The Setting of 20th Century Literature

 Dystopian Literature:

What is Dystopian literature?

A Utopia is considered an ideally perfect place especially in its social, political, and moral aspect. The concept is derived from a 1516 book by Sir Thomas More that describes an imaginary ideal society free of poverty and suffering. The word utopia in Greek literally means no place, conveying the idea that such place could exist because it doesn’t reflect the realities of human nature or existence.

"A Dystopia is an imagined community or society that is dehumanizing and frightening."

"The Dystopian genre imagines worlds or societies where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror, and human society is characterized by human misery, such as squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, or war."

How to recognize a Dystopia:

Artist began to question Utopian thinking, the genre of dystopia the not good place was born. One of the earliest dystopian works is Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travel”. 

Throughout his journey, Gulliver encounters fictional societies, some of which at first seem impressive but turn out to be seriously flawed. On the flying island of Laputa, scientists and social planners pursue extravagant and useless schemes while neglecting the practical needs of the people below. And the Houyhnhnm who live in perfectly logical harmony have no tolerance for the imperfections of actual human beings. With his novel, Swift established an outline for dystopia, imagining a world where certain trends in contemporary society are taken to extremes, exposing their underlying flaws. And the next few centuries would provide plenty of material. Industrial technology that promised to free laborers imprisoned them in slums and factories, instead, while tycoons grew richer than kings. By the late 1800's, many feared where such conditions might lead. 

Nineteen Eighty-Four:

The world of dystopia recognizes this novel as Orwell’s finest works of that time. In his presentation, he has classified the future of the world into Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia as the super-states engulfed in an unending war. In all these forms, Orwell defines the world as one with a unique language called ‘Newspeak’ which implies that war is peace. However, it is manipulative because it compels people to belief in non-true aspects, for example, ‘2+2=5.’ One of the leaders in the book is Big Brother, who oversees Britain. He is confronted by Winston Smith, who features as a protagonist that attempts to rebel against Big Brother, but he is finally captured and put under rehabilitation.

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells:

The novel was written in 1895, featuring an anonymous character travelling through the 1890s into 802,701 A.D. It projects a civilization that would be divided between cavern dwelling Morlocks and hedonistic Eloi. Their relationship is somehow symbiotic because the Morlocks would provide for the Eloi and feed on them in return. In The Time Machine, the future world that the Time Traveler reaches appears ideal at first, as though “the whole earth had become a garden.” He initially interprets the abundance of flowers and the serene people as evidence of his theory that eventually “the whole world will be intelligent, educated, and cooperating; things will move faster and faster towards the subjugation of Nature.” Yet nature will not be suppressed. Beneath the Eloi, the “graceful children of the Upper-world,” lurk the Morlocks, the “bleached, obscene, nocturnal Thing” that is also “heir to all the ages.” Although the Morloks may be less beautiful than the Eloi, having “maintained them in their habitual needs, perhaps through the survival of an old habit of service,” the Morlocks are central to the lives of the Eloi.  Although they live beneath the earth, the Morlocks will never be far from the minds of the Eloi because the Eloi are reliant upon them.

Furthermore, the Morlocks ensure that they are never forgotten by exacting a horrible revenge. The Time Traveler is disturbed to see the Morlocks eating meat underground and finally realizes that it’s the Eloi upon which they are dining. He concludes that, “man had been content to live in ease and delight upon the labors of his fellow man, had taken Necessity as his watchword and excuse, and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to him.”  In this way, he expresses his view that a society’s drive to reach perfection through the subjugation and repression of the citizens it deems lowest will destroy it in the end.

The Giver by Lois Lowry:

In "The Giver", Jonas lives in a society in which war and suffering don’t exist. In theory, the society should be perfect, so “meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made.” But, in practice, the unpleasant emotions are shown to have been removed at the expense of the pleasant ones.  In this society “without color, pain, or past,” there’s no war, but there’s also no love. Families, holidays, happiness, and love are but memories that no longer exist in the society.

Jonas’s society’s perfect order is achieved through an extreme filtering process. When a citizen fails to uphold the productive conformity of the community, they are released. To achieve this painless society, the memories of the world are entrusted to a lone citizen, knows as the Receiver. It is only when Jonas is appointed to the position of Receiver that he understands the extreme consequences of the elimination of all difference and emotion.

