Q. With reference to the poems in your syllabus critically discuss Neruda’s poetic politics.

Q. With reference to the poems in your syllabus critically discuss Neruda’s poetic politics.

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet and politician. His poetry depicted the realities of 20^th century. He began his career as a love poet and ended it as an “outspoken advocate for engaged art and communist cause” says Erin Becker. Neruda reflected on politics after the outbreak of Spanish civil war, he was mostly advent of fascism and cold war tension. Spain’s destruction by civil war changed the whole life of Neruda. Neruda then emerged as a people’s poet where he twisted together lyrical intensity, epic imagination and political zeal. Neruda’s poetry became a matter of political discourse; his poem also brought the proletariat class into focus. Neruda identified with Spain as his mother country but he also had Chilean nationalist hidden inside him. Neruda’s source of passion was the communist party. He valued the communal over the individual and thus there is decline in sexual passion in his later poetry. Neruda turned to realism in order to portray the complexities of class struggle. Some poems which shoe the political state of mind f Pablo Neruda are ‘Ars Poetica (1933)’, ‘the way Spain was (1947)’, ‘discoverers of Chile (1946)’, and ‘Ode to Tomato (1954)’.

In Ars Poetica poet brings together “girls and garrisons” to force us into a realization of youth and freshness moving towards destruction that all battles cause. He compares his sentiments to a “widower’s grief” and “humiliated scullion”. Though this poem does not completely relate to war, it still describes the uncertainty and grief that will come after war. Hints of death are visible in “the wind that whacks my breast”. Neruda believes art is not created by beauty but it must be discovered through a perception which appears grim and destroyed and appears destroyed and appears from the hidden conscious of human. There is emphasis that poetry should come out of suffering. The poem breaks away from traditional form of surrealism by presenting disjoined images which were an emblem of 20^th century. The feel of the poem is not at peace but there is tension. The backdrop of the poem is war; war as a metaphor of struggle of poet’s mind and the war that would take place later in Spain. Poet is at the receiving end of war and has to move from objectivity to subjectivity. The poem was written at the time of uncertainty and it shows in the poem till the end. The time was when decisions and discourses relating to war were being made. The speaker’s mind is unsteady and the poetic psyche is in turmoil just like Spain was at the time of civil war.

The poet turns nostalgic in the poem ‘ The way Spain was’ and expresses his love for Spain as well as laments for its abjection at the hands of fascist forces. The poem written several years after the civil war and was a reaction to the war and mass murders in Spain. Spanish civil war was a turning point for Latin American writers. Neruda shows an image of Spain inflicted with pain and monotony. In stanza 2 he screams that he loves Spain but Spain has become “barren”. It has lost direction and is in confusion and chaos. The people along with the country are meant to be without any sense of direction after the war. The eagle is a symbol for imperial power which has now destroyed Spain. The drumming sound is of war, of disturbance, unhappiness and symbol of destruction over land. The barren soil makes Spain stagnant and shows that it has no future. Neruda is influenced by leftist ideology; he tries to revive Spanish people- “spirit of resilience”. He makes people remember who they were. Spain is now moving towards a modern age. Last stanza brings serious intention of Neruda as a people’s poet. He is not just an observer but an active part of struggle. He feels his poems should be life for people. The aim of the poem is to bring out something new by going out something new by going beyond politics.

Anjana Dutt says that Neruda starts with history of the Spanish settlers in Chile who were very impressed by talks of richness and wealth. In ‘Discoverers of Chile’, “Gold burns” and “silver illuminates” are images of wealth. Neruda describes the country in its physical form “my thin country”, “silence lies in its long time”. Because the natives couldn’t protect themselves against invaders they were compelled to merge their history and culture with that of invaders. “Neruda’s poetry raises mundane objects to sublime heights” says Susnigdha Dey. The Spanish conquerors were drawn towards Chile because of its wealth. The poem reflects Neruda’s political state in 1938 when he was drawn to Spain calling himself Spanish by race and language. This poem captures the entire history of the arrival of the discoverers of Chile from “north” from where “Almago brought his crushed ember”. Neruda explains how people were first oppressed and exploited by conquerors and dictators. The poem describes the destruction and violence unleashed by colonizers in 1938. Neruda said he needed to reach and touch “my true soil”. Poem shows a Eurocentric history that is replaced by myth of creation; Neruda’s description of physical form of country makes him return to his country. For Neruda there is never a conflict between Spain and Chile, Neruda is re-interpreting events with an outlook of history, he examines the land’s rich, natural heritage.

‘Ode to the Tomato’ explores the two hemispheres Chile and Spain presented through image of two tomato halves in the poem. The poem was published in 1954 which was an extremely important time for Neruda as he was in exile from his homeland for opposing fascist regime. Because of political unpredictability of Neruda he became people’s poet. He wrote about the problems of everyday life and by writing about a tomato he inverts the myth that there is nothing celebratory in everyday life. The tomato becomes an average Chilean who lives every day despite the gravity of civil strife and political crimes around him. The new abundant harvest of tomatoes becomes a symbol of celebrating native identity. The halving of tomato can be halving a Chilean into two parts or it can be “reminiscent of two hemispheres to which Chile and Spain belong” says Anjana Dutt. There was bloodshed in Chile because of civil strife and thus the lines “light is halved like a tomato”. The juice of tomato can symbolize bloodshed. Tomato which is personified first came from Latin America. It could mean “tomato invading the kitchen” is colonizers invading the land. The poet alternates between culinary delight and violence in the kitchen. Act of cutting tomatoes is equal to an actual murder. There are images of tomato invading every day aspect of a Chilean life. Tomato go well with onion; is Neruda talking of sexual union between Red Indian and white Europeans. The salad bowl is a mix of Chilean and Spanish culture, there is joy and celebration in his meal- “of ardent color, all embracing freshness”. Through tomato cultures are being joined. It also represents festivity and riotousness on one hand and majesty on other hand. One question that deals with the laws of that time is- why tomato is both a fruit and vegetable? According to the 1983 US Supreme Court rule “any plant or part thereof eaten during the main dish is a vegetable. If it is eaten at any other time it is a fruit”.

The literature of civil war was thus a great subject of mythologizing. Art and politics was fused together in a no. of works. The struggle between the republican and national forces in Spain became the source of imagination and conscience of many writers from around the world. Poetry of Pablo Neruda and other poets and novelists like Ernest Hemingway, Stephen spender and Federico Lorca explored the clash between political ideologies of socialism and fascism and between civilization and barbarism. The war was a central theme for Neruda’s poetry.

The poems reflect Neruda’s political state of mind before and after the civil war. In 1938 when Neruda returned to Chile he became more political in his poems and wrote reactions to civil war, about mundane things of life and the class struggle. Neruda’s poetic passion is more in politics rather than sexuality and so Neruda kept in expanding his political views through his poems. He examined the land’s rich natural heritage and described long defeat of Native Americans by Europe. ‘Ars Poetica’, ‘The way Spain was’, ‘Discoverers of Chile’, and ‘Ode to Tomato’ all describe Neruda’s political stand and how he reacted to the changes taking place in Spain and Chile.

