ASSIGNMENT

BRITISH LITERATURE: EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

BEGC-112

Programme: BAEGH /2022

Course Code: BEGC 112
Max. Marks: 100

Answer all questions in this assignment.

SECTION A

I Explain the following passages with reference to the context.

10x4=40

1. “But when Evans (Rezia who had only seen him once called him “a
quiet man,” a sturdy, red-haired man, undemonstrative in the company
of women), when Evans was killed just before the Armistice in Italy,
Septimus, far from showing any emotion or recognising that here was
the end of a friendship, congratulated himself upon feeling very little
and very reasonably. The War had taught him. It was sublime.”

2. “But no, he would not give in. Turning sharply, he walked towards the
city’s gold phosphorescence. His fists were shut, his mouth set fast. He
would not take that direction, to the darkness, to follow her. He walked
towards the faintly humming, glowing town, quickly.”
3. “….. but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

4. “We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.”
 Section B

II. Write short notes on the following:

5x4=20
A. British War Poetry of the early twentieth century.
B. The central theme of the poem “Journey of the Magi”.
C. The “Stream of Consciousness Technique”.
D. The major characteristics of modernism.

III. Write short essays on the following:

10x2=20
a. Discuss the psychoanalytic readings of D. H. Lawrence’s novel
Sons and Lovers.
b. Explain the title of the poem “I think continually of those who
are truly great.”

Section C

IV. Discuss Virginia Woolf’s achievement as a modernist writer, with

special reference to Mrs. Dalloway. 20
The description of Septimus 'military career does not say what rank he reached, only that "he was
promoted":Septimus was one of the first to volunteer. He went to Trance to save an England which consisted
almost entirely of Shakespeare's plays and Miss Isabel Pole in a green dress walking in a square. There in the
trenches the charge which M. Brewer desired when he advised football was produced instantly; he developed
marlines he was promoted; he drew the attention, indeed the affection of his officer, Evans by name. it was a
case of two dogs playing on a hearth-rug: one worrying a paper screw, snarling, snapping, giving a pinch, now
and then, at the old dog's ear; the other lying somnolert, blinking at the fire, raining a paw, turning and growling
good-temperedly. They had to be together, share with each other, fight with each other, and quarrel with each
other. As a volunteer in August 1914, he would have begun as a private in Kitchener's Army. Promotion would
have taken him up through the ran-comissioned ranks: corporal, sergeant, warrant officer (after 1915), sergeant
major, so there were plenty of opportunities for promotion.As regular army officers wen killed in large numbers,
many volunteers were given commissions. II Septimus had ached the rank of captain, social convention would
have allowed him to cortirue to use the rank in civilian life, but in the novel he is always "Mr.", so we can be
corfident that if he was commissioned he was not promoted beyond lieutenant. However there is no hint in the
novel of Septimus being commissioned. If he had been commissioned he then would have been transferred to
the command of another unit whereas he seems to have been sub-ordinate to Evans until the latter was killed
just before the Armistice. His close working relationship with Evans suggests that Septimus was the senior non-
commissioned officer of Evans unit, so I think a good guess is that he reached the rank of company, battalion or
regimental sergeant major.
Q2. "But no, he would not give in. Turning sharply, he walked towards the city's gold
phosphorescence. His fists were shut, his mouth set fast. He would not take that direction, to the
darkness, to follow her. He walked towards the faintly humming, glowing town, quickly."
ANS. Andrew Harrison remarks: "The ending to the novel in which he walks determinedly towards
the bright lights of Nottingham, is an act of assertion in a phase of Paul's life, when tlie strongest pull
is towards death. These final pages of the novel contain some of Lawrence's most ambi ious writing.
he is attempting to describe a dish1rbed state of being in which the mind feels alienated from the
world around it". Paul and Miriam sleep together and are briefly happy, but shorHY, afterward Paul
decides that he does not want to marry Miriam, and so he breaks off with fl.er. She still feels that his
soul belongs to her, and, in part agrees reluctantly. He realizes that me loves his mother most,
however.After breaking off his relationship with Miriam, Paul begins to spend more time with Clara
and they begin an extremely passionate affair. However, she does not wanll to divorce her husband
Baxter, and so they can never be married. Paul's mother falls ill and he devotes much of his time to
caring for her. When she finally dies, he is broken-hearted and, after a final plea from Miriam, goes
off alone at the end of the novel

