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 TYPES OF NOVEL 

Realistic Novel:

                                A fictional attempt to give the effect of realism. This sort of novel is sometimes called a novel of manner. A realistic novel can be characterized by its complex characters with mixed  motives that are rooted in social class and operate according to highly developed social structure. The characters in realistic novel interact with other characters and undergo plausible and everyday experiences.

Examples: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Looking for Alaska by John Green.

Picaresque Novel:

                                A picaresque novel  relates the adventures of an eccentric or disreputable hero in episodic form. The genre gets its name from the Spanish word picaro, or "rogue."

Examples: Rudyard Kipling's Kim (1901), Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749),

Historical Novel:

                                A Historical novel is a novel set in a period earlier than that of the writing.

Examples: Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, George Eliot's Romola and Charles Kingsley's Westward Ho!

Epistolary Novel:

                                Epistolary fiction is a popular genre where the narrative is told via a series of documents. The word epistolary comes from Latin where ‘epistola’ means a letter. Letters are the most common basis for epistolary novels but diary entries are also popular

Examples: Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Clarissa, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Bildungsroman:

                                German terms that indicates a growth. This fictional autobiography concerned with the development of the protagonist’s mind, spirit, and characters from childhood to adulthood.

Examples: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann etc.

Gothic Novel:

                                Gothic novel includes terror, mystery, horror, thriller, supernatural, doom, death, decay, old haunted buildings with ghosts and so on.

Examples: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, John William Polidori’s The Vampyre, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole,

Autobiographical Novel:

                                An autobiographical novel is a novel based on the life of the author.

Examples: Charles Dickens’ David Coppefield, Great Expectations, D. H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Ralph Ellison ‘s Invisible Man, Maya Angelou’ s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , Virginia Wolfe’s The Light House etc.

Satirical Novel:

                                Satire is loosely defined as art that ridicules a specific topic in order to provoke readers into changing their opinion of it. By attacking what they see as human folly, satirists usually imply their own opinions on how the thing being attacked can be improved.

Examples: George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travel, Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, Mark Twin’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn,

Allegorical Novel:

                                An allegory is a story with two levels of meaning- surface meaning and symbolic meaning. The symbolic meaning of an allegory can be political or religious, historical or philosophical.

Examples: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress , William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene etc.

Regional Novel:

                                A religious novel is a novel that is set against the background of a particular area.

Examples: Novels of Charles Dickens George Eliot etc.

Novella:

                                A novella is a short, narrative, prose fiction. As a literary genre, the novella’s origin lay in the early Renaissance literary work of the Italians and the French. As the etymology suggests, novellas originally were news of town and country life worth repeating for amusement and edification.

Examples: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,

Detective Fiction:

                                Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional or amateur—investigates a crime, often murder.

Examples: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’ A Study in Scarlet ( Sherlock Holmes), Satyajit Roy’s Sonar Kella (Feluda), G. K. Chesterton’s The Blue Cross (Father Brown), Dr. Nihar Ranjan Gupta’s Kalo Bhramar (Kiriti)

The Intellectual Novel

:

                                These sort of novelists attempted to explore the intellectual responses of the intelligentia to the world. Characteristically, their novel displays the clash of ideas and intellectual verification of knowledge., value and response, a diminishing faith on the cosmic significance of existence,  argument and counter argument in discussion, separation of concept of love and sex, conversation without communication, and a dehumanizing effect of disillusionment in the 20th century.

Examples:  Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Hotel, The House in Paris.

Stream of Consciousness Novel or Psychological Novel:

                                Psychological novels are works of fiction that treat the internal life of the protagonist (or several or all characters) as much as (if not more than) the external forces that make up the plot. The phrase “Stream of Consciousness” was coined by William James in his Principles of Psychology (1890), to describe the flow of thought of the waking mind.

Examples: Virginia Wolfe’s To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dolloway, James Joyce’s Ulysses, D. H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow.

Roman á these/ Social Fiction/ Political Novel:

                                The genre focussed on possible development of societies, very often dominated by totalitarian governments. This type of novels must have social and political message. The term generally refers to fiction in Europe and the Soviet Union reacting to Communist rule.

Examples: George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Huxley’s Brave New World etc.

Prose Romance:

                                This is a novel that is often set in the historical past with a plot that emphasizes adventure and an atmosphere removed from reality. The characters in a prose romance are either sharply drawn as villains or heroes, masters or victims; while the protagonist is isolated from the society.

Examples: The Story of the Pillow by Shen Jiji, and The Governor of the Southern Tributary State by LiGongzuo.

Novel of Incident:

                                In a novel of incident the narrative focuses on what the protagonist will do next and how the story will turn out.

Examples: The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars etc.

Novel of Character:

                                A novel of character focuses on the protagonist’s motives for what he/she does and how he/she turns out.

Examples: Jane Austen’s Emma.

Roman á clef:

                                French term for a novel with a key, imaginary events with real people disguised as fictional characters.

Examples: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Animal Farm by George Orwell, On the Road by Jack Kerouac etc.

Dime Novel:

                                Dime novels were short works of fiction, usually focused on the dramatic exploits of a single heroic character. As evidenced by their name, dime novels were sold for a dime (sometimes a nickel), and featured colourful cover illustrations. They were bound in paper, making them light, portable, and somewhat ephemeral.

Example: Dime novels are, at least in spirit, the antecedent of today's mass market paperbacks, comic books, and even television shows and movies based on the dime novel genres. Buffalo Ball.

Hypertext Novel:

                                Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature, characterized by the use of hypertext links which provide a new context for non-linearity in literature and reader interaction. The reader typically chooses links to move from one node of text to the next, and in this fashion arranges a story from a deeper pool of potential stories. Its spirit can also be seen in interactive fiction.

Examples: James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves (2000), Enrique Jardiel Poncela's La Tournée de Dios (1932), Jorge Luis Borges' The Garden of Forking Paths (1941), Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire (1962) and Julio Cortázar's Rayuela (1963; translated as Hopscotch) etc.

Sentimental Novel:

                                The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is an 18th-century literary genre which celebrates the emotional and intellectual concepts of sentiment, sentimentalism, and sensibility.

Examples: Samuel Richardson's Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740), Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1759–67), Sentimental Journey (1768), Henry Brooke's The Fool of Quality (1765–70), Henry Mackenzie's The Man of Feeling (1771). Continental example is  Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie.

Utopian Novel:

   

                                A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. It is a common literary theme, especially in speculative fiction and science fiction.

Examples: Utopia by Thomas Moore, Laws (360 BC) by Plato, New Atlantis (1627) by Sir Francis Bacon, Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe, Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift.

Graphic Novel:

                                Graphic novels are, simply defined, book-length comics. Sometimes they tell a single, continuous narrative from first page to last; sometimes they are collections of shorter stories or individual comic strips. Comics are sequential visual art, usually with text, that are often told in a series of rectangular panels.1 Despite the name, not all comics are funny. Many comics and graphic novels emphasize drama, adventure, character development, striking visuals, politics, or romance over laugh-out-loud comedy.

