ENGLISH DRAMA AND Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’

 

 ENGLISH DRAMA AND Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’

 

 

Actually, a Latin Play in honour of St Katherine is believed to be the first play that was staged in England in 1110 A.D. It was known as then the Miracle or mystery play. The materials for these kinds of plays were taken from the Bible. Gradually the Miracle or mystery plays were taken from the interior portions of churches to church yards and then to village and city streets. In England, the miracle plays reached its peak in the 14^th century. However, during the 16^th century Morality plays replaced Miracle plays. In Morality Plays the characters were personified abstractions. Then interlude entered which was a short dramatic piece of a satire rather than of a religious or ethical nature. John Heywoods, “Four P’s, in which a Palmer, a peddler, a pardoner and a pothecary exchange amazing stories and finally enter into a competition as to which of them can tell the biggest lie, is the most famous example of its kind.

 

Renaissance made English writers learn the Principles of dramatic construction and technique. Thus, Nicholas Udall, the Head Master of Eton came out with the first real English Comedy, ‘Ralph Roister Doister’ in 1550. And then in 1581, ‘Gorboduc’, the first English tragedy was written by Thomas Sack Wille and Thomas Norton. However, there was a conflict between those who insisted on the classical tradition and those who wanted to establish the national taste of the English public. But, a group of scholars known as ‘The University Wits’, John Lily, Thomas Kyd, Robert Greene, George Peele, Thomas Lodge, Christopher Marlow and Thomas Nash established the romantic form of drama. Marlow used blank verse in his plays.

 

William Shakespeare who is said to be with ‘Small Latin and less Greek’ came to London from Stratford-on-Avon and joined Burbages company of actors in 1587. Then started the period of his greatest literary activities. Within five years, ‘The Gentle’ Shakespeare has gained his entrance to the society of Gentlemen and Scholars of London. His poem ‘Venus and Adonis’ that was dedicated to Earl of Southampton won him both fame and wealth. Then came a series of great plays like the Marchant of Venice, As you like it, Twelfth Night, Julius Caser, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra from his pen. Altogether he has written 37 plays and 154 Sonnets.

Though the legend of Hamlet was already current in the folk literature of Iceland, Ireland and Denmark, Shakespeare got it for his plot from the Danish Historian Saxo Grammaticus’s ‘Historica Denica’ (Danish History) of thirteenth century. Instead ‘Hamlet’ Saxo actually used the name ‘Amleth’ in his book. But Shakespeare changed all the names of the characters in his play ‘Hamlet’. It is said, though the legend of Hamlet is based on historical fact, the proof of it is lacking. The mental torture that Hamlet faces makes this tragedy at the top of all tragedies of Shakespeare. He had an amazing genius for words. That is why Shakespeare is said to be not of an age but of all time and not of a land but of all lands.

-----Thulasidharan

         

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek – Annie Dillard

 

The Birthday Party – Harold Pinter

 

Harold Pinter, one of the most influential modern British dramatists, is a Nobel prize winner. He was born in 1930 in Hackney, a London borough. At the age of sixteen, he wrote an essay on James Joyce. In the following years, he acted in Macbeth and in Romeo and Juliet in leading roles. In 1956 he married the famous actress Vivien Merchant. ‘The Room’ was his first play. His second play, ‘The Birthday Party,’ was staged in 1958.

As all his plays ‘The Birthday Party has scenes of violence, anger and entering menace from outside to maintain uncertainty and unpredictability in the play till the end. The play opens with a brief conversation between Meg and Patey, who are in their sixties. They talk about Stanley Webber, a man in his late thirties, who has been staying in their boarding house for about a year. Meg is in charge of the boarding house that is close to the sea, whereas Petey works as a deck-chair attendant on the sea beach. Though Meg looks after Stanley with motherly concern, she behaves in the absence of others as if she were his mistress.

