Autobiography - The Genre

What is Autobiography?

            In an autobiography, an author writes about his own life and achievements.  It is a successful presentation of a personality.  It ends before the death of the writer.  Dr. Johnson says autobiography is better than biography because everyman’s life is best written by himself.  In psychological point of view, autobiography is better because the autobiographer knows his motives, secret hopes and ambitions better than anyone else does.  Longfellow said that autobiography is a product of first hand experience and biography of second hand knowledge.  Stevenson said that autobiography is the true writing.

Types of Autobiography – Objective and Subjective Autobiography

            Autobiography is a narration of events with the purpose of candid telling of the author’s inner life and his public career.  It progress from the outward to the inward, from the objective to the subjective.  St. Augustine’s Confessions, 5^th Century A.D, was the earliest autobiography.  After ten centuries, Rousseau wrote his autobiography in 18^th Century.  Later David Hume, Edward Gibbon and Benjamin Franklin wrote their autobiographies, which were not candid, sometimes repellent, self-revelation or self-exhibitionism.  They are clear, distinct in style and well planned.  These writers inspired many other writers like De Quincey, Benjamin Robert Haydon, Ruskin, H.G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Winston Churchill.  Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn wrote autobiographies in the form of diaries in the 18^th century.  Dorothy Osborne, Thomas Gray, Charles Lamb and John Keats’ wrote autobiographical sketches in the form of letters.

Difficulties of the Autobiographer

            An autobiographer faces many special problems. 

1)      According to Abraham Cowley, writing an autobiography grates the authors heart when he praises himself. 

2)      It is not easy to tell the truth. 

3)      It is difficult to recapture the emotions of the distant past. 

4)      Some episodes may be embarrassing not only the author but also others. 

5)      It is impossible for anyone to be entirely objective. 

6)      Great care must be taken while commenting people who may be alive.  Sometimes it might lead to libel. 

7)      Herbert Spencer pointed out that a biographer and an autobiographer should omit common situations in life and should present the striking and exceptional ones.  This is difficult. 

Whatever difficulties autobiography poses, many authors are victorious in overcoming the problems and have presented their life in the best way.

Summary of Stephen Leacock’s How T Be A Doctor

Introduction

            Stephen Leacock is a Canadian essayist and short story writer.  All his writings are humorous  in nature.  He is a satirist, who makes fun of human nature.  In this essay he makes fun of educated doctors and science.  He compares and contrasts modern science with old age wisdom.  He questions about the pathetic condition of patients.

Progress of Science

            Stephen Leacock is proud while discussing the progress of science.  He feels as if he invented electricity and vacuum cleaner.  He says that the progress in the field of medicine makes our heart expand with pride.  Hundred years ago, there were no diseases like bacilli, ptomaine poisoning, diphtheria, appendicitis, rabies, psoriasis and parotits.  Today, they all have become common household names.  Leacock satirically thanks the advancements in the field of medicine for this.

Harmful Diseases and Substances Before Many Years

            Before 100 years, fever was cured by letting of the blood.  Before 70 years, sedative drugs were given for fever.  Before 30 years, low diet and application of ice was given for fever.  Today, no such simple medication is followed to eradicate fever.  During olden days, people carried potatoes in their pockets to kill rheumatism.  Now no such thing happens.  Advancement in medical science has led to complications.  Epilepsy was also cured easily during olden days.

Modern Doctors

            Leacock discusses about the time taken by a person to become a qualified practioner.  During olden days, it takes two winters to complete a medical course.  During summer, the learners would do some other work.  However, in modern days a learner takes more than eight years to be a practioner.  It makes the person lazy.

Doctors Handling the Patients

            Modern doctor’s business could be acquired in two weeks, says Leacock.  When a patient consults the doctor, the doctor hits him at his back and sends a hook under the heart of the patient to know whether if pains or not.  The doctor gives a blow on his stomach, which makes the patient fall.  The doctor would read the morning newspaper and ask the patient to be quiet and go to bed.  The patient will get well quietly, if not he will die quietly.  They never question the doctor.

Advice On Diet

            A doctor’s advice on diet to his patient, varies according to his mood.  It the doctor is hungry, he will ask the patient to eat anything he likes.  If the doctor has eaten well, then he would suggest his patient not to eat anything.  The same is the case with the intake of drinks.  The patients are pathetic in the hands of the doctors.

Conclusion

            Even after knowing all these hardships, all of us, including Leacock, would like to rush to a hospital to save our lives.