Works cited

Becker, Erin. ‘Colored by Passion: The Political-Poetical Intersect in the Life and Work of Pablo Neruda’. PIT Journal. 2010. Print

Dey, Susnigdha. ‘Chilean Poetry: From the Epic to the Mundane’. Neruda, Walcott and Atwood: poets of Americas. Ed. By Anjana Dutt. Worldview publications. 2016. Print.

Dutt, Anjana. Introduction. Neruda, Walcott and Atwood: poets of Americas. Ed. By Anjana Dutt. Worldview publications. 2016. Print.

Spanish war, introduction. www.warpoets.org/conflicts/spanish-war.

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

Please like, comment and share. Your valuable suggestions are always welcome. Happy readingJ

The Great Indian Novel A Post- Modernist Reading.

The Great Indian Novel

                                   A Post- Modernist Reading.

The paper explores the Post-Modernist genre of the ‘The Great Indian Novel’ which is an equal blend of epic, facts and fictions.

Post-modernist literature blends literary genres, cultural and stylistic levels, the serious and the playful and they also resist classification according to traditional literary rubrics. It has parallels with post- structuralism in literary theory says M.H Abrams in his book ‘a glossary of literary terms’. Shashi Tharoor’s novel ‘The Great Indian Novel’ (1989), was written when post-modernism was about to come to an end, to find the elements of post-modernism we will analyze the novel based on the following features; intertexuality, pastiche, paranoia, satire, hyper-reality, late capitalism, post-world war 2 and metafiction. Fredrick Jameson says that post-modernism is a sign of hollow world in which any sense of history has been lost and replaced with a stream of images. These fragmented images of history and epic compressed together can be seen in ‘The Great Indian Novel’.

Is the novel a parody of the epic form? Does it mock the ancient text of Mahabharata? No. the novel very creatively and brilliantly takes the plot and character of the epic and puts in them the very soul of the Indian independence movement. The term epic according to M.H Abrams “is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in formal elevated style and centered on heroic figure whose actions determine fate of the nation”. In the novel there is no fixed heroic figure, but the fate of nation does depend upon a certain few. The novel definitely imitates a grand narrative style of epic and starts in medias res but it does not mock the form. It celebrates the form and takes it ahead as something necessary for the story telling.

There is no exact date as to when post-modernism began, but artists because of the Holocaust and World War 2, began employing certain techniques and attitudes in their work and these later on became the criteria of post-modernist novel. So is the novel then modernist, proto- modernist or post- modernist? The novel was written in 1989 which is basically when post- modernism was coming to an end and contemporary novel was starting to make its place in literature. The time period depicted in the novel is however before during and sometime after the Indian independence. The novel also depicts Pandu (Subhash Chandra Bose) going to meet Hitler and Hitler in action. Pandu says “Do you know who I am? Herr Hitler’s best friend”. (P.249). Hitler is someone who is shown as didactic, Pandu wishes to indulge in non- violence like Hitler to get India’s freedom. “No more “truth- force” only yuddha. It’s time to learn from that chap Hitler”. Tharoor makes both of their attempts go in vain. There is a similarity between Hitler and Pandu; Pandu knew if he indulges in sexual act he would die. So was he committing suicide? “P…Pandu! What hath happened to you? (p.202). Hitler also commits suicide. Both give up their life after encountering failure. The novel is thus post-modernist since it was written in a time when the techniques of post-modernism were very well known to the writers as well as audience.

Late capitalism began after World War 2, it shows a world full of Mass Media (Arjun is representative of Mass Media in the novel), consumerism, globalism and big corporation. So, in the novel after India has attained its independence Arjun emerges as a journalist “I thought of Arjun with his paradoxical mixture of attributes, as the spirit of Indian people, to which he so ably gave voice as a journalist.” (p.459). After the independence there comes a time when Arjun is confused about his role, it is then Krishna, who tells him he should do his Karma without wishing for a reward. Their talk is equivalent to the Gita in Mahabharata. Journalism and Mass Media became very important in a capitalistic society. After the independence we see that the morals were getting pushed back by profit. The officials were more interested in earning profit than doing their work responsibly. Election funds were also seen in trouble; corruption had taken its place in the “world’s largest democracy “(p.562). Everyone was thinking of power and money. Different parties had different ways of running the country but the common thing was they both wanted profits and power. The showcasing of this society as capitalist is one of the features of post-modernism.

Pastiche is a work of art it imitates the style or character of work of one or more artists. It is different from parody since pastiche celebrates the work it imitates and doesn’t mock it.  Pastiche adopts the stylings of original but doesn’t comment or make fun of the material. But what is post-modernism doing then?  According to Plato’s theory of mimesis “art is twice removed from reality”. But in the case of post-modernism isn’t art thrice or even more removed from reality? Can we even consider an imitation a work of art or even more, a work of literature? Tharoor mixes and matches works and characters, he doesn’t really create anything. One is definitely overwhelmed seeing Draupadi as democracy, Bhisma as Gandhi ji, Dhritarashtra as Pt. Nehru, Priya Duryodhani as Indira Gandhi and Karna as Mohammed Ali Jinna. This combining of works as a celebration is what classifies the novel as post-modernist. But why is post-modernism even considered literature?? It’s just an imitation of works; wouldn’t it be equivalent to plagiarism? The novel adopts the plot line of Indian epic Mahabharata and also its characters but Tharoor replaces the names of those characters and important movements with the name of Indian Freedom Struggle. By combining Mahabharata and Indian Freedom Struggle ‘The Great Indian Novel’ qualifies for the category of pastiche making it a post-modernist novel.

 Paranoia believes that there is an ordering system behind chaos of the world. Having no control of what is happening currently. In the novel there are many instances of Paranoia, some people want something done but some don’t, everyone had different views and thus different actions take place which result in Paranoia. The most significant examples are firstly of Pandu’s actions, he goes to Berlin , Singapore and other foreign countries to accumulate military help but fate goes entirely against him and he commits suicide. The second is the partition of India. Mohammed Ali Karna wants a separate country “the party resolved unanimously to accept in principle the partition of the country. It was the first time we had ever gone against the expressed wishes of Ganga ji”. (p.311). Ganga ji who was not in favor of this, died soon after. “And he was gone, and the light as Dhritarashtra was to say, went out of our lives”. (p.327). Does paranoia lead to death? The third is when Yudhishtir is the deputy Prime Minister but Priya Duryodhani does not listen to him and Yudhishtir resigns; “he resigned” (p.493). Later on Duryodhani loses her position as the Prime Minister but soon she comes back to power and we see VV ji dreaming about the journey to afterlife of Pandavas and Draupadi. We see that this chaos that things are just not going your way was what happening in the real world. There were so many people of authority wanting more power and asserting their rule that the result was a chaos. In the process of trying to control everything nobody was able to control anything.

Hyper reality distinguishes reality from a simulation of reality. In this real and fiction are so seamlessly blended together that there’s no clear distinction between the beginning and end of each other. This feature of hyper reality perfectly describes the novel; the epic and the freedom struggle which are as real as they are fiction are blended into each other. The fact that the narrator calls the text a story indicates that it can be real as well as unreal. The truth validity of Mahabharata is also in doubts so we know that the text is definitely a combination of fiction/ real or real/real. But is the freedom struggle real? Is the inside information that we get real? It is Tharoor who is writing and he is someone with a position and perspective both. So is the text hyper real or the imagination of Tharoor? Isn’t the text a product of imagination? If it is it must be biased and if it is biased it can’t be completely real. So is the text entirely fictitious?