Q3. 11
but now I know
• • •••

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
ANS. "The twenty centuries of stony sleep" rela es to the bJom:ic age prior to the advent of
Christianity. But after the arrival of Jesus, the earlier 2000 years of barb.n:ism had ended. As the world
was moving towards the end of the 20th centui:y: once again barbarism had erupted. Now as the
Christian Era is about to end, it is moving "towards Bethkhem to be born". Bethlehem is the city of
Jesus 'birth. The beast is slouching towar s Bethlehem. SloucRing means to trudge; or, to move lazily.
It is not a gentle Jesus, but a malevolent beast from the sP{rit WQild - Spirih1s Mundi - that will now
take birth at Bethlehem. The sight of �pirit'us Mundi Vat'lishes and "the darkness drops again". The
ending of the poem suggests ilie�it for the promised relief that Christ will be born when the world
goes through such a cataclysmi'E'ut¾,aval. But<this time, Yeats fears it is not going to be the gentle,
kind, peace loving Jesus to save · ankind who wil oe born, but a rough beast to punish the sinners
and the wicked. It sems as tho�Yeats fears pt n:ish'ment and not pardon at the end of the 2000 year
cycle. "Thinking of the next 2000-year cycl , which he calls "the Second Coming," Yeats is filled with
pessimism and dread. He imagines a "rnugH beast" rising from the sands in the desert and wonders
what it is, but from tnQ description and the qu stions, it is clear that he anticipates that nothing good
can come in the next ®le.

Q4. "We returned to our places, thes Kingdoms,

But no longer t ease here, in the nt dispensation,
With an alien p�ople clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death."
ANS. The em focuses on the epiphany of Matthew. The name 'Epiphany 'comes from the Greek
'er.ip aneia', meaning "appearance" or "manifestation," and refers to the manifestation of Jesus Christ
to tlie world. The theme of the poem is the effect of spirih1al/ culh1ral events on individual identity
and society; it deals with birth, death and regeneration or renewal. Eliot echoes the views of SThe
binary happenings on earth are seen in the alternation of winter and spring, scorching summer and
freezing winter not to leave out day and night, morning and evening, full moon and new moon, light
and darkness, sunrise and sunset. Birth and death are of the same binary quality. The physical
journey of the Magi gets transformed into his spirih1al journey when he gets a deeper understanding
of life as a binary alternation between birth and death, exemplified by Jesus's birth and death and the

2
dawn of Christianity. Christianity will be the new religion to fill new wine-skins. The kicking of the
empty old wine-skins represents the change of the old dispensation to the new.

Section B
II. Write short notes on the following:
A. British War Poetry of the early twentieth century.
ANS. It is a literary genre which originated during the First World War, when hundreds of both
soldiers and civilians who had experienced the brutality and vengeful fury of the War started to write
poetry to express their emotions - tragic, bitter and at times ironic on the basis of'tlieir real experience.
War poetry should not be misread as 'anti-war 'alone. It is "about the v:ery large questions of life:
identity, innocence, guilt, loyalty, courage, compassion, humanity, duty, desire, death. Its response to
these questions, and its relation of immediate personal experience to moments of national and
international crisis, give war poetry an extra-literary importance."2 The sig,nificance of war poetry lies
in its ability to rouse both historical consciousness and political consciousness as it speaks for the
individual and for the nation. Soldiers and civilians with their respective experiences of active and
distant involvement in the war and belonging to different nationalities contributGd to War poetry
which became some of the defining texts of twentieth century Europe.

B. The central theme of the poem "Journey of the Magi".

ANS. The theme of the poem is the effect of spirihial/ culh1ral events on individual identity and
society; it deals with birth, death and regeneration 0r renewal. Eliot-echoes the views of Shelley who
wrote "When Winter comes, can Spring be far behind"? The bina "1appenings on earth are seen in
the alternation of winter and spring, scorching summer and foeezing winter not to leave out day and
night, morning and evening, full moon and n,ew.moon, light and darkness, sunrise and sunset. Birth
and death are of the same binary quality. The flhysical journey of the Magi gets transformed into his
spirihial journey when he gets a deeper understanding of life as a binary alternation between birth
and death, exemplified by Jesus's birth and death and the aa:wt) of Christianity. This poem, Journey of
the Magi, is based on the Gospel of. t. Matthew. Jesus was b._om in Bethlehem and the poem describes
the journey undertaken by three wise men who travel t witness the birth of Jesus Christ. The word
Magi is a plural form of Magus represc;nting the three wjse kings of the eastern world. The three Magi
travelled to Bethlehem so as to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. The journey is arduous as it takes
place in the cold wintry month of-December. Jesus 'birth heralds the dawn of a new world. Jesus dies
on the Cross and his disGiples founded the new r,eligion Christianity based on the teachings of Jesus.

