Evaluation of the Playboy of the Western World as a satirical comedy.

 Satirical comedy: Satirical comedy is the form of satire in which the writer uses comic elements to expose the realities of the society or any problem. The writer uses fictional characters to represent the real people to expose and condemn their corruption. 

 

The Playboy of the Western World is a three-demonstration play composed by Irish writer John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theater, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's open house in County Mayo [on the west shore of Ireland] during the mid 1900s. It recounts to the account of Christy Mahon, a youngster fleeing from his homestead, asserting he executed his dad. 

 

Synge’s satiric view is constantly focused, with more or less directness, towards certain aspects of the peculiar blend of paganism and Roman Catholicism that he saw in the West.    The Playboy of the western world both illustrates and satirizes the Irish national tendency towards the making of myths. During his visit to the Aran Islands in 1898, Synge heard the story of how a Connemara man killed his father with a spade in a fit of anger and was concealed by the islanders of Irishman because they associated the police with the hated English government to which they were hostile.  

 

A Satirical Attack on Religious Narrow-Mindedness: The playboy contains also a subtle attack on religious narrow-mindedness and on false piety. Shawn is so "virtuous" and “pious” that he refuses to spend a night alone with an unmarried girl in a shebeen even to protect her. He may thus appear to be a model of moral rectitude. But this over-scrupulous attitude makes him appear absurd and the audience would no doubt roar with laughter at his refusal to spend the night with Pegeen because of the objections that Father Reilly might afterwards raise. The comedy of this Situation is heightened by Shawn's managing to sli away from Michael's hold and running out of the shebeen, leaving his Coat in the hands of Michael. Shawn's behavior at this time is most funny and Michael makes us laugh still more when he points Out to Pegeen the absurdity of Shawn by assuring her that, when she is married to that fellow, she would not have to keep a watch on his conduct even if he spends a lot of his time in the company of young girls. What Michael means is that Shawn is the kind of man who will never prove unfaithful to his wife. Indeed, Shawn’s subservience to Father Reilly is made to appear extremely preposterous and highly comic. About a dozen times Shawn names the priest, invoking his authority and exhibiting his reverence for the 

Church. All this devotion of the part on Shawn to the priest, and his compliance with the priest's moral injunctions, are made to appear comic and contemptible. In this way Synge makes fun of excessive religiosity and exaggerated piety. 

 

A Satire on Excessive Drinking Synge seems also to be attacking, again in a comic manner, the evil of excessive drinking. We have a number of heavy drunkards in the play. They are Michael James, Philly, Jimmy, and Old Mahon. The chief reason why Michael and his friends are keen to attend the wake is that plenty of free liquor flows there. Next morning Jimmy and Philly, who are already semidrunk, are seen searching for some more liquor in the cupboards of the shebeen, and Michael comes home singing in a state of intoxication. Towards the end, when Jimmy and Philly feel afraid of handling Christy, Shawn scolds them for their, feeling nervous in going near Christy. On this occasion, he again invokes the authority of Father Reilly, so that his remark becomes comic even though it has much sense in it. Says he: “Isn't it true for Father Reilly that all drink's a curse that has the lot of you so shaky and uncertain now?” This remark has considerable truth in it, because excessive drinking certainly makes a man shaky and uncertain. Then there is Old Mahon about whom Christy says that he used to drink for weeks and then, getting up at dawn, used to go out into the yard "as naked as an ash-tree in the moon of May", in order to throw clods at the stars in the sky. Old Mahon himself tells Widow Quin that on one occasion he drank so much in the company of the Limerick girls that he had almost become a paralytic. Both Christy's account of his father's drunkenness and Old Mahon's own account of this drunkenness are a satire on the evil of drinking. 

 

A Satirical Attack on the Attitude to English Policemen Synge also seems to be making fun of the attitude of the Irish people towards the English policemen who were in charge of law and order in Ireland of the time to which this play pertains. Pegeen describes the "peelers” or the police constables in very contemptuous terms, and so does Michael. Speaking to Christy, Michael says that the peelers in this place are decent, thirsty, poor fellows who would not touch even "a cur dog", much less arrest a dangerous murderer like Christy. Maybe, Synge shared this attitude of contempt towards the English policemen who were regarded as aliens and foreigners by the Irish and to whom the people at large were bitterly hostile. 

