(UNIT -III) GENERAL ENGLISH (SEM IV)

SEMESTER IV – GENERAL ENGLISH IV

The Merchant of Venice  

Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends of a melancholy that he cannot explain. His friend Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan in order to travel in style to Portia’s estate. Antonio agrees, but is unable to make the loan himself because his own money is all invested in a number of trade ships that are still at sea. Antonio suggests that Bassanio secure the loan from one of the city’s moneylenders and name Antonio as the loan’s guarantor. In Belmont, Portia expresses sadness over the terms of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who correctly chooses one of three caskets. None of Portia’s current suitors are to her liking, and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa, fondly remember a visit paid some time before by Bassanio.

In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, for a loan. Shylock nurses a long-standing grudge against Antonio, who has made a habit of berating Shylock and other Jews for their usury, the practice of loaning money at exorbitant rates of interest, and who undermines their business by offering interest-free loans. Although Antonio refuses to apologize for his behavior, Shylock acts agreeably and offers to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock adds, however, that should the loan go unpaid, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s own flesh. Despite Bassanio’s warnings, Antonio agrees. In Shylock’s own household, his servant Launcelot decides to leave Shylock’s service to work for Bassanio, and Shylock’s daughter Jessica schemes to elope with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo. That night, the streets of Venice fill up with revelers, and Jessica escapes with Lorenzo by dressing as his page. After a night of celebration, Bassanio and his friend Gratiano leave for Belmont, where Bassanio intends to win Portia’s hand.

In Belmont, Portia welcomes the prince of Morocco, who has come in an attempt to choose the right casket to marry her. The prince studies the inscriptions on the three caskets and chooses the gold one, which proves to be an incorrect choice. In Venice, Shylock is furious to find that his daughter has run away, but rejoices in the fact that Antonio’s ships are rumored to have been wrecked and that he will soon be able to claim his debt. In Belmont, the prince of Arragon also visits Portia. He, too, studies the caskets carefully, but he picks the silver one, which is also incorrect. Bassanio arrives at Portia’s estate, and they declare their love for one another. Despite Portia’s request that he wait before choosing, Bassanio immediately picks the correct casket, which is made of lead. He and Portia rejoice, and Gratiano confesses that he has fallen in love with Nerissa. The couples decide on a double wedding. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he part with it. They are joined, unexpectedly, by Lorenzo and Jessica. The celebration, however, is cut short by the news that Antonio has indeed lost his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to Shylock. Bassanio and Gratiano immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonio’s life. After they leave, Portia tells Nerissa that they will go to Venice disguised as men.

Shylock ignores the many pleas to spare Antonio’s life, and a trial is called to decide the matter. The duke of Venice, who presides over the trial, announces that he has sent for a legal expert, who turns out to be Portia disguised as a young man of law. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he remains inflexible and insists the pound of flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock twice the money due him, but Shylock insists on collecting the bond as it is written. Portia examines the contract and, finding it legally binding, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh. Shylock ecstatically praises her wisdom, but as he is on the verge of collecting his due, Portia reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the contract does not entitle him to any blood. Trapped by this logic, Shylock hastily agrees to take Bassanio’s money instead, but Portia insists that Shylock take his bond as written, or nothing at all. Portia informs Shylock that he is guilty of conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen, which means he must turn over half of his property to the state and the other half to Antonio. The duke spares Shylock’s life and takes a fine instead of Shylock’s property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylock’s wealth on two conditions: first, Shylock must convert to Christianity, and second, he must will the entirety of his estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees and takes his leave.

Bassanio, who does not see through Portia’s disguise, showers the young law clerk with thanks, and is eventually pressured into giving Portia the ring with which he promised never to part. Gratiano gives Nerissa, who is disguised as Portia’s clerk, his ring. The two women return to Belmont, where they find Lorenzo and Jessica declaring their love to each other under the moonlight. When Bassanio and Gratiano arrive the next day, their wives accuse them of faithlessly giving their rings to other women. Before the deception goes too far, however, Portia reveals that she was, in fact, the law clerk, and both she and Nerissa reconcile with their husbands. Lorenzo and Jessica are pleased to learn of their inheritance from Shylock, and the joyful news arrives that Antonio’s ships have in fact made it back safely. The group celebrates its good fortune.

JULIUS CAESAR

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Brutus and Cassius enter the Forum with a crowd of plebeians. Cassius exits to speak to another portion of the crowd. Brutus addresses the onstage crowd, assuring them that they may trust in his honor. He did not kill Caesar out of a lack of love for him, he says, but because his love for Rome outweighed his love of a single man. He insists that Caesar was great but ambitious: it was for this reason that he slew him. He feared that the Romans would live as slaves under Caesar’s leadership.

He asks if any disagree with him, and none do. He thus concludes that he has offended no one and asserts that now Caesar’s death has been accounted for, with both his virtues and faults in life given due attention. Antony then enters with Caesar’s body. Brutus explains to the crowd that Antony had no part in the conspiracy but that he will now be part of the new commonwealth. The plebeians cheer Brutus’s apparent kindness, declaring that Brutus should be Caesar. He quiets them and asks them to listen to Antony, who has obtained permission to give a funeral oration. Brutus exits.