Fragmentation is quite popular as a feature; it was in Romanticism, Gothicism, and modernism and even stuck to post- modernism. The difference however is that Post- Modernists’ play with the idea of fragmentation and others only mourned in that way. To post-modernists the fragmentation is a tool they use to explore the chaos of the world. Is there fragmentation in the novel? Well the novel moves from theme to theme and character to character telling us the story but in between VV ji or the narrator tells Ganapathi that he forgot to tell about a certain character. He gets so engrossed in the character and what’s happening that he completely forgets about a character, he talked in the past. But is this even fragmentation? If we look at the literal meaning it means a break in the text or narrative, basically a non-linear narrative. The text is surely linear, it moves from what happened first then second and so on. But there are many breaks in the narrative. “Let us leave them there for a minute, Ganapathi and take a quick look at others” (p.205), “I can take story from here” (p.408) are some examples. The dreams that VV ji sees are also an element of fragmentation and magic realism since it takes us away from the reality. There are supernatural elements in the story which otherwise in the real epic were quite a part of the text. The dreams of ‘disrobing of Draupadi’ (p.551), ‘Arjun meeting Lord Shiva’ (p.577) and the ‘path to salvation of Pandavas with Draupadi’ (p.604-607) are all in the text to explore the features of fragmentation and magic realism.

Satire is used by Tharoor to ridicule the human or individual voices, follies, abuses and short comings. The purpose of satire is to show what the author disapproves of. But can satire tell us about morality since the author only satirizes of which he personally disapproves of. In book sixth ‘Forbidden fruit’, Dhritarashtra becomes the head of Kaurava party and Pandu deprived of his positions leaves the party. Ganga ji starts the Mango March (allusion to salt march) and dies in the middle before any of the major conflicts with national political parties starts. Mohammed Ali Karna wants a separate nation, Karnistan (Pakistan). In book eleven ‘Renunciation- or, the bed of arrows’ Tharoor tries to tell the trauma of partition by giving a clear picture of how the land was divided. “Congratulations, Mr. Nicholas! ...you have just succeeded in putting your international border through middle of the market, giving the rice fields to Karnistan and warehouses to India. Largest pig farm in Zilla to Islamic state and the Madrasah of the holy prophet to the country the Muslims are leaving…the schoolmaster will require a passport to go to the loo between classes.” (p.313).

Post modernism feminist strives for equality of all genders. It fights for race and sexuality as well as on the basis of gender post-modernist feminism thinks not just about white but any woman in need. The women bond not because of a victimhood but they focus on survival and health. Women work in a progressive way in this movement. Mary Joe Frug says that “sex is not something natural, nor is it something completely determinate and deniable. Sex is a part of a system of meaning, produced by language”. There are few female characters compared to all the males, Satyavati, Kunti, Madri, Sarah- Behn, Duryodhani, Draupadi and Subhadara. Only Duryodhani’s character challenges the norms of Ganga ji and his kind of politics. Is Tharoor uplifting women? Or because Duryodhani was a male in the original epic that he makes his character very empowering? Is he then making all other women seem inferior? Draupadi was a very fiery and majestic character in Mahabharata but here we see her fate depends on what her husbands and Priya Duryodhani do. In book sixteenth ‘the Bungle book- or, The Reign of Terror’, D.Mokrasi is seen having ill-effect on her health and finally “and Draupadi Mokrasi was diagnosed as asthmatic, her breath coming sometimes in short gasps, the dead air trapped in her bronchia struggling to expel itself, her chest heaving with the effort to breathe freely…”(p.507). The women characters have one or many incidents where they are sexually exposed. Kunti and Madri have affairs with other men to produce sons. Madri dies while indulging in a sexual act with Pandu, “she was gasping, ‘oh, yeth! Harder! Harder!’”. Sarah Behn becomes a victim to the self- control of Ganga ji. “Sarah Behn will sleep in my room from now on- and in my bed” (p.318). Draupadi is also unclad and robbed of her clothed in front of an assembly of men, “Draupadi’s breasts swung tantalizingly in and out of view as she turned and the sari continued to unravel and faces leapt off the walls to look at her in my dream”. (p.552). only Duryodhani is spared from any sexual contact. Why? Because she takes on the role of a man- a prime minister? Why was Duryodhani not commodified? Does Tharoor introduce equality of gender through this? Is he a good feminist or a bad one? Is he even a feminist? Or is he a misogynist?  He strips woman off of their clothes and presents them as some sort of sexual relief in the novel. Women in the novel are not represented as they were in the original epic, no one comes to take revenge for them neither do they speak up for themselves. Tharoor compares the dressing style of an Indian and Western woman. He says Indian Sari is better than western clothes, “if she had been wearing the skirts or dresses or even the trousers of western democratic woman, she might have been far more easily disrobed”. (p.557). like woman are deified as goddesses in India, Draupadi is equaled to Democracy. The reader doesn’t see Draupadi as a person but as a thing, a way to govern a nation. She does not have an identity but becomes a way to give identity to others around her.

Metafiction signals that a text emphasizes itself as a text. The text is aware that it’s a fiction. Post- modernism doesn’t hide what it actually is, it is self-aware. In metafiction attention is called to the process of writing and reading. This novel however falls into the category of Historiographic metafiction which basically means that a fictional text is mixed with history. History is not seen as a fact but it is put with fictional things. In this novel there are many instances when the narrator VV ji tells the reader that he is telling a story. He does so by incorporating his role in the novel and by indulging in talks with Ganapathi. The most prominent example of this is the ending of the novel, “I see the look of dismay on your face. I am sorry Ganapathi I shall have a word with my friend Brahm tomorrow. In the meantime let us begin again”. (p.607). The novel starts with the narrator asking for a writer to write the text. Throughout the novel we hear hi converse with Ganapathi explaining him what happened and how he should not judge, other times he weaves a story in a story through his dreams.

The most important feature of post modernism is intertexuality. Intertexuality is connection between texts and the author does so by quotes and direct references. It means when we read the text two relationships are formed, first between us and author and second between text and other text. The relation of one text with other text is known as intertexuality. The text is not in isolation but relates to other works of literature. But why does it do so? For fun? Post modernists made so many references because they wanted to show that individuals are not isolated creatures. Roland Barthes said that post modernism is a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. With so many references, is the author in control of the text? The challenging of conventional norms of structure of novel and the act of narration is also a feature of intertexuality known as fabulation. Tharoor comments on the use of language “if every Australian novelist had to set down the speech of his character to approximate the sounds they made rather than the words they spoke do you think there would a single readable Australian novel in the world?”. He then throws some big names of Tolstoy, Ruskin and Buddha at the reader along with Saint Joan. Madri compares herself with Helen of Troy “do you think I’m some thameleth Helen of Troy to trot off another man’th threed?” (p.260). He also talks about Virgil “Don’t worry about a thing, as Virgil put it, “expert credite”” and Horace “nescit vox missa reverti” (p.282). In between VV ji the narrator reminds the characters that they should have studied their Epics, “study your epics, young man” (p.274). Which Epic does he refer to? Mahabharata is also an epic so if the characters know Mahabharata then don’t they know what is happening? They should be aware of how destiny or Karma will affect their lives.  The narrator makes references to Puranas and Vedas (451, 469), so if the people have read the Mahabharata then they should know that they are one of the characters from the grand epic. Are they unaware of the story or simply choose to ignore it? There is a mention of Kama sutra in the novel, “to most foreigners who know nothing of India, the one Indian book they know anything about is Kamasutra. To them it is the great Indian novel” (p.595). Why is the Kama sutra seen as something taboo? The ancient people saw sex as a very natural process which existed among all other things. Human mind is concerned about money and survival only; sexual act is something which emerges from the need for survival. Why does Tharoor make the nakedness of body and sexual acts so eroticized? He shows them like he is transgressing by writing something like this. Why can sex never be accepted as something which is natural as hell? It will always have a prejudice clinging to it. Tharoor compares Priya Duryodhani to Joan of Arc (p.603) because she emerges as a savior of India. There are references to Ramayana, Gospel (p.572), Spenser (p.380) and Rudyard Kipling as well. Shashi Tharoor does not wish to make the text isolated and thus gives us many references to other texts which make this text highly Post- Modernist.

