SPEN105

POSTGRADUATE COURSE
M.A. ENGLISH
FIRST YEAR
FIRST SEMESTER

ELECTIVE PAPER - I

CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION

INSTITUTE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS
M.A. ENGLISH ELECTIVE PAPER - I
FIRST YEAR - FIRST SEMESTER CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION

WELCOME
Warm Greetings.

It is with a great pleasure to welcome you as a student of Institute of Distance

Education, University of Madras. It is a proud moment for the Institute of Distance education
as you are entering into a cafeteria system of learning process as envisaged by the University
Grants Commission. Yes, we have framed and introduced Choice Based Credit
System(CBCS) in Semester pattern from the academic year 2018-19. You are free to
choose courses, as per the Regulations, to attain the target of total number of credits set
for each course and also each degree programme. What is a credit? To earn one credit in
a semester you have to spend 30 hours of learning process. Each course has a weightage
in terms of credits. Credits are assigned by taking into account of its level of subject content.
For instance, if one particular course or paper has 4 credits then you have to spend 120
hours of self-learning in a semester. You are advised to plan the strategy to devote hours of
self-study in the learning process. You will be assessed periodically by means of tests,
assignments and quizzes either in class room or laboratory or field work. In the case of PG
(UG), Continuous Internal Assessment for 20(25) percentage and End Semester University
Examination for 80 (75) percentage of the maximum score for a course / paper. The theory
paper in the end semester examination will bring out your various skills: namely basic
knowledge about subject, memory recall, application, analysis, comprehension and
descriptive writing. We will always have in mind while training you in conducting experiments,
analyzing the performance during laboratory work, and observing the outcomes to bring
out the truth from the experiment, and we measure these skills in the end semester
examination. You will be guided by well experienced faculty.

I invite you to join the CBCS in Semester System to gain rich knowledge leisurely at
your will and wish. Choose the right courses at right times so as to erect your flag of
success. We always encourage and enlighten to excel and empower. We are the cross
bearers to make you a torch bearer to have a bright future.

With best wishes from mind and heart,

DIRECTOR

(i)
M.A. ENGLISH ELECTIVE PAPER - I
FIRST YEAR - FIRST SEMESTER CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION

COURSE WRITER

J. Jaya Praveen
Asst. Professor (English)
CTTE College for Women,
Chennai.

COORDINATION AND EDITING

Dr. V. Meena Kumari, M.A., (Eng) M.Phil., M.A. (J.MC) Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of English
Anna Adarsh College for Women
Chennai.

© UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS, CHENNAI 600 005.

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 M.A. DEGREE COURSE

ENGLISH

FIRST YEAR

FIRST SEMESTER

Allied Paper - I

CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION

SYLLABUS

UNIT 1 - Concepts

Religion and literature- Religion as a source of literature- The human sciences- Philosophy
and Literature – concepts of Marxism, Naturalism and Realism in fiction- superstition and
belief reflected in literature – World literature as one.

UNIT 2 - Poetry

Thiruvalluvar Thirukkural (Penguin selections translated by Rajaji)

UNIT 3 - Prose

Plato Portrait of Socrates

UNIT 4 - Prose Fiction

Kalki Parthiban Kanavu

Camus The Outsider

Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai Chemmeen

UNIT 5 - Drama

Sophocles Oedipus Rex

Ibsen A Doll’s House

C – Core; E – Elective; ED – Extra disciplinary

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Recommended Texts: Standard editions of texts

Reference Books:

1. Lau Magnesm, A Dictionary of Modern European Literature.

2. Raymond Williams, Drama from Ibsen to Brecht.

3. J.M. Cohen, A History of Western Literature.

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama

Virtual classroom:

· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from

Google Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in
Translation in Versoapp.

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 M.A. DEGREE COURSE

ENGLISH

FIRST YEAR

FIRST SEMESTER

Elective Paper - I

CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION

SCHEME OF LESSONS

Sl.No. Title Page

1 Characteristic features of Classics 1

2 Religion and Literature 7

3 Naturalism, Realision, Marxism 12

4 Existentialism and Absurdism 18

5 World Literature - Greek and Indian theatre 22

6 Thiruvalluvar - Poetry 26

7 Plato - Prose 34

8 Kalki - Parthiban Kanavu - Prose Fiction - I 38

9 Camus - The Outsider - Prose Fiction - II 44

10 Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai - Chemeen - Prose Fiction - III 48

11 Sophocles - Oedipus Rex - Drama - I 53

12 Ibsen - A Dolls House - Drama - II 61

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 1

LESSON 1
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF CLASSICS
Objective

The objective of this lesson is to discuss the

 characteristic features of classics

 types of translation

 classics in translation

 world literature

1.1 Characteristic features of Classics

‘Classics’ is a concept directly parallel to the idea of ‘canon’ which is a group of exemplary
works tested by time. ‘Canon’ can be defined as a list of works that are considered to be the
best and exemplary, propounded by an individual or group, often for a communal purpose. The
word ‘canon’ is applied to catalogues of the best literary works since 1768, as the classicist
David Ruhnken described the lists of Aristophanes and Aristarchus’s works as a ‘canon’.

Classics are the best works in any genre, serving as models for other works. The word
‘classic’ is derived from Latin ‘classicus’ which means ‘of the highest class of Roman citizens, of
the first rank’. The dictionary meaning of ‘classic’ is ‘of recognized value: serving as a standard
of excellence; traditional and enduring’. Greek and Roman literature are called ‘classics’ because
they are of the first rank, the best, serving as a standard of excellence, and enduring because
of their high quality.

T. S. Eliot in What is a Classic? and Italo Calvino in Why Read the Classics? have explored
the significant features of classics. One feature of great books is their ability to draw the readers
back to re-read them, both for delight in their characters and stories, and for the complexity of
their worlds and world-views. Italo Calvino, in his essay Why Read the Classics remarks, “A
classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first
reading.” Mark Twain is often quoted as saying, “A classic is something that everybody wants to
have read and nobody wants to read.”

Michael Dirda, Ezra Pound, and Saint-Beuve have also talked about classics in their
literary works. Classics are considered to be very important in the study of Arts and Humanities.
2

They are translated into various languages to gain ‘readership’ around the world. The general
characteristics of classics are:

 Classics withstand ‘time’. Many works of literature have become popular

posthumously.

 Classics often discuss ‘universal’ themes like life, love, truth, beauty, etc.

 They express ‘artistic’ quality using figurative language, magical realism, etc.

 Classics represent the time or age during which they are written.

 They show traces of ancient literature and influence the writers of younger
generations.

 Classics can be interpreted and reinterpreted in different ways.

 They make intense ‘connections’ with the readers irrespective of their race, country,
or religion.

In general, ‘classics’ are the books that are widely accepted as great works of literature.
Though the term is often associated with the Western literature, it can also be applied to traditional
works of literature such as the Chinese Classics or the Indian Vedas.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_book

 http://toddmcompton.com/infinitecanonsprint.htm

1.2 Types of Translation

‘Translation’ is the transfer of meaning from a Source Language (SL) text to a Target
Language (TL) text. ‘Translation Studies’ deal with the theory and practice of translation. The
term ‘translation studies’ is first used by James S. Holmes in his work The Name and Nature of
Translation Studies. Writers occasionally use the term ‘translatology’ (and less commonly
‘traductology’) to refer to ‘translation studies’.

George Steiner classifies the theory, practice, and history of translation into four periods.
The first period extends from Cicero and Horace’s statements on translation to the publication
of Alexander Fraser Tytler’s Essay on the Principles of Translation in 1791. This period is
characterised by ‘immediate empirical focus’ on translation. The second period focuses on the
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theory and hermeneutic enquiry with the development of a vocabulary and methodology for
translation. This period extends up to the publication of Larbaud’s Sous l’invocation de Saint
Jerome in 1946.

The third period starts with the publication of the research papers on ‘machine translation’
in the 1940s. It is characterised by the introduction of Structural Linguistics and Communication
theory into the study of translation. The fourth period starts in the early 1960s and coexists with
the third period. It is characterised by ‘a reversion to hermeneutic, almost metaphysical inquiries
into translation and interpretation’.

On Linguistic Aspects of Translation (1959) is an essay written by Russian linguist Roman

Jakobson. Jakobson believes that meaning lies with the signifier and not in the signified.
Interpretation of a verbal sign can happen in three ways: intralingual, interlingual, and
intersemiotic. In intralingual translation (or rewording), the changes take place within the same
language. Thus a verbal sign (word) belonging to a particular language is replaced by another
sign (word) belonging to the same language. Interlingual translation (or translation proper) can
be seen as replacing a verbal sign with another sign, belonging to a different language.
Intersemiotic translation (or transmutation) is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of
signs of non-verbal sign systems.

Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation (Latin verbum pro verbo)
is the translation of text from one language to another, one word at a time with or without
conveying the original sense of the text. In translation studies, literal translation denotes technical
translation of scientific, technical, or legal texts. In ‘sense-for-sense’ translation, the meaning of
each sentence is understood and translated before moving on to the next. It stands in normative
opposition to word-for-word translation (also known as literal translation), which means translating
the meaning of each lexical item in a sequence.

Reference:
 Susan Bassnett’s Translation Studies, Routledge, 1980.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_studies

1.3 Classics in Translation

Book lovers around the world read ‘classics in translation’ or ‘translated classics’ to know
about the cultural and religious practices of other countries, to explore new genres and unique
4

styles of writings, and to develop their general understanding of the world. Some of the most
famous translations are:

 The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles (Greece, 8th century B.C.)

 Antigone by Sophocles, translated by E.H. Plumtre (Greece, 441 B.C.)

 The Inferno by Dante Alighieri, translated by Robert Hollander (Italy, 1472)

 Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman (Spain, 1615)

 The Story of Beauty and the Beast by Madame de Villeneuve, translated by James
Robinson Planche (France, 1740)

Classical works of Homer, Sappho, Herodotus, Catullus, Martial, and Juvenal are translated
into various languages. Bible is translated in almost all the languages in the world. Classics like
War and Peace and Leaves of Grass, in translation, have created greater impact on regional
writers. Greek literature, Celtic literature, Russian literature, French literature, etc. are popular
in many countries because of their translations. Chemmeen has become a well-known classic
because of its English translation.

Classical works like Thirukkural are translated into several languages, making them popular
around the world. Many popular writers have started their writing careers as translators. Some
writers have established themselves both as writers and translators. Writers like Gayatri
Chakrovorty Spivak and Lakshmi Holmstorm are more popular as translators rather than writers.
Spivak became popular because of her English translation Of Grammatology and Holmstorm is
popular as she has translated the works of regional writers like Mahaswetha Devi and Ambai.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classics

 https://bookriot.com/2017/11/22/classics-in-translation/

1.4 World Literature

‘World Literature’ refers to the literary works that are translated into various languages,
published, and read by people living in countries other than the writer’s native land. Earlier
‘World Literature’ included only the masterpieces of Western European literature. Today, it is
increasingly seen in global context. Many scholars assert that what makes a work ‘world literature’
is merely its circulation beyond its country of origin. For example, Damrosch states, “A work
 5

enters into world literature by a double process: first, by being read as literature; second, by
circulating out into a broader world beyond its linguistic and cultural point of origin”.

The term was first used by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, referring to
the dissemination of literature from and to countries across the globe. He used the concept of
Weltliteratur in several of his essays to describe the international circulation and reception of
literary works in Europe, including works of non-Western origin. The concept became popular
after Johann Peter Eckermann published a collection of conversations with Goethe in 1835.

Goethe had discussed with Eckermann the excitement of reading Chinese novels or
Persian and Serbian poetry and his fascination with seeing how his own works were translated
and discussed abroad, especially in France. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels used the term in
their Communist Manifesto (1848) to describe the ‘cosmopolitan character’ of bourgeois literary
production. Their fundamentally economic understanding of ‘world literature’ views it as a process
of trade and exchange.

Marx and Engels followed Goethe in seeing world literature as a modern or even future
phenomenon. In 1886, the Irish scholar H. M. Posnett argued that world literature first arose in
ancient empires such as the Roman Empire, long before the rise of the modern national
literatures. Many believe that World Literature gains value in translation. But Gayatri Chakrovorty
Spivak holds the alternate view that the study of World Literature might undermine the power of
native literature. She is more concerned about protecting the diversity of languages and cultures
present in literary works.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_literature

Review Questions I:
1. Whose work is What is a Classic?

