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THE HAPPY PRINCE -Oscar Wilde About The Author: Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Oxford. His mother, Jane Wilde, was a poet who wrote under the name “Speranza,” or hope, and his father, Sir William Wilde, was an ear surgeon. Wilde was baptized in a local Anglican church and remained dedicated to the Christian faith throughout his lifetime, in spite of the eccentricities of other aspects of his lifestyle. He was known for his dedication to the aesthetic movement, having published papers on aesthetic morality as early as 1874—he lauded decadence and the value of art for its own sake, a theme that recurred in his plays and fiction. However, Wilde also identified as a socialist, and published an essay called “The Soul of Man under Socialism” outlining his beliefs. Wilde married Constance Lloyd in 1884, whose annual allowance helped fund his luxurious style of living. The couple had two sons together, but their relationship was rocked by Wilde beginning to undertake homosexual relationships with other men, beginning with the journalist and art critic Robert Ross. Allusions, both subtle and explicit, to homosexuality began to recur in Wilde’s works—whole sections of The Picture of Dorian Gray were censored prior to publication, due to their scandalous content, and reviewers still described the finished book as excessively decadent and even unclean. Ultimately, Wilde was put on trial in 1895 for gross indecency; after his conviction, he served two years in prison before moving into exile in France, where he ultimately passed away at the age of 46. Introduction: This story is about a Prince. When the prince was alive, he was very happy. After his death, a big statue of his was erected on a pedestal. From there, the statue of Prince could see the entire city and at that time he saw the miseries of the people. He saw the poor people, the homeless, their hunger, and starvation. The Prince was sad to see all these miseries, sadness of the people. The statue of the prince has its jewels delivered to the poor via the swallow (now, on top of the hill, the prince can see the poverty that had previously been shielded from him). Eventually the statue loses all its material wealth; he is richer inside for helping the needy, but no longer outside, and the swallow dies. The people remove the prince statue, now that he is plain, and discuss the next statue that will replace him, because material wealth is most important to them.

Summary: Once, when the Prince was alive, he was filled with richness and opulence to the point that, after his death, he was made into a statue of gold leaf and jewels. The gilded statue of the Happy Prince stands on a pedestal overlooking a town. Covered in gold leaf with sapphires for eyes and a ruby on his sword-hilt, the statue receives admiration from all passers-by, including town councilors who want to foster a reputation for artistic tastes. A Swallow flies over the city on his way to Egypt. He had been delayed after falling in love with a Reed, attracted to her slender waist and gracefulness. When she wouldn’t accompany his travels, the Swallow left alone, but ended up stopping under the statue of the Happy Prince to rest. Surprised at what he takes to be rainfall on a clear night, the Swallow realizes that the Happy Prince has been crying. They introduce themselves, and the Happy Prince describes his childhood in a gated palace, when he lived in San Souci and played in a walled garden—a time full of superficial pleasures when he was ignorant of the suffering in his city. The Swallow is surprised to learn that the Statue is not made of solid gold, but he agrees to help the Happy Prince after he describes his pity for a seamstress sewing passion-flowers on the satin gown of a lady in waiting. She lives in the poor house and cannot care for her sick son, so the Swallow agrees to deliver the ruby from the Prince’s sword hilt to her. On the way to deliver the ruby, the Swallow sees “old Jews bargaining with each other.” He delivers the ruby and stays in order to cool the feverish boy by flapping his wings. After delivering the ruby, the Swallow returns and describes feeling “quite warm” in spite of the cold, due to his good deed. He still intends to go to Egypt and describes to the Happy Prince what marvels await him there, from the river-horses to the God Memnon on his great granite throne. Nevertheless, the Prince begs him to stay and help a young playwright freezing in his garret. The man needs to finish a play for the theatre director but has become too cold. In the end, the Swallow agrees to stay another night and plucks out one of the Prince’s sapphire eyes to deliver to the young man. The Swallow returns once more to bid farewell to the Happy Prince, who pleads with him to deliver his other sapphire eye to a little match-girl who has dropped her matches. Without any help, the child’s father will beat her. The Swallow agrees and promises also to remain in the town by the Prince’s side forever, as he cannot bear to leave him alone and blind on his pedestal.