‘The Great Indian Novel’ which translates as Maha- Bharata is a Post-modernist novel according to theme of intertexuality, metafiction, fabulation, pastiche, paranoia, satire, feminism, late capitalism, and hyper reality. Tharoor smartly puts in the Indian freedom struggle in the ancient epic Mahabharata and creates a fantastic fictional text.

WORKS CITED

Abrams, M.H. ‘A Glossary of Literary Terms’. Cengage Learning. 2014. Print.

Jameson, Fredrick. ‘Post-Modernism and Cultural logic of late capitalism’. Rawat publications. 2012. Print.

Tharoor, Shashi. ‘The Great Indian Novel’. Penguin random house India. 2014. Print.

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

Please like, comment and share. Your valuable suggestions are always welcome. Happy readingJ

Q. Asses the role the woman, the boy and girl play in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi.

Q. Asses the role the woman, the boy and girl play in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi.

The play deals with Mau-Mau liberation movement and the people who are a part of the movement. The realistic narrative allows the reader to relate to the characters of woman, girl, boy and Dedan Kimathi. The girl and boy mature in front of the readers and become fellow comrade to the woman; the woman is the motherly figure who guides the younger generation towards a new motive to freedom. The subplot helps contribute to the plot of trial of Dedan Kimathi as these characters are a catalyst to the freedom liberation movement. The woman, boy and girl are the chorus in Greek plays and in the end they emerge as the hero along with Dedan Kimathi.

Women were the victims because they were targeted and often seen as prostitutes. The historians did not document any women nationalists; the movement was male oriented. However in this play there is emphasis on women participation to tell the viewers that women worked with as much devotion to their cause as the men were. Women were actively engaged in the freedom struggle and the nameless woman of the play plants the seeds of rebellion, she prepares the younger generation so they can help in the liberation struggle. Why is the woman not given a name? Is it because of the subordination of women? The woman represents all the woman of Kenya and not having an identity is symbolic of the major contribution of woman of Kenya in the struggle for freedom. The woman is fiery and fierce; she is not submissive like the pre-colonial women characters.

We are introduced to the woman when she is dealing with the white soldier Johnie. The officer sees woman as a sexual object, he says “nice legs, eh? Nice pretty face, eh” while talking to her. The woman does not carry passbook which is an act of defiance and protest. Because of the voyeuristic activity of the officer, she becomes an object of male gaze and the image becomes a Petrarchan image. The woman is rather clever as she manages to save the “rather heavy bread” from the officer. The woman seems a threat to the colonial power but she is actually on the mission to rescue the real hero of African anti-colonial movement Dedan Kimathi. Why is Dedan Kimathi the real hero? In the play all the dramatic action is initiated by the woman and Dedan Kimathi is only a verbal hero, so why is Kimathi the only hero? Dilip K. Basu says that “there is presence of motherly figure in form of woman in the play. The gun hidden in bread is a parallel to Maxim Gorky’s novel ‘Mother’ where the mother hides pamphlets in foodstuff. The woman character is an example of women’s great contribution to the Mau-Mau struggle. Real life woman Wanjiru Wa Waichanguru inspired the creation of woman character.

The woman then comes across a boy chasing a girl. Reena Mitra in her essay says in the end the woman, boy and girl all emerge as heroes along with Kimathi. The woman plays a motherly figure and reprimands the boys and the boy tells her his’ and the girl’s story. This scene tells us how the youth is getting destroyed by the colonizing powers; the children are becoming delinquents roaming like thieves and beggars. The woman laments on the condition of the boy she says “it is the same old story…our people…tearing one another…and all because of the crumbs thrown at them by the exploring foreigners. Our own food eaten and leftovers thrown to us-in our own land where we should have the whole share. We buy wood from our own forests; sweat on our own soil for the profit of our oppressors. Kimathi’s teaching is; drive out the enemy and control your riches, enjoy the fruit of your sweat”. She relates to the boy saying she was like him until she heard “the call”; “the call of our people” the people are the humiliated, injured, insulted, exploited and laboring men and women of Kenya. The boy wishes to work for her but she tells him not to be a slave and gives him the bread which he should hand over to the man selling oranges. Since the man is not traceable, the woman disguises herself. The boy then encounters the girl again. The girl says “I am tired of running”, she tells the boy of how she has been on the run all her life; she ran from school because the headmaster would physically abuse her then when she went to work in tea plantation. The settler Mr. Jones would abuse and punish us. She lost her virginity while running away. The girl gives us a realistic view of how corrupted the country has become that a girl is rapped and molested in her own birth place, she now takes a stand tired of running. She says she will not run anymore “a girl cannot run, run all her life”.

The boy is ashamed of ill-treating the girl and in the midst of their fight the gun in the bread falls down, the boy curses the woman but it’s the girl who uses her mind comforts the boy and does not let him got to the police. The boy then remembers the woman’s words that he will become a man the day he will ask himself whether it was right for his father to die. He becomes determined to carry one task. The boy again loses will to carry task but the girl taunts him “is that how to become a man?” She tells him not to lose hope and remember the resolution they made to rescue Kimathi. She says this is the call the woman talked about. The pair comes to jail next morning where they meet the woman disguised as fruit seller. The woman asks the boy and the girl to follow her to a corner where they can talk. It is symbolic as “the woman now represents all the working mothers talking to their children”. When the boy asks her why she had wanted him to carry a gun hidden inside the loaf of bread, she replies:

I thought you told me you were ready for initiation. Son, I told you, you are a man and no longer a child. I shall not accept lies of you; you are a man and no longer a child. I shall not accept less of you. We cannot accept less of our youth…instead of fighting against one another, we who struggle against exploitation and oppression, should give one another strength and faith till victory is ours. United, our strength becomes the faith that moves mountains. She tells them how the plan changed but despite that the task must be completed. The boy and girl become excited to be part of great freedom struggle, they realize the important of rescuing Kimathi.

The woman had earlier cleared doubts of Kimathi like she did now of boy and girl. When Kimathi was reluctant to punish his brother Wambaria and wanted to forgive him, she told him how they all suffered during long freedom struggle. As Wambaria flees Kimathi orders them all to be shot at sight. The woman made Kimathi’s resolve steeled to not forget any traitors. The woman is the backbone of the freedom struggle- mother Kenya, and she wants all her country people to work for the cause. In the court she is taken out after exchanging glances with Kimathi she does not leave silently but breaks into “triumphant singing” of the freedom song.

