Stream Of Consciousness

Stream Of Consciousness

Stream of Consciousness was a phrase used by William James in his Principles Of Psychology (1819) to characterise the unbroken law of thought and awareness in the waking minds; it has now been adopted to describe and narrative method in modern fiction Long passage of introspection are found in novelist George Meredith and Henry James and some minor French writers like Edward Dujardin in 1888 who attempted to represent all the scenes and events as they impinge upon the consciousness of the central character. The Stream of Consciousness, as it was refined after World War I, is a model of narration that undertakes to capture the full spectrum and flow of character's mental process in which, sense, perception mingle with conscious and half conscious thoughts, memories, feelings and random associations.

Some critics use interchangeably with the term interior monologue. It is useful, however to employ the former as the inclusive term, denoting all the diverse technics, employee by authors to describe or represent the overall state and process of consciousness in a character. James Joyce perfected various technics of Stream Of Consciousness narration in Ulysses (1922). Dorothy Richardson sustains a Stream of Consciousness narrative, focused exclusively on the mind of her heroine, throughout 12 volumes of her novels Pilgrims (1915-1938). Virginia Woolf employs Tue procedure as the chief narrative mode in several novels, including Miss Dalloway (1925) and To The Light House (1927) and William Faulkner exploits it brilliantly in the first three of four parts of his novel The Sound And The Fury (1929).

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Tottel's Miscellany

Tottel's Miscellany

A number of early Elizabethan poems and sings were printed and published together by Mr. Richard Tottel, under the title song and sonnets written by the honorable Lord Henry Howard also known as Earl Of Surrey. These volume is popularly known as Tottel's Miscellany which was found to certain poems mainly from Wyatt and Surrey. The first 32 pages of the Miscellany contains 36 poems by Surrey were followed by Wyatt's poem. The sonnets of of Wyatt and Surrey seems to go together in Tottel's Miscellany. Apart from them,the other contributors were Nicholas Grinald, Thomas Lord Vaux and others. One hundred and thirty (130) poems which were included in the Miscellany were by anonymous poet and some of whom might have been identified as William Thynne, Sir Thomas Bryama and Thomas Churchyard.

There were love poems, sonnets in the Petrarchan convention of Wyatt and Surrey as also the songs of complaints about feminist fickleness and fraility. Tottle's Miscellany was the first surviving printed communication of poetry to a great variety of readers. It presents different types of works and there by indicates different poetical influence and inclinations at work in the early days of the Renaissance. Tottel's Miscellany helped by the process of printing , at least managed to preserve the works that had to create their remarkable tradition in English Poetry.

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Henry Howard

Henry Howard

Henry Howard better known as Earl of Surrey was born in 1517 in Hertfordshire, London. In 1532, he married Lady Frances, a 14 years old daughter of Earl of Oxford. But their marriage was unsuccessful. They could not live together for long. They separated from each other in 1535. Before his marriage there was a talk about his live for Princess Mary, daughter of King Henry VIII and an alliance between these two was still discussed.
 In 1540, the old King married Surrey's sister, Catherine Howard which brought Surrey closer to the King. He served in the army in several campaigns of the King and in 1545 he became field Marshall; but soon was dismissed and he returned to England.

But here he felt a victim of a severe conspiracy. The Howards were accused of conspiring against the King. Though his father was saved , He was tried and beheaded in 1547. Surrey acknowledged Thomas Wyatt as a master and followed him in adopting the verse form. He and his friend Sir Wyatt were the first English Poet to write in the Sonnet form that Shakespeare later used, and Surrey was the first English Poet to publish the Blank Verse in his translation of the second and fourth book of Virgil's Aeneid which was published in 1557. Together Wyatt and Surrey, due to their excellent translation of Petrarch's Sonnets, are known as Father of English Sonnet. While Wyatt introduced the Sonnet into English, it was Surrey who gave them the rhyming meter and the division into Quatrains that now characterises the Sonnets variously named English, Elizabethan or Shakespearian Sonnets.

Surrey had contributed several poems to the Tottle's Miscellany. He has left behind at least 20 sonnets ( only 16 are now available), some lyrical poem of love and chivalry such as Windsor Wall, Proud Windsor, Good Ladies etc. Elegies like Tribute To Wyatt, Satires like A satire on London.