2. What is the most important feature of Classics?

3. What are the terms used occasionally instead of ‘translation studies’?

4. Which type of translation focuses more on message than on the words?

5. Who does hold an alternative view for world literature?

6

Answers to Review Questions:

1. T. S. Eliot

2. Classics withstand ‘time’.

3. Translatology and traductology

4. Intersemiotic translation

5. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

Review Questions II:

1. Discuss the characteristic features of Classics.

2. What are the different types of Translation? Explain.

3. Describe the four periods in Translation Studies.

4. Write about the significance of the Classics in Translation.

5. Discuss World Literature with examples.

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LESSON 2
RELIGION & LITERATURE
Objective

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· Religion and Literature

· Human Sciences

· Philosophy and Literature

2.1 Religion and Literature

Religion can be considered as a set of institutions, a set of ideas and beliefs, or a lived
practice. It includes the rituals, behaviours, and day-to-day life of individuals and communities
that have complex relations with each other. These are affected by and in turn affect literature
(not least in the interpretations of scriptures). Religious Studies is the systematic study of religion.
It is an academic field involved in the research of religious beliefs, behaviours, and institutions.
It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasising on the systematic, history-
based, cross-cultural perspectives.

Interdisciplinary literature and religion are evaluated critically by scholars around the world.
As a critical approach, literature and religion asks how these impulses compete, coordinate, or
inform one another and other practices and traditions. Some universities conduct specialised
courses in Theology and Religious Studies. Scholars in European Universities specialise in
medieval culture and blasphemy; literatures of sin and confession; early modern drama and
English religious life; and early American religious culture and its impact on literary traditions.

Scholars, in the recent years, analyse political theology and theory; narratives of
secularisation and the cultures of religion that challenge secularity; and the emerging relations
among religion, philosophy, and psychology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They
seriously take the study of belief and disbelief, studying how each emerges from and shapes
literary, political, and philosophical traditions.

Religion and literature have intense connections. One cannot understand literature without
realising the religious structures prevalent in the particular society. European literature cannot
8

be understood without studying the influence of Catholic Church in Rome. Renaissance,

Reformation, and Restoration in England can be best understood only by evaluating the
relationship between Roman Catholics and Church of England. Aryan Dravidian divide has to
be studied in depth to understand the various dimensions in Hinduism in India.

Classics like Thirukkural discuss religious values in a moral or spiritual way. Portrait of
Socrates brings out the Greek society’s beliefs and disbeliefs about God. Oedipus Rex portrays
the significant role played by Oracle in the religious, social, and political lives of people. The
Outsider shows the existential crisis in modern man due to no belief in religious, moral, and
social values. Chemmeen vividly describes the love story of Karuthamma and Pareekutty who
could not marry because of socio-economic and religious differences. Parthiban Kanavu bring
out the conflicts among the Hindu sects or various religious groups in South India.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_studies

2.2 Human Sciences

Human Sciences is a diverse discipline which enables students to study the biological,
social, and cultural aspects of human life. It combines Humanities and Social Sciences, and
includes aspects of Psychology and Anthropology to enable the study of human behaviour in
detail. Its objectives are to explain human behaviour, formulate theories to predict it, and then
develop remedies for the problems identified by those predictions.

Wilhelm Dilthey brought 19th century attempts to formulate a methodology appropriate to

the Humanistic Sciences together with Hume’s term ‘Moral Science’, which he translated as
Geisteswissenschaft. He characterised the scientific nature of a study depending upon the
following factors:

· The conviction that perception gives access to reality

· The self-evident nature of logical reasoning

· The principle of sufficient reason

According to Socrates, the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and
others. Plato is influenced by Socrates’ ideas and deeply disturbed by his unfair execution. His
metaphor of the ‘cave’ is of particular interest on the nature of existence. John Locke believes
that human beings are born with no innate talent, instead, build up knowledge as they experience
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things through their senses. Along with Locke and Berkeley, David Hume supported empiricism
which is significant in the study of Human Sciences.

Unlike Descartes, Hume believed in senses. He emphasised the importance of emotions

in understanding truth, by saying ‘Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.’
Graham Greene focuses on the psychological motivations of human behaviour. He also insists
on the therapeutic value of writing. Unlike Durkheim, Max Weber believed that to understand
society, one had to study its individual members and develop an empathy with them.

Friedrich Nietzsche permeates all modern thinking, and challenges the religious-based
approach to morality. Karl Marx is best known for his philosophy of Marxism, which proposed
that human societies develop through a social struggle between different interest groups. Milgram
was an American psychologist, who designed the (in)famous Milgram experiment to investigate
the extent to which human beings respond to authority. His conclusions on the human capacity
to go along with immoral acts are deeply disturbing.

Siegfried Sassoon wrote scathingly of the First World War, and influenced Wilfred Owen
who eventually eclipsed Sassoon’s fame. He was particularly critical of the ruling classes, and
this revolutionary view helped to change people’s perspectives of human society after the war
had ended. Hesse was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter, and spiritual thinker. His
quest for enlightenment through self-knowledge characterised his writing, and influenced the
study of Human Sciences.

Noam Chomsky’s theories on how language is innate to humans, and his ‘universal
grammar’ theory are of particular interest to Human Sciences. B.F.Skinner’s experiment on
pigeons, in which he observed them behaving ‘superstitiously’, suggest that such a tendency is
not limited to human beings. The key difference between Human and Natural Sciences is
‘consciousness’. Natural scientists study objects and organisms that are unaware of their own
existence, but human scientists are concerned with human beings who are conscious about
their own existence.

Reference
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_science

· https://www.theoryofknowledge.net/
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2.3 Philosophy and Literature

Philosophy and literature are interrelated and intertwined with each other. Literature is
one of the best modes for the expression for philosophy. In other words, philosophical ideas
can be well-expressed in literature. Literature without philosophical ideas is not considered to
be a serious work of art. Movements like Cynicism, Stoicism, Empiricism, German Idealism,
Pragmatism, Phenomenology, Existentialism, Rationalism, and Utilitarianism are significant both
in the study and understanding of Philosophy and Literature.

Philosophy and literature can be dealt in two ways: 1. literary treatment of philosophers
and philosophical themes (the literature of philosophy) 2. philosophical treatment of questions
raised by literature (the philosophy of literature).

Literature of philosophy can be divided into three periods: Ancient (Greco-Roman), Medieval
philosophy (Christian European), and Modern philosophy. It deals with the works of ancient
philosophers like Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and modern philosophers like
John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Kierkegaard, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Philosophers of
the east include Vyasa, Thiruvalluvar, Omar Khayyám, and Muhammad Iqbal whose works can
rightly be called the literature of philosophy.

Philosophy of literature is a branch of philosophy that deals with the question, ‘What is
art?’ Most philosophers believe that literature has a strong impact on the ethical outlook of the
general public. In The Republic, Plato displays a strong hostility to the literary culture of his
period, and proposes a strong censorship of popular literature in his utopia.

Some philosophers have less hostility towards literature. Following the ideas of the British
Empiricists like John Locke and David Hume or German philosophers like Immanuel Kant and
Friedrich Nietzsche, Western philosophy has been preoccupied with the fundamental question
of ‘epistemology’: the question of the relationship between ideas in the human mind and the
world existing outside the mind. It also focuses on the truth and the philosophy of language,
portrayed by the literary works.

Some philosophers have expressed their philosophy in verse. The cosmogony of Hesiod
and the De Rerum Natura of Lucretius are important philosophical poems. The genre of epic
poetry is also used to teach philosophy. Vyasa narrated the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata in
order to teach Hindu philosophy. Homer also presented some philosophical teachings in his
 11

Odyssey. Many poets like Shelley, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Milton, and T.S. Eliot have written
poems on philosophical themes.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_and_literature

Review Questions I:
State True or False:

1. Reformation and Restoration can be best understood without reading about Catholic
Church.

2. Wilhelm Dilthey formulated a methodology appropriate to the Humanistic Sciences.

3. The key difference between Human and Natural Sciences is ‘consciousness’.

4. Immanuel Kant is a famous British philosopher.

5. Verse cannot be used to express philosophical ideas.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. False

2. True

3. True

4. False

5. False

Review Questions II:

1. Describe the relationship between religion and literature with examples.

2. Analyse how Roman Catholic Church is related to Reformation and Restoration in

England.

3. Evaluate how the ideas of Sassoon and Owens changed people’s perspectives of
human society after the war.

4. Name a few prominent philosophers of the west and the east.

5. Elaborate on 1‘literature of philosophy’ and ‘philosophy of literature’ with examples.

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LESSON 3
NATURALISM, REALISION, MARXISM
Objective

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· Naturalism

· Realism

· Marxism

3.1 Naturalism
Naturalism is an offshoot of Realism in literary studies. It portrays human beings as passive
victims of natural forces and social environment. As a literary movement, it was started in
France by Jules and Edmond Goncourt with their novel Germinie Lacerteux (1865). However,
the term is often associated with the French novelist, playwright, and journalist Emile Zola as he
has claimed a ‘scientific’ status for his portrayal of pathetic characters who are miserably subjected
to hunger, sexual obsession, and hereditary defects in his novels Therese Raquin (1867) and
Germinal (1885).

Naturalist fiction focuses on sociological objectivity. It offers detailed and fully researched
investigations into unexplored corners of modern society - e.g., railways in Zola’s La Bete humaine
(1890) and the department store in his Au Bonheur des dames (1883) - while enlivening this
with a new sexual sensationalism. The term ‘naturalistic’ in drama usually has a broader
application, denoting a very detailed illusion of real life on the stage, especially in speech,
costume, and sets. The realistic plays of Anton Chekhov are sometimes grouped with the
naturalist phase of European drama at the turn of the century.

Novelists and storytellers associated with Naturalism include Alphonse Daudet and Guy
de Maupassant in France, Theodore Dreiser and Frank Norris in the United States, and George
Moore and George Gissing in England. The most significant work of Naturalism in English is
Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (1900). In the theatre, Henrik Ibsen’s play Ghosts (1881), with its stress
on heredity, encouraged an important tradition of dramatic Naturalism led by August Strindberg,
Gerhart Hauptmann, and Maxim Gorky.
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The protagonist of the naturalistic plot, a pawn to multiple compulsions of nature or fate,
usually disintegrates, or is wiped out. Naturalistic writers were influenced by Charles Darwin’s
theory of evolution. Realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are while naturalism
also attempts to determine ‘scientifically’ the underlying forces (e.g., the environment or heredity)
influencing the actions of its subjects.

Other characteristics of literary naturalism include: detachment, in which the author

maintains an impersonal tone and disinterested point of view; determinism, the opposite of free
will, in which a character’s fate has been decided, even predetermined, by impersonal forces of
nature beyond human control; and a sense that the universe itself is indifferent to human life.

Naturalistic works often include sordid subject matter, for example, Émile Zola’s frank
treatment of sexuality, as well as pervasive pessimism. Émile Zola, beginning in the 1870s, did
much to develop this theory in what he called ‘le roman expérimental’ (i.e., the novel organised
in the mode of a scientific experiment on the behaviour of the characters it depicts).

Emily Zola, Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, and Theodore Dreiser have presented their
subjects with scientific objectivity and elaborate documentation, sometimes including an almost
medical frankness about activities and bodily functions, unmentioned in earlier literature. They
tend to choose characters who exhibit strong animal drives such as greed and sexual desire,
and who are helpless victims both of glandular secretions within and of sociological pressures
without.

Naturalistic works mostly focus on the darker aspects of life, including poverty, racism,
violence, prejudice, disease, corruption, prostitution, and filth. As a result, naturalistic writers
are frequently criticised for focusing too much on human vice and misery.

Reference:
· Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford U P, 2001.

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(literature)

3.2 Realism
Realism is a mode of writing that gives the impression of recording or reflecting faithfully
an actual way of life. The term refers to two aspects in literature: 1. a literary method based on
detailed accuracy of description (i.e. verisimilitude), 2. a more general attitude that rejects
14

idealisation, escapism, and other extravagant qualities of romance in favour of recognising

soberly the actual problems of life.

In its methods and attitudes, Realism can be related even to Chaucer and Defoe’s works.
However, as a literary trend it is associated chiefly with the 19th century novel of middle- or
lower-class life. The problems of these ordinary people in pathetic conditions are closely related
with the physical environment and to the complexities of social life.

Stendhal is the French exponent and Alexander Pushkin is the Russian exponent of
Realism. Realist authors choose to depict every day and banal activities and experiences,
instead of using a romanticised or stylised presentation of life. Honoré de Balzac is the most
prominent representative of 19th century realism in fiction. He has included realistic details and
recurring characters in La Comédie humaine, a vast collection of nearly 100 novels. Realism is
also an important aspect of the works of Alexandre Dumas.

The outstanding works of realism in 19th century fiction include Honore de Balzac’s Illusions
perdues (1837-43) and George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1871-2). In France, a self-consciously
realist school announced itself in 1857 with the publication of Champfleury’s Le Realisme.
However, the term normally refers to the general convention rather than to this barely significant
group.

