Kaddish by Allen Ginsberg | Structure, Summary, Analysis

 

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Kaddish is a poem by Allen Ginsberg published in his poetic collection Kaddish and Other Poems in 1961. The poem's full title is "Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956)" and it is a poem by Ginsberg about his mother Naomi and her death on June 9, 1956. Naomi Ginsberg was a schoolteacher who suffered from psychosis and was later admitted to mental institutions many times. She was treated with medication, insulin shock, and, electro-shocks, but the treatment didn’t help much. She often suffered distress, paranoia, and painful sensitivity to light. She was an ardent Communist and believed that the government was trying to kill her. She also had a bad relationship with her mother-in-law and often feared that she was planning to murder her. Finally, she was treated with a lobotomy. She died on June 6, 1956, when Allen Ginsberg was away in California. He failed to attend her last rights and he learned that the Kaddish, or Jewish prayer for the dead, had not been read because too few men had been present (according to traditional Jewish law, at least ten men, a minyan, must be present for certain services to be performed). This further pained him and he expressed his anguish, guilt, and suffering by writing the poem Kaddish, meant for his mother.

Themes of Kaddish:

The main themes include Ginsberg’s guilt as he wonders whether he treated his mother appropriately in the past or if there could have been better ways. Another theme is remembrance as he remembers his mother and her psychotic episodes and sufferings. Death is also a major theme as the speaker is reckoning with his mother’s death and contemplating his own. In many ways, he sees his mother’s death as a release— "Blessed be Death on us All!” Mental illness and its effects are also an important theme as Ginsberg describes all the suffering his mother and his family went through.

Ginsberg wrote this poem to mourn the death of his mother but the poem also reflects on his inability and sense of loss at his estrangement from Jewish religion and culture in which he took birth. Traditionally, the mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer during funeral services. The mourner’s Kaddish does not mention death but is a prayer that celebrates the holiness of God. However, the Kaddish written by Ginsberg has no mention of God, rather the speaker mourns his mother and contemplates the nature of death.

Structure of Kaddish:

Allen Ginsberg's poem "Kaddish" is a long prose poem with five numbered parts and an ‘Hymn’ between parts 2 and 3. The poem is structured as a series of memories and thoughts about the lives of the speaker and his mother, Naomi Ginsberg. The poem is not linear, and it's told through narration and lament that arises from Ginsberg's memories of his mother's life and their relationship. It is a long poem written in 19 pages. The poem is divided into five parts. Ginsberg used Repetition and Refrain skillfully throughout the poem while adding Anecdotes from the real past of his and his mother.

Summary of Kaddish:

Part 1:

In this part, Ginsberg informs how he got the idea to write a Kaddish in memory of his mother. Naomi Ginsberg died on June 6 1956 when Ginsberg was away in California. He began writing the poem in December 1957 and completed it in 1959.

The poem begins as the speaker (Ginsberg himself) walks through the echoing streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, thinking about the death of his mother, Naomi. He ruminates on the meaning of death as he walks through the neighborhoods where his mother lived when she was a child. He thinks about what her dreams might have been as a child, and whether or not the life she lived, reflected them. The first part is a prelude to the long second section, which tells the whole story in terrible but loving detail. He thinks about all the people who have passed, including Naomi's sister Elanor Frohman who helped take care of Naomi and died as a result of heart problems. Ginsberg wonders what comes after death and realizes that Naomi and Elanor know what is in the next life.

He notes that in her death, he knows that his mother has gone somewhere good, along with her sister Elanor who has also died. In death, she has escaped all the good and bad experiences and relationships she had when alive. He ends the section by thinking about the meaning of death and Naomi’s experience with it. 

Part 2

In this section, Ginsberg details Naomi’s life and memories with her. He remembers one afternoon when he stayed home from school to take care of her because she was always nervous and believed that people were trying to kill her. He decided to solve the issue and the two of them traveled all over New York City by bus looking for a rest house for Naomi to stay in. While doing so, Naomi details her dislike of her mother-in-law, Ginsberg’s grandmother, who she believes wishes her harm. Ginsberg later gets a call that Naomi wouldn’t leave from under the bed at the rest home in her paranoia, and she is hospitalized at Greystone once again, for three years.

He mentions the horrors his mother suffered at the Greystone Mental Institute. While the medicines, electric shocks, and insulin therapy didn’t help her, they worsened her health and made her fat. She returned after three years but couldn’t recognize her home, and eventually escaped the home and lived with her sister Elanor in New York City. She and Ginsberg’s father, Louis, separated. Eugene, Ginsberg’s brother, joined the army and then returned to finish law school. He also mentions how once during her psychotic episodes, she acted like a sexual predator and he thought as if she was trying to seduce her.

One night, in the midst of one of her paranoid episodes, Naomi began to attack her sister Elanor, and Ginsberg had to call the police. She was brought to a hospital once again. After two years, Ginsberg went to meet his mother in the hospital but she was unable to recognize him, called him a spy of the government, and declined to recognize him as her son. Later, Ginsberg is in California with his partner Orlovsky and receives word that Naomi has died. Two days after her death, he received a letter from her with the lines: “The key is in the sunlight at the window in the bars the key is in the sunlight.”

There is an ‘Hymn’ between Part 2 and Part 3 in which Ginsberg calls for a blessing on Naomi, her life, her death, and the death of all the people living.

Part 3

Here, Ginsberg describes the various ways that Naomi’s mental illness manifested and affected both his and her life. Repeating the beginning phrase “only to,” he describes the various delusions that his mother experienced. He imagines her writing her last letter to him while looking at the sunlight through the bars of her window, and quotes from a letter Naomi wrote before her death: “The key is in the sunlight at the window in the bars the key is in the sunlight”. 