Finally the boy and girl who have taken over the leadership of freedom struggle sing “a thunderous freedom song” along with a crowd of freedom fighters including the reluctant KAR soldier. All this was inspired by the brave woman and her brave deeds. The woman thus plays a pivotal role in the play; she is source of strength and courage to the masses all doubts are rested by the woman’s actions. She also gets the second line of leadership ready through the boy and the girl.

The narrative focuses on four trials through the three movements, the structural unity is maintained by the woman, the boy and the girl who join hands to rescue Dedan Kimathi and finally occupy the center stage action. Through the girl, boy and woman the play acquires an identity, expression and solidarity. The boy and girl tell the hard life of common people in Kenya. The play is celebration of the unfettered spirit of freedom which is symbolized by Dedan Kimathi and upheld by the boy and girl and the woman awakens the masses so they contribute to the liberation movement.

Works cited

Basu. K. Dilip. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, A Critical Companion. Edited by Dilip k. Basu and Sanjay Kumar. Worldview. 2016

Nagpal, Pratibha. “Dedan Kimathi: A Critical Analysis”. 2016

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

Please like, comment and share. Your valuable suggestions are always welcome. Happy readingJ

DISCUSS THE TITLE OF THE PLAY "THE TRIAL OF DEDAN KIMATHI"

 
                                                   

“The Trial of Dedan Kimathi” is a realist play written by Micere Githae Mugo and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in 1976. The play written in response to colonialist writing shows the divisive mechanizations of the imperialist power. The title of the play highlights key aspects of the play, the trial of Kimathi and the progress of Mau-Mau rebellion movement and its contribution in the freedom of Kenya from imperialism.

Dedan Kimathi was a legendary hero of Mau-Mau liberation movement against British rule in Kenya and their cultural, political and economic aspirations. The mission of Dedan Kimathi is to recover the lost identities of self-respect of Kenya- their proud heritage. He is the hope of freedom in the play and stands as the representative of the Kenyan peasantry and masses. Pratibha Nagpal in her critical analysis says “the play wishes to depict the heroic struggle of the African people. The play is written in three movements that symbolically merge past, present and future. The play opens and ends with the trial of Dedan Kimathi”

The play consists of four trials which are centered on Dedan Kimathi. The first trial is when Dedan Kimathi is captured by British officers and is assured that there will be “fair” trial but it is ironical since the trial is anything but fair towards Dedan Kimathi. The blacks are mimed in the background. The trial will only ensure that the colonizers get their way and keep on ruling, the only purpose of the trial is to torture and tempt Dedan Kimathi into surrendering and revealing names of fellow revolutionists. The four trials are under the second movement which focusses inside the courtroom and on the divide between whites and blacks.

The first trial is an encounter between Shaw Henderson and Dedan Kimathi. He tells him that if he pleads for his life he will be spared. Dedan Kimathi rejects it and names his comrades who have gone to the British’s side. He reaffirms his faith in revolution and promises to have a vision of free Kenya.  In the second trial a delegation of people meet Dedan Kimathi. The banker says economic development in Kenya has taken place because of colonialism. He also stresses that armed resistance ruins economic progress. It becomes visible to the reader that people who build the country will be enslaved while the master will harvest. In the third trial a politician, priest and businessman come to tempt Dedan Kimathi. Dedan Kimathi is caught in the dilemma of pain and fear. He is confused between accepting the master’s offer to save his own life and fulfillment of freedom dreams. This time an African businessman is spokesperson and he says that he was also was part of black man’s dream at one point of time and that Dedan Kimathi has won the war because there is no more racism and color bar in administration, business, public places, loans and acquisition of land. The reader knows that inspite of all this, the natives have not got any political freedom and only regional freedom is given. Dedan Kimathi rejects politicians offer and ridicules him for giving regional freedom when the collaborators are the reason for British’s control on the native land. The priest then says he will Africanize the church but Dedan Kimathi calls him a betrayer of true faith. The priest is removed from native reality; he is equivalent to the settlers and is unworthy of being called child of God.  The fourth trial again includes Shaw Henderson, he asks him to tell the whereabouts of Mathenge. He is brutally beaten and tortured in chamber. Dedan Kimathi is more in pain in mental terms rather than physical pain. He realizes there are traitors among his own people. He knows the will of natives is stronger than his temptations and tortures.

Dilip K Basu in his essay says “in the four trial and two movements, the doings of imperialists and their agents are exposed through speech and action. Kimathi is shown upholding the charge brought against imperialism by injured, exploited and humiliated of the country”. Shaw Henderson becomes both attorney and judge; he turns the table against the enemy. Kimathi is on trial in a sense he has to pass a test; the test is to see whether Kimathi will save Kenya’s freedom. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is actually made to Kenya and Kenyan people. The torture in fourth trial is torture to all the Kenyan people. Play does not allow you to forget the connection between Dedan Kimathi and Kenya. Dedan Kimathi does not die in the play because Kenya’s struggle did not die. The people of streets come to court to make liberation possible.

The trials are spiritual and judicial, real and metaphorical trial also happen. The four trials question the basis of large economic political-social systems with a call to overthrow the whole system. The trial scenes have religious echoes- the trials remind reader of Christ’s temptation in wilderness for forty days by Satan known as Lent. The vision in play is of a better Kenya that’s used to tempt Kimathi but Kimathi saw through imperialist’s intentions. Chidi Amuta says that Dedan Kimathi is not the one on trial but imperialism is. Doings of imperialists are exposed through the agents of imperialism. Trial of Dedan Kimathi is also people’s trial- all workers and peasants are exploited by imperialists. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is indirectly made to the people of Kenya. Torture on Dedan Kimathi is torture inflicted upon the people of Kenya. It brings in focus the point that the people of Kenya are on trial as Dedan Kimathi.

The trial of Dedan Kimathi is contrasted with the trial of Mau-Mau traitors and imperialist soldiers which happens at guerilla camp in Nyandarua forest. Kimathi acts as a judge in the guerilla camp in a trial of traitors and deserters. Weakness of Dedan Kimathi is that he is “too human” sometimes. Everyone gets listened unlike the colonial court. Two images of mother are seen to be in opposition- Kimathi’s mother pulls him backward while the woman propels him into a positive forward thinking. Dedan Kimathi can’t stand Africans killing each other; he will never go against his own comrades.

The key words ‘trial’ and ‘Dedan Kimathi’ in the title of the play are emphasized here. The opening scene is of a trial which is centered on Kimathi. The play is focused on the freedom of Kenya and how Dedan Kimathi is an important part of it. There are many trials in the play which further emphasize on the aptness of the title. There are trials of Dedan Kimathi as the title suggests but imperialism and its agents are equally being questioned in the play. The title of the play rightly fits as the play is about Dedan Kimathi who is being held in court.

