Macbeth - William Shakespeare : Five different scenes including the opening one are five pillars in the structure of the play.

Introduction

"Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare is a great tragedy on historical theme. The opening scene of the play is very significant and necessary for this play. Beside this, the four other scenes known as  Dagger scene, Porter scene, Banquet scene and Sleep-walking scene are so adhering to this tragedy that without these scenes the drama would remain incomplete and  would be termed as a poor-structured  tragic composition. Before the discussion about the importance of these scenes we first locate the particular place and point where the said scenes occur.

 'Opening Scene' as the name suggests occurs  at the first of the play and it is the Sc. I of Act - I. Next the 'Dagger Scene' is arranged in Act - II , Sc. - I. The third one, the 'Porter Scene' is included in Sc - III of Act - II.One finds the 'Banquet Scene' in Act - III, Sc. - IV. The Act-V, Sc. - I of  "Macbeth" starts with the famous 'Sleep-walking Scene.'

'Opening Scene' : 

 

"Macbeth" starts with the popular 'Opening Scene' which introduces us to three witches who assemble in a  heath amidst the lightning and thunder. The second witch speaks in a very enigmatic way that they would again meet "When the battle's lost and won" and the third witch mentions the name of Macbeth. Besides all the witches jointly say: "Fair is foul and foul is fair." Though  the  volume of the scene is very short and very few words are uttered by the witches, the scene demands grave importance. 

According to some critics the play  "Macbeth" gains no dramatic effect by this scene. It may be regarded as poor and pointless by some critics, but the great poet Coleridge said that the opening scene of "Macbeth" strikes the key note of the whole play and thus he defended the scene. None can deny that this scene with the appearance  of the witches prepares the mind of the readers that some ominous is going to happen in the play. One thing is clear that the  witches are deliberately waiting for Macbeth as 'Evil' waits for the most unfortunate person. The epigrammatic utterance  "Fair is foul and foul is fair" indicates the 'reversal of values' and also throws some light on the character of Macbeth at the very outset of the play.

So this scene is of immense importance and its necessity is admitted for the fulfillment of the play.

'Dagger Scene'

The foregrounding  of the dark and evil atmosphere in the opening scene is strengthened in the dagger scene. When alone , Macbeth visualizes  a dagger hovering in front of him and the handle is towards his hand. He tries to clutch the dagger but it escapes him. After keen watch Macbeth realizes that the dagger is tangible and it is just like the dagger kept in his scabbard. His tension and terror increase when he discovers the drops of blood on the blade and handle of the dagger. Various dreadful thoughts dawn in Macbeth's mind and he vents his mind in his soliloquy. 

This dagger scene is very important as it reveals the inner working of the mind of Macbeth. Actually Macbeth's guilty mind creates a hallucination in the form of a dagger. As he is not a born criminal, it indicates his moral agitation. The dagger besmeared with blood is the external manifestation of the murderous design of Macbeth.The devilish character of this  valiant hero is , to some extent, revealed 

by the dagger scene.

'Porter Scene' 

In the porter scene the intoxicated porter thinks himself the janitor of the Hell Gate. He is going to be tired as there is continuous knocking at the door and the sinners enter this 'dungeon horrible' one by one.

A farmer, an equivocator and an English tailor are granted the hell for some sinful acts.

The porter scene is of immense importance.It serves as the comic relief as it removes the tension and  heaviness in the minds of the audience and prepares the minds for further actions to come. This scene provides some time between the exit of Macbeth in the previous scene and the entrance in the present scene after changing his dress and washing the spots of blood. The porter scent indicates that Macbeth has turned his castle into a hell after the murder of the king Duncan. 

'Banquet Scene'

The coronation banquet is ready and all the dignified guests are waiting in the great hall. The murderers appointed by Macbeth inform the latter that Banquo is murdered but Fleance, Banquo's son is escaped. When Macbeth utters Banquo's name , he with great horror and amazement discovers that the ghost of Banquo  is installed on seat reserved for Macbeth. He , thoroughly unnerved, addresses the ghost : " Thou canst not say I did it." Macbeth vents his rambling mind. With the reappearance of the ghost he loses his total control on himself. However, the intervention of Lady Macbeth somehow manages the situation but much thing is divulged. 

The ghost of Banquo appears only to Macbeth, nobody else, not even Lady Macbeth.The ghost is nothing but the personification of Macbeth's sense of guilt. Macbeth being unnerved exposed the secret of Bunquo's murder and proves that he is not a confirmed murderer. This banquet scene throws some light on the character of Lady Macbeth, on her cleverness and presence of mind.She vents some encouraging words to her husband, explains the cause of the abnormal behaviour of Macbeth and takes the charge of the situation with her extraordinary skill.  