The Swallow sits on the Prince’s shoulder and recounts tales of Egypt and faraway lands. He tells of the red ibises on the Nile, the Sphinx, “who is as old as the world itself,” and a great green snake who “has twenty priests to feed it with honey cakes.” Though the Prince calls these stories “marvellous,” he asks for tales of the suffering townspeople instead, as “there is no Mystery as great as Misery.” The Swallow flies over the city and reports of the rich making merry while beggars starve at their gates, including young boys trying to warm themselves under a bridge while a passing Watchman tries to clear them out. Upon hearing these tales, the Prince wishes to distribute the fine gold leaf gilding him, to alleviate some of this misery. The Swallow agrees to help him and he delivers sheets of gold leaf to the children. The Prince grows “dull and grey,” while the “children’s faces grew rosier and they laughed and played games in the street.” Winter finally arrives, and the Swallow grows far too cold. Knowing that only limited time remains to him, he asks to kiss the Prince’s hand. Instead, the Prince says, “you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.” The Swallow does so and falls down dead at his feet, at which point the Prince’s leaden heart “snap[s] right in two.” The next morning, the Mayor spots the grey statue with the dead Swallow at its feet and complains of its shabbiness. The Town Councillors agree, calling the statue “little better than a beggar,” and they decide to have the Happy Prince melted down and recast into a new statue (though they fight as to whom he should represent—the Mayor wishes a statue of himself, but each of the town councillors think it should be of them instead). The Art Professor at the University goes so far as to say, “As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful.” The overseer of the workmen at the foundry melts down the statue but notes with shock that the broken lead heart refuses to melt. Giving up, he tosses the heart aside on a dust-heap along with the body of the Swallow. Soon after, God asks one of his Angels to bring the “two most precious things in the city.” The Angel brings the leaden heart and the dead bird, and God agrees that he had rightly chosen. The Happy Prince and the Swallow would be rewarded eternally in Paradise for their compassion and sacrifice.

DEFINITIONS OF FEMINITY AND MASCULINITY

SUJATA SEN The prescribed essay, “Definitions of Feminity and Masculinity”, is an extract from the book, “Gender Studies”. The essay helps to understand the various social processes enforce by the diverse social institutions to strengthen gendered definitions of feminity and masculinity. To understand the concept of feminity and masculinity, it is necessary to understand how various social processes enforce them. The definitions of feminity and/or masculinity are fortified through the following: FAMILY Social institutions, especially the family, strengthened definitions of feminity and masculinity. Across the world, the profile of families in changing from ‘joint ’to ‘nuclear’ to ‘single-parent’ family mould. Attitude towards the (unpaid but very necessary for family sustenance) domestic labour women had to traditionally undertake is also changing, since more women are stepping out of the confines of home and becoming economically independent. Gender differentiation does emerge naturally from biological differences. Gender socialization starts with the birth of an infant, when a baby is welcomed into the world with a declaration of his/her maleness or femaleness (the announcement that the child is a girl/boy), and the use of blue or pink blankets and dresses to indicate the sex of the infant. Family members, books, cinema and television and toys given to children teach and reinforce gender expectations and influence the self-concepts of individuals: words used in everyday parlance are also suggestive of gender. Newborn girl babies are often described as ‘cute’, ‘tiny’, ‘soft’ and ‘delicate’, whereas boys are seen as ‘strong’ and ‘hardy’. In the process of growing up, children gender/stereotyped characteristics: females are emotional, soft, can be easily convinced, patient, nurturing and caring; males are strong, unemotional, rational and logical. MEDIA As important agent that had a major impact on the process of socialization and the learning of gender identities, especially in today’s consumerist era, and has defined femininity and masculinity in the media. The mass media include the audio-visual media: the press, radio, television, films and the ubiquitous advertising. These media are actually controlled by economic powers and constitute definitions of