 

Widow Quin's Murder of Her Husband Finally, there are satirical touches in the portrayal of Widow Quin who is believed to have murdered her husband and who, on Several occasions, admits that she had "destroyed" her 

man and buried her children. Now this insistence on Widow Quin’s criminal action might have some purpose behind it. Widow Quin herself shows no sense of guilt at all. In fact, she refers unashamedly to her action in having killed her husband. The village girls are also quite tolerant towards her. It is only Pegeen who condemns her but perhaps even Pegeen does so because Widow Quin has become her rival for Christy's affections. Perhaps Synge seems to imply that Widow Quin's action in attacking her husband was not, after all, very reprehensible because the fault might have been that of the husband. Under certain circumstances, if a woman hits her husband, she may be justified. There is nothing to show that Widow Quin's intention in hitting her man was to murder him.   

 

Conclusion:  In spite of all this, The Playboy is a comedy, but the author has ridiculed the West world in a humorous way. A play which amuses us at every step and makes us laugh again and again but   in the midst of laughter, Western World has been ridiculed in a very subtle way. All of the above I have tried to evaluate of “The Playboy of the Western World” as a satirical comedy drama.  

Discuss about the priest of the Swamp.

 

The 20th Century African playwright Wole Soyinka portrayed the society of the Delta region in “The Swamp Dwellers” A powerful element or institution of the society is portrayed by the kadiye. He is the priest of the serpent –God of the Swamp. He represents the traditional religious authority who exploits the superstitious villagers out of nothing.

 

The physical feature of kadiye indicates that he is more like a villain than to be a religious person. He is fat like a blood-swollen insect. He is a monstrous looking person. He is described as a big, voluminous creature of about fifty. He is smooth faced and his head is shaved clean. He is bare above the waist and at least half of his fingers are ringed. This physical look suggests something ugly about his moral nature kadiye is very rich and has a good control over the Swamp like a Godfather featured in the western films. Kadiye destroys wearing the mask of religion. The only priest of the serpent god or Swamp god. He receives sacrifices from the ordinary people and perform all the rituals on behalf of the God. The Swamp people sacrifices the best ones of their production in order to pacify the serpent God so that they can yield a Good harvest otherwise they might suffer from loss. But Kadiye betrays the trust of the Villagers by encouraging them to indulge in meaningless cult. No one questions where the goods go, because it is  almost irreligious to do so.

 

However, the kadiye is the most influential character. He lives lavishly. The beggar is foil to kadiye. One works hard to earn bread and butter, while the other cheats and deceives the ignorant people to flourish on them.

                 

The true nature of kadiye is vividly demonstrated by the interrogation of Igwezu, who suspects his (kadiye’s) loyalty and honesty.

 

Though he is priest by his profession he is anything but pious. Actually he is a corrupt and self-centered person.

Usages of satire in Kaiser Haq's poems

 

Kaiser Haq is a post-colonial modern writer and poet who widely used the literary technique of satire in a witty manner in his poetry to criticize the contemporary  society.  He attacks the convention of contemporary society and reveal the superficiality of them and shows that they have some faults and moral lacking as well though the usages of satire in his poems.

 

His poem " civil service Romance" is a direct satire on the civil service of our country. In our country people who are doing government jobs they are not loyal towards their job. They does not show any seriousness and responsibility toward their work. Through the poem " civil service romance " Kaiser Haq satirizes the system of our government officials where people are keen on dealing with unnecessary things  and how ridiculously they ignore the urgent files. In this poem we find that an officer is quite busy for making love with a new beautiful lady employee.  He does not care the emergency file, what he care is only making romance with a new joined lady employee. Thus, portraying this love making incidents in a sarcastic manner, kaiser Haq mock the political system of our governments jobs where employees show no morality or duty towards their job.

 

 Throughout this poem he mocks the traditional concept of our civil service where people are corrupted both morally and ethically. 

 

Furthermore,  his another poem " The logopathic reviewers's song" is also full of satirical elements in which he mocks the so called conservative critics who do not appreciate new writers or their writing using irony and sarcasm. As a modern writer kaiser Haq write poetry in a new manner.  He thinks that critics should appreciate the new kinds of writing.  But in the world of poetry there are some vindictive reviewer who shows theirs hatred to the new poet, who writes poetry without following the classical poetic style. 

In this poem,  logopathic reviewer is the speaker who consider himself as a superior in poetic world. He act here like he is only the critic who knows everything under the sun. He proudly compares himself with a sun an says that likewise sun his duty is to cherished the lonely poet like a Demolition Derby. According to Kaiser Haq , critics should not be vindictive while giving criticism to others' writing.  They should not be destructive rather they should be constructive while judging  new poets' writing. But in this poem kaiser Haq portrays a logopathic reviewer who only appreciate his writing he does not show any kinds of respect or appreciation to new poet. 