Gustave Flaubert’s acclaimed novels Madame Bovary (1857) and Sentimental Education
(1869) represent perhaps the highest stages in the development of French realism. Realist
writers in Europe include Leo Tolstoy, Guy de Maupassant, Anton Chekhov, and Émile Zola,
whose naturalism is often regarded as an offshoot of realism. Early American realists include
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Stephen Crane, and Horatio Alger, Jr. Later American realists
are John Steinbeck, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, Jack London, Edith Wharton, and Henry
James.

Realism also established itself as an important tradition in the theatre in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, in the work of Henrik Ibsen, Bernard Shaw, and others; and it remains a
standard convention of film and television drama. In the work of some novelists, Realism passes
over into the movement of Naturalism, in which sociological investigation and determinist views
of human behaviour predominate.

Modern critics insist that realism is not a direct or simple reproduction of reality (a ‘slice of
life’) but a system of conventions producing a life-like illusion of some ‘real’ world outside the
 15

text. They claim that Realism uses the processes of selection, exclusion, description, and
manners of addressing the reader which cannot be realistic in its real sense. Modernism
attempted radically to displace the realist emphasis on external reality (notably in the movements
of Expressionism, Surrealism, and Symbolism). However, Realism survived as a major current
within 20th century fiction, under the label of Neo-Realism.

Reference:
· Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford U P, 2001.

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_realism

3.3 Marxism
Marxism is often associated with the works of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels. It is a prominent movement of the 19th and 20th centuries that focuses on the socio-
economic analysis of class relations and societal conflict. It uses a ‘materialist’ interpretation of
historical development and a ‘dialectical’ view of social transformation.

Marx and Engels wrote The German Ideology jointly in 1845-46. It has become a key
concept in Marxist Criticism of literature and the other arts. Marx inherited the term from the
French philosophers of the late eighteenth century, who used it to designate the study of the
way that all general concepts develop from sense perceptions.

In the capitalist economic organisation that emerged during the 18th century, the reigning
ideology incorporates the interests of the dominant and exploitative class, the ‘bourgeoisie’,
who are the owners of the means of production and distribution, as opposed to the ‘proletariat’,
or wage-earning working class. This ideology, to those who live in and with it, it is claimed,
seems to be a natural and inevitable way of seeing, explaining, and dealing with the environment,
but in fact has the hidden function of legitimising and maintaining the position, power, and
economic interests of the ruling class.

Bourgeois ideology is regarded as both producing and permeating the social and cultural
institutions and practices of the present era - including religion, morality, philosophy, politics,
and the legal system, as well as literature and other arts. Marx represented ideology as a
‘superstructure’ of which the concurrent socio-economic system is the ‘base’. Friedrich Engels
described ideology as ‘a false consciousness’. Later Marxists consider it to be constituted largely
by unconscious prepossessions that are illusory, in contrast to the ‘scientific’ (i.e., Marxist)
16

knowledge of the economic determinants, historical evolution, and present constitution of the
social world.

Marx and Engels have collaborated to produce a range of publications based on capitalism,
class struggles, and socialist movements. Their theories and ideologies are evident in their
published works:

· The Communist Manifesto (1848)

· Preface to the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859)

· Das Kapital or Capital (1867)

Marxist Literary Criticism is a term describing literary criticism based on socialist and
dialectic theories. It views literary works as reflections of the social institutions from which they
originate. According to Marxists, literature itself is a social institution and has a specific ideological
function, based on the background and ideology of the author. Richard Wright, Claude McKay,
Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Bertolt Brecht are deeply influenced by Marxist and
socialist theories of the day, and their reflection is evident in their writings.

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist_literary_criticism

Review Questions I:
1. Naturalism is an offshoot of ____ in literary studies.

2. Ibsen’s ­­­­_____ is considered to be a Realist Drama as it focuses on hereditary

aspects.

3. ____ is the most prominent representative of 19th century realism in fiction.

4. Realism survived as a major movement in 20th century fiction, under the label ____.

5. ____ and ____ jointly wrote Das Kapital or Capital.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Realism

2. Ghosts

3. Balzac
 17

4. Neo-Realism

5. Marx and Engels

Review Questions II:

1. Describe the unique features of Naturalism in literature.

2. Discuss how Realism established itself as a major movement in the 19 th century

fiction.

3. Distinguish between Realism and Naturalism.

4. Write about the ideology of Marx and Engel in detail.

5. Evaluate how Marxist ideology has influenced literary studies.

18

LESSON 4
EXISTENTIALISM & ABSURDISM
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· Existentialism

· Absurdity

· Theatre of the Absurd

4.1 What is Existentialism?

The European philosophy ‘existentialism’ is distinguished by its focus on lived human
existence. It is the work of late 19th and 20th century European philosophers who, despite profound
doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject
- not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual. While the
prevalent value of existentialist thought is commonly acknowledged to be freedom, its primary
virtue is authenticity. In the view of an existentialist, the individual’s position is characterised by
what has been called ‘the existential attitude’ or a sense of disorientation, confusion, or dread in
the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.

Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard is generally considered to be the first existentialist

philosopher, though he did not use the term ‘existentialism’. He proposed that each individual -
not society or religion - is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately,
sincerely, or authentically. Though the concept was initiated in the 1840s, its impact was fully
felt only in the mid-20th century in France and Germany. German philosophers Martin Heidegger
and Karl Jaspers worked on it in the 1920s and 1930s, and influenced the more prominent
works of Jean-Paul Sartre and the other French existentialists including Simone de Beauvoir,
Albert Camus, and Maurice MerleauPonty.

Sartrean existentialism, as distinct from the Christian existentialism derived from

Kierkegaard, is an atheist philosophy of human freedom conceived in terms of individual
responsibility and authenticity. Its fundamental premise that ‘existence precedes essence’ implies
that human beings have no inherent essence or nature, but they forge their own values and
meanings in an inherently meaningless or absurd world of existence. In terms of its literary
 19

impact, the thought of Sartre has been the most significant, as portrayed in his novels (la
Nausee or Nausea, 1938) and plays (Les Mouches or The Flies, 1943) as well as in the major
philosophical work (L’Etre et le neant or Being and Nothingness, 1943). Obliged to make their
own choices, human beings either confront the anguish of this responsibility, or evade it by
claiming obedience to some determining convention or duty, thus acting in ‘bad faith’.
Paradoxically, they are ‘condemned to be free’. Similar themes can be found in the novels and
essays of Camus.

Both Sartre and Camus felt that the absurdity of existence could be redeemed through
the individual’s decision to become engaged or committed within social and political causes
opposing fascism and imperialism. Existentialism became popular in the years following World
War II, and strongly influenced many disciplines besides philosophy, including theology, drama,
art, literature, and psychology. Some of the concerns of French existentialism are echoed in
English in Thom Gunn’s early collection of poems The Sense of Movement (1957) and in the
fiction of Iris Murdoch and John Fowles.

Reference:
· Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford U P, 2001.

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism

Virtual classroom:
· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google
Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the class Classics in Translation in Versoapp.

4.2 What is Absurdism?

In philosophy, ‘the Absurd’ refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek
inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. ‘Absurdism’ shares
theoretical concepts with ‘existentialism’ and ‘nihilism’. It has its origins in the work of the 19th
century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who chose to confront the crisis that humans
face with the absurd by developing his own existentialist philosophy. Camus’ concept of ‘absurd’
is often applied to the modern sense of human purposelessness in a universe with no meaning
or value.
20

‘Absurdism’ as a belief system originated from the European existentialist movement

after Albert Camus used the term ‘absurd’ in his 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus
defines the human condition as absurd, as the confrontation between man’s desire for meaning
and the meaningless world in reality. The aftermath of World War II provided the social
environment that stimulated absurdist views and allowed for their popular development, especially
in the western countries. Many 20th century writers of prose fiction have stressed the absurd
nature of human existence: notable instances are the novels and stories of Franz Kafka, in
which the characters face alarmingly incomprehensible predicaments.

Reference:
· Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford U P, 2001.

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

4.3 Theatre of the Absurd

The critic Martin Esslin coined the term in his 1960 essay Theatre of the Absurd to refer to
a number of dramatists of the 1950s (led by Samuel Beckett and Eugene Lonesco) whose
works evoke the absurd by abandoning logical form, character, and dialogue together with
realistic illusion. In his 1965 book Absurd Drama, Esslin states that ‘the Theatre of the Absurd
attacks the comfortable certainties of religious or political orthodoxy. It aims to shock its audience
out of complacency, by bringing the harsh facts of the human life’. According to him, the ‘Theatre
of Absurd’ does not provoke tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.

The classic work of absurdist theatre is Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1952), which
revives some of the conventions of clowning and farce to represent the impossibility of purposeful
action and the paralysis of human aspiration. Though the term is applied to a wide range of
plays, some characteristics are similar in many of the plays: broad comedy (similar to vaudeville)
with horrific or tragic images, hopeless characters forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions,
dialogues full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense, and plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive.
Other important dramatists associated with the ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ include Edward Albee,
Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, and Vaclav Havel.

Reference:
· Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Oxford U P, 2001.

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Absurd
 21

Review Questions I:
1. ____ shares theoretical concepts with ‘existentialism’ and ‘nihilism’.

2. Albert Camus used the term ‘absurd’ in his 1942 essay ____.

3. ____ coined the term in his 1960 essay Theatre of the Absurd.

4. The classic work of absurdist theatre is Samuel Beckett’s _____.

5. Edward Albee, Jean Genet, and Harold Pinter are associated with the ____.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Absurdism

2. The Myth of Sisyphus

3. Martin Esslin

4. Waiting for Godot

5. Theatre of the Absurd

Review Questions II:

1. Write about the characteristic features of Existentialism.

2. Discuss the existentialist ideas of Sartre and Camus.

3. Describe the salient features of Absurdity.

4. Discuss Camus’ concept of ‘absurd’ in detail.

5. Write about the characteristic features of Theatre of the Absurd.

22

LESSON 5
WORLD LITERATURE - GREEK & INDIAN THEATRE
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to introduce the

· Ancient Greek Theatre

· Greek Tragedies

· Ancient Indian Theatre

· Natyasastra

5.1 Ancient Greek Theatre

Ancient Greece developed a theatrical art or culture that flourished from 600-700 BC.
Athens was the capital city of ancient Greece. It was the centre, holding the cultural, political,
and military power in Greece. Ancient Greek Theatre developed in Athens, as a part of the
festival Dionysia which was celebrated in honour of the god Dionysus. Greece and Rome were
conquering lands around the world. Wherever Athens set up power, Greek Theatre was
introduced there to establish a common cultural identity.

Significant genres like tragedy, comedy, and satyr play evolved during this period. Chorus
plays an inevitable role in these ancient Greek plays. As the theatres had space constraints, all
the scenes in a play could not be depicted on the stage. Chorus is a homogeneous, non-
individualised group of performers who speak or sing in a collective voice explaining the dramatic
action in detail. The chorus consists of 12-15 actors, who recited the dialogues, sang songs, or
acted the scenes, collectively. Some of them wore masks to conceal their real identities.

Chorus can be considered as the perfect audience or ideal spectator. Chorus was a
constituent element in Ancient Greek plays. It offered background information, character
depiction, or gist of the action sequence, helping the audience understand the play better. It
also provided insights into the themes or values portrayed in the play, demonstrating how the
audience was expected to react to important scenes in the play. The ‘coryphaeus’ was the head
chorus member who could enter as a character and interact with the other characters in the
play.
 23

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_Ancient_Greece

5.2 Greek Tragedies

The term ‘tragedy’ is broadly applied to dramatic representations of serious actions which
lead to a disastrous end for the protagonist. According to Aristotle, ‘tragedy’ evolved from the
satyr ‘dithyramb’, an Ancient Greek hymn, which was sung along with dance in honour of
Dionysus. Popular tragedies are the works of Greek dramatists such as Aeschylus, Sophocles,
and Euripides. Aeschylus had established the basic rules of tragic drama.

Thespis was the first person to represent a character as an actor on the stage. The Greek
playwrights never used more than three actors on the stage. According to Aristotle, Aeschylus
added the second actor (deuteragonist). Sophocles introduced the third actor (tritagonist),
increased the number of chorus to fifteen, introduced scenery, and used variety of scenes in a
play. In his plays, character development and conflict are more important than the chorus.
Euripides portrayed realism and psychological dynamics in his characters.

Greek tragedy begins with a ‘prologue’, in which the characters introduce themselves or
explain the background of the story. It is followed by the ‘parodos’ in which the characters enter
into the stage and start performing their roles in different episodes. These episodes are interrupted
by ‘stasima’ or choral interludes, explaining or commenting on the characters or situations in
the play. The tragedy ends with the ‘exodus’ which is the conclusion of the play. Tragedy and
comedy never mixed in ancient Greek plays.

