Psychological Realism in The Mayor of Casterbridge

Department Of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji

Bhavnagar University

 

Name: Bhatt Vidhi Rajeshkumar

Roll No.: 18

SEM: 04

Year: 2012-13

Subject: A study of Author: Thomas Hardy

Assignment Topic: Psychological Realism in The Mayor of Casterbridge

Submitted To: Heenaba Zala

§     A psychological novel, also called psychological realism, is a work of prose fiction which places more than the usual amount of emphasis on interior characterization, and on the motives, circumstances, and internal action which springs from, and develops, external action. The psychological novel is not content to state what happens but goes on to explain the motivation of this action. In this type of writing character and characterization are more important than usual, and they often delve deeper into the mind of a character than novels of other genres.

§    In its wealth of realistic details, Hardy’s descriptive style created his Wessex world with such conviction and through ness that he becomes the model for dozens of other regional novelists. His realism is not now appreciated as much as his move tragic, universal qualities, but it contributes substantially in the Mayor of Casterbridge to the total tragic effect.

§    Thomas hardy gave the subtitle of the Mayor of casterbridge is: “A man of a character” which is fully on the character of Michael Henchard. He is the man who always in pride, ego and because of this, he met with tragic end. And because of him many characters like Susan, Lucetta suffers a lot in their lives.

§    First, Henchard is as an ordinary man. He had a wife named Susan and also had a beautiful daughter named Elizabeth Jain.

§    In the very first chapter, he sells his wife and daughter in five guineas to the stranger and that is Newson. Next morning he comes to know about the whole thing but it was too late and he decided to get out of this as soon as he can.

§    Eighteen years have passed. Michael Henchard became the mayor of casterbridge. He is now searching for his wife and beautiful daughter. And he had relationship with Lucetta. On other hand, Elizabeth Jane became a beautiful woman.

§    Susan and her daughter Elizabeth Jane came to casterbridge and they found that the mayor is none other but her husband.

§    Henchard and Frafrae started the business in partnership.

§    At the time passes, Susan meets Henchard in the ring. Henchard insists they proceed with caution and devises a plan. Susan will take a cottage in town as the widow of Newson and allow Henchard to court and marry her, there by restoring both their marriage and his role as Elizabeth Jane’s father without revealing past.

§    Here, we come to know that he wants everything in his life without losing anything. In this, he wants his wife back but in different manner, he was not directly accepted Susan and his daughter that things show his ego.

§    As Henchard’s plan, Susan took a cottage in the town and Henchard continuously visiting.

§    After the death of Susan, Henchard decides to tell Elizabeth Jane the truth about the relationship between him and her mother.

§    Besides this, He goes upstairs to search for some documents to prove his relationship to Elizabeth Jane and discovers the letter that Susan wrote before her death. Henchard learns that Elizabeth is not his daughter but Newson’s daughter.

§    His pride and ego hurt again and he started hating Elizabeth Jane.

§    Now he was alone in his life so he wants to stay Elizabeth Jane with him but he leaves her father’s home.

§    And Elizabeth started living with Miss Lucetta and she enjoys living with Lucetta.

§    Elizabeth Jane wonders about Henchard’s familiarity with Lucetta but soon learns that they have met previously and that Lucetta is interested in Farfrae.

§    When Elizabeth Jane is out, Henchard calls on Lucetta and tells her that he is ready for them to be married. She refused for that and also remembering the past condition.

§    Henchard meets Farfrae and started to suspect Farfrae is his rival for Lucetta’s affection. 

§    This shows that Henchard is now in frustrated condition and he wants to get someone support in his life but he falls to get so that he started suspecting people who were around him.

§    He threatens Lucetta to reveal their past intimacy unless she agrees to marry him. With Elizabeth Jane as a witness, she agrees to do so. And Lucetta becomes deeply miserable that she has agreed to marry him.

§    The furmity woman’s revelation about Henchard’s past spread through the town, overshadowing all ‘amends he had made’. His reputation as a man of honor and prosperity declines rapidly.

§    Elizabeth Jane comes to know that Henchard started to drink again.

§    Lucetta overhears the conversation between Frafrae and Henchard and becomes extremely agitated, fearing that Henchard will reveal her authorship of the letters.

§    The citizens of casterbridge soon become aware of “Royal Personage” plans to pass through the town and Henchard vows to welcome them but Farfrae forcefully drags Henchard decided to take revenge.

§    When Henchrd goes in search of Elizabeth Jane he comes to know the death of Lucetta.

§    Henchard goes home and Elizabeth falls asleep and Newson comes. He tells Henchard that he has heard of Susan’s death and asks about Elizabeth Jane.

§    He is not ready to say the truth so, he tells to Newson that Elizabeth is no more and Newson departs in sorrow.

§    Elizabeth Jane meets Newson and immediately understand the reason for Henchard sudden departure.

