CHARACTERS (FAMOUS) IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 124

 prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

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1. Absolute, Sir Anthony; a famous character in Sheridan’s The Rivals. He is an old gentleman with a warm heart. He is one of the most popular characters in English comedy. 

2. Adams, Parson; a village parson in Fielding’s Joseph Andrews.  He is a very pious and simple-hearted fellow. He is utterly ignorant of the ways of the world. He is the chief source of humour in the novel. 

3. Admirable Crichon; a butler in J. M. Barries’s famous fantasy play of the same title. 

4. Agnes; the daughter of Mr. Wick field, the lawyer, in Dickens’ David Copperfield.         After Dora’s death she becomes David Copperfield’s wife. 

5. Little Emily; Pegotty’s niece who is betrothed to Ham but elopes away with Steer forth in Dickens’ novel David Copperfield. 

6. Alice; a little girl in Lewis Carols’ Alice in Wonderland   and Through the looking Glass. 

7. Allworthy; A charitable gentleman in Fielding’s Tom Jones. He brings Tom Jones up and discovers later on that he is the son of his sister. 

8. Almayer; The hero of Joseph Conrad’s novel Almayer’s Folly. He is an English man in Malaya. 

9. Amelia; The heroine of Fielding’s novel of the same title. She is also a character in Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair. 

10. Ancient Mariner; The hero of Coleridge’s famous poem The Rime of ancient Mariner. He brings a curse upon himself and his ship-mates by killing an Albatross.

11. Andrews, Joseph; The hero of Fielding’s novel Joseph Andrews.

12. Antonio; The merchant in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.  He stands a trial for ‘a pound of flesh’ demanded by Shylock.

13. Qassanio; The person who marries Portia in Shakespear’s Merchant of Venice.

14. Arden, Enoch; The hero of Tennyson’s famous poem of the same title. He returns home after a long absence on sea voyages and finds his wife happily married to another person. He keeps the secret in his heart and dies broken-hearted.  

15. Ariel; A spirit in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. He is also chief spirit in the Rape of the Lock. 

16. Blinda; The beautiful heroine of the Rape of the Lock.

17. Ashton lucy; The heroine of Scott’s Bride of the Lammermoor.

18. Backbite, Sir Benjamin; A scandalmonger in Sheridan’s The School for Scandal.

19. Banquo; He is in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. He is murdered on Macbeth’s instigation and his ghost haunts Macbeth. 

20. Barkis; a coach driver in Dickens’ David Copperfield. He marries Pegotty. He is a very miserly fellow. 

21. Dora; The child wife of David Copperfield in Dickens’ novel of the same name.( David Copperfield)

22. Beatrice; The heroine of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. 

23. Benedick; The chief character in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. He marries Beatrice. 

24. Bede, Adam; The hero of George Eliot’s novel of the same title. 

25. Belch, sir Toby; One of the minor characters of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. He is Olivia’s uncle and is given to drinking. He marries Maria for her cleverness. 

26. Bennet, Elizabeth; The young and charming heroine of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice.

27. 

28. Bottom, Nick; The Chief comic character in Shakespeare’s A Mid Summer Night’s Dream.

29. Bridehead Sue; The heroine of Hardy’s novel Judo the Obscure.

30. Brown Father; The Roman Catholic priest in G. K. Chesterton’s Wisdom of Father Brown.  His hobby is criminology.

31. Brutus, Marcus; A Roman patriot in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

32. Caliban; A malignant monster in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.   He is the servant of Prospero. 

33. Candida; The heroine of G, B. Shaw’s play of the same name. She is the wife of Morell. 

34. James Carker;The head clerk of Mr. Dombey in Dickens’s Dombey and son.  He elopes (runaway with paramour/ sweetheart) with his master’s wife, but is accidentally killed. 

35. Dombey Mr.; A money loving and cruek merchant in  Dickens’s Dombey and son.

36. Madame Defarge; An important woman character in Dickens’ historical novel A tale of Two Cities

37. Sydney Carton; The hero of Dickens’s novel A tale of Two Cities who sacrifices his life for the sake of his beloved Lucy Maanette.

38.  Cassio; Whom Othello suspects to be in love with his wife Desdemona. 

39. Cassias; One of the conspirators in Julius Caesar by Shakespeare. 

40. Lady Chatterley; The heroine of D. H. Lawrence’s famous Lady Chatterley’s Lover.  She is a woman of passionate nature. 

41. Child Harold; The hero of Byron’s poem of the same title. 

42. Christable; The heroine of Coleridge’s incomplete poem of the same title. 

43. Martin Chuzzlewit;  The hero of Dickens’ novel of the same name. 

44. Angel Clare; The hero of Hardy’s novel Tess of D ‘Urbervilles. 

45. D’Urberville, Alec; The man who seduces Tess in Hardy’s novel Tess of D‘Urbervilles.

46. Claudius; Hamlet’s uncle and king of Denmark who usurps his brother’s kingdom and marries his wife after murdering him. 

