UNIT 2- PROSE LS-1. WOMEN NOT THE WEAKER SEX: M.K. GANDHI

UNIT 2- PROSE

WOMEN NOT THE WEAKER SEX

: M.K. GANDHI

 

• Woman is more fitted than man to make exploration and take bolder action in nonviolence.
• There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men.
• Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity.
• If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior.
• If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with women.
• Woman, I hold, is the personification of self-sacrifice, but unfortunately today she does not realize what tremendous advantage she has over man.

These are some of the most famous quotes from Gandhiji’s writings and speeches. Gandhiji believed that India’s salvation depends on the sacrifice and enlightenment of her women. Any tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Great Soul, would be an empty one, if we were to take no cue for our own guidance from his words and from his life; for him ideas and ideals had no value if they were not translated into action. He saw man and women as equals, complementing each other. And he saw himself not as a visionary, but as a practical idealist. If then, men and women work together selflessly and sincerely as equals with a faith like Gandhi’s, they may indeed realize Ram Rajya, the perfect state. Traditionally, woman has been called abala (without strength). In Sanskrit and many other Indian languages bala means strength. Abala means one without strength. If by strength we do not mean brutish strength, but strength of character, steadfastness, and endurance, she should be called sabala, strong. His message almost six decades ago at the All India Women’s Conference on December 23, 1936 was: “When woman, whom we call abala becomes sabala, all those who are helpless will become powerful.”

Gandhi was not only a great political leader but a passionate lover of humanity. An implacable enemy of all injustice and inequalities, he was a friend of the lowly and the downtrodden. Harijans, women and the poor commanded his most tender attention. He had almost an instinctive understanding of women and their problems and had a deep abiding sympathy for them.
The oppressive custom of dowry too came under fire from Gandhi. He preferred girls to remain unmarried all their lives than to be humiliated and dishonored by marrying men who demanded dowry… He found dowry marriages “heartless”. Gandhi wished for mutual consent, mutual love, and mutual respect between husband and wife. He said: Marriage must cease to be a matter of arrangement made by parents for money. The system is intimately connected with caste. So long as the choice is limited to a few hundred young men or young women of a particular caste, the system will persist, no matter what is said against it. The girls or boys or their parents will have to break the bonds of caste if the evil is to be eradicated.
Injustice, like exploitation, has to be resisted wherever it is found, not only in the political field. For the fight against foreign domination, women by the thousands rallied to Gandhi’s call for civil disobedience. Women set aside their traditional roles, they came out of seclusion, they cast off their purdah. They entered the public domain along with men, and offered satyagraha; they remained undaunted by police beatings and extreme hardships in prison. Even illiterate tribal women from the forests joined the freedom movement. That is the Truth-force Gandhi urged in private matters as well. In fact, that is where he wanted it to begin. The first condition of non-violence is justice all round in every department of life. Perhaps it is too much to expect of human nature. I do not, however, think so. In Harijan, October 3, 1936 we find the reason for his faith: I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she will make the same effort, and have the same hope and faith.
Though pre-occupied with heavy responsibilities his views in this regard were clear and he tried to educate the public to accept women as equal partners. He said:
“I am uncompromising in the matter of woman’s rights. In my opinion she should labour under no legal disability not suffered by man. I should treat daughters and sons on an equal footing of perfect equality.”
Again he said:
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is a man’s injustice to woman. If by strength it is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not more self-sacrificing, has she not great powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her man could not be. If non- violence is the law of our being, the future is with women.” Women could play a significant part in the freedom fight under his inspiring leadership, his fostering care and loving guidance. According to RajkumariAmritKaur, of all the factors contributing to the awakening of women in India none has been so potent as the field of nonviolence which Gandhijioffered to women in his “war” against British domination of India. It brought them out in their hundreds from sheltered homes, to stand the furnace of a fiery trial without flinching. It proved to the hilt that woman was as much able as man to resist evil or aggression.
The greatest tragedy of present day situation is that even after almost 53 years of our development work we have not been able to clothe our women.
This problem was brought to our notice in 1917 by Mahatma Gandhi. He said: “I happened to visit a village in the Champaran district of Bihar. I found some of the women dressed very dirtily. So I told my wife to ask them why they did not wash their clothes. She spoke to them. One of women took her into her hut and said: look now there is no box or cupboard here containing other clothes. The Sari I am wearing is the only one I have. How am I to wash it? Tell Mahatmaji to get me another sari, and I shall then promise to bathe and put clean clothes everyday. This cottage has no exception, but a type to be found in many Indian villages.”
He took to spinning so that every poor woman could be clothed and he promoted production of khadi as an economic activity.

