Topic: Personal life of Sir Thomas More.
Question:
Write down a comprehensive note about the personal life of Sir Thomas More?
Answer:
Background:
The name of Sir Thomas More would
always be remembered with great respect
in the history of Catholic Church. He has been acknowledge as a martyr of
Christianity. He was devout of Christian who sacrificed his life for the
greatness of Christianity.
Sir Thomas More was the son of the
John More who was a judge. Sir Thomas More was born in 1478. For his early education
he was sent to St. Anthony School.
It happened that More went under the
guidance of a noble cardinal known as Morton. He perceived the exceptional
qualities in the young student. He used his office and Thomas More got
admission in Oxford. There he met the great scholars of the century. Those were
Grocyn, Linacre, Colet and Erasmus. It should be known that during that time
the Renascence movement had been accepted and preached in Oxford. Thomas More
was influenced by the new learning, but he did not remain in Oxford for longer
duration.
He went back to London and got
admission in Lincoln’s. He studied law and became and advocate. In the bar room
he availed the company of Colet and John Lilly. From here, lets go on
mentioning some of the rare achievements of Sir Thomas More.
First, he had such an exceptional
personality that though he belonged to a middle class family, even then he was
elected as the Member of Parliament at the mere age of 21.
Secondly, he was so influential that
he succeeded in defeating the unjust demand of the king. As he wanted to avail
the national wealth for personal motives.
In fact, has very nature was
inclined towards real teachings of Christianity. He did not verbally believe in
the teachings of the Holy Bible rather the implemented and practiced most of
them (teachings). So much so that when he was a young boy at the college he
used to observe fasts offered prayers, and wore rough and hard articles of
dress. Actually, he was very much influenced by his teacher whose name was
Colet. He was also impressed by his friend named Erasmus. The noble qualities
of Sir Thomas More were acknowledge even by Erasmus. From here, lets have a
glance at the political career and remarkable achievements of Sir Thomas More.
Political Career: First,
Wolsey introduced him to King Henry 8th. It happened that he was
appointed turn by turn against the most authoritative posts. Not only this, he
was also sent to foreign countries on diplomatic missions. It is said that
while he was in Antwerp, he wrote the first draft of his famous book, Utopia.
So much so that in 1529. Sir Thomas More was appointed against the post of
chancellorship. He was a first personality from middle class who was appointed
against such and authoritative vacancy. In 1532, King Henry VIII rebelled (baghi hona*urdu) against the Roman
Catholic Church due to which, More resigned from his post. King Henry VIII did
not want to take drastic step against such as a towering personality. He was
given enough time to re-consider his decision, but Sir Thomas More could not
even imagine to go against the supremacy of The Roman Catholic Church.
In short, Sir Thomas More was hanged
against false charge on 6th July in 1535.
17-11-2015
(Tuesday)
Question: What is the importance of Utopia in
the history of United Kingdom?
OR. Write down a comprehensive note on some of
the salient features of Utopia.
Answer:
Background:
It has been acknowledged that Sir Thomas More was one of those
personalities which laid down the foundation stone of United Kingdom. He was not only an orthodox Christian, he had also the political, economic,
and social vision. Sir Thomas More
was a great writer. His major
works were written in the Latin
language. Among his compositions, the greatest one is of course, Utopia. Let’s enumerate or count salient
features of the rare book of the world. It was written in Latin language, and was translated into English language by two personalities. First by Ralph Rohinson in 1551. Later on, it was translated
into English language by Gilbert
Burnet in 1684. Though
Utopica was first printed in Latin in 1516. In fact, Utopia is a satire on the
social and political evils of the age. Sir Thomas More expresses his ideas in a
novel way.
He was sent by Henry VIII on a diplomatic mission to prince Charles of Castile.
He was accompanied with other personality known as Cuthbert Tunstal. During that stay, they visited a place
called Antwerp. They happened
to meet over there a scholar known as Rapheal
Hythioday. He had visited a country where the people were leading
peaceful and prosperous life. Sir
Thomas More hastened the high moral values of the people of that
country, and he longed that wouldn’t it be possible to implement all these
policies in the United Kingdom.