§    On the day of marriage, Elizabeth Jane and Farfrae, Henchard wants to give bless to the new-married couple but not to do so, he only give birdcage with a bird.

§    And last the novel ends with the promise of his obscurity. There is no greater punish for a man whose every struggle has been to secure his public standing than the dictum that he be forgotten; in keeping with his character, Henchard has already embraced this punishment.

  

 

Character sketch of Severus Snape

Department Of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji

Bhavnagar University

Name: Bhatt Vidhi Rajeshkumar

Roll No.: 18

SEM: 04

Year: 2012-13

Subject: New Literatures

Assignment Topic: Character sketch of Severus Snape

Submitted To: Dr. Dilip Barad

Severus Snape is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J.K. Rowling. In the first novel of the series, he is hostile toward Harry and is built up to be the primary antagonist until the final chapters. As the series progresses, Snape's character becomes more layered and complex. Rowling does not fully reveal the details of his true loyalties until the end of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Over the course of the series, Snape's portrayal evolves from that of a malicious and partisan teacher to that of a pivotal character of considerable complexity and moral ambiguity.

                       Snape primarily teaches Potions at Hogwarts, though in the sixth novel he teaches Defense against the Dark Arts, a position which he was known to have desired throughout the series. He ultimately becomes Headmaster of Hogwarts in the final novel. Rowling has described him as "a gift of a character".

Outward appearance

                       Snape is described as a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose, and yellow, uneven teeth. He has shoulder-length, greasy black hair which frames his face, and cold, black eyes. He wears black, flowing robes which give him the appearance of "an overgrown bat" The youthful Snape had a "stringy, pallid look", being "round-shouldered yet angular", having a "twitchy" walk "that recalled a spider" and "long oily hair that jumped about his face In the chapter illustrations by Mary Grandpre in the American editions of Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix, Snape is depicted as balding with a goatee, but in the next novel, Half-Blood Prince, he is depicted with long black hair.

Personality

                     Snape is generally depicted as being cold, calculating, precise, sarcastic, and bitter. He strongly dislikes Harry and often insults him by insulting his father, James Potter. As the series progresses, it is revealed that his treatment of Harry stems from Snape's bitter rivalry with James when they were in school together.

                     Rowling further described the young Snape as insecure and vulnerable: "Given his time over again [Snape] would not have become a Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people he craved membership of something big and powerful, something impressive. Was so blinded by his attraction to the dark side he thought would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater."

                          The adult Snape, on the other hand, is portrayed as very self-assured and confident of his abilities, to a degree that Rickman described as "full of himself." Director David Yates said Snape is a character with gravitas, authority and power. His otherwise impassive and aloof attitude seems to stem from his belief that people who cannot control their emotions are weak.

                          Snape is shown to be a clever and cunning wizard. He is intelligent and has a keen, analytical mind. In an interview, Rowling adds that Snape is immensely brave, and when asked if she considers Snape a hero.

Magical abilities and skills

                        All seven novels show Snape to be a very powerful wizard and to have been outstanding while a student. He specializes in potion making and has talent and passion for the Dark Arts. Sirius Black claimed that Snape knew more hexes and curses as a first-year student at Hogwarts than most seventh-years knew. Particularly gifted in potion making, Snape added major improvements to his Potions textbook while still a student. Also as a student, Snape shows a rare gift for discovering new spells. Remus Lupin describes Sectumsempra as Snape's "specialty" in Deathly Hallows. Snape is shown using this spell as a teen ager and in the aerial battle in the last novel.

                    Snape is able to both access the minds of others and protect his own thoughts—indeed, though Snape does not care for the term himself, Harry forms the uncomfortable impression early in the series that the Potions Master is able to "read minds."

                          Snape is able to keep his betrayal from Voldemort, who is himself described as being "the greatest Legilimens" in history. According to Rowling, Snape is the only Death Eater capable of producing a full Patronus, which, like Lily's, is a doe.

                         Professor McGonagall later implies that Snape learned to fly without the use of a broom, a rare skill previously displayed only by Voldemort.

Loyalties

                           Snape's true loyalty was one of the most significant questions in the series up until the end of the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Although the first five novels depict him as unfair and vindictive towards Harry and his friends, he invariably ends up protecting or otherwise helping them when they or their allies are in danger. Several characters express doubts about his loyalty, but Dumbledore's trust in him is generally taken to be the final word. The sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, departs from that model. In the second chapter

                           Rowling maintains this impression through the early chapters of the seventh novel. However, near the climax of the book, Snape leaves Harry his dying thoughts and ultimately reveals to Harry that he had been loyal to Albus Dumbledore throughout the series.^] Snape's fierce devotion to and love of his childhood friend, Lily Evans, Harry's mother, is the foundation of that loyalty.