Examples: Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, The Fantastic Four and X-Men etc.

Science Fiction (Sci-Fi):

                                Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations.

Examples: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, The Time Machine.

Cult or Coterie Novel:

                                Cult novels often come from the fringes, they often represent countercultural perspectives, they often experiment with form.

Examples: Speedboat by Renata Adler, Sddhartha by Herman Hesse,

Pulp Fiction:

                                Term originated from the magazines of the first half of the 20th century which were printed on cheap "pulp" paper and published fantastic, escapist fiction for the general entertainment of the mass audiences. The pulp fiction era provided a breeding ground for creative talent which would influence all forms of entertainment for decades to come. The hardboiled detective and science fiction genres were created by the freedom that the pulp fiction magazines provided.

Examples: The Spider, Doc Savage, Blood N Thunder etc.

Erotic Novel:

                                Erotic romance novels have romance as the main focus of the plot line, and they are characterized by strong, often explicit, sexual content.[2] The books can contain elements of any of the other romance subgenres, such as paranormal elements, chick lit, hen lit, historical fiction, etc. Erotic romance is classed as pornography .

Examples:  His To Possess by Opal Carew, On Dublin Street by Samantha Young.

Roman fleuve:

                                A novel sequence is a set or series of novels which share common themes, characters, or settings, but where each novel has its own title and free-standing storyline, and can thus be read independently or out of sequence.

Examples: Honoré de Balzac’s Comédie humaine and Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart,

Anti-Novel:

                                An antinovel is any experimental work of fiction that avoids the familiar conventions of the novel, and instead establishes its own conventions.

Examples:  Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy.

Interactive Novel:

                                The interactive novel is a form of interactive web fiction. In an interactive novel, the reader chooses where to go next in the novel by clicking on a piece of hyperlinked text, such as a page number, a character, or a direction.

Examples: J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.

Fantasy Novel:

                                Stories involving paranormal magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature.

Examples: J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

Adventure Novel:

                                Adventure fiction is a genre of fiction in which an adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, forms the main storyline.

Examples:  Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

Children’s Novel:

                                Children's novels are narrative fiction books written for children, distinct from collections of stories and picture books.

Examples: The Christmas Mystery, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

Dystopian Novel:

                                A dystopia is an unpleasant (typically repressive) society, often propagandized as being utopian.

Examples: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Giver by Lois Lowry etc.

Mystery Novel:

                                The mystery genre is a type of fiction in which a detective, or other professional, solves a crime or series of crimes. It can take the form of a novel or short story. This genre may also be called detective or crime novels.

Examples: Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

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 1.Geoffrey Chaucer = The Father of English Literature

2.Geoffrey Chaucer = The Father of English Poetry

3.Geoffrey Chaucer = The Father of English Language

4.Geoffrey Chaucer = The Morning Star of the Renaissance

5.Geoffrey Chaucer = The First National Poet

6.Venerable Bede = The Father of English Learning.

7.Venerable Bede = The Father of English History

8.King Alfred the Great = The Father of English Prose

9.Aeschylus = The Father of Tragedy

10.Nicholas Udall = The First English Comedy Writer

11.Edmund Spenser = The Poet’s poet (by Charles Lamb)

12.Edmund Spenser = The Child of Renaissance

13.Edmund Spenser = The Bridge between Renaissance and Reformation

14.Gutenberg = The Father of Printing

15.William Caxton = Father of English Press

16.Francis Bacon = The Father of English Essay

17.John Wycliffe = The Morning Star of the Reformation

18.Christopher Marlowe = The Father of English Tragedy

19.William Shakespeare = Bard of Avon

20.William Shakespeare = The Father of English Drama

21.William Shakespeare = Sweet Swan of Avon

22.William Shakespeare = The Bard

23.Robert Burns = The Bard of Ayrshire (Scotland)

24.Robert Burns = The National Poet of Scotland

25.Robert Burns = Rabbie

26.Robert Burns = The Ploughman Poet

27.William Dunber = The Chaucer of Scotland

28.John Dryden = Father of English criticism

29.William of Newbury = Father of Historical Criticism

30.John Donne = Poet of love

31.John Donne = Metaphysical poet

32.John Milton = Epic poet

33.John Milton = The great master of verse

34.John Milton = Lady of the Christ College

35.John Milton = Poet of the Devil’s Party

36.John Milton = Master of the Grand style

38.John Milton = The Blind Poet of England

39.Alexander Pope = Mock heroic poet

40.William Wordsworth = The Worshipper of Nature

41.William Wordsworth = The High Priest of Nature

42.William Wordsworth = The Poet of Nature

43.William Wordsworth = The Lake Poet

44.William Wordsworth = Poet of Childhood

45.William Wordsworth = Egotistical Sublime

46.Samuel Taylor Coleridge = The Poet of Supernaturalism

47.Samuel Taylor Coleridge = Opium Eater

48.Coleridge & Wordsworth = The Father of Romanticism

49.Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey = Lake Poets

50.Lord Byron = The Rebel Poet

51.Percy Bysshe Shelley = The Revolutionary Poet

52.Percy Bysshe Shelley = Poet of hope and

regeneration

53.John Keats = Poet of Beauty

54.William Blake = The Mystic Poet

55.John Keats = Chameleon Poet

56.Lord Alfred Tennyson = The Representative of the Victorian Era

57.George Bernard Shaw = The greatest modern dramatist

58.George Bernard Shaw = The Iconoclast

59.Jane Austen = Anti-romantic in Romantic age

60.Lindley Murray = Father of English Grammar

61.James Joyce = Father of English Stream of Conscious Novel

62.Edgar Allen Poe = Father of English Mystery play

63.Edgar Allen Poe = The Father of English Short Story

64.Henry Fielding = The Father of English Novel

65.Samuel Johnson = Father of English one Act Play

66.Sigmund Freud = A great Psycho-analyst

67.Robert Frost = The Poet of Terror

68.Francesco Petrarch = The Father of Sonnet (Italian)

69.Francesco Petrarch = The Father of Humanism

70.Sir Thomas Wyatt = The Father of English Sonnet

71.Henry Louis Vivian Derozio = The Father of Indian-Anglican Sonnet

72.William Hazlitt = Critic’s Critic

73.Charles Lamb = The Essay of Elia

74.Arthur Miller = Mulk Raj Anand of America

75.Addison = The voice of humanist Puritanism

76.Emerson = The Seneca of America

77.Mother Teresa = The Boon of Heaven

78.Thomas Nash = Young Juvenile

79.Thomas Decker = Fore-runner of Humorist

80.Homer = The Father of Epic Poetry

81.Homer = The Blind Poet

82.Henrick Ibsen = Father of Modern theatre

83.Rabindranath Tagore = Indian National Poet

84.Nissim Ezekiel = The Father of Indian English

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Some Influential Women Authors in the History of English Literature. 

