Activity task - Macbeth

 Macbeth 

Hello everyone..my self Asha Rathod I'm studying in department of English (M.A)mkbu University....I'm going to complete task about Macbeth which was written by William Shakespeare... it's task given by dilip barad sir...

Multiple-Choice Quesions (MCQs): 

1.  What is the genre of Shakespeare's play "Macbeth"? 

a) Comedy

 b) Tragedy 

c) Romance 

d) History 

2.Which of the following best describes Macbeth's tragic flaw?

 a) Ambition

 b) Kindness

 c) Honesty 

d) Patience 

 3.The witches' prophecies play a significant role in Macbeth's downfall. What is the primary theme associated with these prophecies?

 a) Love

 b) Power 

c) Justice

 d) Friendship 

4. Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene is a turning point in the play. What emotion is she struggling with during this scene?

 a) Joy 

b) Fear

 c) Guilt 

d) Anger

Open-ended short questions:

1. Describe the symbolic significance of the opening scenes in Act I & IV involving the three witches in the play "Macbeth."

Answer:-In Act I of "Macbeth," the opening scene with the three witches establishes an atmosphere of darkness and foreboding. Their presence symbolizes supernatural forces at play and foreshadows the disruptive influence they'll have on the events of the play. In Act IV, their gathering at the heath represents the culmination of their malevolent power, suggesting the impending chaos and downfall of Macbeth. Their appearance at both points reinforces the theme of fate and free will, as Macbeth's choices are influenced by their prophecies, ultimately leading to his tragic downfall.

2. How does Macbeth's ambition lead to his moral deterioration throughout the play? Provide examples from the play to support your answer. 

Answer:-Macbeth's ambition is a central theme in the play, and it is his unchecked desire for power and status that drives his moral deterioration. At the start, he is a loyal and respected general, but his encounter with the witches' prophecies sparks his ambition. As he rises to power, his actions become increasingly ruthless.

For instance, after being named Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to contemplate murdering King Duncan to fulfill the prophecy of becoming king himself. His inner struggle is evident when he says, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other."

As the play progresses, Macbeth's ambition leads him to commit even more heinous acts, including ordering the murder of his friend Banquo and attempting to kill Banquo's son, Fleance, in order to secure his throne. He becomes consumed by paranoia and guilt, seeing Banquo's ghost at a feast and being haunted by his own actions.

His ambitious nature drives him to consult the witches again, which ultimately leads him to his downfall. The witches' prophecies and his own desire for power blind him to the moral consequences of his actions. His ambition eventually leads him to his demise as he becomes increasingly isolated, losing the loyalty of his allies and facing rebellion.

In summary, Macbeth's ambition, initially fueled by the witches' prophecies, causes him to prioritize personal gain over morality, leading him down a path of moral deterioration as he commits murder and betrayal in his pursuit of power

 3. In what ways does the motif of ‘blood’ serve as a symbol in "Macbeth"? Explain its significance in relation to guilt and violence. (‘Blood’ is mentioned around 40 times in the play)

Answer:-The motif of 'blood' in "Macbeth" is a powerful symbol. It represents guilt and violence. As characters commit crimes, they feel guilt, and this guilt is likened to bloodstains that can't be washed away. For instance, after Macbeth murders Duncan, he says, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" Here, blood represents the unshakable guilt he feels. Additionally, Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene shows her obsessively trying to wash imaginary bloodstains, revealing her guilt and mental anguish. Overall, 'blood' symbolizes the inescapable consequences of violence and the haunting nature of guilt throughout the play.

 4. Discuss the impact of the supernatural elements, such as the witches and prophecies, on the plot and characters of "Macbeth."  

Answer:-The supernatural elements in "Macbeth," like the witches and prophecies, play a significant role in shaping both the plot and characters. The witches' prophecies trigger Macbeth's ambition, leading him to commit heinous acts to fulfill his desires. These prophecies influence his decisions, resulting in a tragic downfall. Lady Macbeth is also impacted, as her ambition and guilt are heightened by supernatural elements. The witches symbolize the theme of fate versus free will, adding complexity to characters' choices. The supernatural adds an eerie atmosphere and emphasizes the characters' moral struggles, driving the narrative's progression.

5.Compare and contrast the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. How do their personalities and motivations contribute to the unfolding of the tragedy?