As all those values could remove the weaknesses from the English Society.From
Here, lets go to the noble ideas which were written by Sir Thomas More in
Utopia.
First, the punishment against the
thieves in United Kingdom was hanging. He advised the English government that
it should devise such policies through which the general public could become
financially stable and morally high. The people should be provided
opportunities for earing through honest means. In such conditions they would
not steel anything from anywhere. The wrong policies of the government first
make them thieves, and then they are hanged unjustly. The government itself is
responsible for making them thieves.
Secondly, according to Sir Thomas
More the people of Utopia have divided the twenty four hours of the day
systematically. They work for six hours. They have their dinner after working
for three hours. They work for three hours after having the dinner. They sleep
for eight hours. Rest of the time is at the discretion (Marzi:Urdu) of a person. The praiseworthy point is that they
do not waste their free time in fruitless activities.
Thirdly, the Utopians are well
trained in agriculture. Nobody is forced to do unnecessary labor. They are
given enough time for improving their standard of life.
Fourthly, there is proper arrangement
of the supply of pure water and cleanliness (sanitation) in that society. Their
houses are well planned and well maintained. The streets and roads are wide. There
is prosperity in the whole society of Utopia.
Fifthly, the people of Utopia
elected their ruler through a secret ballet paper. However, the people who went
to caste the votes for the ruler, they took an oath that they would elect the
most suitable person among the candidates.
Sixthly, the Utopians are neither
jealous of the rich people and nor they suffer from inferiority complex.
Seventhly, the people of that area
believe in goodness and virtue. Virtue is anything which relates with the love
of God and of His living beings.
Next, Sir Thomas More advised us
that we should be kind even towards the animals. For example, during the
hunting when a hare is caught by a hound (Sikari
Ktta) then that condition demands our pity and not any pleasure.
Ninthly, he does not oppose the pleasures of
life. He divides pleasures in two kinds. One is spiritual and second is
physical. Spiritual pleasure deals with knowledge and truth. However, music
also gives us bodily pleasure.
He advises us that we should be grateful to God
as He has bestowed upon us good health. Sir Thomas More advises us that we
should maintain us so that we should appear civilized, educated and cultured.
Similarly, he advises that peaceful and joyful
family life is only possible when the wife respects her husbands. Mere beauty
is no guarantee to a joyful family life.
Sir Thomas More was informed by Raphael that the
people of Utopia have easy and simple judicial system. There is no too much
dependence on the advocates as they make the laws very complex things. People
of Utopia themselves go before the judge and accept his decision.
Similarly, the system of multi political parties
fails to provide any goodness to the common people. Hence, the leagues are not
acceptable. The Utopians dislike aggression (Hamly me pehal krna;urdu). However all of them are well trained in
the techniques of war. They wage a war against the aggressor. They help the
oppressed nations and they also defend themselves.
The Utopians wage a war against the unjust
possession of land. Every man has the right to possess a tract (tukra) of land
which should meet his needs of life.
The people of that country employ such persons in
their army who are wild and fierce (wehsi) by nature. They pay them higher
salaries. However, they do not follow the policy of conscription for their
fellow countrymen. When coward people would be forced to serve in the army,
they would run away from the battle field.
The Utopians kill the spies (jasoos), but they
do not harm the general subjects (rihaya). They do not demand the expenses of
war from their friends.
In short, Sir Thomas More showed his ambition
that the Government of Britain all those good policies in its own land.
Topic:
Significance of Utopia.
Q. Write
down a comprehensive note on the significance of Utopia.
Answer: Utopia is one of the famous book written
by Sir Thomas More. Its greatness has been acknowledged by different writers.
Among them, the views of Compton Rickett are also worth considering. He has
pointed out the following significant aspects of Utopia.
More’s Utopia is like Plato’s Republic:
We can rightly say that Utopia is
like Republic. However, these great books have their respective distinctions.
The overall impression which a reader infers from Utopia is that it is the
first remarkable book on modern socialism.
