Role of the Sea in the Play Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge

  John Millington Synge, an Irish Literary Renaissance playwright, has always used nature as background, character and symbol in his plays. Nature is the protagonist or antagonist in many of his plays specially in Riders To The Sea where nature fills the minds of the characters and mounds their actions, even their moods and fate. The play is dominated by fate in the shape of sea. In the play we find that the sea is that which provides a living for the characters of the small cottages. At the same time it is also that which causes their sufferings.

 In Riders to the Sea, the sea represents fate. The sea is a great factor in the life of the people of Aran Islands. It is the source of their living. Moreover, the sea gives them passage to the markets in the mainland where they go to buy or sell things. There is no alternative for them but to ride the sea to maintain their family's existence. But at the same time the sea devours the men-folk as they go out for earning their living. The men of the family, past and present, were and are trapped in a sense. The sea is the bringer of suffering and tragedy. They are, in fact, in a no-win situation. They must go to the sea to survive economically. But death on the sea is so common that all of Maurya's sons, as well as her husband and father-in -law are killed on it. Thus the sea plays the role of both the giver and the taker. The sea provides living for them. At the same time acts as a hungry demon devouring the humans that come in its way.

 

The sea is indeed the most impressive character in the play. It's unseen presence fills the mind of both the characters and the audience. As a background, as a living character, as a force of nature, as an agent of destiny, as a villain, the sea plays a great role throughout the play. At present world, man has been trying to dominate the sea. He is successful in colonizing the sea to a specific extent. But there was once a time when the sea controlled man's life. The sea was then a more powerful enemy than it is now.

 

The sea is also invested with supernatural suggestions. It is the archetypal symbol of fate. The riders are men who are engulfed by the dark, mysterious and inscrutable fate. The sea and humanity are mysteriously interlocked. It has taken a heavy toll of eight lives of the poor family of Maurya. When her last son is drowned, she is relieved at the thought that -

''There isn't anything more the sea can do to me.''

This is the heart rending sorrow of the bereaved mother.

 

Some critics consider the sea as the villain of Maurya's life causing the tragedy of her life. But it would be wrong to consider the sea as the villain because being a powerful element of nature, it is governed by its own moods like anything else in nature. Besides, the sea provides livelihood to people as it does to Maurya's family too. We can say that Maurya was fated to suffer at the hands of sea.

 

In Riders To The Sea, Maurya's family members fall victim to the fury of the sea. But it was their fate to be caught up in a tempest on the all on a sudden and be killed. The old mother Maurya who has had the mortifying experience of seeing all male members of her family getting drowned into the sea, tries her best to dissuade her only surviving son Bartley from crossing over the sea. Maurya gets the signal of Bartley's death. She says-

''I've seen the fearfullest thing any person has since the day Bride Dara seen the dead man with the child in his arms.''

Bartley has to set sail over the sea to earn their bread. Mother's words are futile to prevent Bartley from going to sea. Cathleen, the practical-minded girl knows and she says-  

''It is the life of a young man to be going on the sea.''                               

Barley's life could be saved if he had listened to his mother's advice and if he had not gone to the Galway fair. He decides to go to the fair to sell the horses because he thinks that it is his duty to look after the family as there is no other male member alive in the family. So it is the necessity of the family for which Bartley feels compelled to go to the sea. So it is not the fault of the sea for which Bartley died.

 

Thus the sea is the powerful force which causes endless tragedy. Synge brings the sea in place of fate and at the same time he juxtaposes the sea with fate. The sea becomes the Nemesis, against whom the doomed mankind must fight. And through the fight man attains dignity. The sea is the agent of destiny, through which Maurya learns the wisdom and the truth. The tidings of the sea turn the tidings of the life of Maurya and her two daughters. She suffers, she experiences and she learns from the sea. The ruthless and cruel hand of Maurya's fate forcibly led Bartley to his death to complete her tragedy. Thus it is the inevitability of fate which in the shape of sea dominates the action of the play.

