House of Notes

The Realism of Shaw in the play In Bluntschli, Shaw has presented a realistic portrait of an average soldier, who is ready to fight when he must and is gland to escape when he can. Shaw has shown that a soldier is an ordinary creature of flesh and blood, who suffers from hunger and fatigue, and who is roused to action only by danger. In short, as Sergius puts it, war is a trade like any other trade; it is the coward's art of attacking the enemy when one gets him at a disadvantage, and of avoiding to fight him on equal terms. Of course, war is to be fought when absolutely necessary, but there should be no glorification of war. War is a brutal affair, and we should not sing songs of it. The cruelty and horror of war one highlighted through the relation of the horrible death of the twelve soldiers burnt alive in a farmhouse. In this way idealistic notions of war are punctured. Both Sergius and Raina are disillusioned in their romantic or idealistic notions of war; they ...

Q 9:  What is Methodism? Is “Adam Bede” a propagation of this religious phenomenon?   Answer:  Methodism may be defined as “a movement of reaction against the apathy of the Church of England that prevailed in the early part of 18 th  century. John Wesley, who was a student at Oxford and took holy orders in 1725, founded this movement. Methodist society was formed in 1729 when a few young men at Oxford came together under his leadership. Their object was the promotion of piety and morality. The greatest success of this movement was among the lower classes. When the Methodist movement strengthened, lady preachers were appointed to meet the need. First Wesley Conference was held in1744, in which women were allowed to preach but later they were restricted to preach. In the beginning, this movement worked under the established church, but as the society grew, it became more independent. However, separation was made after the death of Wesl...

Q 8:  Discuss George Eliot as a moralist. Or  “Adam Bede” is dramatization of ultimate best in man. What is your opinion?  Or   Adam Bede learns through pains. His knowledge of suffering makes him the man of high standing. Do you agree?    Answer:  In her youth, George Eliot came in contact with intellectual figures of her age. When her vision widened, she lost faith in Orthodox (Christianity, and after that she could not believe in the supernatural concepts and immortality of human soul throughout her life. For this reason she has been accused of being agonistic   and atheist. But she never appears as an atheist in her stories, only her approach to religion is intellectual. She could not believe in dogmatic parts of religion, but she had faith in its ethical preaching. She was concerned with only moral aspects of religion. Her standards of right and wrong were exactly those of the puritans. Her spiritua...

Is swift a misanthrope? Swift is not a misanthrope rather he is a philanthrope. It is the misconception of those who think Swift as a misanthrope. Swift only wants to reform mankind out of their follies and stupidities. He says that the chief end of all his labour is: “to vex the world rather than divert it”. Secondly, he declares that: “I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities and all his love is towards individuals.” Thirdly, though Swift does not believe that: “Man is a rational animal”. Yet he believes that: “Man is capable of becoming rational if he makes the necessary efforts.” But we see that Swift is notorious for being misanthrope. He was subjected to this allegation during his lifetime because the critics, identifying Gulliver with Swift, attributed Gulliver’s blunders to Swift. That Gulliver, in the last voyage, becomes a misanthrope is undeniable and indisputable. Prima facie, it appears that ...