Antony ascends to the pulpit while the plebeians discuss what they have heard. They now believe that Caesar was a tyrant and that Brutus did right to kill him. But they wait to hear Antony. He asks the audience to listen, for he has come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. He acknowledges Brutus’s charge that Caesar was ambitious and maintains that Brutus is “an honourable man,” but he says that Caesar was his friend. He adds that Caesar brought to Rome many captives, whose countrymen had to pay their ransoms, thus filling Rome’s coffers. He asks rhetorically if such accumulation of money for the people constituted ambition. Antony continues that Caesar sympathized with the poor: “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept”. He reminds the plebeians of the day when he offered the crown to Caesar three times, and Caesar three times refused. Again, he ponders aloud whether this humility constituted ambition. He claims that he is not trying to disprove Brutus’s words but rather to tell them what he, Antony, knows; he insists that as they all loved Caesar once, they should mourn for him now.

Antony pauses to weep. The plebeians are touched; they remember when Caesar refused the crown and wonder if more ambitious people have not stepped into his place. Antony speaks again, saying that he would gladly stir them to mutiny and rebellion, though he will not harm Brutus or Cassius, for they are—again—honorable men. He then brings out Caesar’s will. The plebeians beg him to read it. Antony says that he should not, for then they would be touched by Caesar’s love for them. They implore him to read it. He replies that he has been speaking too long—he wrongs the honorable men who have let him address the crowd. The plebeians call the conspirators traitors and demand that Antony read the will.

Finally, Antony descends from the pulpit and prepares to read the letter to the people as they stand in a circle around Caesar’s corpse. Looking at the body, Antony points out the wounds that Brutus and Cassius inflicted, reminding the crowd how Caesar loved Brutus, and yet Brutus stabbed him viciously. He tells how Caesar died and blood ran down the steps of the Senate. Then he uncovers the body for all to see. The plebeians weep and become enraged. Antony says that they should not be stirred to mutiny against such “honourable men”. He protests that he does not intend to steal away their hearts, for he is no orator like Brutus. He proclaims himself a plain man; he speaks only what he knows, he says—he will let Caesar’s wounds speak the rest. If he were Brutus, he claims, he could urge them to rebel, but he is merely Antony.

The people declare that they will mutiny nonetheless. Antony calls to them to let him finish: he has not yet read the will. He now reads that Caesar has bequeathed a sum of money from his personal holdings to every man in Rome. The citizens are struck by this act of generosity and swear to avenge this selfless man’s death. Antony continues reading, revealing Caesar’s plans to make his private parks and gardens available for the people’s pleasure. The plebeians can take no more; they charge off to wreak havoc throughout the city. Antony, alone, wonders what will come of the mischief he has set loose on Rome. Octavius’s servant enters. He reports that Octavius has arrived at Caesar’s house, and also that Brutus and Cassius have been driven from Rome.

MACBETH - SCENE FROM SLEEP WALKING SIGN
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
ACT 5, SCENE 1

At night, in the king’s palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth’s strange habit of sleepwalking. The gentlewoman describes how Lady Macbeth has sleepwalked in the past. Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Lamenting the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo, she seems to see blood on her hands and claims that nothing will ever wash it off. Her incriminating words are overheard by the Doctor and a lady-in-waiting.
Lady Macbeth has gone mad and as she sleepwalks through on the eve of Macbeth’s battle against Macduff and Malcolm, once possessed a stronger decision and sense of purpose than her husband and was the driving force behind their plot to kill Duncan. But now, she sees blood. She cannot find any rest. She is suffering more clearly from a psychological disorder. Her inability to sleep was foreshadowed in the voice that her husband thought he heard while killing the king—a voice crying out that Macbeth was murdering sleep. Her delusion that there is a bloodstain on her hand symbolizes guilt. “What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account?” she asks, asserting that as long as her and her husband’s power is secure, the murders they committed cannot harm them. But the devastation of her mind is so complete that she cannot recall events in their correct order. For example, "Out damned spot" is followed by "The Thane of Fife had a wife," referring to Lady Macduff. Later we hear the line "Banquo's buried: he cannot come out on's grave," and finally she believes she hears Macduff knocking at the gate. She even cries "all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, in their destructive power, have created their own hell, where they are tormented by guilt and insanity. She leaves saying "What's done cannot be undone", and the doctor and gentlewoman wonder at her fall into madness. The doctor opines that Lady Macbeth needs a "divine," — a priest — more than a doctor. He prays for her good and asks the lady-in-waiting to take care of her by removing all sharp objects nearby as she may harm herself out of her guiltiness.