That is why, Haq ridicules on this kinds of critic Who does not wants to see change or new kinds of writing  in poetic world, and Who only show cruelty toward new writers because they don't allow them to make a room in the field of poetry.

 

As the reviewer proudly mention it,

 " I  am the greatest,  the one and only logopathic hit and runs critics".

 

There is a satire in those lines which is used to mock the so called poet who only values the writing which are written by following the traditional style of poetry.

 

Finally, his poem " A happy Farewell" is also a satire in which kaiser Haq criticizes the city people who does not appreciate poetry in a sarcastic and witty manner.  

Throughout the poem we find a vivid description of city life which represents all the negativity of city dweller. He gives a wide description of city Street and environment and ironically says that this overwhelming city and its inhabitants never appreciate creative writing or poetry.  He brings out the references of students politics where student repeat the boring same dialogue for theirs material gains. As we find in the poem" 

 

" But street are preferable to noise campus corridors, 

The politically minded always up in arms".

 

What he says here is that this contemporary society can show appreciation or interest only in the field of politics not in poetry. Therefore,  he satirizes on the contemporary city people and sarcastically says that this city is not a suitable place for practicing poetry.  He also mocks the so called romantic couple who only appreciate the physical love and does not show any respects to the platonic love. Thus, the poet makes sarcasm on the concept of contemporary young people love making and ironically says that he will no more practice poetry because he find his surrounding is very much cruel to poetic creation. Thus, he bade farewell from the world of poetry satirically because he realizes that writing poetry in cruel city is  unworthy and impossible. 

 In conclusion,  If we analyze the poems of Kaiser Haq, we find many reference of using satires; he uses this very literary style in his poetry because he wants social change as a modernist and appreciate the new social movement.

Tommy Wilhelm as a victim hero.

 

In the novella" Seize the day" by Saul Bellow Tommy Wilhelm is a middle aged, modern man, who is considered to be a victimized hero of modern Society because it is the materialistic modernity which makes him isolated from the human community for being unsuccessful in his earthly life.

In the novella" seize the day" we find Wilhelm as a modern hero who is quite frustrated about his present life because he could not make money or wealth likewise his father Dr. Adler. He makes quite a few mistakes while making choices about his life which eventually lead him to be a complete failure. 

Once he has cherished the high flying Ambitions of American dream in his mind. Therefore, he seeks the short cut way to be wealthy in his life. But in real life, he is unsuccessful because he takes the wrong choices about his life. 

First of all, he left his college in order to be a Hollywood actor, his father warns him about the negativity  of Hollywood,  but he eventually motivated by the hypocrite "Maurice Vanice" who persuaded him to invest money in Hollywood. Maurice motivated him by saying that he has a physical charms and striking features which could bring a position for him in Hollywood. However, he was deceived by so called director who actually runs the business of prostitution in the name of  film making.              

Secondly,  his tragic mistake is he was confused about marrying the materialistic women Margarete, but eventually he gets married to her which makes his earthly existence is completely miserable. His wife shows no love to him. She puts pressure on him for giving her money and she does not grant him divorce thus he cannot marry the women Olive with whom he was truly in love. That is why, we finds him as a victim  hero who is broken both emotionally and psychologically.  

Furthermore,  he invests his last savings of 500dollar in a commodity market because Dr. Tamkin makes him understand that he could still make a fortune and becomes a rich man by making investment in the field of share business. However,  he got the deception from Dr. Tamkin and becomes a destitute after losing his last hope of savings to Tamkin.

Therefore, he appears as a failure to the Society, to his wife even to his father. He has been a helpless man, suffering from existential crisis and he is desperately  seeking his identity and meaningful survival. He goes  into many debts, seeks help to his father  but his father brutal treatment put him into down in the dumps. He says his father with a tone of frustration " What do I expect?.. I expect help!

 But instead of giving a helping hand to him, his father mocking him for being unsuccessful. Thus, he realizes that Only money is the matter because he raised in a society where people adore only money. While arguing with his father he utters the phrase out of anger " The money makes the difference".

He believes If he had money, his father would be proud of him.

As he lacks of money thus his father is ashamed on him.

He also says that " Everyone was supposed to have money.. They would be ashamed not to have it."

Finally he says

"The water of the earth going to roll over me"

Throughout  the novella we find the protagonist Wilhelm as a drowning man who is a victim of a society where Only making money is matter. He realizes, The society whose only god is money is not for him .He has nothing to be a part of this  society; he is isolated from the society and he only finds connection of his life with a death man in a funeral procession. 