47. Cleopatra; The beautiful heroine of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Dryden’s All for Love, and Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. She is the Queen of Egypt.

48. Humphrey /clincker; The hero of Smollett’s novel of same name.

49. David Copperfield; The hero  of Dickens’ novel of  same name. 

50. Dick Mr. A solicitor in Dickens’ novel David Copperfield.

51. Cordelia; The youngest daughter of King Lear in Shakespeare’s tragedy of King Lear. She is the symbol of devotion and unselfish love.

52. Sir Roger de Coverley; The old gentleman representing the countryside in the Spectator by Addison and Steele. 

53. Mr. Creakle; The famous cruel Head Master of a school in Dickens’ novel David Copperfield. 

54. Cymberline; King  of the England in Shakespeare’s Drama in the same name.

55. Darcy, Fitzwilliam;  An aristocratic young man of strong prejudices in Jane Austen’s famous novel Pride and Prejudice. 

56. Desdemona; The young and beautiful heroine of Shakespeare’s treat tragedy Othello.

57. Emilia; Iago’s wife in Shakespeare’s Othello.

58. Gavin Dishart; The hero of  J. M. Barrie’s play Little Minister.

59. William Dobbin; A  shy young man Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair.

60. Quentin Donward; The hero of Scott’s famous romance of the same name.

61. Esmond, Beatrix; The heroine of Thackeray’s novel Henry Esmond.

62. Estella; The young heroine of Dickens’ novel Great Expectations. 

63. Bathsheba Everdene; The heroine of Hardy’s novel Far From the Madding Crowd.

64. Jane Eyre; The young heroine of Charlotte Bronte’s novel of the same title. 

65. Faithful; The companion of Christian in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. 

66. Sir John Falstaff;  The most famous comic character in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part I & II. 

67. Dr. Faustus; The hero of Marlowe’s famous play of the same name. He sells his soul to the Devil. 

68. Ferdinand; The hero of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. He marries Prospero’s daughter Miranda.  

69. Richard Feveral; The hero of Meredith’s novel Ordeal of Richard Feveral.

70. Moll Falnders; The heroine of Defoe’s novel of the same name. She is a notorious Harlot and jail bird. 

71. Friday Man; A savage servant of Robinson Crusoe in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. 

72. Sir Galahad; One of the knights of King Arthur’s Round table. Tennyson has written a poem ‘Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail’. 

73. Mrs. Sarah Gamp; A nurse in Dickens’ novel Marlin Chuzzlewit. She always carries an umbrella with her.

74. Sir Charles Grandison; The hero of Richardson’s novel of the same title. 

75. Dorian Gray; An accomplished sensualist (Ayash, Nafsparast) in Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray.

76. Vivian Grey; A clever young man in Disraeli’s novel of the same title. 

77. Guinvere; King Arthur’s wife who loves another knight, sir Launcelot. She appears in most of the Arthurian legends and in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. 

78. Lemuel Gulliver; The hero of Swift’s famous satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels. 

79. Hamlet; The hero of Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name. 

80. Horatio; Hamlet’s devoted friend in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

81. Mr. & Mrs. Hardcastle;  The husband and wife in Goldsmith’s hilarious (Mirthful, Merry) comedy She Stoops to Conquer.

82. Clarissa Harlow; The young heroine of Richardson’s novel of the same name. 

83. Hasing; The lover of Miss Neville in Goldsmith’s comedy, She Stoops to Conquer. 

84. Miss Havisham; an old spinster (a woman of evil character) in Dickens’ novel Great Expectations.  She has adopted Estella to break the hearts of young men. 

85. Jim Hawkin’s’; The hero of Stevenson’s novel The Treasure Island.

86. Heathcliff; The hero of Emile Bronte’s famous novel Wuthering Heights.

87. Uriah Heep; The villain and hypocrite in Dickens’ novel David Copperfield.

88. Michael Hwenchard; The hero of T. Hardy’s great tragic novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. 

89. Sherlock Holmes; The famous detective (Spy) in Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels and detective stories. 

