Gora by Rabindranath Tagore

 Gora and Important Quotes:-

The novel, Gora was written by Rabindranath Tagore, an eminent Indian author and the first Asian Nobel Prize winner. Through the journey of Gora; from being a dogmatist to being liberal, and other characters, Tagore presented a complex and entangled story of two religious sects i.e. Hindu religion and Brahmo Samaj. He tried to showcase how in both religions several people blindly follow their faith, criticize, spread hate, condemn, and abuse each other but do not use their conscience and intellect for the reason of their faiths. However, characters like Anandmoyi and Paresh Babu are presented as an emblems of love and intellect despite their different faiths.

Besides these, Tagore also tried to present the idea of a nation through the character of Anandamoyi. She has rejected all kinds of prejudiced notions of religion and truly follows his heart and intellect. She hates no one and is very sympathetic toward the downtrodden.

Characters:-

Anandamoyi; a Brahmin and mother of Gora.

Krishnadayal Babu; husband of Anandamoyi

Gourmohan; or Gora

Binoy Bhusan Chatterji; or Binoy and childhood friend of Gora.

Mohim; stepson of Anandamoyi, elder to Gora.

Paresh-Chandra Bhattacharya; or Paresh Babu, Brahmo Samaj follower- liberal, kind-hearted, and intellectual.

Baroda; wife of Paresh Babu and bigot to her faith.

Labonya; elder daughter of Presh Babu.

Lolita; middle daughter of Paresh Babu.

Lila; youngest daughter of Paresh Babu.

Haran-Chandra Nag; or Panu Babu and bigot Brahmo follower.

Suchatita; daughter (adopted) of Paresh Babu.

Satish-Chandra Mukherji; brother of Sucharita.

The novel also has other minor characters.

Note- Gora was not a son of Anandamoyi and Krishnadayal but only she raised him, and it was revealed to him at the end of this novel.

Quotes:-

• "Gora, do you think that every debt can be paid off  with money."

        (Anandamoyi, ch- 03)

• "I used to worship the emblem of Shiva, made by my own hand, and your father used to come and throw it in fury."

        (Anandamoyi, ch-03, shows the hypocrisy of the upper cast)

• "When you hold a little child to your breast then you feel certain that no one is born into this world with cast. From that very day understanding came to me that if I looked down upon anyone for being of low cast, or a Christian, then God would snatch you away from me."

        (Anandamoyi, ch-03, idea of inclusivity)

• "I have long ceased to take pride in caste."

        (Anandamoyi, ch-06)

• "She knew that all the family unpleasantness was bound to be put down to the stepmother in Sociaey's code of justice, but she never in the habit of regulating her conduct by what people might think of her."

        (Tagore to Anandamoyi, ch- 36, unrevealed the truth of social justice, shows the position of  a stepmother in society/ temperament of society toward stepmother, and her courageous spirit)

• "Marriage, is a matter of heart coming together- if that happens, what matters it what mantras are recited?"

        (Anandamoyi, ch- 37, notion of love)

• "How true man is himself, and how false the things about which his quarrels divide men from men... There is no caste in men's heart-there God brings men together and there he himself comes to them."

        (Anandamoyi, ch-37)

• "Scriptural rules must be accepted as final."

        (Gora, ch- 03, orthodoxical view)

• "It is impossible to take food in your room so long as you keep on that Christian maidservant Lachmi."

        (Gora, ch- 03)

• "The altar at which women may be truly worshipped is her place as mother, the seat of pure, right-minded lady." 

        (Gora, ch- 02, orthodoxical view for women)

• "This was the first time Gora had seen what the condition of his country was like, outside the well-to-do and cultured society."

        (Tagore, ch-26, here Gora witnesses the distinction between human beings and the real picture of his Inadia.)

• "What terrible wrong  have we been doing", he said himself, " by making purity of external thing."

        (Gora, ch- 26)

• "Those who are in prison are bearing the punishment for the sins of those who judge others, but not themselves."

        (Gora, ch- 32)

• "I can't respect a religion", expostulated Gora, "which denies the rights of the individual and of society and claims everything for itself."

        (Gora, ch- 56, transformation in Gora because of the journey he takes)

• "Gora regards Sucharita as an Idea. The Womanhood of India was revealed to him in the figure of Sucharita, and he regarded her as the manifestation of all that was sweet, pure loving and virtuous in the home of his motherland."

        (Gora, ch- 57)

• "Ever since I first met you a new thought has been surging through my mind...I keep thinking that India can never be fully revealed only by looking at her men. Her manifestation will only be complete when she has revealed to our women."

