The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set

The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey. This loose collective of friends and relatives was closely associated with the University of Cambridge for the men and King's College London for the women, and they lived, worked or studied together near Bloomsbury, London. According to Ian Ousby, "although its members denied being a group in any formal sense, they were united by an abiding belief in the importance of the arts." Their works and outlook deeply influenced literature, aesthetics, criticism, and economics as well as modern attitudes towards feminism, pacifism, and sexuality. A well-known quote, attributed to Dorothy Parker, is "they lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles".

Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel

Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel-: 

Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel ,often published as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.

The story takes place in an imagined future, the year 1984, when much of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and propaganda. Great Britain, known as Airstrip One, has become a province of a totalitarian superstate named Oceania that is ruled by the Party who employ the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Big Brother, the leader of the Party, enjoys an intense cult of personality despite the fact that he may not even exist. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a diligent and skillful rank-and-file worker and Outer Party member who secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion. He enters into a forbidden relationship with a colleague, Julia, and starts to remember what life was like before the Party came to power.

Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction. It also popularised the term "Orwellian" as an adjective, with many terms used in the novel entering common usage, including "Big Brother", "doublethink", "thoughtcrime", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "2 + 2 = 5", "proles", "Two Minutes Hate", "telescreen", and "Room 101". Time included it on its 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It was placed on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels, reaching No. 13 on the editors' list and No. 6 on the readers' list. In 2003, the novel was listed at No. 8 on The Big Read survey by the BBC. Parallels have been drawn between the novel's subject matter and real life instances of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and violations of freedom of expression among other themes.

The Blue Stockings Society

The Blue Stockings Society was an informal women's social and educational movement in England in the mid-18th century, emphasizing education and mutual cooperation. It was founded in the early 1750s by Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey and others as a literary discussion group, a step away from traditional, non-intellectual women's activities. Both men and women were invited to attend, including the botanist, translator and publisher Benjamin Stillingfleet, who was not rich enough to dress properly for the occasion and appeared in everyday blue worsted stockings. The term came to refer to the informal quality of the gatherings and the emphasis on conversation over fashion.

ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL (1681)

ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL (1681) 

A political satire in heroic couplets by John Dryden, published in 1681, and  

continued (Part II) mainly by Nahum Tate, published in 1682. Dryden used the biblical story  

of King David and his rebellious son Absalom to portray allegorically a current crisis about  

who should be the next king after the death of Charles II. Charles had no legitimate son, so  

that his heir was his brother James, Duke of York, a professed Catholic. His succession was  

feared as a menace to the Church of England and the liberty of Parliament; in consequence,  

the opposition (Whig) party tried to pass a law excluding James from the throne and  

substituting Charles’s illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. Dryden’s poem was  

intended to influence the public against the Whigs and their leader, Anthony Ashley Cooper,  

Earl of Shaftesbury. His use of the biblical story simultaneously blackened the opposition  

and sanctified the king, who supported his brother, and their party. The biblical David stands  

for Charles; Absalom for Monmouth; Achitophel (Absalom’s evil Tempter) for  

Shaftesbury. This satire is Dryden’s most famous work.

KING LEAR SUMMARY

KING LEAR SUMMARY:

Lear, the aging king of Britain, decides to step down from the throne and divide his kingdom among his three daughters. First, however, he puts his daughters through a test, asking each to tell him how much she loves him. Goneril and Regan, Lear’s older daughters, give their father flattering answers. But Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and favorite daughter, remains silent, saying that she has no words to describe how much she loves her father. Lear flies into a rage and disowns Cordelia. The king of France, who has courted Cordelia, says that he still wants to marry her even without her land, and she accompanies him to France without her father’s blessing.

Lear quickly learns that he made a bad decision. Goneril and Regan swiftly begin to undermine the little authority that Lear still holds. Unable to believe that his beloved daughters are betraying him, Lear slowly goes insane.

Meanwhile, an elderly nobleman named Gloucester also experiences family problems. His illegitimate son, Edmund, tricks him into believing that his legitimate son, Edgar, is trying to kill him. Fleeing the manhunt that his father has set for him, Edgar disguises himself as a crazy beggar and calls himself “Poor Tom.” Like Lear, he heads out onto the heath.

When the loyal Gloucester realizes that Lear’s daughters have turned against their father, he decides to help Lear in spite of the danger. Regan and her husband, Cornwall, discover him helping Lear, accuse him of treason, blind him, and turn him out to wander the countryside. 

In Dover, a French army lands as part of an invasion led by Cordelia in an effort to save her father. Goneril and Edmund conspire to kill Albany.

 Meanwhile, the English troops reach Dover, and the English, led by Edmund, defeat the Cordelia-led French. Lear and Cordelia are captured. In the climatic scene, Edgar duels with and kills Edmund; we learn

 of the death of Gloucester; Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy over Edmund and then kills herself when her treachery is revealed to Albany; Edmund’s betrayal of Cordelia leads to her needless execution in prison; and Lear finally dies out of grief at Cordelia’s passing. Albany, Edgar, and the elderly Kent are left to take care of the country under a cloud of sorrow and regret.

Macbeth Summary

Macbeth Summary

Three witches tell the Scottish general Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth kills the king, becomes the new king, and kills more people out of paranoia. Civil war erupts to overthrow Macbeth, resulting in more death. 

At the end of the play, Macbeth's severed head is brought to Malcolm by Macduff, proof that Macbeth has been overthrown, and that Scotland is now Malcom's to rule. Malcolm promises rewards to all who have fought for him, and names them all earls, the first in Scotland.

Important characters:

Macbeth :

Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis .

Lady Macbeth

Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position.

The Three Witches

Three “black and midnight hags” who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. 

Banquo

The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’ prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. 

King Duncan

The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders.

Macduff

A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start.

Malcolm

The son of Duncan.

Hecate

The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth.

Fleance

Banquo’s son

HAMLET SUMMARY:

HAMLET SUMMARY: (5 ACT PLAY)

The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed. 

IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:

HAMLET:

The Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist

Claudius

The King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle, and the play’s antagonist. 

Gertrude

The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married with Claudius .

Horatio

Hamlet’s close friend.

Polonius

The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court.

OPHELIA: POLONIUS DAUGHTER & and love of Hamlet.

THE GHOST: HAMLET'S FATHER SPIRIT. 

Laertes

Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother.

The Tempest Summary

The Tempest Summary

Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck, including the King of Naples and Prospero’s treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero’s slave, Caliban, plots to rid himself of his master, but is thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel. The King’s young son Ferdinand, thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda. Their celebrations are cut short when Prospero confronts his brother and reveals his identity as the usurped Duke of Milan. The families are reunited and all conflict is resolved. Prospero grants Ariel his freedom and prepares to leave the island.