The Republic of Plato seems to give us the idea
of an aristocratic (roa’sa)
communism. Whereas the Utopia of Sir Thomas More seems to preach a democratic
set up. Sir Thomas More is of the opinion that people should have the right to
elect their government, but the final authority should rest with the government
and not with the people.
A social reformer has enough and worth
implementing ideas in Utopia. The most valuable things in this book relate to six
hours daily work and not more, there should be policies for meeting the needs
of the population of a state and curbing (dbana,florish
na hony dyna) luxury and idleness.
The views which were expressed by Sir Thomas
More exposed that how much the Renascence Movement was affecting the English
intellectual.
More versus Erasmus: Apart from Sir Thomas More, the next champion of
Renascence Movement was Erasmus. According to Compton Rickett, both of them
poles apart so far as their temperament was concerned.
For example, once finds the element of kindness
and tenderness in the humor which was written by More.
Whereas, the humor of Erasmus seems to the
readers as bitter. As a whole, he appears to us as a cold and clear minded
writer. However, Sir Thomas More has surpassed him in the field of kindness.
He has not only advocated kindness for the
suffering humanity rather, he opposed any sort of hunting of the animals and of
theirs fighting too.
The worth mentioning book of Erasmus was
Christian Primer. Both Utopia and Christian Primer exposed the influence of
Renascence spirit. The views which were expressed in these two books and deal
with the concepts of the civilized society which struggle for the betterment of
all the sections of society. Not only Sir Thomas More had love for all the
living beings, even Erasmus also had the soft corner for the general public.
For example, Erasmus advocate that the kings should not indulge in warfare, they
should work for the betterment of all the sections of society. In addition to
this, the kings should impose taxes on the rich people and not upon the poor.
24th Nov 2015
Topic: The
position of The Holy Bible during the earlier period of Renascence.
Q. Write a note about the translation of the
Holy Bible from Latin to English OR how Renascence affected The Holy bible.
Answer:
Background: It is reported that The Holy Bible was written in Latin language. At
start, there was no permission to say anything or to translate any portion of
The Holy Bible in any other language of the world. Particularly, The Roman
Catholic sect had monopolized all the religious matter. With the passage of
time many drawbacks took place in the Church. Consequently, some wise people
thought about the real teachings of The Holy Bible and the practices of the Churchmen.
They felt the dire need that the common man of the society should know that
what was in the text and how far the priests were following and implementing
those teachings in letter and spirit. So the history of The Holy Bible tells us
the contributions of the different personalities relating to this Holy Book.
Lets have a brief glance at their respective services one by one.First, we go
to John Wyclif.
John Wyclif:
The Renascence spirit encouraged many people to
critically examine the holy book and the actions of the priest. Among such wise
writers, John Wyclif dared to say that the priest had created a barrier between
man and God. He challenged openly the anti-religious activities of the priests.
He claimed that there should be free access and approach to The Holy Bible.
Consequently, he succeeded in translating this holy book in 1382. After that,
some other scholars also began to express or translate some parts of The Bible.
The Bible versus Translators:
History tells us that many authors translated
The Bible. Some of them were William Tyndale, Luther, William Roy, Cuthbert
Tunstal, Sir Thomas More, Miles Coverdale, Cranmer, Rogers, Cromwell, etc.
To sum up, many translators were put to death on
the one pretext or the other. However, the translation of The Holy Bible which
was completed by Cranmer was acceptable to all the sections of society. In
1540, Cranmer’s translation was allowed to be used in all the churches if
Britain.
Topic:
Wyatt, Surrey, and Sidney (24-11-2015)
Q. Which poets can be called as the pioneers of
Renascence?
OR
In what way the Renascence spirit influenced the
earlier English poets?
Answer:
Background:
According to Compton Rickett, the poets whose
poetry appears under the influence of Renascence or new learning were, Thomas
Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, George Gascoigne, Thomas Sackwille, Sir
Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser. Among these English poets, the poetry of
Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney and Spenser can rightly be called as the voice of early
Renascence in Britain. In this context, first we take Thomas Wyatt.