Aristotle’s Criticism

Introduction

Aristotle is Plato’s disciple.  He is also known as the tutor of Alexander the Great.  He has written many critical treatises but only two, “Poetics” and “Rhetoric”, are remaining.  “Poetics” deals with the art of poetry and “Rhetoric” deals with the art of speaking.  “Poetics” is a short book for about 50 pages, containing 26 small chapters.  The first four chapters and the 25^th talk about poetry, the 5^th is about comedy, epic and tragedy and the following 14 chapters to tragedy and the next three to poetic diction, the next two to epic and the last to a comparison of epic and tragedy.

His Observation of Poetry

Its Nature – Aristotle, like Plato, calls a poet an imitator.  He compares a poet with a child, who imitates the elders, similarly a poet is a grown up child.  It is not twice removed from reality; instead, it talks about the permanent truth.  He compares poetry with history.  History says what has happened, poetry is more philosophical and it says what may happen.  Poetry is therefore higher than history.

Its Function – poetry’s major function is pleasure.  It gives pleasure to the reader and the poet by its imitation and rhythm.  If the poem teaches along with giving pleasure it is a superior poem.

Its Emotional Appeal – Poetry appeals more to emotions.  Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear – pity at the sufferings and fall of the hero and fear of the worst that he may face.  These emotions end in purgation or catharsis.  These emotions help the mind to calm down.

Observation on Tragedy

Its Origin – Poetry imitates two kinds of action: the noble and the bad.  Noble or good action leads to epic and the bad action leads to satire.  From these actions, arise tragedy and comedy.  Epic and tragedy are superior to satire and comedy.  Tragedy is more superior to epic.

Its Characteristics – Tragedy, according to Aristotle, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete,…in language embellished…in the form of action and not narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.  It should have a beginning, middle and an end.  A plot should have reasonable length.  It should neither be short nor be long.  A tragedy must have rhythm, harmony and song.  They must be employed as occasion demands.  A tragedy must also have action, which distinguishes it from epic.  In epic, a narrator tells the story and in tragedy, the tale is told by moving characters.

Its Constituent Parts – Tragedy has six parts: plot, character, thought, diction, song and spectacle.  Plot is the arrangement of incidents.  It is very important in a tragedy than characters.  Without action, there would not be any characters.  Characters determine men’s qualities.  Thought is what a character thinks or feels during his career in the play.  To accomplish all these, a writer uses diction and song.  Spectacle is the stage mechanics that present the play for the audience.

Structure of the Plot – the plot is the soul of a tragedy.  It must have three unities.  Unity of action is the first unity.  Actions in the life of the hero which are connected with one another and appear together.  There may be more actions in every man’s life but a tragedy must give what is necessary.  There should be only one plot or only one man’s life must be discussed.  Unity of time comes next.  A tragedy must take place within a single revolution of sun and epic does not have this limit.  A tragedy, on stage, must happen within 24 hours, if not it may appear unnatural.  Unity of place is the last unity.  A tragedy must happen in a single place.  A writer should not shift place quite often.  A tragedy should arouse pity and fear and there must be purgation at the end.  A tragedy should end in an unhappy way, so that we get the true tragic pleasure.  A plot can be divided into two – complications and denouement.  The complications are the events that form a knot and the denouement unties it.  The complications include the beginning to the point where there is a turn for good or ill; the denouement extends from the turning point to the end.

Simple and Complex Plot – In a simple plot there is no complications.  In a complex plot there is peripeteia and anagnorsis.  Peripeteia is reversal of situation and anagnorsis is recognition or discovery.  Reversal of situation means reversal of intention – we do something and the opposite happens (killing and enemy and find him to be a friend).  Anagnorsis is a change from ignorance to knowledge.  A tragedy must not have a simple plot but it should have a complex plot.

Tragic Hero – a tragic hero must produce fear and pity among the audience.  He cannot be a good man neither a bad man.  He should be a man whose is not too good but with some errors or tragic flaw.

Observations on Comedy

Not much is said about comedy.  Comedy has its roots in satire.  Satire ridicules personalities and comedy ridicules general vices.  By vices, Aristotle does not mean men with wickedness but with some defect or ugliness.  This defect or ugliness provides laughter, which leads to no harm or pain.  Comedy is more like poetry, which talks about what may happen.

Observations on Epic

Its Nature and Form – Epic originated earlier than tragedy and comedy.  It is an outcome of hymns and songs sung in praise of gods.  In its nature, it is more like tragedy but in form it is different.  An epic should also a beginning, middle and an end.  The structure of the plot is also the same, it must have a complication and denouement.  It has the unity of action that should lead to catharsis.  It has parts like tragedy – plot, character, thought and diction.  It is different from tragedy because a poet narrates it.  It could be lengthier than a tragedy.  An epic could be grand and it could be episodic.  An epic can be marvelous or improbable.  It can have supernatural elements.

