The Great Critic Simply as a Piece of - Literature review Example

Renowned critic, author and scholar of 18th century Samuel Johnson maintains that “Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature.” Hence, being a great critic, Johnson has presented a superb universal approach and everlasting criteria of assessing and judging the magnificence and universality of a piece of literature. The great critic simply means to state that a wonderful piece of literature gives such a message to readers that can be applied on every society, culture, nation, area or time and can be generalised everywhere without discrimination. Taking the example of Milton’s remarkable “Paradise Lost”, it becomes evident that his splendid epic poem has given the universal message of domination of heavenly powers over satanic forces. In addition, Milton has very brilliantly exposed how man has to make a long and continuous to save himself from the enticement and temptation of Satan and his companions. His universal theme encompasses all places and ages of the world and hence fulfils the criteria elaborated by Johnson. The same is the case with Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock”, which reveals the social and domestic conspiracies being inflicted upon innocent fellows. In addition, Pope also submits to state that social evils like pride, envy, wrath and greed etc are sure to meet their ultimate end sooner or later. Though Shakespeare’s plays are best cited as universal in scope, meanings and philosophy, but it is also reality that his protagonist(s) always belongs to royal family; and all other characters come mostly from working stratum of society. Even then the maxims he applies and idioms he uses maintain generality in their scope. While talking about the fiction under study, Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilych” can be stated as representations of general nature. The story begins with the death of the protagonist character i.e. Ivan Ilych, a judge of high court. His colleagues and companions have gathered at the court of law neither to condole one other, nor to commemorate their deceased colleague; rather the motive behind their assembling is to devise scheme to obtain the position has become vacant after the death of Ivan Ilych. Thus, Tolstoy has pointed out in the very first scene of the novel that people have least care about the death of even their close relatives and associates; they only seek prestige, pelf and power in life and forget altogether that they also have to leave the world with empty hands, and all posts, positions and statuses will remain here in this mortal world of bitter reality. Tolstoy skilfully draws out the death eve, where Ivan’s close friend Peters extracts a state of admonition from the dead face of Ivan Ilych that this world is temporary one, quite unstable like a bubble of water; and man’s entire efforts to obtain more and more wealth and prestige will diminish very soon. But the people seldom contemplate on this and have least care that they may be the next prey of the awkward clutches of death. Though Peters himself is a materialistic character of the fiction, yet the anxiety of Ivan’s widow Praskovya regarding Ivan’s pension startles the readers, as no one can imagine even that Praskovya could be so selfish that she looks for the inheritance of her dead husband even before performing of his funeral services. Almost same is the theme of the play “The Dear Departed” by Stanley Houghton, where the daughters and sons-in-law of the protagonist start fighting over his will as well as on his property, and no one bothers to either call for the doctor or make arrangements of his funeral. But to their surprise the father is still alive and is mere pretending to be dead. The same is the situation in this fiction that greed for worldly pursuits and materialistic objects blinds the humans to such a great extent that they entirely negate the existence of moral values and emotional attachment with their blood relations, companions and friends. Further reading of the novel reveals the family members’ lack of responsibility and absence of love for the sick head of their family. Ivan’s wife and daughter appear to be most egotistical and self centred in the play. Praskovya has been accustomed to the luxurious and prestigious lifestyle since her marriage with the rich Ivan Ilych, and she is not ready to make any compromise with the status quo she has been enjoying since her young life. Moreover, she is not ready even to disturb her social life due to the sickness of her husband; on the contrary, she is as busy in her personal and social activities as she was during the sound health of her husband. Ivan’s daughter Lisa also does not care for the falling health of her father. She neglects altogether that the entire facilities and comforts she is enjoying is the outcome of her father’s hardest efforts to win a respectable and secure life for his family. She neither bothers financial worries nor takes pity of the illness of his father altogether. She has her own life to enjoy in the company of his fiancé, with whom she is determined to enjoy all moments of life from dawn to dusk. Tolstoy tells the readers that Ivan also has led his life in the same way by running amuck in search of financial achievements and pecuniary gains. In his youthful years, he had great concerns for his promotion, appointment and social status. He did not pay due heed to his responsibilities towards family, relatives and friends, and always gave particular importance to his professional tasks and