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Crime and Punishment: full book summary

Dostoevsky (1821-1881) is the most influential and pragmatic novelist of the 19th century Russia. He has occupied a vast area in the field of literature by writing some unique and universal creations. But Dostoevsky is very popular and commonly well-known to us for his masterpiece Crime and Punishment. In this particular novel, he has tried his best to reflect the true picture of Russia focusing on various characters of the novel. Certainly, in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Raskolnicov is the most discussed heroic character i.e. it is a hero-dominated novel.

At the very beginning of the novel, we come to see that Raskolnicov has recently completed his university education and he was highly optimistic to get a good job after his graduation. He is looking for a job but he is failure to manage a job. Because of his unemployment, he is mentally very depressed and disappointed. He blames the social system of Russia because he thinks that corruption, misdeed, tyranny, persecution, class distinction, the difference between the rich and the poor, social injustice and so on have covered the whole range of the society.

Raskolnicov as a hero wants to translate his dream into reality by utilizing his educational skills. He dreams a lot when he studies at university. But when he completed his graduation, he found a big difference between dreams and reality. The mother and sister of Raskolnicov also expected a lot that he will drive the wheel of the family. Rascolnicov is suffering from an inferiority complex because of his inability to help his family members. Truly speaking, Raskolnicov is greatly influenced by the philosophy of Napoleon and he wants to be a superhero by doing extraordinary activities. He played a vital role to change the structure of society by eradicating corruption. So we can comment that Raskolnicov is not a coward rather we cannot but praise his heroic deed.

Dounia, the sister of Raskolnicov, is working in an office where Sidrigailov is the boss or master of Dounia. Dounia feels the unemployment problem of her brother Raskolnicov very deeply. She is very sensible, responsible and dutiful to her brother and mother. She possesses enchanting and mind-blowing beauty. Sidrigailov has fallen in love with the beauty and responsibility of Dounia. He proposes her to marry but she refuses and reacts very strongly. If we want to explain the profundity of his love, it becomes clear to us that he is very genuine and true to love. Because of the refusal of Dounia, he has ultimately committed suicide.

There is another character in this novel Crime and Punishment whose name is Razumikhin. He is very handsome, rich and responsive who also desires to get positive response from Dounia in the field of love. Luzhin is another competitor of love who wishes to win the heart of Dounia. But Dounia has refused his proposal because of his having lose character. Razumikhin is the worthiest person to the eyes of Dounia. That's why, she wants to keep up the request of Razumikhin by giving an important condition. The condition is that he has to provide a big amount of money for the business of her brother Raskolnicov. Razumikhin promptly accepted the proposal of Dounia. But when Raskolnicov has got this information, he bitterly criticizes his sister.

Raskolnicov, the protagonist of the novel, is so depressed and broken-hearted that he wants to change the structure of the society by doing something, even by killing somebody. In the city of St. Petersburg, there is an old lady who is called the pawnbroker. Actually, she would provide money to the people with high interest. Raskolnicov thinks that this old lady is a great obstacle in the way of the progress and the development of the society. He has decided to kill that old lady to remove the curse of the society.

When he was going to the house of that old lady to kill her, he was suffering from indecision. So he decided to come back home. On the way of returning home, he stopped in a tavern where he met Marmeladov, a drunker and a wretched man. Marmeladov expressed his grief to Raskolnicov that he has a sickly wife and a daughter named Sonia who is forced to take the profession of prostitution for maintaining the family. After long days, once Raskolnicov heard that Marmeladov was run over by a carriage.

Raskolnicov, who is determine to kill the pawnbroker, is informed that the old lady is alone in house. According to the preplan, he has fired and killed that old lady along with her step sister. So, we have come to see that Raskolnicov has become a murderer by killing two ladies at a time The police is looking for Raskolnicov and he has seen his old photograph in the daily newspaper as a killer.

By killing this lady, he has invited his own catastrophe and tragic doom because crime does not allow anybody to escape from punishment. As he has committed crime, punishment is a must. Truly speaking, Raskolnicov is now in a great tension not only for himself but also for the family members. Now he is playing the role of a fugitive. Porfiry, an investigation officer, tricks Raskolnicov by saying that he was at that apartment when Raskolnicov murdered that old lady along with her step sister and forces to confess his guilt.

