Definition and Characteristics of Literature

Defination of Literature - 

  “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age, or the body of writings on a particular subject (scientific, art, etc.)” (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus).

        Usually we believe that whatever is written is literature. On the other hand, different writing such as Railway Time Table, History, Economics or News items is not considered as a literature.

      Literature can be defined as ‘pieces of writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels, plays and poems’.  (Oxford Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary).

        Literature is a special kind of writing which different from the other writing. Literature is that kind of writing which is charged with human interest. It is characterize by permanence colour of imagination and artistic embellishment. It’s still with the life of man and his destinies on the earth. It expresses thought, feeling, emotion and attitude toward the life which are permanent and universal, in the other word they do not change with the change of the time. And it’s this permanence and universality makes literature different from the other writing, such as Journalism or advertisement. The views and thoughts are expressed in the news paper makes to be forgotten after some time, while those of literature go on appealing through the corridors of time. The report of earthquake in Gujarat before few years was appealing and emotional but people of certainly have forgotten it’s very soon. The dramas of William Shakespeare more than hundred years are still interesting and appealing even the Ramayana and the Mahabharata written before the five thousand year ago are still later of interesting and appealing.

So the literature is the production of a unique mind as well as it superior to other writing. It contains certain characteristic. The other writing gives us only information or knowledge while literature gives knowledge as well as pleasure. There are four remarkable features of literature such as –

(1) Sincerity  (2)  Life Likeness (3) Suggestiveness (4) Originality

• Sincerity

      Literature is a unique art. It needs almost sincerity and seriousness. It is believed that writer is inspired by the news than the write. The activity of literature writing is kind of mediation. The writer makes sincere effort and thus creates unique work of art because of this sincerity. Literature has quality like permanence and universality. Shakespeare’s plays, Wordsworth’s poems are with the sincerity. Such literature creates good impact upon others.

• Life Likeness

      Literature is a genuine record of human life. Though it is more imaginative, it has the ground reality of life. At a centre the writers write about what they see, what their experience and what they know about the life.  Thus there is life likeness. In the literature Shakespeare’s tragedies were written before many years ago, though they are about English society, they are accepted by the whole world. We find the similar experience in life, as they are found in those tragedies.

• Suggestiveness:

     Since the literature aims at to please to move and to teach, it must be capable to having certain qualities. Literature is directly connected with the human life, and so it is highly suggestive. Many works of literature have hidden meanings. The writers use different symbols to convey the meaning because of suggestiveness. Literature is complex and difficult to write or to understand. T. S. Eliot’s ‘The west Land’ W. B. Yeast’s Poetry and novels of Dickens’s are full of suggestiveness. 

• Originality:

      The critic like Plato believes that literature is merrily to copy of copy it has no reality or originality. But we don’t agree with the Plato. Actually literature is a unique creation. It connected with the human and emotions and life. Every writer has a unique personality. He may be inspired but his ideas are original. We like to read Shakespeare’s tragedies, Dickens’s novel or poems of Wordsworth. The originality of literature appeals to every human being, the incidents may be probable but they are universally accepted.

Characteristics and Features of Romantic Age

        For over a century the classical convention are apply to the English poetry, but with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798, there was a new trend in the English poetry. The new tendency called ‘Romanticism’. Before this the Elizabethan Age [1558-1603] was known as first Romantic Period. The age of Wordsworth [1798-1830] was known as Romantic Revival.  The word Romanticism has been defined variously by various writers –

 

“The addition of strangeness to Beauty.” – Walter Pater

“The Renaissance of wonder.” ¬– Dunton

“Liberalism in Literature.” – Victor Hugo 

“Liberty of imagination.” – Herford 

CLICK HERE to Find other Definition of Romanticism.

CLICK HERE for Romanticism as “The addition of strangeness to Beauty.” Or “The Renaissance of wonder.”

Subjectivity:

        All the romantic literature is subjective. It is an expression of the urges (feeling) of the soul of an artist. The poet does not care for the rules and regulations, but gives free expression to his emotions. It is a freedom of individual soul from bondage of custom. In Romanticism emphases is laid inspiration and intuition rather than observance of set rules. The romantic poetry is fanciful and introspective. Such tendency gives us a lot of various Romantic Poetry.

Spontaneity:

      Romantic poetry is – “a spontaneous overflow of powerful passions.” The Romantic Poets are gifted with a strong organic sensibility. They Feels more than there are to see. Even an ordinary object or incidents excite theirs imagination. They set up in him powerful passions. Poetry for him is not a craft but inspiration. Even the form also not important for them. Wordsworth’s poetry is full of spontaneity and imagination.