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_tragedy

5.3 Ancient Indian Theatre

Ancient Indian Theatre evolved after the development of Greek and Roman theatres in
the west. It flourished between 2nd and 10th century BCE. Vedas do not contain many references
to drama. The Mahâbhâcya (a treatise on grammar) by Patañjali reveals the origin of Sanskrit
Drama. Pali Suttas from Buddhist literature have references to the troupes of actors (led by a
chief actor), who performed drama along with songs and dance on the stage.
24

Kalidasa who had written Mâlavikâgnimitram (Mâlavikâ and Agnimitra), Vikramuurvashiiya

(Story of Vikrama and Urvashi), and Abhijñânaúâkuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala) is
considered to be the greatest ancient Indian dramatist. Bhavabhuti (c. 7th century CE) had
written three plays: Malati-Madhava, Mahaviracharita, and Uttar Ramacharita. Indian emperor
Harsha (606-648) had written three plays: the comedy Ratnavali, Priyadarsika, and the Buddhist
drama Nagananda.

The major source of information for Sanskrit theatre is Nâtyaúâstra or A Treatise on

Theatre by Bharata Muni. Ancient Indian Theatre started declining in 10th century BCE with the
Islamic conquests in India. Village theatre that promoted indigenous values and ideas across
the country developed between 15th and 19th centuries. Modern Indian Theatre evolved during
the British rule between 19th and 20th centuries.

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_India

5.4 Natyasastra
Nâtyaúâstra or A Treatise on Theatre is a Sanskrit Hindu text that deals with dramaturgy
or performing arts in ancient India. It is believed to have written by the Hindu sage Bharatha
Muni between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It contains 6 chapters with 6000 poetic verses describing
performance arts in detail. It discusses the dramatic composition, structure of a play, stage
construction, genres of acting, body movements, make up, costumes, role and goals of an art
director, musical scales, musical instruments, integration of music with art performance, etc.

Natyasastra narrates the mythological origin and history of theatre in India. It discusses
the role of different Hindu deities and importance of pooja in various aspects of arts. It describes
stock characters, such as the hero (nayaka), heroine (nayika), or clown (vidusaka). It also talks
about the competitions among directors or actors and the nature or expectation of the audience
during that period. Of all the elements of theatre, Natyasastra focuses more on acting (abhinaya),
which consists of two styles: realistic (lokadharmi) and conventional (natyadharmi).

The rasa theory of Natyasastra states that bliss is intrinsic or innate in men. The role of
performance arts is to support them in experiencing or re-experiencing it. Actors help them
bring out the aesthetic feel within them. Rasa is expressed through the creative synthesis and
expression of vibhava (determinants), anubhava (consequents) and vyabhicharibhava (transitory
 25

states). It also reveals eight sentiments such as erotic, comic, pathetic, terrible, furious, odious,
heroic and marvellous during stage performance.

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natya_Shastra

Review Questions I:
1. Ancient Greek Theatre developed as a part of the festival ____.

2. The ____ was the head chorus member who could enter as a character and interact
with the other characters in the play.

3. ____ had established the basic rules of tragic drama.

4. The Mahâbhâcya (a treatise on grammar) by ____ reveals the origin of Sanskrit

Drama.

5. The rasa theory of ____ states that bliss is intrinsic or innate in men.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Dionysia

2. ‘coryphaeus’

3. Aeschylus

4. Patañjali

5. Natyasastra

Review Questions II:

1. Bring out the significance of Ancient Greek Theatre.

2. Evaluate the role of Chorus in Greek Tragedies.

3. Discuss Greek Tragedy in detail.

4. Trace the development of Ancient Indian Drama.

5. Evaluate the importance of Natyasastra in Indian Drama.

26

LESSON 6
THIRUVALLUVAR - POETRY
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

 the life and works of the poet Thiruvalluvar

 the life and works of the translator Rajaji

 Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural (translated by Rajaji)

6.1 Thiruvalluvar
Thiruvalluvar is a great Tamil poet and philosopher, popularly called Valluvar or Poyya
Mozhi Pulavar. Thirukku[a7, otherwise called Ulaga Pothumarai, is his masterpiece. There is
no historical evidence for his age or birthplace. He is believed to have born and lived in Tamilnadu
between 4th century BCE and 7th century CE. His name is mentioned in the 10th century work
Tiruvalluva Maalai. Vasuki is believed to be Valluvar’s obedient wife.

Birthplaces of Valluvar are assumed to be Mylapore, Madurai, or Kanyakumari by different

scholars. Some claim that he belonged to weaver community. Some say that he belonged to
Vellalar (farmer) community. A few others argue that he was born for a Brahmin father and Dalit
mother. Though Valluvar is considered to be a Hindu in general, Shaivites consider him a
devotee of Shiva. Some call him a Buddhist saint or scholar. Some relate his ideas with Jainism.
Anglican Christian missionary G. U. Pope claims that Tirukku[al is influenced by Christian
ideologies.

Honouring the Tamil poet, a memorial place Valluvar Kottam has been built in Chennai.
Valluvar’s 133-foot statue has been erected in Kanyakumari which is located in the southern
end of Tamilnadu. The statue is placed on a tall pedestal where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal,
and Indian Ocean converge with each other. The 133 feet denote Tirukku[a7’s 133 chapters or
athikaram, and the poet’s three fingers denote the themes Aram, Porul, and Inbam. Valluvar’s
status is also found outside the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square, London.
Thiruvalluvar Day is celebrated as part of the Pongal celebrations in Tamilnadu.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvalluvar
 27

6.2 Chakravarti Rajagopalachari

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was popularly called Rajaji. He was the last Governor-General
of India. He had also served as the leader of the Indian National Congress, Premier of the
Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union,
and Chief Minister of Madras State.

Rajaji was closely associated with Gandhiji and Nehru. He was instrumental in starting
the Swatantra Party. Along with political activism, he involved himself in social work. He opposed
nuclear weapons and promoted world peace and disarmament. He had received the India’s
highest civilian award Bharat Ratna for his excellent contribution to literature. His nickname
was ‘Mango of Salem’.

Rajaji has contributed a lot to the Indian English literature. He has set Carnatic Music to
the popular song Kurai Onrum Illai. He has started the Tamil Scientific Terms Society in 1916
which is involved in collecting new vocabulary related to botany, chemistry, physics, astronomy
and mathematics. He was instrumental in introducing Tamil as the medium of instruction in the
schools.

In 1951, he wrote retelling of Mahabharata in English. In 1961, he translated Kambar’s

Ramayana from Tamil into English. In 1965, he translated Thirukkural into English and also
wrote books on the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads in English. He also had written about
Socrates and Marcus Aurelius in Tamil.

Rajaji was accused of being ‘pro-Sanskrit’ and ‘pro-Hindi’. He had been criticised for
introducing the compulsory study of Hindi in Tamilnadu. However, after the Anti-Hindi agitations
in Tamilnadu, he supported the protestors. He was also condemned for initiating the Madras
Scheme of Elementary Education which supported caste-based education in Tamilnadu.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Rajagopalachari

6.3 Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural (translated by Rajaji)

In the Illaraviyal section of Arathupaal, Thiruvalluvar discusses various aspects like family
life, children, charity, hospitality, gratitude, etc.
28

 Dharma: No greater wealth one can acquire than Aram or Dharma, and no misfortune
greater than forgetting it. One has to perform his/her duties, using all the strength
and resources available, without swerving from the path of Dharma.

 Householder: Any householder’s life is as significant as a saint’s life. The householder

may appear to be living a selfish life for pleasure. But he is actually fulfilling his
duties as a son, husband, and father, sacrificing his own desires most of the time.

 Life Partner: A wife should support her husband in fulfilling his duties as a
householder. She has to control her expenses within her husband’s earnings. If she
is not tolerant and compassionate, anything including riches cannot bring good to
the family.

 Children: Among all the blessings, begetting children with intelligence is the greatest
one. The porridge in which one’s child has dabbled its little hand is sweeter than the
‘heavenly ambrosia’ (amizhtham). Only the people who have not heard their children’s
‘baby talk’ will appreciate the music from instruments like flute (kuzhal) or harp
(yaazh).

 Compassion: Those who don’t have compassion try to possess everything for
themselves. In contrast, even the bones of compassionate people belong to others.

 Hospitality: A family man is obliged to treat his guests well. One should not eat even
the ‘food of immortality’, leaving his/her guests outside the house. The Goddess of
Prosperity will dwell in the house of the person who entertains his/her guests well.

 Pleasant words: The enlightened people utter kind words without deceit. Pleasant
words with a sweet smile are better than a gift offered with a kind heart. Charity is
nothing but looking at somebody with compassion, smiling brightly, and uttering
kind words, making them feel relaxed and happy.

 Gratitude: Help not done in return but rendered for the first time (by somebody)
cannot be compensated even with what the earth and sky could give us. Even if it is
of little worth, the help rendered during crucial time is larger than the world.

 Self-control: Self-control or humility places humans among the gods, while life without
self-control pushes them into darkness. It is important to maintain self-control
throughout life as there is no treasure more precious than that. Self-control is
important for all, but it is more important for the rich people as it adds to their
richness or prosperity.
 29

 Discipline: Self-discipline gives upliftment and is more than precious than one’s life.
It reveals one’s noble birth or background; birth of undisciplined people is considered
ignoble. Even if one tries to learn different philosophies, disciplined life will save
him/her from destruction. A Brahmin can memorise the scripture even if he forgets
it, but his whole birth will lose its value if he does not maintain discipline.

 Adultery: One who understands the virtue and values of the world will not possess
love for another man’s wife. The man who gets into another man’s house with lust
is the stupidest among all the non-virtuous men. Considering it easy, he might enter
into another man’s house. But he has to stay with blame, shame, and guilt throughout
his life. He is nothing but a dead body if he betrays a loyal friend.

 Forbearance or Tolerance: As the earth tolerates and supports the men who dig it,
forbearing and forgiving those who insult us is significant. Forgiving one’s misdeeds
is good; forgetting it is better. People who take revenge are considered insignificant
while people who forgive are treated like gold. Taking revenge gives one day’s
pleasure. But forbearance brings life-long glory.

 Envy or Jealousy: There is no greater wealth than the possession of a mind that is
free from envy. Envying others’ possessions is equivalent to poverty. Only those
who are not bothered about their own spiritual well-being express jealousy. To be
endowed with a temperament free from envy is the greatest blessing on the earth.

 Greed or Covetousness: The family of any man who tries to take others’ property by
illegitimate means will get destroyed. Only those who do not wish to become virtuous
feel greedy about others’ wealth. Those who are afraid of guilt or shame never
become covetous. Those who aspire for real happiness will not feel greedy as
greed causes only temporary pleasure. Those who can control their senses never
become greedy.

 Backbiting: You may sometimes speak the harshest things on a man’s face, but do
not indulge in the folly of attacking any one behind his back. If men would see their
own faults as they see the faults of others, evil would come to an end in the world.

 Worthless Talk: The person who indulges himself/herself in disgust-causing worthless

talk earns everybody’s contempt. Indulging in indecent talk in mixed company causes
greater sorrow. People who involve in worthless talk are considered to be the ‘chaff’
(pathar) of humanity. Not discussing anything good is better than uttering useless
30

words. Even unknowingly, intelligent people never involve themselves in useless

talks.

 Dread of Evil Deeds: The very thought of wrongdoing frightens virtuous men, but
evil men see nothing terrible in wrongdoing. Evil men get over natural fear and
hesitation by repeating their misdeeds. Dread or fear of evil is something precious
that should be kept undiminished as it could save anybody from sins.

 Helpfulness: What good did the creatures of the earth do to the clouds that pour the
rain? So you should serve the society, seeking no return. Virtuous men work hard
and produce wealth, not for themselves but for the use of society. Wealth should be
treated as the citizen’s instrument for helpfulness. No pleasure in any world equals
to the joy of being helpful to those around you.

 Eat No Meat: How can a man adopt the way of compassion by gorging on the flesh
of other living organisms to fatten his own flesh? Meat eating is inconsistent with
love or compassion. If we must eat meat, let us not talk about compassion. The
butcher with the knife in his hand cannot turn his heart towards compassion. It is
just the same with the person who has trained his mind to find pleasure in eating the
body of another creature cooked tasty with condiments.

 Anger: Losing temper in dealing with the superiors (with power) is bad; getting
angry with powerless people is worse. Anger that spoils one’s smile and happiness
is his/her worst enemy. If one does not guard himself/herself from anger, he/she will
be destroyed by anger itself. A hand that hits the land feels the intense pain. In the
same manner, a man who shows anger becomes sorrowful.

 Fortitude: One’s spirit should not be broken down by misfortune, adversity, or defeat.
Laugh when you face misfortune. It is essential to overcome adversity and achieve
victory. Misfortune may come like a flood. But it vanishes in the wise man’s mind by
the simple thought that adversity can be defeated by a determined mind. Man is
born to be the target of misfortune. The wise man knows this and will remain
unperturbed by it.