Raskolnicov has taken shelter in a brothel where the heroine Sonia lives as a prostitute. Sonia invites him to stay in her room. Raskolnicov has narrated the whole incident of his life to Sonia. Simultaneously, Sonia expresses her grief with Raskolnicov. Both of them are the victims of the circumstances because they have committed crime only for poverty, nothing else. Sonia comes to know the fact of the hero. When she wanted to know the cause of murdering, Raskolnicov says:

"No, Sonia, I was not hungry. I certainly wanted to help my mother and sister."

He again says:

"I wanted to become Napoleon, that's why I killed her."

He says-

"Did I murder the old woman? I murdered myself, not her."

After hearing the life story of Raskolnicov, Sonia consoles him in this way:

"There is no one- no one in the whole world now so unhappy as you."

He requests her:-

"Then you won't leave me, Sonia."

Sonia says:-

"No, no, never, nowhere-I will follow you. I will follow you everywhere."

Sonia has advised Raskolnicov to confess his guilt in the following way:

"I am a murderer! Then God will send you life again. Suffer and expiate your sin by it."

Sonia has advised Raskolnicov to surrender himself to the police but Raskolnicov wants to stay there without surrendering himself. But Sonia again and again requests him to obey the law of the country by surrendering. She continuously urges him to confess the guilt to the police.

For the continuous request of Sonia, Raskolnicov decides to surrender to the police. He wants to make a purgatorial journey of salvation. Because of his previous good deeds, he wasn't given death sentenced. The decision of the court was that he would have to go to Siberia and have to work hard for 8 years. Sonia was accompanied by the hero to go to Siberia's prison. The hero bowed down his head and kissed the feet of Sonia but he says:

"I didn't bow down to you. I bowed down to all suffering humanity,"

The hero further says:

"I have abandoned my family today, my mother and sister. I have only you. Let us go together. I've come to you. We're both accused. Let us go our way together."

Raskolnicov says:-

"I didn't kill a human being but a principle."

Sonia blames him that he is a hallow man having no spiritual fertility. She says:

"You have turned away from God and God has smitten you."

The Raskolnicov hopelessly answers:-

"Perhaps there is no God."

Raskolnicov thinks that he has got punishment both mentally and physically. Actually, here we can compare Raskolnicov with King Lear of William Shakespeare's King Lear. King Lear also suffers for his wrong decision to give his kingdom among his two daughters depriving Cordelia, the youngest one, from his property. He has suffered more than he committed crime and at the end he realized his fault and we see the purgation of his soul. Similarly, Raskolnicov has ultimately realized his fault and he thinks that as he has committed crime, punishment is a must. He has to penance.

Raskolnicov and Sonia started their purgatorial journey on foot to Siberia because they think that if they go there on foot, the intensity of the crime will reduce with the excretion of sweat. The hero consoles himself that though he is punished, he has done something good for the society. He has broken the long cherished convention.

Eventually, we can comment that Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is a psychological novel where we come to see the mental conflict of the hero Raskolnicov. He suffers throughout the novel from mental anxiety for his wretched condition of the society. He committed crime because of his depression of unemployment, nothing else.

 

Prepared by:

Name: Mehedi Hasan

Batch no: 28.

Roll no: 33

Department of English

Dhaka International University

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by William Shakespeare Summary

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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 greatest 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,  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. He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others

PLOT SUMMARY 

Theseus, duke of Athens, after conquering the warrior Amazons in battle, is in turn conquered by the charms of their queen, Hippolyta, and they are now planning to marry. To speed the time until their wedding night, he orders amusements to be staged. In a spirit of loyalty, Bottom the weaver and other tradesmen decide to prepare a play for the duke and his bride.

The preparations are interrupted by Egeus, an Athenian, who brings his daughter, Hermia, and her two suitors before Theseus, entreating him to command Hermia to wed Demetrius. Hermia pleads to be allowed to marry the other suitor, the one she loves-Lysander. The duke orders her to obey her father under penalty of death or confinement in a convent. Hermia and Lysander bewail the harsh decree and secretly agree to meet in a wood nearby and flee to another country. They tell their plans to Helena, a jilted sweetheart of Demetrius, and she, to win back his love, goes straightway to inform him of the plan.