Stanley used to play on the piano to entertain the sea-bathers. But now, he hardly goes out of doors when Meg urges Stanley to start playing the Piano again, he tells her how he was once considered a great pianist and why he left that place and stays there. When they talk, she mentions about two visitors who are expected to come to that boarding house. As it disturbs Stanley, he says to Meg that some people may come on that very day with a wheelbarrow in a van in which they will take away a dead body from that place. Meg is greatly shocked to hear about this. Then Lulu, the next-door neighbour of Meg comes with a parcel. That is actually a toy drum, a birthday present of Meg to Stanley. Meg goes out for shopping after asking Lulu not to reveal anything about the parcel to Stanley. Lulu wants to go out with Stanley, but Stanley doesn’t show any interest towards her. So, Lulu leaves the place angrily. Actually, many of the women characters of Pinter are talkative and both mother figures and tarts. So, Meg and Lulu are also presented here with the same nature.

The two expected visitors named, Goldberg and McCann, arrive at the boarding house. Goldberg, a Jew who is in his fifties and McCann, an Irish man aged about thirty. On their coming to know about Stanley’s birthday from Meg, Goldberg suggests a party to Stanley and promises Meg to make all the necessary arrangements. However, before the Party, Meg gives the present of toy drum to Stanley. Stanley begins to bang the drum sticks with great force in a savage manner as if he were under the influence of some evil spirit.

Stanley meets McCann and Goldberg in the evening. Petey says that as he has to go to his club, he can’t attend the birthday party. After the departure of Petey, Goldberg and McCann begin to question Stanley.  Irrelevant questions and irrelevant answers are exchanged between them. Repeatedly they ask Stanley why he betrayed the organization. They confuse him by asking whether the chicken came first or the egg. However, Meg’s arrival saves Stanley from their harassment. Then the birthday party begins. The bottles of whiskey are opened and served to everyone. Meg delivers a brief but sentimental speech. Then Lulu joins the party. Goldberg delivers a speech and congratulates Stanley. Meg kisses Stanley and wishes him. All are under the influence of drink and in reminiscent moods. Lulu encourages Goldberg to flirt with her. Then they decide to play Blind man’s Buff. When they play Stanley tries to strangle Meg. However, she is saved by others. Then the electric lights go off. In the darkness Stanley attempts to rape Lulu. There the second act ends. Then how Stanley is handled by Goldberg and McCann is not shown.

In the next morning Meg is shocked to see a black car outside when she goes out for shopping. Petey says it belongs to Goldberg. Then Goldberg comes down from upstairs and says to Petey that the celebration has brought a nervous break down to Stanley. Then Lulu appears and complains that Goldberg had seduced her last night. As Goldberg and McCann ridicule and threaten her she goes back. Then a totally changed Stanley, who is well dressed and clean shaven comes downstairs. When Goldberg and McCann promise him a golden future, he doesn’t say anything. His mental faculty seems to be paralysed. When Petey asks them where they take Stanley, they reply that they are taking him to Monty for special treatment. When Petey tries to stop them, they threaten him. So, Petey helplessly stares at them, as they leave with Stanley in their black car. Then Meg arrives and asks Petey whether Stanley has got up. Petey says, “Let him sleep”. Meg, who is actually ignorant of what had happened to Stanley, says that it was a lovely party and she was the most admired lady at the party. Thus, the play ends as it began with Meg and Petey talking in the room.

As far as plot, characterisation, dialogues and theme are concerned, Pinter is a great inventor in the field of drama. As all his plays, The Birthday Party is a thriller and full of mysteries. It lacks the background information, and the relationship between Meg and Stanley leads to ambiguity and mystery. So, the play can be interpreted in different ways. When it deals with the difficulty of communication between individuals, it also reveals the emptiness of the relationship between meg and Petey. Pinter is indifferent towards the less essential aspects of life and the personality of the characters. So, the readers are never told what is behind the action of Goldberg and McCann against Stanley. Mystery, uncertainty, unpredictability, ambiguity and unanswered questions are inevitable in Pinter’s plays. So, a Pinteresque play won’t have a well-defined theme or clear-cut plot. Moreover, the blackout in the 'Blindman’s Buff' scene has a great visual impact. That creates an atmosphere of confusion, uncertainty and terror in the play. These are all the peculiarities and theatrical frauds of Pinter that label his plays as Pinteresque plays.