In the Illaraviyal section of Porutpaal, Thiruvalluvar discusses various aspects like the
essential qualities of a king, learning, friendship, alcoholism, gambling, agriculture, etc.

 Qualities of a King: A king who possesses a powerful army, ministry, citizens, treasury,
friends, and fort is considered to be the best of all the kings. Courage, compassion,
 31

wisdom, and energy / enthusiasm are the qualities of a good king. Vigilance,
education, and courage should not diminish in him. He should always follow charity,
virtues, and self-discipline. An efficient king should acquire wealth, guard it, and
share it among all the citizens.

 Learning: One has to choose the right books to learn. After learning without errors,
he/she has to abide by what is being learnt from the books. Mathematics (numbers)
and literature (letters) are the two eyes of man. Only the educated ones have real
eyes; the others have wounds in the place of eyes. As you dig deep, you get more
water from the spring or well. As you learn more, you will become more
knowledgeable.

 Auditory Learning: Knowledge gained by listening to oral discourse is the best of all
knowledge. You can relax to eat when there is no food (oral discourse) for the ear
(to hear). Those who improve their knowledge by listening are equal to the gods
who eat divine foods in the heaven. An uneducated person can listen to discourse
and improve his/her knowledge. This will help him/her as a crutch during crisis in
life.

 Friendship: It is very rare to find real friendship that protects one from the dangers
in life. The friendship between/among wise men waxes like a new moon, but fools’
friendship wanes like a full moon. As you learn more, you feel enlightened; likewise
friendship with cultured people grows delightful day by day. Just laughing together
is not friendship; pointing out a friend’s mistake and helping him/her correct it is
good friendship.

 Alcoholism: Those who drink alcohol lose their respect and glory forever. Even the
others feel hostile towards their drunkard sons. How can the wise people maintain
friendship with the drunkards? The virtuous maid ‘shame’ turns back and walks
away from the drunkards. Those who forget themselves are considered to be dead;
drunkards are those who consume poison intentionally.

 Gambling: Winning in a gambling game is quite dangerous; it is compared with the

fish that swallows bait with the hook. Is there any means of livelihood for the gamblers
who win once but lose hundred times? Anybody who throws the dice and gambles
all the time will lose all his wealth. Gambling not only brings poverty but also lots of
evils that cause destruction. A gambler loses his clothes, wealth, food, glory, and
learning because of gambling.
32

 Agriculture: The whole world rotates around the farmer’s plough or plow. Agriculture
is considered to be the most significant among all the jobs. A farmer is like an axle
as he supports all the other professionals in the world. Farmers are the ones who
live their lives; all the others bend before them and eat whatever they give. Farmers
never beg anything from anybody. Instead they supply food to whoever asks them.
If the farmers fold their hands and stop doing their work, even the sages have to
suffer.

Reference:
 Kural - The Great Book of Tiru-Valluvar -Penguin Selections of Rajaji’s Translation

Virtual classroom:
 Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google
Play Store.

 Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about Thirukkural in Versoapp.

Review Questions I:
1. Thirukku[al is popularly called ____.

2. In 1951, he wrote the retelling of ____ in English.

3. The porridge in which one’s child has dabbled its little hand is sweeter than the
_____.

4. People who involve in worthless talk are considered to be the ____ of humanity.

5. Drunkards are those who consume ____ intentionally.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Ulaga Pothumarai

2. Mahabharata

3. ‘heavenly ambrosia’

4. ‘chaff’ (pathar)

5. poison
 33

Review Questions II:

1. Trace the origin of Thiruvalluvar and his masterpiece Thirukkural.

2. Write about the life and works of the translator Rajaji.

3. Describe ‘family life’ as discussed in Thirukkural.

4. Analyse the qualities of a good king as described by Valluvar.

5. Evaluate Valluvar’s ideas on alcoholism and gambling.

34

LESSON 7
PLATO - PROSE
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

 the life and works of Plato

 Plato’s Portrait of Socrates

7.1 Life and Works of Plato

Plato is an ancient Greek philosopher. As a young man, he was in the elite circle of
Socrates. These philosophers involved themselves in scholarly discussions that include
aesthetics, theology, cosmology, epistemology, political philosophy, and philosophy of language.
Their ideas were not merely philosophical, but mathematical and scientific in the modern sense.
The influence of Pythagoras on Plato was also evident in these discussions.

Plato developed hatred towards political life because of the Spartan-imposed oligarchy of
the Thirty Tyrants and the trial and execution of Socrates. He devoted himself to teaching and
philosophical inquiry. He was the founder of the Academy, a skeptical school in Athens. The
great mathematicians Theaetetus and Eudoxus of Cnidus were associated with it. Aristotle
studied in Academy in 20 years before starting his own school, the Lyceum.

The Republic is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning justice,
order, and character of an ideal city-state and an honest man. It discusses the theory of forms,
immortality of soul, and the role of a philosopher and of poetry in the society. The Laws is
Plato’s last and longest dialogue that starts with the question of who should be given credit for
establishing a civilization’s laws.

Reference:
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato#Platonic_scholarship
 35

7.2 Plato’s Portrait of Socrates

During the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.), Sparta defeated Athens, and there ended
the Golden Age of Athenian civilization. Socrates lived in Athens, and influenced the Athenian
youth during this transition period. He never recorded his ideas; his life and thoughts were
revealed by the works of his contemporaries.

Many had recorded philosophical debates in the form of ‘Socratic dialogue’ which was a
genre during that time. Plato’s dialogues often featured Socrates as the protagonist. The Apology
is one of Plato’s early dialogues, in which he had not discussed any doctrine, but presented a
sympathetic portrait of his mentor Socrates. The name of the dialogue derives from the Greek
‘apologia’ which means ‘a speech made in defense’. In The Apology, the protagonist Socrates
attempts to defend himself and his conduct, certainly not to apologize for it.

Socrates states that he speaks in a plain and conversational style, as he is old and has no
experience with the flowery language common in the courts of law. He recollects a prophecy by
the Oracle at Delphi which claims that he is ‘the wisest of all men’. He claims that he could not
be the wisest as he lacks knowledge in most worldly affairs. He concludes that he could be
considered wiser than other men only in that he ‘knows that he knows nothing’. He has started
asking questions to supposed ‘wise’ men in the society to make them realise their ignorance.
This has earned him admiration among the youth of Athens. He claims that the hatred of the
people whom he has embarrassed by asking questions could be the reason for this trial.

Socrates compares himself with a gadfly stinging the lazy horse which is the Athenian
state. Athens often drifts into a deep sleep. Through his questions, he has irritated the supposed
wise men in the city and wakened the state into productive and virtuous action. When Socrates
is asked to pay a penalty, he jokingly suggests that he should be honoured with a grand meal
for his selfless service to the society. He says that he is not rich as he does not charge money
for his service. He does not allow even his students to pay the fine amount.

When the jury declares death punishment, Socrates states that he is not afraid of death.
He states that except god, nobody knows what happens after death, and it would be foolish to
be afraid of what one does not know. Socrates warns the jurymen who voted against him. He
tells his accusers Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon that by trying to silence their critic (Socrates)
rather than listening to his criticism, they have done more harm to themselves than they have
harmed the critic (Socrates).
36

Socrates is more bothered about the older accusers who had two principal accusations
against Socrates: first, that he does not believe in the gods, but rather teaches purely physical
explanations for heavenly and earthly phenomena; and second, that he teaches how to make a
weaker argument overcome a stronger argument by means of clever rhetoric. Socrates makes
an indirect reference to Aristophanes (the comic playwright who parodied Socrates in The Clouds)
and says that he could only answer the accusations as there is no chance of cross-examining
the accusers.

The Apology portrays three major themes in Socratic thought: Socratic irony, the elenchus
(or Socratic mode of inquiry), and the higher ethical concerns that dominate Socrates’ life. The
Delphic Oracle who has proclaimed that Socrates is the wisest of all men because he ‘knows
that he knows nothing’ can be considered as the source of ‘Socratic irony’.

This irony is also evident in the elenchus or Socrates’ mode of inquiry. Usually Socrates
tries to identify what his interlocutor thinks he knows, carefully dissects his claims of knowledge,
and makes him realise that he is not as knowledgeable as he thinks. Ironically, The Apology is
not portrayed in the form of a dialogue, but is presented in the form of a monologue. Socrates
does not discuss or dismantle a particular claim as he lays out the method behind these
dismantlings. In fact, it could be considered as an invaluable commentary on the other dialogues.

For Socrates, wisdom and virtue are closely connected. He wants to use his knowledge
to improve the society as a whole. In Socrates’ view, men do mistakes out of ignorance. He
believes that men who are wise never do wrong, and one’s knowledge or self-realisation leads
to fulfilment in life. Thus, the philosopher, according to Socrates, does not merely follow abstract
intellectual pursuits for fun or enjoyment, but should involve only in the activities of the highest
moral value.

Reference:
· Plato’s Portrait of Socrates

· http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/apology

Virtual classroom:

· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google

Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about Portrait of Socrates in Versoapp.
 37

Review Questions I:
1. During the _____ War, Sparta defeated Athens.

2. In The Apology, Socrates does not apologise to anybody but talks ____ of his ideas
and actions.

3. _____ has claimed that Socrates is ‘the wisest of all men’.

4. _____ parodied Socrates in The Clouds.

5. Socratic mode of inquiry is called ­­­­­_____.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Peloponnesian

2. in defense

3. Oracle at Delphi

4. Aristophanes

5. elenchus

Review Questions II:

1. Discuss the life and works of Plato.

2. Evaluate the use of ‘Socrative irony’ in The Apology.

3. Describe elenchus or Socrates’ mode of inquiry.

4. Discuss the ethical concerns of Socrates.

38

LESSON 8
KALKI - PARTHIBAN KANAVU - PROSE FICTION - I
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· the life and works of Kalki

· Kalki’s Parthiban Kanavu

8.1 Life and Works of Kalki

‘Kalki’ is the pen name of the Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic, and Indian independence
activist Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy. His other pen names are Ra. Ki, Tamil Theni, and
Karnatakam. He was born in Puttamangalam village in Tanjore district which belonged to Madras
Presidency then. His father Ramaswamy Aiyar was a poor accountant in Puttamangalam village.
Kalki did not complete his schooling. In 1921, he joined the Indian National Congress, inspired
by Mahatma Gandhi’s call for non-co-operation.

Kalki started working as a sub-editor at Navashakti edited by the Tamil scholar and freedom
fighter Thiru.Vi.Ka. (Thiru.V.Kalyanasundaram). In 1928, he stayed in the Gandhi Ashram at
Tiruchengode in Salem district and helped Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari) edit Vimochanam, a
Tamil journal. In the meanwhile, he was imprisoned a few times by the British officials for his
anti-governmental activities. In 1932, he joined Ananda Vikatan, a Tamil weekly edited and
published by S. S. Vasan.

In 1941, he left Ananda Vikatan, rejoined the freedom struggle, and got arrested by the
British government. Later on, he started the magazine Kalki, for which he was the editor until
his death in 1954. During this period, most of the people in Tamilnadu were uneducated, and a
few English-educated Tamils considered Tamil writings inferior. At this crucial time, Kalki’s
historical fiction were serialised in his weekly magazine, and more than 71,000 copies of the
magazine were circulated in Tamilnadu.

Kalki’s novel Alai Osai (written and published in 1948-49) won Sahitya Akademi Award
posthumously in 1956. His fiction Kalvanin Kadali (Bandit’s Sweetheart) was a popular hit among
the Tamil people. His work Thyaga Bhoomi (The Land of Sacrifice) was serialised in Ananta
Vikatan and filmed by a veteran K. Subramanyam simultaneously. This was banned by the
 39

British government as it was set in the backdrop of Salt Satyagraha and aroused the nationalistic
spirit of Tamil people. His historical fiction Parthiban Kanavu, Sivagamiyin Sabatham, and
Ponniyin Selvan portray the rule of Pallavas and Cholas in Tamilnadu.

Kalki has written the script and lyrics for the movie Meera in which the classical singer M.
S. Subbulakshmi has done the lead role. He insisted Carnatic musicians to give equal importance
to Tamil songs. He has translated Gandhi’s autobiography My Experiments with Truth, and
published it as Satya Sothanai. In commemoration of his birth centenary, Tamil Nadu Progressive
Writers and Artists Association (TNPWAA) published a special issue of their monthly magazine
Semmalar.

Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalki_Krishnamurthy

8.2 Kalki’s Parthiban Kanavu

Parthiban Kanavu (Parthiban’s Dream) is a famous Tamil historical novel written by ‘Kalki’
Krishnamurthy. It is a sequel to Sivakamiyin Sabatham, and has many references in his historical
fiction Ponniyin Selvan. This novel was adapted by D. Yoganand into a Tamil movie of the same
name in 1960, starring Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, and Ranga Rao.