'Sleep-walking Scene.'

The sleep-walking scene opens with a Doctor of physic and a Gentle woman talking about the somnambulism of Lady Macbeth. After the murder of the king she is mentally disturbed and is found walking in the room in her sleep during night. The lady appears with a taper and speaks about the murder of Duncan, Banquo and Lady Macduff. She takes paper, writes on it , seals it and keeps it. She washes her hands to remove the smell of blood. The Doctor comes to know all the misdeed done by Macbeth and his wife.

This scene is too much expository. This scene exposes the guilt of the two - Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It reveals the fact that Lady Macbeth is after all a lady with all weakness of a woman, though she has projected masculine  mettle. This scene proves that Lady Macbeth is not a born criminal and she can not be called the 'fourth witch' of the play "Macbeth"

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Malgudi Days : R.K.Narayan : The secret of the friendship in the short story entitled “Leela’s Friend” and the story in brief.

 

Introduction: 

‘Malgudi Days’  is the title of a short story collection written by  R.K.Narayan. Where is Malgudi ? The writer himself says that it is imaginary and not to be found in any map. Malgudi is not a small town in North India, it is found in different  parts of the world as the characteristic of Malgudi seems universal. However, Malgudi is town having some landmarks which recur in different short stories and novel of  R.K.Narayan. “Leela’s Friend” is a short story concerning with a very common subject matter of our day to day life.

 

The story in brief : 

Mr. Sivasanker, the representative of  South Indian typical middle class family, is thinking about the servant problem standing on the veranda . Sidda appears suddenly as God-sent and offers to be the servant. He is now jobless as his former master, a doctor, has left the town. Mr. Sivasanker calls his wife for taking decision and they delay a bit to finalise Sidda’s assignment. Meanwhile,  Leela, five-year-old girl of  Mr. Sivasanker comes out , looks at Sidda and declares her choice. Sidda’s  job as servant in Mr. Sivasanker’s house is now confirmed by Leela’s request. Two meals a day and four rupees a month Sidda would get as remuneration for household chores, washing clothes, gardening and looking after Leela.

Whenever Leela would cry : “Sidda, come and paly.”, the latter leaves the work at hand and responds  to the little madam. They play throwing ball, Sidda throws the ball into the sky as Leela commands. Sidda changes the place and proves  that the moon knows Sidda as the moon also changes its place  following  them. Sidda says : “I have asked it to follow us about”. Leela acts as a teacher and teaches the old student Sidda. After dinner when Leela is on her bed , Sidda sits on the floor near the bed and says incomparable stories about animals in forest, gods in heaven and strange magicians . Sidda gradually becomes a good friend of this little girl who spends most of her time with this servant .

One day Leela goes with Sidda for fetching some sugar from a shop. After their returning it is found that Leela’s gold necklace is missing. All responsibility of this missing seems to go to Sidda who  is rebuffed  and threatened of police. Sidda becomes mute like an animal and leaves the house stealthily .  Mr. Sivasanker informs the police who captures Sidda from his haunt few days later. When Sidda is brought in Mr. Sivasanker’s home, Leela, seeing his old best friend , becomes glad measurelessly .She does know the meaning of  thief  and stealing and  also the value of a gold necklace. Sidda, who declares that he has not taken the necklace, is silent and embarrassed for the abuse hurled towards him by the police. Ultimately, he  is taken to the police custody. Leela  becomes desperate and cries bitterly. Few days later, the  gold chain is found in the tamarind pot in the kitchen. The Police Inspector will be informed tomorrow but no Sidda again. Here ends the story.  

 

The secret of friendship between Leela and Sidda :

A good friend is a rare gift, as if, a gift from heaven. To become a true friend of a child is not very easy and it requires some perfect soft skill. It is a relationship of mutual affection and intense attachment. The basis of friendship between Leela and Sidda is obviously not sociological, it is out and out mental or psychological. A child is the denizen of the land of innocence. Leela’s mind naturally searches a mate of the same field which is fulfilled by Sidda who is endowed with innocence like a child. A child of five like Leela knows nothing about honesty, loyalty, sympathy, responsibility, dutifulness and the like qualities which help in developing friendship. She knows only love and affection of Sidda, she gets his company whenever and wherever she demands. On the other hand, Sidda knows how to become the friend of a child , a girl like Leela. He has developed a mutual understanding and he equally enjoys Leela’s company which is not possible by the acting of a servant. Sidda is gifted with some soft skills by which he can study Leela’s mind, can understand Leela’s necessity, can realize Leela’s feeling and can cater Leela’s demand. It may not be termed as trust but reliability that Leela finds in Sidda and she easily puts herself in the care of this person Sidda coming from outside of her house.

