GYAN Bhava

  William Wordsworth was the third greatest poet of Britain after  Shakespeare and Milton. He was the first of the great Romantics . He brought a new life in English Poetry. He was born at Cockermouth in England in 1770. His father was a lawyer, who died when Wordsworth was only thirteen years of age. He was admitted in Hawshead Grammar School in 1778. He went to St John's College, Cambridge in 1787. He went to a walking tour of France,Germany and Switzerland in 1790.  He made his debut as a budding poet in 1792. His faith in the French Revolution died in 1793 ,when England declared war against France.  Between 1793 and 1795 he was in mental trouble about his uncertain professional future. By 1795, his financial condition stabilised and he settled in Dorset in a little cottage with his sister, Dorothy. Then having met Samuel Taylor Coleridge ,they moved to Alfoxden in Somerset , in order to live near him. Encouraged and inspired by Dorothy, both Wordsworth and Cole...

  John Donne was the pioneer of Metaphysical Poetry. He was born in London into a prosperous Roman Catholic family of traders. He attended both the universities of Oxford, and Cambridge .He was forced to leave Oxford University without a degree because of his religion. He studied law, and read theology. Later he discarded the Catholic doctrine,turned to satirical writing and enlisted for foreign service.  He participated in two Naval expeditions and became secretary to a powerful noble in 1598. He secretly married his patron's niece at the age of twenty seven in 1601, for which he was briefly imprisoned in 1602 and lost his job as a secretary. In 1615. at the age of 42, Donne accepted ordination in the Anglican Church and became one of the greatest Anglican preachers of his time. Late in 1623,Donne became seriously ill during an epidemic and in 1621, he became Dean of St Paul's and in 1624 ,he was made Vicar of St Dunstan's in the West. He preached his first sermon befor...

  The Daffodils is a poem written by William Wordsworth . It is a simple nature poem. It is a great lyric poem.It shows the personal experience of the poet. The poem is full of the feelings of joy. Nature pervades the whole framework of the poem. The first stanza of the poem describes the subject-matter of the poem. The second and third stanzas elaborate the subject-matter. The fourth stanza gives the conclusion of the poem .  Once the poet was wandering aimlessly through valleys and hills. He was silent and lonely  like a cloud. All of a sudden he saw before him a crowd of  daffodils. They were shining like gold along the margin of a bay. They were countless in numbers ,stretched in an unending line like the stars of the milky way. They were nodding their heads  up and down joyfully as the wind played upon them.  At a single glance the poet could see a vast number of these flowers. They were fluttering and dancing in the breeze beside the lake, beneath t...

  William Butler Yeats was born in 1865 near Dublin into a cultured Irish family. He was an eminent Irish poet and playwright. His father ,John Butler was a painter. His mother was Susan Yeats. Yeats was educated at the Godolphin school, London. He returned to his native place ,Ireland in 1880 ,after remaining in England for sometime. He was a gifted writer . His best work was a commentary on the history of Ireland at the establishment of its freedom. In 1887, Yeats came back to London and began to build a reputation as a poet. In 1889 he fell in love with Maud Gonne, a famous beauty of the time, who figures prominently in his poetry. Yeat's disillusionment came from his love affairs with Maud Gonne, a leading figure in the Irish struggle  to throw off the British rule.  He began writing plays soon after 1890. In 1891 ,he became a member of the  Rhymer's  Club. Between 1900 and 1910 much of Yeat's time was devoted to the drama and philosophical and literary e...

  The term ' stream of consciousness ' was first applied by Virginia Woolf to the latest innovation of the technique as well as the theme of the modern English novel. This kind of novel was entirely new and original. These novels turned fiction away from the external to the internal reality, from the outer to the hidden world of fantasy. All these novels were voyages through consciousness or the workings of human mind. It was the inner working of the mind of the characters that was the main concern of the novelist and there was little mixture of incidents or actions. Hidden thoughts burried deep in the unconscious and the subconscious part of the mind of the characters was revealed. As a result , plot, character, comedy, tragedy, love interests were completely subordinate.  Thus, 'action' was almost banished from the novel and only psychological analysis of mind remained, making the novel a succession of what is called the interior soliloquy or the 'inter...