The Birthday Party – a theatrical fraud, a Pinteresque Play

 

Harold Pinter’s ‘The Birthday Party’ proved a complete failure when it was performed first.  The performance lasted only for a week. But, over the course of time, Pinter’s work received more and more recognition.  Now he is regarded as one of the greatest British playwrights.  He belongs to the group of dramatists of whom Samuel Beckett was the leading spirit.  As for as the plot, characterisation, dialogues and themes are concerned, Pinter is a great inventor in the field of drama.  Uncertainty, ambiguity and unanswered questions are inevitable in Pinter’s plays.  So a Painteresque play doesn’t have a well-defined or clear-cut plot.  There is always an atmosphere of mystery till the end.

In ‘The Birthday Party’, actually, we do not know who Goldberg and McCann really are.  Similarly, we don’t know what Stanley has done to bring their wrath.  However, they seem to be the agents of some organization which has sent them to bring Stanley back.  What is the meaning of the brain-washing sessions which are held by the two outsiders? Where do the two men finally take Stanley and what will happen to Stanley next? No explicit answers to these questions are available.  The author leaves it all to the audiences and the readers to answer these questions themselves.

What exactly is the relationship between Stanley and Meg? Is she already his mistress, apart from being a mother to him, or is it only a mere flirtation? The mystery and the ambiguity in the play are typical of Pinter.  They produce an impression in our minds that the play is very obscure and hard to understand or appreciate.  Actually we don’t have much reliable information about Stanley, Goldberg and Mccann, the three major characters in the play. But, the conventional drama may give the readers and the audiences enough background information which is lacking in the play of Pinter.

In this play, comedy is accompanied or mingled with a feeling of menace which is produced through direct or indirect means by the author in the minds of the readers or audiences. Stanley’s sarcastic comments on the coffee and the cornflakes are amusing.  Meg amuses as when she gets frightened by Stanley’s referring a van and a wheel-borrow.  Her miss-applying the word ‘succulent’ is also amusing us.  There are other menacing situations too in the play.  Stanley beating the drum wildly and savagely.  Stanley’s kicking Goldberg in the stomach and McCann’s picking up a chair to hit Stanley.  Stanley’s attempts to strangle Meg and rape Lulu.  These all have both comical elements as well as the elements of menace.  They are the peculiar features of the plays of Pinter.  Thus the comedy of menace also becomes one of the Pinteresque qualities.

If we ask a question, ‘what does Pinter really wish to convey through the play?’ we don’t get a reply that can be treated as the theme of the play.  But this play is no doubt a thriller and a comedy.  Till the end, we wait almost breathlessly to know what will happen to Stanley.  So, ‘The Birthday Party’ can be labelled as a mystery-cum-thriller-cum-comedy.  At the same time, the play can be interpreted in different ways.  It deals with the difficulty of communication between individuals and deals with the feelings of loneliness that affects the characters of individuals.  It also deals with the life of an artist.  Thus the play has a lot in it of social significance and a lot to our intellect. Thus having not a well-defined theme of its own is also a quality of the Pinteresque play.

The Birthday Party is a typical Pinteresque play concerning its technique and dialogue.  There are silences and pauses in the course of dialogue that are used to convey more meanings in the play.  The dialogues are colloquial in nature and realistic and repetitious too.  In the opening scene, the repetition of the word ‘nice’ in the dialogue between Meg and Petey reveals the emptiness of the relationship between them.  Similarly, there is a blackout in the Blind man’s Bluff scene when the lights go out. No doubt this black-out has a great visual impact.  That creates an atmosphere of confusion, uncertainty and terror in the play.  These are all the peculiarities of Pinter that labels his plays as Pinteresque plays and plays with Theatrical frauds.

------Thulasidharan

Success is not Final, failure is not fatal

‘Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm’ ‘Fall seven times and stand up eight’. These are the common proverbs about success that everybody knows and uses. But, to many it is very difficult to practise in life. That’s why when the results are announced at least a couple of failed students unfortunately commit suicide. As we see more and more of these types of incidents, we fear and doubt whether the new generation becomes too vulnerable to face failures. But, listening to the words of a fourth standard student Fayiz’s genuine words that echo confidence, the consoling words that tell the need of perseverance, our fear disappears and it seems to be an amazing Oasis to our deserted and disappointed mind.