Part 4

In Part IV, the narrator agonizes over aspects of Naomi’s story that have been left out or forgotten. Referring to her as “O mother” repeatedly, the narrator says farewell and then expands upon different moments and relationships in Naomi’s life by initially referring to different parts of her body. After mentioning her chin, fingers, belly, mouth, and more, Ginsberg then repeats multiple lines beginning “with your eyes of…” Each of these lines mentions a relationship, moment, or memory from Naomi. It includes Russia, her country of birth, Aunt Elanor, her sister, and a list of all her medical procedures and complications—pancreas removed, appendix operation, abortion, ovaries removed, shock, lobotomy, stroke. It ends by describing her death as “full of Flowers.” He remembers her weight gain, paranoia, and surgeries as well as the fighting she did for workers' rights.

Part 5

The fifth, final section imagines the grave site, the cawing crows, and the muttered prayers to God. It is the shortest part of the poem. The poem ends with a rumination at the grave of Naomi. “Caw caw caw” is repeated as is “Lord Lord Lord” throughout the section. The narrator stands above Naomi’s Long Island grave as crows circle in the sky. Ginsberg makes reference to “a boundless field in Sheol” which is the state of the dead in the Hebrew Bible. These are the last lines of the poem:

Lord Lord an echo in the sky the wind through ragged leaves the roar of memory
caw caw all years my birth a dream caw caw New York the bus the broken shoe the vast highschool caw caw all Visions of the Lord
Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. 'The Sound and the Fury' is William Faulkner's fourth novel, published in 1929. It's known for its masterful use of stream-of-consciousness narrative. Faulkner recreates the thought processes of his characters, exploring the challenges of modernity encroaching on the Old South. The title and theme come from Macbeth's soliloquy, where he laments the pointlessness of life against the march of time and history. Macbeth implies that life is but a shadow of the past and that a modern man, like himself, is inadequately equipped and unable to achieve anything near the greatness of the past. Faulkner reinterprets this idea in his story of the three Compson brothers and their sister. The story is set between 1910-1928 and during these 18 years, the Compson family suffers financial ruin, loses the respect of the people of Jefferson, and many of them die tragically.

Characters of The Sound and the Fury:

The Compsons are a prominent family in Jefferson, Mississippi. Their ancestors helped settle the area and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. But since then, the Compsons have suffered a decline in both wealth and social standing.

Jason Compson III is an intellectual who falls into alcoholism. His wife Caroline Bascomb Compson is a self-absorbed hypochondriac who proves to be an ineffectual mother. Jason III takes the responsibility of parenthood but fails to be a good parent. Alcoholism leads him to his demise. Quentin Compson is their eldest son. He is a sensitive child who suffers from his mother’s coldness and develops deep relationship with his sister Candace. He is influenced by his father’s idealism and develops a romantic idea about purity and virginity which pushes him to celibacy. He is studious and his family sells a big portion of their land to send him to Harvard. When he comes to know about the promiscuous behavior of his sister, he feels confused and shattered. To protect his sister, he falsely claims that he had incestuous relationship with her. However, his father doesn’t believe him, rather says that virginity is not a big deal. This further shatters his romantic ideas and then he commits suicide. Candace Compson, or Caddy, is the sister of Quentin. Though she never appears actively in the novel, she is the central character. She is kind and motherly towards her brothers. She is a bubbly, imperious, and enthralling person who falls in love with someone and gets pregnant when she is just 18. To protect her family from ignominy, she marries Herbert Head, a banker. However, he comes to know that the child is not his and leaves her. She then disappears while leaving her child in care of her mother and brother Jason IV. As a responsible and caring mother, Candy continues to send money for the upkeep of her daughter.

Jason Compson IV is the younger brother of Quentin and Candace. Since his childhood, he has been a mean, isolated, and perverse person. The deteriorating situation of his family further pushes him to become a sadistic, anti-social, angry man who keeps cursing his sister Candace for depriving him of a job that Herbert Head promised to him. He resents the daughter of Candace whom he is supposed to protect and steals the money Candace sends for the upkeep of her daughter. Benjamin Compson or Benjy is the youngest brother of Candy. He is mentally disabled, an idiot, who fails to distinguish between past and present. He is unable to take care of himself or to speak clearly. He loves Candy too much who treats him with utmost affection and care. When she is forced to leave her home, he becomes lonely but continues to relive his memories with Candy. He cries whenever someone disturbs his daily routine. Quentin Compson II is the illegitimate daughter of Candy. Candy leaves her under the care of Jason IV and her mother who treat her badly. This turns Quentin into a rebellious child who turns promiscuous later. Dalton Ames is a young man and probably the father of Candy’s daughter. Dilsey is the black cook and servant of the Compson family who helps Jason III in raising the children. Roskus is Dilsey’s husband and house servant of the Compsons. Vershe, T.P., and Frony are Dilsey’s son and daughter. Luster is Frony’s son and the last caretaker of Benjy.

The novel is divided into four chapters or sections. The first three sections are first-person unreliable narratives by Benjy, Quentin, and Jason IV. The last section follows a third-person omniscient narration. It may be assumed that the fourth section is narrated by the black house servant Dilsey who kept a keen eye over the Compsons family since the beginning. The first three sections are narrated in a technique known as stream of consciousness, in which the writer takes down the character's thoughts as they occur to him, paying little attention to the chronology of events or continuity of the storyline. 