Part I - The novel begins with the boatman Ponnan and his wife Valli discussing that a war
between the Cholas and the Pallavas is inevitable as Parthiban, the Chola king, has denied
paying taxes to the Pallava ruler Narsimha Varman. Cholas have lost their glory and pride by
becoming the vassals of the Pallava dynasty, and Parthiban dreams of retrieving their glory and
self-respect by regaining the kingdom.

Ponnan is a loyal subject of the Chola Kingdom. He pleads to Parthiban to allow him to
fight in the war, but Parthiban refuses and wants Ponnan to be with the Prince Vikraman. On
the other side, Marappa Bhupathi, the Chief Commander of the Chola Kingdom and the half-
brother of King Parthiban, shows no interest in the war against the Pallavas. Parthiban removes
Marappan from the position of the Commander, taking up the position himself.

Parthiban requests his wife Arul Mozhi Devi to protect the treasure of the Chola dynasty
- a sword used by the great Chola rulers like Karikal Valavan and Nedumudi Killi and the classical
Tamil book Thirukkural - and to hand them over to Vikraman when he becomes the ruler of an
independent kingdom.
40

Before leaving for the war, Parthiban takes his young son Vikraman to the art gallery at
Urayur. He takes him around a dark room where he has painted his dream of the Cholas
regaining their kingdom and the Tiger flag hoisted on the peak of the Himalayas. Parthiban
makes Vikraman promise to fight for the glory of the Chola Kingdom.

The war starts, and Marappan does not participate in the war claiming that he has met
with an accident. The Chola army loses the war. A Sivanadiyar (a disciple of Lord Shiva) appears
at the battlefield and meets Parthiban who lies mortally wounded in the battlefield. Parthiban
feels relieved to learn from the Sivanadiyar that all the soldiers from the Chola army have died
a glorious death and nobody has retreated fearing death or defeat.

Parthiban pleads to the Sivanadiyar to teach Vikraman the value of self-respect and
valour and to motivate him to fight for the glory of the Chola Kingdom. Sivanadiyar promises
Parthiban that he would guide Vikraman. Sivanadiyar reveals his real identity to the dying
Parthiban. Parthiban is surprised but dies peacefully.

Part II: Paranjothi, the commander of Narasimha Varman’s army, who has turned into
Siruthondar (one of the 63 Nayanmars), offers his blessings to Queen Arul Mozhi Devi and
Prince Vikraman. As promised, the Sivanadiyar (whose identify is not revealed) has been guiding
Vikraman after his father’s death. Vikraman prepares for a war against the Pallavas, and is
assured by his uncle Marappa Bhupathi that a huge army would arrive in support of Vikraman.

King Narsimha Varman and his daughter Kundavi are in the streets of Mamallapuram
when a messenger approaches the king. Narsimha Varman seems to be aware of what the
message is and sends the messenger back. When Kundavi asks about the message, the king
replies that Prince Vikraman is planning to hoist the Chola flag of Independence. Kundavi does
not seem to understand why anyone would rebel against a noble king like her father, and asks
her father to punish the rebellious Prince.

The representatives of the Shenbagam Island approach Narsimha Pallavan to bring their
island under his administration as their last ruler died leaving behind no heir. The Shenbagam
Island is now left without any king, and the natives from the nearby lands are attacking the
island. The Emperor asked the representatives for some time to arrive at any decision.

Princess Kundavi is in the streets of Kanchi and sees a young man in chains led by the
Emperor’s soldiers. The young man looks at her; Kundavi gets attracted towards him, and soon
 41

realizes that he is none other than the rebellious Prince Vikraman whom she wants to punish for
his actions.

Kundavi starts dreaming about Vikraman. She talks to her father and tries to convince
him not to give severe punishment to the handsome Prince. Narsimha Pallavan understands
his daughter’s concerns and tells her that Prince Vikraman has been instigated by a fake
Sivanadiyar and that his uncle Marappa Bhupathi also has betrayed him. He tells her that he
must punish Vikraman to stop any further rebellion in the Pallava Kingdom.

The Emperor orders Vikraman to be banished from his kingdom, and this information
troubles Kundavi. She reaches Mamallapuram to meet the Prince. Vikraman and Kundavi get a
glimpse of each other. Kundavi finds the Sivanadiyar in the port, tries to capture him, but he
escapes into the woods. Vikraman throughout his ship voyage thinks about the damsel he has
seen twice, first at the market and now in the port. He seems to be in love with Kundavi not
knowing that she is his rival’s daughter.

Queen Arul Mozhi Devi is in anguish when she learns of her son’s exile, but is relieved
that he is alive and not executed. Sivanadiyar informs the queen about her son falling in love
with the Emperor’s daughter. The queen is shocked on knowing this, but on Sivanadiyar’s
insistence, agrees to accept Kundavi. Soon the Queen leaves for pilgrimage abandoning the
kingdom. Vikraman becomes the independent ruler of the Shenbagam Island. Kundavi tries to
investigate about Sivanadiyar to prove him guilty and save Vikraman from exile.

Part III: It has been more than three years since Vikraman is crowned as the ruler of
Shenbagam Island where people live happily under his rule. He is haunted by the memories of
his mother, motherland, and the damsel he has fallen in love with. So he returns to his motherland
in the disguise of a gem-trader Devasenan, accompanied by a dwarf who is deaf and dumb.

Vikraman and Kundavi accidentally meet, but do not reveal their real identities. Kundavi
tells him that her name is Madhavi, and asks him to come to the palace to sell the precious
gems. Marappa Bhupathi meets the gems-trader, doubts if he is Vikraman, and tells him that
Queen Arul Mozhi Devi has met with an accident. Vikraman feels anxious and rushes to Urayur
when a group of goons attack him. He is helped by a spy commandant who takes him to a
sculptor’s house to spend the whole night and lends his horse to travel fast.
42

The dwarf and the goons belong to the Kapalikar, a savage cult who believe in human
sacrifice. The spy commandant finds that Marappa Bhupathi has joined hands with the Kapalikar
and has tried killing Vikraman who acts as the gems-trader Devasenan. It is soon revealed that
King Narsimha Varman has come in the disguise of the spy commandant to help Vikraman.

On his way to Urayur, Vikraman gets drowned in the river and is saved by the boatman
Ponnan who takes him to a mandapam. Ponnan tells Vikraman that Queen Arul Mozhi Devi is
saved from the tides, but has been abducted by Kabala Bhairavar. Vikraman becomes seriously
ill, and Ponnan leaves to find a physician.

Princess Kundavi and her brother Mahendran hear the groans of Vikraman when they
are on their way to Urayur. Kundavi recognises that Devasenan is none other than Vikraman
and takes care of him. Ponnan overhears the conversation of Kabala Bhairavar and Marappa
Bhupathi. In his greed to become the king, Marappan agrees to help Bhairavar to conduct
human sacrifice of Vikraman, Queen Arul Mozhi Devi, and Sivanadiyar.

Ponnan doubts Sivanadiyar and demands him to reveal his real identity. Sivanadiyar
leaves to rescue the queen and asks Ponnan to save Vikraman from the clutches of Marappa
Bhupathi.

Sivanadiyar has put himself in danger while saving Queen Arul Mozhi Devi, and Vikraman
decides to save Sivanadiyar rather than leaving to Shenbagam Island. Vikraman and Ponnan
reach in time to save Sivanadiyar from Kabala Bhairavar. It is revealed that Kabala Bhairavar is
none other than Neelakesi, brother of Pulikesi, who has come in disguise to take revenge on
Narsimha Pallavan.

In the Mamallapuram palace where King Narsimha Varman has to make the judgment
regarding the punishment of Vikraman for returning from his exile, it is revealed that Sivanadiyar
is none other than Narsimha Varman himself. As Vikraman has returned from his exile due to
his love for his mother and motherland, Vikraman is given the capital punishment of being
crowned as the independent king of Chola Nadu. Vikraman and Kundavi get married with the
blessings of Narsimha Varman.

Pallava rule was at its peak for a long period. The dreams of Parthiban were fulfilled when
the Chola glory was revived three hundred years after Parthiban’s death by Rajaraja Chola and
Rajendra Chola.
 43

Reference:
· Kalki’s Parthiban Kanavu

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthiban_Kanavu

Virtual classroom:

· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google

Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about Parthiban Kanavu in Versoapp.

Review Questions I:
1. Kalki’s work _____ was banned by the British government.

2. ____ is the half-brother of King Parthiban.

3. ____ blesses Queen Arul Mozhi Devi and Vikraman.

4. Vikraman becomes the king of _____ while in exile.

5. ____ is none other than Neelakesi, brother of Pulikesi.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Thyaga Bhoomi (The Land of Sacrifice)

2. Marappa Bhubathi

3. Paranjothi or Siruthondar

4. Shenbagam Island

5. Kabala Bhairavar

Review Questions II:

1. Discuss Kalki’s significant contribution to Tamil literature.

2. Describe the loyalty of Ponnan and his wife Valli in Parthiban Kanavu.

3. Sketch the character of Marappa Bhubathi.

4. Analyse the spirit of freedom as visualised by Kalki in Parthiban Kanavu.

5. Evaluate how Saivist ideology is portrayed in the novel Parthiban Kanavu.

44

LESSON 9
CAMUS - THE OUTSIDER - PROSE FICTION - II
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

 the life and works of Camus

 discuss Camus’ The Outsider

9.1 Camus and his Major Works

Albert Camus is a French philosopher who did not consider himself as an ‘existentialist’
throughout his life. Though he focused on individual freedom, he did not accept ‘nihilism’.
However, his ideas were instrumental in the development of ‘absurdism’ in philosophy. He was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. At the age of 44, he was the second youngest
recipient of the prize.

Camus was born in 1913 in French colonial Algeria. In 1914, his father was wounded in
the Battle of the Marne during World War I. After his death, Camus and his mother suffered a lot
due to poverty. Doing several part-time jobs, he managed to fund his own education in the
University of Algiers. He had many affairs out of marriage. He involved himself in politics before
becoming a writer.

Camus’ first novel The Stranger was published in 1942. His essay on the absurd The
Myth of Sisyphus was also published in the same year. His philosophical essay The Rebel was
published in 1951. His other important works are The Plague (1948), The Fall (1957), and Exile
and the Kingdom (1958), and Caligula and Three Other Plays (1958). He died in an automobile
accident in 1960, three years after getting the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature.

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus

9.2 Camus’ The Outsider

Camus’ philosophy of ‘absurd’ is revealed in The Outsider or The Stranger. The chief
protagonist and narrator in the novel is Meursault, a young man living in Algiers. His responses
 45

to his mother’s death are quite strange. His mother who has been living in an old-age home has
died. He receives a telegram, boards a bus to Marengo, and sleeps the entire night without
worrying about his mother’s death. He doesn’t want the caretaker to open the coffin to see his
mother’s face for the last time.

Along with the talkative caretaker, Meursault stays near his mother’s body throughout the
night. With no sign of sorrow, he drinks coffee, smokes cigarette, and sleeps off. Before the
funeral, the Director of the old-age home tells Meursault about the old man Thomas Perez who
is a close acquaintance of his mother. Perez faints as he walks into the local village along with
the funeral procession. Meursault doesn’t care about anything, and gets back to Algiers.

In Algiers, he does not regret for his mother’s death. He swims in the sea, fixes a date
with his former colleague Marie Cardona, goes to a theatre in the evening, and spends the
night with her. As he wakes up in the morning, he does not find Marie, but he does not care
about it. He lies on the bed throughout the day and enjoys seeing the crowd through the balcony
during the evening.

Meursault goes to work the next day. He doesn’t reveal any sorrow or distress to his
colleagues. He does his work very casually and eats lunch with his friend Emmanuel. In the
evening, as he climbs up the stairs to reach his apartment, he comes across the old man
Salamano, one of his neighbours, who grows a mangy dog after his wife’s death.

He also meets his neighbour Raymond Sintes who has developed a bad reputation of
being a pimp. He has beaten up his Moorish mistress and chased her out of the house for
betraying him. Still angry, he wants to take revenge on her and her brother. On behalf of Sintes,
Meursault writes a letter to his mistress to get her back to the house.

Marie meets Meursault again and asks if he loves her. He replies that “it didn’t mean
anything”, but probably not. He tells her that if she wants, they can go for marriage. Raymond
Sintes beats his mistress again, and a Policeman has come to settle down the issue. Meursault
agrees to help Sintes, who runs into Salamano whose dog has run away.

On Sunday, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond Sintes visit a beach house owned by Masson,
one of Sintes’ friends. They swim in the waters and enjoy a lot. During afternoon, Masson,
Raymond Sintes, and Meursault meet two Arabs on the beach, one of whom is the brother of
Sintes’ mistress.
46

Due to a fight, the Arabs stab Raymond Sintes. He wants to attack them both. Meursault
takes away his gun, preventing him from shooting the Arabs. One of the Arabs flings his knife
towards Meursault. Disoriented and due to heat stroke, Meursault shoots the Arab. He is arrested
and put into jail.