The word - Pablo Neruda

Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, whose pen name is Pablo Neruda was chile’s most beloved poet and diplomat. With the publication of his most renowned literary work, ‘Twenty love poems and a song of Despair’ he won considerable fame. His political life was as absorbing as his creative life. So, apart from getting the international peace prize in 1950, he won Nobel Prize for literature in 1971. ‘Memoirs’ is his life story as well as a fine narration of Latin American history. It is his self-explanation as a poet and as a politician. ‘The Word’ is an excerpt from ‘Memoirs’. It is rendered in italics and so stands out like a poem. It is a great tribute to poetry with images and surrealistic expressions.

Rain! Rain!...along with umbrella, a boat too is needed

In Kerala, before monsoon it is common to see people collecting and storing fire woods, repairing the leaking roof, cutting down the threatening branches of trees near the houses, cleaning the wells, getting the chillies, coriander and turmeric sun dried and ground, repairing the umbrellas or buying new one, buying  rain coats. But this year, apart from all these things, people are buying one more thing. A boat! ….. a boat?! Surprising?! Yes! a boat! In the flood affected areas of Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, it is reported that there are shops selling boats with the capacity of carrying 6 to 7 persons. The lesson that were taught during the last two floods, has made people think and act, taking precautions like this. Yes, survival of the fittest! We have to dance according to the tunes of Nature. In low lying areas, apart from owning a two-wheeler and a four-wheeler, it is also a must to own a boat. We are strictly following the activities of ‘Bread the chain’ and wear a mask not to get affected by the virus, Covid-19. Similarly, apart from taking all the preventive and safety measures of not to get affected by flood, at least some are in need of boats too. We should also get familiarized with this! No other way! Our life style is changing slowly and moving towards ‘Survival of the fittest’!

------Thulasidharan

The More you get, the more you lose

        It is said, near around 27 lakhs needed to purchase 1 kg gold from UAE. If it is smuggled to India without paying 15% tax (including GST) and if it is sold after transforming it into ornaments, 7 to 10 lakhs will be the profit. 4000 tons of gold ornaments are sold in a year in our country. It is also said only 800 tons of gold needed is imported after paying the above-mentioned tax. So, it is crystal clear, the remaining 3200 tons of gold is smuggled. The army that struggle to achieve this Herculean task includes thousands of carriers of different types that vary from small sparrows to big blue whales. The customs officials arrest every now and then a few carriers with one or two kg of gold. They are actually 1% or 2% of the actual gold that is being smuggled. No doubt, it is only a tip of the iceberg.

WAITING FOR GODOT - SAMUEL BECKETT

https://youtu.be/UG9yYaOTE3Q

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), an Irish novelist, dramatist and poet was born on 13th    April 1906 in Dublin.  His father William Frank Beckett was in construction work and his mother Maria Jones Roe was a nurse.  After his graduation from Trinity College, he went to Paris where he met James Joyce and became a devoted student of him. In 1931 he undertook a long journey to Briton, France and Germany. That journey helped him to find many of his characters in his literary works. In 1937 he settled in France, where he was stabbed by a pimp. In his hospital days he met Suzzane and got her friendship. However, he could marry her only in 1961. Though Beckett had “little talent for happiness” in his childhood and his severe depression that kept him in bed until midday in his youth, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969. Though he was recognized as a novelist   and   dramatist   earlier it was ‘Waiting   for Godot’ that   won   him international fame. However, Beckett always wanted to keep himself away from the madding crowd. That was why he even declined the Nobel Prize to avoid making a speech at the ceremonies. Furthermore, after the death of his wife in July 1989, he confined to a small room and died in December 1989.

 

Beckett’s works are filled with allusions to other writers like Dante and James Joyce. His plays aren’t written along traditional line with conventional plot, time and place responses. But they focus on the essential elements of human conditions in dark humorous ways. This style of writing has been named as the writing that belong to “Theatre of the Absurd” by Martin Esslin.  The concept ‘Absurd’ is associated with Albert Camus.    ‘Waiting for Godot’ focuses on human despair and the will to survive in a hopeless world that offers no help in understanding. 

