She Stoops to Conquer as an Anti-Sentimental Comedy

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University Bhavnagar

Smt. S. B. Guardy Department of English

Topic: ‘She stoops to Conquer’ as an Anti-Sentimental comedy

Paper: 2: The Neo-classic Literature

Written by: Poojaba G. Jadeja

Roll No.: 25

Year: 2013, Semester: 1^st

“She Stoops to Conquer” AS an Anti – sentimental Comedy

Introduction:

    To know how ‘She stoops to Conquer’ is an anti – sentimental comedy, we must know what is sentimental and anti – sentimental comedy.

Sentimental comedy:

    This form becomes popular in 18^th century. Sentimental comedy is related to our emotions. It appeals especially to our feelings of sorrow, pity, and compassionate sympathy. It reflected contemporary philosophical conceptions of human as inherent good but capable of being led astray through bad examples. By an appeal to his noble to his sentiments, a man could be reform and set back on the path of virtue.

   Richard Steele was pioneer of sentimental comedy and the best known sentimental comedy is ‘The Conscious Lover’. In contrast ‘anti-sentimental’ comedy returns to comedy of manners.

There is a short video about raise of anti sentimental comedy. 

Anti – Sentimental Comedy:

    Anti-Sentimental comedy is reaction against sentimental comedy. The pioneer of anti-sentimental comedy is Oliver Goldsmith, who criticized the sentimental comedy in his essay- ‘Essay on the theatre’ or ‘A comparison between Laughing and sentimental comedy’.

     Oliver Goldsmith writes that the true function of a comedy was to give a humorous exhibition of the follies and vices of men and women and to rectify them by exciting laughter. Goldsmith opposed sentimental comedy because in place of laughter and humour, it provided tears and distressing situations, pathetic lovers, serious heroines and honest servants.

     He argued that sentimental comedy was more like tragedy than a comedy. If comedy was to trespass upon tragedy where humour will have right to express itself. On two occasions and with unequal success, Goldsmith tried to revive sincere laughter on stage.

     Richard Sheridan also reacted against sentimental comedy. He ridiculed the sententious moralising of weeping sentimental comedy in his plays ‘The Rivals’ and ‘The Critic’. Anti-sentimental comedy is kind of comedy representing complex and sophisticated code of behaviour current in fashion circles of society where appearance count more than true moral character. Its plot usually revolves around intrigues of lust and greed the self interested cynicism of the character. Being masked by decorous pretence in these two dramatists’ comedies.

    As a result of the reaction of Goldsmith and Sheridan, the comedy of sentiment was driven out, gone were the pathos and morality, preaching and meddling sentimentality. Their place was taken by humour and mirth, pleasant dialogues and wit. The writers who brought about the revival of true comedy in 18^th century were Henry Fielding, Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Sheridan.

    Anti-sentimental comedy takes us from old form of comedy, Comedy of manners, which is also called, generally for anti-sentimental comedy.

Characteristics of Anti-Sentimental Comedy:

      It is also called comedy of manners. Anti-sentimental comedy is going to old forms. It is a low farce, situational humour. It is high polished in Restoration comedy.

     Generally, it deals with the relations and intrigues of men and women living in sophisticated upper class society. So, it is called comedy of manners. There is also violation of social standards and decorum immortality of situation.

     Comedy of humours or anti-sentimental comedy is a pure comedy which generate laughter and not tragic with our emotions. Verbal and situational irony is also characteristic of anti-sentimental comedy.

    Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is one of the best examples of anti-sentimental comedy, and follows all the characteristics of anti-sentimental comedy.

‘She Stoops to Conquer’ as an Anti – Sentimental Comedy:

      We very well know that Goldsmith is pioneer of anti-sentimental comedy. ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is second play of Goldsmith, produced in 1771. It is also known under the title ‘The Mistakes of a Night’. The play practically introduces the reign of humour in comedy.

     The entire play with its fun and humour, its intrigues and sparkling dialogues, its mischievous tricks and roguish attempts by Tony Lumpkin is a direct blow on the sentimental comedy. A piquant observation, elements of ingenious and new realism, a welling forth of pleasantry that never dries up, and baths even the rare moments when emotion could rise – all go to make this charming comedy an unalloyed source of amusement.

    The principal characters of this comedy are Hardcastle, who loves ‘everything that is old’; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine, Mrs. Hardcastle and Miss. Hardcastle, Their daughter, Mrs. Hardcastle’s son by former marriage, Tony Lumpkin, young Marlow are the chief characters.