Answer:-Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are central characters in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth." While both are driven by ambition, their personalities and motivations differ significantly. Macbeth starts as a brave and loyal soldier, but his ambition and susceptibility to manipulation lead him down a path of ruthless ambition and guilt. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is initially ambitious and manipulative, but her guilt and remorse eventually consume her.

Macbeth's ambition and desire for power are ignited by the prophecies of the witches and the encouragement of Lady Macbeth. His tragic flaw is his unchecked ambition, which drives him to commit heinous acts to achieve his goals. As the play progresses, his guilt and paranoia grow, causing him to make increasingly irrational decisions. His personality shift from a loyal soldier to a power-hungry tyrant is a driving force behind the tragedy.

Lady Macbeth, ambitious and power-hungry from the start, plays a pivotal role in goading Macbeth into action. Her strength and manipulation drive him to murder King Duncan. However, her own guilt and remorse lead to her mental deterioration. Unlike Macbeth, her character experiences a reversal from ruthless determination to fragility, which contributes to the unfolding tragedy by highlighting the psychological toll of their actions.

In essence, both characters' personalities and motivations fuel the tragedy. Macbeth's unchecked ambition and Lady Macbeth's manipulation create a toxic combination that sets them on a destructive path. Their inner struggles, guilt, and eventual downfall demonstrate the consequences of unchecked ambition and moral decay, making their characters integral to the tragic narrative.

Thank you 😊🙏🏻

The Neoclassical age

 Thinking activity ✍🏻 

Hello everyone my self Asha Rathod I'm studying m.a in department of English mkbu University of I'm going to present thinking activity about the Neoclassical age which studing in our syllabus... it's work given by our professor vaidehi hariyani ma'am..

1.Compare the general characteristics of the Elizabethan age and Neoclassical age.

•  First of all let's look at the general characteristics of neoclassical age:

It was marked by a strong national spirit, by patriotism, by religious tolerance, by social content, by intellectual progress & by unbounded enthusiasm. Such an age of thought, feeling & vigorous action, finds its best expression in the drama; & the wonderful development of the drama, culminating.

• Then look at on Elizabethan age's characteristics...

Elizabethan age was remarkable for its religious tolerance, strong national spirit, patriotism, social content, intellectual progress & unbounded enthusiasm. Incredible thoughts, feelings & vigorous actions were the pillar of this age

2.Who is your favorite writer and the favorite text from the Neoclassical Age?How is he/she different from the writers of Elizabethan Age and Romantic Age?

My favourite writers is 

Robert Burns (Scottish poet and lyricist):-

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. 

Robert Burns was born on 25 January 1795 in Allowy, Ayrshire, Scotland and died on 21st July 1796 in Dumfries, United Kingdom. He is aslo know as Rabbie Burns. He was Scottish poet, lyricist, farmer and excise-man. He is extensively considered as a national poet of Scotland. He also contributed in romantic moment. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement.

Burns house in alloway 

Burns was born two miles (3 km) south of Ayr, in Alloway, the eldest of the seven children of William Burnes (1721–1784)and Agnes Broun (1732–1820). Burns father was a farmer.He had little regular schooling and got much of his education from his father, who taught his children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history. John Murdoch thaught him Latin, French and Mathematics. By the age of 15, Burns was the principal labourer at Mount Oliphant. 

✨his Life

He married Jean Armour and had 12 Childrens. During his lifetime he struggled very much but this struggle gave him so many inspiration to make this beautiful poems that stole our hearts after reading and understanding it. Throughout his life time he wrote over 550 poems and songs and also known for this wild writing. Here are some famous and notable works of him:-

• A Red, Red Rose
• To a Mouse
• To a Louse
• Tam O' Shanter
• Comin' Thro' the Rye
• Halloween 
• To a Mountain Daisy
• Holly Willie's Prayer
• The Slaves Lament
• Why should we idly waste our prime

My favourite work is the poem ( O my luv's like a red, red rose) which was written by my favourite author Robert burn..

A Red, Red Rose

BY ROBERT BURNS

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

   That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

   That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

   So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

   Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

   And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

   While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

   And fare thee weel awhile!

And I will come again, my luve,

   Though it were ten thousand mile.