Each section begins with a date on which the corresponding character offered his views about the happening. The novel begins with Benjy’s narration on April Seventh, 1928, followed by Quentin’s narration on June Second, 1910. The third section is narrated by Jason IV on April 6, 1928, while Dilsey’s third-person narration is made on April 8, 1928. Not much happens during these three days of April 1928 as the story covers 20 long years in the past.

Summary of The Sound and the Fury:

The story begins with Jason III and Caroline who belong to an influential and rich family of Jefferson, Mississippi. Jason III is a pioneer and intellectual who is highly respected in the city. However, since the end of the Civil War, the Compson family’s riches are dwindling. Jason III and Caroline fail to accommodate the changes the modern time brings. Caroline is a hypochondriac who often remains ill. Her four children Quentin, Candy, Jason IV, and Maury are raised by Jason III who turns an alcoholic. Their house cook, the black slave Dilsey takes care of the children. Her husband Roskus is the house guard of the Compson family. He is a superstitious person who believes the Compson family is cursed. Caddy is an intelligent and caring girl who loves her brothers and takes care of them. She is a bubbly, cheerful, and confident girl. Quentive is a sensitive child who misses his mother and gradually develops motherly feelings for Caddy. Jason IV is a stubborn and mean child whom everyone tries to avoid. Maury suffers slow growth and when he is five years old, Caroline realizes that he is mentally retard and changes his name from Maury to Benjamin or Benjy.

Jason III is an idealist who stresses traditions, reputation, and morals. Quentin is immensely affected by his father and develops strict monastic ideals, revering virginity, purity, and celibacy. As they grow old, Candy begins interacting with young men in the city which torments Quentin. When she confronts her about her promiscuous nature, Benjy begins crying while he fails to understand what is happening between Quentin and Candy. Quentin comes to know that Candy has a physical relationship with Dalton Ames whom he considers a bad guy and calls him a ‘blackguard’, while he still believes in white supremacy. He questions Candy if she loves Dalton but she refuses.

Candy gets pregnant and this further creates problems in the family. To protect her against their father’s wrath, Quentin claims that he had an incestuous relationship with her and he impregnated her. However, his father doesn’t believe him and reacts indifferently, saying that virginity is not that important. Quentin feels it is totally against the ideals that he developed while observing his father and he gets confused. His mother sells a big portion of their land to send him to Harvard for his higher studies and to keep him away from family troubles. Meanwhile, Candy decides to marry Herbert Head, a rich banker who is very interested in her. Jason IV supports this marriage because Herbert Head promises him a good job at the bank if Candy marries him. This marriage helps the family avoid the ignominy of Candy becoming an unmarried mother. However, Herbert Head realizes that the child is not his, and leaves Candy. Jason IV too is affected as he loses any hope of getting a good job and is forced to do menial jobs. Jason III dies of his alcoholism.

At Harvard, Quentin fails to get rid of the troubles from his home. One day, while walking, he meets a young girl asking for directions. He tries to help her but her brother confronts him and accuses him of trying to kidnap his sister and taking advantage of the lonely girl. Quentin’s friends from college come to rescue him. This accident further reminds him of his sister’s sin and he commits suicide by drowning himself in the Charles River just before the end of his first year at Harvard.

Left alone by Herbert Head, Candy comes back to Compson’s house with her daughter. Caroline agrees to take care of Candy’s infant daughter but disowns her. Leaving her daughter in the custody of Jason IV and her mother. In memory of her elder son, Caroline names her Quentine II. After his father’s death, Jason IV becomes the new head of the Compson family and begins taking care of all the finances which are already dwindling. Candy goes away and begins working. She regularly sends money to help Jason IV in the upbringing of her daughter. Her mother doesn’t wish to keep any contact with Candy and demands Jason IV burn the cheques sent by Candy. Jason says that he burnt all the cheques but keeps them and collects the money. Candy continues to send cheques and he continues to steal the money sent for the upbringing of Miss Quentin. He resents her and considers her the reason for the ill shape of his fortunes. His bad behavior and Caroline’s indifferent attitude turn Miss Quentin into a rebellious teenage girl. She notices that Jason secretively keeps a huge amount of cash in a wooden box in his room. She suspects that the money was sent by her mother. She begins bunking school and meeting a guy working with a traveling show. Jason IV tries to control her but his rude attitude further alienates Miss Quentin who decides to elope away with her lover. However, before running away, she steals the money that Jason stole from her mother.

Jason tries to catch her and asks for the help of local police but doesn’t wish to mention the money taken away from him. He tries to catch Miss Quentin alone but fails miserably.

Meanwhile, Luster takes Benjy on a carriage ride to the church for Easter service. However, he deliberately deviates from the path because Benjy begins crying loudly. As Jason returns back, he hears cries of Benjy and goes to check on him. He instructs Luster to take the carriage on the usual path and Benjy calms down.

William Faulkner added an Appendix in the novel describing the history of the Compson family and their fates after the novel. Caroline dies after a few months and after her death, Jason IV sends Benji to an asylum and sells the Compson house. Someone notices a picture of Caddy in a magazine and brings it to Dilsey who recognizes her but prefers to ignore her, saying, she is ‘safe’ away from Jefferson.