Is Sidda trained in nursery matters ? There is no mention of it in the story, he is merely a servant who works for two square meals. Actually, Sidda’s company anyhow makes Leela supremely happy. He takes Leela to some wonderland and plays with her in the field of imagination. He throws the ball up and when it comes down, he says that the ball touches the moon and a part of moon is sticking on the ball. When Leela enquires it he intelligently says that it evaporates very soon and goes back to the moon. Sidda firmly says that the moon know him and then plays the trick which is applied by the adults before the children in all times. Now he stands with Leela near the rose plant and the moon is here, now he takes Leela to the backyard and the moon is there. Leela claps her hands and cries in wonder. Actually, the basis of friendship between Leela and Sidda is the mutual enjoyment through continuous attachment and  mutual love built from unalloyed innocence.  The credit of this friendship is not only of Sidda, Leela is equally endowed with this soft skill at such little age and fifty percent of the credit goes to her. All children are not equally gifted with same good qualities. Sidda offers himself to be good friend and it is Leela who acknowledges him as a good one with her own affable and genial nature.  

Summary and theme of the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” written by Emily Dickinson

 About the poetess : 

Emily Dickinson was one of the eminent women writers, a famous poetess, of the nineteenth century America. The three prominent themes – love , death and immortality – recur in majority of her poems. Her poems are unique in theme and her way of life was  incomparable. Strangely enough, in her youth she accepted the sequestered life, a total recluse, and she never returned to her father’s home. Like a priestess she dressed in white clothes, almost stopped receiving any visitors and even put an end of her relationship with the church .

 

 

 

 Stanza – I ( Line 1 to 4 )

 

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

Summary : In the first stanza the poet has expressed her relationship with death and the way of her acceptance of it. Death is presented as a gentleman who has stopped for the poet with all generosity and so the poet is ready for going with him.  Death here is like a gentleman suitor taking his lady for a trip in his carriage. Immortality also accompanies them.

 

Stanza – II ( Line 5 to 8 )

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
 

Summary : Death the gentleman has no hurry. The poet is ready to give up her labour and leisure ,  that means all the wealth in this world, gross enjoyment and mundane interests and wants to bid farewell to this world. She is charmed by the civility of death.

 

Stanza – III ( Line 9 to 12 )

 

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

 

Summary : The carriage moves smoothly with the poet and very soon passes  the school. They have a glimpse of the children who are playing joyfully in the open place. Soon the chariot passes the fields of grain which are gazing at the carriage, as if, sending them off. They also pass the setting Sun.

 

Stanza – IV ( Line 13 to16 )

 

Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

Summary : The poet says that the Sun passes them i.e. the poet is now out of the bourne  of this world. Now she feels chill cold of the dews, the quivering sensation. It is because of her thin and fine dress, for  Gossamer, Tippet and Tulle.

 

Stanza – V ( Line 17 to 20 )

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

 

Summary : Now the poet has arrived to the destination with death and they pause before a house which looks like just a mound on the earth. Naturally, the roof of the house is not visible and the cornice is in the ground.

 

Stanza – VI ( Line 21 to 24 )

 

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –

 

Summary : The poet says that centuries have elapsed here but she feels such a vast time is shorter than a day. It is the house of eternity . The poet now can remember that the horse’s heads were towards the eternity when the journey was started.  

Theme of the poem :

The poem  “Because I could not stop for Death” of Emily Dickinson deals with death and immortality. Death is a fearful term to human beings, it is a painful realization and the very sound of it creates a macabre sensation in mind. But in this poem the poet looks at death from  different angle. Death is very common matter and known to every  sensible person as it is witnessed in the very life of men. Death is not something alien, it is rather a part of human life.  Death is the most true incident in the scheme of life which is limited to time and place. It is uncertain,but the most certain i.e. death must come but no one knows when it would come. However, the poet is not at all afraid of death, not the least anxious for its approach. She rather welcomes death as the great benefactor in her life , the 'welcome relief ' from all cares, anxiety and tension. Only death can take one to a finer world beyond this temporal existence , a world devoid of frets and fever, trials and tribulations, of every day life. This greater  world is the world of 'Eternity'. So the poet has given up her all labour and leisure of this world and she is ready to accompany death in his chariot, as if, for a pleasure trip with the gentleman suitor. Death is portrayed as the most perfect and solemn guide of human being on the way of 'Eternity'. This theme is reminiscent of a famous expression of the  Nobel Laureate R.N.Tagore : " Maran re tunhun mama shyama saman" (in Bengali). The English rendering is : " O Death, thou art equal to the great lord Krishna". The supreme achievement of our life is the lap of God (Lord Krishna), the celestial refuge, and it is possible only through 'Death'.