Here is a short introduction about each author according to the photo.

1. Maya Angelou

She is arguably the most famous African-American autobiographer and poet in history. Angelou broke the mold when she wrote her six autobiographical volumes in a nontraditional structure that completely changed the genre. Angelou opened up to readers and shared her controversial life stories without shame or censorship. Her candidness and unique literary style pushed the boundaries for all female writers and changed the face of autobiographies forever.

2. JK Rowling

This British author is one of the most widely read female authors in history. Her popular Harry Potter series combined whimsical fantasy and inspired a generation of children to get excited about reading. Her books ahve also inspired readers on a social, moral, and political base. Even her personal story of rags to riches has influenced readers to never give up on their dreams.

3. Alice Walker

The author of “The Color Purple” holds the title of the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Walker’s writing career and personal life has mostly centered on race and gender ineqaulity. Her written work and political involvement have made her a respected figure amoung African-Americans and female readers around the world.

4. SE Hinton

American novelist S.E. Hinton is best known for her young adult books, most notably, “The Outsiders”. Hinton began writing “The Outsiders” at 15 years old and it was published when she was 18 years old. Hinton became a household name and instant success with “The Outsiders”, which still sells more than 500,000 copies each year. Hinton has made a lasting impression with her literary work that effectively connects readers to the emotions and experiences of teenagers.

5. Agatha Christie

British crime writer who produced popular novels, plays and short stories. Christie is the best-selling female author of all time and the most translated individual author. Christie’s commercial success and public appreciation came from her masterful writing skills and ability to build a suspenseful whodunit plot with well-developed characters. Not only did Christie pave the way for crime writers, but she also inspired female authors of all genres to follow suit.

6. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Most widely known for writing the Little House series of books, specifically the Little House on the Prairie. Wilder based these novels on her childhood and growing up in a pioneer family. Wilder’s compelling stories and mastery of literary techniques helped set the precedent for future children’s books.

7. Harper Lee

American writer best known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. It is Lee’s only published book, but the critically-acclaimed bestseller made quite an impact on its own. Much of the book is autobiographical and details what Lee saw as a child growing up in the South. The powerful story deals with racial inequality and injustice in the Deep South.

8. Jane Austen

Jane Austen is best known for her popular romantic fiction novels, such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma. Austen’s work is the focus of academic study for scholars and critics because of its historical context and mastery of literary techniques. Austen greatly influenced English literature with her use of literary realism, social commentary and techniques that told the compelling stories of 18th century and 19th century women.

9. Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was an influential poet whose style was unlike anyone else’s. Dickinson was an innovator, who used unconventional techniques, such as short lines, slant rhyme and unusual capitalization and punctuation that garnered both attention and criticism. During the late 19th and early 20th century, critics denounced Dickinson’s individual style and literary prowess, but later praised her originality and talent as a pre-modernist poet.

10. Louisa May Alcott

American author Louisa May Alcott was best known for her novel Little Women. Alcott received critical acclaim for her literary work, as well as her involvement in various reform movements, including women’s rights and ending slavery. Through her professional and personal life, she has inspired and empowered women of all ages to be independent and follow their dreams regardless of what society says.

11. Mary Shelley

A British writer best known for the widely-read Gothic novel Frankenstein. Shelley pushed the boundaries of traditional Romanticism and Gothic fiction when she developed her own brand of the artistic movement that criticized individualism and challenged the traditional 18th century school of thought. Shelley’s work has been at the forefront of feminist literary criticism and academic study for decades.

12. George Eliot

Born Mary Anne Evans in 1819, she wrote Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, and Silas Marner, a threesome that must rank with any of the finer achievements of realism in fiction. Yet her breadth of character and theme took on so much more. This is a writer that had common sense, verve and intricate knowledge about the unfolding of human events. Eliot’s ouvre is astonishingly mature for its time, and remains readable today.

13. Emily Bronte

She wrote only one book during her short life, but it would forever change the landscape of English Literature, and capture women’s hearts across the world. Wuthering Heights.

14. Charlotte Bronte

Best known for her novel Jane Eyre, which was written under her pen name Currer Bell. Although she had a small number of published works, Bronte made a significant impact in both the literary world and society by highlighting the daily struggles of oppressed women in her written works.

15. Virginia Woolf

A literary genius who broke the mold for 20th century novelists. The modernist was known for her experimental fiction writing and influential feminist essays that enlightened readers on Britain’s class and gender differences. Woolf’s work has impacted readers, writers, historians, scholars and all those who’ve studied her innovative work and mastery of the English language.

16. Harriet Beecher Stowe

Stowe changed history with her influential anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Not only was Uncle Tom’s Cabin the best-selling novel of the 19th century, but it also played an important role in the development of the Civil War. Stowe was a progressive thinker and fierce abolitionist, who wrote about real life issues of inequality and stereotypes and had the power to open up millions of Americans’ hearts.

17. Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand was a Russian writer who is most widely known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Rand’s written works were heavily based on her political views and emphasis on individual rights. Her books received vast amounts of praise and criticism, but were commercially successful, nonetheless. Rand’s eye-opening work has impacted various political, social and academic fields and encouraged readers to re-evaluate their political and ethical views.

18. Margaret Mitchell

Best known for writing the American classic Gone With the Wind. The novel was an instant success, selling more than a million copies in the first six months. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her wildly popular novel. Mitchell changed history when she wrote arguably the best romantic novel of all time. Not only did the story capture the hearts of millions of readers worldwide, but Mitchell’s masterful use of symbolism and treatment of archetypes made it truly original.

19. Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton was an American novelist and short story writer, who is most famous for her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Age of Innocence. Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature. She was fluent in French and several other languages, and many of her published works are printed in both French and English. Wharton is praised for achieving both social satire and criticism in her work, while mastering the art of humor.

20. Zora Neale Hurston

An American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Of Hurston’s four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays, and essays, she is best known for her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

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William Wordsworth Biography

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, a small quiet market town in northwest England, on the edge of the Lake District. Thus from the very beginning he was associated with that region which he loved more than any other, and except for brief sojourns in Britain, Germany, and Italy, he never left his beloved Lake Country. He died in 1850 and was buried at Grasmere, Westmoreland, about twenty-five miles from his birthplace.

His personal history was just about as uneventful as his lack of movement would lead one to expect. The excitement in his life took place on the level of intellect; he found ideas more exciting than any other thing. Though he appreciated the intimacy of a small circle of friends, he consistently avoided any larger portion of society. Like the American Thoreau, his philosophy was one rooted in simplicity of living, and like Thoreau, he sought always to practice it. In fact, he preferred humble surroundings and a minimum of personal effects. From his childhood onward, he invariably strove for economy, frequently from necessity, but always because of principle.