He finds the ultimate solace of  his soul in a funeral possession where he cries his eyes out for an unknown death person because he relates his life to the unknown person who is death. Likewise the Death man, Wilhelm is also death mentally, spiritually  and psychologically.

In conclusion, I can tell you that,

In the novella SEIZE THE DAY by Saul Below we find Wilhelm as a victimized hero because he makes many mistakes in his own life thus he could not be prosperous like his father Dr. Adler, for this reason the modern society rejects him. Therefore, he suffer from existence crisis and turns into a  victim hero of modernity.

“The Rape of the lock” as a mock heroic epic poem

 

An epic is a long narrative poem which deals with grand battles, conflict or the heroic deed of a legendary heroes.

The subject matter, or content of an epic  is usually serious and it concerns with grand battles or conflict .

Mock epic, also called mock heroic, is a form of satire that adapts the elevated heroic style of the classical epic poem to a trivial subject. Mock-epic is actually a long satirical poem written in lofty and exalted manner imitating the style of classical epic in which the subject is trivial.

Rape of the lock is a mock epic because in this epic a trivial issue is presented in lofty and exalted manner. Likewise other famous epic it also starts with an invocation where the author invokes his friend Carryll to provide him the story of this epic and summons beautiful woman Belinda to accept his poem.

 

Producing amusement and humor is the sole purpose of mock epic. In the poem” The rape of the lock” the author gives us amusement and humor by sketching the trivial thing in grandeur style. Instead of using sword and battle the author uses cosmetics and game of cards to make reader laugh. Mock epic usually gives us a moral lesson by mocking the society manner. In this poem we also finds the criticism of 18th century where morality is totally absent in aristocratic society. Pope satirizes this society manner to give a moral lesson to the readers that social vanity and status are not important.

 

Existence of supernatural elements is one of the important feature of epic diction.

In this poem, the sylphs  are presented in comic manner and their comical duties like putting on make up ,protecting chastity of women has been depicted in grandeur style which gives this poem some comical effects. Pope represents some tiny or small things in grandeur manner in this poem to make this epic a comical epic. For example, the subject matter of this poem is cutting of a lock from a beautiful lady’s head. This simple issue has been portrayed in epic style by using irony and satire to mock the vanity of 18th century people.

 

In the poem we find, while Belinda is putting on makeup; this simple issue has been depicted in epic style by saying that it seems like she is preparing for a battle. When Baron cuts Belinda lock off by using a pair of scissors. The expression of Baron is comparable to the joy of winning a huge Battle. And after losing the lock when Belinda cries out; her weeping has been compared with the thundering. 

 

Finally for losing a lock of hair a battle arises between aristocratic men and women and it was not a serious battle .it was the battle of altercation, but pope presents it in such a manner like its a battle Which seems the battle of two nations. Portrayal of these simple issues in grandeur manner produces lots of humor to the readers. The author uses lofty and high sounding epic diction and exaggeration on simple incidents to mock the 18th century society manner.

 If we analyze this poem we finds quite a few epic qualities which are presented in comical manner to Mock the 18th century society. Thus, it is well defined as a mock epic.

Analyze Kolatkar's Jejuri poems as a critique of religious hypocrisy with reference to the poem you have read.

 

Arun Kolatkar, a social, simple, truthful and skeptic poet of Indian English poetry contributes a lot for the development of Indian English Poetry. He helps to bring renaissance in this genre of poetry.  

 

Jejuri is a village situated about 30 miles (48 km) from the city of Pune in the state of  Maharashtra. It is a famous temple situated near Pune in Maharastra. Here he visits the temples and witnesses the blind faith of the people, the attitudes of worshipper and different gods. He shows all these and wants to access the truth of all these.

 

In Jejuri, one can find different value systems and quest and investigation behind all these. Primitive religious tradition, modern civilization in urban society and the life principle are found in his poetry. He is in a kind of dilemma between modernity and tradition, artificial and real, truth and legend, skepticism and belief and his own perception regarding religion and he do all these to find the actual truth. The poet tells that-

 

“You look down the roaring road.

You search for the signs of daybreak in

What little light spills out of the bus.”

The head lights of the Bus which again dispel the darkness of a little area are symbolic of the solace the human mind experience through these religious rituals. The only sign of daybreak that Manohar sees is the sight of his own divided face. The speaker’s own face appears to be on either side of the bus when he gets off.