responsibilities. Though he got everything he longed for, and all his dreams came true, yet he lost the love and affection of his family during his campaign to obtain worldly pursuits. There remain two characters to come to his rescue i.e. his son Vladimir and his attendant Gerasim to console and look after him in his sickness. The short story is general and universal in nature, as it applies on all ages as well as every society of the world at large. By critically observing human life, it appears crystal clear that man has increased his work hours to a great extent in this age of technological advancements. The words like feelings, emotions and sentiments have least place in man’s life. He does not bother the sick members of society at the prime of his youth, and absorbs himself in career and professional life. That time he considers that there is a wide range of his companions and friends, which will support him at the hour of need. But as soon as he gets retired or falls ill, nature reveals real aspects of social establishment before his eyes. This is the time when he realises that he is standing all alone in the face of hardships and troubles, and there is only one or two persons to provide him with emotional comforts and mental satisfaction. Hence, Tolstoy’s novel “The Death of Ivan Ilych” fulfils the criteria described by Samuel Johnson. ESSAY 2: Aristotle’s Concept of Tragedy: Distinguished Greek philosopher and critic of all ages Aristotle has discussed tragedy in his “Poetics.” He declares poetry as the “memesis” or imitation of reality. Aristotle views epic and tragedy as the fine variety of literature, while satire and comedy as the mean variety of literature. The great critic has elaborated the concept of tragedy in chapter VI of his work. He defines tragedy as ‘an artistic imitation of an action that is serious, comprehensive and of adequate magnitude. Aristotle observes that a great tragedy must have a sublime object, which could be imitated in a tragic piece of literature. An inferior object cannot be applied in a great tragedy, as it will turn it into an inferior piece. He further submits to state that the medium of tragedy must be adequate and apposite one according to the theme discussed in the tragedy. By this he simply means that the language of the tragedy must be beautified with the help of verbose and pompous poetry and prose, and the depth of sophisticated verses should support the manner of the dignified object imitated from real life. While discussing the manner, Aristotle states that the imitation is itself in the form of an action that is presented directly, rather than narrated in a great tragedy. The function of tragedy, according to Aristotle, resulting from such an imitation, is to arouse the emotions of pity and fear in the audience in order to bring about emotional relief, which is called ‘Catharsis’ by Aristotle. The great critic defines six essential elements of a true tragedy, which include plot, character, thought, language, music and spectacle. Aristotle regards plot, character and thought as three internal elements of tragedy, while language, music and spectacle as external elements. This division is due to the very fact that the first three elements concern with the object of imitation, whereas language and music are the medium of imitation. Similarly, spectacle is the manner of imitation, according to Aristotle’s Poetics. Aristotle submits that the plot of a refined tragedy serves as a complete whole, which contains a beginning, a middle and an end. Hence, the plot must have a logical unity, where every part of it should have appropriate cohesion, so that no flaw could be witnessed in the tragic piece of literature. Moreover, the size of all the three parts of a tragedy must also be balanced one as an organic whole, which could present a visible unity in its scope. In addition, unity of plot is more important than character of hero. A tragic hero, according to Poetics, is not free from every fault, but there must be something extraordinary and great that affirms his goodness of character and morality. Similarly, the critic of 20th century i.e. Arthur Miller also defines some aspects of tragedy. According to which in a tragedy it sometimes so happens that circumstances are beyond the control of a tragic hero and it is fate that paves the way to the destruction and tragic end of the hero without any fault, flaw or blunder mistake of the protagonist. On the contrary, he is unable to critically evaluate his strengths and weaknesses and consequently becomes the victim of most unfavourable situation. By critically examining Sophocles’ wonderful tragedy “Oedipus the King”, it becomes clear that it fulfils all the characteristics defined by Aristotle. Oedipus has once saved the people of Thebes from monster by putting his life in great jeopardy. In addition, he has rendered valuable services for them by combating with every challenge in the form of calamity and disaster. The people are well aware of his gallant deeds and committed during the course of last many years. In addition, neither does he murdered his father King Laius wilfully, nor he has married his own mother Queen Jocasta intentionally. Rather, it is mere irony of fate that he did all quite unknowingly. His lack of knowledge puts him in such a grave situation from where he can neither escape nor make any amends for all he did unconsciously. Hence, his ignorance and lack of information leads him to a sorrowful end, and makes the play a great tragedy. Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” presents quite a different scenario of events, where the tragic hero i.e. Willy undergoes a sorry state of situation on the basis of his estimation of the circumstances. Willy is not unaware of the developments taking place in his surroundings. But his life takes him in such a perturb situation where he faces failures all around him. All his hopes, schemes and plans meet utter failure and the circumstances are completely beyond his control and command. He once gathers courage and strives to put his life in right direction, and guides both of his sons i.e. Biff and Happy, but extracts no positive results out of his sincere efforts. In utter disappointment and dejection, he takes his own life and commits suicide. It also fulfils the criteria exposed by both Aristotle and Miller, and makes it entirely a great tragedy. ESSAY 3 Sophocles’ Oedipus the King describes the role of fate in human life. The tragedy narrates that it is not the matter that how smooth is life going on; nor it is humans which make blunders in life. Rather, it is fate that brings adventures in the form of joys and sorrows in human life. Thus, the gist of the play is this that human beings serve as mere puppet at the hands of fate. In addition, the playwright has tried to convey that in great tragedies the protagonist quite unconsciously commits such acts that are actually serious offences, but the hero is unaware of it and does not know how he has committed such offences. The same unawareness can be witnessed in Shakespearean tragedy Othello, where the brave general reacts on the basis of the events he sees, without taking into consideration the actual thing happening all around him. Othello finds his wife Desdemona engaged in whispering with Cassio. Later, he finds his wife’s handkerchief in Cassio’s hands. The story narrated by Iago adds fuel to fire, and he blames Desdemona as unfaithful whore. The later events increased his fury and he kills his loving wife thinking her as not loyal to him. But the further queries and Emilies’s description reveals the cobweb of conspiracies knitted by Iago and Roderigo. It was really a great shock for him that he turned credulous in the hands of the conspirators. His wife’s death declaration destroys all hopes from his life. Thus in utter disappointment, Othello commits suicide subsequently. Tragedies serve as the representative of brilliant minds of the writers, philosophers and intellectuals. An intelligent author does not imitate the previous works written by past writers. On the contrary, he discovers new and novel aspects of life, hidden from the eyes of society, and presents them in a powerful way in the form of tragedy. 19th and 20th centuries have produced distinguished writers and poets, who created such great works which captured the attention and feelings of the readers. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen is also among such great authors. His play “A Doll’s House” presents the domestic crisis occurred by the mistakes of the protagonist characters, which are exploited by minor characters leading them towards their ultimate tragic end. In “A Doll’s House”, the protagonist Nora endorses fake signature of her father in order to save her ill husband. Hence, she maintains very good intention of arranging money for the treatment of her husband. Since she has borrowed money from a clerk of local bank named Krogstad. Since Krogstad is in need of money to be returned from Nora; otherwise his job will be at stake. It is Helmer that can save Krogstad’s job, so he demands help and support from Nora. Nora thought that on knowing the fact that she has committed forgery just for the health recovery of her husband, he will surely appreciate her sincere efforts. On coming to know the fact, Helmer gets very angry and rebukes his wife for committing forgery on the promissory note. In utter rage, she decides to leave Helmer forever. But in this tragedy, Krogstad does not play very negative role in the play. Instead, he proves very helpful and kind towards Nora during her campaign to protect her husband in his severe illness. He does never threat her in respect of disclosing her secret to bank officials or law enforcing agencies. Instead, he just threatens to disclose her secret in order to save his own job, which is at stake because of the dishonesty he committed while abetting Nora in forgery process. In addition, he has withdrawn his threat on finding the very fact that her domestic life is at stake. Hence, he never means to hurt or harm Nora or her family, but Krogstad’s good intentions could not save Nora’s domestic life. Krogstad’s disclosure certainly gave a go to the further circumstances, but his character cannot be viewed as malevolent at all. On the other hand Iago’s character in “Othello” is surely negative and malevolent one. He is an arch enemy of both Othello and Cassio and is determined to take revenge from them at any cost. He includes Roderigo and Emilies in his nefarious designs and entraps Othello, Desdemona and Iago in order to humiliate them and ruin their lives. He wilfully destroys the marriage of Othello and Desdemona by hitting upon the plan of poisoning Othello against his beloved wife Desdemona and faithful comrade Cassio. Consequently, Othello dismisses Cassio from his position of lieutenant and kills his innocent wife. Consequently, Othello himself meets with a fateful end by killing himself out of his own sword. Hence, Iago is an obnoxious character of the Shakespearean tragedy Othello, who leaves no stone unturned to bring disaster and sufferings in the life of Othello and Desdemona. Read More