Lois Lowry’s "The Giver", and H.G. Wells’s "The Time Machine" both present ostensible utopias that are, in fact, dystopia. This makes sense given that a dystopia is defined by its status as a failed utopia. The shared paradox of the novels’ societies is that the repression of human imperfection that makes them initially appear Utopian is the very quality that makes them dystopian. Both protagonists discover this through a horrifying realization that destroys their idealized visions of these societies.

Significance of Dystopian Literature:

Dystopian fiction can be a way to educate and warn humanity about the dangers of current social and political structures. Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in a futuristic United States, known as Gilead. It cautions against oppressive patriarchy.

Dystopian stories may convey an author’s beliefs. For example, H.G. Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine reflected Wells’ socialist views. The story follows a Victorian England scientist who builds a time machine and witnesses the pitfalls of a capitalist society.

Dystopian stories require a greater suspension of disbelief and can be very imaginative. For example, George Orwell’s allegory Animal Farm is about a group of pigs who stage a rebellion against their human farmer. The farm animals’ rise to power is based on the Russian Revolution.

Dystopian novels can also be satirical critiques. For example, the 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a social satire of behaviorism. It takes place in a futuristic society with a youth subculture of extreme violence. A totalitarian government protects society by prescribing good behavior and abolishing violent impulses.

Fantasy Literature:

Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fantasy literature may be directed at both children and adults.

In Britain in the aftermath of World War I, a notably large number of fantasy books aimed at an adult readership were published, including Living Alone (1919) by Stella Benson, A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) by David Lindsay, Lady into Fox (1922) by David Garnett Lud-in-the-Mist (1926) by Hope Mirrlees, and Lolly Willowes (1926) by Sylvia Townsend Warner. E. R. Eddison was another influential writer, wrote during this era. He drew inspiration from Northern sagas, as Morris did, but his prose style was modeled more on Tudor and Elizabethan English, and his stories were filled with vigorous characters in glorious adventures. Eddison's most famous work is The Worm Ouroboros (1922), a long heroic fantasy set on an imaginary version of the planet Mercury.

Literary critics of the era began to take an interest in "fantasy" as a genre of writing, and to argue that it was a genre worthy of serious consideration. Herbert Read devoted a chapter of his book English Prose Style (1928) to discussing "Fantasy" as an aspect of literature, arguing it was unjustly considered suitable only for children: "The Western World does not seem to have conceived the necessity of Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups".

The first major contribution to the genre after World War II was Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan (1946), the book that launched the Gormenghast series. J. R. R. Tolkien played a large role in the popularization and accessibility of the fantasy genre with his highly successful publications The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths, particularly Beowulf, as well as William Morris's romances and E. R. Eddison's 1922 novel, The Worm Ouroboros. Tolkien's close friend C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–56) and a fellow English professor with a similar array of interests, also helped to publicize the fantasy genre. Tove Jansson, author of The Moomins, was also a strong contributor to the popularity of fantasy literature in the field of children and adults.

At the turn of the millennium, the Harry Potter novels of J. K. Rowling, which chronicle the life of a young wizard, achieved widespread popularity.

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some distant time in the past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work

The title refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who in an earlier age created the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power given to Men, Dwarves, and Elves, in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle earth, following the quest to destroy the One Ring mainly through the eyes of the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin.

A Song of Ice and Fire:

A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, A Game of Thrones, in 1991; the book was published in 1996. Martin, who initially envisioned the series as a trilogy, has published five out of a planned seven volumes. The fifth and most recent volume of the series, A Dance with Dragons, was published in 2011 and took Martin six years to write. He is currently writing the sixth novel, The Winds of Winter. A seventh novel, A Dream of Spring, is planned.

A Song of Ice and Fire takes place on the fictional continents Westeros and Essos. The point of view of each chapter in the story is a limited perspective of a range of characters growing from nine in the first novel, to 31 characters by the fifth novel. Three main stories interweave: a dynastic war among several families for control of Westeros, the rising threat of the supernatural Others in northernmost Westeros, and the ambition of the deposed king's exiled daughter to assume the Iron Throne.

A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world in which seasons last for years and end unpredictably. Nearly three centuries before the events of the first novel, the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros were united under the Targaryen dynasty, establishing military supremacy through their control of dragons. The Targaryens ruled for three hundred years, continuing past the extinction of the dragons. Their dynasty eventually ended with a rebellion led by Lord Robert Baratheon, in which Aerys "the Mad King" Targaryen was killed, and Robert proclaimed king of the Seven Kingdoms. At the beginning of A Game of Thrones, 15 years have passed since Robert's rebellion, with a nine-year-long summer coming to an end.