90. Captain Hook; The chief pirate in J. M. Barrie’s fantasy (Whimsical, Imagination) play Peter Pan. 

91. Iaclimo; The villain in Shakespeare’s tragedy Cymbeline. 

92. Iago; The famous villain in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello.

93. d

94. Imogen; The unhappy wife of posthumous in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.

95. Ivanhoe; The hero of Scott’s novel of the same title. 

96. Jacques; A melancholy lord in Shakespeare’s play As You Like It.

97. Dr. Jekyll; The noble doctor in R. L. Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

98. Jessica; Shylock’s daughter who elopes with Lorenzo in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.

99. Lord Jim; The hero of Joseph Conrad’s novel of the same name. 

100. Tom Jones; The hero of H. Fielding’s famous novel of the same name. 

101. Fawley Jude; The hero of T. Hardy’s novel Jude the Observe.

102. Juliet; The heroine of Shakespeare’sfamous love tragedy  Romeo & Juliet.

103. Kim;  He is the hero of Kipling’s novel of the same name. An orphan boy of an Irish soldier.

104. Kipps; The hero of H. G. Wells novel of the same name. 

105. Lady of the Lake, the: A beautiful enchantress in Tennyson’s poem Idylls of the King.  

106. Lady of Shallot, The; The heroine of Tennyson’s poem of the same title. 

107. Lydia languish;  The young heroine of Sheridan’s comedy  The Rivals.

108. King Lear; The hero of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy of the same name.

109. Little Dorrit; The heroine of Dickens’ novel of the same name. 

110. Little Nell’; The child heroine of Dickens’ novel Old Curiosity Shop.

111. Robert Lovelace; The heartless hero of Richardson’s novel Clarissa Harlowe.

112. Tony Lumpkin; The mischievous (hurtful, Harketi) young man in Goldsmith’s comedy She Stoops to Conquer. 

113. Macbeth; The hero of Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name.

114. Mad Hatter; An interesting character whom alice meets in Lewis Carrole’s novel Alice in Wonderland. 

115. Mrs. Malaprop; A lady notorious for misusing words in Sheridan’s comedy  The Rivals.

116. Malvolio;  Olivia’s steward in Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night. 

117. Markheim; The hero of R. L. Stevenson’s psychological story of the same title.

118. Silas Marner; The hero of George Eliot’s novel of the same name.   

119. Mephistophles; The devil-atendant upon Dr. Faustus in Marlowe’s famous play Dr. Faustus.

120. Merlin; The famous magician in the legends connected with King Arthur. 

121. Mr. Wilkins Micawber; A humours character in Dickens’ novel David Copperfield.  He is always waiting for something to turn up.

122. Miranda; The heroine of Shakespeare’s dramatic romance The Tempest.  She is the daughter of Prospero. 

123. Mowgli; A little Hindu boy is the hero of Kipling’s Jungle books. 

124. Nicholas Nickelby; The hero of Dickens’ novel of the same title.

ORIENTALISM

 prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

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Orientalism by Edward Said is a canonical text of cultural studies in which he has challenged the concept of orientalism or the difference between east and west, as he puts it. He says that with the start of European colonization the Europeans came in contact with the lesser developed countries of the east. They found their civilization and culture very exotic, and established the science of orientalism, which was the study of the orientals or the people from these exotic civilization.

Edward Said argues that the Europeans divided the world into two parts; the east and the west or the occident and the orient or the civilized and the uncivilized. This was totally an artificial boundary; and it was laid on the basis of the concept of them and us or theirs and ours. The Europeans used orientalism to define themselves. Some particular attributes were associated with the orientals, and whatever the orientals weren’t the occidents were. The Europeans defined themselves as the superior race compared to the orientals; and they justified their colonization by this concept. They said that it was their duty towards the world to civilize the uncivilized world. The main problem, however, arose when the Europeans started generalizing the attributes they associated with orientals, and started portraying these artificial characteristics associated with orientals in their western world through their scientific reports, literary work, and other media sources. What happened was that it created a certain image about the orientals in the European mind and in doing that infused a bias in the European attitude towards the orientals. This prejudice was also found in the orientalists (scientist studying the orientals); and all their scientific research and reports were under the influence of this. The generalized attributes associated with the orientals can be seen even today, for example, the Arabs are defined as uncivilized people; and Islam is seen as religion of the terrorist.

Here is a brief summary of the book:  

Chapter 1:  The Scope of Orientalism

In this chapter, Edward Said explains how the science of orientalism developed and how the orientals started considering the orientals as non-human beings. The orientals divided the world in to two parts by using the concept of ours and theirs. An imaginary geographical line was drawn between what was ours and what was theirs. The orients were regarded as uncivilized people; and the westerns said that since they were the refined race it was their duty to civilize these people and in order to achieve their goal, they had to colonize and rule the orients. They said that the orients themselves were incapable of running their own government. The Europeans also thought that they had the right to represent the orientals in the west all by themselves. In doing so, they shaped the orientals the way they perceived them or in other words they were orientalizing the orients. Various teams have been sent to the east where the orientalits silently observed the orientals by living with them; and every thing the orientals said and did was recorded irrespective of its context, and projected to the civilized world of the west. This resulted in the generalization. Whatever was seen by the orientals was associated with the oriental culture, no matter if it is the irrational action of an individual.

The most important use of orientalism to the Europeans was that they defined themselves by defining the orientals. For example, qualities such as lazy, irrational, uncivilized, crudeness were related to the orientals, and automatically the Europeans became active, rational, civilized, sophisticated. Thus, in order to achieve this goal, it was very necessary for the orientalists to generalize the culture of the orients.

