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  1. Tech India
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    Tech India

    In the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" or "The Lady Without Mercy", the knight tells the poet that the lady took him to her "Elfin Grot" i.e. a small fairy cave. There she lays herself in the arms of the knight and weeps a lot and kept mourning. The knight is full of love for her and kisses her eyesRead more

    In the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” or “The Lady Without Mercy”, the knight tells the poet that the lady took him to her “Elfin Grot” i.e. a small fairy cave. There she lays herself in the arms of the knight and weeps a lot and kept mourning.

    The knight is full of love for her and kisses her eyes. And afterwards he goes to sleep and dreams of kings and princes who warn him that the lady is without mercy. After waking up, he finds that she is not there and he is left alone to suffer the loneliness and misery.

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  1. Lucifer
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    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven
    This answer was edited.

    The poem Charge of the Light Brigade is divided into six stanzas having 8,9,9,12,11,6 lines respectively. Many phrases are repeated a number of times in the poem to create the poetic effect. e.g. in the first stanza, the phrase “Half a League” is repeated three times to bring the experience of a parRead more

    The poem Charge of the Light Brigade is divided into six stanzas having 8,9,9,12,11,6 lines respectively. Many phrases are repeated a number of times in the poem to create the poetic effect. e.g. in the first stanza, the phrase “Half a League” is repeated three times to bring the experience of a parade. Again the phrase “Forward the Light Brigade” is repeated and so on.

    In the poem, each line of the stanzas is in dimeter i.e. it has two stressed syllables and each stressed syllable is followed by 2 unstressed syllables.
    Read about the poetic devices used in the poem or the detailed summary.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    In the poem "Holy Thursday", William Blake talks about the celebration that takes place on the auspicious "Holy Thursday" (it is believed that Christ was crucified on this day). On this day, hundreds of orphan children walk in bright and coloured clothes. However, according to the poet, they are notRead more

    In the poem “Holy Thursday”, William Blake talks about the celebration that takes place on the auspicious “Holy Thursday” (it is believed that Christ was crucified on this day). On this day, hundreds of orphan children walk in bright and coloured clothes.

    However, according to the poet, they are not happy and also these bright and shining clothes are not given to them as a token of love but to extract money from the people who watch them walking on the streets.

    The “Grey-headed beadles” are their guardians who have no sympathy for these poor orphans and rather use them to earn money in the form of donations from the people.

    The poet is thus exposing the hypocrisy in the society. The people think that they have done their duty by donating money and on the other hand, the guardians of those orphans use that money for their own benefits.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Racial bias and prejudice is strident in Othello with the title character facing the brunt of it. Pitting his physical virtues against his wife Desdemona who is fair and pear white in complexion becomes a constant tone of discussion and attack. Iago, Brabantio, Rodrigo, Othello (self-flagellation) aRead more

    Racial bias and prejudice is strident in Othello with the title character facing the brunt of it. Pitting his physical virtues against his wife Desdemona who is fair and pear white in complexion becomes a constant tone of discussion and attack.

    Iago, Brabantio, Rodrigo, Othello (self-flagellation) all show a clear revulsion to Othello’s race and even his ethnicity being a ‘Moor’.

    Desdemona is probably the only person that decided to look past the racial difference between herself and Othello and accept him for his valour and courage.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Othello is based in 16th Century Europe when the Christian Venetians were locking horns with Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the Mediterranean lands of Cyprus etc. The word ‘Moors’ used for Othello was used for Muslims and may suggest he was converted to Christianity and recruited to the Italian aRead more

    Othello is based in 16th Century Europe when the Christian Venetians were locking horns with Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the Mediterranean lands of Cyprus etc.

    The word ‘Moors’ used for Othello was used for Muslims and may suggest he was converted to Christianity and recruited to the Italian army in the crusade against the Turks. The inspiration behind the text was a story Giraldi Cinthio’sfrom Hecatommithi.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Themes of gender disparity and sexism is manifest used in Othello. The women are considered sinister and disloyal and the two feminine characters end up getting murdered. Even though Emilia and Desdemona are strong and intelligent they are shown to be gullible and impressionable. Male characters likRead more

    Themes of gender disparity and sexism is manifest used in Othello. The women are considered sinister and disloyal and the two feminine characters end up getting murdered.

    Even though Emilia and Desdemona are strong and intelligent they are shown to be gullible and impressionable. Male characters like Iago and Othello openly condemn women as witches.

    In the society established in Othello women play dormant roles in terms of political involvement and militaristic governance and often relegated to homes and palaces.

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  1. Lucifer
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    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    In the Dramatic Monologue "The Patriot", Robert Browning uses imagery to show his glory in the beginning and tragic end of his life in the end. In the beginning, the patriot says that when he came back from a war after winning, there were "roses, rose...with myrtle". In addition, there were so manyRead more

    In the Dramatic Monologue “The Patriot”, Robert Browning uses imagery to show his glory in the beginning and tragic end of his life in the end.

    In the beginning, the patriot says that when he came back from a war after winning, there were “roses, rose…with myrtle”. In addition, there were so many people on the roofs of houses (to welcome him) that “house-roofs seemed to heave and sway” and the flags were waving on the top of Churches. It looked like “church-spires flamed”. All these images show how Patriot was treated by the people when he came victoriously.

    However, after 1 year, he is going to be executed because he tried to do too much for them. Now, nobody praises or supports him. There are “just a palsied few at the window set”. The word “palsied” depicts their cold behaviour towards the Patriot. However most of them have gathered to see him hanging. It is raining and he is bleeding as people are throwing stones at him.

    He describes his execution scene as follows, “Thus I entered, and thus I go!” meaning that he was not giving a moment and stoned to death.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Desdemona is a strong, intelligent and compassionate woman. She is fair in her dealings and just in her evaluation of people. She ignores racial difference to fall in love with Othello for his talents and bravery. She is caring and tries to help Cassio get his employment back. She is also headstrongRead more

    Desdemona is a strong, intelligent and compassionate woman. She is fair in her dealings and just in her evaluation of people. She ignores racial difference to fall in love with Othello for his talents and bravery.

    She is caring and tries to help Cassio get his employment back. She is also headstrong as she asserts her will to marry Othello even when his father and most people in Venice are against her marriage to a man of colour.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Power is the over riding desire for people in the society where Othello exist.Wars for possession of fertile lands of the Mediterranean forms the background of the story. Even individual characters like Iago, Rodrigo, Othello etc are vying for their share and form of power. Iago wants revenge over ORead more

    Power is the over riding desire for people in the society where Othello exist.Wars for possession of fertile lands of the Mediterranean forms the background of the story. Even individual characters like Iago, Rodrigo, Othello etc are vying for their share and form of power.

    Iago wants revenge over Othello for preferring Cassio and exhibits powers of manipulation, Rodrigo wants Desdemona and Othello wants acceptance in a society and polity where he is still considered inferior due to his skin colour.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Betrayal is a constant thread in Othello. Starting with Desdemona’s betrayal of his father’s trust and marrying Othello and culminating Othello murdering her for her perceived betrayal with Cassio. Iago feels aggrieved by Othello’s betrayal by his selection of Cassio as his lieutenant. The biggest bRead more

    Betrayal is a constant thread in Othello. Starting with Desdemona’s betrayal of his father’s trust and marrying Othello and culminating Othello murdering her for her perceived betrayal with Cassio.

    Iago feels aggrieved by Othello’s betrayal by his selection of Cassio as his lieutenant. The biggest betrayal is the orchestrated by Iago who masterfully manipulates all the characters in the play. He brainwashes both his trusting ally Othello and loving Wife presuming an affair between the two.

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