 

‘Waiting for Godot’, a tragicomedy in two acts is a play about waiting. Two men are waiting for the third who never appears. If he comes, they believe that they will be saved. Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) are bowler hatted and shabbily suited tramps that meet each day by a solitary tree to wait for a man called Godot. ‘Vladimir, an ineffective man of the world, Estragon a marvelously incompetent’ are like Laurel and Hardy, the famous Hollywood comical characters. Nothing is known about them except that they sleep in ditches and that Estragon is beaten at night by violent gang. When they are waiting for Godot, to pass time, they talk, argue and play games. Even they both decide to hang themselves at the bough of the tree,  however at the end they change their decision and decide to wait and see what Godot will say. To them life appears to be on hold until Godot appears. Thus, life is shown as a succession of attempts to pass the time.

Midway through the first act Pozzo and Lucky appear on the stage. Lucky is harnessed by a rope around his neck and carries a large bag, a folding stool, a picnic basket and a great coat. Pozzo comes behind him, holding the other end of the rope with his loud voice and dominating manner. But he is not seemed to be a villain. He made Lucky do many things to entertain Vladimir and Estragon like dancing and ‘Thinking’. That’s how Lucky performs a very long and unbroken speech. After the departure of Pozzo and Lucky, a boy appears with a message to Vladimir and Estragon. He says that Mr. Godot told him to tell them he won’t come that evening but surely the next day. The boy tells Vladimir that he minds the goat of Godot. Vladimir asks him whether Mr. Godot beats him. The boy replies that he won’t but says that Mr. Godot beats his brother who minds the sheep.  Thus, violence and humour, the two extremes of the absurd world is presented in the play.

 

In the second act, the same things are repeated. They are waiting in the same place, saying and doing similar things that they did the previous day. To pass time Estragon becomes Pozzo and Vladimir becomes Lucky and play for some time. Then Pozzo and Lucky appear. But they have totally been changed this time. Pozzo has become blind and Lucky has become dumb. It is not actually the next day.

 

Then the boy comes and says that Godot won’t come that evening but surely the next day and asks Vladimir whether he has any message to Godot. Vladimir asks the boy to tell Godot that he saw Vladimir. After the departure of the boy, looking at the tree, Estragon says, 'why don't we hang ourselves?'. Though, they decide to use Estragon's belt, it breaks when they try to test weather it is strong enough.  However, they decide to bring a good bit of rope and hang themselves the next day unless Godot comes. Though they say that they should go, they don’t move. Thus, the play tells the audience to get up and leave as there is nothing going to happen. Moreover, the play suggest that life has no meaning and it is full of suffering. 

 

Waiting for Godot is a comedy of absurdity. It is filled with nonsensical lines, wordplay, meaning less dialogues and characters who abruptly shift emotions and forget everything, ranging from their own identities to what happened the previous day.  All these contributes to an absurdist humour throughout the play. 

 

Vladimir and Estragon pleasantly talk about suicide.  All these have a discomforting effect on the audience, who is helplessly not sure how to react to this absurd mixture of comedy and tragedy, seriousness and playfulness.  The absurdity caused by the seeming mismatch between characters, tones and the content of their speech can be seen as a reaction to a world emptied of meaning and significance.

Allusion 

 

Allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event, person, object or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance in order to make a comparison in the readers’ mind. It is brief and either explicit or indirect. The allusions of Joyce, Pound and Eliot are highly specialized so the readers sometimes need the help of scholarly annotations .

(e.g.) He was a real Romeo with the ladies 

Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel 

Ambiguity

           Ambiguity occurs when something is open to more than one interpretation. It is actually a fault in style. It is actually a use of a vague or equivocal expression when, what is wanted is precision and singleness of reference. Multiple meaning and plurisignation are alternative terms for this use of language. James Joyce and John Donne have excessively used this device in their writings. 

(e.g.) I read the book (whether present or past is not certain) 

              The bark was painful (whether the bark of a tree or dog is not certain) 

           Foreigners are hunting dogs.