 

This poem clearly stands out for its direct attack on the religious heads of the temple community. It takes a satirical tone displaying the ugly image of how religion has become a business. Kolatkar throws light on the dishonorable practices of the priest. The offerings get more importance, than the faith. And while the devotees are making offerings, the priest awaits as to see how much he can get out of it.

 

The priest is dependent on this faith of the people for his living. Hence, he is waiting eagerly for the bus. He is standing outside the temple under the hot sun looking for the bus. He is thinking about how much he can earn this day and whether or not he’ll get a puran poli in his plate. Puran poli is a sweet dish cooked during auspicious times in Maharashtrian homes. It is an expensive dish and hence is seldom cooked.

The priest also indulges in unhealthy bad habits like chewing a betel leaf. He is turning it over and over as though he is chanting a mantra. Priests are supposed to be holy people who have to chant mantras, but here the scene is otherwise. He is perhaps praying for the bus to arrive soon.

His foul materialism is mirrored time and gain in the poem. The source of his greed is dishonesty. But now he has been doing it for so long that he doesn’t seem to feel guilty at all. A priest vows that he will be away from all the worldly pleasures. But this priest is engrossed in counting the offerings. There is no simplicity in his thinking and living, the catgrin on his face symbolizes that.

“At the end of the bumpy ride

With your own face on either side

When you get off the bus”

 

 The last line of the poem “you don’t step inside the old man’s head” makes it clear that the pilgrims enters Jejuri, with the same urban skeptic mind, without succeeding in his efforts of getting adjusted to the religious temperament of the common people, Indians. This poem establishes the theme of perception and alienation.

From the above discussion it is clear that the poet’s motif to visit Jejuri is actually to know what is Jejuri about and what the truth is behind these rituals. Here he takes every stone, culture, tradition under his investigation to seek the actual story behind these.   It can be noted that materialism, commercialism, artificiality, hypocrisy and blind faith are the causes for this deterioration of tradition and rise of skepticism and quest.

Evaluate Derek Walcott's poems as an expression of his love for his own identity with reference to at least one of his poems.

 

Derek Walcott is a painter, poet, and playwright born in Castries, Saint Lucia in 1930. Though his father, an artist, died when Walcott and his twin brother were very young, the brothers and their older sister were able to stay with their mother in Saint Lucia (Sture). Walcott’s experience of life in the formerly-colonized islands, his racially mixed heritage, and the history of abuse the island and it’s people had taken over the years greatly impacted his identity and work.

Walcott’s poems focuses heavily on just the theme of identity, which is why it is worth addressing here but not in an analysis of home. His poem “Love After Love”, where he tells -

And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

It is clear that the message of “Love After Love” is to take the time to love yourself, by yourself, instead of forever chasing after the love of others.

Many individuals have struggled to see themselves, and have instead loved the experiences of the West and the things that westerners love as a result of assimilation and post-colonialism. In his poem, Walcott illustrates the prodigal return to the self, encouraging readers that one day they will eventually ” love again the stranger who was yourself.”

In “As John to Patmos” he glorifies the allures and blessings of his dearest island hyperbolically.

“The island is heaven

For beauty has surrounded

It’s black children, and freed them of homeless ditties.”

 

He says this out of his inexpressible love for Santa Lucia which likely to have blessed all her homeless people with accommodation. “As John to Patmos” is a bright example of his exuberant love for the sea, the hooks, flora and fauna, the sky of his dearest island and black islanders that are, as it were Celestial blessing to him.

He says in his 'As John to Patmos' poems-

“This island is heaven-away from the dustblown blood of cities;

 See the curve of bay, watch the straggling flower, pretty is

 The wing'd sound of trees, the sparse-powdered sky, when lit is

 The Night”

 

This is one of the earliest examples of Walcott's engagement with the natural world and proof of his love of it. Describing his island as 'heaven' has clear Biblical connotations, and he juxtaposes this paradise of a place with the 'dustblown blood of cities', referring to the violence that often takes place in urban areas ('blood') and the pollution of the natural world through human activity ('dustblown').  

The poet again mention his own identity in his poem 'A Far Cry from Africa' from 'In a Green Night' -

“I who am poisoned with the blood of both,

Where shall I turn, divided to the vein?”

 

This quote is one of the most famous in all of Derek Walcott's literary oeuvre.  He is describing how he has both African and European blood as he mixed-race and is not sure where he goes from here.  He is not only divided in terms of skin colour or outward appearance but internally as well. The use of the verb 'divided' conjures in the mind of the reader the phrase 'Divide and Rule' which was used by imperialists to show them how they could expand their empires.