Another feature of orientalism was that the culture of the orientals was explained to the European audience by linking them to the western culture, for example, Islam was made into Mohammadism because Mohammad was the founder of this religion and since religion of Christ was called Christianity; thus Islam should be called Mohammadism. The point to be noted here is that no Muslim was aware of this terminology and this was a completely western created term, and to which the Muslims had no say at all.

Chapter 2: Orientalist Structures and Restructures

In this chapter, Edward Said points the slight change in the attitude of the Europeans towards the orientals. The orientals were really publicized in the European world especially through their literary work. Oriental land and behaviour was highly romanticized by the European poets and writers and then presented to the western world. The orientalists had made a stage strictly for the European viewers, and the orients were presented to them with the colour of the orientalist or other writers perception. In fact, the orient lands were so highly romanticized that western literary writers found it necessary to offer pilgrimage to these exotic lands of pure sun light and clean oceans in order to experience peace of mind, and inspiration for their writing. The east was now perceived by the orientalist as a place of pure human culture with no necessary evil in the society. Actually it was this purity of the orientals that made them inferior to the clever, witty, diplomatic, far-sighted European; thus it was their right to rule and study such an innocent race. The Europeans said that these people were too naive to deal with the cruel world, and that they needed the European fatherly role to assist them.

Another justification the Europeans gave to their colonization was that they were meant to rule the orientals since they have developed sooner than the orientals as a nation, which shows that they were biologically superior, and secondly it were the Europeans who discovered the orients not the orients who discovered the Europeans. Darwin’s theories were put forward to justify their superiority, biologically by the Europeans.

In this chapter, Edward Said also explains how the two most renowned orientalists of the 19th century, namely Silvestre de Sacy and Ernest Renan worked and gave orienatlism a new dimension. In fact, Edward Said compliments the contribution made by Sacy in the field. He says that Sacy organized the whole thing by arranging the information in such a way that it was also useful for the future orientalist. And secondly, the prejudice that was inherited by every orientalist was considerably low in him. On the other hand, Renan who took advantage of Sacy’s work was as biased as any previous orientalist. He believed that the science of orientalism and the science of philology have a very important relation; and after Renan this idea was given a lot attention and many future orientalists worked of in its line.

Chapter 3 : Orientalism Now

This chapter starts off by telling us that how the geography of the world was shaped by the colonization of the Europeans. There was a quest for geographical knowledge which formed the bases of orientalism.

The author then talks about the changing circumstances of the world politics and changing approach to orientalism in the 20th century. The main difference was that where the earlier orientalists were more of silent observers the new orientalists took a part in the every day life of the orients. The earlier orientalists did not interact a lot with the orients, whereas the new orients lived with them as if they were one of them. This wasn’t out of appreciation of their lifestyle but was to know more about the orients in order to rule them properly. Lawrence of Arabia was one of such orienatlists.

Then Edward Said goes on to talk about two other scholars Massignon and Gibb. Though Massignon was a bit liberal with orientalists and often tried to protect their rights, there was still inherited biased found in him for the orientals, which can be seen in his work. With the changing world situation especially after World War 1, orientalism took a more liberal stance towards most of its subjects; but Islamic orientalism did not enjoy this status. There were constant attacks to show Islam as a weak religion, and a mixture of many religions and thoughts. Gibb was the most famous Islamic orientalist of this time.

After World War 1 the centre of orientalism moved from Europe to USA. One important transformation that took place during this time was instances of relating it to philology and it was related to social science now. All the orientalists studied the orientals to assist their government to come up with policies for dealing with the orient countries. With the end of World War 2, all the Europeans colonies were lost; and it was believed that there were no more orientals and occidents, but this was surely not the case. Western prejudice towards eastern countries was still very explicit, and often they managed to generalize most of the eastern countries because of it. For example Arabs were often represented as cruel and violent people. Japanese were always associated with karate where as the Muslims were always considered to be terrorists. Thus, this goes on to show that even with increasing globalization and awareness, such bias was found in the people of the developed countries.

Edward Said concludes his book by saying that he is not saying that the orientalists should not make generalization, or they should include the orient perspective too, but creating a boundary at the first place is something which should not be done.

Wise words of unforgettable poet

 

prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

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He said describing Man ;

“The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed.”

The poet of many attractive poems;

He is ;

- Ernest Hemingway

Colonialism

 prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

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Colonialism:

 It started with rise of renaissance period when there was national approach of European Governments to ex to expand their influence in the other lands of the world. When trade was allowed to the other parts of the world and Europeans established their rules in those regions which were backward or low in power. There was a race of colonization among European giants to exert their power in maximum part of the world.

