https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244017712767
Rukhaya M.K
A Literary Companion
Mahesh Dattani’s Tara comes across as a play that deals with twin aspects that are two sides of the same coin. It also presents the conflict between illusion and reality as echoed by the multi-level set. The house of the Patels are as kept in memory. The only realistic level is the part of the wall covered with faded wallpaper that has the writer writing the play in which he appears to the audience .In this sense, the playwright presents metatheatrical aspects as he talks of distancing oneself from the experience and writing about it. The Doctor as portrayed in the set, stands in contrast as the omnipotent Author with the Author-God like stance. It thereby underlines the clash between the subjective and objective author. Chandan discovers that even distancing himself physically “in a seedy suburb ofLondon thousands of miles away from home” hasn’t done the trick. He attempts as much as possible to alienate himself from the script, but suffers from a writer’s block and everything remains stagnant on his paper just as his life is. Just as in his life, nothing changes but the dates. And the greatest irony is that Indo-Anglian literature isn’t worth toilet paper in his own country.…
John Dryden’s “Mac Flecknoe” or “A satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S” is a poem in the mock-heroic tradition.
Written in about 1678, “Mac Flecknoe” is the outcome of a series of disagreements between Thomas Shadwell and Dryden. Their quarrel blossomed from the following disagreements: “1) their different estimates of the genius of Ben Jonson, 2) the preference of Dryden for comedy of wit and repartee and of Shadwell, the chief disciple of Jonson, for humors comedy, 3) a sharp disagreement over the true purpose of comedy, 4) contention over the value of rhymed plays, and 5) plagiarism.”(Wikpedia)
Flecknoe comprehends that it is time for his departure as he has for long reigned over the realms of dullness beginning his tenure like Augustus at an early age. The first two lines are an ostentatious platitude on the transience of Life; how Fate eventually wins over the former. The only common aspect between Flecknoe and Augustus was that both of them began to rule young; the insignificance of Flecknoe is contrasted against the huge stature of Augustus, in keeping with the mock-heroic tradition. Flecknoe was indubitably the undisputed King of Dullness in the realms of prose and verse. He has produced a large number of dunces and now seriously contemplates over a successor.…
Yeats‘ Easter, 1916 describes the poet’s sentiments concerning Easter Rising staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916. The people who took part in Dublin in Easter 1916 were commonplace people whom he interacted with on a daily basis. He had quite often witnessed their sparkling faces, and traded greetings with them and shared humorous moments with them. The greeting comprised of “polite meaningless words.” As they continued to thrive in a world of bliss, such was the turn of events that it gave way to something appalling enough to comprehend. The sacrifices for the nation was commendable, but it was heart-rending that it did lead to their death.
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
They thrived in a world where everything was a joke, and they functioned as clowns in such a set up. They indulged in mockeries and jibes just to please the other. And, now everything changes as if there was no reverting back to good times. Though they held vivid faces distinct from one another they were united in the common identity, and united in their thirst for freedom.…
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