Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer because he understood human nature better than anyone else. Explain the statement in the context of the play.
Advertisements
Solution
Through the play, 'A Midsummer Night‘s Dream‘, William Shakespeare has depicted the various facets of human nature through the characters of the play. He has displayed how people can be silly in love and how easy it to confuse physical attraction with love. He even shows how jealousy can drive someone to do something ridiculous.
The character of Oberon is driven by jealousy and administers the love potion on Titania. Oberon chooses vengeance over love. The character of Hermia chooses to elope with Lysander, her true love, instead of following the Athenian law of marrying Demetrius, the man her father chose for her. She chooses love over following the Athenian law. The character of Helena betrays her friend, Hermia, by telling Demetrius about Hermia‘s plan of eloping with Lysander. She chooses love over a long-standing friendship. Even her choice of following Demetrius into the forest shows she let her feelings for Demetrius overpower her a better sense of judgment. The character of Demetrius, who was in love with Helena before, leaves her for Hermia. He chooses physical attraction over love. The character of Lysander, though under the influence of the love potion, pursues Helena and leaves his betrothed Hermia. Even the Queen of fairies, Titania, falls in love with Bottom, whose face had been turned to that of an ass.
The nature of all the characters in this play is driven by one dominant emotion. Shakespeare‘s keen observation of human psychology is evident through his characters. Whether it is the star-crossed lovers, the contrasting pair of the Fairy Queen and the ass, or the all-consuming jealousy of the fairy king, Shakespeare aptly demonstrates the feelings of two people who are attracted to each other. By giving the four lovers similar traits, he unifies them under the idea of blind love and thus brilliantly conveys the predictable nature of love. He even illustrates the powerful emotion of jealousy and, in a comic manner, its unfortunate consequences. His deep insight into these emotions, which might seem silly to someone who doesn‘t feel them, makes him the greatest writer who understood human nature better than anyone else.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Attempt the following in 150-200 words.
Why does Anne call herself 'a bundle of contradictions'?
Answer the following question in 120 – 150 words:
How do you perceive Dr. Kemp based on his interaction with Griffin ? (The Invisible Man)
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
How do you know
Peace is a woman?
I know, for
I met her yesterday
on my winding way
to the world's fare.
She had such a wonderful face
just like a golden flower faded
before her prime.
(1) How does the poet describe the face of peace?
(2) Do you think there is a way out of the war-ridden world? What is it?.
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line:
"I met her yesterday
on my winding way."
(4) The poet asks the question and herself answers it. What effect does it create in the extract?
Read the following extract and complete the activities given below :
A1 Compare the old and new house and complete the table :
| Points | Old House | New House |
| Surrounding | razzle-dazzle | – |
| Size of the house | – | big |
I was thirteen, the year we moved to the Cantonment at Allahabad. In stark contrast to the razzle-dazzle of the city’s commercial areas like Katra and Chowk, the Cantonment was a quiet, orderly place with broad tree-lined roads that still carried the names of long-dead Britishers. Our bungalow was on a sleepy by-lane called MacPherson Road. When we first saw it, my brothers and I were delighted. It was by far the biggest house we had ever lived in. The task of furnishing those huge, echoing rooms daunted mother.
“Is a slightly smaller house not available?” she asked father, “We do not have enough curtains for this place. And the furniture seems a little inadequate. Why did they have to plan the kitchen at such a distance from the dining-room? It is like doing a route march. And who is going to help me keep this place clean and dusted?”
Her misgivings and objections were undoubtedly valid. But, seeing our crestfallen faces, she sighed and gave in. We made extravagant promises to help in the household chores. Keep our rooms tidy. Put away our toys and books. She smiled with amused disbelief, her mind already working out how many meters of curtain-cloth would be needed and so on.
A2 Complete :
Complete the following list of objections that the mother had with the new house :
(i) Inadequate _______
(ii) Do not have _______
(iii) Kitchen at a distance from _______
(iv) A very big _______
A3 Personal response:
Do you agree with the objections raised by the mother? Explain.
Answer the following in 200-250 words :
Describe Ms. Sullivan's teaching methods?