In western world, the structure power changed and new national states emerged in 1648 through Westphalia Treaty and a wave of national and a wave of nationalism was predominant in Europe. People demanded more liberties from their rulers and monarchy weakened in Europe. This led to the Glorious revolution in England in 1688 which curtailed the powers of king in England. Almost after 100 years in France there was French Revolution in France which toppled the rule Louis family. Russians were among those powers and Tzar Family didn’t work for colonization. There was another for not moving ahead that there were serious internal challenges to the Tzar Rule. Tzar rule slowly melted there was serious resistance in Russian particularly under the leadership of Lenin for the rise of (Labourers) Rule. It started in 1904 and finally it was completed in 1917. This established Russia as a Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR) and they call themselves republicans (democrats). 

During Russian revolution, there was WW-I 1914-18 (Germany, Austria & Turkey) (UK, France Italy & Russia i.e. USSR). Then there was rise of Nationalism in Germany led by Hitler (Nazism/Nationalism) whereas in Italy there was Fascism led by Mussolini. Both the leaders created dictatorship in their states and followed the policy of territorialization because both the states considered that they were treated badly during WW-I by other European powers.

Gradually, the stage for WW-II was set. At initial level, there was Spanish Civil War and the two forces within Spain fought with each other, i.e. Fascists (Supported by Germany and Italy) Republicans (Supported by USSR). At   the end Hitler’s associates won the Civil war and Hitler further occupied Poland, the integral part of USSR. This was the point of origin of WW-II. There were two groups (UK, France, USSR & USA) (Germany, Italy & Japan). First block finally was finally victorious and Germany was divided in four zones.

At the end of WW-I & WW-II, there were many states got freedom from colonialism particularly at the end of WW-II in 1945 the colonization ended in many parts of Asia and Africa. More or less there was rise of nationalism and people were demanding freedom from colonialism.

"The Rape of the Lock" as a mock epic ☺️👌🌹👇 Mock epic is a narrative poem which aims at mockery and laughter by using almost all the characteristic features of an epic but for a trivial subject. Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” is a famous mock-epic. In it, there are invocation to Muses, proposition of subject, battles, supernatural machinery, journey on water, underworld journey, long speeches, feasts (coffee house), Homeric similes and grand style but all for a simple family dispute instead of a national struggle. The grand treatment of a low subject produces hilarious laughter and makes the story more ridiculous. Firstly, “Paradise Lost” a long epic poem by John Milton begins with the proposition of justification of God’s way to man with nice invocation to the Muses. And another epic poem titled “The Faerie Queene” by Edmund Spenser follows the same manner. The subject matters in both of the epic poems are grand. Like the epic poems, the poem “The Rape of the Lock” opens with the proposition of the subject matter and Pope’s invocation to the Muses to help him compose the literary art. Such a grand treatment of a trivial subject matter like the clipping of the lock of Belinda provokes laughter when the poet says: “I sing – this verse to Caryll, Muse! Is due: This, ev’n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:” Secondly, in “The Iliad”’, Homer describes in considerable detail the armour and weaponry of the great Achilles, as well as the battlefield trappings of other heroes. In the poem “The Rape of the Lock” Pope describes Belinda preparing herself with combs and pins – with "Puffs, Powders, Patches" – nothing that "Now awful Beauty puts on all its Arms." This is nothing but funny. Thirdly, the ritual sacrifices the Baron performs in the pre-dawn hours are another mock-heroic element of the poem, mimicking the epic tradition of sacrificing to the gods before an important battle or journey, and drapes his project with an absurdly grand import that actually only exposes its triviality. The fact that he discards all his other love tokens in these preparations reveals his capriciousness as a lover. Earnest prayer, in this parody scene, is replaced by the self-indulgent sighs of the lover. “Then prostrate falls and begs with ardent eyes Soon to obtain and long possess the prize:” Fourthly, an epic poem must contain episodes also. In keeping with this practice Pope has introduced the episodes of the game of Omber which suggests the mighty battle and the cards imply the soldiers described in great detail. Then there is the battle between the lords and ladies just like the battles in epic poetry. But in true mock-heroic style this battle is fought with fans and snuff instead of with swords and spears. There are single combats also between Belinda and the Baron and between Clarissa and Sir Plume. This symbolises nothing but a battle of sexual perversion near Hampton Court just the opposite to the mighty battles that we find in “The Aneid” and in “The Faerie Queene” Red Cross Knight’s battle with the monster Error. Fifthly, another vital element of an epic poem is the active participation of supernatural machinery just as Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, who rescues Aeneas in “The Iliad” when he is attacked by Diomedes. In “The Rape of the lock”, there are the sylphs and gnomes. These aerial spirits are small and insignificant things, and are, therefore, exactly in keeping with the triviality of the theme. They guard the person of the heroine and when there is fight between the followers of Belinda and those of the Baron, they take part in fight, like gods and goddesses in the Trojan War. Pope has described the protecting sylphs under Ariel. In that the sylphs are the parodies of epic deities. Sixthly, a long perilous journey on water is a must in an epic. But here in the poem Belinda takes a comfortable journey on water without any tension and peril. She travels up the Thames in a boat to join Hampton Court to play the game of Omber adorning her attractively. Seventhly, it is another important event of epic to take an underworld journey. It is generally done in order to take some effective pieces of advice from the lower world, Hades. Like supernatural beings in classical epics, a gnome named Umbriel descends to the Underworld on Belinda’s behalf and obtains a bag of sighs and a vial of tears from the Queen of Spleen. With these magical gifts, he means to comfort poor Belinda. First, he empties the bag on her in stead. The reversal of the epic quality is nothing but mocking in tone. “Repair’d to search the gloomy cave of Spleen. Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome,” Eighthly, the mock-heroic character of the poem is perceived in the very title. Rape is a serious moral offence which means the violation of a woman’s chastity by force. It also refers to the seizure of a lady by some ruffians in grossly inhuman manner. In any case, rape is a grave crime, affecting the social decency of a human being. Pope has used this term in an amusing manner. The possession of the hair of Belinda by the Baron is described by him in a mock vein. The title evokes nothing but the mock heroic sensation and well indicates the mock-heroic character of Pope’s work. Ninthly, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil's Aneid all end happily for their respective heroes, though perhaps at the expense of their enemies. Pope, wisely following his own advice, likewise concludes the poem with a mocking consolation to Belinda that: "This lock, the Muse shall consecrate to fame, And mid'st the stars inscribe Belinda's name!" Pope's ending is just one example of how he mocks society through epic form, as well as mocks earlier literary works. A lock of hair is a ridiculous object to eternally memorialize. From above discussion, it becomes clear that Pope follows the epic conventions of Homer, Dante and Virgil very minutely but for trivial a matter and he has heightened the title, exalted the insignificant, in order to make the little and the insignificant look more ridiculous. He employs the mock-heroic form, not to mock the epic form, but to show the triviality of mean things by contrasting them with great things. This is the true mock-heroic style. So it can be undoubtedly said that the poem “The Rape of the Lock” is a successful mock-epic.