He was born one of five children to a modest land lawyer. Wordsworth's only sister, Dorothy was one year his junior. She never married because she preferred to become the poet's lifelong companion and informal biographer. William reportedly demonstrated no childish precocity. He was self-willed and often displayed such a violent temper that his mother confided she was worried more about his future than the destinies of her other children. His mother died in 1779, evidently of a cold.

Soon afterward, the poet and his elder brother were sent to the small, free grammar school at Hawkshead, near Windermere. He was not an outstanding student, but among his more rustic classmates he seems to have shone somewhat. He lodged and boarded with a childless landlady, and she seems to have come in many ways to replace his lost mother in his affections. For years he regarded her cottage as home and considered it a welcome relief from the establishments of his stern relatives. The cottage was a mere stone's throw from the open fields.

In 1783, his father died, and the young Wordsworth became an orphan at thirteen. Before his death, the father named his own brother and his wife's elder brother as joint guardians of the children, and it was to the latter that the four orphaned boys were sent. Their uncle proved to be hostile and insensitive toward them, never ceased to remind them of their poverty, and seems even to have encouraged the servants to neglect and abuse his charges. William appears to have been particularly disliked by master and servant alike.

As Wordsworth grew older, he decided he might like to become a lawyer. Accordingly, in October 1787, he left his uncle's home in Penrith and went to attend St. John's College, Cambridge. His apparent early enthusiasm for Cambridge was not long in turning to apathy. He found teachers and students shallow and the course of study inconsequential; he openly proclaimed that he could not stand the regimentation. He did desire admission to the circles representing the gentry and intelligentsia at Cambridge, but they would have none of him because he was poor and quite common.

During his vacations, he spent his time visiting his former landlady at Hawkshead and, with his sister Dorothy, covering some of Derbyshire and Yorkshire on foot. At the end of his junior year, he abandoned his earlier idea of applying for a fellowship. He and a schoolmate left on a three-month walking tour through France and on into the Alps and got as far as Lakes Maggiore and Como. Here he gathered the impressions which were to crystallize in his first volume of poems.

He took his B.A. degree in 1791 and soon after made one of a series of visits to London. He next considered becoming a clergyman. However, after a year of postgraduate work, he decided to go to France, where he intended to learn more of the language and customs of France with the intention of becoming a tutor. He stayed only four days in Paris before he moved on to Orléans to live among the natives. He shared lodgings with several members of the cavalry and probably through them was introduced to Paul Vallon, a clerk, and then to the latter's sister, Marie Anne ("Annette"). She was nearly four years older than the poet; she was a Royalist, and he was a self-styled "democrat," she was a Catholic and he a non-practicing Protestant; but love seems to have leveled all things. When she returned to her family home at Blois, farther south along the Loire, Wordsworth went with her. In the spring, she announced that she was going to have a baby and that the poet was the father. He meantime had been planning to return to England that spring (1792) to engage in some kind of literary activity or finally to take orders. The natural thing would have been for the two young people to marry, and from all indications, they were perfectly willing. The poet acknowledged (by proxy) the baby — a girl, Caroline — as his own at her baptism. But there were serious parental objections to nuptials.

At Orléans and Blois, Wordsworth was plunged into the midst of the intrigue that surrounded the French Revolution (1789-99). He was at first completely indifferent to the Revolution and its ideals. Slowly, however, he began to fancy himself a patriot and spoke up for the revolutionary cause. While at Blois, he had the good fortune to meet Michel Beaupuy, a captain, whom he met possibly through the local revolutionary club which the young Englishman had just joined. No other man except Samuel Taylor Coleridge had as great an influence on Wordsworth.

When King Louis XVI was beheaded on January 21, 1793, Wordsworth was back in England. Though the poet was compelled to defend the French Reign of Terror outwardly, his inner convictions were slowly altering, and he underwent a serious spiritual malaise, during which he seemed to be finally and completely without desire or design. As one biographer says, "largely because of what he underwent between 1792 and 1795, he became one of the voices of his age."

His relatives would now have none of him; they considered him an anarchist, as well as a disbeliever and an idler. His first volumes of poems were unpopular with the critics, when they were noticed at all. There was one man, nevertheless, who was much struck by these early endeavors, and that was Coleridge.

In October 1793, Wordsworth managed once more to return to Paris, a feat that took much courage. He found Blois cut off from Paris and once again returned to England. For years after, he had nightmares about what he had seen of the Terror.

In September of 1795, William and Dorothy got one of their most ardent wishes fulfilled — that of living together — when they let a house at Racedown, in Dorset, in southwest England. Wordsworth and Cole-ridge met in Bristol late in 1795 and corresponded thereafter. They did not become close friends until 1797. Together they planned a revolutionary volume which they supposed would change the course of English literature. Lyrical Ballads appeared September 1, 1798. It was slow to win literary favor but gradually acquired its permanent significance as the turning point in English poetry.

In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, a friend from childhood. She bore him six children. In 1805, a favorite brother drowned at sea, and this event shocked the poet. In the spring, The Prelude, begun in 1799, was concluded. In 1812, two of his children died within months of each other. The first collected edition of his poems appeared in 1815; five more editions followed between then and 1850. A bequest enabled him to indulge his passion for travel, and he toured Europe. From about 1829, his sister, who had always been high-strung, began to be mentally ill; in 1835, she went completely mad.

The later years of his life were peaceful. He had been given a job in the civil service in 1813 and thereafter took the large house called Rydal Mount, near Grasmere, where he was to live the rest of his life. His youthful religious skepticism was resolved, and he embraced the established church. He veered toward conservatism from the very moment of Napoleon's rise to power, and later he vociferously opposed many of the beneficial liberal measures of the time. He received honorary degrees from Durham (1838) and Oxford (1839). In 1842, he resigned his civic post and was awarded a pension. The following year, on the death of Southey, he was appointed Poet Laureate.

Toward the end of his life, he knew much fame. He was welcomed everywhere as a celebrity. The critics were stilled by his laureateship, and his verse became quite popular with the burgeoning middle class. It was very fashionable among the early Victorians to gather for group readings of Wordsworth's poetry.

In 1850, the death of his beloved daughter Dora (Dorothy) brought a depression from which he could not recover. On April 23, he died at the age of eighty. Thus was silenced one of the noblest voices of Romantic times and of all times.

***

 THE RESTORATION PERIOD IN ENGLISH LITERATURE.

Introduction

It is one of the most important and interesting aspects of literature is the way that it both responds to and is inevitably shaped by the political context in which it is written. Some of the best examples of this can be found in the Restoration period, which lasted from 1660 to around 1688.The name 'Restoration' comes from the crowning of Charles II, which marks the restoring of the traditional English monarchical form of government following a short period of rule by a handful of republican governments. At the heart of this literature is the attempt to come to terms with the political events that had occurred in previous decades. The writings of this time are both innovative and varied; the style and subject matter of the literature produced during the Restoration period spanned the spectrum from definitively religious to satirical and risqué. In 1688, James II, Charles II's brother, was removed from the throne, which many scholars use to mark the end of Restoration literature.