women’s selves in a way that suit that the status quo. The feminist scholarship believes that the mass media victimize women because they represent women in a very patriarchal mould. Basically, media give women a body image that is highly desirable. Slim actresses and slimmer models are the order of the day. In fact, the media, it can be argued, reduced feminity into body parts. To be feminine (and thereby be attractive to the male of the species), a woman’s body parts get defined as models to be pursued while women into hankering after that ‘unattainable she’ a typical woman can never be. Very rarely does mass media give women defined roles. Media influences definition of masculinity as well. The typical media ‘hero’ presents an ideology of masculinity that is dominant, forceful and at times even brutal. In fact, due to such representation, society is made to see women as caring and nurturing. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION It has been argued that media help accentuate (and continue) social stratification. Feminity, according to such representation, is for male entertainment and possession. Women are considered to be male property and pushed into domestic roles and family-oriented lives and selfhoods. The indirect fallout of all this ‘body beautiful’ bravura is the implication that an active life of her own is not for a middle-class and /or poor woman, or for her woman from the lower-caste groups. RELIGION It is important understand the role religion assigns to women. Feminism argues that most institutionalized modern religions are patriarchal. It has been pointed out that God is usually a man, and the agents of his wisdom are often men. Women mostly are passive carriers of this divine wisdom. EDUCATION In addition to religion, education is another process and social institution that defines feminity and masculinity. It is clear that physically males and females are different, through intellectual cognitive or behavioural differences between the sexes are debatable. Males and females do behave differently, and to a certain extent think differently, and some psychologist argue that that there are differences in terms of fundamental cognitive processing.

WORK CULTURE At the work place, aspects of gendering come to the fore. Experts maintain that work growth can be lateral and/or horizontal. Lateral growth refers to growing towards the top position within the same organization. Horizontal growth refers to the movement across similar positions, without any significant change in the status or power enjoyed by individuals.

SEX AND GENDER Feminism points out to major differences between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. Simone de Beauvoir maintained, ‘We must remember in this context that women are not born; they are made.’ She implied that in the definition of women’s selves and roles, their ‘gender’ matters. What is a gender? It is much more than the physical/biological sexual differences between a woman and a man. Gender refers to practices that society, culture and ideologies propagate because of sexual differences. Right from birth via growth, individuals get a gendered personality that defines their attitudes and behavior.

THE SUNDERBANS SUSIL MANDAL

Analysis In the poem, the poet tries to draw the pensive sketches of Dalit life in the remotest nooks of the marshlands. The dire necessity to access the dense, Sim penetrable forests in search of honey and firewood and the resultant death in the cruel jaws of the ferocious Royal Bengal Tiger, is the central theme of this poem. When Subal is devoured by the blood-thirsty tiger, his wife had no other alternative but to commit suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of her ramshackle hut. The speaker ironically asks the visitor by whom he was sent to Kolkata. He says that the tourist come to have glance of tiger not the inhabitants of these jungles. They witness crocodile, Hental, Sundari trees, the mangrove and the pen pottery on the colorful leaves. He reflects that their lives always remain untouched by ink and remained unnoticed by people as well as the government. They struggle with the orange-peels thrown by the visitors. The poet comments on the fascinating feelings of people when they witness tiger, The Royal Tiger. But no one knows about the people who became victim of this tiger like Haripada, Subal, Fateh Ali and so on. Subal’s wife hanged herself last year couldn’t bear the fangs of hunger. They waited for the minister and the minister promised ‘The Sundarbans will transform!’ The speaker pleads, “Our stomachs are full with the brine-water from flood”.