Epic and Tragedy – Aristotle considers tragedy as higher than epic.  Epic is superior because it appeals to refined audience.  It achieves its effects without the visual effect.  But tragedy is more superior because it appeals to the cultivated audience by bringing in action.

Observations on Style

Aristotle talks about style in his “Rhetoric”.  A good writing should have clearness and propriety.  The aim of writing is to communicate so the writer must be clear.  But as the meanings to be conveyed are different from time to time the mode of writing or propriety must be different.  The writers must use current words to attain dignity and charm.  He should also use archaic words, foreign words and newly coined words.  He is free to use metaphors.  A prose writer should avoid ambiguous punctuations and multiple clauses.  There are two styles of prose writing – loose and periodic.  Loose style is made up of series of sentences.  In periodic style each sentence is a complete whole with a beginning, middle and an end.  Loose style is formless and unintelligible.  Periodic style has a form.

Plato’s Criticism

Introduction

Plato is a disciple of Socrates.  When he started his career, literature declined and philosophy and oratory were on demand, so Plato discussed much of philosophy and less of literature and its value in society.  He is not  a professional critic.  His philosophical thoughts are discussed in his famous work “Dialogues”.  This book is in the form of dialogues between Aristotle and his disciples including Plato.

His View of Art

            Literature is an art like painting and sculpture.  Art, according to Plato, is an idea.  Ideas are the ultimate reality.  Things are made as ideas before they take a form or shape.  A tree is an imitation of an image in idea, so a tree is a copy.  Art reproduces this first copy, so it is twice removed from reality.  The things are imperfect copies and art is more imperfect.  So art takes men far away from reality and this is dangerous.

His Attack of Poetry

            Plato attacks poetry and poets for the following reasons:

1.      Poetry is twice removed from reality and it makes men believe in the imperfection.

2.      The poet writes a poem not because not because he thought for a long time but because he is inspired suddenly.  This suddenness cannot be truthful.  Poetry contains profound truth but poetry fails in the test of reason.  It cannot take the place philosophy and it cannot make better citizen.

3.      Poetry affects the emotions and not the reason.  It appeals to the heart and not to the intellect.  Emotions are temporary and they cannot be safe guides to men.

4.      Poetry is non-moral in character.  It treats both virtue and vice alike.  It does not teach moral to the readers.  It corrupts human beings.

Function of Poetry

            Poetry is not just to offer pleasure.  It should teach some morals.  It should contribute to the knowledge.  A poet should also be good teacher.

His Comments on Drama

            Drama, according to Plato, is a branch of poetry.  Drama is different from poetry in the following ways:

1.      Drama is to be staged.  It approval and disapproval depends upon the audience.  To convince the audience dramatists use some cheap techniques like quarrels, lamentations, thunder and sounds of animals.  These techniques are a shame in our normal life.  Such plays should be censored.

2.      Audience while watching characters who are cowards, knaves and criminals tend to become one such character.  They lose their individuality.  Such characters must not be there in a play.  A play should have good characters.

3.      Plato is against the pleasure a tragedy and comedy gives.  Tragedy offers pleasure to the audience.  Human beings are full of feelings like anger, fear, grief, etc., when they are in excess there is pleasure.  In comedy, people laugh when a coward act like a brave man or when a criminal acts like an honest man.  These characters are not to be laughed at but they should be pitied.  A comic character must be lovable.

His Observations on Style

            Plato lived in the age of oratory.  He gives rules for the spoken language which could also be applied for the written word.  A speaker must be thorough in the knowledge.  He must be sure of what he has to say.  It must impress the hearers.  Next a speaker must be naturally gifted and he must be constantly in practice.  His speech must follow a natural sequence.  Finally a speaker must know the psychology of his audience.

Conclusion

            Plato condemns poets.  He distinguishes poetry with life.  He is highly moralistic and he believes in art for life sake.  His observations of tragedy and comedy are important contributions.  He is the first to see art as an imitation.

Summary of Alexander Pope's Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot

Introduction

            Pope was born in the year 1688, a century where there was so much confusion in the society.  People were torn between the extremes of religion, society and politics.  Pope, as a poet, wrote many satires.  Pope and his friends were fondly named as scriblerians.  Dr. Arbuthnot, Pope’s friend, was hopelessly ill.  He wrote to Pope that he should be careful while attacking others.  Pope wrote this poem as a reply in 1734.  This poem attacks Pope’s detractors and defends Pope’s character and career.  This poem could be divided into 7 parts.