        (Gora, ch- 63)

• "Now in the time of trial, he should once again place the truth above all social and prudential consideration."

        (Paresh Babu, ch- 47)

• "Sectarianism is a thing which makes people entirely forget the simple and obvious truth that man is man- it creates a kind of whirlpool in which the society- made distinction between Hindu and Brahmo assume greater importance than universal truth."

        (Presh Babu, ch-49)

• "The social system of our country is intimately bound up with religious opinion - therefore with all our social observances religious practices have some connection."

        (Paresh Babu, ch- 62)

• "Haran could  forgive almost anything except the following of an independent  path, by those whom he had tried to guide aright."

        (Haran-Chandra Nag, ch- 40)

• "The more he felt that he was gradually losing respect of everyone in this house, the more desperately he struggled to maintain his position in it."

        (Haran-Chandra Nag, ch- 34)

• "If Brahmo Samaj has appointed you its judge, it is better for us to be out of it altogether."

        (Lolita, ch-46)

• "The proper remedy for evil is to fight against it."

        (Lolita, ch-47)

• "Liberty for me means freedom from the slavery of falsehood, and from the attacks of meanness."

        (Lolita, ch-50)

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Man and Superman - Quotes and characters

 Man and Superman

The play Man and Superman was written by a British writer named George Bernard Shaw. It was written in 1903 and published in 1905.

The play deals with the ideas of Shaw. The Life Force is one ft the significant ideas in the play that deals with how humans can evolve themselves to superhuman. Furthermore, he also gives scathing remarks on religion, politics and marriage.

It has four acts.

Characters of the play:-

Roebuck Ramsden

Mr Octavious Robinson

Violet; sister of Mr Octavious Robinson

Jack/John Tanner

Hector 

Mr Malone; an American, and Hector's father

Ann Whitefield

Miss Rhoda; sister to Ann

Mendoza; a brigand

Mr Enry Starker; chauffer to Tanner's car

Important Quotes:-

"You know that I am not a prejudiced and bigoted man... I have always stood for equality and free conscience while they were truckling to the churches and to the aristocracy."

    (act- 01, by Roubuck Ramsden)

"She'll commit every crime a respectable woman can; she'll justify every one of them by saying they it was the wish of her guardians,. She'll put everything on us; and we shall have no control over her than a couple of mice over a cat."

    (act-01, by Tanner, reveals Ann's character.)

"Ann will do just exactly what she likes. And what is more, she will force us to advise her to do it, and she will put the blame on us if ti turns out badly."

    (act-01, by Tanner, about Ann's character)

"We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything  that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our income, of our accents, of our opinion, of our experience, just we are as ashamed of our naked skins."

    (act-01, by Tanner, sarcastic comment on English society)

"You are ashamed to buy my book, ashamed to read it: the only thing you are not ashamed of is to judge me for it without having read it."

    act-01, by Tanner, about Ramsden's character)

"It was the creative instinct that led you to attach me to you by bonds that have left their mark on me to this day. Yes, Ann: the old childish compact between us was an unconscious love compact."

    (act-01, by Tanner, the idea of Life Force)

"It is a woman's business to get married as soon as possible, and a man's to keep unmarried as long as he can."

    (act-02, by Tanner)

"The first duty of manhood and womanhood is a declaration of independence."

    (act-02, by Tanner)

"You can be as romantic as you please about love, Hector; but you mustn't be romantic about money."

    (act-02, by Violet)

"I am a gentleman: I live by robbing the poor."

    (act-02, Mendoza)

"I am a gentleman. I live by robbing the poor."

    (act-03, by Tanner)

" Her intellect reached forward into the twentieth century: her social prejudices and family affections reached back into the dark ages."

    (act-03, by Mendoza, about his beloved Louisa Starker)

"Hell is the home of honour, duty, justice, and the rest of the seven deadly virtues."

    (act-03, by Don Juan)

"I am so much more admired in marble than I was..."

    (act-03, by The Statue)

"It is true that the world cannot get on without me; but it never gives me credit for that: in its heart it mistrusts and hates me."

    (act-03, by The Devil)

"At every one of those concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. There is the same thing in heaven. A number of people sit there in glory, not because they are happy, but because they think they owe it to their position to be in heaven."

    (act-03, by The Statue)

"Men thrive better on disappointments in love than on disappointments in money."

    (act-04, by Malone)

"I want no middle-class properties and no middle-class women for Hector."

    (act-04, by Malone)

"Domestic pressure may be slow; but it's sure."