Modernism was the most influential movement in the twentieth-century fiction. The first half of the twentieth century saw revolutionary developments taking place in English fiction. These involved changes in themes and content ,style and technique. These changes radically blurred the thin line between fiction and reality. Every individual voice made its own contribution to to the 'modern' in fiction Modern fiction specialized in 'making strange' what is 'common' ,and also revealed the workings of the unconscious human mind. The variety of themes  discussed were - politics, history, science, fiction, fantasy and psychology. The novel became the most dominant literary form in modern literature as it was more accessible to the masses  than drama. It was also characterized by a freer attitude towards sex and sexuality as its subject matter. So much of innovation and experimentation were going on that it attracted most of the great artists of the period like Thomas ...

Catherine Linton is the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton. Her mother dies after giving birth to her. So, she is neglected by her father at her birth but later on she becomes very close to her father. Her father is her only teacher and she is a fast learner. So, her lessons are a pleasure for both of them. She grows up at the Thruscross Grange under the care of her father and Nelly Dean. She is so lovable that she is always allowed her own way. She is a real beauty ,sparkling with health and fun. She has an exquisite face with small features. She is a pleasant, cheerful, happy and an affectionate person. She is slim ,young and beautiful with Earnshaw's dark eyes and the Linton's delicate features and curly golden hair. She has the passion of her mother and the calmness of her father. She is very kind like her father. She has inherited her mother's temper and hates being contradicted. Her stubborn nature brings about her misery and suffering at the hands ...

Catherine Earnshaw is the female protagonist of the novel. She is a distinctive character in the novel. She is the only daughter of Mr and Mrs Earnshaw and the only sister of Hindley. She is a wild, dark-haired girl with most beautiful smile. She is the most beautiful girl for miles around. She is very naughty in her childhood. She is loved by her father but neglected by her brother. Her bad side is not appreciated by her father. He wants him to behave properly .  She loves the company of Heathcliff. She roams around  with Heathcliff for hours over the moors. She has little control over her passions .Her love for Heathcliff is deep and strong. She teaches him everything she learns and spends all her spare time playing with him. She hates being apart from Heathcliff. She is self-willed and has a violent temper. She loves giving orders .She behaves like a mad woman in a fit of temper when someone contradicts her. She is beautiful in her looks ,but wild in her actions. She ...

Heathcliff is the male protagonist of the novel . His background is unknown . He is the husband of Isabella and the father of Linton. He is as rough as heath and as hard as a cliff.  He is brought to the Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw as a gypsy child. He was found roaming in the streets of Liverpool as an orphan boy. .He was a silent, patient child .Mr Earnshaw was very fond of him. However, he is disliked by everyone in the house because of his dark skin. He causes bad feelings in the family from the very beginning .Hindley treats him like a servant, but Catherine loves him intensely. Heathcliff loves the company of Catherine .He would do anything for her .He roams around the moors with her. He loves nobody other than Catherine and he is loved by Catherine only. From childhood friends, they become the soulmates. He is mysterious, brooding and a rough fellow. Hindley's treatment of Heathcliff was enough to turn a saint into a fiend.  He is presented as a villain in the no...

Emily Bronte  was born in Thornton,Yorkshire , England in the month of July, 1818. She was the daughter of an Irish clergyman, Patrick Bronte .Her mother Maria Branwell, was a Cornish woman from Penzance. She was the fifth of the six children- Elizabeth, Maria, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne. Mrs Bronte died of cancer in 1821 and her five daughters and a son were brought up by her sister Elizabeth Branwell. The two eldest daughters - Elizabeth and Maria died of tuberculosis in 1825. Emily's two other sisters - Charlotte and Anne Bronte ware also famous authors. The sisters wrote poetry ,plays and novels, some of which they collected and published under pseudonyms. Emily Bronte wrote under the pseudonym 'Ellis Bell'. She  is best known for her novel  Wuthering Heights , her first and only prose work. It was written between 1845 and 1846 and published in December 1847. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights is a story of strong passions of both love and revenge, of class ...