 

So for Walcott, the heart that has always loved and known him is the Caribbean, and he has love for the stranger who was himself. For others, the path to finding that heart continues, but “Love After Love” promises that true identity will eventually be revealed and embraced

Therefore, in the light of above analysis it can be said that Derek Walcott explores in his writing the processes of identity-making in the colonial and postcolonial Caribbean and the complex connections between Caribbean identities and the Caribbean Sea and landscape.   His poetic posture shows that he is not restricted in the boundary of criticizing imperialism rather he shows his strong desire to celebrate both in their own way.  He tries to express of his love for his own identity his every poem.

Justify the title of the poem "The Logopathic Reviewer's Song".

 

The the title of the poem "The Logopathic Reviewer's Song" is very significant which he mocks the so called conservative critics who do not appreciate new writers or thier writing using irony and sarcasm. As a modern writer kaiser Haq write poetry in a new manner.  He thinks that critics should appreciate the new kinds of writing.  But in the world of poetry there are some vindictive reviewer who shows theirs hatred to the new poet, who writes poetry without following the classical poetic style. 

In this poem,  logopathic reviewer is the speaker who consider himself as a superior in poetic world. He act here like he is only the critic who knows everything under the sun. He proudly compares himself with a sun an says that likewise sun his duty is to cherished the lonely poet like a Demolition Derby. According to Kaiser Haq , critics should not be vindictive while giving criticism to others' writing.  They should not be destructive rather they should be constructive while judging  new poets' writing. But in this poem kaiser Haq portrays a logopathic reviewer who only appreciate his writing he does not show any kinds of respect or appreciation to new poet. Haq ridicules on this kinds of critic Who does not wants to see change or new kinds of writing  in poetic world, and Who only show cruelty toward new writers because they don't allow them to make a room in the field of poetry.

 

As the reviewer proudly mention it,

" I  am the greatest,  the one and only logopathic hit and runs critics".

In this line  which is used to mock through the logo logopathic reviewer so called poet who only values the writing which are written by following the traditional style of poetry.

The Logopathic Reviewer's Song, Kaiser Haq demonstrates  his ability to mould the English language into strange and beautiful forms that reflect his - distinctive vision of life —at once ironic, quirky, zany, and rich in emotional undertones and intellectual implications. With increasing exuberance, he explores varieties of free verse, experiments with prose poetry and aphorisms, and for good measure dips into the Rich Fund folk tales. Varied spanning three continents are distilled with innovative verve into this memorable volume.

So the title of the poem "The Logopathic Reviewer's Song is justifiable.

Justify the poem "Civil Service Romance" as a satire to bureaucracy and red tapism of postcolonial Bangladesh

 

  A bureaucracy typically refers to an organization that is complex with multilayered systems and processes. These systems and procedures are designed to maintain uniformity and control within an organization. A bureaucracy describes the established methods in large organizations or governments.

  Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations.

 

Kaiser Haq is a post-colonial modern writer and poet who widely used the literary technique of satire in a witty manner in his poetry to criticize the contemporary  society.  He attacks the convention of contemporary society and reveal the superficiality of them and shows that they have some faults and moral lacking as well though the usages of satire in his poems.

 

His poem " civil service Romance" is a direct satire on the civil service of our country. In our country people who are doing government jobs they are not loyal towards their job. They does not show any seriousness and responsibility toward their work. Through the poem " civil service romance " Kaiser Haq satirises the system of our government officials where people are keen on dealing with unnecessary things  and how ridiculously they ignore the urgent files. In this poem we find that an officer is quite busy for making love with a new beautiful lady employee.  He does not care the emergency file, what he care is only making romance with a new joined lady employee. Thus, portraying this love making incidents in a sarcastic manner, Haiser Haq mock the political system of our government’s jobs where employees show no morality or duty towards their job. Throughout this poem he mocks the traditional concept of our civil service where people are corrupted both morally and ethically. 

 

The poet is said to a real ‘ambassador of Bangladeshi culture’ who proudly reveals his origin and rationally tries to brand his country. Through a note of irony in 'Civil Service Romance, Haq portrays bureaucratic irregularities of the civil service in Bangladesh. He mocks the Babu English by deliberately mimicking the style used in letters of application to the English Sahibs or Masters.

 The poem starts with:

Subject: Improvement of Bilateral Ties

Dear Miss:

With due respect and humble submission

I beg to welcome you to neighboring section.