Thomas Wyatt(1503-1542):
It is said that he many times visited Italy. Intellectually,
he was influenced by Petrarch and Seneca. He knew the rules and regulations for
composing poetry. He also had praiseworthy grip on the English language and the
principles of music. He could write poetic prose as for example the letters
which he wrote for the son of King Henry 8th. It has been
acknowledge that Thomas Wyatt was the first English poet who introduced sonnet
into English Literature. Along with him the next poet who composed poetry in
the Renascence spirit was Henry Howard.
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547): 28-11-2015(Saturday)
According to the critics, he was capable, wise,
and a man of culture and manners. As a literary figure he composed his works on
the pattern of Italian writers. One finds a great variety of metrical experiments
in his poetry. He composed songs, sonnets, and elegies. One finds grace and use
of imaginative ability in his poetry.
Surrey imitates Thomas Wyatt in his
versification. His sonnets appear more effective than
that of Wyatt. Unlike Surrey, he did not follow the Petrarchan model, he
modified the form. Consequently, he succeeded in composing more
expressive form, while the Petrarchan form is more impressive. It was this
merit of his form that later on William Shakespeare and John Milton also
utilized his form.
Not only this, Surrey also contributed blank
verse in English Literature. He translated AEneid into English and that was the
first for of blank verse.in the native literature. From here, lets go to the
respective achievements of the earlier poets of Renascence.
The
achievements:
Earl of Surrey contributed blank verse in
English literature and it was parted by Christopher Marlow.
Thomas Wyatt created ease and assurance in his
poetry while Surrey pave the way for him in this field. Lastly, the poetry of
these two poets of the early Renascence expose personal note while the poetry
of medieval period used to be impersonal we can say that they added individual
note in the English poetry for the first time. Not only these poets, rather Sir
Philip Sidney also contributed a lot for the development of Renascence in
English.
Topic: The
achievements of Sir Philip Sidney.
Q: It is said that Sir Philip Sidney was one of
the Pioneer f Renascence poetry in England. OR. Write down a comprehensive note
about literary achievements of Sir Philip Sidney.
The literary achievements of Sir Philip Sidney
are of a great importance in the development of Renascence poetry in Britain. His
major works consisted of the Arcadia, Defense poeise. The Astrophel and Stella
Sir Philip Sidney passed in 1586 and all his literary works were published
after his death. The critics have evaluated his literary career and have passed
different remarks about it.
For example, according to Compton Rickett, Marlow
appears more brilliant than Sir Philip Sidney. Again John Lilly appears more
witty than him his literary compositions. Similarly, Edmond Spenser also
surpassed him in glamour. However, his works display musical charm and
excellent fancy. His compositions deals with various subjects and as such he
has been acknowledge as a writer of considerable importance. From here, lets
take his book one by one.
The Arcadia: Arcadia of Sidney contributed a lot for the development of English
novels. He invented a new style in this book. It is said that he had written
Arcadia for pleasing his sister name Pembrok. When we study this book it
displays before us that it is a book has various merits. For example, the
characters in it impress the readers and they seen round and not flat.
Similarly, there is a movement of the story. It exposes more passion than we
find in the writings of Greene. It appears more poetic than the works of dodge.
At some places it’s style rises to a level of high beauty.
The contemporary writer of Sidney was John Lilly.
He composed his prose work with the title of Euphues. It happened that many
writers began to follow the style of Euphues in their compositions. After the
publication Sidney Arcadia, the authoss started following the style of this
book. In fact, Sidney was very much influenced by the literature of France rather
than of Italy He admired the literature of Spain. From here we move to his next
book i.e. The Defence of Poesie.
The Defence of Poesie:
01-12-2015
Tuesday
The critics have pointed out many qualities of
his poetic work. Though he used simple words, but these carry depth of
meanings. He was capable to achieve the soul of music. We do not merely find
rhyming scheme in his compositions. His poetic ability has been exposed in
Astrophel and Stella.