“One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream. ” The story begins in a mood of nostalgia. Can you narrate some incident from your childhood that might make an interesting story?
We 'draw up a deed'. Complete the following phrase with an appropriate word.
________a deaf ear to
How does the ‘assortment of remarks’ compiled by the author give us an understanding of the ways of science and poetry?
Qua story’: what does the word mean? Find other expressions using the word qua.
Find from the story one word for the following.
the highest-ranking officer in the Municipality of a city/town ______
Say why the speaker of the poem wishes to be a-
hawker
Suppose you suffer from a long - term illness (one or two weeks), what should you do and what should you avoid? Fill up the table of Dos and Don’ts.
| Dos | Don’ts |
| (1) Go to a doctor for diagnosis | (1) Do not ____________ |
| (2) ____________ | (2) Do not avoid medication on time. |
| (3) Take a suitable diet | (3) Avoid ____________ |
| (4) ____________ | (4) Avoid physical stress and exertion. |
| (5) Rest in a properly ventilated room. | (5) Do not ____________ |
| (6) Have cheerful thoughts, courage, positive attitude | (6) Do not lose ______ and ______ |
Correct the following statement.
The real ivy leaf did not fall off at all.
Prepare an Acrostic from the word ‘Leisure’. The words should be related to what one likes to do in free time.
L______
E______
I______
S______
U______
Reading stories
E______
With the help of the internet and other sources, obtain more information about the critically endangered birds and animals in India. Find the names of their sanctuaries.
Read the description of the Kabaddi match and do the following:
Describe, in your own words, the important events in the first half.
Shylock was not at all generous.
What characteristics of Mr. Nobody do we learn about from this poem?
Read the passage and name the following.
He composed the Illiad and Odyssey.
Answer in your own words.
What chores did the boys from 1000 CE and 1st Century CE, do on their farms/fields?
Where does the brook join the river?
What do you notice about the following pairs of words?
- act naturally
- liquid gas
- open secret
- sound of silence
- sweet sorrow
- original copy
- only choice
- growing smaller
Imagine the following and write about it in your own words:
What the world looks like to a baby.
Read the poem and answer the following.
What are the two different ways of eating strawberries?
Look at the speaker in each picture. Say whether each one is a good speaker. Give reasons for your answer.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Write slogans for the cleanliness drive in your area.
Would you like to be a netizen?
Find a word that has a similar meaning.
Whole
When and where was the first ATM installed?
Hamid thought that his grandma would be pleased if he bought______
Read the comic strip and answer the following question.
Can we read and access the information free of cost?
Take a stanza from the poem. Write it in the blanks and find the rhyme scheme.
| Lines from the poem | Rhyme scheme (a/b/c/d) |
Look at the number pattern. Fill the blank in the middle of the series or end of the series.
ELFA, GLHA, ILJA, ______, MLNA
Vasantha made a lot of noise because ______
According to the author the tendril was moving towards grandfather because it______.
The author did not want to plant saplings in the forest because______.
What does the peepul do?
One of the Lilliputians gave a ten minutes talk in Gulliver’s language.
The wild boar settled down scraping the hole into a ______ to have a good sleep.
Is the brother boastful? What makes you think so?
How did Santhosh know that the river was clean?
Why did Yazhini want to join the military?
When did the battle of Nauranang start? How long did it continue?
Read scene I of the play carefully and answer the question below.
Who is about to go on a hunt? Do the wolves panic on his arrival? Explain.
Whom did Vicky want to do all his work?
Identify the character/speaker.
"Grow the fish at home, Anbu."
______is good at cooking.
Match the rhyming words.
| mars | crime |
| bed | cars |
| time | head |
Match the rhyming words.
| 1. | flow | know |
| 2. | grow | week |
| 3. | seek | blow |
Pick and write the adverbs to complete the sentence.
A jackal cheated the crow ______.
Find and write the clues.
Clue for the load on the camel ______
Why did Jana chase the squirrel?
What makes him fall?
Draw the garden of your dreams.
The garden Alice saw was
Which part of the plant should be watered?
How did the tree help the boy earn money?
Write compound word using the pictures.
 |
+ |  |
| ____________ | ||