    Tony Lumpkin, a frequenter of the ‘Three Jolly Pigeons’ is idle and ignorant, but cunning and mischievous, and doted on by his mother; and young Marlow, is one of the most bashful and reserved young fellows in the world, except with barmaids and servant-girls. His father Charles Marlow has proposed a match between young Marlow and Miss Hardcastle. And the young man and his friend, Hastings, accordingly travel down to pay the Hardcastles a visit.

    Losing their way, they arrive at night at the ‘Three Jolly Pigeons’, where Tony Lumpkin directs them to a neighbouring inn, which is in reality Hardcastle’s house.

    The fun of the play arises largely from the resulting misunderstanding. Marlow treating Hardcastle as the landlord of the supposed inn, and making violent love to Miss Hardcastle, whom he takes for one of his servants. This contrast with his bashful attitude when presented to her in real character. The arrival of Sir Charles Marlow clear up the misconception and all ends well. All ends well, including subsidiary love affair between Hastings and Miss Neville, whom Mrs. Hardcastle destines for Tony Lumpkin. At the end when truth coming to light, everyone happy. Sir Charles and Hastings laugh together over the confusion young Marlow in. Marlow arrives to apologise and in the discussion over Miss Hardcastle claims he barely talked to her. Marlow reveals his truly good character, and after some discussion, everyone agrees to match as per above. All are happy and the ‘Mistakes of a Night’ have been corrected.

       All characters are drawn very well and plot is constructed very well that generate laughter in our mind.

    The confusion and mentality or the portrait of all characters are very humorous and has many element of laughter in the play. It is a true form of comedy. We can also evaluate it. We love its characters because it is like real and we laugh with them, not laugh at them.

     The play is charming one, in which the rough edges of the world are ground smooth, in which fouls turn out to be virtues and mistakes to be blessings. Its characters are particularly delightful. Tony Lumpkin is a genuine child of the soil and is said to be a monitor. Tony is loved by the readers of the comedy for his pleasant fun and nice jokes. Mr. Hardcastle is another character whom we all like because he loves everything that is old.

     In ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ or ‘The Mistakes of a Night’ Goldsmith succeeds in introducing humour of the finest type. The plot is well-knitted and the characters have everything of comedy about them. The old mawkish sentimentality is driven out, and the sense of pathos is sub -planted by mirth and delight.

    It seen as comedy of manners, because in that play comedy arises from gap between the characters’ attempts to preserve standards of polite behaviour, that contrasts to their true behaviour and set in a polite society.

      ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is also a good satire and farce because it is based on multiple misunderstandings. Like Marlow and Hastings believing Hardcastle’s house as an inn.

       Sometimes, ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is compared with the great dramatist Shakespeare’s comedies. There is also unity of time, place and action- the concept also show in Shakespeare, is also very well described.

     Like Shakespeare’s Romantic comedy, this comedy depicts how seriously young people take love, and how foolishly it takes them behave. In ‘She stoops to Conquer’ Kate’s- daughter of Hardcastle stooping and Marlow’s nervousness are good example of Romantic comedy. Peculiar union of intellect and emotion which colours the figures and words of Hardcastle and Tony Lumpkin and of Diggory alike makes the play Romantic comedy, similar to Shakespearian comedies.

      The prologue of the play gives the conception of comedy of Goldsmith. It is also a direct satire on sentimental comedy. Moreover, he explained his ideas about the comic art in the dedication to Samuel Johnson. In the play, he has ironically attacked through the mouth of his character. As Miss Hardcastle observes in act 2^nd:

  “Indeed I have often been surprise how a man of sentiment could ever admire those light air pleasures, where nothing reaches the heart.”

  Again Tony Lumpkin says in the same act:

  “I have often seen her and sister cry over a book for an hour together; and they said they linked the book the better the more it made them cry.”

      That way he attacked, criticized sentimental comedy.

Conclusion:

      ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ by Oliver Goldsmith has element of anti-sentimentalism. Goldsmith wanted to criticise sentimental comedy of Richard Steele in his contemporary era. So, he wrote ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ his second play better than the first, as an example of pure comedy, comedy of humours, comedy of manners, anti-sentimental comedy.

       Thus, ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ is the best example of anti-sentimental comedy not only because it has characteristics and element of anti-sentimentalism but also it has spirit of “anti-sentimentalism” which we can easily find in Goldsmith. It is a very intellectual with emotional comedy where Goldsmith shows his spirit of anti-sentimentalism. And make it the best anti-sentimental comedy – a pure form of comedy.   