Political Context

In addition to conveniently providing the title for the period, the restoration of Charles II has a particularly defining influence on the literature that was written in the second half of the 17th century. The political events of the previous decades resulted in tremendous turmoil for the English people.

The divisions between those who supported a more traditional form of government and those who wanted a more republican form of government led to strong tensions throughout England. These tensions led to the English Civil War, which lasted from 1642 to 1651 and was a particularly brutal experience for many British people. The war culminated with the beheading of Charles I in 1649, and from 1649 to 1659 various forms of republican government ruled Britain.

In 1660, Charles II became king, thereby restoring the English monarchy. After Charles II died in 1685, his brother, James II, took over the throne. Afraid of the policies James II might introduce, William III removed Charles II in 1688 and took over the English throne in 1689. This act is often referred to as the Glorious Revolution because, relative to the violence of the English Civil War, the transfer of power was not very bloody. Some scholars use the displacement of James II as one place to mark the end of the Restoration period. As with all periods of literature, this is a somewhat arbitrary date, and as we'll see in the rest of this lesson, not all of the styles and themes common to the Restoration era literature perfectly coincide with this date.

Philosophical Context

The start of the Restoration period roughly coincides with the beginning of what is known as the Enlightenment, which lasted until the end of the 18th century. The Enlightenment was defined by an emphasis on reason and logic; the thinkers of the period, moreover, helped develop the modern science that treats the natural world as a knowable and testable subject. Although the influence of the Enlightenment on the Restoration period is tremendous, it's important to note the humility towards human reason that is common to much Restoration literature. Many Restoration writers viewed the changes to their government, and the violence that these changes brought with them, as the direct result of those who dogmatically held to their ideology. In this sense, the political events that occurred in England provide insight into the skepticism that is at the heart of Restoration literature.

The Theatre

One of the most significant aspects of Restoration literature is the return of the theatre. As a result of the influence of religious and political leaders who believed it to be sinful, the theatre had been closed for 18 years. Charles II, however, was a big fan of drama and quickly allowed and encouraged the theatre's presence.This period saw many innovations in theatre, including the important new genre called Restoration comedy. In stark contrast to the humble spiritual themes that were common to the literature before 1660, Restoration comedy was frequently crass, largely sexual, and often focused on the interactions of the elite members of English society. Popular writers of Restoration comedy include John Dryden, George Etherege, and William Congreve. Although Restoration literature is commonly considered to end around 1688, Restoration comedy was written into the 1700s.

Poetry

Like the theatre, poetry was strongly influenced by the political context of the mid-17th century. In contrast to the poetry popular in the first half of the 17th century that emphasized religious truths, Restoration poetry focused more on the glory and powerful potential of human beings to understand and improve the world. Many poets attempted to outline ways to live and write and praised the importance of thinking for oneself. One form that this belief in human potential took was an emphasis on classical literature; many poets cited the importance of learning from Greek and Roman poets and some became famous for their translations of ancient poetry. Despite this trend of praising the potential of humans, Restoration literature is incredibly diverse and includes many poets who produced poetry that attempted to guide people back to traditional religion as well as stinging satire.

One of the most important formal aspects of Restoration poetry was the use ofheroic couplets, which are rhyming lines of iambic pentameter. In iambic pentameter, each line has five iambs, which are metrical feet made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, as in 'away'. This form allowed writers to produce lofty and philosophical poetry; in a famous poem titled Absalom and Achitophel, for example, John Dryden uses heroic couplets.

Like Restoration comedy, it's difficult to demonstrate exactly when many of the features that are common to this era's poetry ended. Heroic couplets, for example, continued to be popular for the next 100 years.

Prose and Fiction

One particularly important development during this period was the evolution of formal prose. Inspired by the optimism of the Enlightenment, writers began producing philosophical and religious texts. The Restoration also saw the beginning of formal journalism - people began learning about current events through large printed sheets.Similarly, prose fiction finds its roots in this period of literature. Previously, narratives had frequently been composed in verse, but with the help of a greater reading public and more advanced printing techniques, writers began to tell their stories in prose. Although critics inevitably disagree over when the actual first novel was written, many look to this period as a time when authors began to use many of the conventions that are central to novels.

Summary

The Restoration Period of English Literature roughly lasts from 1660 to 1688. It begins with Charles II returning to the throne following the rule of various republican governments that ruled England from 1649 to 1659 after Charles I was executed; it can be considered to end with the Glorious Revolution, which is the disposition of James II by William III. The period is very much influenced by the political events before it, as well as the Enlightenment philosophy that was coming out of the period. The literature of the period was incredibly diverse and included Restoration comedy, a sexually charged form of theatre, as well as the beginning of journalism. Much Restoration poetry uses heroic couplets, which are made of rhyming lines of iambic pentameter.

***

 

ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES 

ARABIAN NIGHTS FAIRY TALES 

In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named Cassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboring forest and selling it in the town.

One day, when Ali Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback, coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He was afraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree for safety. When they came up to him and dismounted, he counted forty of them. They unbridled their horses and tied them to trees.

The finest man among them, whom Ali Baba took to be their captain, went a little way among some bushes, and said, "Open, Sesame!" so plainly that Ali Baba heard him.

A door opened in the rocks, and having made the troop go in, he followed them, and the door shut again of itself. They stayed some time inside, and Ali Baba, fearing they might come out and catch him, was forced to sit patiently in the tree. At last the door opened again, and the Forty Thieves came out. As the Captain went in last he came out first, and made them all pass by him; he then closed the door, saying, "Shut, Sesame!"

Every man bridled his horse and mounted, the Captain put himself at their head, and they returned as they came.

Then Ali Baba climbed down and went to the door concealed among the bushes, and said, "Open, Sesame!" and it flew open.

Ali Baba, who expected a dull, dismal place, was greatly surprised to find it large and well lighted, hollowed by the hand of man in the form of a vault, which received the light from an opening in the ceiling. He saw rich bales of merchandise -- silk, stuff-brocades, all piled together, and gold and silver in heaps, and money in leather purses. He went in and the door shut behind him. He did not look at the silver, but brought out as many bags of gold as he thought his asses, which were browsing outside, could carry, loaded them with the bags, and hid it all with fagots.

Using the words, "Shut, Sesame!" he closed the door and went home.

Then he drove his asses into the yard, shut the gates, carried the money-bags to his wife, and emptied them out before her. He bade her keep the secret, and he would go and bury the gold.

"Let me first measure it," said his wife. "I will go borrow a measure of someone, while you dig the hole."

So she ran to the wife of Cassim and borrowed a measure. Knowing Ali Baba's poverty, the sister was curious to find out what sort of grain his wife wished to measure, and artfully put some suet at the bottom of the measure. Ali Baba's wife went home and set the measure on the heap of gold, and filled it and emptied it often, to her great content. She then carried it back to her sister, without noticing that a piece of gold was sticking to it, which Cassim's wife perceived directly her back was turned.