    (act-04, by Malone)

"Sir: there are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it."

    (act-04, by Mendoza)

In the third act of the play when the hell scene is presented, the name of the following changes-

Jack Tanner - Don Juan.

Mendoza - The Devil.

The Statue - Ann's Father (Mr. Whitefield) who has died.

Ana - Ann Whitefield.

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Look Back in Anger and Important Quotes

The play "Look Back in Anger" was written by British writer John Osborne and first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 8th May 1956. It is centred on Jimmy Porter, who belongs to the lower middle class and continuously rants about suffering and frustration. He has a wife, Alison. Jimmy is an educated person, but because of the hierarchical structure of class in society, he does not get his desired job and life. Consequently, he feels frustrated.

The play is divided into three acts.

Act 1 has no scene.

Act 2 has two scenes.

Act 3 has two scenes.

Characters-

Jimmy Porter; is a young man of 25 years and the protagonist, belongs to the lower middle class..

Alison Porter; is the wife of Jimmy. She belongs to the upper class.

Clif Lewis; is a friend of Jimmy Porter.

Helena Charles; is a Friend of Alison Porter.

Colonel Redfren; father of Alison.

The play has also minor characters like-

Madeline; mistress of Jimmy.

Miss Drury; owner of the rented room.

Hugh Tanner; used to be a friend of Jimmy.

Mrs. Tanner; Hugh Tsnner's mother.

Nigel; Alison's brother.

Important Quotes:-

"She hasn't had a thought for years! Have you?"

    (act 1, Jimmy comments on Alison. Since Alison belongs to the upper class and comments on her show that he comments on the upper-class mentality because of the indifference toward the middle class.)

"I am the only person who knows how to treat a paper or anything else in the house."

        (act 1, said by Jimmy. shows his sense of superiority.)

" He (Bishop of Bromely) makes a very moving appeal to all Christians to do all they can to assist in the manufacture of H-bomb."

    (Cliff reads it in the paper. It reveals that in Osborne's time, even the church appealed to help in manufacturing bombs.)

"He is being offensive. And it's easy for him."

    (In act 1, Cliff says about Jimmy's nature.)

"How I hate Sunday! It's always so depressing, always the same...the same ritual of reading the paper, drinking tea, ironing and another week gone. Our youth is slipping away."

     (act 1, said by Jimmy. It shows that there is nothing new in his life or in the life of the lower middle-class families. He has a mechanical life.)

"Nobody can be bothered. No one can raise themselves out of their delicious sloth."

    (act 1, by Jimmy.)

"Nobody thinks, nobody cares no beliefs, no conviction, no enthusiasm, Just another Sunday evening."

     (act 1, Jimmy's notion of detachment and apathy.)

"...the back of the mind is the vague knowledge that he and his pals have been plundering and fooling everybody for generations."

    (act 1 by Jimmy. He comments on the upper-class mentality for their so-called knowledge.)

"For the first time in my life, I was cut off from my kind of people, I'd always know, my family my friends and everybody."

    (act 2, by Alison. it shows her loneliness.)

"For twelve months I watched my father dying- when I was ten years old."

    (act 2 scene 1, by Jimmy.)

"Where I come from, we are used to brawling and excitement."

    (act 2, scene 1, by Cliff. it reveals the nature of the lower middle-class people.)

"All I know is that none of you know how to behave in a decent civilised way."

    (act 3, scene 2, by  Helena.)

"I have discovered what is wrong with Jimmy? He was born out of his time... He doesn't know where he is or where he is going."

    (act 3, scene 2, by Helena.)

"Everything about him seemed to burn, his face, the edges of his hair glistened and seemed to spring off his head, and his eyes were so blue and full of sun."

    (act 2, scene 1, by Alison. She describes Jimmy's physical beauty. And probably this was the reason she fell in love with him. She also describes him as a "Knight in shining armour", same act & scene)

"She gets letter. Letter from her mother, letters in which I am not mentioned at all because of my name is a dirty word." 

    (act 1, by Jimmy.)

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The Age of Elizabethan and authors

 The Age of Elizabethan (1558-1603) 

History of the Period:-

It is the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Her reign is one of the most important periods which have a great impact on the Renaissance. However, when she was crowned as queen the whole country was divided into two groups i.e. catholic(northern side) and protestant(southern counties). They always fought for their religious cause and religious persecution. They even tortured each other in court to gain royal favour. But the queen treats them equally and they become united under one umbrella. For the first time, their mind turns toward literature and other activity. Her reign was just like a dawn for England. and Her love for England awakened tremendous patriotism among the English people. English national life progressed by huge leaps, and literature reached the very highest point of its development. Here, Milton says- "a noble and puissant nation, rousing herself, like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks". 