Macbeth's Soliloquy

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

The soliloquy suggests that life is just a shadow of the past and that a man is not equipped enough and unable to achieve the greatness of the past. In such a case, Faulkner suggests that if a man does not choose to take his own life, as Quentin did, the other alternatives are to become a cynic like Jason IV, or an idiot like Benjy, an idiot, unable to see life as anything more than a meaningless series of images, sounds, and memories.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Annabel Lee is the last complete poem by Edgar Allan Poe written a few months before he died in 1849. The poem was posthumously published in The Southern Literary Messenger in November 1849. The poem is believed to be in memory of Virginia Clemm, Poe's wife who married him at the age of thirteen and who died in 1847 before she turned twenty-five. Poe believed that death was a kind of rebirth and a sublimation of the soul and that it helped people find a "supernal beauty" in another world. He also believed that the terror and ugliness of death was another form of eternal beauty that transcended time and space. This poem too concerns the death of a young woman (the titular Annabel Lee) and the narrator’s belief that her death is a result of the jealousy the angels feel for the love the couple shares.

Poe famously wrote, “The death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world”. He also said the lips best suited for such a topic were those of a bereaved lover. The speaker of the poem is an unnamed young man. It is safe to say that Poe is the speaker grieving his wife's death. The poem specifically mentions the youth of Annabel Lee, and it celebrates child-like emotions in a way consistent with the ideals of the Romantic era. The poem may remind the readers of the Lucy poems by William Wordsworth.

Unlike his other poem, The Raven, in which the speaker believes he will "nevermore" be reunited with his love, "Annabel Lee" says the two lovers will be together again, as not even demons "can ever dissever" their souls.

Structure of Annabel Lee:

The poem consists of 41 lines set in six stanzas of varying lengths. The first, second, and fourth stanzas contain six lines each, the third and sixth stanzas contain eight lines, and the fifth stanza contains seven lines. Poe used an irregular meter for the poem. Primarily Anapestic and Iambic meters have been used with some variations (amphibrach, dactyl, and trochee). Overall, the irregular meter offers a sense of ebb and flow to the poem. The rhyming scheme varies for different stanzas. The overall rhyme scheme: ababcb dbebfb abgbhbib fbabjb ebbebkb lbmbnnbb. Each stanza ends with the rhyming of b (me, sea, Lee), offering a haunting refrain to the poem.

It is a tragic narrative poem in which the speaker expresses his undying love for his dead beloved Annabel Lee. It is a lyric poem that reveals as much about the speaker’s distraught mental state as it does about the tragic event he narrates. The poet used various Gothic elements in the poem along with Assonance, Repetition, Imagery, and Symbolism.

Summary of Annabel Lee:

Stanza 1 Lines 1 - 6

“It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.”

The poet begins with imagery, creating an aura of a fairy tale, and takes the reader to a time long ago, in a kingdom far away, somewhere on the coast of a distant sea. The fairy tale setting of the poem suggests the distraught mental state of the speaker who is mourning a great loss to him. Then the speaker mentions the maiden who lived in the far land by the sea. She is the central figure of the poem and her name is Annabel Lee. The speaker familiarizes the maiden to the reader (‘you may know’) offering an instant memory of a beautiful, young, maiden girl. In the next two lines, the speaker declares his relationship with the maiden girl and says that Annabel Lee and he were in deep love when they were young. This offers a relatable characterization as many of the readers will be able to connect with a memory of young love.

Stanza 2 Lines 7 - 12

“I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea:

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

I and my Annabel Lee;

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven

Coveted her and me.”

In this stanza, the speaker clarifies that the two lovers weren’t even young adults, they were children. Virginia Clemm was just 13 years old when she married Poe. The speaker repeats that the two loving adolescent children lived in the ‘kingdom by the sea’ reminding the fairy tale setting to the reader while maintaining the rhythm. In the next line, the speaker stresses that though they were children, they were responsible and conscious enough to recognize the love they felt for each other. The speaker also suggests his intense possessive attitude towards his beloved Annabel Lee. The two love each other so naturally, so intensely, that even the angels look down and feel a jealous pang because of the love that the two children share. The angels are the antagonists of the poem. The angels are depicted as jealous beings who look at the children and long for that which they cannot have- human love.

Stanza 3 Lines 12 - 20

“And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.”

The speaker continues to repeat ‘ in this kingdom by the sea’ which offers the gothic character of the poem. The kingdom by the sea is lonely and in an undefined but mysterious location. Poe does not describe the setting with any specificity, and he weaves a hazy, romantic atmosphere around the kingdom until he ends by offering the stark and horrific image of a "sepulchre” there “by the sea."

The tone of the poem shifts as the speaker is no longer talking of a fairy tale, rather, it is about the ill intentions of the jealous angels. The speaker says that because of their jealousy, the angels caused a “wind that blew out of a cloud” and hit Annabel Lee and she was chilled, caught cold, and got ill, or maybe she died. The speaker repeats his possessive love saying ‘My beautiful Annabel Lee,’ suggesting the deep feelings he had for his beloved.

‘A highborn kinsman’ of Annabel Lee came and took her away. It is not clear if Annabel Lee died or if she just got ill. Maybe someone who had died before her and came to take her soul to heaven. Or, if she got ill, someone from her family came to take Annabel Lee away in her sickness. In any case, the speaker was left alone. The kinsman ‘shut her up in a sepulchre.’ The sepulcher could be a beautiful tomb if Annabel Lee died, or if she was ill, it could be a large mansion where she lived and was taken when she got ill. In any case, the speaker feels the mansion is a tomb because he can no longer see or be with his Annabel Lee.

Stanza 4 Lines 21 - 26

“The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.”

In this stanza, the speaker clarified that the wind from the cloud hit Annabel Lee mortally who got ill, and died. The speaker expresses his deep sorrow, distress, and distraught mental state as he blames everyone but himself for her death, pointing at the conspiracy of angels with nature and at the show of paternalism inherent in her "highborn kinsmen" who "came and bore her away," and he remains dependent upon her memory. He expresses the angels as vindictive, and envious of him. He mentions again that it happened to him while he was ‘In this kingdom by the sea.’ The Gothic nature of the kingdom by the sea adds to the overall melancholy of the poem.