The principal story chronicles the power struggle for the Iron Throne among the great Houses of Westeros following the death of King Robert in A Game of Thrones. Robert's heir apparent, the 13-year-old Joffrey, is immediately proclaimed king through the machinations of his mother, Queen Cersei Lannister. When Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, Robert's closest friend and chief advisor, discovers that Joffrey and his siblings are the product of incest between Cersei and her twin brother Ser Jaime Lannister, Eddard attempts to unseat Joffrey, but is betrayed and executed for treason. In response, Robert's brothers Stannis and Renly both lay separate claims to the throne. During this period of instability, two of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros attempt to become independent from the Iron Throne: Eddard's eldest son Robb is proclaimed King in the North, while Lord Balon Greyjoy desires to recover the sovereignty of his region, the Iron Islands. The so-called "War of the Five Kings" is in full progress by the middle of the second book, A Clash of Kings.

The second part of the story takes place in the far north of Westeros, where an 8,000-year-old wall of ice, simply called "the Wall", defends the Seven Kingdoms from supernatural creatures known as the Others. The Wall's sentinels, the Sworn Brotherhood of the Night's Watch, also protect the realm from the incursions of the "wildlings" or "Free Folk", who are several human tribes living on the north side of the Wall. The Night's Watch story is told primarily through the point of view of Jon Snow, Lord Eddard Stark's bastard son.[9] Jon follows the footsteps of his uncle Benjen Stark and joins the Watch at a young age, rising quickly through the ranks. He eventually becomes Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. In the third volume, A Storm of Swords, the Night's Watch storyline becomes increasingly entangled with the War of the Five Kings.

The third storyline follows Daenerys Targaryen, daughter of Aerys II, the last Targaryen king. On the continent of Essos, east of Westeros across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys is married off by her elder brother Viserys Targaryen to a powerful warlord, but slowly becomes an independent and intelligent ruler in her own right. Her rise to power is aided by the historic birth of three dragons, hatched from eggs given to her as wedding gifts. The three dragons soon become not only a symbol of her bloodline and her claim to the throne, but also devastating weapons of war, which help her in the conquest of Slaver's Bay. The story follows her year-long conflict with the region's city states, in which she aims to consolidate power, disrupt the Essosi slave trade, and gather support for her ambitions to reclaim Westeros.

 T. S. Eliot: Tradition and Individual Talent 

"Tradition and the Individual Talent" (1919) is an essay written by poet and literary critic T. S. Eliot. The essay was first published in The Egoist (1919) and later in Eliot's first book of criticism, "The Sacred Wood" (1920).[1] The essay is also available in Eliot's "Selected Prose" and "Selected Essays". 

While Eliot is most often known for his poetry, he also contributed to the field of literary criticism. In this dual role, he acted as a cultural critic, comparable to Sir Philip Sidney and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "Tradition and the Individual Talent" is one of the more well-known works that Eliot produced in his critic capacity. It formulates Eliot's influential conception of the relationship between the poet and preceding literary traditions. 

This essay is divided into three parts:  

first the concept of "Tradition," then the Theory of Impersonal Poetry, and finally the conclusion. 

Tradition and Individual Talent: 

Eliot states that the word traditional is rarely talked about in terms of writing, except in a derogatory sense. At least, the word is seldom used to praise writers, either living or dead ones. This is because readers often look for the way a writer stands out from their predecessors before appreciating their work. Eliot seeks to remove this prejudice, claiming that the best parts of a poem are actually the ones that are alive with the past. 

However, by “following tradition,” Eliot does not mean imitating one’s most recent ancestors. Instead, he means that a traditional poet has a “historical sense” which makes them conscious of the whole past as if it were the present. Together, all poetry makes up a simultaneous whole that is changed by new poetry and guided by old poetry. Eliot goes on to claim that a critic cannot value contemporary poetry without setting it in relation to poetry of the past. The past and the present works measure each other, the new conforming to the old and the old adjusting itself to include the new. 

In Part II of his essay Eliot stated that true criticism criticizes the poem, not the poet. A poet is accomplished not because of how much personality they have, but because of how perfect a medium they are for combining feelings in new ways. This is like when a piece of platinum causes sulphur dioxide and oxygen to transform into sulphurous acid without itself being involved in or affected by the result. 