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The Little Magazine

The Little Magazine

Little Magazine made their entry in 1880 and have been received by selected audiences ever since. Technically, a Little Magazine refers to any of the periodical publications devoted to serious literary writings. Often , Avant - Garde these magazines were not driven by commercial motives. One of the principles behind the publication of the Little Magazine involves the objective of providing a platform to writer and Artist who were not otherwise granted the opportunity to have their composition printed in the mainstream journals. Little Magazines have provided great scope for experimentation and launched new style ms and modes in 20th century literature. Another characteristic of little magazine was that the production, editorial policy and financial management were not handled within the conventional paradigm of commercial structure tat distinguish mainstream magazines.

The first little magazine was Poetry : A Poetry Of verse (1912) which was edited by Harriet Monroe and Ezra Pound who were the foreign editors. Many other magazines appeared during the first World War. This included Others (1915-1919) edited by Margaret Anderson and The Egoist (1914-1919) edited Dora Marston. Many writers of 20th century made their first appearance through Little Magazine. TS Eliot, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Edgard Lee Masters, Hart Crane, Wallet Stevens and James Joyce published important work in some Little Magazine of the time.

During the first decade itself other Little Magazine specially with the leftist stands, appeared of which The Masses (1911-1917) was the most influential. The Literary journals that
 made their mark in the 1920s - Modern Review (1920-24) edited by F Tarleton, The Fugitive (1920-25) edited at different stages by JC Rensom, Allen Tate and Donald Davidson, Voices (1921-65) edited by Harold Vinal, Secession (1922-24) edited by Graham Munson, Vroom (1921-24) edited by Harold Loeb, This Quarter (1925-32) edited by Ernest Walsh and The Enemy (1927-29) edited by Wyndham Lewis provided for an unprecedented intellectual climate in the 20th century.

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Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Sir Gawain And The Green Knight associated as the outstanding example of Medieval Romance. A chivalrous Romance retain in various alternative verse , it is carefully structured, narratives,vividly conceived and sharply visualized.

The plot of the poem is placed during the early part of King Arthur's reign. A Christmas celebration at the court was being enjoyed then suddenly King Arthur was disrupted when a Green Knight enters the hall and throws a challenge to the King. He challenges the court to give him a blow with his axe ,with the condition that he too would return a similar blow to the acceptor a year later at his own home that is the Green Chapel. The challenge surprises the court and for a long time , no Knight comes forward. Eventually, King Arthur takes up the challenge but then Gawain steps in to give a blow to the Green Knight. On the blow ,the head of the Green Knight was separated from his body and then the Knight picks up his head and promptly walks off after reminding Gawain of the promise to be kept the next year.

The second filed encompasses the preparations of Gawain for the encounter with the Green Knight and describes his journey from Camelot to Northern England Aa he moves on to honour his word. Gawain arrives at a Castle where he decides to stay on as he is informed that the Green Chapel is close by.

The third stanza , shows the last three days before the encounters and during this time ,an interesting game takes place between the Host and Gawain. The Host goes for hunting ,returns with a deer,boar and a fox. Gawain was attempted to seduce by the wife of the Host. Though she was not successful, he faithfully reproduces the kisses on the third day . The lady wants a gift from Gawain which he refuses and then she gives him a ring and her Green Girdle. She tells him that the Green Girdle would save him from any violent death. It is a temptation he could not refuse and accepts her gifts.

In the fourth stanza, Gawain and the Green Knight meets at the Green Chapel. A lot of fight takes place in  that and the Green Knight stops before the final blow to Gawain. In the first two times, nicks the skin in the third. This activates Gawain and he gets ready to fight when it is revealed that the Lord of the castle is the Green Knight. Gawain refuses the Lord's invitation to grace the Castle once more and moves back to king Arthur's Court. He wears the Green Girdle as a mark of shame but in the court ,his actions are celebrated by everybody and the girdle transforms into a symbol of honour.

Sir Gain And The Green Knight remains the most accomplished and sophisticated of the Middle English Romances.