ZE'RO        -   ZERO       0 UN             -     ONE         1 DEUX        -   TWO          2 TROIS       -   THREE      3 QUATRE   -    FOUR       4 CINQ        -      FIVE        5 SIX           -      SIX           6 SEPT      -      SEVEN     7 HUIT      -      EIGHT      8 NEUF     -      NINE         9 DIX        -      TEN          10

Janvier   -      January Fevrier    -         February Mars  -              March Avril    -              April Mai   -                May Juin   -                June Juillet   -             July Aout   -                 August Septembre    -      September Octobre    -           October Novembre    -       November Decembre   -         December Lundi   -         Monday  Mardi   - ...

Bonjour -  Good morning Bonnenui t -  good night Salut -  Hi/Hello Monsieur -  Mr Madame -  Lady Mademoiselle -  Miss E'tudiante -   Student Je m'appelle -  My name is Un Garcon -  One boy Une Fille -  A girl Bon Voyage -  Happy journey Bon Ape'tit -  Happy meal Oui Monsieur -  Yes sir Rspirit de corps -  Team spirit Trente et un jours -  31 days Douze Mois -  12 months Sacré Cœur - sacred heart  Notre Dame -  our lady  R.S.V. P (Re'pondez š'il vous plait) -  Reply please  Rendez vous -  an appointment or meeting  déjà  vu -  already seen kind of feeling  Sans -  without  le 22 Septembre -  22nd of september le premier Janvier -  1st of January  

  Hindley is the only son of  Mr. and Mrs Earnshaw and the only brother of Catherine. He is the husband of Frances and the father of Hareton. He is cruel and merciless. He sees his father as an enemy for loving Heathcliff and hates Heathcliff for taking his position in the Wuthering Heights . So, he grows very bitter about the way his life has changed. He even ignores his sister, Catherine. His father dislikes his rude behaviour . As a result he is sent away from home for studies. He returns only after his father's death with his wife , Frances. He inherits Wuthering Heights after his father's death and stops Heathcliff's education. He ill-treats Heathcliff and makes him work as a labourer on his farm .He behaves badly with him and often beats him cruelly.  He is an irresponsible person. He only loves his wife Frances with whom he spends most of his time. He is very good husband but not a good brother. His wife dies after giving birth to a son named ,Hareton. After his w...

Wuthering Heights is a novel full of ghosts and supernatural happenings. The novel begins with a strange dream of Mr. Lockwood in which he hears loud knocking against the window in which he is sleeping. He finds the spirit of Catherine, who tries to enter his room through a window. So, the very first chapter of the novel describes Mr. Lockwood's encounter with the ghost. These hauntings are ,however, welcomed by Heathcliff.After Catherine's death ,he asks her spirit to come and haunt him rather than rest peacefully. Later in the novel when Heathcliff digs Catherine's grave to take her dead body in his arms ,he hears someone sigh above the grave. He assumes it to be Catherine's spirit. During his nightly walks on the moors he does see Catherine's spirit to which it is united when he himself becomes a spirit after his death.The spirits of Heathcliff and Catherine is seen together at the end of the novel. Wuthering Heights is also a novel of supernatural passions. The ...

  Edgar Linton is the only son of Mr. and Mrs Linton and the only brother of Isabella Linton. He is the husband of Catherine Earnshaw and the father of young Catherine Linton. He grew up at the Thruscross Grange with his parents and sister. He inherits Thruscross Grange after his father's death .He is a handsome, sensible guy and is responsible towards his family members. He is a polished, cultured man and believes in God and religion .He often goes to the church for praying .He knows his duties towards his sister, wife and daughter. He is a responsible brother , a devoted husband and a caring father. He is sweet, kind and a  civilized person.  He is kind and trustworthy man and pleasant to be with. He is young ,cheerful and rich. His character is totally opposite to his wife's character but he loves her truly and with full sincerity.He is unable to see any faults in her. His love towards Catherine is calm and gentle. He tries everything to make her wife happy , patiently...