The title of the poem mentions a 'romance' that occasionally flowers in a work place. When in a government office, a male employee and a female employee are engaged in discussing family particulars, sharing likes and dislikes, making jokes (or love!) and improving all-round bilateral ties, the most URGENT file is kept pending as per rule of the red-tape culture. Haq then speaks about another embarrassing aspect of the civil service-the buttering or oiling of the bosses (the neo-imperialists). Which guarantees promotions and other benefits. These are some phenomena in a postcolonial civil service world coming down from the colonial political culture. The limitless power of the government officials is still seen in the civil service; the officers are more or less like Sahibs or Babus.

So we could say that the poem "Civil Service Romance" as a satire to bureaucracy and red tapism of postcolonial Bangladesh.

What are the major themes of Look Back in Anger?

 

There are many themes are found in the John Osborn’s play “Look Back in Anger” Some majors themes  are going to be discussed below.

Class Struggle and Education:

Class struggle or Class consciousness is also a dominating theme in the play. Jimmy's anger is directed towards the member of the upper class to which his wife belongs. He wages a constant battle against the upper class and treats his wife as a "hostage". Through Jimmy, the underprivileged British youth responds to the structure and spirit of the Welfare state. By bullying his wife he wants to take revenge on the upper middle class which he detests. He wanted the "hostess" to submit to his class culture and to do so he expects her to disown her past through a purgatory of suffering and humiliation. Jimmy regards himself as the representative of the "working class" On behalf of the working class he declares a war on the upper middle class. The target of his attack is Alison's mother who represents the upper middle class. He seems to take pleasure on attacking Alison's mother in the harshest possible language. Jimmy together with Hugh raids the houses of Alison's friends and relatives in an attempt to humiliate Alison and which they consider to be a war tactic. He is inspiring in his attack on his wife's family, and Helena too becomes the target of his vicious attack some time. His grudges against the upper class comes from his feeling of being deprived of a suitable job in spite of being highly educated. The intellectual genius in him rebels against what he feels in a social injustice.

 

Suffering and Anger vs. Complacency:

Suffering and anger are highly associated with lower class in the play, and complacency with upper class. Jimmy believes that lower class people, who have suffered as he has, have an insight on the world that upper class people lack. He berates Alison for lacking “enthusiasm” and “curiosity.” He suggests that her complacency makes her less human, less connected to life than he is. He sees this suffering and anger as an important part of his identity. At a climactic moment in the play, Alison says of Jimmy, “don’t try and take his suffering away from him—he’d be lost without it.”

 

In the end, Alison finally experiences the suffering that Jimmy thinks she has been lacking: she loses their child to a miscarriage. This, she believes, forces her to experience the fire of emotion that Jimmy had always wished she had. But the play leaves us unsure whether their suffering will actually lead to any redemptive knowledge.

 

The circular structure of the play—the beginning of the first and third acts mirror each other—undermines the sense that Jimmy’s life is really as dynamic as he suggests that it is. He seems to be stuck in a routine. Osborne’s voice in the play, seen in his stage directions, also tells us that Jimmy’s fiery energy can be self-defeating. In his first stage direction describing Jimmy, Osborne writes, “to be as vehement as he is to be almost non-committal.” When Alison finally breaks down and tells him that she wants to be “corrupt and futile,” Jimmy can only “watch her helplessly.” The play ultimately suggests that Jimmy’s anger is an expression of his social discontentment and suffering, but not an answer to his problems. He doesn’t channel it in any political direction, joining a party or holding meetings or organizing his similarly angry friends, or even conceive of any way that it can be channeled. Though it springs from a moral fervor, it dissolves into a diffuse attack on many fronts, rather than pointedly targeting and taking down any oppressive systems.

 

Disillusionment and Nostalgia:

Look Back in Anger is the archetypical play of the “angry young men” movement in British theater, which was marked by working class authors writing plays about their disillusionment with British society. In Osborne’s play, we see this in Jimmy’s sense of political emptiness. Jimmy complains that, in the Britain of the 1950s, “there aren’t any good, brave causes left.” ”Helena observes that he was born in the wrong time—“he thinks he’s still in the middle of the French Revolution.” Jimmy’s angry fervor is out of place in modern society, and this leaves him feeling useless and adrift.

 

Other characters also feel a sense of nostalgia for the past, but for different reasons: they long for an era characterized by a leisurely life for rich Britons and greater worldwide power for the British Empire. Many of these themes of nostalgia revolve around Alison’s father, Colonel Redfern, who had served in the British army in colonial India. Jimmy says that Colonel Redfern is nostalgic for the “Edwardian” past — early 20th century England, before World War I, when things were supposedly simpler and more peaceful.

