Sunday 14 February 2021

Puritan and Restoration Age: English Literature

 

Puritan and Restoration Age: English Literature





Presentation on The Puritan Age

   

Presentation on The Restoration Age

 

Browning: Victorian Poet

Robert Browning: Victorian Poet 



Robert Browning, (born May 7, 1812, London—died Dec. 12, 1889, Venice), major English poet of the Victorian age, noted for his mastery of dramatic monologue and psychological portraiture. His most noted work was The Ring and the Book (1868–69), the story of a Roman murder trial in 12 books.

Click here to read more about Browning's Life


Browning's Biography

Browning's Legacy

Legacy

Few poets have suffered more than Browning from hostile incomprehension or misplaced admiration, both arising very often from a failure to recognize the predominantly dramatic nature of his work. The bulk of his writing before 1846 was for the theatre; thereafter his major poems showed his increasing mastery of the dramatic monologue. This consists essentially of a narrative spoken by a single character and amplified by his comments on his story and the circumstances in which he is speaking. (Read more . . . )

About Browning's Poems

Themes in Browning's Poems

All you need to know about Robert Browning - Victorian Web

Check your understanding - Online Test


Tennyson: Victorian Poet

Lord Alfred Tennyson - the Victorian Poet



Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in full Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson of Aldworth and Freshwater, (born August 6, 1809, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England—died October 6, 1892, Aldworth, Surrey), English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry. He was raised to the peerage in 1884. (Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Lord-Tennyson)

Why is Alfred, Lord Tennyson, important?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was the leading Victorian poet in England. His poetry is remarkable for its metrical variety, rich imagery, and verbal melodies. It dealt often with the doubts and difficulties of an age in which traditional religious beliefs about human nature and destiny were increasingly called into question by science and modern progress.

What was the childhood of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, like?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was the fourth of 12 children raised in a lonely rectory in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. Though home conditions were difficult, his father, the rector, managed to give him a wide literary education. The Lincolnshire countryside influenced his poetry, which he began composing before his teens.

Where was Alfred, Lord Tennyson, educated?

 In 1827 Alfred, Lord Tennyson, entered Trinity College, Cambridge. There he made lasting friendships and his reputation as a poet increased. In 1831 Tennyson’s father died, and his grandfather discovered his father’s debts. As a result, he left Cambridge without taking a degree.

What did Alfred, Lord Tennyson, write?

The best-known poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, included “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Crossing the Bar.” His longer works included In Memoriam, inspired by his grief over the untimely death of a friend, and Idylls of the King, based on Arthurian legend. Later in life he experimented with playwriting but was less successful.

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Tennyson as poet

Tennyson - the Poet of Our Time

Tennyson's Poetry

Cambridge Author: Tennyson

Check your understanding of Victorian Poets: Tennyson and Browning: Online Test

Monday 1 February 2021

Hard Times: Charles Dickens

 Introduction

Hard Timesnovel by Charles Dickens, published in serial form (as Hard Times: For These Times) in the periodical Household Words from April to August 1854 and in book form later the same year. The novel is a bitter indictment of industrialization, with its dehumanizing effects on workers and communities in mid-19th-century England.
Louisa and Tom Gradgrind have been harshly raised by their father, an educator, to know nothing but the most factual, pragmatic information. Their lives are devoid of beauty, culture, or imagination, and the two have little or no empathy for others. Louisa marries Josiah Bounderby, a vulgar banker and mill owner. She eventually leaves her husband and returns to her father’s house. Tom, unscrupulous and vacuous, robs his brother-in-law’s bank. Only after these and other crises does their father realize that the manner in which he raised his children has ruined their lives. (Britannica

Check your understanding of the novel: Online Test






Additional Resources:





Musical Performance of Hard Times in Hindi:



Understanding Hard Times: An Analytic Note by F.R Leavis /The Great Tradition


Article: Why Hard Times is a bad novel? - J. B. Priestley

Video recording of Online Classes on Hard Times



Video recording of the session on the discussion on 'Research Articles on Hard Times':