Hayavadana Act 1 -Girish Karnad

About the Playwright: Girish Karnad was born to a Brahmin family and from an early age took an interest in travelling theatre troupes. He majored in mathematics and statistics at Karnatak Arts College, graduating in 1958. After graduating he travelled to England and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where he wrote his first play, Yayati. After working for the Oxford University Press for seven years, he began to write full time for both theatre and film. For four decades he has continued to write plays, often using history and mythology to address contemporary themes. For his contributions to theatre, he was awarded the Padmashri, one of India’s top civilian honours, in 1974. In 1992 the Indian government awarded him the Padma Bhushan, another of its highest honours, for his contributions to the arts. He also received the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour, in 1999. Summary: At the beginning of the performance, a mask of Ganesha (a Hindu god with the head of an elephant and the body of a boy) is brought onstage and placed onto a chair in front of the audience, and a puja is done. The Bhagavata(In Hinduism a Bhagavata is a worshipper or devotee. In this play, the Bhagavata serves as the narrator. He presents and interprets the action of the play’s main storyline, the story of Devadatta, Kapila, and Padmini. …) asks that Ganesha, who is the “destroyer of obstacles,” bless the performance and give it success. He comments that Ganesha may seem to be an imperfect being because of his hybrid state, but that his completeness is simply unknowable to mortal beings. The Bhagavatathen sets up the action of the play. He first introduces the setting, the kingdom of Dharmapura. He then introduces the two heroes, Devadatta and Kapila. Devadatta, who is fair and handsome, is the son of a Brahmin and who is a highly intellectual poet. The Bhagavata describes how he outdoes the best poets and pundits in the kingdom “in debates on logic and love.” Kapila, on the other hand, is the son of an iron smith and is darker and “plain to look at.” Kapila excels in “deeds which require drive and daring,” including dancing and feats of strength. The Bhagavata describes how the world is in awe of their friendship, and sings that they are two friends of “one mind, one heart.”

At that moment, an actor screams in terror, running onstage. The Bhagavata tries to calm him, saying that there’s nothing to be afraid of on the stage. Only the musicians and audience are there. The actor explains that he was hurrying on his way to perform when he had to go to the bathroom. With nowhere to go, he sat by the side of the road, when a voice told him not to do that. He looked around and didn’t see anybody. He attempted to go again, but the voice once again chastised him. He looked up to find a talking horse in front of him. The Bhagavata does not believe the actor and tells him to get into costume and makeup. The actor shows the Bhagavata his shaking hands, saying that he is too terrified to perform or fight with a sword. The Bhagavata has no choice but to send him back to make sure that there was no talking horse. The actor reluctantly goes. The Bhagavata once again tries to return to his story, but the actor rushes back on, crying that the creature is coming. The Bhagavata reasons that if the actor is so frightened, they should try to hide the creature from the audience. Accordingly, two stage hands hold up a curtain. At that moment, the creature ( Hayavadana) enters and stands behind the curtain. The audience hears the sound of someone sobbing. The Bhagavata orders the stage hands to lower the curtain. Each time the curtain is lowered just enough to show Hayavadana’s head, he ducks behind it. Eventually, Hayavadana is revealed in his full form: half-horse, half-man. The Bhagavata remains in disbelief and chides Hayavadana for trying to scare people with a mask. He asks Hayavadana to take off his mask, but when Hayavadana does not reply, he tries to pull off Hayavadana’s head with the help of the actor. Eventually, however, he concedes that it must be Hayavadana’s real head. The Bhagavata asks Hayavadana who he is, and what brought him to this place. Hayavadana answers that all his life he has been trying to get rid of his horse’s head, and he thought the Bhagavata might be able to help him. He explains that his mother was a princess, and when she came of age she was meant to choose her own husband. Many princes came for her hand in marriage, but she didn’t like any of them. When the prince of Araby arrived on his great white stallion, she fainted. Her father decided that this was the man to marry her, but when the princess woke up; she insisted she would only marry the horse. Hayavadana continues his story, saying that no one could dissuade his mother from her decision, and so she and the horse had fifteen years of happy marriage. One morning, the horse turned into a Celestial Being. He had been cursed to be born a

horse by another god, on the condition that after fifteen years of human love he could regain his divine form. He asked the princess to join him in his “Heavenly Abode,” but the princess would only go with him if he returned to horse form. Thus, he cursed her to become a horse herself. She ran away happily, and Hayavadana was left behind as a product of their marriage.Hayavadana asks the Bhagavata how he can get rid of his head, but the Bhagavata replies that “what’s written on our foreheads cannot be altered.” Hayavadana says that he had tried to become a complete man by taking an interest in “the social life of the Nation,” but that he was unable to find his society. He wonders how he can become a complete man without a complete society. The Bhagavata suggests that Hayavadana go to various temples and try to make a vow to a god. Hayavadana says that he has...