 The narrative technique employed by Emily Bronte in Wuthering Heights is a remarkable one. It is not only very complex but is also a radical departure from the narrative styles that were being followed by her contemporaries. It is a story within a story that can be unraveled  by removing one layer after another. It is an experiment much ahead of its time.Wuthering Heights has two main narrators : Lockwood and Ellen Dean( Nelly). Emily Bronte uses the first person singular to narrate her story. At the beginning, the story is narrated by Mr. Lockwood, who begins and ends the narrative and is recording the story that he hears from Nelly. However, the principal narrator is Ellen Dean, who was a house maid both at Wuthering Heights and Thruscross Grange. She tells Lockwood her version of the events, which then gets filtered and recorded through his perspective. She reports and describes the events of the world to which she herself belongs. She tells the reader as much as she know...

1) Examine the structure of Wuthering Heights. 2) Discuss the theme of Wuthering Heights. 3) Justify the title of the novel Wuthering Heights. 4) Attempt a character sketch of: a) Heathcliff b) Catherine Earnshaw c) Hindley  d) Edgar e) Isabella f) Hareton  g) Catherine Linton(Young Cathy ) h) Nelly Dean 5) Discuss the narrative technique employed in the novel. 6) Discuss Emily Bronte as a novelist with reference to Wuthering Heights . 7) Attemp a note on supernatural elements in Wuthering Heights. 8) Discuss how themes of love and revenge are interwoven into one story.

       JUSTIFY THE TITLE OF THE NOVEL "WUTHERING HEIGHTS"   Wuthering Heights   is a novel written by Emily Bronte . The title of the novel refers to the principal scene of action in the novel. It is the name of a house where most of the incidents occur rest events occur at the Grange. The characters of the novel are deeply attached to this house. Even though Thruscross Grange is a much better place to live in, the characters are inseparably attached to the Heights, particularly Catherine. Most of the characters have spend some parts of their life at the Heights. Only the death of Catherine and Edgar takes place at the Grange.  Heathcliff as a small boy is brought to the Wuthering Heights by the master of the house. Hindley, Heathcliff and Catherine all grow up at the Heights. It is at Heights that Hindley develops hatred towards Heathcliff and Heathcliff swears revenge on him. Catherine develops love and attachment towards Heathcliff and Heathc...

HEATHCLIFF : He is the central character of the novel. He is rough as heath and hard as cliff. He was brought to the Earnshaw family by Mr Earnshaw as a gypsy orphan. He is the love of Catherine.He suffers the hatred of Hindley. He takes revenge on Hindley  by possessing his enitre property. He marries Isabella just for the sake of revenge. He has no love for his own son  Linton. He also ruins the life of Cathy by marring him to Linton. HINDLEY EARNSHAW : He is the brother of Catherine and the only son of Mr Earnshaw .He ill -treats Heathcliff like a servant. His hatred for Heathcliff intensifies after his father's death. He is cruel,selfish stupid,recless and merciless. He has little family sense in him. His bad character grows worse after his wife's death. He neglects his sister and becomes a confirmed drunkard and gambler. He drinks himself to death  leaving his son alone. CATHERINE EARNSHAW : She is the protagonist of the novel. She is the only daughter of Mr Earnsha...

     Tragedy deals with the serious aspects of life.It is a tale of suffering ending in death.According to the classical Greek tradition ,tragedy is the representation of a serious action which arouses pity and suffering among the audience.Shakespearean Tragedy conforms to this classical conception of tragedy.He wrote in the hey day of Elizabethan Age. He has left behind him a number of great tragedies.  Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra are his Roman tragedies.Timon of Athens and Coriolanus are based on classical Greek themes.But the great tragedies of Shakespeare are Hamlet,Othello,King Lear, and Macbeth which were written in the Jacobean Age.The most important innovation that Shakespeare has made in the field of tragedy is his bold experiment of introducing comic scenes in the midst of the most terrible scenes.  Shakespearean tragedy deals with the conflict between the good and the evil,the hero being the central figure in this conflict...