4. Describe any one thing about this age which you look upto. 

Neoclassical literature was written between 1660 and 1798. This time period is broken down into three parts: the Restoration period, the Augustan period, and the Age of Johnson. Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks.

• The age is known as classical age or age of reason.
• Neoclassical literature is characterised by order, accuracy and structure.

• It's a period of enlightenment.

• Literature of the age is concerned with human nature, supremacy of reason.

• Unity in the works of all writers

• The age wished to understand not to imagine

Welcome in literature zone

Thank you for visiting

Happy learning ✨

Thinking activity king lear

The tragedy of king lear 

Hello everyone I'm Asha Rathod I'm going to discribe about king lear which was I studied in B.A programm....

King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane and a proscribed crux of political machinations. 

Characters:

           Cordelia,  Goneril,  Edmund, Regan, Lear, Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Kent, king of France, curan, Duke of Cornwall's servant , old man, Edgar, Duke of burgundy , Duke of albany , 

Playwright: William Shakespeare

First performance: 26 December 1606

• Plot summary of King Lear

King Lear is a tragedy based on the chronicle history of a pre-Roman, Celtic king of Britain. In Shakespeare's play, Lear, intending to retire, stages a love test for his three daughters: he will portion his kingdom between them as dowries according to how much they profess to love him.

King Lear, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written in 1605–06 and published in a quarto edition in 1608, evidently based on Shakespeare’s unrevised working papers. The text of the First Folio of 1623 often differs markedly from the quarto text and seemingly represents a theatrical revision done by the author with some cuts designed for shortened performance.

✨ tragic hero 

King Lear is a tragic hero. He behaves rashly and irresponsibly at the start of the play. He is blind and unfair as a father and as a ruler. He desires all the trappings of power without the responsibility which is why the passive and forgiving Cordelia is the perfect choice for a successor.

✨Themes 

• Power
• Justice
• Nihilism
• Self-knowledge
• Old Age
• Blindness and Insight

✨Motifs 

• Betrayal
• Death
• Madness 

• Hamartia 

king Lear's hamartia (tragic flaw) is his arrogance and excessive pride. King Lear's tragic flaw of arrogance is what causes him to lose his daughter Cordelia (the one who truly loves him). Because of Lear's pride, he disowns Cordelia and loses his most faithful servant, Kent.

The moral of a story is the lesson that story teaches about how to behave in the world. Moral comes from the Latin word mores, for habits. The moral of a story is supposed to teach you how to be a better person.

Thank you so much 😊

Gothic novelist (p b shelley and merry shelley)

 ROMANTIC  AGE 

Gothic novelist:

there are many gothic novelist but i want to discribe about P B SHELLEY and MARY SHELLEY- FRANKENSTEIN(1818)

So let's introduction of p b shelley ......

👉P B SHELLEY

BORN: 4 August 1792, Warnham, United Kingdom

DIED: 8 July 1822, Lerici, Italy

Children: Sir Percy Shelley, 3rd Baronet, William Shelley, Clara Everina Shelley

Period: Romanticism

Occupation:  Poet, dramatist, essayist. Gothic novelist.

Spouse: Mary Shelley

Gothic – The Life and Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley

On July 8 1822 the great English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned near the Italian coast. He was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron. And actually he was married with novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of the famous ‘Frankenstein

“When the lamp is shattered

The light in the dust lies dead —

When the cloud is scattered,

The rainbow’s glory is shed.”

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, When the Lamp is Shattered (1822)

Shelley is perhaps best known for classic poems such as "Ozymandias", "Ode to the West Wind", "To a Skylark", "Music, When Soft Voices Die", "The Cloud", and "The Masque of Anarchy".

👉Mary Shelley -frankenstain

Author:Mary Shelley 

Country:United Kingdom

Language:English

Genre:gothic novel, literary fiction, horror fiction, science fiction[1]

Set in:England, Ireland, Italy, France, Scotland, Switzerland, Russia, Germany; late 18th century

Published:1 January 1818; 205 years ago

Novels:She wrote several other novels, including Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826), The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck (1830), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837), and a travel book, History of a Six Weeks' Tour (1817).

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelkey (30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction.[2] She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.