Meanwhile, in the forest, the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania are at odds. In spite, Oberon bids Puck procure a love-juice to pour upon Titania's eyelids when she is asleep, in order that she may love the first thing her waking eyes behold. Just then, Oberon sees Demetrius, who has sought out the trysting-place of Lysander and Hermia only to meet Helena, much to his distaste. The lady's distress at her lover's coldness softens the heart of Oberon, who bids Puck touch Demetrius's eyes also with the love-juice, for Helena's sake.

Meanwhile, Lysander and Hermia arrive, and Puck in error anoints Lysander's instead of Demetrius's eyes, so that Lysander, happening to awake just as the neglected Helena wanders by, falls in love with her-and abandons Hermia.

The same enchanted spot in the forest happens to be the place selected by Bottom and company for the final rehearsal of their play. The roguish Puck passes that way while they are rehearsing, and mischievously and magically crowns Bottom with an ass's head, whereupon the other players disperse terror-stricken. Then he brings Bottom to Titania; and, when she awakens, she gazes first upon the human-turned-to-an-ass and falls in love.

Meantime, the four lovers are greatly bewildered. Oberon finds that Puck has anointed the eyes of Lysander instead of those of Demetrius, so Oberon anoints Demetrius's eyes with another potion which breaks the spell. When Demetrius awakes, he sees his neglected Helena being wooed by Lysander. His own love for her returns, and he is ready to fight Lysander. Helena deems them both to he mocking her, and Hermia is dazed by the turn of affairs. The fairies interpose and prevent conflict by causing the four to wander about in the dark until they are tired and fall asleep. Puck repairs the blunder by anointing Lysander's eyes, in order to dispel the illusion caused by the love-juice. Thus, when they awake, all will be in order: Lysander will love Hermia, and Demetrius will love Helena.

Titania woos Bottom until Oberon, whose anger has abated, removes the spell from her eyes. Bottom is restored to his natural form, and he rejoins his comrades in Athens. Theseus, on an early morning hunting trip in the forest, discovers the four lovers. Explanations, follow; the duke relents and bestows Helena upon Demetrius and Hermia upon Lysander.

A wedding-feast for three couples instead of one only is spread in Duke Theseus's place. Bottom's players come to this feast to present the “comic” tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe, which is performed in wondrous and hilarious fashion. After the company retires for the night, the fairies dance through the corridors on a mission of blessing and goodwill for the three wedded pairs.

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Is Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre a feminist novel?

Feminism advocates that social, political, and all other rights should be equal between men and women. Bronte's Jane Eyrediscusses many of the struggles and prejudices that nineteenth century middle-class women faced. All rights were not equal between men and women at that time, and Jane's greatest desire is to have a family and to feel accepted and loved. This does not necessarily mean that the novel is not feminist, but the main character's goal...

Feminism advocates that social, political, and all other rights should be equal between men and women. Bronte's Jane Eyre discusses many of the struggles and prejudices that nineteenth century middle-class women faced. All rights were not equal between men and women at that time, and Jane's greatest desire is to have a family and to feel accepted and loved. This does not necessarily mean that the novel is not feminist, but the main character's goal is not to change the legal and political world in order to gain equal rights for women. However, by the end of the story, she does not settle for anything less than the most equal relationship and living circumstances possible for the time period. And at the time, it must have seemed pure fantasy for a governess to acquire her own money and marry higher than her social class. 

 Erica Jong's introduction in the Signet Classic edition provides great insight into how Jane Eyre could be considered a feminist novel by saying the following: 

 "And indeed she cannot marry Rochester until he knows he is as dependent on her as she is on him. Their odysseys have equalized them: Jane has become an independent woman and Rochester has been cured of entitlement. Only thus can a woman and man become equals in a patriarchal society" (ix).

 Bronte portrays Jane as a traditional woman who wants a husband and family while also maintaining her value as an individual in her own right. Many women today want the same things--to have a family and career. However, even though Jane isn't seeking social or political equality, she does find equality in marriage. This could be a big part of the message that Bronte wanted to convey, which would mean that her desired results would have, in fact, been one of the first feminist novels. 

 

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