 

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

Please like, comment and share. Your valuable suggestions are always welcome. Happy readingJ

  

 

Discuss the title of the play “The Trial of Dedan Kimathi”

 

                                                     

“The Trial of Dedan Kimathi” is a realist play written by Micere Githae Mugo and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in 1976. The play written in response to colonialist writing shows the divisive mechanizations of the imperialist power. The title of the play highlights key aspects of the play, the trial of Kimathi and the progress of Mau-Mau rebellion movement and its contribution in the freedom of Kenya from imperialism.

Dedan Kimathi was a legendary hero of Mau-Mau liberation movement against British rule in Kenya and their cultural, political and economic aspirations. The mission of Dedan Kimathi is to recover the lost identities of self-respect of Kenya- their proud heritage. He is the hope of freedom in the play and stands as the representative of the Kenyan peasantry and masses. Pratibha Nagpal in her critical analysis says “the play wishes to depict the heroic struggle of the African people. The play is written in three movements that symbolically merge past, present and future. The play opens and ends with the trial of Dedan Kimathi”

The play consists of four trials which are centered on Dedan Kimathi. The first trial is when Dedan Kimathi is captured by British officers and is assured that there will be “fair” trial but it is ironical since the trial is anything but fair towards Dedan Kimathi. The blacks are mimed in the background. The trial will only ensure that the colonizers get their way and keep on ruling, the only purpose of the trial is to torture and tempt Dedan Kimathi into surrendering and revealing names of fellow revolutionists. The four trials are under the second movement which focusses inside the courtroom and on the divide between whites and blacks.

The first trial is an encounter between Shaw Henderson and Dedan Kimathi. He tells him that if he pleads for his life he will be spared. Dedan Kimathi rejects it and names his comrades who have gone to the British’s side. He reaffirms his faith in revolution and promises to have a vision of free Kenya.  In the second trial a delegation of people meet Dedan Kimathi. The banker says economic development in Kenya has taken place because of colonialism. He also stresses that armed resistance ruins economic progress. It becomes visible to the reader that people who build the country will be enslaved while the master will harvest. In the third trial a politician, priest and businessman come to tempt Dedan Kimathi. Dedan Kimathi is caught in the dilemma of pain and fear. He is confused between accepting the master’s offer to save his own life and fulfillment of freedom dreams. This time an African businessman is spokesperson and he says that he was also was part of black man’s dream at one point of time and that Dedan Kimathi has won the war because there is no more racism and color bar in administration, business, public places, loans and acquisition of land. The reader knows that inspite of all this, the natives have not got any political freedom and only regional freedom is given. Dedan Kimathi rejects politicians offer and ridicules him for giving regional freedom when the collaborators are the reason for British’s control on the native land. The priest then says he will Africanize the church but Dedan Kimathi calls him a betrayer of true faith. The priest is removed from native reality; he is equivalent to the settlers and is unworthy of being called child of God.  The fourth trial again includes Shaw Henderson, he asks him to tell the whereabouts of Mathenge. He is brutally beaten and tortured in chamber. Dedan Kimathi is more in pain in mental terms rather than physical pain. He realizes there are traitors among his own people. He knows the will of natives is stronger than his temptations and tortures.

Dilip K Basu in his essay says “in the four trial and two movements, the doings of imperialists and their agents are exposed through speech and action. Kimathi is shown upholding the charge brought against imperialism by injured, exploited and humiliated of the country”. Shaw Henderson becomes both attorney and judge; he turns the table against the enemy. Kimathi is on trial in a sense he has to pass a test; the test is to see whether Kimathi will save Kenya’s freedom. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is actually made to Kenya and Kenyan people. The torture in fourth trial is torture to all the Kenyan people. Play does not allow you to forget the connection between Dedan Kimathi and Kenya. Dedan Kimathi does not die in the play because Kenya’s struggle did not die. The people of streets come to court to make liberation possible.

The trials are spiritual and judicial, real and metaphorical trial also happen. The four trials question the basis of large economic political-social systems with a call to overthrow the whole system. The trial scenes have religious echoes- the trials remind reader of Christ’s temptation in wilderness for forty days by Satan known as Lent. The vision in play is of a better Kenya that’s used to tempt Kimathi but Kimathi saw through imperialist’s intentions. Chidi Amuta says that Dedan Kimathi is not the one on trial but imperialism is. Doings of imperialists are exposed through the agents of imperialism. Trial of Dedan Kimathi is also people’s trial- all workers and peasants are exploited by imperialists. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is indirectly made to the people of Kenya. Torture on Dedan Kimathi is torture inflicted upon the people of Kenya. It brings in focus the point that the people of Kenya are on trial as Dedan Kimathi.

The trial of Dedan Kimathi is contrasted with the trial of Mau-Mau traitors and imperialist soldiers which happens at guerilla camp in Nyandarua forest. Kimathi acts as a judge in the guerilla camp in a trial of traitors and deserters. Weakness of Dedan Kimathi is that he is “too human” sometimes. Everyone gets listened unlike the colonial court. Two images of mother are seen to be in opposition- Kimathi’s mother pulls him backward while the woman propels him into a positive forward thinking. Dedan Kimathi can’t stand Africans killing each other; he will never go against his own comrades.

The key words ‘trial’ and ‘Dedan Kimathi’ in the title of the play are emphasized here. The opening scene is of a trial which is centered on Kimathi. The play is focused on the freedom of Kenya and how Dedan Kimathi is an important part of it. There are many trials in the play which further emphasize on the aptness of the title. There are trials of Dedan Kimathi as the title suggests but imperialism and its agents are equally being questioned in the play. The title of the play rightly fits as the play is about Dedan Kimathi who is being held in court.

 

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

Please like, comment and share. Your valuable suggestions are always welcome. Happy readingJ

  

 

Paul's close relationship with his mother has provoked many Freudian and Oedipal readings of the novel. Discuss the validity if this kind of reading

OEDIPUS COMPLEX IN SONS AND LOVERS

‘Sons and Lovers’ by D.H Lawrence is read as a modernist novel to which Oedipus complex can be applied. This psychoanalytic theory is visible at many levels in the novel; in relation to Mrs. Morel and her sons, Miriam and Clara as mother substitute and Baxter as a father substitute. The answer focuses mainly on the relationship between Paul Morel, the protagonist and his mother.

Oedipus complex is a term coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the book ‘Interpretation of Dreams (1899)’. Oedipus was the protagonist of the book “Oedipus Tyrannus” written by Sophocles in 429 BC. King Oedipus driven out of his native land because of prophesy that he will kill his father and marry his mother grows up and unconsciously kills his father and marries the woman who is his mother. In psychoanalytic theory, Oedipus complex refers to the child’s desire for sexual involvement with the opposite sex parents particularly a boy’s erotic attention to his mother. This complex played an important role in psychosexual development. It also leads to a matured sexual identity. According to critics D.H Lawrence’s novel ‘Sons and Lovers’ is an evidence of Oedipus complex but is the mother- son love really oedipal and not out of pure biological love between parent and child.

Freud thinks that the boy child develops feeling of hatred towards father and love towards mother from childhood. The boy then for having taken mother as his own possession regards father as enemy wanting to take his place. Thus this complex is also called ‘Mother Fixation’. Mrs. Morel because of her failed marriage paid all attention to her sons especially Paul since William died at a young age and Paul had an illness. lI Haiyan says ‘because of the strong abnormal maternal love from his mother, Paul has Oedipus complex and so Paul’s life becomes a tragedy’. Is Paul’s relationship with Mr. Morel really oedipal? Does William also have Oedipus complex or does only the mother love the children not the other way around.