C. The "Stream of Consciousness Technique".

ANS. the stream of consciousness technique that became a crucial marker of English fiction in the
beginning of"the twentieth cenh1 ry. The term established itself as a new way of exploring human
psychology th'at was ,reflected in the practices of modem men and women. Trauma of the two is set
against the trite circumstances of the rest of the characters in the novel. Both madness and love in this
case become.. a background against wnich the ups and downs of the London elite can be viewed.
Woolf extends the scope of the phenomenon of London life. Initially, it is a mix of sentiment and the
fluchrnting forhmes of love in a real sihrntion. The deployment of the Stream of Consciousness
technique helps in deepening the impression of a torh10us scenario. The cause of the individual pain
lies di�alilt from where Septimus Smith and Lucrezia stay in the city

D. The major characteristics of modernism.

ANS. In the beginning, modernism began as an anti-tradition movement against existing forms of art,
literahire, philosophy, culh1re and society, and impacted other activities of daily life such as
architechire, fashion, modes of transport, and connectivity. Modernism, true to its name represented a
clash between the old and the new. It rejected all traditional forms as irrelevant and outdated to fit in
with the new economic, social, and political environment of a modem competitive, industrialized

3
world. The poet Ezra Pound's injunction to 'Make it new! 'inspired artists and writers to re-examine
established culh1ral, aesthetic, and religious traditions and bring a change in all aspects of life. The
20th cenhuy saw the beginnings of an aesthetic modernism in literary and visual arts. In painting
between 1890 and 1910, came different art movements such as Dadaism, Surrealism, Cubism,
Constmctivism, Minimalism, Vorticism, Fuh1rism, and Fauvism distinct from the ea lier forms of
Classicism, Gothic art, Baroque, Nah1ralism, Realism, and Romanticism to name a fc . In short,
realistic painting or representation of reality in painting was abandoned. Similarly in music, melody
and harmony were given up in favour of atonalism and indeterminacy wherebj_'. a musical piece can
be performed not in any one fixed way, but in substantially different ways. It marked the break-down
of all traditional aesthetic conventions, and introduced complete freedom in all aesthetic dimensions,
including melody, rhythm, harmony and tone. In architech1re the new trend was for geometrical
forms instead of the earlier ornamental styles. It included open spaces, 11se of new and i1movative
technologies of constmction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforned concrete; the emphasis
was on functionalism and minimalism and a rejection of ornament. In literah1re, traditional realism,
closed endings, chronological plots and consecutive narratives were set aside in favour of
experimental forms that included open endings, symbolism, inaividualism, formalism and absurdity.
Modernism thus ushered in changes in cul h1re, society, Ii tClrah1re and arts.