She grew very curious, and said to Cassim when he came home, "Cassim, your brother is richer than you. He does not count his money, he measures it."

He begged her to explain this riddle, which she did by showing him the piece of money and telling him where she found it. Then Cassim grew so envious that he could not sleep, and went to his brother in the morning before sunrise. "Ali Baba," he said, showing him the gold piece, "you pretend to be poor and yet you measure gold."

By this Ali Baba perceived that through his wife's folly Cassim and his wife knew their secret, so he confessed all and offered Cassim a share.

"That I expect," said Cassim; "but I must know where to find the treasure, otherwise I will discover all, and you will lose all."

Ali Baba, more out of kindness than fear, told him of the cave, and the very words to use. Cassim left Ali Baba, meaning to be beforehand with him and get the treasure for himself. He rose early next morning, and set out with ten mules loaded with great chests. He soon found the place, and the door in the rock.

He said, "Open, Sesame!" and the door opened and shut behind him. He could have feasted his eyes all day on the treasures, but he now hastened to gather together as much of it as possible; but when he was ready to go he could not remember what to say for thinking of his great riches. Instead of "Sesame," he said, "Open, Barley!" and the door remained fast. He named several different sorts of grain, all but the right one, and the door still stuck fast. He was so frightened at the danger he was in that he had as much forgotten the word as if he had never heard it.

About noon the robbers returned to their cave, and saw Cassim's mules roving about with great chests on their backs. This gave them the alarm; they drew their sabers, and went to the door, which opened on their Captain's saying, "Open, Sesame!"

Cassim, who had heard the trampling of their horses' feet, resolved to sell his life dearly, so when the door opened he leaped out and threw the Captain down. In vain, however, for the robbers with their sabers soon killed him. On entering the cave they saw all the bags laid ready, and could not imagine how anyone had got in without knowing their secret. They cut Cassim's body into four quarters, and nailed them up inside the cave, in order to frighten anyone who should venture in, and went away in search of more treasure.

As night drew on Cassim's wife grew very uneasy, and ran to her brother-in-law, and told him where her husband had gone. Ali Baba did his best to comfort her, and set out to the forest in search of Cassim. The first thing he saw on entering the cave was his dead brother. Full of horror, he put the body on one of his asses, and bags of gold on the other two, and, covering all with some fagots, returned home. He drove the two asses laden with gold into his own yard, and led the other to Cassim's house.

The door was opened by the slave Morgiana, whom he knew to be both brave and cunning. Unloading the ass, he said to her, "This is the body of your master, who has been murdered, but whom we must bury as though he had died in his bed. I will speak with you again, but now tell your mistress I am come."

The wife of Cassim, on learning the fate of her husband, broke out into cries and tears, but Ali Baba offered to take her to live with him and his wife if she would promise to keep his counsel and leave everything to Morgiana; whereupon she agreed, and dried her eyes.

Morgiana, meanwhile, sought an apothecary and asked him for some lozenges. "My poor master," she said, "can neither eat nor speak, and no one knows what his distemper is." She carried home the lozenges and returned next day weeping, and asked for an essence only given to those just about to die.

Thus, in the evening, no one was surprised to hear the wretched shrieks and cries of Cassim's wife and Morgiana, telling everyone that Cassim was dead.

The day after Morgiana went to an old cobbler near the gates of the town who opened his stall early, put a piece of gold in his hand, and bade him follow her with his needle and thread. Having bound his eyes with a handkerchief, she took him to the room where the body lay, pulled off the bandage, and bade him sew the quarters together, after which she covered his eyes again and led him home. Then they buried Cassim, and Morgiana his slave followed him to the grave, weeping and tearing her hair, while Cassim's wife stayed at home uttering lamentable cries. Next day she went to live with Ali Baba, who gave Cassim's shop to his eldest son.

The Forty Thieves, on their return to the cave, were much astonished to find Cassim's body gone and some of their money-bags.

"We are certainly discovered," said the Captain, "and shall be undone if we cannot find out who it is that knows our secret. Two men must have known it; we have killed one, we must now find the other. To this end one of you who is bold and artful must go into the city dressed as a traveler, and discover whom we have killed, and whether men talk of the strange manner of his death. If the messenger fails he must lose his life, lest we be betrayed."

One of the thieves started up and offered to do this, and after the rest had highly commended him for his bravery he disguised himself, and happened to enter the town at daybreak, just by Baba Mustapha's stall. The thief bade him good-day, saying, "Honest man, how can you possibly see to stitch at your age?"

"Old as I am," replied the cobbler, "I have very good eyes, and will you believe me when I tell you that I sewed a dead body together in a place where I had less light than I have now."

The robber was overjoyed at his good fortune, and, giving him a piece of gold, desired to be shown the house where he stitched up the dead body. At first Mustapha refused, saying that he had been blindfolded; but when the robber gave him another piece of gold he began to think he might remember the turnings if blindfolded as before. This means succeeded; the robber partly led him, and was partly guided by him, right in front of Cassim's house, the door of which the robber marked with a piece of chalk. Then, well pleased, he bade farewell to Baba Mustapha and returned to the forest. By and by Morgiana, going out, saw the mark the robber had made, quickly guessed that some mischief was brewing, and fetching a piece of chalk marked two or three doors on each side, without saying anything to her master or mistress.

The thief, meantime, told his comrades of his discovery. The Captain thanked him, and bade him show him the house he had marked. But when they came to it they saw that five or six of the houses were chalked in the same manner. The guide was so confounded that he knew not what answer to make, and when they returned he was at once beheaded for having failed.

Another robber was dispatched, and, having won over Baba Mustapha, marked the house in red chalk; but Morgiana being again too clever for them, the second messenger was put to death also.

The Captain now resolved to go himself, but, wiser than the others, he did not mark the house, but looked at it so closely that he could not fail to remember it. He returned, and ordered his men to go into the neighboring villages and buy nineteen mules, and thirty-eight leather jars, all empty except one, which was full of oil. The Captain put one of his men, fully armed, into each, rubbing the outside of the jars with oil from the full vessel. Then the nineteen mules were loaded with thirty-seven robbers in jars, and the jar of oil, and reached the town by dusk.

The Captain stopped his mules in front of Ali Baba's house, and said to Ali Baba, who was sitting outside for coolness, "I have brought some oil from a distance to sell at tomorrow's market, but it is now so late that I know not where to pass the night, unless you will do me the favor to take me in."

Though Ali Baba had seen the Captain of the robbers in the forest, he did not recognize him in the disguise of an oil merchant. He bade him welcome, opened his gates for the mules to enter, and went to Morgiana to bid her prepare a bed and supper for his guest. He brought the stranger into his hall, and after they had supped went again to speak to Morgiana in the kitchen, while the Captain went into the yard under pretense of seeing after his mules, but really to tell his men what to do.