Stanza 5 Lines 27 - 33

“But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—

Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:”

In this stanza, the speaker reiterates that though they were children, his and Annabel Lee’s love was more profound and deep than those of the adults, who might be far wiser than them. He asserts that his love was not a silly, childish love that would be easily forgotten at the death of Annabel Lee. The speaker asserts that though Annabel Lee died, he won’t stop loving her. He claims that his soul would go on loving her soul so that even the angels of death could not succeed in separating them from one another. While they may have taken her body away from him physically, he asserts that they could never tear their souls apart from one another. Here, the speaker also suggests that it is not the end of their love story, they will meet again and be together.

Stanza 6 Lines 34 - 41

“For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.”

The speaker reveals his connection of soul with now-dead Annabel Lee and says that whenever the moon appears, it brings dreams to him and he sees, and meets his beautiful beloved Annabel Lee. Though she is physically no more, he can still feel her presence in nature as whenever he observes a rising star, he feels the eyes of Annabel Lee. The speaker was a child when Annabel Lee died. But he may not be a child now when he is narrating this past story. She is no more, but he mentions her as ‘my darling—my life and my bride,’ suggesting the deep feelings he always had for her and that he continues to harbor in his heart. He mentioned their love was so pure that angels were jealous of him, and their love was stronger than the love of older and wiser people, and now he also reveals that his love is a life-long commitment, and even beyond life, he will continue to love Annabel Lee and she will continue to love him.

In the last two lines, the speaker mentions that he is currently sitting beside the tomb of his beloved Annabel Lee and he enters her tomb possibly preparing himself to die “by the sounding sea,” and meet her again and be with her forever.

The poem tells a tale of undying love but it is not a typical fairy tale, rather it suggests Gothic nature.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

A Time to Be Happy by Nayantara Sahgal | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Nayantara Sahgal is an Indian English writer known for her political novels written in the stream of National Consciousness. She is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the daughter of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Barrister Sitaram Pandit. Jawahar Lal Nehru was her maternal uncle. Her first literary work was a historical memoir Prison and Chocolate Cake (1954), which includes her childhood experiences of her family during the Indian independence movement in the 1930s and '40s.

Her first novel, ' A Time to be Happy’ (1963), explores the problems caused by changing order as India inched closer to Independence during the late 1940s. The story depicts the period of Indian independence and tells about the Gandhian movement during the nineteen-forties. The novel has a pre-independence context while the story moves into the free India and the corresponding challenges faced by common Indians. The story is set from 1932 to 1948 and deals with three generations of a rich Zamindar family in Saharanpur, going through the changes as India moves towards freedom. The characters face the challenge of Gandhian ideology. Some hesitated between loyalty to the British and allegiance to the mother country.

The novel's narrator is Sanad, the protagonist, and an omniscient observer.

Characters of A Time to Be Happy:

Sanad Shivpal is the main character of the novel. He is a young Anglicized man of a rich Zamindar family in Saharanpur. He was educated in an English convent school. He is the elder son of Zamindar Govind Narayan Shivpal and heir to the mills and businesses of his father. While Sanad is living an easy life, he is influenced by the Gandhian call to serve the nation and people. He begins facing a crisis in his life as if he is uprooted by his roots and wishes to regain his Indianness. Kusum is wife of Sanad. She is a modern woman with independent thoughts. Unlike Sanad, she prefers her Indianness to the Anglicized version of the rich society. After his marriage to Kusum, Sanad feels a strong urge to join the Gandhian movements and begins wearing Khadi. Govind Narayan Shivpal is Sanad’s father, a Zamindar, and a successful businessman. He is loyal to British government and doesn’t wish to assist Gandhian movements in any manner. He is further troubled by the idea that Zamindari will be abolished after independence. When he realizes that his elder son Sanad is influenced by Gandhi, he gets disappointed. Lakshmi is Govind Narayan’s wife. Govind and Lakshmi are depicted as a happy couple as both consider each other equals. Lakshmi is just like her husband and enjoys materialistic pleasure and wealth. Ammaji is Govind Narayan’s mother, and grandmother of Sanad. She is a strong-minded woman who prefers Indianness and hates the fact that her son and grandsons prefer British values and Western lifestyles. She is highly individualistic and refuses to submerge her identity into that of her husband. They belong to two different worlds-he is an indolent, pleasure-loving man and she disdains luxury and resists his efforts to mold her to his liking. She is neither orthodox nor against modernity. She wants the younger generation to know their roots and culture. Dadaji is an Anglicized man who enjoys luxury and indolence. While her husband is totally anglicized and prefers Western ways, she disapproves of her husband’s way of living but continues within the fold of the family. She has the spirit of independence that makes her realize the value of self-help and the dignity of labor.

Harish Shivpal is Sanad’s younger brother, a flamboyant, extravagant, anglicized, and pleasure-loving man. He believes that India is not a land for great people and enjoys his foreign visits. He rebukes the Gandhian volunteers. Maya Shivpal is Harish’s wife. She is highly individualistic but prefers to avoid conflicts with her husband. She prefers to remain silent and follow her husband silently. Her marriage with Harish is shown as a failure because of the difference between their attitude and personalities. She had the cool purity of the eucalyptus, as compared with his extravagant gulmohar. She was the mirror-smooth lake to his rushing waterfall. Yet, she continues to remain a silent, obedient woman and suffers because she refuses to submerge her individuality and cling to her personal identity at all costs.