III. Write short essays on the following:

(a) Discuss the psychoanalytic readings of D. H. Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers.
ANS. Freud's theory of the "Oedipus complex", wber he focuses on the relationships between
children and parents, which he explained first in a -ctter of 1897, is one of his most celebrated
psychological theories. According to Rick Rylance, such psychological theories were explored by
several other writers also: "the dynamics 0£ what Freud labelled the 'Oedipus Complex '(after the
tragic Greek who unwittingly killed his fathClr and married his m0,t:her) became a consistent theme in
English writing in the early decades of the century. Plots exploring 'Oedipal 'sihrntions not unlike that
in Sons and Lovers fcah1re in works by several of Lawrence's contemporaries" Many critics have
noted common clements between the theme of Sons and Lovers and Freud's writings of the same
period. "It is easy to see the connection between Paul Morel's sihrntion and the conditions Freud
describes as 'universally prev.alent in civilized countrie.'>" Andrew Harrison points out that Alfred
Kuttner was "the first critic to see in the novel a psychological dynamic between son, mother and
father, akin to what Freud h<ld described as the Oedipus complex. He praised the psychological
acuity of the novel." Cawrencc disapproved of tHe way Kuttner "reduced the complexity of fiction to
the schematic simplidty of theory". The classi Oedipal approach sees the novel reflecting the ideas
current then in Freud's wr,iting, which explains Paul's constant resentment of his father. In an
interesting critical sh1dy that employs the psychoanalytic approach, Terry Eagleton draws upon the
work of the rench psyehoanaly.,st Jacques Lacan and the Marxist theorist Lois Althusscr "to examine
the ways in which Paul's identity is created in particular social conditions". Eagleton's method is
different from the classical psf.choanalytic approach that sees the novel as a Freudian case. Eagleton
argues that attention should be given to the what the text avoids, not just what the text says. The
novel has a dimension similar to the unconscious which contains aspects that have been repressed or
denied.. "In reading Sons and Lovers with an eye to these aspects of the novel, we are constmcting
wfiat may oe called a 'sub-text 'of the work. All literary works contain one or more such sub-texts,
and there is a sense in which they may be spoken of as the 'unconscious 'of the work itself. The work's
insights, as with all writing, are deeply related to its blindnesses: ... what seems absent, marginal or
ambivalent about it may provide a central clue to its meanings". Eagleton thus employs
psychoanalytic methods to arrive at the meanings of the text which are not stated clearly, but form its
'unconscious 'aspect, and which have to be arrived at through careful reading; in the case of Sons and
Lovers, such a reading presents Morel in a more sympathetic light.

4
b. Explain the title of the poem "I think continually of those who are truly great."
ANS. The first line of the poem, "I think continually of those who were Truly Great", gives us the clue
that the poet is talking about the truly great personalities from the past and how continually thinking
about them suggests that the past is always connected to the present and therefore all those truly
great individuals arc connected to us across time. As the poem progresses, we realize how they have
close correspondence with perennial Nahirc which, in h1rn, confers eternity on them. 'J;imc cannot
erase their memory. Like Nahirc that is eternally present in sunshine, sprihg blossoms, snowy
mountains and lush green meadows, these truly great heroes arc omnipresent and make us identify
the connection between Nahirc and grandeur of Man and their perennially. 'By stressing on the word
'continually', the poet says Nahirc is always present and so arc the stellar individuals who arc ever
present at all times and in all places. Without going into the religious and astrological dimensions, it
can be said of Spender's poem that it is about human bonding with ilic past through historical,
ecological, and spirihial connections. Spender docs not name or identify the truly greats of the past.
Simply they arc heroes, nameless and faceless and they arc rccaUcd in the present on account of their
heroic deeds that have left lasting footprints on the sands of time and place all over the world. Some
critics point out the absence of any heroic action of the present. But Spender pays his tributes solely
for the past heroes who had contributed to and shaped the world that we live in today. He is not
interested in criticizing the present for lack of heroism. The poem is one 0f grateful <)cknowlcdgcmcnt
of their grand contributions that have made a diffci:cncc to the world, making our heritage better than
what they had inherited. "This poem, broadly, is an attempt to describe wHat makes a person "truly"
great. The poem was written in the 1930's during wartime, this no doubt influenced the poet.
However, soldiers arc not the only people he is referring to. He is essentially referring to anyone who
selflessly fights for what they believe in.4/ The "Tmly Great" can � poets, soldiers, selfless and
passionate artists. What defines them is their actions, deeds, words, artistic and aesthetic creations
that inspire generations that come after them. They have made a diJifcrcncc to the world and hence
our thoughts in grateful acknowledgement of what they have b�qucathcd to the present generation.
The "truly great" arc remembered for their ceaseless toil from the womb to the tomb - from birth to
death. Like the sun that shines all through day and night, as it orbits from East to West, and back
from West to East, these great celebrity heroes shone. all through their living hours. Spender equates
hours with suns, as all their hours arc resplendent like the shining sun and like the stm, these great
personalities also lived active hours. The poet sa¼s to the reader that these truly great people dwelt in
a constant light where the hours arc likened to the suns. "The sun is the main source of energy on
earth. It is brilliant and a . our-cc of great inspiration, therefore Spender could be saying that their
every hour was a source of great inspimtion and full of achievement. Spender goes on to state that
these great people had their aspirations, and their aspirations could be seen by the words that they
spoke to the pcoelc". s ;nicir vi11ionary i3cas to transform the world arc compared to blooming
blossoms that lend colour and beauty to Nahirc. Stm, light, fire and blossoms arc loaded with
symbolism and they relate to eternity and energy, inspiration and achievement. The poem is replete
with symbols as we move into the second stanza. But the symbols cannot be treated as having one-to
one corrnsp1;mdcncc that is easy of comprehension. At times, one wonders if Spender's long-drawn
similics arc a trifle laboured and stretched! What is to be noted is they once again reflect the
connection between the work of Nahirc and the work done by the truly great heroes of the past. The
idea is to show that however hard the task is, there is always an essential happiness in doing hard
work and achieving the fruits of one's toil. Just as there is satisfaction and joy in drawing the blood
from springs, these individuals conducted all their great acts and hard work with true happiness.