The poetess of recluse has established a firm relationship with death in her life time and for this she can visualize the scene after her death. She would be covered with gossamer and tippet which are common funeral dress of women. She can feel the afterlife in the grave, the quivering and chill sensation. These are insignificant to her, as she is going to eternal world to live for thousands years, not like the inconsiderable few years in this temporal world. Mr. Death is a gentleman who shows all civility before the poet and who is not in a hurry.Such a treatment of death with the poet is indicative of the magnanimity of death and the magnificence of the other world. The world of 'Eternity' is not bound by time and for this the poet has corrected her and says : "Or rather - he passed us -"(stanza iv). It is the Sun who passes the poet accompanying death, not the poet passes the Sun ("We passed  the setting sun") .

Three images presented by the poet in the third stanza augment the thematic value of this poem.These are the playing of the school children, the field of gazing grain and the setting sun. If we consider the literal meaning of it, the three images indicate the natural route of the funeral procession, first come the school of the children which is  generally situated at the end of the village, then come agricultural field from where the grains silently witness the last journey and then comes the crematorium or the graveyard, the place where darkness,like the time after setting the sun, starts. In another perspective these three images seem to represent the three stages of life -  the childhood, the prime (youth and maturity) and the old age. The meaning is that we can attain death only covering these three stages of life and set pace for eternity. The playing of children 'At recess in the ring-' manifestly indicate the measureless enjoyment in the stage of innocence of childhood. Field of grain stands for maturity and  the completeness in life which one attains in grown up stage. The setting sun obviously symbolizes the old age, the period of twilight in human life, the starting point of darkness. However, the calm acceptance of death with all serenity and optimism by the poet is the main theme of the poem and universal message to the readers to come.

“The Garden” - Andrew Marvell : Transcription of poet’s voice / Summary of the poem.

 

Summary of the poem.

 

Stanza – I ( Line 1 to 8)

 

How vainly men themselves amaze

To win the palm, the oak, or bays,

And their uncessant labours see

Crown’d from some single herb or tree,

Whose short and narrow verged shade

Does prudently their toils upbraid;

While all flow’rs and all trees do close

To weave the garlands of repose.

 

Summary : Men in general who do not know the grandeur of the garden make meaningless attempt  to win the crown of the leaves of palm or oak or bays trees, they try endlessly for achieving a ‘single herb or tree’. A short and thin shade of a tree justly mocks their perseverance, while all flowers and trees jointly weave the ‘garlands of repose’, i.e. they form some pleasant shade that provides people rest and serenity which are far better than those leafy crown. 

 Note : Crown of palm leaves was  traditionally awarded  to a distinct warrior, of oak leaves for civic achievement and of laurel leaves to the great poet. 

 

Stanza – II ( Line 9 to 16)

 

Fair Quiet, have I found thee here,

And Innocence, thy sister dear!

Mistaken long, I sought you then

In busy companies of men;

Your sacred plants, if here below,

Only among the plants will grow.

Society is all but rude,

To this delicious solitude.

 

Summary : The poet who has found  Fair Quiet and her dear sister Innocence in the garden, has mistakenly endeavoured to find them amidst the busy human beings. If their plants grow on the earth, they grow only among the plants of the garden.(It means that quietness and innocence are adequately found in the garden.)The  solitude of the garden is delicious and charming , but society is by far rude.

 

Stanza – III ( Line 17 to 24)

 

No white nor red was ever seen

So am’rous as this lovely green.

Fond lovers, cruel as their flame,

Cut in these trees their mistress’ name;

Little, alas, they know or heed

How far these beauties hers exceed!

Fair trees! wheres’e’er your barks I wound,

No name shall but your own be found.

 

Summary : The lovely green colour(of trees and plants of the garden) is said to be more amorous than white colour(of lady’s complexion) and red colour (of the lips of the beloveds).The lovers and their flames of love are called cruel because the lovers , being excited by the flames of love, try to immortalize their beloveds’ names cutting the bark of the trees. Unfortunately, they are not aware and careful of the fact that the beauty of the garden definitely exceeds the beauty of their sweethearts. In an apostrophe, the poet says he would crave the name of the trees as his sweetheart, cutting the bark of the tree, if he at all does it.

