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English, University of Kalyani POST GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMME (CBCS) in E N G L I S H SEMESTER - 1 Core Course - I Self-Learning Material DIRECTORATE OF OPEN & DISTANCE LEARNING UNIVERSITY OF KALYANI KALYANI-741235, WEST BENGAL COURSE PREPARATION TEAM 1. Prof. Sarbani Choudhury Professor, Department of English, University of Kalyani. 2. Smt. Priyanka Basu Professor, Dept. of English, University of Kalyani. 3. Sri Sankar Chatterjee Professor, Department of English, University of Kalyani. 4. Sri Pralay Kumar Deb. Professor, Department of English, University of Kalyani. 5. Sri Suman Banerjee Assistant Professor of English (Contractual) at the DODL, University of Kalyani. 6. Sudipta Chakraborty Assistant Professor of English (Contractual) at the DODL, University of Kalyani. & 7. Faculty Members of the Department of English, University of Kalyani Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, University of Kalyani Published by the Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, University of Kalyani, Kalyani-741235, West Bengal and Printed by Printtech, 15A, Ambika Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700056 All right reserved. No part of this work should be reproduced in any form without the permission in writing from the Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, University of Kalyani. Authors are responsible for the academic contents of the course as far as copyright laws are concerned. Message to the Students Although the relevance of pursuing a Masters’ Degree Programme in the Humanities is being hotly debated, employers across the board value communication skills, creative thinking and adept writing—aptitudes that are particularly honed by the M.A. in English programme. In sharp contrast to job-specific courses that have an ever-shorter shelf-life in our rapidly changing world, the Postgraduate Degree Programme in English is geared to whet communicative, decision-making and analytic skills among students through comprehensive study of language, literature and critical theories. The entire curriculum for M.A. English consists of 64 Credits, distributed evenly across 12 Core Courses and 4 Optional Courses, to be covered in 4 Semesters. The comprehensive Self Learning Materials have been designed by adept, experienced faculty members from renowned institutions. Utmost care has been taken to ensure that the inquisitiveness of advanced students may be satisfied through extensive reading lists and practice questions at the end of each chapter. The Directorate of Open and Distance Learning (DODL), University of Kalyani for more than a decade has endeavoured to overcome the hurdle of distance and thereby reach the unreached through comprehensive Self Learning Materials (SLMs) compiled and edited by distinguished university faculty and subject experts. Following the UGC DEB Regulations, 2017, Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) is hereby implemented with requisite upgradationof existing materials and necessary additions. Director Directorate of Open and Distance Learning University of Kalyani Core Course I Renaissance to Restoration: Plays (1485-1659) CONTENTS BLOCK UNIT TOPIC CONTENT WRITER PAGE NO. I 1 Sub-Unit I-William Shakespeare: Life & 1-18 Works. Sub-Unit II-Historical Background & Storyline of The Tempest I 2 Sub-Unit I-Sources Professor Sarbani 19-36 Sub-Unit II-Thematic Discussion Chaudhury I 3 Sub-Unit I-Plot & Structure 37-46 Sub-Unit II-Genre I 4 Sub-Unit I-Language 47--57 Sub-Unit II-Characterization II 5 5(a): Introduction to Measure for Measure. 58-59 5(b): Date of Composition & Type of 5(c): Sources of Measure for Measure II 6 6(a): Cast of Characters 60-62 6(b): The Story in Brief Smt Priyanka Basu II 7 The Form of the Play 63-64 II 8 Themes of Measure for Measure 65-67 III 9 Introduction to Volpone 68-80 Classicism in the work of Ben Jonson Jonson’s Life and Works III 1 0 Volpone: Setting, Background, Structure & 81-89 Ending III 11 Sub Unit I : Character Study of-Volpone, Sri Sankar 90-97 Mosca, the Legacy Hunters, Bonario and Celia Chatterjee Sub Unit II: Thematic Study III 12 Review of Criticism 98-103 IV 13 Introduction to Jacobean Tragedy & Webster’s 104-107 Place in it IV 14 14(a) : Life and Works of Webster Prof Pralay 108-113 14(b): Sources, Influences and Plot of Kumar Deb The Duchess of Malfi IV 15 Decadence, Revenge & Presentation of the 114-120 Character of the Duchess IV 16 16(a) : Art of Characterization 121-127 16(b) : Important Issues in The Duchess of Malfi OBJECTIVES The aim of this module is to approach The Tempest, the last play written by the greatest British dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), in a manner that will help us understand the various features of the play - when and why the play was written (DATE AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND), from where Shakespeare drew the inspiration for his story (SOURCE), how that story unfolds in the play (PLOT AND