Throughout the essay, Eliot blames contemporary poets for not being traditional enough and poetry readers for not being critical enough. Here, he seems to be saying that, as critics, English readers have become too lenient. What they regard as spontaneity in their reading, Eliot contends, is actually a lack of honesty. Eliot says that criticism is “as inevitable as breathing,” which suggests that, if everyone were being honest with themselves when they read, they would naturally know what a good poem is. 

In short Eliot blames the Romantics and says that one must acquire historical senses first. He even states that “tradition cannot be inherited and involves a great deal of labour and erudition” personally I would agree with Eliot in this matter because it is nearly impossible to avoid any historical reference in the creative work. We can not create pure art because somewhere, someone has already got that idea or thought before us.

What do you understand by Historical Sense? 

Tradition is the gift of the historic sense. A. writer with this sense of tradition is fully conscious of his own generation, of his place in the present; but he is also acutely conscious of his relationship with the writers of the past. The historical sense in volves a perception, 

 "Not only of the pastness of the past, but also of its presence” 

One who has the historic sense feels that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer down to his own day, including the literature of his own country, forms one continuous literary tradition. 

In brief, the sense of tradition implies a recognition of the continuity of literature, a critical judgment as to which of the writers of the past continue to be significant in the present, and the knowledge of these significant writers obtained through painstaking effort. Tradition represents the accumulated wisdom and experience of ages, and so its knowledge is essential for really great and noble achievements. 

Explain: "Some can absorb knowledge, the more tardy must sweat for it. Shakespeare acquired more essential history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole British Museum".   

In this essay as Eliot argues that, all the writers must be learned scholars and should have the historical sense. He says that some can absorb knowledge because of their intelligence. Who are not inherited with this intelligence must sweat and involves into labour to acquire the knowledge.  he further discuses about Shakespeare, he was talented even though he never went to any university to get education but he acquired all the knowledge from works of Roman and Greek. Most of them were translated by Plutarch. 

Thinking Activity: Absalom and Achitophel

THINKING ACTIVITY: ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL

Absalom and Achitophel is a satirical poem by John Dryden, written in heroic couplets and first published in 1681. Although, on the title page, Dryden himself describes it simply as "a poem" rather than satire. The poem tells the Biblical tale of the rebellion of Absalom against King David; in this context, it is an allegory used to represent a story contemporary to Dryden, concerning King Charles II and the Exclusion Crisis (1679–1681). The poem also references the Popish Plot (1678) and the Monmouth Rebellion (1685). 

Absalom and Achitophel is "generally acknowledged as the finest political satire in the English language". 

What is Satire:

The use humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Background and Character Representation:

The story of Absalom's rebellion against his father, King David, is told in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Second Book of Samuel (chapters 14 to 18).

Dryden’s characters in Poem	Historical Characters
David	King Charles-II
Absalom	James Scott, Duke of Monmouth
Achitophel	Antony Ashley Cooper
Saul	Oliver Cromwell
David’s Brother	James-II
Corah	Titus Oates
Shimei	Slingsby Bethel
Zimri	George Villiers
The Pharaoh	Louis -XIV of France
Ishbosheth	Richard Cromwell
Jonas	William Jones
Zadoc	William Sancroft
Barzillai	James Butler
Barzillai’s Eldest Son	Thomas Butler
Jotham	George Savile
Amiel	Edward Seymour

List of characters who favoured and were against King David (Charles II).

Against King David	In Favour of King David
Absalom	Absalom
Achitophel	Barzillai
Corah	Jotham
Shimei	Ameil
Zimri	Zadoc
The pharaoh	The Pharaoh
Jonas	Hushai
Nadab	Adriel
Caleb	Sagan of Jerusalem
Balaam

Dryden’s direct address “To the Reader” preceding the lengthy poem proves of interest. While he hoped to treat each political faction fairly, he acknowledged that “he who draws his pen for one party must expect to make enemies of the other. For Wit and Fool are consequents of Whig and Tory, and every man is a knave or an Ass to the contrary side.” He also stated he would take comfort in the “manifest prejudice to my cause” that the opposition would surely publicize, as that prejudice would “render their judgment of less authority against me.” Continuing, Dryden offers the opinion that “if a poem have a genius, it will force its own reception in the world.” His supporting logic for that idea was “for there’s a sweetness in good verse which tickles even while it hurts, and no man can be heartily angry with him who pleases him against his will.” His tone turns sharply sober later when he informs his readers, “I have but laugh’d at some men’s follies, when I could have declaim’d against their vices, and other men’s virtues I have commended as freely as I have tax’d their crimes.”