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What Is Black Death

Black Death

An attack of Bubonic and Pneumonic Plague,the Black Death affected major parts of Europe in the middle of the 24th century. The Plague first attacked in English soil was recorded in June 1348 at Melcombe Ragis in Dorset. A general estimate about the number of death brought by the Plague suggest that ⅓ of the English population was decimated by it. About 20% of the villages were either abandoned or completely depopulated in the 14th century. The places most affected by the Plague were the cities, primarily because of over crowding and lack of proper sanitation facilities. The first attack in London was recorded on 1st November 1348. It is estimated that almost 30000of the 70000 contemporary Londoners perished with attack. One of the factor which made it impossible to set. the root in the first burst of attack was the lack of proper medical facilities.

Black death produced different symptoms in its three variations. The most common form was Bubonic, second was  Pneumonic and the third one was Septicemic Plague. The immediate consequence of the Black death was depopulation. There was an overall change in the demographic pattern of England following the plague. Many of the survivers were compelled to desert the professions in fear of contagion. Since the town and the cities were the worst affected, many of its inhabitants fled to the urban areas. Agriculture was greatly affected by the loss of labour. Lands lay untilled as people fled and pushed dramatically filled up the plantation strips over crowding, which was a major problem in many European cities in Middle Age including England, was negated to some extend by the Plague. The Urban centres became more developed and gained from the Newer Economic Circumstances.

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Impacts Of Norman Conquest On The English Literature

Norman Conquest

William the conquerer of the conquest of 1066 was a landmark event in many respects. The pressures of military control over a people ready   to challenge the authority required  immense fact and diplomatic acumen. William knew that he did not have adequate knowledge about local habits and customs moreover the first priority was settlement and control over the people who offered resistance under the English King. The Battle of Hastings went in William's favour, but the matter of managing the resources was his new dominion. Indeed the Norman Conquest of 1066 provided a convenient landmark for the history of England and brought about radical changes in all matters of English life and mind. It did not merely affect the political character of the country but also deeply influenced and shaped remarkably English literature as well as the language.

The Norman Conquest imposed a French speaking ruling on England and with their laws and administrations. The normans imported into England a France literary ideals and cultures. Latin and French were the only recognised languages in the normal court. Consequently, the English language was ignored in English literature remain silent. In fact the development of English literature was arrested for merely a hundred and fifty years after the conquest.

When the English literature reappeared after a laps of more than a century,it was found different, significantly influenced by French literature. The literary ideals of the French however was immensely  different from that of the Anglo - Saxon which was rather grave, reflective and pensive. Bit French Literature was full of liveliness and was rich in wit and humour.

The Norman Conquest contributed to the expansion of English culture and literature. First,there was the enrichment of English Language and Literature by the direct cultural and literary influence of Rome which the Norman had brought. Secondly,there was the immense enlargement of Scholarship and learning as a result of the contact with the scholars of Europe. Thirdly,literary themes and expressions were greatly multiplied by the Norman inclusion of French themes and modes of expression.

The English writers ,under the French impact,attempted every form of literature known to the continent - Romances, Story telling in verse, Chronicles, Allegories, homilies and legends. They sought to imitate the best that was in the French works - their clarity and logical reasonings, their variety of color and shade, their fullness of details and Romantic interest in live and women. In English poetry, the rhymed verse of French replaced the Anglo-Saxon alliterative tradition.

There had grown a kind of Anglo Norman literature which consisted of Chronicles in rhymes. The revival of English literature was heard through religious works. The earliest of those religious works was poemamorate or Moral 'Ode' which was written about 1170 Ad. Among those religious works ,there was a fine prose piece , 'Ancene Riwle' which might be taken as the best example of the prose of the time. The life of Saint Brendon and The Life of Saint Doustan were the two other popular works of the Age.

But the most remarkable work was 'The Ows And The Nightingale " written about 1280 AD by Seullar. Founded on the symbolic poetry of France, it was an Allegory of youth and wisdom. All those inspiration from French Literature made a conspicuous deviation from the old literature of the Anglo-Saxon and demonstrated the extend of the impact of Norman Conquest on English Life, Literature and Language.

But the awareness of the old Anglo-Saxon root was never lost and ultimately the English language ousted French but it was altogether a much changed language under the French influence after Norman Conquest.

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