       

 

    

        

     

Aurobindo's views on Modern Indian Culture

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University Bhavnagar

Smt. S. B. Guardy Department of English

Topic: Aurobindo’s views on Modern Indian culture

Paper: 4: Indian Writing In English

Written by: Poojaba G. Jadeja

Roll No.: 25

Year: 2013, Semester: 1^st

Aurobindo’s views on Modern Indian Culture

Introduction of Sri Aurobindo:

   Sri Aurobindo is the one incontestably outstanding figure in Indo – Anglican literature. Aurobindo in so far as, he was a writer, was not only a writer but poet, the teacher, the fighter or the patriot, the yogi, the philosopher, the prophetic engineer of Life Divine. India recognised him not only as accomplished ‘yogi’ but as an Avatar of new age. 

Views on Modern Indian Culture:

     Sri Aurobindo presents his views on modern Indian culture. He gives views about Indian civilization and also its revolutionary future. S. R. Sharma presents Sri Aurobindo’s views on different subject in his book-“Life and Works Of Sri Aurobindo”. We can summarise his views that way...

     Sri Aurobindo replied on the culture issue from the view point of the past and the valuation of different cultures as acquired contributions to the growth of the human race, that Indian civilization has been the form and expression of a culture as great as any of the historic civilizations of mankind, great in religion, great in philosophy, great in philosophy, great in science, great in thought of many kinds great in literature, art and poetry, craft and trade and commerce.

     From the view point of the present and the fruitful workings of the progressive time-spirit, we can say that even here in spite of our downfall, all is not in the debit side.

Human Progress:

     In spite of all drawbacks and in spite of downfall the spirit of Indian culture, its central ideas, its best ideals have still their message for humanity and not for India alone. Besides the comparisons of the past and the needs of the present there is too view point of the ideal future.

     The very idea of progress is an illusion to some minds; for they imagine that the race moves constantly in a circle. When we look too much upon the highlights of the past and forget its shadows or concentrate too much on the dark spaces of the present and ignore its powers of light and its aspect of happier promise, but that is an illusion creates in our mind.

      Human progress is very much an adventure through the unknown, full of surprises and baffling obstacles; it stumbles often, it misses its way at many points it codes here in order to gain there it references its steps frequently in order to get more widely forward.

Western civilization:

     Western civilization is proud of its successful modernism. But it has lost in the eagerness of its gains and much that which men of old strove towards that it has not even accomplish.

     Aurobindo would be overcome and stupefied rather than surprised and charmed by the enormous stir and pulsation of modern life. But at the same time he would draw back repelled from its unashamed mass of ugliness and vulgarity, its unchastened external utilitarianisms, its vitality riots and the morbid exaggeration and unsoundness of many of its growths. He would see in it much ill-disguised evidence of the uneliminated survival of the triumphant barbarian.

     An unbiased view will prefer to regard this age of civilization as an evolutionary stage, an imperfect but important turn of human advance. There is not only a greater generation of knowledge and more through use of intellectual power activity in multiple fields.

     Sri Aurobindo tried to differentiate between the philosophical systems of the West and East, between western metaphysics and the yoga of the Indian Saints. With his faculty of reason that man tries to grasp the name and nature of reality. But he is himself in it and of it and therefore he cannot stand aside and seize it in its unity and totality. These are also his views on reality.

Views on Civilized India:

     Sri Aurobindo’s views are important as it raised with great point and power the whole question of the survival of Indian civilization and the inevitability of a war of cultures.

     In the stupendous rush of change which is coming on the human world as a result of the present tornado of upheaval ancient India’s culture, attacked by European modernism, overpowered in the material field, betrayed by the indifference of her children, may perish forever along with the soul of the nation that holds it in its keeping.

     It is for India now to recover herself, defend culture existence against the alien penetration preserve her distinct spirit, essential principle and characteristic forms for her own salvation and the total welfare of the human race.

     At the end, Aurobindo writes about India, civilized India, its culture its evolutionary future. His views open out a prospect beyond the battle of cultures.

   

           

 

Elucidate Aristotle's definition of Tragedy

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University Bhavnagar

Smt. S. B. Guardy Department of English

Topic: Elucidate Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy

Paper: 3: Literary Theory and Criticism

Written by: Poojaba G. Jadeja

Roll No.: 25

Year: 2013, Semester: 1^st

‘’Elucidate Aristotle’s definition of tragedy’’

                           To know something about Aristotle, we must know about Plato whose disciple he was.

Plato

              Plato was the first systemic critic, great poet, and philosopher.  He inquired into the nature of imaginative literature and put forward theories which are both illuminating and provocative. He was the most distinguished disciple of Socrates. He belonged an age of inquiry the 4^th century B.C. His great works are in form of Dialogues. Not in any single book but lie scattered in seven  of his dialogues more particularly in ‘THE ION’, ‘THE SYMPOSIUM’, ‘THE REPUBLIC’, ‘THE LAWS’.