 

prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

==================================

"The Rape of the Lock" as a mock epic 

Mock epic is a narrative poem which aims at mockery and laughter by using almost all the characteristic features of an epic but for a trivial subject. Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” is a famous mock-epic. In it, there are invocation to Muses, proposition of subject, battles, supernatural machinery, journey on water, underworld journey, long speeches, feasts (coffee house), Homeric similes and grand style but all for a simple family dispute instead of a national struggle. The grand treatment of a low subject produces hilarious laughter and makes the story more ridiculous.

Firstly, “Paradise Lost” a long epic poem by John Milton begins with the proposition of justification of God’s way to man with nice invocation to the Muses. And another epic poem titled “The Faerie Queene” by Edmund Spenser follows the same manner. The subject matters in both of the epic poems are grand. Like the epic poems, the poem “The Rape of the Lock” opens with the proposition of the subject matter and Pope’s invocation to the Muses to help him compose the literary art. Such a grand treatment of a trivial subject matter like the clipping of the lock of Belinda provokes laughter when the poet says:

“I sing – this verse to Caryll, Muse! Is due:

This, ev’n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:”

Secondly, in “The Iliad”’, Homer describes in considerable detail the armour and weaponry of the great Achilles, as well as the battlefield trappings of other heroes. In the poem “The Rape of the Lock” Pope describes Belinda preparing herself with combs and pins – with "Puffs, Powders, Patches" – nothing that "Now awful Beauty puts on all its Arms." This is nothing but funny.

Thirdly, the ritual sacrifices the Baron performs in the pre-dawn hours are another mock-heroic element of the poem, mimicking the epic tradition of sacrificing to the gods before an important battle or journey, and drapes his project with an absurdly grand import that actually only exposes its triviality. The fact that he discards all his other love tokens in these preparations reveals his capriciousness as a lover. Earnest prayer, in this parody scene, is replaced by the self-indulgent sighs of the lover.

“Then prostrate falls and begs with ardent eyes

Soon to obtain and long possess the prize:”

Fourthly, an epic poem must contain episodes also. In keeping with this practice Pope has introduced the episodes of the game of Omber which suggests the mighty battle and the cards imply the soldiers described in great detail. Then there is the battle between the lords and ladies just like the battles in epic poetry. But in true mock-heroic style this battle is fought with fans and snuff instead of with swords and spears. There are single combats also between Belinda and the Baron and between Clarissa and Sir Plume. This symbolises nothing but a battle of sexual perversion near Hampton Court just the opposite to the mighty battles that we find in “The Aneid” and in “The Faerie Queene” Red Cross Knight’s battle with the monster Error.

Fifthly, another vital element of an epic poem is the active participation of supernatural machinery just as Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, who rescues Aeneas in “The Iliad” when he is attacked by Diomedes. In “The Rape of the lock”, there are the sylphs and gnomes. These aerial spirits are small and insignificant things, and are, therefore, exactly in keeping with the triviality of the theme. They guard the person of the heroine and when there is fight between the followers of Belinda and those of the Baron, they take part in fight, like gods and goddesses in the Trojan War. Pope has described the protecting sylphs under Ariel. In that the sylphs are the parodies of epic deities. 