 Black comedy

Black comedy or Black humour or Gallows humour is a comic style that deals with the subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. The comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues, thus providing discomfort and serious thought as well as amusement in their audience. Death, violence, discrimination, disease and sexuality are the popular themes for this type. The critics have associated black comedy even with the ancient Greek poet Aristophanes.  It was Breton who coined the Black humour.  He considered Jonathan swift as its originator in English literature where he used comedy to mock the victim by trivializing the sufferings of them. Oscar Wilde who was in his death bed in a cheap boarding house once said, “Either that wall paper goes or I do.” It is actually a remember worthy example for Gallows humour.

Characters in ‘Waiting for Godot’ 

 

Vladimir, who is one of the two main characters of the play seems to be more responsible and mature.  His hat represents mind so, he represents the conscious   mind, the   rational   side of   humanity.   In   French   his   name has connotations with the word ‘Speak’. He is addressed as ‘Didi’ by Estragon and as Mr. Albert by the boy. Estragon, the second of the two main characters seems to be weak, helpless and always looking for Vladimir’s protection. He is practical and physical.  He is with good vocabulary.  His name in French means, tarragon, an herb   used   to   make   pickles   and   vinegar.   He   represents the unconscious mind.  He is earthly as his boots symbolized with earth, body and roots. 

 

Pozzo and Lucky are another pair in this play.  Pozzo’s whip symbolizes power. He symbolizes the sadist. He has the cunning nature to get people with brains on a leash. In Italian Pozzo means ‘Well’. Pozzo treats his slave rather horribly. However, he becomes blind in the second act and does not remember his meeting of Vladimir and Estragon. Lucky is the next character represented as slave to Pozzo. The leash on his neck symbolizes bondage and Lucky is a symbol of man as a machine.  His name is ironic.  Lucky, the masochist, (get pleasure on getting hurt) carries Pozzo’s coat, bags and stool.  In the first Act, he entertains Vladimir and Estragon by ‘dancing’ and ‘Thinking aloud’.  However, in the second Act he is found dumb. 

 

The next important character is the boy who acts as a messenger to Godot. he is the only contact between the tramps and Godot. There he symbolizes a priest figure. He appears, at the end of each act to inform Vladimir that Godot is going to come on the next day. Then Godot is the man for whom Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for. But Godot never appears. Though the name contains the idea of God even Becket was not sure of it when he was asked about it. The play has several archetypal forms and situations. The road is the archetype of journey and travel whereas the tree is the archetype of life and promise. In this play the active one like Pozzo and Lucky pass through whereas the passive ones like Vladimir and Estragon get a message and decide to go on waiting.  Thus, the main characters in ‘Waiting for Godot’ yearn vaguely for existence, yet they insist on looking outside themselves for salvation.

 

The world of Absurd in ‘Waiting for Godot’

 

‘Waiting for Godot’ is an unusual and remarkable play written by Irish Nobel Prize-winner Samuel Beckett in 1952. The miserable condition of life in the present, the constant effort to make it fruitful and the failure to succeed in this is portrayed in ‘Waiting for Godot’. The entire plot centers on two protagonists and their waiting for the mysterious character named Godot. Why is he an important figure for the protagonists? Why doesn’t he appear and why they are waiting? All these questions are unknown and uncertain. The men’s future, the travelers, the messenger, theme and back ground history are all not revealed. Thus, the play opens without any details for the audience and it continues with a lack of information even without reaching at a climax, the play ends at the same place where it started. 

 

The tree is the only object that exists in the middle of emptiness. The tree, which is an absurd element also struggles to survive with the tramps. The tree may symbolize many possibilities such as death, survival, change and life. The tree which has no leaves could be a representation of lifelessness and death, though it tries to survive in , harsh circumstances.

 

Similarly, the tramps are not happy about the present condition of their lives. But they are not capable of changing their present circumstances for better ones instead of wasting time for Godot. Though they would like to die, they are unable to kill themselves. Because the will to live is stronger than the will to die in them. They hope that perhaps Godot will bring the happiness and prosperity in their lives. The ‘tomorrow’ which never arrives in reality keeps the tramps alive with the hope of meeting Godot. A few leaves show the reincarnation of life on the second day in act two. Even if it is so, the plot is captured in the sentence of Estragon, who says, “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.” Thus, ‘Waiting for Godot’ focuses on human despair and the will to survive in a hopeless world that offers no help in understanding.

 

----Thulasidharan