If there is Oedipus complex then the root cause of it would be the failed marriage of Mrs. Morel and her love towards her sons. Why does the child hate the father? Because the father establishes prohibition against incest, the mother is deprived of child and child suffers from imaginary castration and since father has the phallus he becomes the rival. Child’s personality is marked by Oedipus complex. According to Lacan if the dissolution of the complex is to take place the child must identify with the father, love for father can’t be avoided as it will allow the son to assume his own masculinity. Doreen Dewart says that Lawrence selected the name Gertrude because of the mother- son relationship between Hamlet and his Mother Gertrude. In Hamlet father is absent and in Paul’s case, the conventional father figure is absent. Hamlet does not want his mother to go his uncle’s bed and Paul realizes that his mother has not had sexual fulfillment. Mrs. Morel because of her disappointment in Mr. Morel finds a husband/ lover substitute first in William then in Paul. She dedicates her life, energy and love on her children. Through them she wishes to improve the financial and social situation of the family which has become miserable in the coal mining neighborhood. But can’t a mother love her sons and be protective of them? Why the relationship is named Oedipus? Oedipus kills the father and has sexual relationship with mother. Yes William and Paul have a hatred for father; they do not want to tell him anything that happens in family, “He was shut out from family affair” (p.64). His role is limited only to a bread earner. They do wish him to die but none of the sons actually have a sexual relationship with the mother. The love that the mother and sons felt was because of social factors and social environment. The relationship between William and Mrs. Morel is defined in the first chapter. William is proud to be seen with his mother because “no other women looked such a lady as she did” (p.41). William is the substitute husband whom Mrs. Morel can’t find in her marriage and the sons are a source of emotional fulfillment for her. William takes his father’s place in mother’s heart. “Already William was a lover to her”. (p.44). Mrs. Morel disapproved of William’s dancing and girlfriends. Can’t a mother disagree with her child’s decision? Is every mother who disapproves of his son’s girlfriend then in love with her son? Aruna Sitesh says “William dies torn between his lady love and mother”.

The psycho sexual development of Paul began in his early age, he would have no peace if the mother was upset he knew how she felt. While sharing space with mother in bronchitis he says “sleep is most perfect…when it is shared with a beloved” (p.64). Every child likes to sleep with their mother because of the protective, loved and comfortable space provided by the mother. Does it make it Oedipal then, just because he called her beloved? Lawrence uses the words like “love token” (p.65), “beloved” (p.64) to make their relationship sound Oedipal but Paul and Mrs. Morel do not have a relationship like the one Oedipus shared with Jocasta. It could be an overtly loved mother- son relationship but critics label it Oedipus complex. Paul and Miriam’s love blooms but because Paul comes home late he feels guilty and Gertrude on the other hand recognizes Miriam as a threat, a rival for Paul’s affection. She makes her dislike clear when Miriam comes for tea, when they sit in the chapel he becomes happy because he finds it “wonderfully sweet and soothing to sit there for hour and a half next to Miriam and near mother, unifying his two loves under the spell of the place of worship” (p.183). But while coming back Paul and Gertrude blame Miriam for their own reasons. Gertrude does not want Miriam to “absorb him”. When Paul says “no, mother I really don’t love her, I talk to her but I want to come home to you” (p.202). it’s as if a husband is assuring his wife of loving her when she is accusing him of infidelity. Why is Paul feeling guilty? Is it because he does not want to enjoy the pleasure his mother does not get? Why does Gertrude say she never “actually had a husband” to her son? Does she want the pleasure and life of a woman who has a husband like Paul? Like Gertrude choose a wrong husband, she does not want her sons to find a bad match and so she gets anxious when they find a girl and have them met with her. Paul always comes to his mother’s defense like any other son would. Paul is at peace whenever he is with Gertrude, he loved his mother best. Paul tries hard to alleviate family poverty. According to Lacan Paul has become Mother’s phallus meaning he is anxious about Mrs. Morel’s lack of sexual fulfillment. When his father is hospitalized he fancies himself as “the man of the house”. Children get excited when a responsibility is entrusted upon them, it’s casually said, take care of house or mother or sister to boys, does it mean every boy is suffering from Oedipus complex? After his break with Miriam Paul is driven towards Clara Dawnes who was introduced by Miriam to him.

The relationship Paul has with Clara and Miriam are not wholesome like he wants. He tries to find a mother substitute in both the women. But don’t we all try to find a mother substitute? In front of Clara the mother looks older, Clara is luxuriant and appears superior to Mrs. Morel. Paul finds age and vitality in Clara which was missing in Mrs. Morel. Earlier he was with Miriam for artistic and spiritual quality which was also lacking in Mrs. Morel. Clara has all the qualities which lack in mother, maybe Paul is looking for a younger version of his mother but because of Oedipus complex he is unable to stay with her. The mother substitute which he tries to find doesn’t appear to be successful as both lack in some quality. Faith Pulin says Lawrence is a ruthless manipulator of women since he tries to show that its women who lack something or the other and not Paul; his only excuse is the Oedipus complex whose truth value is not even proved completely. Paul according to critics is not able to maintain a steady relationship with any women because of his attachment to this mother. Paul also finds a father substitute in Baxter (Clara’s husband). He finds the missing father figure in Baxter; earlier he hated his father and even wished him to die which is an oedipal element but in Baxter he finds a father figure as well as a friend. Like Lacan said the boy has to love the father to overcome the complex, Lawrence provides Paul with a father figure so in the end he is able to kill his mother and overcome the complex.  Baxter and Mr. Morel use the same dialect and Baxter fights with Paul as many times as Mr. Morel did. At the time Paul give an overdose of morphine to Mrs. Morel Paul says “My love…oh my love” (p.410), the shock of seeing the mother dead is expresses in horror and he keeps on calling her “my love” like a lover would. Can’t a son address his mother as “love” when the mother dies? Of course the son would express more love than he ever has. Even at funeral he kisses her in order to wake her up like a fairytale but unfortunately realism sets in and she doesn’t wake up. Paul is first of all in guilt and secondly a very important part of his life has gone, it’s obvious all his emotions would come up on surface. Ashok Celly says the killing was to free himself from the crippling hold of mother. If he wanted to get free he would have got freed after some time, why would he take on the sin of killing his own mother?  Paul finds incomplete mother substitute in Miriam and Clara and a father substitute in Baxter, the reunion of Mr. and Mrs. Morel. We can say Paul overcame his Oedipus complex when his mother died but did he really have the complex?

Is it Oedipus complex or Jocasta complex? Or both? Paul is shown as curious about mother’s sexual life, wants to be in the same cottage as her, man of house, and quotes her with words used by lovers. On the other hand Mrs. Morel makes the children her emotional support, she is anxious of her son’s girlfriends. She desires her son’s as substitute for her husband says Doreen Dewart. Is it not okay for mother and son to love each other without getting labeled as incestuous or sexual? Why is too much emphasis placed on sexual aspect of a relationship rather than its aesthetic aspect? The only Oedipal aspect of the novel is the son’s hatred towards father and finding a father substitute in Baxter. There is no sexual desire in Paul towards mother and calling loving names is not part of sexual behavior, attachment to one’s mother is natural and not a part of Oedipus complex.