Sohan Bhai and Kunti Bhen are a married couple, Gandhian volunteers, and freedom fighters. They run a home for children orphaned during the Bengal famine. They are depicted as a happy couple, just like Govind and Lakshmi because of the similarities between their personalities and ideals.

Mr. Trent is a British businessman. Sanad works in his firm. Mr. Trent likes Sanad and supports him but when he acknowledges that Sanad is gradually becoming Gandhian, he objects to it.

Summary of A Time to Be Happy:

The novel begins in 1948, after Independence. Sanad, a middle-aged man narrates his story. He used to be a successful man before the independence. He has the best education, a luxurious life, a huge inheritance, and a high-paying job. He is shown as a "nearly English young man brought up to be a success, puzzled and uncertain about his future" in the independent India. He mentions the law of Karma that one’s next life is a causal extension of one’s deeds performed in the past and present lives. All living beings are thus deemed to be self-trapped in the eternal cycle of birth, death, and re-birth (Punarjanma) until moksha is attained through intelligent action and meditation.

He remembers his past while describing his family members. His father enjoys a luxurious life and hates the fact that Sanad is influenced by Gandhian ideologies. His mother too supports her husband. However, his grandmother Ammaji believes that the younger generation must respect their Indian roots. Sanad used to enjoy the Western lifestyle. He studied English history and literature and admired English poets. His moral and ideological thinking was based on the British system. He used to feel that though his body was in India, his brain doesn’t belong here. He might as well be an Englishman except for the color of his skin. And he was almost happy with his life. But then he came in contact with some Gandhian volunteers and soon he began feeling an existential crisis. Because of her grandmother, Ammaji, Sanad has a profound respect for tradition. He is aware of the political and social forces too and after contemplating his choices, he joins the English firm of Selkrik and Lowe at their office in Saharanpur and cultivates Western values. At the same time, he begins learning Hindi and spinning wheel. At some level, he feels influenced and attached to the Gandhian movement. He faces an internal struggle and feels that he doesn’t completely belong to either the Western culture or the Indian mannerisms. He fails to find enough commonness in himself and other Indians. Then he decides to turn himself towards the Indian roots and switches over to the dhoti-kurta style of dress. His employer, Mr. Trent notices all these activities and warns Sanad but he boldly informs him that nothing is wrong with his activities and that the steps he has been taking are only to familiarize himself with his own country. Sanad is then married to Kusum who belongs to a Nationalist background. Her father was a freedom fighter. Kusum is more clear-headed than Sanad and prefers her Indianness. She is proud of her Indian roots. After marriage, Sanad feels supported by his wife and decides to resign from his job. He is the inheritor of a leading textile mill, he renounces everything by wearing khadi. From the moment he wears kadhi, he decides to follow Gandhi and his principles. His experiences led him to realize the importance of real individual freedom and real powers in serving society and upholding human values and human relationships with courage. This realization on the part of Sanad enables him to dig out his real self and assert his identity as a selfless volunteer of Gandhi. His wife Kusum, and grandmother Ammaji support him in his cause. However, his father Govind Narayan, and his mother Lakshmi oppose him. They are distraught that their elder son, their heir is turning away from the values they prefer.

Sanad’s younger brother Harish is the opposite of Sanad. He prefers Western culture and enjoys foreign visits. He loves luxury and pleasure. Maya, his devoted wife, neither approves of her husband‟s attitude nor rejects it. She calmly allows him to decide. But her love for the country is revealed when she expresses her willingness to join the Rural Development program organized by the Gandhian volunteers.

The novel explores the existence of different ideologies within the same family. The philosophy of Karma is shown as encouraging passivity if man’s present life is seen as the result of his past actions. Maya continues to suffer her husband’s indifference towards her emotional needs and believes she must suffer. However, the novel also explores the other interpretation of Karma and suggests that human beings should take it as a challenge according to their capabilities to shape a better future. The novel suggests that two opposite tendencies create the pattern of Indian life: a forthright sensuality existing side by side with a stark and stoic resignation. Similarly, other opposing tendencies exist side by side: Violence and non-violence, materialism and spiritualism, acquisition and sacrifice, enjoyment and abnegation.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Tamburlaine the Great by Christopher Marlowe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Tamburlaine the Great is a play by Christopher Marlowe written and published in 1587. The play attained huge success in the theater; hence, Marlowe wrote the second part in 1588. Tamburlaine the Great was the only play by Christopher Marlowe that was published while he was alive.

The titular character of the play is loosely based on Timur of Central Asia who founded the Timurid Empire in 1405. Tamburlaine is significant because it was the first play in which the author adapted blank verse, breaking from the rigid Tudor style in which poetry and plays were written before it. Marlowe wrote the play in blank verse. The play also exhibited innovation and moral and intellectual complexity in the plot. Christopher Marlowe often depicted ordinary characters chasing extraordinary dreams. Medieval society had preached that each individual should know his (or her) place. However, Marlowe believed in breaking the norms and this is what he depicted in most of his plays. Tamburlaine pursues the best even if it appears beyond his reach. In his plays, Marlowe depicted characters who, through force of character, rejected the lot into which they were born and, through force of personality, reached unbelievable heights. Marlowe's Barabas in The Jew of Malta seeks limitless wealth; Faustus seeks forbidden knowledge; Mortimer (in Edward II) wants to usurp the crown. Tamburlaine, on the other hand, aims much higher than any of the other Marlovian characters, he wishes to rule the world and almost succeeds. But his quest for power doesn’t stop there, he aims to challenge gods.

The first part was a five-act play while Marlowe penned the second part as a four-act play in 1588, culminating the story of Tamburlaine.

