their lives and death, in contrast to Tom's white hair

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stanza

And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river. and shine in the Sun. This stanza gives a welcoming focus on afterlife, so death is the only thing that can free chimney sweepers and other poor people from tormernting life. Only in his dreams can Tom escape from the cruel reality. 3rd and 4th line show a picture of a perfect day in Heaven, but also depict how a child'hood should be, happy and careless. Wash in a river may simbolise baptism, and the Sun God's spiritual rays.

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stanza Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind; And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. In the first line there is a picture of baptism, children in the dream being naked & white like newborn children, pure of sins and misery and free of their emotional burden (their bags left behind), bags may also symbolise the burden of their hard phisical work. They rise upon clouds symbolises resurectiom into a better afterlife. The wind, as opposite to coffins, symbolises freedom and the open space. Tom has irrational beliefs and hopes for happiness, he may be just a naive child or is taught to believe in suffering on earth in order to gain a place in heaven, so that he would not complain about his position and ask for more in this life. Being a good boy would brig him a reward of God for his father and eternal joy, a Biblical teachin from society, parents and even slave holders.

1.

stanza And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark. And got with our bags & our brushes to work. Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; So if all do their duty they need not fear harm. In this stanza Tom awakes from the beautiful dream, only to return back in the darknes of reality. The sun was not even up yet, and he and his fellow sweepers had to get up to prepare for work on a cold morning.but Tom was happy and didn't feel the cold, fiis soul filled with spiritual strength of promise of a better life. So he continues to silently endure his suffering. In the last line, Blake implies that the sweepers don't see the society's manipulation, but he does and wants to amke readers aware of it.