 

In the end, the play argues that the characters’ disillusionment is legitimate. Post-war Britain was marked by a stagnant economy and declining world power, partly due to the fact that it no longer had many lucrative colonies around the world (India, where Colonel Redfern served, gained its independence in 1947).  The play argues that these factors have left the country’s young people adrift and disempowered. Jimmy’s anger is therefore justified.

 

Both Jimmy and Colonel Redfern, from their different places in society, have nostalgia for a time when Britain was more powerful on the world stage. The passing away of Britain’s imperial power is thus painted in a negative light—and though Look Back in Anger voices a revolutionary social critique of class conditions in England, it stops short of criticizing Britain’s exploitation of its colonies. Instead, it argues that the decline of the empire has led to the disenfranchisement of the men of Osborne’s generation, and gives those disenfranchised citizens a strong and angry voice in Jimmy Porter.

 

Gender :

During World War II, many British women had stepped into new roles in the labor force. After the war ended, most were expected to move back into their traditional roles in the household, but many still held jobs outside the home. The play takes a conflicted view of gender that parallels these shifting dynamics. On the one hand, Jimmy’s angry, destructive, and typically masculine energy drives much of the action and dialogue. On the other hand, women are given agency, and female characters act in their own interests, independently of men (most notably, both Alison and Helena leaves Jimmy). Femininity in the play is highly associated with upper class, and masculinity with lower class. This leads to clashes between the genders that also have an economic dimension. Sticking to conventional gender roles means sticking to the propriety and politeness of British society (which also means acting along with your class role). For example, in stealing Alison away from her family to marry her, Jimmy took on the traditional male role of a “knight in shining armor.” But, Alison says that “his armor didn’t really shine much,” subverting this traditional gender role by adding a class dimension to it. Jimmy was almost heroic, but not quite. There is clearly something attractive in Jimmy’s virile, lower class masculinity, as first Alison and then Helena are drawn to him sexually. Yet there is something destructive in it as well, as both also end up leaving him. Further complicating the gender dynamics, women, too, are portrayed as having a destructive power over men. Jimmy says he’s thankful that there aren’t more female surgeons, because they’d flip men’s guts out of their bodies as carelessly as they toss their makeup instruments down on the table. He likens Alison’s sexual passion to a python that eats its prey whole. At the end of the play, he says that he and Cliff will both inevitably be “butchered by women.”  The muddled gender roles in the play add to the sense of realism that made it such a sensation when it was first performed. Characters defy social convention. Alison disobeys her parents to marry Jimmy. Helena slaps Jimmy at the very start of their affair, and later walks out on him. An unmarried man (Cliff) lives with a married couple. He flirts with Alison, but Jimmy doesn’t particularly mind. The fluid and shifting gender roles in the play reflect the more fluid realities of post-War British society, portrayed for the first time in the traditionally staid and upper-class medium of theater.

 

Love and Innocence:

Jimmy believes that love is pain. He scorns Cliff and Alison’s love for each other, which is a gentle sort of fondness that doesn’t correspond to his own brand of passionate, angry feeling. When Helena decides, suddenly, to leave him at the end of the play, Jimmy reacts with scorn and derision. Love, he says, takes strength and guts. It’s not soft and gentle. To some extent, Jimmy’s definition of love has to do with the class tensions between Jimmy and Alison. Alison tells her father that Jimmy married her out of sense of revenge against the upper classes. In asking her to leave her background, he laid out a challenge for her to rise to, and their passion was partly based on that sense of competition between classes. This subverts a traditional love story—Jimmy’s anger at society overshadowed his feelings for Alison, at least in her eyes. This reflects a broader loss of innocence in a generation of post-war Britons that had seen the hydrogen bomb dropped on Japan and 80 million soldiers and civilians die during World War II. Their parents and grandparents were able to grow up with some measure of peace of mind, but these characters (and the real Britons of their generation) cannot. This affects them even in fundamental parts of their domestic lives, like love and marriage.

 

Historical Importance (Realism)

The aim of realistic drama is "putting ourselves and our situation on the stage". Look Back in Anger appealed to the audience of that time because of the immediacy of the subject matter. Osborne presented the contemporary scene on the stage and expressed the disapproval of the post-war youth of the society through Jimmy. By his command of contemporary idiom, his sharp comments on subject ranging from the "posh Sunday newspapers and 'white tile' Umnusities to the Bishops and the Bomb, Osborne caught the fancy of the audience of his time. The youth of his time identified themselves with Jimmy Porter, a dissatisfied, disgruntled young man who lashes out at everyone with his scathing comments. The hero represented the post-war British youth who looked around the world and found nothing right in it.