Characters of Tamburlaine the Great:

Tamburlaine is a poor shepherd who becomes the emperor of Turkey through his sheer will. He is a war-loving man who manages to conquer many countries. He is very proud and likes being addressed as Tamburlaine the Great. He is cruel and war-loving, expecting his sons to be the same. However, his eldest son Calyphas is a calm, rather cowardly man whom Tamburlaine kills by his own hands. Mycetes is the king of Persia. He is a coward and foolish man tricked by his brother Cosroe. Cosroe takes the help of Tamburlaine in overthrowing Mycetes, believing that he will be the next king but Tamburlaine tricks him too and becomes the king. Zenocrate is an Egyptian princess whom Tamburlaine captures. She falls in love with him even though she is supposed to marry someone else. She has three children with Tamburlaine. She is as sadistic, proud, and ambitious as Tamburlaine and supports him through thick and thin until she dies. Bajazeth is the emperor of Turkey whom Tamburlaine defeats and captures. Bajazeth too is very proud and violent. He kills himself by bashing his head into the walls of his cell when he realizes that Tamburlaine will humiliate him forever. Zabina is the empress of Turkey and the wife of Bajazeth. She too is captured by Tamburlaine who wishes to treat her as a slave. Like her husband, she kills herself. Amyras is Tamburlaine’s younger son who succeeds him. Like his father, he too is a brave war-mongering ruler. Callapine is the son of Bajazeth and Zabina, the heir to the Turkish empire. He manages to remain alive and unconquered by Tamburlaine. He tries to take revenge and the Turkish empire back. He attacks Tamburlaine before he dies. Though Tamburlaine manages to avoid defeat, it is implicated that Callapine will continue to attack until he defeats Tamburlaine’s successor. Orcanes is the king of Natolia. He is a fierce soldier and opponent of Tamburlaine who tries everything possible to save his kingdom against Tamburlaine’s expansionist moves. King of Soria and King of Trebizon are conquered by Tamburlaine who forces them to pull his chariot and ultimately kills them. King of Jerusalem too is defeated by Tamburlaine. Techelles and Usumcasane are friends of Tamburlaine whom he makes the king of Fez and king of Morocco respectively. Both are loyal to Tamburlaine. Sigismond is the king of Hungary who vows not to attack Natolia but breaks his vow and gets defeated by the king of Natolia. The Captain of Balsera is killed when Techelles and Theridamas attack his city. His wife Olympia kills her son and tries to kill herself but Techelles stops her, impressed by her beauty, he decides to imprison her and present her to Tamburlaine. However, Olympia succeeds in tricking Techelles into killing her.

Summary of Tamburlaine

Part 1

The play begins with a prologue in which the frivolous “clowns” and “mother wits” of other works declare that this play won’t be focussing on petty subjects that are discussed in other plays and that the story is about a great conqueror and his victories. Act 1 begins in the court of Mycetes, the king of Persia who discusses with his brother Cosroe about Tamburlaine, an outlaw and his band of other outlaw shepherds continually trouble his estate. Meander, the loyal advisor of Mycetes describes Tamburlaine as a “sturdy Scythian thief, who first opposed to pay taxes and when soldier abrogated his field, he threatened to revolt. Mycetes sends Theridamas, a proud chieftain with a thousand horsemen to defeat Tamburlaine. He then orders Menaphon, another chieftain to follow and help Theridamas. But Cosroe interjects and says Menaphon must be sent to Africa to control the revolting Babylons. When Mycetes leaves, Cosroe tells Menaphon that many Persian nobles are supporting him to overthrow Mycetes and become the king himself.

Meanwhile, Tamburlaine attacks and captures a caravan taking Zenocrate, the Egyptian princess. When he sees Zenocrate, he falls in love with her and proposes to her to marry him. Zenocrate is already promised to the prince of Arabia but she genuinely falls in love with Tamburlaine, seeing his leadership qualities. Techelles and Usumcasane praise Tamburlaine and his bravery. Tamburlaine promises Zenocrate that she will be respected and remain safe. At the same time, Theridamas appears with the force of a thousand horsemen but is convinced by Tamburlaine to shift his allegiance in favor of him. Theridamas becomes a loyal chieftain of Taburlaine.

When Cosroe learns this, he plans to take the help of Tamburlaine and his force to depose Mycetes. Tamburlaine attacks Persia. To disarray his soldiers, Meander advises Mycetes to throw gold in the streets. Mycetes tries to protect his crown and Tamburlaine lets him keep the crown until his army is totally defeated. Persian soldiers soon accept defeat but Cosroe flees with the crown to Persepolis. Tamburlaine challenges Cosroe and wins, killing Cosroe during the fight.

Tamburlaine becomes the king of Persia and decides to attack Turkey.

Bajazeth, the emperor of Turkey gathers all his kings and prepares to resist Tamburlaine. Meanwhile, Agydas, a loyal lord of Egypt advises Zenocrate to not let herself be manipulated by Tamburlaine; Zenocrate tells Agydas that she wants to marry Tamburlaine. Agydas realizes that Tamburlaine overheard what he said and stabs himself to avoid being tortured by Tamburlaine. Tamburlaine marches on Turkey and defeats the forces of Bajazeth. He captures Bajazeth and Zabina, his wife, and keeps them as slaves. Tamburlaine and Zenocrate then enjoy torturing and humiliating Bajazeth and Zabina. Zenocrate then sends Zabina to serve Aippe, Zenocrate’s maid while Tamburlaine instructs Anippe to treat Zabina as a slave.