Beginning at the first jar and ending at the last, he said to each man, "As soon as I throw some stones from the window of the chamber where I lie, cut the jars open with your knives and come out, and I will be with you in a trice."

He returned to the house, and Morgiana led him to his chamber. She then told Abdallah, her fellow slave, to set on the pot to make some broth for her master, who had gone to bed. Meanwhile her lamp went out, and she had no more oil in the house.

"Do not be uneasy," said Abdallah; "go into the yard and take some out of one of those jars."

Morgiana thanked him for his advice, took the oil pot, and went into the yard. When she came to the first jar the robber inside said softly, "Is it time?"

Any other slave but Morgiana, on finding a man in the jar instead of the oil she wanted, would have screamed and made a noise; but she, knowing the danger her master was in, bethought herself of a plan, and answered quietly, "Not yet, but presently."

She went to all the jars, giving the same answer, till she came to the jar of oil. She now saw that her master, thinking to entertain an oil merchant, had let thirty-eight robbers into his house. She filled her oil pot, went back to the kitchen, and, having lit her lamp, went again to the oil jar and filled a large kettle full of oil. When it boiled she went and poured enough oil into every jar to stifle and kill the robber inside. When this brave deed was done she went back to the kitchen, put out the fire and the lamp, and waited to see what would happen.

In a quarter of an hour the Captain of the robbers awoke, got up, and opened the window. As all seemed quiet, he threw down some little pebbles which hit the jars. He listened, and as none of his men seemed to stir he grew uneasy, and went down into the yard. On going to the first jar and saying, "Are you asleep?" he smelt the hot boiled oil, and knew at once that his plot to murder Ali Baba and his household had been discovered. He found all the gang was dead, and, missing the oil out of the last jar, became aware of the manner of their death. He then forced the lock of a door leading into a garden, and climbing over several walls made his escape. Morgiana heard and saw all this, and, rejoicing at her success, went to bed and fell asleep.

At daybreak Ali Baba arose, and, seeing the oil jars still there, asked why the merchant had not gone with his mules. Morgiana bade him look in the first jar and see if there was any oil. Seeing a man, he started back in terror. "Have no fear," said Morgiana; "the man cannot harm you; he is dead."

Ali Baba, when he had recovered somewhat from his astonishment, asked what had become of the merchant.

"Merchant!" said she, "he is no more a merchant than I am!" and she told him the whole story, assuring him that it was a plot of the robbers of the forest, of whom only three were left, and that the white and red chalk marks had something to do with it. Ali Baba at once gave Morgiana her freedom, saying that he owed her his life. They then buried the bodies in Ali Baba's garden, while the mules were sold in the market by his slaves.

The Captain returned to his lonely cave, which seemed frightful to him without his lost companions, and firmly resolved to avenge them by killing Ali Baba. He dressed himself carefully, and went into the town, where he took lodgings in an inn. In the course of a great many journeys to the forest he carried away many rich stuffs and much fine linen, and set up a shop opposite that of Ali Baba's son. He called himself Cogia Hassan, and as he was both civil and well dressed he soon made friends with Ali Baba's son, and through him with Ali Baba, whom he was continually asking to sup with him.

Ali Baba, wishing to return his kindness, invited him into his house and received him smiling, thanking him for his kindness to his son.

When the merchant was about to take his leave Ali Baba stopped him, saying, "Where are you going, sir, in such haste? Will you not stay and sup with me?"

The merchant refused, saying that he had a reason; and, on Ali Baba's asking him what that was, he replied, "It is, sir, that I can eat no victuals that have any salt in them."

"If that is all," said Ali Baba, "let me tell you that there shall be no salt in either the meat or the bread that we eat to-night."

He went to give this order to Morgiana, who was much surprised.

"Who is this man," she said, "who eats no salt with his meat?"

"He is an honest man, Morgiana," returned her master; "therefore do as I bid you."

But she could not withstand a desire to see this strange man, so she helped Abdallah to carry up the dishes, and saw in a moment that Cogia Hassan was the robber Captain, and carried a dagger under his garment.

"I am not surprised," she said to herself, "that this wicked man, who intends to kill my master, will eat no salt with him; but I will hinder his plans."

She sent up the supper by Abdallah, while she made ready for one of the boldest acts that could be thought on. When the dessert had been served, Cogia Hassan was left alone with Ali Baba and his son, whom he thought to make drunk and then to murder them. Morgiana, meanwhile, put on a headdress like a dancing-girl's, and clasped a girdle round her waist, from which hung a dagger with a silver hilt, and said to Abdallah, "Take your tabor, and let us go and divert our master and his guest."

Abdallah took his tabor and played before Morgiana until they came to the door, where Abdallah stopped playing and Morgiana made a low courtesy.

"Come in, Morgiana," said Ali Baba, "and let Cogia Hassan see what you can do"; and, turning to Cogia Hassan, he said, "She's my slave and my housekeeper."

Cogia Hassan was by no means pleased, for he feared that his chance of killing Ali Baba was gone for the present; but he pretended great eagerness to see Morgiana, and Abdallah began to play and Morgiana to dance. After she had performed several dances she drew her dagger and made passes with it, sometimes pointing it at her own breast, sometimes at her master's, as if it were part of the dance. Suddenly, out of breath, she snatched the tabor from Abdallah with her left hand, and, holding the dagger in her right hand, held out the tabor to her master. Ali Baba and his son put a piece of gold into it, and Cogia Hassan, seeing that she was coming to him, pulled out his purse to make her a present, but while he was putting his hand into it Morgiana plunged the dagger into his heart.

"Unhappy girl!" cried Ali Baba and his son, "what have you done to ruin us?"

"It was to preserve you, master, not to ruin you," answered Morgiana. "See here," opening the false merchant's garment and showing the dagger; "see what an enemy you have entertained! Remember, he would eat no salt with you, and what more would you have? Look at him! he is both the false oil merchant and the Captain of the Forty Thieves."

Ali Baba was so grateful to Morgiana for thus saving his life that he offered her to his son in marriage, who readily consented, and a few days after the wedding was celebrated with greatest splendor.

At the end of a year Ali Baba, hearing nothing of the two remaining robbers, judged they were dead, and set out to the cave. The door opened on his saying, "Open Sesame!" He went in, and saw that nobody had been there since the Captain left it. He brought away as much gold as he could carry, and returned to town. He told his son the secret of the cave, which his son handed down in his turn, so the children and grandchildren of Ali Baba were rich to the end of their lives.