Love of Nature:

       The notable feature of this movement is love of nature. We find zest for the beauties of the external world in the poetry of the period. The Romantics carry us away from the suffocating atmosphere of the cities to the fresh and beautiful world of nature. Wordsworth was a sincere devotee of nature. To him ‘nature was the teacher.’ 

Revolt against Classicism or Simplicity in theme and treatment:

    The romantic period is a strong revolt against the Neo-Classicism. The common men are the centre of interest of new poetry. The Romantic treats the common men with all sympathy. They also use his language for their purposes. They hate poetic diction or artificial style of Pope. Wordsworth believes that there is no essential difference between the language of poetry and of prose.

Emphases on Inherent dignity and nobility of Men:

     Those love of nature leads to love of those who live in her lap. The Romantics have instinct for the elemental simplicities of life. Their hearts overflow with the sympathy for the poor and downtrodden. They glorify the innocence simplicity of common men. They find divine in man. They plea for equal rights for the himself. Therefore the Romantic movement became a part of general democratic movement. Wordsworth’s ‘The solitary Reaper’ is an ideal example. Even P. B. Shelly also favors the spirit of freedom and equality.

Love of Supernatural:

       This feature is especially related with Coleridge. Before Coleridge during the Elizabethan Age Spencer, Marlowe and Shakespeare also try to deal with supernatural. The Romantics are very much alive to wonder, mystery and beauty of universe. He feels presence of unseen powers in nature. To him unseen world is more real than the world of scenes. The supernatural has a special charm for him. He is attracted by the stories of ferries, ghosts and whitchcrast. Coleridge has given us fine poems containing these elements. His ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ ‘Kubla Khan’ and ‘Christabel’ all belong to it.

Melancholy:

        A Romantic is dissatisfied individual (person).  He may be dissatisfied with:

(1) The circumstances of his own life.

(2) Literary convention and tradition of the day.

(3) The general fate of humanity.

      Therefore, romantic poetry is often pessimistic in tone. A Romantic poet may be revolt against the present conditions. He may be tried to escape in to an imaginative world of his own creation. Shelley’s ‘Ode to Westwind’ suggests the feeling. Coleridge escapes in to the Middle Ages and creates his own world of imagination. Thus, the remote and distance and unknown delight him for this very reason.

Craving for Past:

      We find the craving for the past I the poetry of Romantic poetry. It leads the poets to experiment with the meters and poetic forms. The Spenserians Stanza, the ballad meter, the blank verse, the lyric, the odes, the sonnets are all revived. Shelly, Keats, Byron wrote a beautiful lyric, odes, ballads etc.

Conclusion:

     Thus English romanticism is born as a revolt and revival. It is a revolt against eighteenth century traditions and conventions and it is revival of ancient meters and ancient masters of poetry.

Literary Features Of The Victorian Age

Introduction:

          The Victorian age was the one of the most remarkable period in the history of English literature. This age does not begin to year in which Queen Victoria Ruled in England, but Victorianism means an attitude to life and things. This age was also called as the age of Tennyson, because its limit concedes with the limit of his creative life. He is the most representative writer of his time and the mirror of his age. The age witnessed the flowery of the poetry in the hands of the most of poet. It marked the growth of English Novel. It also leads on the foundation of English prose on surer footing.

A Note of Individuality:

       A Note of Individuality is the hallmark of the Victorian Literature.   The literary figures of the period had Originality in Outlook, Character and style. Tennyson loved to sing a song of Independence. In the novels of Dickens we find Originality. The Works of the Bronte Sisters were unique in style. The writing of charlotte, Browning and others were full of enthusiasm and spirit.

The Great Age of Prose and Novel:

      Indeed the Victorian was age of prose and the novel. Though the age produced many poets. It was the remarkable Age of Prose and Novel. The novel of the age enjoyed the same status as the drama of the Elizabethan age. We don’t find that in any age of language. The novel had appeared in such a number and such perfection. There was a host of such a novelist. It includes Charles Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, The Bronte sisters and so on.  The prose writer was Carlyle. John Ruskin, Arnold and Others.