First Part (lines 1 - 68)

            The poem opens with Pope ordering John, a servant, to shut the door.  Pope is afraid of letting in the budding poets, who are like dogs.  He asks John to ties the knocker of the door.  He thinks that the mental institutions like Bedlam and Parnassus are let loose in the road.  He finds the poets with papers in their hands and fire in their eyes.  Pope is not left alone; wherever he goes he is followed by the budding poets.  They come into his house by climbing the wall and shrubs.  They get into his chariot and into his boat.  They do not even leave him pray.  Everyone blames Pope in some way or the other.  All people come to Twitnam, Pope’s house, to scold him.  Pope finally addresses Dr. Arbuthnot as “friend of my life”.  Pope finds his friend’s illness and the troublesome poets as a plague.  Pope is confused on what to do and what not to do.  If he appreciated their poetry they overflow with more poems, if he says something negative about their poetry, they feel hurt.  Pope gives the advice of Horace to the new poets.  He asks them to wait for nine years before publishing a poem.  The writers are unable to accept this advice.  They ask Pope to make some corrections in their poem.  They also try to bribe him.  Some poets blackmail him.

Second Part (lines 69 - 124)

            The second part of the poem talks about the dangers of being popular.  Pope elaborates on the comparison of Midas.  He ridicules the poetasters by using Midas image, which ultimately represents unreliability.  Pope scolds a few poets like Colley, Harley, Bavius, Bishop Philips and Sappho.  At this point Arbuthnot warns Pope not to use names in his poem.  He advises Pope to be prudent.  Arbuthnot ridicules Pope that he is twice as tall as Pope but he never uses any names.  Pope is angry again.  He is willing to be honest.  He claims that he would not be called as cruel when he calls a fool as a fool.  He then talks about how a few dramatists approach him to recommend scripts, which are rejected by the theatres and production companies.  They all try to flatter Pope.  Some say that Pope’s nose is like Ovid’s and they compare Pope with Hercules and Alexander the Great.  Pope does not listen to such flattery.  He calls himself as an ordinary man.

Third Part (lines 125 - 146)

            This part talks about Pope’s life as a writer.  He starts explaining why he writes.  He says that he wrote not out of any compulsion.  He found it hard to learn numbers but it is not hard for him to write poetry.  Nobody asked him to write poetry but he did it by himself.  He writes because his friends like Swift, Granville, Congreve and others enjoyed reading his poetry.  He did not write poem for his personal reasons like loving his wife.  Arbuthnot asks why Pope publishes his works.  Pope says that because his friends enjoyed reading his poetry.  They praised his works.  Even Dryden encourages Pope to write and publish poems so Pope published them.

Fourth Part (lines 147 - 260)

            Part IV of this poem discusses about why Pope attacks other poets through his satire.  Pope says that he does not care a little for those who find fault with him.  He calls them as donkeys and fools.  He sometimes tried to be friendly with them.  He tried to take them out for a dinner.  In spite of all these some cheap critics criticizes him.  Pope says that if their criticism is correct he would readily accept it.  Pope satirizes Ambrose Philips.  Ambrose is a plagiarist.  He copies works from Greek literature and earns money.  If he attempts to be original, he will not cross eight lines a year.  Pope then criticizes Addison.  Addison, according to Pope, is a genius.  He is a good writer.  His defect is that he wants to dominate the literary world.  He thinks that he is the greatest of all writers.  Pope calls Addison a coward, because Addison attacks many writers but he fears being attacked by them.  Lord Halifax is attacked next.  Lord Halifax loves being flattered.  He helps the poetasters who flatter him.

Fifth Part (lines 261 - 304)

            This part describes Pope’s current attitude towards life and career.  Pope asks the poetasters to let him leave live in a peaceful manner.  He says that he lives in debt.  He is someone normal who prays to god regularly.  He says that only liars will fear his satire and attacks.  A man of good intention and honest behavior need not fear him.

Sixth Part (lines 305 - 333)

            In this part, Pope attacks Lord Hervey in the name Sporus.  When Arbuthnot hears the name Sporus, he starts scolding him.  Sporus is a man who drinks the milk of a donkey.  He is capable only of killing a butterfly with his wheels.  He is such a senseless person that he is not able to distinguish satire and other kinds of poem.  If Pope is a paragon of independent judgment, Hervey is a man who will say anything to please the people at court and in government. He values glamour, sensual pleasure, and social climbing. Hervey was also homosexual. Hervey is not only a man-woman but an animal-demon, a shape-changer, like Satan

Seventh Part (lines 334 - 419)

            Part 7 is Pope’s final draft of his self-portrait, summing up the virtues he wants Arbuthnot to believe he has.  Pope says that he has never been a worshipper of fortune.  He is bold and courageous.  He has never flattered anyone for selfish reasons.  He attacks his enemies and critics.  He claims that he was brought up well by his parents.  His parents are peace loving.  They are good citizens of England.  They led a happy domestic life.  Pope also wants to live a similar life.  He concludes the poem by praying that Arbuthnot should lead a happy, peaceful and prosperous life.