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Showing posts from June 21, 2009

JOHN KEATS (Romantic, Escapist and Pure Poet of Nature)

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“First the realm I’ll pass Of Flora of Pan, sleep in the grass, Feed upon apples and strawberries And choose each pleasure my fancy sees.” (Sleep and Beauty) Like all romantic poets, Keats seeks an escape in the past. His imagination is attracted by the ancient Greeks as well as by the glory and splendour of Middle Ages . He rarely devotes himself to the pressing problems of the present. Hyperion, Endymion and Lamia are all classical in theme, though romantic in style. Keats this finds an escape into the past from the oppressive realities of the present. Also Keats’ themes are romantic in nature. Most of his poetry is devoted to the quest of beauty. Love, chivalry, adventure, pathos --- these are some of the themes of his poems. Another strain that runs through his poetry is the constant fear of death, which finds very beautiful expression in his sonnet, ‘When I Have Fears’. Another theme of his poetry is disappointment in love, which can be seen in ‘La Belle Dam Sans

Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett)

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“The subject of the play is not Godot, but  waiting .” (Melvin J. Friedom) In addition to the themes implicit in the title itself, that is, the theme of waiting, there are several other themes in “ Waiting for Godot ”, which have captured critical attention. Some of these are triviality and boredom of human life, the theme of prevalence of suffering, the theme of ignorance, the theme of economic and intellectual exploitation and the theme of meaninglessness of space, time and identity. Then there is theme of Nothing to be Done. The production of Waiting for Godot was regarded by some critics as a great landmark in the history of the English theatre, although other looked at it as one more example of the literary anarchy of the present century. Beckett’s subsequent plays made this initial conflict of opinion even sharper and fiercer, and indeed his development since Waiting for Godot made that play seem almost traditional in its methods and hopeful in its philosophy. One subs