                              Aristotle was his disciple. Now, we see some information about Aristotle.

Aristotle:

                                Aristotle, one of the greatest students, was born in 384 B.C. His father was a Physician to the king of Macedonia. He seemed to adopted and developed platonic ideas and expressed them in dialogue form. Alexander - the great is Aristotle’s disciple. He also opened academy in Athens. Because of some reasons, presidency of that academy not given to Aristotle. In 323 B.C., Alexander died and in Macedonia hegemony seethed and riots broke out. Aristotle was accused of impiety, and his life become in serious jeopardy. He left Athens and went to his mother estate where he died in 323B.C.

                      Aristotle is known for his critical works, ‘The Poetics’ and ‘The Rhetoric’. He was honoured as a law-giver and legislator. His critical theories remain largely relevant, and for this, he certainly deserves our admiration and esteem. Thus Aristotle was a great philosopher, scholar, critic, logician, who critics like to evaluate even today.

Poetics:

                  ‘The Poetics’ is Aristotle’s significant work. It is not merely commentary or judgement on the poetics art. Its conclusion is firmly rooted in the Greek literature and is actually illustrated from it. Aristotle was a codifier; he derived and discussed the principles of literature as manifest in the plays and poetry existing in his own day.

                    In ‘The poetics’, Aristotle gives comments on Plato’s views of poetry. He replied the changes of Plato against poetry, wherein he partly agrees and partly disagrees with his teacher.   

                 Aristotle classifies various art forms like tragedy, comedy, epic, poetry. He also differentiates these forms. His theory of imitation according to its object, medium and manner is very real and worthy to study.

                   But his main concern appears to be tragedy, which in his day was considered to be the most developed form of poetry.

Aristotle’s ‘tragedy’:

                     Aristotle’s ‘poetics’ is studied for his views, ideas, criticism on ‘Tragedy’ still today.

                     A philosopher looks for ideal forms of and tries to explain the nature of reality. The search for ideal forms of led Aristotle to explore many subjects. His analysis of the ideal forms of tragedy plays became a guideline for later play wrights in western civilization. For centuries, European playwrights in like Shakespeare tried to write play that would match the ideals of Aristotle’s model. The Greeks believed that tragedy was the highest form of drama and Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy were based on this belief. 

Aristotle defines nature and function of tragedy. He also elucidate, explain the meaning, the definition of the tragedy he gives the theory of catharsis; psychological truth, different parts of tragedy.

Definition of ‘Tragedy’:

                    Now we are going to see definition of ‘Tragedy’ given by Aristotle,

                   “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation-catharsis of these and similar kind of emotion.” 

                  This is the definition of tragedy, given by Aristotle. Every word has multiple meaning and its own definition. So, we must elucidate every word of this definition. In easy language we can explain that, ‘tragedy is the imitation of an serious action, having certain magnitude, complete in itself, in appropriate and pleasurable language in dramatic rather than narrative form with incidents arousing pity and fear, where with to accomplish catharsis of these emotions.’

Explanation:

                  We can explain the definition with parted it in small sentences.

“An imitation of an action”

                All art is representation of life. Imitation is twice removed from reality and illusion of truth but there is natural pleasure in imitation which is in-born instinct in men. So, every art is imitation of life but none can represent life in its totality. Therefore, an artist has to be selective in representation. He must aim at representing an aspect of life or a fragment of life.

                 Action comprises of all human activities including deeds, thoughts, and feelings. Tragedy is the imitation of an action, which means human behaviour, deed shown in tragedy. An action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought from which the action springs and on action all success and failure depends. Here, Aristotle says, plot is the imitation of an action.

                 There is a 3 style of imitation object, which object is imitated, medium, what sort of medium is used to imitate – music, word ..., then manner, in what manner is imitation of life- action or narration.

                Tragedy is imitation of action, it is an imitation not of men but of an action of life, and life consists in action, and its end is mode of action, not of a quality. Character determines men’s quality. But it is by their action that they are happy or sad. Thought and character both are important for imitation of an action. For it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and thought and character are depended upon plot. Plot – Aristotle calls it imitation of an action – is arrangement of the incidents.

                    That’s way tragedy is imitation of an action which shown by characters with the help of plot.

  “...that is serious, complete...”

                     The writer of tragedy seeks to imitate the serious side of life just as writer of comedy seeks to imitate only the shallow and superficial side.