UNIT – 1 LS-3 Enterprise

UNIT – 1 

LS-3 Enterprise

Summary

 

Synopsis

Nissim Ezekiel’s poem “Enterprise” describes a metaphorical journey toward a specific goal. The travelers on this journey begin in a real physical place, a desert, and argue about how to cross this challenging landscape. One of the members of the group, who writes the most stylish prose, goes his own way. The rest of the group is left on its own. Some quit the team.

The group is attacked by travelers, and over time become unmoved by anything they witness. Fatigue and the stresses of travel have settled in and many of the members of the group cannot go on.

By the fifth stanza, the picture ahead is grim. The enthusiasm has faded and their burdens are heavy. Their vision is clouded with the disintegration of the group and their exhaustion. The well-focused goal presented in the first stanza is lost. The travelers are a disorganized group of aimless wanderers unaware any longer of the original motivation for their expedition. Their observations at this point in the poem are about trivial things.

In the last stanza, the travelers reach their destination; however, it is not quite home. Ezekiel concludes that this type of expedition is not a worthy undertaking; living “at home” with inner satisfaction is the greatest achievement of all. The travelers’ consider their journey and have moments of introspection. They come to the conclusion that their expedition has been neither pioneering or notable for any reason. They had thought their journey would make a mark in history. The only problem is that others have made this journey before. It is nothing new.

The journey of “Enterprise” is a metaphor for life and our focus on the destination as the only means for our goals. Some critics have noted that Ezekiel’s “Enterprise” is also his attempt to bring together two “homes”: his place of birth and his journey to a European city. His exploration of the idea of “home” is sophisticated enough to be compared to the same themes in the poetry of Robert Frost, for example.

UNIT-1 LS-2. A Prayer for My Daughter: William Butler Yeats

UNIT-1

LS-2 A Prayer for My Daughter: William Butler Yeats

Summary and Critical Analysis

 

“Prayer for My Daughter” is a beautiful personal poem by William Butler Yeats reflecting his gloomy mood and a fear of a disturbing future. The poem was composed in 1919 and appeared in 1921. It was written during the World War I, thus it reflects the post-war agitation that was prevalent during that time. Though the war ended but Ireland was still in disturbance. William Butler Yeats’ daughter Annie was born that time and the poet was worried for her future. He is worried that his infant daughter has to face the challenges and hardships of the future and how best would she be able to fight them. The poet suggests some characteristics that she must undertake which can sustain her future and keep her safe and happy.

