CHARLES LAMB'S TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE (THE TEMPEST)

THE TEMPEST

INTRODUCTION:

Tales from Shakespeare is an English Children’s tale book written by Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb in 1807. The book is designed to make the stories of Shakespeare's plays familiar to the young children. Mary Lamb wrote the comedies and Charles Lamb wrote the tragedies. The Tempest is set on a remote island. The sorcerer Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan but his brother has conspirated with the King of Naples. He sent out Prospero in a boat. Antonio’s cunningness, King’s redemption, Marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand are portrayed in this play.

THE TEMPEST:

The story opens in the midst of  a storm. The ship contains king of Naples, his son, Antonio. Prospero, the Protagonist, has created the storm with  magic. Ariel, the little spirit, makes the ship to wreck. Prospero and Miranda watch the storm envelop the ship.

PROSPERO AND MIRANDA:

Prospero was once the duke of Milan. His interest towards magic books made him to lose his kingdom. He was forced to sail in a boat. Gonzalo loved Prospero and he kept the books, water and other provisional inside the boat. Antonio was proud and ambitious. He started thinking himself as a Duke. He also conspired with King of Naples.

ISLAND:

Prospero’s boat reached the island safely. Miranda was the only reason of Prospero’s existence. She was like a little cherub that Prospero’s arrival. She has imprisoned the spirits in large trees. With the help of magic, Prospero released good spirits.

ARIEL AND CALIBAN:

Ariel, one of the good spirits, released by Prospero. Ariel promised to serve Prospero. Ariel was invisible to everyone except Prospero. Caliban is an ugly monster. He is the son of Sycorax. He was employed as a slave. Caliban didn’t learn anything from Prospero.

FERDINAND’S LOVE :

As the ship wrecked, Antonio and the King were on the one side of the island. Ferdinand was left on the other side alone. Ariel brought Ferdinand towards the cave. Ferdinand saw Miranda and wondered her as the Goddess of the place. Miranda has not seen any men other than her father. Ferdinand and Miranda fell in love with each other.

PROSPERO’S TEST:                                       

Prospero was very ungentle towards Ferdinand. Miranda  and Ferdinand expressed their love. Ferdinand assured to make her as the queen of Naples. Prospero has given lot of works to Ferdinand for instance carrying log of woods. Prospero said “All your vexations were but trials of your love, and you have nobly stood the test”

CONCLUSION:

Ariel brought Antonio and the king of Naples to see Prospero. Antonio felt regretful for to his past deeds. He apologized for his mistakes. Prospero showed Ferdinand to the King Alonso. The king felt Happy to see his son alive. He also approved his son’s love. They all depart with the ship which Ariel kept safe under the sea. Prospero drowned his magic books in the sea and also broke his staff. They left the island happily. The marriage proceedings of Miranda and Ferdinand will take place in Milan.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S SUBHA

INTRODUCTION:

Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta, India. He attended University College, at London for one year. He was called back to India by his father in 1880. During the first 51 years of his life, he achieved some success with his many stories, songs, and plays. In 1913, he received the Nobel Prize for literature. He was the first non-westerner to receive the honor. He wrote over one thousand poems and many books and essays on philosophy, religion, education and social topics. He also composed more than two thousand songs, both the music and lyrics. Two of them became the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. He died at the age of 80.

ABOUT THE SHORT STORY:

Subha is a short story written by Tagore. The story is an heartbreaking tale of the isolation deaf  and dumb girl named Subhashini. She is the daughter of Banikantha.   Subha is born into a comfortable family. She is the youngest of three daughters. She had an elder sisters Sukeshini and Suhashini. Tagore gives the theme of fear, isolation and loneliness. Subha’s mother feels a sense of shame due to Subha’s deformities. At the end, she is married to a man who marries without knowing her deformity

SUBHA'S LIVING:

 Subha lived in Chandipur. There was a small river beside her home. There were houses on either side of the river. Subha's mother tries to love her but she can barely force the emotion. Subha's father loves and accepts her.  In due time her older two sisters are married to proper men and given a proper dowry. The parents find hard to search a groom for Subha. Because the mother in laws  may fear she will give birth to children with the same impairments she has.