The magistrate feels irritated hearing about Meursault’s reactions during his own mother’s
funeral. He insists him to apologise to God. He refuses, declaring that he does not believe in
God. The magistrate feels anxious about Meursault’s lack of belief, and calls him ‘Monsieur
Antichrist’.

Marie visits Meursault in prison and talks about their marriage in the future. He is least
bothered about it as his isolation from nature, women, and cigarettes has made him stranger
than before. He is controlled and occupied, sleeping most of the time during the day or night.

In the courthouse, the jury starts discussing Meursault’s character in general. His behaviour
during and after his mother’s death worry them a lot. The Director and other people from the
old-age home along with Marie give witnesses about Meursault’s lack of grief and indifference
towards love and life. The jury calls Meursault a ‘monster’ and says that his indifference poses
a big threat to the society. He is given death punishment by ‘guillotining’.

Meursault dreams of escaping from the prison and going for legal appeal in the future.
Against his wish, a Chaplain visits him and urges him to reject atheism and turn towards God,
but Meursault refuses. Like the Magistrate, the Chaplain finds it odd that Meursault is not bothered
about faith or afterlife.

Meursault becomes angry and shouts at the Chaplain. He states that the world is
meaningless and purely physical. He emphasises on the idea that human existence holds no
meaning. He quits the hopes for the future and accepts the ‘gentle indifference of the world’. He
feels happy for not accepting God, but accepting the harsh reality of the strange world.

Reference:
· Camus’ The Outsider

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_(Camus_novel)

· http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/stranger/
 47

Virtual classroom:
 Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google
Play Store.

 Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about The Outsider in Versoapp.

Review Questions I:
1. Camus did not consider himself as an ____ throughout his life.

2. Camus’ philosophy of ____ is revealed in The Outsider.

3. The friend of Meursault’s mother is ____.

4. ____ grows a mangy dog after his wife’s death.

5. ____ wants to take revenge on his Moorish girlfriend.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. ‘existentialist’

2. ‘absurd’

3. Thomas Perez

4. Salamano

5. Raymond Sintes

Review Questions II:

1. Discuss the life and works of Albert Camus.

2. Distinguish between Meursault to Raymond Sintes.

3. Evaluate the strange behaviour of Meursault after his mother’s death.

4. Comment on the relationship between Meursault and Marie.

5. Discuss why Camus’ The Outsider is considered to be an absurd novel.

48

LESSON 10
THAKAZHI SIVASANKARAN PILLAI -
CHEMEEN - PROSE FICTION - III
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· the life and works of Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai

· Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai’s Chemmeen

10.1 Life and Works of Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai was born in 1912 in the village of Thakazhi, in Kuttanad,
Alappuzha district of Kerala. He started writing stories when he was a schoolboy. His literary
taste was nurtured by his high school headmaster Kainikkara Kumara Pillai who exposed him
to Indian literature.

Balakrishna Pillai introduced him to modern European literature and thought. He pursued
law, and after a brief stint of journalism, set up practice in Trivandrum where he frequented the
public library. In addition to Marx, he felt drawn by Freudian psychoanalysis. He also acquainted
himself with the French and Russian classics.

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s corpus of work covers a broad spectrum of themes from
wayward adolescence to the problems of old age. His recognition as a writer rests largely on
novels with a strong social or ideological content or which explore the lives of society’s fringe
characters. He has written 40 novels and more than 600 short stories in the Malayalam language.

He is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan. He has been awarded India’s highest literary
award the Jnanpith in 1984 for his epic novel Kayar. His works portray the social and political
scenario in his home state of Kerala, reflecting his concern for the poor, lower-caste, and the
downtrodden people in the society.

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai introduced Malayalam literature and the magical beauty of
Kerala’s coastal areas to the outside world through his novels. “In his best stories, one can
almost hear the sound of breathing as if it were orally told. His imagination was down to earth,
and his grand theme was the earth, man’s attachment to the earth.”
 49

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai belongs to the 50’s era. He is considered as a champion of

common man. Pillai inaugurated an era of social realism in Malayalam literature and reached
transcendental realism. Thakazhi is a romantic writer and his works reflect the life of the
indigenous people who are not accredited in the society.

Randidangazhi (Two Measures) traces the development of the agricultural workers’

movement in Kuttanad. It celebrates the ‘Red Flag’ and talks about the impoverished harijan
workers. It has been translated into several Indian and European languages.

Thottiyude Makan (Scavenger’s Son) is set during a period when scavengers went from
house to house collecting and carrying the human excreta. The novel emphasises that love
blossoms even in such horrible conditions, and in a scene that possibly shocked middle class
sensibilities, depicts a scavenger couple making passionate love inside a night soil depot.

Chemmeen with the typical appeal of its primary desires, the elaborate presence of the
sea, the portrayal of the tragic attainment of the fisherman’s ambitions to have a boat and a net
of his own, and the music of the fisher folk’s dialect became a grand success and is considered
to be a masterpiece like Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.

Reference:
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thakazhi_Sivasankara_Pillai

· https://beaninspirer.com/thakazhi-sivasankara-pillai/

10.2 Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai’s Chemmeen

Chemmeen (Prawns) is a tragic love story against the backdrop of a fishing village in
Alappuzha. The novel won the Kendra Sahitya Academy Award in 1958. It has been translated
into 19 world languages and adapted into film in 15 countries. Narayana Menon’s translation
titled Anger of the Sea-Goddess is very popular. Other English translations are by T. S. Pillai
and Anita Nair, both titled Chemmeen.

The film adaptation, also titled Chemmeen (1965) was directed by Ramu Kariat. It won
the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and Indian President’s Gold Medal for the Best
Film in 1965. Sheela, Madhu, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, and Sathyan played the lead
characters in the film. The novel and its film adaptation earned national and international fame.
50

The sea is a place of enjoyment and sustenance for the poets of all lands. T. S. Pillai was
reminiscent of his boyhood on the Kerala seaside. In his 1995 essay “The Story of My
Chemmeen”, he recalled his desire to write a novel around the superstitions embodied in this
familiar fable about the sea: “My intimacy with the seaside began when I was nine years old. I
knew all the faces and moods of the sea goddess. My mind was flooded with thoughts of the
sea goddess and the chakara.”

Chemmeen is a romantic tale laced with tragedy, set against the coastal belt and centred
around the lives of fisherfolk. The storyline derives from the folk superstition that a fisherman’s
survival at sea is linked to his wife’s chastity while he is away. The plot deals with the clandestine
love between a fisherman’s wife and a fish trader. The novel ends with their bodies being
washed ashore.

The central characters are Karuthamma and Pareekutty, who are childhood friends and
now budding lovers. Karuthamma belongs to the Marackan (Hindu fisherfolk) community, and
Pareekutty belongs to the Muslim community. Inter-caste marriages are strictly forbidden in
those days. Despite this, they have developed attraction and affection towards each other.

Pareekutty is called the Kochumuthalali (owner of the boats or yards on the seashore).
Karuthamma’s father is a poor fisherman who doesn’t have money even to buy a boat. Pareekutty
is not bothered about the financial background of Karuthamma and proposes boldly to her.
Karuthamma feels hesitant about exposing her love to him for various reasons.

Karuthamma’s mother Chakki senses the love between her daughter and the rich Muslim
boy. She warns her daughter saying that women from the fishermen community should be pure
and chaste. Otherwise Sea Goddess would get angry and take revenge on the whole community.
She states, “Do you know why sea goes dark sometimes? That is when the anger of the goddess
of the sea is roused. Then she would destroy everything”.

Karuthamma’s father Chembankunju tries to take advantage of the situation. He borrows

money from Pareekutty and buys a boat on his own. As Chakki insists, Chembankunju makes
arrangements for Karuthamma’s marriage with Palani, an orphan from fishermen community.
Having no choice, Karuthamma leaves Pareekutty and starts her marital life with Palani.
 51

Chakki becomes ill and dies. Chembankunju marries Pappikunju, the widow of the man
from whom he has bought his first boat. Panchami, Chembankunju’s younger daughter, leaves
home and stays with her sister Karuthamma.

Chembankunju does not return the money he has borrowed from Pareekutty. Already in
love failure, Pareekutty suffers badly because of financial crisis too. He goes to Palani’s village
to meet Karuthamma. Out of hesitation, Karuthamma talks with Pareekutty. The rumour spreads
out in the village, and Palani starts doubting his wife.

The story can be viewed as the Karuthamma-Pareekutty-Palani love triangle which is

set against the myth of the Kadalamma (Goddess of the Sea) who is the Preserver and Destroyer.
According to mythology, she is helpful to the fisherman who leads a moral life. Even during
storms, she safe-guards the fisherman whose wife remains chaste and prays for his safe return
while he is at sea.

The fishermen in the community feel frightened to take Palani to the sea along with
them. As Palani’s wife has betrayed him, the Sea Goddess’ wrath may turn towards him. Because
of this, the other fishermen may also land up in trouble in the deep sea. Becoming furious,
Palani takes a boat and goes to the sea alone. Karuthamma does not light lamps for the safe
return of her husband. Her mind keeps on thinking about Pareekutty’s love.

During the night, Pareekutty and Karuthamma meet in a secret place. At the same time,
Palani’s boat is caught in a whirlpool: “The palace of the goddess of the sea was at the bottom
of the deep sea. There the sea goddess was enshrined. Palani had heard descriptions of that
palace. He had to get there through a whirlpool, a whirlpool which made the whole sea churn
round in circles, knocking at the gates of the sea goddess’s abode”. Palani dies, getting caught
in the whirlpool.

Karuthamma-Pareekutty relationship is a love story similar to Laila-Manju of the East

and Romeo and Juliet of the West. Unable to tolerate the burden of love, Pareekutty and
Karuthamma die, and their bodies are washed ashore the next morning. The story of the star-
crossed lovers that ends in death cuts across cultural and geographical barriers.
52

Reference:
· T. S. Pillai’s Chemmeen

· Satchidanandan, K. The End of an Era: An Obituary for Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai

· http://www.ntm.org.in/download/volume4/0-Translation%20Today/

Virtual classroom:
· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google
Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about Chemmeen in Versoapp.

Review Questions I:
1. T. S. Pillai was born in a village called ____ in Kerala.

2. Hemingway’s ______ is compared with T. S. Pillai’s Chemmeen.

3. Pareekutty is called the ____ (owner of the boats or yards on the seashore).

4. ____ warns her daughter about Kadalamma’s anger.

5. _____ dies, caught in the whirlpool in the deep sea.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Thakazhi

2. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

3. Kochumuthalali

4. Chakki

5. Palani

Review Questions II:

1. Explain why T. S. Pillai is considered to be a champion of common man.

2. Sketch the character of Palani.

3. Distinguish between the characters Chakki and Chembankunju.

4. Describe the love between Pareekutty and Karuthamma.

5. Evaluate the sea-myth in the context of Chemmeen.

 53

LESSON 11
SOPHOCLES - OEDIPUS REX - DRAMA - I
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· the life and works of Sophocles

· Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

11.1 Life and Works of Sophocles

Sophocles is one of the three great tragic playwrights of classical Athens, along with
Aeschylus and Euripides. He won his first victory at the Dionysian dramatic festival in 468 BC,
defeating Aeschylus. It is believed that he has written 123 plays for the festivals. Some of his
dramatic innovations are 1. scene paintings or pictorial prop to establish the setting or atmosphere
2. increase in the size of the chorus (from 12 to 15 members) 3. introduction of a third actor into
the dramatic performance.

Sophocles’ Theban plays comprise of three plays: Oedipus Rex (also called Oedipus
Tyrannus or Oedipus the King), Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, focusing on the fate of
Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus. The other surviving plays are Ajax, Women
of Trachis, Electra, and Philoctetes.

Ajax portrays the proud hero of the Trojan War, Telamonian Ajax, who gets upset for
losing Achilles’ armour and tries to kill Odysseus. Despite their enemity, Odysseus instructs the
kings Menelaus and Agamemnon to grant Ajax a proper burial.

In Women of Trachis focuses on the story of Deianeira who tries to charm her husband
Heracles and unknowingly poisons him. Realising her mistake, she also commits suicide. Electra
elaborates on how Electra and Orestes take revenge on their mother Clytemnestra and her
lover Aegisthus for killing their father Agamemnon.

Reference:
· https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sophocles
54

11.2 Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus or Oedipus the King) is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles
that was first performed around 429 BC. It focuses on the tragic story of Oedipus, the king of
Thebes. As the play starts, the citizens gather outside the palace of King Oedipus, complaining
about the plague that has stricken Thebes. The king has already sent his brother-in-law Creon
to the Oracle at Delphi, asking for help.