This book is the collection of his sonnets. Astrophel
is the symbol of the poet himself, while Stella represents his actual beloved
(Penelope). Some people praise him too much for his poetry while some have
criticized him. As a whole, it can be said that he was not as successful as
Spenser was. His range and expression both are lesser than that of the poetry
of Spenser. He was a cultured fellow and had taste for literature. It seems
that he could not aptly (to the point) express his views. Perhaps he lacked
experience as he seems better in the later works than in the earlier
compositions.
To sum up, at some places in his poetry the
readers do find enough charm, beauty, passion, and music.
From ungrateful fancy
From such a female frenzy, etc.
2nd December 2015
Topic:
Renascence Drama
Question: How far drama affected the life of
English nation? OR What were the impacts of drama on the national
life of English nation?
Answer:
Introduction: The word “literature” is a
broader term, as it has many branches. Some of them are poetry, novel, prose,
criticism,
07
December 2015
Drama influenced both the English nation as a
whole and literature as well. First, lets take the influence of drama upon
literature.
The influence of drama upon literature:
There were many aspects of the influence of
drama. For example, basically it was drama which paved the way for the
composition of great English poetry. The element of music was also created in
it. Poetry was influenced too much by drama. In drama, the writer has to draw
the picture with the help of the words. Along with it, such words have to be
used which clearly express patience and feelings. The dramatist has to be the
creator of noble diction. In drama, sometimes the character has to show
philosophic thinking, sometimes agony (zehni
koft:urdu), and sometime the pleasure of the hard. In short, depth, width, impressive
exposition and noble feelings in the poetry of Elizabethan period were the
results of the influence of drama.
It is reported that in The Old Testament, there
were only six thousand words whereas all the compositions of William
Shakespeare alone contained fifteen thousand words. These figures confirmed that
the English language before the Renascence was extremely poor in its
vocabulary. It was Renascence which developed and enriched the vocabulary of
the English language and literature to a considerable extent.
Not only this, it was drama which donated blank
verse to English poetry. That blank verse helped John Milton in composing the
classical English poetry of all the times. So far as, its influenced upon the
national side was comed concerned it has been written below.
The influence of drama upo n the national life
of English nation:
According to Compton Rickett, it was drama which
taught the common English man about his history. It was drama which exposed the
evils which were found in the courts, in the ruling circles, in the church etc.
The general public learnt about all the weaknesses and as well as the
encouraging aspects of an honorable life. So much so, the sense of patriotism, bravery
and the national pride, all these merits were the products of drama. Various
dramatists changed the very outlook of the Englishman. Those were Sir Philip
Sidney, Jonson, Beaumont, Flatcher, Heywood and William Shakespeare.
Q. Comment
upon the word drama. OR. Write down five sentences of the term drama. OR. Write
down a short note on the nature of drama.
Definition of drama: There are many definitions of the term drama.
One of them is that it is an articulate (very
much clear) story presented in action.
The term articulate refers to speaking. It means
that drama is something to be spoken. The orator (speaker, actor) performs the
action.
The aim of drama is to appeal through the art of
an actor.
The interest of a drama depends on the quality
of the story which is told by the help of the dialogues and action. An
effective drama can only be devised (make) when there is some kinds of clash (opposition) between the man and the
society. If there is some ordinary matter of life and exaggeration then such a
drama is called a farce.
Similarly, if the story of a drama ends happily
for the hero and the heroine then it becomes comedy. However, if the story ends
with the loss of something then it becomes tragedy. It also needs seriousness.
8th
December 2015
Topic: the
origin of drama:
Q. Comment
upon the development of drama.
Answer:
It
is said that the drama existed in the ancient Greece. It was linked with
religious beliefs. The Greek celebrated various ceremonies for seeking the
favour of different gods. One of them was called Dionysus, who was considered
as the god of life, death, fertile land and wine.
Study of the history shows that drama existed in
the ancient societies of India, Egypt, China, and Greece. The Romans borrowed
drama from the Greeks. When Christianity was declared as the state religion of
Rome drama existed there. In the same context, drama in England flourished
through the church and the churchmen. The priests considered it easy to teach
Christianity with the help of actors in the better way than through the Latin
language. They were forced to dramatize the subject matter of The Holy Bible,
because the general public did not know Latin. It happened that drama went on
changing and developing. Various stages and forms emerged because of the new
requirements of the coming times. Some of the forms of drama occurred during the
different phases and some of them are given below.