STRUCTURE), what are the main issues being discussed (THEMES), who are the main characters, what are their functions in the play and how they interact with each other (CHARACTERISATION), why is the play called a tragicomedy (GENRE), what kind of language and literary devices are used in the play (LANGUAGE), which scenes are of particular importance in the play etc. There will also be references to books and articles on The Tempest to show how the critics have interpreted the play over the years and a bibliography to help you do further studies. The module will conclude with a sample of model questions, objective and essay type, which will help you to understand the kind of questions that might be asked on the play. A careful reading of the module along with the play will help the students understand the complexities of the play and prepare themselves for both coursework and examination. WARNING: The students must read the entire play thoroughly by themselves in order to understand the module. The student can use any of the standard editions of the play listed in the bibliography but be careful not to use editions with paraphrases and translation, as they are usually unreliable and prone to incorrect interpretations. This module uses Anne Barton’s edition of The Tempest (London: Penguin Books, 1968) for quotes and references. BLOCK I UNIT I : SUB UNIT I: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE : LIFE, WORKS, TIMES CONTENT STRUCTURE : UNIT I : SUB UNIT I : William Shakespeare: Life and Works (a) : Life (b) : Works (c) : Times (d) : Date a) : Life William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, a market town north- west of London. He was the third child and eldest son of John and Mary Shakespeare. His father was a successful businessman and landowner who held several Shakespeare’s Life : born in Startford- important posts in the local council till 1576 when the decline in upon-Avon — parents : John and Mary Shakespeare — attended the local the fortune of the Shakespeare family started. During his better grammar school — married Anne days John Shakespeare had applied for a coat-of-arms which Hathway in 1582 — fled to London was finally granted in the last year of his life, 1601, elevating the around 1585-86 — joined a London 1 based theatre company — started as a Shakespeare family to the status of the gentry . Not much is stable boy — later became a leading known about the early life of Shakespeare except that he must writer, and finally a shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men which shifted have attended local grammar school and married Anne to the Globe theatre-house — bought New Hathaway in 1582 and had three children -Susanna, Judith and Place in 1596 — died of fever on 23 Hamnet. It is said that Shakespeare fled to London sometime April, 1616 and was buried in the Stratford church. around 1585/86 to escape the wrath of Sir Thomas Lucy of Cherlecot near Stratford, after hunting deer illegally in his private park, but it is more likely that he joined a London-based visiting theatre company that had come to perform at Stratford. Shakespeare started in the lowest rung of theatre hierarchy, probably as a stable boy who looked after the horses of the more prosperous audience as they watched the show. From a handyman doing odd jobs for the company to an actor in bit parts to the lead writer and finally, in 1594, a shareholder in the newly formed Lord Chamberlain’s Men who performed at the playhouse called Theatre in Shoreditch, London, Shakespeare’s rise was arduous but fairly quick. He stayed on with the Company when it shifted to the Globe theatre-house across the River Thames 1 coat-of-arms : the family insignia granted by the office of the Herald against payment. The permission to wear this sign on one’s coat signified that the concerned person and his successors would henceforth be considered as gentlemen. 1 and changed its name to King’s Men in 1603. His financial prosperity in an age when most playwrights either died poor or in debt, earned him the jealousy of the author, Robert Greene, who labeled him an “upstart Crow” in his Groatsworth of Wit, Bought with a Million of Repentance (1592).2 In 1596, Shakespeare bought New Place, the finest house in Stratford-upon-Avon, and thereafter continued to invest in business and property in his hometown although he continued to live and work in London as the resident playwright and a major shareholder of his Company. By 1613, he was living mostly in Stratford, actively involved in his business and landed affairs and had stopped writing plays altogether. But he still had financial interests in the King’s Men Company that is testified by his investment in rebuilding the Globe playhouse after it was burnt down during a performance of Henry VIII in 1613. He died of fever on 23 April 1616, presumably contracted from lying in the open the whole night after a drunken bout with fellow authors, Michael Drayton (1563-1631) and Ben Jonson (1572-1637).
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