A Deep Moral Note:

       One of the remarkable qualities of the Victorian literature is that it had a deep moral note. The responsible reason for it was the development of science. Darwin’s theory of Evolution created doubts regarding God. Both in prose and poetry there was a departing from the purely artistic standard. It was for a certain moral purpose. Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle, Ruskin were primarily interested for their country man. They were inspired by a conscious moral purpose. They wanted to uplift their fellowmen. Even Charles Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot also wrote with the same tendency. 

The Reflection of Social and Political Life:

       The literature of the age was co-related with the social and political life of the period. The Victorian literary artists were inspired by the social zeal.  They wanted to represent the problem of their own age. The poet of the pre Raphaelite school was an exception Because of it the Victorian literature is the literature of the realism. It becomes an instrument of social reform and social propaganda. It was purposeful and deductive. 

 Art for Art’s shake:

      Mostly the literature of the period was the full of morality and socialism. There was reaction against such a tendency. A group of poet reacted against it. They were Pre-Raphaelite poets. They got inspiration from the middle ages. They wrote about the beauty and glory of past. They were in favor of the original purpose of literature – “to give aesthetic pleasure.”

A note of Pessimism and Optimism:

       A note of pessimism, doubt and despair runs through the literature. It is especially noticed in the poetry of Matthew Arnold and A. H. Clough. Newman Carlyle, Ruskin found everything dark and despaired. Though the note of pessimism runs through the literature, it cannot be pessimistic. Some writers were optimist and associated the age with the peace, progress and prosperity. A note of optimism reflected in the poetry of Browning. Ruskin’s Writings were full of optimism. Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot inspire us with their faith and humanity. Tennyson did not lose his faith in human virtue.

The Spirit of Patriotism and Idealism:

      The note of patriotism runs through the Victorian Age. Tennyson, Dickens and others were inspired by the national pride. There was a sense of greatness of England in their work. A note of I idealism is reflected in the poetry of Browning.

Revival of Interest in Past:

       The Victorians were interested in the contemporary social and political life, yet they were fascinated by the old ages. Some of writers and poets had an effect of romanticism. They had romantic thrust for beauty, love and art. It had affected the work of Tennyson.

    The Pre Raphaelite remained unaffected toward middle ages. Oxford movement which was based on spiritual romanticism. Keble and Newman was the pioneer of the movement. Just as romanticism went back to old tradition and feeling, in same way Oxford Movement reforms and refreshed the religious life by return to past. Walter Pater and Oscar Wild were the pioneer of esthetic movement which was the reaction against utilitarianism. 

The Age of Compromise:

      The Victorian age was the age of Compromise. The Age is of the social changes. The old and new brings compromise between the divergent tendencies and conflict forces. In the field of political life there was compromise between the democracy and monarchy. The Victorian age was the age of materialism yet people did not loss their faith in religion.  So there was compromise between the religion and materialism. Romantic Revival had shown interest in nature and art as the subject matter of art. But the Victorian age exhibits very interesting and complex mixture of opposing elements. They were Romanticism and Classicism; Idealism and Imagism. 

Conclusion:

      In short we can say that, the Victorian age was full of literary activates and compromise. It was complex and the traditions of literature were really remarkable.

Doctor Faustus by Marlowe - General Introduction

 Doctor Faustus by Marlowe 

Written 1588-1592; published 1604

Doctor Faustus, full name -  The Tragicall History of D. Faustus, tragedy in five acts.

        This play tells the story of the man who sells his soul to the devil in return for 24 years of power and knowledge - a legend that began in Germany in the 1500s. The story has inspired countless writers, dramatists and composers ever since, but the first major stage version of the story in England is this one by Shakespeare's contemporary Christopher Marlowe (1564-93). Written sometime between 1588 and 1592, but first published in 1604, the play was extremely controversial at the time, as it explores the paths human beings can take when they allow the devil into their lives. 

        Doctor Faustus was performed many times around the year of Marlowe's death, and its demonic impact on the audiences became the stuff of legend. During the Elizabethan period, the popularity of theatre had grown so much that the Crown was concerned about the effects of controversial plays. Plays were given an official licence if they were deemed suitable, but playwrights could be censored, arrested or even imprisoned. James I passed an act in 1606, which forbade any blasphemous or profane references to God or Christ - actors were fined £10 for each profanity. Marlow was forced to make a number of revisions to Doctor Faustus.

Play Summery of Doctor Faustus

Character list in the play - Doctor Faustus

General Introduction - Doctor Faustus by Marlowe

Character list in the play - Doctor Faustus

 Doctor John Faustus - 

Main Character, 

A learned scholar in Germany during the fifteenth century who becomes dissatisfied with the limitations of knowledge and pledges his soul to Lucifer in exchange for unlimited power.