 

Stanza – IV (Line 25 to 32)

 

When we have run our passion’s heat,

Love hither makes his best retreat.

The gods, that mortal beauty chase,

Still in a tree did end their race:

Apollo hunted Daphne so,

Only that she might laurel grow;

And Pan did after Syrinx speed,

Not as a nymph, but for a reed.

 

Summary : When one’s passion are  exhausted and love runs its course, one takes rest in the shade of the garden  for refreshment. We know, when the gods chase the fair women  on the earth, their chase ends in a tree as the woman is transformed into a tree. For instance, the nymph ‘Daphne’ is  transformed into a laurel tree when Apollo runs after ‘Daphne’. ‘Syrinx’ is chased by the god Pan and she is transformed into a reed. Naturally, the Gods have to hold the trees to satisfy their passion.    

 

Stanza – V (Line 33 to 40)

 

What wond’rous life in this I lead!

Ripe apples drop about my head;

The luscious clusters of the vine

Upon my mouth do crush their wine;

The nectarine and curious peach

Into my hands themselves do reach;

Stumbling on melons as I pass,

Ensnar’d with flow’rs, I fall on grass.

 

Summary : The poet confirms that he enjoys a pleasant time in the garden, full of wonder. The ripe apples hang so low that they touch poet’s head. Bunches of vines come close contact to his mouth  and they are, as if,  ready to crush the wine into poet’s mouth. Nectarines and peaches come to poet’s hands of their own accord. The melons are so plentiful that the poet stumbles on them off  and on. Being tempted by  the beautiful flowers, the poet sinks into the soft bed of  green grasses.

 

Stanza – VI (Line 41 to 48)

 

Meanwhile the mind, from pleasure less,

Withdraws into its happiness;

The mind, that ocean where each kind

Does straight its own resemblance find,

Yet it creates, transcending these,

Far other worlds, and other seas;

Annihilating all that’s made

To a green thought in a green shade.

 

Summary : Poet’s mind can not be confined in the pleasure of lesser kind, the pleasure found in the earthly things and for this his  mind withdraws itself  from the body and sails to  a new land of happiness which originates from the mind itself. The mind is like an ocean , an aquatic sphere, where each creature living on land has a counterpart. But this new created ocean  and lands in mind are different from the land and ocean of reality, minds creation surpasses the real ones. Mind annihilates the lesser ones and creates green thoughts in the shade of the garden.   

 

Stanza – VII (Line 49 to 56)

 

Here at the fountain’s sliding foot,

Or at some fruit tree’s mossy root,

Casting the body’s vest aside,

My soul into the boughs does glide;

There like a bird it sits and sings,

Then whets, and combs its silver wings;

And, till prepar’d for longer flight,

Waves in its plumes the various light.

 

Summary : Near the slithery fountain or close to a tree the lower part of which is covered with moss, poet’s soul discards poet’s body ,goes on the branches of the tree, sits like a bird and starts singing merrily. Here like a bird, poet’s soul whets  and combs the wings  preparing for a longer flight and weaving various lights.

 

Stanza – VIII (Line 57 to 64)

 

Such was that happy garden-state,

While man there walk’d without a mate;

After a place so pure and sweet,

What other help could yet be meet!

But ’twas beyond a mortal’s share

To wander solitary there:

Two paradises ’twere in one

To live in paradise alone.

 

Summary : This pleasant state of the garden is like that of the Eden, the garden of paradise where the first man Adam walked happily when he was  without a mate or companion. In such a pure and sweet place no mate or friend could be fit or appropriate. But the mortal being is not allowed to roam happily is the garden of paradise. If allowed the poet would have enjoyed the happiness of two paradises : first, the paradise having celestial light and the second is the paradise of being alone.

 

Stanza – IX (Line 65 to 72)

How well the skillful gard’ner drew

Of flow’rs and herbs this dial new,

Where from above the milder sun

Does through a fragrant zodiac run;

And as it works, th’ industrious bee

Computes its time as well as we.

How could such sweet and wholesome hours

Be reckon’d but with herbs and flow’rs!

 

Summary : Skillful is the gardener who grows  flowers and plants in a particular manner which collectively serves as a new ‘sun-dial’. The rays of the sun falls on the ‘sun-dial’ through the green leaves of big trees and it may be compared  to the ‘Zodiac’. The busy and industrious bees calculate the time like human beings by consulting this ‘sun-dial’. A fortunate person  who passes the sweet and refreshing hours in the garden, has no equipment to calculate time except the ‘sun-dial’  formed by both  plants and flowers.