The Death Eater

                     On the outside, Severus Snape has "Death Eater" written all over him. Greasy, ill-tempered, batlike and perpetually frowny-faced, Professor Snape really seems to fit the mold of the stereotypical villain. He's also notoriously anti-Harry; even though he doesn't appear to be trying to thwart Harry directly over the course of the previous six books, he certainly dislikes the boy. After killing Dumbledore at the end of Book 6, Snape has us convinced that he's on Voldemort's side for sure. And in the beginning of Book 7, he seems like the worst of the Death Eaters when he blasts off George Weasley's ear. He's a convincing villain, and a seriously amazing double agent.

Is Snape a good guy???

              A character like Snape where you’re not sure if he’s a good or bad gut that gives you a latent tension.

             We only get to see the true Snape emerge right before he dies but what we see in the pensive is a man completely different from what we expected whose far cry from the melodramatic, blooding stereotypical villain we thought he was. Though Snape has seemed to foster nothing but resentment, bitterness and flat-out meanness, it turns out he’s been motivated by the highest, best, most valuable qualities all along-love and loyalty. It’s a Hugh surprise.

             Our feelings for shape turn on dime, just like Harry’s do, as soon as we learn the truth about him; his love for Lily proved beyond a shadow of a doubt by his doe patrons reveals, a truly tragic, noble and self sacrificing character that we’ll admit we never suspected.

Children and advertisements

Department Of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji

Bhavnagar University

Name: Bhatt Vidhi Rajeshkumar

Roll No.: 18

SEM: 04

Year: 2012-13

Subject: Mass Media and Communication

Assignment Topic: Children and advertisements

Submitted To: Dhvani Joshi

First, we have to know what is advertising.

ü Advertising is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage, viewers, readers or listeners’; sometimes a specific group to continue or to take some new action.

ü When the advertiser makes the ads, they always think about the target audience and mostly y target audience is children.

How advertising affects on the mind of children?

The answer is that……..

ü At the age of five or six, children have trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality and make believe from lying. They do not distinguish programs from ads, and may even prefer the ads. Between seven and ten years- old, children are most venerable to televised manipulation. At age of seven the child can usually distinguish reality from fantasy, and at nine, he or she might suspect deception in ads based on personal experience of products which turned out not to be as advertised but they cannot articulate this and still have “high hopes”. By ten, this has begun to turn into the cynical view that “ads always lie”. Around eleven or twelve, he child enculturation into a system of social hypocrisy.

The purpose of advertising

·       The purpose of advertising focusing on children

ü The main purpose of advertising is to attract people and make money.

ü Children are target because they are easy to manipulate. They think that they should have these particular things so that they attracted towards it that’s why they are targeted.

ü Advertising makes and impression on children, what children see and here they believe. For example: seeing the ads of Horlicks they think that only Horlicks is the energy drink for them and also they think that horlicks makes them taller, stronger and sharper.

ü Advertising to children has been a long successful way to build a solid consumer base that will win the minds of children in order to secure a life time of consumer purchasing.

ü “Advertising at its best is making people feel that they are without their product. You are a loser kinds are very sensitive to that”.

-         Nancy Shalek

Advertising food effects diet

§  Many of the advertisements that children are being exposed to are food advertisement.

§  These advertisements are mostly products of low nutrition value.

§  McDonalds spends roughly 570 million dollars a year on advertising.

§  These advertisements effects children because they will mostly like read to obesity.

§  Kids meal boxes advertise, shows characters etc. which is another way that children are attracted to fast food restaurants.

§  Now we can see every where there must be the restaurants of fast food.

Advertising encourages materialism

û  A recent national survey 95% of adults say that children are too focused on buying and consuming things and almost 80% agree that limits should be placed on advertising to children.

û  Advertising that encourage materialism can effect children’s self image and value.

û  Children beg their parents for the product advertised. They may insist on a particular pair of branded jeans only and be against the other brands of clothing in the store.

û  When children see these advertisements, it gives a wrong impression on their young minds and them starts giving a lot of importance to materialistic joys.

Advertising promotes violent games and videos

û  Children mostly boys are drawn to violence.

û  When ads promote violent video games it can lead it: aggression and loss of self control. For example: - the game named vice city. In this game, the player does whatever he likes to do and behaves in his condition of mind. The game is full of violence and these types of things are surely affects the minds of children.

Advertising encourages early drinking

û  Children who exposed to alcohol and tobacco advertising are more likely to have positive feelings about those substances and start using them at a young age.

û  Although most children don’t start drinking until the preteen or teen years, beliefs in media, less ages that drinking a positive or desirable activity is already developing by age six. It’s well established that alcohol use plays a substantial role in the three leading causes of death among teens and young.

û  Three factors affect the influence of alcohol advertising on pre-adolescents.

(a) The context in which the advertisements are viewed.

(b) The support of significant others

(c)  The extent to which alcohol is glamorized.

From another perspective, children are seen as living in an “age of innocence”-trusting, native, uncritical. Adults who act upon this stereotype are likely to regard television as unmitigated evil, seducing and Taking advantage of the innocent and defenseless.