***

 LITERATURA FEMINISTĂ

Literatura feministă, după cum sugerează și numele, se bazează pe principiile feminismului și se referă la orice operă literară care se centrează pe lupta unei femei pentru egalitate și pentru a fi acceptată ca ființă umană înainte de a fi aruncată într-un stereotip de gen. Nu toate aceste lucrări urmează o abordare directă către acest obiectiv al egalității. Doar prin intermediul unor astfel de mass-media femeile credeau că o schimbare este posibilă în felul în care sunt percepute în societate. Nu toată literatura feministă a fost scrisă de femei, ci și de bărbați care înțelegeau femeile dincolo de rolurile în care se așteptau să se încadreze și s-au băgat în psihicul lor pentru a le înțelege nevoile și dorințele. Unele lucrări pot fi fictive, în timp ce altele nu sunt fictive. Aici, aruncăm o privire asupra caracteristicilor literaturii feministe și vă dăm o listă cu câteva dintre multele lucrări ale acestui gen care fac o lectură bună dacă vă doriți cu adevărat să învățați pe larg despre această formă de scriere și despre ce reprezintă ea. Caracteristici. Literatura feministă este identificată după caracteristicile mișcării feministe. Autorii literaturii feministe sunt cunoscuți că înțeleg și explică diferența dintre sex și gen. Ei cred că, deși sexul unei persoane este predeterminat și natural, genul este creat de societate, împreună cu o anumită percepție despre rolurile de gen. Se crede că rolurile de gen pot fi modificate în timp. Predominanța unui gen față de celălalt este un concept comun în aproape toate societățile, iar faptul că nu este în favoarea femeilor este o caracteristică de bază, dar flagrantă a literaturii feministe sau feminine. Aici se argumentează că orice societate care nu oferă canale de învățare și cunoaștere ambelor genuri în mod egal nu este o societate completă și imparțială. Criticii susțin că nu era mare diferență între autorii bărbați și femei și că nu era nevoie să identifici o clasă separată de literatură numită feministă sau să caute urme de feminism în literatură. Totuși, dacă citiți o astfel de lucrare, veți realiza cum astfel de scriitori au criticat abordarea androcentrică (centrată pe bărbați) a societății și au încercat să înțeleagă convingerile și nevoile sexului opus cu o abordare subiectivă, și nu obiectivă. Luați, de exemplu, mândria și prejudecata lui Jane Austen. Protagonista, Elizabeth Bennett era o femeie a minții ei. In ciuda presiunii societatii (puse de mama ei) de a-si alege un partener si de a duce o viata decisa pentru toate femeile, ea a decis sa-si aleaga propriul drum spre ceea ce isi dorea. Și nimic din toate acestea nu a fost abordat ostentativ. Ea nu s-a luptat spre exterior pentru a-și alege cursul vieții. Întreaga lucrare este subtilă, iar singura caracteristică clară a protagonistei pe care o veți observa este asertivitatea ei. Și aceasta este o caracteristică clară a abordării feministe față de literatură. Femeile din literatură de natură feministă sunt întotdeauna prezentate ca protagoniste, care, de cele mai multe ori, nu acceptă cu ușurință rolul tradițional al femeilor așa cum este decis de societate. Sunt pregătiți să ia propriile decizii, să exprime această alegere a luării deciziilor personale și sunt pregătiți să facă față consecințelor acestor alegeri, acțiuni și decizii. Deși o fiică, o mamă, o soră sau o soție, orice piesă din literatura feministă se ocupă mai întâi de o femeie ca femeie. Nu aceste relații, roluri sau stereotipuri le dau identitatea acestor personaje feminine din literatură. Identitatea lor este definită de alegerile și convingerile lor, care sunt apoi asociate cu aceste roluri. Este important de remarcat că nu toate operele literaturii feministe au finaluri fericite, atât pentru caracter, cât și pentru autorul operei. Femeile au fost ostracizate de societate pentru că au cerut în mod deschis egalitate și au trebuit să se confrunte cu mai multe consecințe negative ale deciziei lor de a merge împotriva valurilor. Femeile au fost tratate ca subiecte importante chiar și în multe opere literare de către bărbați. De exemplu, Henrik Ibsen, un autor și dramaturg norvegian, s-a concentrat adesea pe femei, problemele femeilor, problemele lor cu care se confruntă societatea și deciziile luate în funcție de valorile și convingerile lor personale. Dacă aruncați o privire la piesa numită Casa Păpușilor de către acest autor, veți observa clar puterea și caracterul protagonistului. Nu toate, dar unele piese de literatură feministă (în special non-ficțiune) prezintă și accentuează voturile femeilor și cererii de egalitate în societate, de drepturi politice, sociale și economice. În literatura feministă modernă, atacul asupra unei societăți dominate de bărbați a devenit mai direct și mai direct, unde femeile au cerut o privire mai atentă asupra abordării patriarhale și capitaliste față de feminism. Lista de lecturăCu o oarecare claritate asupra naturii literaturii feministe, poți înțelege orice operă de această natură într-o manieră mai bună și mai clar. Iata o lista cu lucrari celebre ale acestui gen, dupa lectura care, va veti putea identifica cu caracteristicile mentionate mai sus ale acestui tip de scriere. Înainte să aruncăm o privire peste niște cărți bune și romane care prezintă literatura feministă, să aruncăm o privire la scriitoarele care s-au străduit să facă simțită această mișcare prin operele lor. Ei au scris lucrări fictive care aveau un principiu feminist fundamental.

Virginia Woolf

Margaret Atwood

Jane Austen

Audre Lorde

Phillis Reynolds

NaylorJeannette Winterson

Octavia Butler

Ursula Le Guin

Angela Carter

Grace Paley

Aimee Bender

Edwidge Danticat

Suzan Lori-Parks

Wendy Wasserstein

Câteva lucrări celebre ale literaturii feministe, care includ atât non-ficțiune, cât și scrisul ficțiune, au fost înscrise aici

Feminismul este pentru toată lumea: politică pasională - Bell Hooks

O cameră proprie - Virginia Woolf

Povestea slujitoarei - Margaret Atwood

Mistica feminină - Betty Friedan

Femei fără superstiții:

Fără zei, fără maeștri - Annie Laurie Gaylor

Basme feministe - Barbara G. Walker

Deși multe s-au schimbat în zilele noastre, încă există un val de feminism care stă la baza căreia se poate simți în toată lumea. În timp ce se află în mediul urban, femeilor aproape că li s-au dat datoriile, în mediul rural, femeile încă se așteaptă să trăiască după stereotipurile exprimate de societate. Chiar și în mediul urban, deși femeile au obținut mult mai mult decât le-a dat societatea, ele încă se așteaptă să îndeplinească anumite roluri și stereotipuri care au fost norma de secole. Literatura feministă din diferite perioade va descrie diferite dorințe și dorințe diferite sub sfera feminismului. Rolurile fiicelor, soțiilor și mamelor în literatură se vor schimba în continuare, la fel și cerințele și credințele lor. Conceptul de egalitate de gen care se concentrează în primul rând pe drepturile femeilor a parcurs un drum lung, iar literatura feministă a fost un mediu excelent pentru a aduce orice schimbări vizibile în atitudinea față de femei. Totuși, se poartă o luptă lungă și va mai trece ceva timp până când egalitatea de gen și rolul femeilor în societate va fi clar în sensul ideal.