WORKS CITED

Celly, Ashok. Sons and Lovers edited by Ashok Celly. Delhi: worldview publications, an imprint of Book Land Publishing Co., 2015.

Doreen, Dewart. Jacques Lacan’s interpretation of the Oedipus comlex and its application to the family dynamics depicted in D.H Lawrence’s sons and lovers.

L.H.Y., Weng, R.Q., and Guo, X.J (2016). Paul Morel’s Oedipus complex in sons and lovers. Studies in literature and language, 13 (1), 2016.

Salgado, Gamini. A preface to D.H Lawrence. (2000)

Sitesh, Aruna. Women in sons and lovers. Sons and Lovers edited by Ashok Celly. Delhi: worldview publications, an imprint of Book Land Publishing Co., 2015.

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

Please like, comment and share. Your valuable suggestions are always welcome. Happy readingJ

Notes and summary of Renaissance self-fashioning

 

Renaissance self-fashioning

Before beginning lets understand some important terms

1-          New historicism- it was coined in 1980s by Stephen Greenblatt and is a form of literary theory. It means to understand intellectual history through literature and recovering lost histories. It includes paying close attention to historical context of literary works. New historicists see power as class related extending through society.

2-     New criticism- it was coined in 19^th century by John Crow Ransom and was a formalist movement.  It dominated American literary criticism in mid-20^th century. It puts emphasis on close reading to discover how literature functioned as self- contained, self-referential aesthetic object. It forgets about the author and focusses only on text. It studies how literature affects us intellectually and emotionally, before this it was all about history.

3-    Utopia- it was coined by Thomas more in 1516. It describes non-existent society. It is about an imagined community where government laws and social conditions are perfect.

4-     Intentional fallacy- fallacy of basing an assessment of a work on author’s intention rather than on one’s response to actual work.

5-     Affective fallacy- refers to the supposed error of judging or evaluating a text on the basis of emotional effect on a reader. It is an attack on impressionistic criticism.

Stephen Greenblatt belonged to the school of new historicism. The subject is ‘self- fashioning from More to Shakespeare – starting point 16^th century England. He talks about six main figures Wyatt, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spencer, More and Tyndale

There was less autonomy in self –fashioning in 16^th century; family, state, religion imposed discipline on middle and aristocratic families. The major issue is of power; power to impose a shape upon oneself and to control identity of others.

Perception is central- it’s old in academic writing and in early modern period there is a change in intellectual, social, psychological and aesthetic structures which govern the identity. This change is resolutely dialectical hence difficult to characterize.

In 16^th century there was an increased self- consciousness about fashioning of human identity as manipulable artful process. This self- consciousness was widespread among elites but Christianity brought suspicion of man’s power to shape identity.

In 1539 Spencer says ‘fashioned’ means to “fashion a gentleman”. Fashion does not occur in Chaucer’s poetry.

Fashion- 1-Action or process of making

                2- Particular features or appearance

                3- Distinct style of pattern

                4- Designating the forming of a self

Fashioning may suggest the achievement of a less tangible shape, distinctive personality, characteristic address to the world, consistent mode of perceiving and behaving. Recurrent model for fashioning is Christ.  Separation from imitation of Christ leads to anxiety thus self -fashioning acquires a new range of meaning, it describes practice of parents and teachers, linked to manners or demeanor (of elite) can suggest hypocrisy or deception. Representation of one’s nature or intention is in speech or actions.

Interest of self-fashioning- it functions without distinction between literature and social life

What self-fashioning does?

1-          Crosses boundaries between literary characters

2-     Shapes one’s identity

3-    Experience of being modeled by forces outside one’s control

4-     Attempt to fashion other selves

We begin to lose meaning in culture by differentiating between literary and behavioral style.

Geertz meaning of culture- set of control mechanisms- plans, recipes, rules, instructions for governing behavior. Greenblatt counts it as a virtue; older historicism talked about every kind of knowledge is historically constructed.

“I”- it is not I of an individual; it is the individual who questions and is everything (social and political). It shows a specific form of power (church, state, patriarch etc.)

There are very small amount of people who promise to access to larger cultural patterns. There is a will to be culture’s voice among artists; they wish to create the abstract and brief chronicles of all time. In early 16^th century art didn’t pretend to be autonomous, the written word is self-consciously embedded in specific communities, life- situations and structures of power. We don’t have access to figures of shared culture, we have to access to the writings of dead and speech of the contemporary.

All these famous men like Shakespeare, Spencer, and Marlowe came into a social sphere where they could be in contact with the powerful and great. All knew people with no power, status or education. They could not be mobile in sociological sense but they had geographical and ideological mobility.

The six writers- Wyatt, Tyndale, Spencer, Marlowe, More and Shakespeare are displaced. They are not from a stable, inherited social world but they all have something powerful and influential form of renaissance self- fashioning. Aspects are still difficult.

1-Conflict between More and Tyndale is Wyatt.

2-Conflict between Spencer and Marlowe is Shakespeare

Wyatt’s self-fashioning is affected by the conflict between More and Tyndale. Shakespeare does not resolve the moral conflict. Still his theatre was influenced by both Spencer and Marlowe.

Wyatt and Shakespeare express the historical pressure of an unresolved and continuing conflict. Issues at theological level in work of More and Tyndale are recaptured at secular level in Spencer and Marlowe’s works. While Shakespeare works with male sexual anxieties, betrayal, and aggression in Othello. Complexity in one’s own torment was voiced in Wyatt’s lyrics.

Direction in relation to power-

1-          1^st  Triad- shift from church to book to absolutist state

2-     2^nd Triad- shift from celebration to rebellion to subversive submission

We can assume a direction enacted by works of literature in relation to society: shift from absorption by community, religious faith or diplomacy towards establishment of literary creation as a profession. Such approximate and scheming chartings are of limited value. The closer we go to these figures they seem less convenient counters in historical scheme.

No single “history of self” was there in the 16^th century except when complex and creative beings were to be reduced to safe and controllable order.

A set of governing conditions common to most instances of self- fashioning are-

1.               No figure has a title, ancient family tradition or hierarchical status that would have fired identity in particular class.

2.          For these figures self-fashioning is submitting to an absolute power or authority like God, sacred book, court, church etc. Marlowe was an exception.

3.         Self-fashioning is achieved in relation to something perceived as alien or strange. This strange must be discovered and destroyed.

4.          The alien is something unformed or chaotic or that which is false or negative. The chaotic slides into demonic and thus it’s constructed as a distorted image of authority.

5.          One man’s authority is another man’s alien.

6.          When one authority or alien is destroyed, another takes its place.

7.           There is always more than one authority and more than one alien in existence at a given time.

8.          If both the authority and the alien are located outside the self, they are at the same time experienced as inward necessities, so that both submission and destruction are always already internalized.

9.          Self- fashioning is always, though not exclusively, in language.

10. The power generated to attack the alien in the name of authority is produced in excess and threatens the authority it sets out to defend.

Hence self-fashioning involves threat, some wiping out or loss of self

Self-fashioning occurs at the point of encounter between authority and alien. Any achieved identity always contains within itself signs of its own loss.

Deepali Yadav

Contact me @ deepaliyadav2896@gmail.com

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