Sixthly, a long perilous journey on water is a must in an epic. But here in the poem Belinda takes a comfortable journey on water without any tension and peril. She travels up the Thames in a boat to join Hampton Court to play the game of Omber adorning her attractively.  

Seventhly, it is another important event of epic to take an underworld journey. It is generally done in order to take some effective pieces of advice from the lower world, Hades.  Like supernatural beings in classical epics, a gnome named Umbriel descends to the Underworld on Belinda’s behalf and obtains a bag of sighs and a vial of tears from the Queen of Spleen. With these magical gifts, he means to comfort poor Belinda. First, he empties the bag on her in stead. The reversal of the epic quality is nothing but mocking in tone.

“Repair’d to search the gloomy cave of Spleen.

Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome,”

Eighthly, the mock-heroic character of the poem is perceived in the very title. Rape is a serious moral offence which means the violation of a woman’s chastity by force. It also refers to the seizure of a lady by some ruffians in grossly inhuman manner. In any case, rape is a grave crime, affecting the social decency of a human being. Pope has used this term in an amusing manner. The possession of the hair of Belinda by the Baron is described by him in a mock vein. The title evokes nothing but the mock heroic sensation and well indicates the mock-heroic character of Pope’s work.

Ninthly, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil's Aneid all end happily for their respective heroes, though perhaps at the expense of their enemies. Pope, wisely following his own advice, likewise concludes the poem with a mocking consolation to Belinda that:

"This lock, the Muse shall consecrate to fame,

And mid'st the stars inscribe Belinda's name!"

Pope's ending is just one example of how he mocks society through epic form, as well as mocks earlier literary works. A lock of hair is a ridiculous object to eternally memorialize.

From above discussion, it becomes clear that Pope follows the epic conventions of Homer, Dante and Virgil very minutely but for trivial a matter and he has heightened the title, exalted the insignificant, in order to make the little and the insignificant look more ridiculous. He employs the mock-heroic form, not to mock the epic form, but to show the triviality of mean things by contrasting them with great things. This is the true mock-heroic style. So it can be undoubtedly said that the poem “The Rape of the Lock” is a successful mock-epic.

Romantic Essayists

 

prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

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Charles Lamb as a Romantic Essayist

Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb, an English writer is best known for his essays.  Although he wrote poems and books, he is mainly known as an essayist. E.V.Lucas, his principal biographer, has called him the most loved figure in English Literature.

Charles Lamb in his Essays of Elia, uses the pseudonym of Elia. Dream Children: A Reverie, is an essay from this collection which was published in the form of a book, this was later followed by the second volume titled Last Essays of Elia. Lamb’s writing style by nature is very romantic.

The Essays are very personal, as they are somewhat fictionalized stories of himself. It tells us of what his life would have been had he made different decisions in his life. In his essays, he mentions his family members often with different names. In Dream Children: A Reverie, he fantasizes his life, had he married his beloved Ann Simmons, who he calls Alice W. in the Elia essays.

Lamb is chiefly remembered for his “Elia” essays, which are celebrated for their witty and ironic treatment of everyday subjects. The “Elia” essays are characterized by Lamb’s personal tone, narrative ease, and wealth of literary allusions. Never didactic, the essays treat ordinary subjects in a nostalgic, fanciful way by combining humour, pathos, and a sophisticated irony ranging from gentle to scathing.

Lamb conjures up humour and pathos in his ‘Elian’ essays. Although Dream Children begins on a merry note, the dark side of life soon forces itself upon Lamb’s attention and the comic attitude gives way to melancholy at the end of the essay. Throughout the essay Lamb presents his children in such a way that we never guess that they are merely fragments of his imagination – their movements, their reactions, and their expressions are all realistic. It is only at the end of the essay that we realize that the entire episode with his children is a merely a daydream. We are awakened by a painful realization of the facts.

Babes in the Woods

The essay, Dreams Children in itself is quite melancholy as most romantic essays are. In it, Lamb reminisces his childhood by telling his children stories of when he was younger. The subject of death is mentioned very often. The fictionalized Charles Lamb, the father, tells his children stories of their deceased great- grand mother Field. He mentions that they recently had heard of the horrifying ballad of the Babes in the Wood. He also tells them stories of his deceased older brother John L. and how he misses him.

His essays are allusive, which is peculiar to romantic essays. Lamb, rambles throughout the narratives with ease and is able to return to the point. He often does it in his writings. This allusive quality is seen in Dream Children when he begins talking about his grandmother Field, he then rambles to talk of the house she worked in, and later to talk about the mantel piece carving of the Babes in the Wood. He also makes use of parentheses, which gives us an insight to the characters stream of consciousness. The parentheses in, Dream Children, mostly show us the observations of the father, which tell us more about the children’s expressions for dramatic emphasis.