Tamburlaine plans to attack Arabia as he wishes to defeat the prince of Arabia to whom Zenocrate is betrothed. Meanwhile, the Sultan of Egypt is worried about Zenocrate and asks for the help of the Arabian king to stop Tamburlaine. When Tamburlaine comes to know about this, he prepares to attack Egypt. Zenocrate pleads him not to attack Egypt but he ignores her pleas. His army reaches Damascus. The governor of Damascus sends virgin girls to please Tamburlaine to avoid an attack but Tamburlaine declines the gift. He orders the slaughter of all those virgins and then displays them on the city walls. He kills the governor of Damascus himself. He continues to march towards Egypt.

While Tamburlaine is at war against Egypt, Bajazeth realizes that there is no way he can protect his pride and decides to end his life. He hits his head on the wall of his cell until he dies. When Zabina learns this, she runs toward his cell hits her head on the wall of Bajazeth’s cell, and dies. Callapine, the son of Baljazeth and Zabina is still imprisoned.

Meanwhile, Tamburlaine defeats the Sultan of Egypt and murders the Prince of Arabia. He spares the life of the Sultan and rather offers him much more territory to rule than the Sultan ever had.

After returning, Tamburlaine marries Zenocrate. The first part of Tamburlaine the Great ends here.

Summary of Tamburlaine the Great Part 2

The terror of Tamburlaine continues as he wishes to conquer the world. Orcanes, the king of Natolia learns that Tamburlaine’s next target is his kingdom. The king of Natolia is already engaged in a tussle with Sigismond, the king of Hungary. He meets Sigismond and offers a truce to unite their army and protect their territories against advancing Tamburlaine. Sigismond recognizes the gravity of the situation and accepts the truce, vowing not to attack Natolia and thus helping Orcanes against Tamburlaine. However, Frederick, one of his advisors suggests to him that they should ally with Tamburlaine and help him defeat Natolia.

Meanwhile, Callapine, the prince of Turkey bribes the jailer of his cell and promises him a kingdom if he lets him slip away from the cell and prepare an army against Tamburlaine. The jailer remembers how Baljazeth and Zabina were humiliated and decides to help Callapine and lets him slip away.

Before marching to Natolia, Tamburlaine meets his three sons. While the younger two of his sons, Amyrus and Celebinus are exactly like him, cruel, war-loving, and ambitious, his elder son Calyphus often preaches about peace. He worries that his grown sons are not warlike, especially the lazy and cowardly Calyphas. Zenocrate assures him that they are. Zenocrate shows some signs of illness but hides away and Tamburlaine marches toward Natolia.

When Sigismond learns about Tamburlaine’s army preparing to attack, he accepts Frederick’s advice and attacks Natolia from other side. However, Tamburlaine learns about Zenocrate’s sudden death due to her illness while he is still in the war. Stricken by grief, he decides to return to Turkey while his sons remain on the battlefield. Orcanes successfully defends Natolia, defeating Sigismond and Tamburlaine’s war chiefs together.

After returning to Turkey, Tamburlaine burns down the city where Zenocrate died and forbids anyone to rebuild it. Callapine takes advantage of the situation and gathers Turkish kings to support him who crown him as their emperor and swear to help him in taking revenge for the humiliation his father and mother were forced to face.

After sulking for a while, Tamburlaine learns about the revolt of Callapine and decides to return to the battlefield again. He sends Theridamas and Techelles to march northward where they attack the city of Balsera whose captain fights valiantly but dies during the war. His wife Olympia knows how cruel and sadistic Tamburlaine and his ways are. Thus, she decides to murder her son and then to kill herself. While she succeeds in murdering her son, Techelles stops her from killing herself and imprisons her, hoping to present her to Tamburlaine as a gift. When Theridamas sees Olympia, he gets seduced by her and tries to court her. Olympia makes a fool of him and tells him that she has an ointment that protects against any injury or even knife stabs. To prove herself, she applies some ointment on her belly and asks Theridamas to stab her. He foolishly does so and unwittingly murders her.

Meanwhile, Tamburlaine and Usumcasane attack the kings supporting Callapine. He then marches to Natolia and confronts and defeats Orcanes and the Turk forces in battle, in which his sons Amyras and Celebinus perform valiantly. Calyphas, however, had sat out the battle gambling in his tent. The next day, Amyrus and Clebinus confront Calyphas and ask why he didn’t help them during the war. Calyphas makes airy excuses and they call him a coward and challenge him to fight. Calyphas shies away. When Tamburlaine learns about his absence from the battlefield while his brothers were facing enemies, he gets enraged and kills him.

Tamburlaine then captures many kings who supported and crowned Callapine as the emperor of Turkey and yokes them by the mouth like horses to pull his chariot. When they get tired, he murders them. In his rage, he continues to attack new territories and attacks Babylon. The governor of Babylon is a coward who tries to hide in the city among the citizens, hoping Tamburlaine won’t kill citizens. When the city is conquered, the governor tries to convince Tamburlaine not to kill him, but his plan fails. Tamburlaine hangs the governor of the city, orders every Babylonian drowned, and burns Islamic religious books. In his rage, he declares he is destined to rule the world and dares Mahomet to challenge his own power. Suddenly, he falls ill and feels very weak. He decides to return to Persia. On his way back, his forces are ambushed by Callapine and his army. Tamburlaine strives to fight a last battle but cannot garner the strength. His son Amyras skillfully manages to defeat Callamine who runs away, vowing to attack again.

As they reach Persia, Tamburlaine falls terminally ill. He laments the lands he did not have the chance to conquer and bestows his crown on Amyras, telling him to carry on his conquest. The play ends with the lamentations of Amyras, fearing that he will never be as great as his father.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!