Section C
IV. Discuss Virginia Woolf's achievement as a modernist writer, with special reference to Mrs.
Dalloway.
ANS. Mrs. Dalloway docs not offer statements or descriptions. The author docs not seem to be
interested in telling a story. It may even be said that there is no story to tell in the novel, indeed the

s
novel can do without it. Only in the background docs Mrs. Dalloway have a narrative-a sequence of
happenings in which characters participate. The individual circumstance and the social sihiation arc
suggested through the dialogue that the central character holds with herself. That too, happens in her
memory. This method of representation is consciously used by the writer. We note that the writer's
choice is to focus on the circumstance of an individual who is driven by the logic of her world. We
might contrast this with the traditional fiction form that, among other things, worked at the level of
dialogue. In the traditional novel, people talk, discuss, disagree, use satire, or crca c a climate of
happy exchange. All these arc conspicuous by their absence in Mrs. Dalloway. The novel presents an
account of a mental state, the one in which Clarissa finds herself involved. We may wonder whether
such a novel would be able to engage the reader. On the other hand, Woolf would insist that her job is
to explore and examine a phenomenon she confronts in life. She would take the existing circumstance
as a challenge. The assumption is that the alert citizen would need to know the surroundings from an
angle of interest and serious concern. If there arc spots in society that present a problem, the citizen
would pause and think about them. In that process, he would mentally r,articipatc to sec the dynamic
link between one thing and another. That is the point Mrs. Dalloway raises. The next thing to be
considered is the state of women around the First World War. It-was a domain shaped entirely by the
male. Trade and commerce as well as social and polifrcal management were ·n the grip of the
dominant male even as women were pushed to the periphery of,running the house o1d. They were to
merely assist the contemporary leadership and burcauc acy in the larger world. As an individual,
Virginia Woolf stood at the point of relative advantage. <:::oming from the upper sections in English
society, Woolf had witnessed the lack of freedom and initiative in women's role. Things were
changing though, but at a slow pace. The family and marriage observed the dictates of the husband.
Woolf had woken up to the presence of powerful women writers in the latter part of the nineteenth
ccnh1ry. George Eliot and Elizabeth Barre Browning were examples. But the scope of women's
participation in social life was limited and narrow. Acutely aware of this aspect, Woolf chose to
follow her own independent path of expression for drawing attention to the secondary position of the
womenfolk. Virginia Woolf was primarily a fiction w1,itcr engaging with contemporary literary
criticism, theory and the subordinate position of women iQ society. That takes us to the third point
mentioned above concerning the characteristic emphases in her writing. She chose to reflect upon
women related issues, with that she could offer resistance to the prevailing hierarchy based on
gender. Her essays on social biasc against women left a aistinct mark on the English literary thought.
Activists in the Feminist trcnH in the sixties and the seventies constantly referred to her insights into
the culh1rally flawed social phenomenon. Vii:gi:nia Woolf is remembered for her essays in A Room of
One's Own that highlight privacy as being cmcial to a woman's identity. The essays discuss
anonymity that had occn fq,rccd UHOffwomen 0f her time and which was indeed an extension of a
long tradition of neglect. Also, the clement of neglect that was subtly present won acceptance of the
population of women. In the context, we may keep in mind her portrayals of women characters in her
fiction. Her works such as Orlando, Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse come to mind. We note in a
significant sense tli:c thoughtful and extremely creative nature of the women she picks up for
representation