🍂 Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a 1994 science fiction horror film directed by Kenneth Branagh who also stars as Victor Frankenstein, with Robert De Niro portraying Frankenstein's monster (called The Creation in the film), and co-stars Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Holm, John Cleese, Richard Briers and Aidan Quinn. Considered the most faithful film adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, despite several differences and additions in plot from the novel, the film follows a medical student named Victor Frankenstein who creates new life in the form of a monster composed of various corpses' body parts.

In 1794, Captain Walton leads a troubled expedition to reach the North Pole. While their ship is trapped in the ice of the Arctic Sea, the crew hears a frightening noise and witnesses a mysterious figure killing their sled dogs before vanishing. The crew rescues a man, Victor Frankenstein, who had fallen in the Arctic waters. When Walton tells Victor of his determination to continue the expedition, Victor replies, "Do you share my madness?" He proceeds to tell Walton and the crew his life story, presented in flashback.

Victor grows up in Geneva with his adopted sister, Elizabeth Lavenza, the love of his life. Before he leaves for the University of Ingolstadt, Victor's mother dies giving birth to his brother William. Devastated by her loss, Victor vows on his mother's grave that he will find a way to conquer death. Victor and his friend Henry Clerval study under Shmael Augustus Waldman, a professor whose notes contain information on how to create life; Waldman warns Victor not to use them, lest he create an "abomination".

While performing vaccinations, Waldman is murdered by a patient, who is later hanged in the village square. Using the killer's body, a leg from a fellow student who died of cholera, and Waldman's brain, Victor builds a creature based on the professor's notes. He is so obsessed with his work that he drives Elizabeth away when she comes to take him away from Ingolstadt, which is being quarantined amid a cholera epidemic. Victor finally gives his creation life, but he is horrified by the creature's hideous appearance and tries to kill him. Frightened and confused, the creature steals Victor's coat and flees the laboratory, and is later driven away by the townspeople when he tries to steal food.

The creature finds shelter in a family's barn and stays there for months without their knowledge, gradually learning to read and speak by watching them. He attempts to earn their trust by anonymously bringing them food, and eventually converses with the elderly, blind patriarch after murdering an abusive debt collector. When the blind man's family returns, however, they are terrified of the creature and chase him away. The creature finds Victor's journal in his coat and learns of the circumstances of his creation. Upon returning to the farmhouse, he discovers the family has abandoned it, leaving him all alone once again. He burns down the farm and vows revenge on Victor for bringing him into a world that hates him.

Victor returns to Geneva to marry Elizabeth, only to find that his younger brother William has been murdered. The Frankensteins' servant Justine is blamed for the crime and hanged, but Victor knows the creature is responsible. The creature abducts Victor and demands that he make a female companion for him, promising to leave his creator in peace in return. Victor begins gathering the tools he used to create life, but when the creature insists that he use Justine's body to make the companion, a disgusted Victor breaks his promise. The creature exacts his revenge on Victor's wedding night by breaking into Elizabeth's bridal suite and ripping her heart out.

Desperate with grief, Victor races home to bring Elizabeth back to life. He stitches Elizabeth's head onto Justine's body and reanimates her as a disfigured, mindless shadow of her former self. The creature appears, demanding Elizabeth as his bride. Victor and the creature fight for Elizabeth's affections, but Elizabeth, horrified by her own reflection, commits suicide by setting herself on fire. Both Victor and the creature escape as the mansion burns down.

The story returns to the Arctic. Victor tells Walton that he has been pursuing his creation for months to kill him. Soon after relating his story, Victor dies of pneumonia. Walton discovers the creature weeping over Victor's body, having lost the only family he has ever known. The crew prepares a funeral pyre, but the ceremony is interrupted when the ice around the ship cracks. Walton invites the creature to stay with the ship, but the creature insists on remaining with the pyre. He takes the torch and burns himself alive with Victor's body. Walton, having seen the consequences of Victor's obsession, orders the ship to return home.

Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. He is a Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy) who, after studying chemical processes and the decay of living things, gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature (often referred to as Frankenstein's monster, or often colloquially referred to as simply "Frankenstein"). Victor later regrets meddling with nature through his creation, as he inadvertently endangers his own life and the lives of his family and friends when the creature seeks revenge against him. He is first introduced in the novel when he is seeking to catch the monster near the North Pole and is saved from near death by Robert Walton and his crew.

Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by 17th-century alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel. Certainly, the author and people in her environment were aware of the experiment on electricity and dead tissues by Luigi Galvani and his nephew Antonio Aldini and the work of Alessandro Volta at the University of Pavia.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏻😊

comparative analysis of Chaucer, Spencer and Shakespeare as Poets

Hello everyone, my self Asha Rathod I'm going writing about  comparative analysis of chaucer, Spenser and Shakespeare as a poets this work is given by dilip barad sir ..

Let's discribe introduction about Geoffrey chaucer, Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare..

• Geoffrey chaucer 

Biography :Geoffrey Chaucer, (born- 1342/43, London, England—died October 25, 1400, London), the outstanding English poet before Shakespeare and “the first finder of our language.” His The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in English. He also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the management of public affairs as courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted and aided by three successive kings Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. But it is his avocation the writing of poetry for which he is remembered.

•  Edmund Spenser 
  
  
  

Biography: Edmund Spenser, (born 1552/53, London, England—died January 13, 1599, London), English poet whose long allegorical poem The Faerie Queene is one of the greatest in the English language. It was written in what came to be called the Spenserian stanza.

Spenser was considered in his day to be the greatest of English poets, who had glorified England and its language by his long allegorical poem The Faerie Queene, just as Virgil had glorified Rome and the Latin tongue by his epic poem the Aeneid.

• William Shakespeare 
  
  
  

Biography: William Shakespeare (26, April 1564 – 23 April 1616)was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright .Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, the eldest son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous glover and local dignitary, and Mary Arden, the daughter of a wealthy farmer.

• Comparative analysis of chaucer, Spenser and Shakespeare:

chaucer's work is more believable and straight foreword to the readers, while shakespeares's play is scattered with random plot lines Chaucer's version of the poem is full of thought and is a serious attempt at portraying events realistically, while Shakespeare based his version on intuition. 

Geoffrey Chaucer, known popularly as the "Father of English Literature" was born in 1343 and died in 1400. His body of works—with none more famous than The Canterbury Tales—helped legitimize the use of the Middle English language at a time when most scholars dealt specifically in French and Latin. 

Edmund Spenser lived two centuries later (1552–1599), and certain scholars might consider him to be the first poet of worth to emerge in England since Chaucer's death. His iconic work, The Faerie Queene, draws on Irish folklore in an epic allegorical poem which, among other things, celebrates the Tudor dynasty. 

These two poets were among the most influential early poets of the English language. Spenser was an enormous fan of Chaucer, and both were great admirers of the famous Italian romantic poets. Anne Higgins refers to both of them as "ambitious urban bourgeois." However, one key difference is that Chaucer is often celebrated for his comedy and societal satire, while Spenser seems more preoccupied with the romantic and the mythic. 

Shakespeare, like many other early modern dramatists, was a poet as well as a play-maker (and a performer himself, of course); one part of his practice informed the other. Ten years his elder, Edmund Spenser, was the most admired English poet of his day, ‘fame’s eldest favourite’ (Thomas Nashe) and ‘sage and serious Spenser’ (John Milton), and a rich source of interest and allusion for Christopher Marlowe, himself a ‘tragicall poet’ (Francis Meres) and ‘the Muses darling’ (George Peele). But despite these examples of dramatists and poets crossing generic boundaries, moving between the demands of poetic text and dramatic performance, we rarely study early modern drama as a way of understanding the nature and reach of Spenser’s poetry. Nor do we look to Elizabethan poetry to help us understand the language and literary ambitions of early modern drama. This Research in Action workshop grew out of the question: what do we miss by neglecting the connections, tensions, and mutual influence of these two nearly contemporary writers, and through them, of the traffic between early modern poetry and performance?

✨How can we compare Chaucer and Spenser as poets?

You could focus on….

• rhyme scheme, meter, and poetic elements
• what earlier works or authors influenced each one
• what later works or authors were influenced by each one
• individual characters they create
• difference in preferred poetic techniques like similes, metaphors, personification, catachresis, alliteration, chiasmus, etc.
• moral purpose
• religious sensibility
• use (or absence) of humor and what comic techniques each one employs
• how each one handles politics
• how each one handles gender
• how each one handles religion
• how each one’s personality comes through in a literary work.

Thank you 👍🏻💐