Wagner 

Faustus' servant, 

He tries to imitate (copy) Faustus' methods of reasoning and fails in a ridiculous and comic manner.

Valdes and Cornelius 

Two German scholars who are versed in the practice of magic and who teach Faustus about the art of conjuring.

Lucifer 

King of the underworld and a fallen angel who had rebelled against God and thereafter tries desperately to win souls away from the Lord.

Mephistophilis

 A prince of the underworld who appears to Faustus and becomes his servant for twenty-four years.

Good Angel and Evil Angel 

Two figures who appear to Faustus and attempt to influence him.

The Clown 

The clown who becomes a servant of Wagner as Mephistophilis becomes a servant to Faustus.

Horse-

Courser A gullible man who buys Faustus' horse, which disappears when it is ridden into a pond.

The Pope 

The head of the Roman Catholic church, whom Faustus and Mephistophilis use as a butt of their practical jokes.

Charles V, 

Emperor of Germany The emperor who holds a feast for Faustus and at whose court Faustus illustrates his magical powers.

Knight

 A haughty and disdainful knight who insults Faustus. In revenge, Faustus makes a pair of horns appear on the knight.

Duke and Duchess of Vanholt

 A couple whom Faustus visits and for whom he conjures up some grapes.

Robin 

An ostler who steals some of Dr. Faustus' books and tries to conjure up some devils.

Rafe (Ralph)

 A friend of Robin's who is present with Robin during the attempt to conjure up devils.

Vintner

A man who appears and tries to get payment for a goblet from Robin.

Old Man He appears to Faustus during the last scene and tries to tell Faustus that there is still time to repent.

Seven Deadly Sins, - Alexander, - Helen of Troy, and - Alexander's Paramour

 Spirits or apparitions which appear during the course of the play.

Chorus A device used to comment upon the action of the play or to provide exposition.

Read Also Topic Given Below

Play Summery of Doctor Faustus

Character list in the play - Doctor Faustus

General Introduction - Doctor Faustus by Marlowe

Play Summery of Doctor Faustus

     Faustus becomes dissatisfied with his studies of medicine, law, logic and theology; therefore, he decides to turn to the dangerous practice of necromancy, or magic. He has his servant Wagner summon Valdes and Cornelius, two German experts in magic. Faustus tells them that he has decided to experiment in necromancy and needs them to teach him some of the fundamentals.

        When he is alone in his study, Faustus begins experimenting with magical incantations, and suddenly Mephistophilis appears, in the form of an ugly devil. Faustus sends him away, telling him to reappear in the form of a friar. Faustus discovers that it is not his conjuring which brings forth Mephistophilis but, instead, that when anyone curses the trinity, devils automatically appear. Faustus sends Mephistophilis back to hell with the bargain that if Faustus is given twenty-four years of absolute power, he will then sell his soul to Lucifer.

        Later, in his study, when Faustus begins to despair, a Good Angel and a Bad Angel appear to him; each encourages Faustus to follow his advice. Mephistophilis appears and Faust agrees to sign a contract in blood with the devil even though several omens appear which warn him not to make this bond.

        Faustus begins to repent of his bargain as the voice of the Good Angel continues to urge him to repent. To divert Faustus, Mephistophilis and Lucifer both appear and parade the seven deadly sins before Faustus. After this, Mephistophilis takes Faustus to Rome and leads him into the pope's private chambers, where the two become invisible and play pranks on the pope and some unsuspecting friars.

        After this episode, Faustus and Mephistophilis go to the German emperor's court, where they conjure up Alexander the Great. At this time, Faustus also makes a pair of horns suddenly appear on one of the knights who had been skeptical about Faustus' powers. After this episode, Faustus is next seen selling his horse to a horse-courser with the advice that the man must not ride the horse into the water. Later, the horse-courser enters Faustus' study and accuses Faustus of false dealings because the horse had turned into a bundle of hay in the middle of a pond.

        After performing other magical tricks such as bringing forth fresh grapes in the dead of winter, Faustus returns to his study, where at the request of his fellow scholars, he conjures up the apparition of Helen of Troy. An old man appears and tries to get Faustus to hope for salvation and yet Faustus cannot. He knows it is now too late to turn away from the evil and ask for forgiveness. When the scholars leave, the clock strikes eleven and Faustus realizes that he must give up his soul within an hour.