Characteristics of  The Elizabethan Age:-

(1) It was the reign of religious tolerance.

(2) It was an age of social satisfaction. 

(3) This age is known as an age of dreams, adventure, limitless enthusiasm, and expansion of mental and geographical horizontal. 

The great voyagers brought knowledge from the East and their exploits were recorded in "Hakluyt".

Literary Feature of the Age:-

(1) The New Romanticism- It is the first romantic era. The romantic quest is for the remote, the wonderful, and the beautiful.

(2) Drama - This is the greatest period of drama because the bold and critical attitude of drama appeared and it made a swift and wonderful leap into maturity. William Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist.

(3) Poetry- Poetry production is not equal to drama.

(4) Prose- First time, prose raised to a position of first-rate importance. The dead weight of Latin was getting away and English prose was acquiring its position. 

Poets of  the Age:-

(1) Edmund Spencer (1552-99)

(2) John Donne(1573-1631)

(3) Sir Thomas Wyatt (1530(?)-1542) 

(4) Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516(?)-1547)

(5) Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

(6) Michal Drayton (1563-1631)

(8) Samuel Daniel (1562-1619)

(9) Thomas Campion (1567-1620)

Playwrights of the Age:-

(1) George Peele (1558-98)

(2) Robert Greene (1558-92)

(3) Thomas Nash (1567-1601)

(4) Thomas Lodge(1558-1625)

(5) Thomas Kyd(1558-1594)

(6) Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593)

    (The above playwrights are University Wits.)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 

Post- Shakespearian Dramatist:-

(1) Ben Jonson(1573(?)- 1637)

(2) Francis Beaumont (c. 1584-1616) and John Fletcher            (1579-1625)

(3) John Marston (1575-1634)

(4) Thomas Dekker (1572-1632)

(5) Thomas Middelton (1570-1627)

(6) Thomas Heywood (1575-1650)

(7) George Chapman (c. 1559-1634)

Source-

History of English Literature

Edward Albert.

William J Long.

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The Old Man and the Sea || important quotes||

 Major Quotes and characters in "The Old Man and the Sea"

The Old Man and the Sea is a novella by American writer Ernest Hemingway. It is centred on an old man named Santiago, who fails continuously for eighty-four days to catch a fish. Ultimately he succeeds in catching an eighteen-fit long fish, a Marlin. However, in the battle with a hunting shark, he loses the flesh of the fish and what remains is the skeleton.

 The story also focuses on the friendship of Santiago and Manolin. Manolin is a boy who used to fish with the old man's boat but because of his failure, his parents asked him to move to another boat. Though Monolin goes to another boat, his friendship with the old man is still the old one. It is Manoline who believes in him despite his continuous failure.

Characters-

It has eight characters.

Santiago; an old man.

Marlin; is the biggest fish.

Manolin; a lad and Santiago's close friend.

Martin; the owner of the Terrace gives food to Santiago.

Pedrico; one who receives the head of Marlin.

Rogelio; is a boy who helps Santiago with his fish net.

Los Galanos; are hunting sharks.

The Mako Shark; is known for its eight rows of teeth.

Important Quotes-

• "Man is not made for death. A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

• "Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same colour as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated."  (this quote shows the spirit and strength of the old man. Though he is old and his body has lost its strength and charm of young age, he has not lost his inner youthfulness. And it is being reflected through his eyes.)

• "...Many fishermen made fun of the old man and he was not angry."

        The old man has control over his emotions.

• "You will not fish without eating while I am alive."

        Manolin said to the old man. It shows the love of the boy for his old friend.

• "I may not be as strong as I think but I know many tricks and I have a resolution."

        The old man says to himself. It shows his resilience against the situation which he is facing. It also depicts the mind is more powerful than physical strength.

• "Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is."

        (when Santiago struggles to catch fish in mid-ocean. His mind gets distracted and numerous thoughts of different kinds start coming into his mind. In that situation, he motivates himself and tries to concentrate on what he is doing. It reveals the perspective of the old man.)

• "Fish, "he said softly, aloud "I will stay with you until I am dead."

• "Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered... I have such a heart too and my feet and hands are like theirs."

• "No one should be alone in their old age."

            (loneliness)

• "I wish I had the e boy."

            (loneliness)

• "Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was a thing the I was born for." (human limitation)

• "Be calm and strong old man; he said."
• "And pain does not matter to a man."

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