Lambs essays are highly evocative, and the reader feels empathy towards the characters. This is a characteristic quality of the Romantic Essayists.  In Dream Children, the narrator comments on how similar the daughter’s face is to the mother and he can’t tell which of the two is in front of him, but only in the end do we realize that the entire story was just a fragment of his imagination.

“the most loved writer in English literature”

– E.V.Lucas on Lamb in his biography

His essays have a reflective quality; he talks about his schooling days in Christ’s Hospital in the essay, Christ’s Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago wherein he speaks of himself in the third person as “L”. Rosamund Gray is another essay in which he reflects upon his feelings for Ann Simmons as the titular character and how their relationship doesn’t go too far due to Miss Gray passing away.

To conclude we can see that Lambs essays are very personal. They possess humour and pathos like most romantic works of literature. Lamb is also praised for his allusive quality which is noted by many literary critics. And above all he is highly evocative, a quality possessed by all Romantic writers.

Realism versus Naturalism in Literature

 prof.Abdelhamid Fouda 

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What Is the Difference Between Realism and Naturalism in Literature?

Realism and naturalism are two literary movements with their differences, although they very close. At first glance, difference between these two major currents of literature of the 19th century are differentiated in the fact that realism wants to depict real life, and naturalism has a more scientific approach to the way society is depicted. In this article we'll study the characteristics of both, and give the names of the most famous authors and the most representative works of these schools before we see what distinguishes them.

Characteristics of Realism

This literary movement appears in the 19th century and privileges a faithful representation (without idealization or artifices) of nature, men and the society which they live in. This movement is in reaction to the romanticism movement that had become popular Europe.

New themes emerged, such as the work of the employees, the conjugal relations and the struggles between the social strata. Many French historians place realism between 1850 and 1885, between romanticism and symbolism.

The main representatives of realism in literature are:

Honoré de Balzac (1799 - 1850), author of La Comédie Humaine, an immense fresco novella

Stendhal (1783 - 1842), author of Le Rouge et le Noir, which depicts the efforts of a provincial young man to escalate in society.

Flaubert (1821 - 1880), author of Madame Bovary, which is precisely a novel on the consequences of the romanticism trend.

Charles Dickens: Author of Great expectations, which narrates, in first person, the story of an orphan who ends up becoming a gentleman in London's society.

León Tolstoi : Author of War and Peace, a portrait of Russia's society during the amazing time of fifty years.

What Is the Difference Between Realism and Naturalism in Literature - Characteristics of Realism

Characteristics of naturalism

This school inherits the achievements of realism and aims to portray reality in all its aspects, including the most common and mundane, and this through detached objectivity. The leader of naturalism in literature is Émile Zola, author of a literary fresco, Les Rougon-Macquart (cycle of 20 novels).

The collection of novels Les Soirées de Médan is considered the manifesto of naturalism. It brings together 6 novels, signed by the following authors:

Émile Zola (1840 -1902): L'Attaque du Moulin

Guy of Maupassant (1850 - 1893): Boule of Suif

J.-K Huymans (1848 - 1907): Sac au dos

Henry Céard (1851 - 1924): La Saignée

Léon Hennique (1850 - 1935): L'Affaire du Grand 7

Paul Alexis (1847 - 1901): Après la bataille

Apart from this collection, other important authors include:

Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928): author of Jude the Obscure, a controversial novel about a working-class young man who falls in love with his cousin.

Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900): author of the Open Boat, a novel that depicts the isolation of a man from society.

What Is the Difference Between Realism and Naturalism in Literature - Characteristics of naturalism

Realism and naturalism: what is the difference?

For many historians and literary critics, Naturalism is only a variant of Realism. Zola and the Medan group would then be the second realistic generation. The truth is, that both Realists and naturalists strive to describe reality as it is, want to separate man from god and talk about society in a subjective manner, free of unnecessary figures of speech, far from the idealistic views of romanticism.

But we can distinguish the two movements by saying that Naturalism makes reality its only obsession: everything must be painted with precision and objectivity, while the realists allow themselves some distance, especially when showing their views or taking the risk of issuing a subjective opinion on the subject they are writing about.

Moreover, naturalism, as it has a more scientific approach, works with the idea that men are conditioned by the environment they were born in (genetic, environmental and social factors will determine the fate of a character in a naturalist novel), and usually chooses characters of lower classes, whereas realism generally prefers middle-class characters.

Flaubert wrote to Turgenev in 1877: "Reality, in my opinion, must be a springboard. Our friends are convinced that this alone constitutes the whole State!" This materialism makes me indignant, and almost every Monday , I have a fit of irritation reading the soap operas of this brave Zola "

The historical context also enlightens us: realism comes in reaction to Romanticism, while Naturalism applies to mimic the methods of science: observation on the ground and objectivity in the analysis.

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