Creon returns and informs that the plague would end only if the murderer of Laius (the
former king of Thebes) is identified and killed. Laius is killed by a gang of thieves on his way to
meet an Oracle. Nobody except a fellow traveller has seen the murderer. Oedipus asks Tiresias,
the blind prophet, to help him find the murderer. Tiresias refuses to tell the truth. As Oedipus
curses and accuses him of the murder, Tiresias reveals that Oedipus himself is the murderer.
Oedipus becomes angry and declares that Tiresias is insane.

Oedipus recollects an early incident when he has answered a riddle and saved the city
from a Sphinx. Tiresias mentions about Oedipus’ parents who live in the distant city of Corinth.
Oedipus asks how Tiresias know his parents. Tiresias leaves the stage saying that the murderer
of Laius would be the father and brother of his own children, and the son of his own wife.

After Tiresias leaves, Oedipus shouts at Creon for conspiring with the prophet. Oedipus’s
wife Jocasta (also the widow of King Laius) convinces him by saying that prophecies might not
be true. Before many years, the Delphic Oracle has declared that Laius (her dead husband)
would be murdered by his own son. She declares that their son is cast out of Thebes as a baby,
and Laius is murdered by a band of thieves.

Jocasta tells Oedipus that Laius has been killed at a three-way crossroads, just before
Oedipus arrives in Thebes. Oedipus doubts whether he himself has murdered Laius. When in
Corinth, he has overheard somebody saying that he is not the real son of the king and queen of
Corinth. To escape the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, he comes
out of Corinth. During his journey, he kills a group of travellers in self-defense. This has happened
at the crossroads where Laius has been killed.

Oedipus plans to meet the shepherd who has survived the attack to identify the murderer.
In the meanwhile, a messenger informs that Oedipus’ father Polybus is dead. He declares that
Oedipus can return to Corinth without worrying about the prophecy that he would marry his
mother because Polybus and Merope are not his real parents.
 55

The messenger, a shepherd by profession, informs that he has presented Oedipus (as a
baby with his ankles pinned together) to Polybus and Merope. It is revealed that the shepherd
who has handed over the baby to the messenger before many years is a servant of Laius.

Jocasta begs her husband Oedipus not to seek more information and runs into the palace.
Oedipus enquires the other shepherd and comes to know that Jocasta has given the baby to
the shepherd, ordering him to kill the baby or he might kill his own father in the future. As the
truth is revealed, Oedipus screams and runs into the palace. The shepherd and the messenger
slowly exit the stage. A second messenger enters and describes the scenes of suffering.

Jocasta has hanged herself. Oedipus, finding her dead, has taken the pins from her robe
and stabbed out his own eyes. He comes out of the palace, bleeding and begging to be exiled.
He asks Creon to send him away from Thebes. He requests him to take care of his daughters
Antigone and Ismene. Creon feels happy to take up the royal power.

Reference:
· Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

· http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/

Virtual classroom:
· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google
Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about Oedipus Rex in Versoapp.

Review Questions I:
1. Sophocles’ plays are called ____ plays.

2. ____ was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle.

3. The blind prophet ____ reveals that Oedipus is the murderer.

4. ____ hangs herself as she has married her own son.

5. ____ and ____ are the daughters of Oedipus.

56

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. Theban

2. Laius

3. Tiresias

4. Jocasta

5. Antigone and Ismene

Review Questions II:

1. Discuss the life and works of Sophocles.

2. Sketch the character of Jocasta.

3. Analyse the role played by Oracle in the play Oedipus.

4. Evaluate ‘Oedipus Complex’ in the context of the play Oedipus.

5. Comment on ‘fate’ vs ‘free will’ with reference to the play Oedipus.

 57

LESSON 12
IBSEN - A DOLLS HOUSE - DRAMA - II
Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to discuss

· the life and works of Ibsen

· Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

12.1 Life and Works of Ibsen

Henrik Johan Ibsen is a Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is one of the
founders of Modernism in theatre. He is often referred to as ‘the father of realism’ in drama. He
is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare. He introduced his
own beliefs and judgements into the drama, exploring what he called the ‘drama of ideas’.

Ibsen has influenced playwrights and novelists such as G.B. Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur
Miller, James Joyce, and Eugene O’Neill. His first play is a five-act tragedy called Catiline. His
poetic and cinematic early play Peer Gynt has surreal elements, consciously informed by
Kierkegaard. His plays written in an innovative, realistic mode are Ghosts, A Doll’s House, and
An Enemy of the People.

When European theatre adhered to strict morals of family and social life, many of Ibsen’s
plays were considered to be controversial or scandalous. The main focus of Ibsen’s Ghosts is
congenital venereal disease. On another level, it deals with the contamination spreading through
a family under cover of the widowed Mrs. Alving’s timidly respectable views.

Doctor Stockmann, the protagonist of An Enemy of the People, is a medical officer. He is

charged with inspecting the public baths, related to the welfare of his native town. He finds the
water to be contaminated. He tells the truth publicly, though the town officials and townspeople
try to silence him. When he still insists on speaking the truth, he is officially declared as an
‘enemy of the people’.

Later on, Ibsen shifted from realistic drama to plays with psychological or psychiatric
insights. He turned towards a more self-analytic and symbolic mode of writing that is quite
different from his earlier plays. The use of symbols in his plays The Wild Duck and Hedda
Gabler is considered very significant till today.
58

Reference:
· https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henrik-Ibsen

12.2 Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

Act I of the play A Doll’s House starts on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer, a middle-aged
woman, enters the living room after shopping. Her husband Torvald Helmer comes out of his
study room and greets her playfully. He reproaches her for spending too much on Christmas
gifts, and this implies that their financial condition is not very stable. Torvald has recently taken
up a new position in a bank that might help them adopt a more sophisticated lifestyle.

Nora’s maid Helene informs that Dr. Rank, Helmers’ friend, has come to meet them. The
other guest is Mrs. Kristine Linde, Nora’s school friend. As the friends meet after many years,
they share their personal experiences with each other. Mrs. Linde tells Nora that her husband
has died leaving neither children nor money. Nora tells her about the initial days of marriage
when she and her husband had to work long hours to manage their household expenses.

Mrs. Linde has spent her life taking care of her sick mother and younger brothers. Now
that her mother has died and the brothers have settled down, she feels bored and requests
Nora to help her get a job. Nora assures that she would speak to Torvald regarding the same.
She then reveals a secret to Mrs. Linde. Before a few years, Torvald fell sick, and Nora took him
to Italy for treatment. She has told Torvald that her father gave money for his treatment. But
actually she had borrowed money from somebody else and repays the debt without Torvald’s
knowledge.

As they converse with each other, Krogstad, a low-level employee in Torvald’s bank,
enters into the study room. Seeing this, Nora reacts uneasily. Coming out of the study, Dr. Rank
remarks that Krogstad is ‘morally sick’. After speaking with Krogstad, Torvald comes out of the
study and informs that he might hire Mrs. Linde in his bank. All of them go out, leaving Nora
alone in the house. Nora’s children come home with their grandmother Anne-Marie, and Nora
starts playing with them. She feels shocked seeing Krogstad in the room. The two speak with
each other, and it is revealed that Krogstad has given the secret loan to Nora.

Because of immoral conduct, Krogstad is to be fired from his position at the bank. He
compels Nora to convince Torvald not to terminate him from service. Nora refuses, and Krogstad
tells that he has got the contract with Nora’s forgery of her father’s signature. This might bring
 59

shame on Nora and her husband who have got good reputation in the society. Nora becomes
upset. After Torvald returns home, she requests him not to fire Krogstad. Torvald declares that
he has to be fired as he is immoral.

Act II starts on Christmas day. Nora feels anxious and walks restlessly in her living room.
Mrs. Linde helps Nora in sewing her costume for the ball which is to be held next evening. Nora
talks about a mortal illness Dr. Rank has inherited from his father, and Mrs. Linde starts doubting
Dr. Rank to be the source of her secret loan. When Torvald arrives, Nora begs him not to fire
Krogstad from his bank job. Torvald gets irritated and tells that Krogstad’s overly familiar attitude
bothers him more than his immorality. Despite Nora’s pleadings, he sends the maid Helene to
deliver the dismissal order to Krogstad.

As Torvald goes out, Dr. Rank arrives and tells Nora that he is going to die very soon.
Nora plans to request him to help her out in the secret loan problem. To her surprise, he tells
that he is in love with her, and Nora is unable to ask any favour from him. As he leaves the room,
Krogstad meets Nora and starts threatening her. He demands rehiring to a higher position in
the bank. With the intention of blackmailing, he writes a letter (with the details about the secret
loan and forged signature) and posts it in Torvald’s letter box.

Nora feels desperate and tells Mrs. Linda about all the confusions. Mrs. Linde advises her
to do something and cause delay in opening the letter box. Nora starts practising tarantella she
would be performing in the party to divert Torvald’s attention from the letter box. Due to anxiety,
she dances wildly and violently, irritating Torvald. However, she makes him promise that he
would not open the letter box until the party gets over.

The party takes place upstairs. Krogstad meets Mrs. Linde in the living room of Nora’s
house. It is revealed that they both were in love with each other, and Mrs. Linde had left him to
marry a wealthier man. Now that she has no commitments, she agrees to marry Krogstad and
take care of his children. Krogstad feels happy and gets ready to take his letter back. Mrs. Linde
stops him from doing so, because she believes that Torvald and Nora’s lives would become
peaceful only if all these secrets are out.

Torvald tells Nora that she looked desirable as she danced. Everybody leaves after the
party, and Torvald opens the letter box. He finds Dr. Rank’s visiting cards with a black cross
above the name. Nora informs Torvald that Dr. Rank has indicated that he is going to die soon.
She insists Torvald to read Krogstad’s letter.
60

Torvald is outraged, reading the letter. He calls Nora a hypocrite. He tells her that she has
brought shame on him and spoiled his happiness forever. As she is a liar, she should not be
allowed to take care of their children. During this time, Helene brings another letter. Torvold
opens it and feels overjoyed seeing Nora’s secret loan contract with forged signature, sent
back by Krogstad with generosity. Suddenly Torvald changes his mind and tries to console
Nora.

Nora does not want to forgive Torvald for his harsh words. She says that he has not
understood her in the eight years of their marriage life. She tells him that he has treated her like
a ‘doll’ to be played with and admired, and not as a human being with feelings, emotions, self-
dignity, etc. She declares that she must ‘make sense of (her)self and everything around her’
and walks out, leaving Torvald alone once for all.

Reference:
· Henry Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

· http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dollhouse/

Virtual classroom:
· Login to https://v2.versoapp.com/. (or) Download Versoapp Mobile App from Google
Play Store.

· Use the classroom code 3K6UU4 to join the virtual classroom Classics in Translation
and know more about A Doll’s House in Versoapp.

Review Questions I:
1. The main focus of Ibsen’s Ghosts is _____.

2. ____ is Nora’s former school friend.

3. Nora’s children return home with their nanny ____.

4. ____ blackmails Nora Helmer.

5. Nora ____ to make sense of herself and everything around her.

Answers to Review Questions I:

1. congenital venereal disease

2. Mrs. Kristine Linde

 61

3. Anne-Marie

4. Krogstad

5. leaves Torvald

Review Questions II:

1. Write about the life and works of Henrik Ibsen.

2. Sketch the character of Krogstad.

3. Distinguish between Nora and Linda.

4. Analyse the psychological state of Nora Helmer.

5. Comment on Nora’s decision to leave Torvald.

62

MODEL QUESTION PAPER

M.A. ENGLISH

FIRST YEAR - FIRST SEMESTER

CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION

Elective Paper - I
Time : 3 hours Marks : 75

Section A

Answer any 10 (10 x 2 = 20 marks)

1. What is the most important feature of classic ?

2. What are the terms often used instead of 'translation studies'?
3. Name a few prominent philosophers of the East and West.
4. What is human science ?
5. Write a note on Noan Chomsky.
6. Who was Kant ?
7. Write a note on Realism.
8. What is the role of the Chorus ?
9. Who was Aeschylus ?
10. Write a note on Rajaji.
11. Name three characters from Chemmeen.
12. Write a note on Jocasta.

Section B

Answer any 5 in 250 words (5 x 5 = 25 marks)

13. Write about the life and work of Ibsen.

14. Describe the four periods in translation studies.

15. What is the relationship between religion and literature ?

 63

16. Describe the unique features of Naturalism in Literature.

17. Write about the ideology of Marx and Engel.

18. Bring out the significance of Ancient Greek theatre.

19. Discuss the life and works of Albert Camus.

Section C

Answer any 3 in 500 words (3 x 10 = 30 marks)

20. Discuss what is world literature with examples.

21. Elaborate on Literature of Philosophy and Philosophy of Literature with examples.

22. Distinguish between Realism and Naturalism.

23. Discuss Greek tragedy in detail.

24. Evaluate Valluvar's ideas on drinking and gambling.