COMMUNICATION OF SUBHA:

Subha has learned to cope as best she can within the context of her family by communicating with gestures understood only within the family.   Her only friends are the two family cows named Sarbbashi and Panguki. She had no words to speak with the cows. She murmured lovingly in her language. The cows understood better than Men. She holded Sarbbashi’s neck with her arms. She visited them thrice in a day. She also had friendship with goat and a kitten. Along with Nature they are her connection to her emotions.

SUBHA- PRATAP'S COMPANION:

Subha had a friend named Pratap. He is an idle fellow. He was the youngest boy of the Gossains  The boy’s parents thought that he would not make his living. His only interest in life is casting his fishing net.His only ambition was to catch fish. The man appreciates her silence as talking might frighten the fish.  She comes to enjoy seeing him cast his net.

SUBHA'S MARRIAGE:

Banikantha decided to go to Calcutta with his family. Subha sat in the grassy couch beside her river and said

 “ Don’t let me leave you, mother. Put your arms about me, as I have put mine about you and hold me fast”

Even her tears do not register as sadness with her parents. Subha is sad because she is marrying a stranger who she does not love. Her parents do not take Subha’s feelings into consideration. Subha is not treated as the individual she is. She has become a problem for her parents. They consider her as a burden

CONCLUSION:

The end of the story explores the theme of isolation. Subha is married. and she is to live her life with a man she does not know. She is to live in a city in whereby she knows no one. It is at no stage in the story has Subha’s feelings been put to the forefront by her parents. Though Subha cannot talk her tears speak louder than words yet her parents do not realise. She feels alone in her husband's home.

NISSIM EZEKIEL’S THE NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

INTRODUCTION:

Nissim Ezekiel is a famous poet of in the Indian History. He was born in the year 1924. He is an actor, playwright, poet, editor and critic. He was awarded Sahitya Academy in 1983 for Latter Day Psalms. His works like The Unfinished Man, The Exact Man, Hymns In Darkness are famous among all. His works exhibit an insight into the hearts of the readers. He died in the year 2004

THE NIGHT OF THE SCORPION:

The Night of the Scorpion is a famous poem from the poetry collections of Ezekiel. The poem shows the superstitious belief of the people. The speaker of the poem remembers the night his mother was stung by a Scorpion. The poet explains the appearance of the Scorpion, the reaction of the villagers, and the father’s rationalism.

ON A RAINY DAY:

            The poet remembers the night when his mother was stung by the Scorpion. The Scorpion rice. The scorpion’s poison flash of the diabolic tail. It came into the dark room and has bitten the speaker’s mother.

THE PEASANTS:

The peasants came to see the mother who is suffering from the pain. The poet compares the peasants arrival to the swarm of flies. They all came and buzzed the name of God a hundred times for paralyzing the pain of the mother. They all came with lanterns and candles. The shadows of the peasants looked like Giant  Scorpion on the walls of the house. The peasants searched for the scorpion. But they didn’t find the Scorpion.

SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF:

The villagers believed that the poison moved in mother’s blood if the scorpion moved further. They were in suspicion that the scorpion is still in the house. They told that the sins of the mother’s previous birth would be burned away in the night. They all said

‘May your suffering decrease the misfortunes if your next birth’.

The villagers wished that the sum of evil would balance the sum of good due to the pain. They also told that the poison would purify the mother’s flesh of desire and also the spirit of ambition.

More candles, more lanterns: more neighbours,

More insects, and the endless rain

THE FATHER’S REACTION:

            The speaker’s mother suffered in pain. The poet tells “My mother twisted through and through, groaning on a mat”. The poet calls the father as a sceptic and rationalist. He tried all the methods to cure the pain of the mother. He used powder, herb and hybrid. He also poured a little paraffin upon the bitten area. He also lightened the paraffin. The poet watched the flame feeding on the mother.

CONCLUSION:

            The holy man performed all the rites to tame the poison. He also tried to cure the pain with the incantation. The pain was lost after twenty hours. The mother woke up and told “ Thank God, the Scorpion picked on me and spared my children”.  The poet concludes the poem with the strong love of mother. The poem shows the uncontrollable affection and care of the mother