        As the clock marks each passing segment of time, Faustus sinks deeper and deeper into despair. When the clock strikes twelve, devils appear amid thunder and lightning and carry Faustus off to his eternal damnation.

Read Also Topic Given Below

Play Summery of Doctor Faustus

Character list in the play - Doctor Faustus

General Introduction - Doctor Faustus by Marlowe

Detailed note on Mahesh Dattani

 Mahesh Dattani is a dramatist, actor, dancer, director, and mentor. In 1998, his play Final Solutions got the Sahitya Akademi Award for Indian English drama. Although he has written several plays in English, he hails from such a background with hardly any literary aromas. Some of these plays have been considered and are now part of the curricula of Indian and international universities. He was born on August 7, 1958, in Bangalore, and attended Baldwin's High School and Bangalore's St. Joseph's College of Arts and Science. His mother tongue is Gujrati, but he received English language schooling along with his siblings, which enabled him in learning English as a second language. He holds a bachelor's degree in Arts and a master's degree in Marketing and Advertising Management. He began his work as a copywriter for an advertising agency before joining his family's business.

Dattani writes plays about scintillating issues that are relevant to today's society. He focuses on the issues that some of his predecessors have addressed in their plays, such as gender discrimination, child sexual abuse, patriarchy, and taboos that are not allowed to be acknowledged vociferously, such as homosexuality and the plight of eunuchs, and, of course, he writes vis-à-vis communalism, which is an apple of discord among various castes, classes, and colours.

In Where There's a Will and Dance Like a Man, Dattani depicts patriarchy's constitution and authoritarian attitude, gender discrimination in Tara, and the heart-wrenching topic of child sexual abuse in Thirty Days in September, as well as the contemplated status of eunuchs and their marginality in society in Seven Steps Around the Fire, homosexuality and LGBT issues in On a Muggy Night in Mumbai and Bravely Fought the Queen, and Do the Needful, respectively. Communalism in Final Solution and Some other predicaments blur the tension and the prejudice of superiority in The Tale of a Mother Feeding Her Child, in which a foreigner feeds her breast milk to almost an orphan child having forgotten the condition of her child, believing in humanity and having firm faith in God, because HE is omniscient and helps kind-hearted human beings.

The objective of this paper is to discover the girl child's ordeal in a culture dominated by male chauvinism. Tara by Dattani is a drama that addresses the issue of gender discrimination in contemporary Indian society. Woman in a patriarchal society is "the image of the woman holding the mirror to her face is the typical feminine image. In a male-dominated society, a woman is valued for her beauty and sex appeal. She is always afraid of her beauty withering with time and therefore she holds up a mirror which tells her of her youth, beauty and sexual attractiveness remain intact" (Satwana Halder, 

Since the dawn of civilization, women have grappled with a myriad of subjects. They have been stereotyped as sex objects and vulnerable members of society. From dawn to dust, they have been given to do numerous domestic chores to accomplish. And they are obligated to do the assignment within the time constraint, irrespective of whether they are suffering from a headache or backache. Paula Kaplan, in her book, The Myth of Woman's Masochism, asserts, that the myth that “women enjoy their suffering” becomes “responsible for profound and far- reaching emotional and physical harm to girls” 

Dattani's play Tara is a two-act stage play that was first performed by Dattani's Playpen performing Arts Group on October 23, 1990, at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Bangalore as Twinkle Tara. It was subsequently performed as Tara by Theatre Group, Bombay on November 9, 1991, directed by Alyque Padamsee, and received the Sahitya Kerala Akademy award for the same year.

Tara is the story of Siamese twins who were conjoined from the hip down and had three legs. They were surgically separated, and one of them may have two legs. The two legs were suited for Tara's body because Tara's body supplied the majority of the blood, but they (legs) were given to Chandan, albeit the linked leg was eventually flaked off because it could not sustain as dead flesh. The premise of the play Tara is the emotional separation that develops between two conjoned twins after their mother and grandfather manipulate their physical separation to favour the male (Chandan) over the girl

Dattani has shown the middle-class society that is supposed to itself well educated and has a respectable status in society. He is an expert in mirroring the real conditions of girls who have been living in a crucial society where they have no respect and honor. When Tara wants to know how the girls were being treated in the Patels' family, Roopa, Tara's neighbour, says, “Since you insist, I will tell you. It will not be true. But this is what I have heard. The Patels in the old days were unhappy with getting girls babies. You know dowry and things like that so they used to draw them in milk… they could say that she choked while drinking her milk