SUMMARY:
Stanza 1:
A violent, dreadful storm is blazing outside. The poet says that the ‘haystack and roof-leveling wind’ is blowing directly from the Atlantic but is obstructed by just one naked hill and the woods of Gregory’s estate. The poet then introduces her infant daughter who is sleeping in her cradle, well protected from the assaults of the dreadful storm that is raging outside. The poet keeps pacing the cradle up and down while praying for her daughter because a storm has been raging in his soul too. He is worried for his daughter’s future and his mind is full of apprehension for the future of humanity.
Stanza 2:
In the following stanza, the poet describes the condition of the place the poet dwells in. The poet can hear the shrill sound of the sea-wind that is hitting the tower and below the arches of the bridge which connects the castle with the main road and in the elms above the flooded river. The poet has been praying for over an hour and he is disturbed by the shrill sound of the sea-wind. He is haunted by fear. The poet imagines the future, in course of his excitement and fear; that the future years have come out of the sea and it is dancing to the crazy beat of the drums. Like every affectionate and caring father, the poet is anxious for his infant daughter.
Stanza 3:
Now the poet talks about what he is praying for his daughter. He says he is praying that his daughter may be granted beauty but not so much that it disturbs or distracts others. The poet says that women who are very beautiful forget their natural kindness and are unable to accept sincere love. Thus, they fail to have an appropriate life partner and hence they remain unsatisfied.
Stanza 4:
Here the poet refers to the Greek mythological character, Helen. Helen was the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda. She eloped with Prince Paris of Troy which led to the destruction of Troy. Aphrodite also married Hephaestus and betrayed him later on. In the same manner, Maud Gonne too had rejected Yeats’ proposal and had married a foolish man and was not happy with him. Yeats says that beautiful women are too proud and foolish and therefore they suffer and lead a miserable life.
Stanza 5:
The poet prays for his daughter that she should have something more than just bewitching beauty. She should be courteous. The poet believes that hearts can be won by the virtue of courtesy; even those who are not beautiful can win hearts by their courtesy. Maud Gonne was very beautiful and Yeats was a fool to believe that she loved him too. Later on he realized his mistake and he ultimately understood that it was courtesy and not beauty that won his heart.
Stanza 6:
The poet pleads that the soul of his daughter should flourish and reach self-fulfillment like a flourishing tree. Like the linnets, her life should be clustered around happy and pure thoughts. These little creatures are symbols of innocence and happiness that make others happy too. So he wishes his daughter to be happy within as well as keep others happy too.
Stanza 7:
The poet then talks about his own mind and heart. He says that on looking into his own heart, he finds hatred which has come because of the experience of life and the sort of beauty he loved. He prays for his daughter to keep away from such evils and says that if the soul is free from any kind of hatred, nothing can ruin one’s happiness and innocence.
Stanza 8:
The poet feels that intellectual hatred is the worst kind of hatred. He considers it as a great flaw in someone’s character. So he wants his daughter to shun any such kind of hatred or strong bitter feelings for anyone. He wants his daughter to avoid the weaknesses that Maud Gonne had. Maud Gonne’s good upbringing and charming beauty proved useless when she chose a worthless person for a husband.
Stanza 9:
The poet says if his daughter is free from this intellectual hatred, she will be a happy soul. She will have inner peace within herself. She will be able to keep herself and others happy even when she is going through hardships and misfortunes.
Stanza 10:
In the final stanza of “Prayer for My Daughter”, the poet prays that her daughter gets married to a good, aristocratic and decent family. He prays that she would get a husband from such a family who would take her to a house where the aristocratic traditions are followed. He wants his daughter to live a life on high, spiritual values. Arrogance and hatred should not be entertained there. He believes that in the atmosphere of custom and ceremony, real beauty and innocence can take place.

unit-1 Ls-1 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Summary

 

UNIT – 1 

LS-1. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Summary

 

One evening, the speaker stops to watch the snow falling through the trees. His horse seems anxious to keep going, but the speaker stays a while longer, thinking of the beauty of the woods.

• The speaker stops his horse outside some woods that belong to a farmer he thinks he knows.
• Hearing his horse’s bells jingle, the speaker imagines that the animal is worried about the cold and wants to keep going.
• In the end, the speaker moves on, but emphasizes the beauty of the woods he has passed.

Introduction

 

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is easily one of the most famous, as well as one of the most anthologized, of Robert Frost’s poems. It consists of four quatrains that have the following rhyme scheme: aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd. The poem’s central narrative is simple, and the scene is understated, even stark, bare of elaboration or detail. A traveler pauses late one snowy evening to admire the woods by which he passes. He reflects that the owner of the woods, who lives in the village, will not see him stopping to “watch his woods fill up with snow.”

 

The speaker interrupts his reflections by imagining that his “little horse must think it queer” to stop without a farmhouse nearby on the “darkest evening of the year.” In the third stanza, the speaker expands this conceit, suggesting that anxiety over the untoward action causes the horse to shake his harness bells “To ask if there is some mistake.” Then, by way of contrast, the speaker notes that “the only other sound’s the sweep/ Of easy wind and downy flake.”

 

Something about the woods compels the speaker’s interest, and by the poem’s end, as most critics note, one has the sense that there is more to these woods than meets the eye. In the last verse, the speaker acknowledges that the “woods are lovely, dark and deep.” He seems reluctant, however, to pursue this insight more deeply, since he immediately observes that he has “promises to keep,/ And miles to go before [he] sleep[s].” Nevertheless, the central focus of the poem is not the woods. Of more importance is the inward drama of the speaker as he reflects about and understands—or fails to understand—why he stops and why he finds the woods so captivating.

 

The poem ends, then, ambiguously. The reader learns very little about the speaker—either where he is coming from, where he is going, or why he stops. The speaker, however, does not permit himself to reflect too deeply about the occasion, either. One can only speculate, and this is perhaps the full intent of the poem’s title: “Stopping by woods” is a gratuitous action, a grace note, an imaginative possibility. The reader, like the speaker, is always “stopping” by woods, and the reader, like the speaker, can choose to make the most of them or to go on.