                      That means that a good tragedy deals with one issue that is very “serious”. We cannot have tragedy about something trivial like breaking a fingernail. The issue has to be very serious and very important. That’s why a lot of tragedies deal with someone’s death.

                       ‘Complete’ in itself, means that the play must stick to the one issue; otherwise the audience will get lost in the plot. The tragic section presented on the stage in a drama should be complete or self contained with beginning, middle, and an end, which is called ‘completeness’.

                       A beginning is that before which the audience or the reader does not need to be told anything to understand the story. If something more is required to understand the story than the beginning gives, it is unsatisfactory.   

                       From beginning follows the middle. In their turn the events from the middle lead to the end. Thus the story becomes a compact & self sufficient one. It must not leave the impression that even after the end the action continues or that before the action starts certain things remain to be known. It must have close knit unit with nothing that is superfluous or unnecessary. Every episode, every character and a dialogue in the play must carry step by step the action that is set into motion to its logical denouement. It must give the impression of wholeness at the end. Unities of time, place and action also give perfection to completeness. Any events or episodes must be necessary to main issue and also must be probable or believable, possible. Beginning middle downfall, peripetia, climax, all these things make good plot which brings completeness in drama or tragedy.

“...And of a certain magnitude...” 

                      The play must have, a definite magnitude, a proper size or a reasonable length such as the mind may comprehend fully. The play must in certain length, not too long like epic or not too short like short stories. That is to say that it must have only necessary duration, not longer than about three hours, or shorter than that.

                     If the play is long, it may tire audience’s patience and shorter one cannot make effective presentation. If the play is short, audience may not feel catharsis without involving the atmosphere of the play because shorter play cannot express the whole story beautifully. Besides, a drama continuing for hours indefinitely may fail to keep the various parts of it together into unity and wholeness in the spectator’s mind.

                       The play with certain magnitude helps the spectator to view the drama as a whole, to remember its various episodes and to maintain interest.        

“...In the language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament;”

                     By ‘language embellished’, Aristotle means that language into which rhythm, ‘harmony’ and song enter. Ancient Greek tragedy had a chorus whose role was to comment on the action of the play. The chorus sometimes sang their part. It should have good rhythm and harmony for the lines that were sung.

                   The language employed, should be duly embellished and beautified with various artistic ornaments like rhythm, harmony, song and figures of speech. The language of our daily affairs is not useful here because tragedy has to present a heightened picture of life’s serious side, and that is possible only if elevated language of poetry is used. According to need, the writer makes use of songs, poetry, poetic dialogues, simple conversation etc. in various parts of tragedy.

                   Ornamental language beautifies the play, gives it poetic touch and pleasure to spectator.

“The several kinds being found in separate parts of the play, in the form of action, not of narrative...”

                     By ‘the several kinds in separate parts’, Aristotle means that some parts are rendered through the medium of verse alone, others again with the aid of song.

                    Play’s manner, as we saw earlier, of imitation should be action not narration- as in epic. For it is meant to be dramatic representation not a mere story – telling. In the play the story must be acted or performed. The form is in dialogues but not in narration.

“Through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation – catharsis of these similar emotions.”

                 Main aim of the tragedy is to shake up in the soul the impulses of pity and fear, to achieve catharsis. The emotions of pity and fear find a full and free out – let in tragedy. Their excess is purged and we are lifted out of our self and emerged nobler than before.

                 In a tragedy, the events or episodes in the play should lead the audience to feel very sorry for the main character – the tragic hero, the protagonist. The audience should feel afraid for the tragic hero as he moves toward a destructive end. As play moves along, the events build up the emotions of pity and fear, and audience may feel relief for doing purgation of these emotions.

                 ‘Catharsis’ is the aim of tragedy. Aristotle gives this concept of purification of mind. Catharsis means purgation, correction, purification or refinement. After seeing tragedy we can feel relief from tension. We purified our mind from emotions which generally we cannot express in our daily life like pity and fear. Thus, tragedy is the way where we can feel catharsis, we can express our emotions, we can feel free from our emotions, and we can purify our mind and feel relief.

Conclusion:

                   Aristotle’s definition of tragedy is very relevant even today. And his theory of catharsis is also very real. Aristotle’s all theories are worthy to remember, and it also helps students for better understanding. Each word of definition of tragedy can become separate essay itself and with this definition we can see how genius Aristotle was!

                   That is the way; we can elucidate Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. And we can study thoroughly about his views on tragedy and its important parts. But Aristotle’s this definition of tragedy can very well defines it and enough to know tragedy and its style and its important rules to become tragedy.