Forms of Drama:
The
early form which was different from the initial stage was called the Mystery or Miracle play. Both these
words have been derived from French language. This form itself clarifies that
the priest himself was the producer and the actor. From here lets go to the
differences of Mystery and Miracle plays.
Differences between Mystery and Miracle:
The
term Mystery is used for such dramas which dealt with the scriptures (Saheefa) of The Holy Bible.
While
the term Miracle refers the plays whose contents related to the lives of the
saints and martyrs. This topic relates to English drama and needs specification.
The history of English drama:
It is
said that the roots of the English drama are found in the songs that were meant
to be sung at the frontier and Christianity. Now, the question arises that how
and why this literary form became popular in human society. The psychologists
argue that the very human instinct or nature motivate man to love drama. Once
aspect of instinct is the love of amusement and second is the desire for
improvement.
Q. It is
said that the roots of English drama were the lay and religion, Comment. OR.
How far lay and sacred elements develop English drama? OR. Amusement and
improvement are the roots of English drama. Comment.
Answer:
Amusement as the root of English Drama:
Drama emerged because of two human instincts.
One was amusement and second was improvement. Human beings love amusement and
the roots of drama are in it. It happened that during the middle ages jestures,
jugglers, and tumblers were found in every English society. There were also
fools in that time. They went on flourishing despite the opposition from the
religious people. So much so that during the time of William Shakespeare, that
former element of amusement was retained through the comic.
Moreover during the earlier times, there was the fashion of retaining
the pages (Nokar). These people
played certain acts of pleasure which were given the names of Pageants and
branches of drama emerged which were indirectly the influence of former
jugglers, and jestures. In drama, there emerged Farce, Comedy, Masques etc. All
these had their roots in the amusement. From here, lets go to the second cause
of development of drama which is related to improvement.
Desire for improvement: In this respect, the church utilized the
elements of amusement for instruction of the masses. In order to impress the
general public, the Priests began to play certain actions on the time of the
Christmas and Easter. They played certain events from the life of Jesus Christ.
The Biblical stories were dramatized by the priests inside the church.
However, a time came that drama was taken by the owners of mills and
factories and the people of different professions. For example, drama related
to the Flood of Noah was the duty of fisherman. The dramas were played at
higher stages which could be shifted from one place to another. At start, they
used to be no scenery, the actors played different roles. Hell was represented
by the huge head of a monster. The story used to be taken from the Holy Bible,
but the element of humor displayed real English background and influence.
To sum up, the English drama went through the
above mentioned two stages during its evolution on Britain soil.
Topic:
Cycles of English plays.
Q. Explain the phrase, cycles of plays. OR. What
were the two later stages of development in English drama?
Answer:
Background: English drama passed from four major stages.
The first stage dealt with the humor of the local jugglers, jesters and
tumblers. The second stage related to the actions of the churchmen for teaching
religious things to the ignorant general public. During the second stage
Biblical stories were acted on the stage. While, the third stage in the
development of English drama became enough complex, interesting, serious and
challenging.
The
Third stage:
The rare step towards the development of English
drama was initiated from the Church, Biblical stories and the lives of the
saints. In this context, Mysteries plays were exceeded by the Miracles plays.
In the first form, only Biblical stories were made as the subject matter. On
the other hand, the Miracle plays dealt with the lives of the saints which could
present fresh material for the audience. Consequently, in Britain each big city
started arranging its respective play. Those plays were called the cycle of
plays, such as the plays of York, Chester and Coventry.
However, the third stage in the development of
English drama is important. Unlike, the second stage, where there was the
fashion of Mystery and Miracle plays. During the third stage both the farmer
forms were replaced by Morality and Interlude. In the Morality plays abstract
things used to be the subject matter, such as the sin and Repentance. Serious
aspects of life were dealt with in Morality plays. The lighter and humorous
aspects were taken by the writers who composed Interlude. Moral aspects were even
acceptable during the time of William Shakespeare.