LITTLE GIRLS ARE WISER THAN MEN
LEO TOLSTOY

It was the time of year when the snow started to melt and make nice mud puddles in the street. Two girls, Malasha and Akoulya, meet after church on Sunday. Their mothers had dressed them in their Sunday best for Easter. They started to play with one another. There was a muddy puddle, and the girls just couldn't resist. Soon Akoulya warns Malasha to step into a puddle carefully so that her dress will not get dirty. They were careful at first, but eventually Malasha splashed on Akoulya's dress. Akoulya's mother noticed how her dress was dirty and scolded her. Akoulya, of course, blamed Malasha. The mother grabs Malasha and hits her on the back of the neck. Malasha starts to howl, and that brings her mother who demands to know why her daughter is being beaten. Both mothers argued heatedly, and then the men came out and joined in the argument.  Eventually a whole crowd was arguing, almost coming to blows over this incident. At that time an old lady, Akoulya's grandmother, tries to tell them to stop, but she is ignored and practically knocked off her feet.
Akoulya had wiped the mud off her dress and she and Malasha started digging a canal for the water to escape from the puddle. They followed the stream into the group of men who were fighting.  They had totally forgotten their argument and were having a great time with each other.  The old lady points to the young girls and tells the people not to bother fighting, the little girls themselves have forgotten about it and are playing again and that the others should follow their example. The men laughed and returned to their homes.
Tolstoy ends his story with a quote from the Bible:
"'Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
This statement means that unless you change and become like little children, who forget their worries and refrain from holding grudges, you shall not reach the kingdom of heaven. Children readily forgive and forget, and adults need to do the same. The quote says that we must become as little children if we plan to reach the kingdom of heaven.

THE LAST CLOCK

JAMES THURBER

The last clock is a fable about an ogre in a country of tomorrow, who ate up all the clocks in the town. All kinds of specialists were called in, but the clock-eating ogre didn't come under any specialist's area. The story continues with the group of people from different spheres when the case was taken to the town council & then the Supreme Council. The ogre died, and one clock was found, but when a specialist deemed it a museum piece, it was placed, unfunctioning, in the town museum. Eventually, the timeless town was buried by sand & eons later, explorers from Venus dug it up and found the clock. They labelled it 'Antique Mechanism-Function uncertain', and took it back to Venus along with other mysterious relics of the Time of Man on Earth.

It is a story about this clock-eating ogre consuming every single clock in this town and he eventually falls ill but no one helps him because his ailment does not fall into anyone's specialty. So he dies and the last clock of the town is put in a museum, not functioning.

HOW FAR IS THE RIVER

RUSKIN BOND

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent, who has written several plays, essays, non-fiction account and many short stories. He was born in State of Himachal Pradesh and was very closely associated with nature and thats why his stories show a deep love for nature and people.

How Far is the River describes an irresistible desire of a young boy, who has never seen the river in his life.

Once in a village in a mountain valley surrounded by woods lived a young boy. There was a river which flowed through the mountains some miles away from the village. The children of the village had heard about the river.

This young boy of 12 has an irresistible desire to see the river, because he had heard about the rocks, currents and waterfalls. He wanted to touch the flowing water. So one day when his parents were out he decided to go and take a look at river for he knew that they wouldn't come back home till late in the evening. He took a loaf of bread from his house and started his journey to the river. He took the steep path which went round the mountain and which was frequently used by the wood cutters, milkman, mule drivers etc. It was a lonely and deserted path. On his way, he came across a wood cutter, who had concern about the boy when he expressed his desire to walk 3 miles on his way to the river.

Having crossed the dizzy wind path, he entered into a beautiful valley, where he came across a girl – a grass cutter who had a long knife in her hand. She was dressed in a very traditional way. She absolutely had no idea about the distance to the river and how much time it might take to reach there. Having walked for an hour, the boy was sure that he had walked half way. There he saw a boy, who was driving a few goats up the path. The boy asked the shepherd for directions to the river and was told that it was just around the hill; the boy began to walk with shepherd. He shared with him the loaf of bread he had brought with him and had a chat till his companion had to go another way. He was left alone again with no river in the sight and far away from home. He was lost and discouraged. In the middle of nowhere he walked on the hard, dusty and snowy path passing mud huts and fields.

Suddenly the silence was broken by the roaring sound of the river. The boy was surprised by the sight of the river. All through his life, he had longed to see the river. He ran into it till he went ankle deep and enjoyed the feel of the water flowing through his toes. Thus with a great determination he could fulfill his desire of seeing and feeling the river.

THEMES

The first theme is ‘never give up’. The boy was so determined that he did not hesitate. The woodcutter told him of the long journey. The path was silent, and at one point he became discouraged. Since he had already come half-way and he had waited so long to see and touch the river, he didn’t give up. “The decision to ‘keep going’ is all what it takes to make a difference sometimes.”

The second is ‘to achieve something, one has to dream about it first’. The stories by the villagers who had been to the river were the key reinforcement of the ‘will’ to go and see the river himself. The stories helped the boy picture the river in his mind and he was able to imagine a beautiful river which led him to make the journey and see his imagination come true. He would never have visited the river if he hadn’t imagined how it would be like to stand in front of it and touch its waters.

Finally, the story describes how youngsters do things without telling their parents. This worked well for the boy but may not be similar in case of every person. The path being unknown, the slope being steep, and the river being dangerous, roaring and rushing, anything could have happened to the boy, which would at least be hours before it was brought to anybody’s notice.