Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw

A Scene from Arms and the Man (Chocolate Cream Soldier)

Characters in the Play:

1. Sergius - a Bulgarian commander, initially proposed to Raina Petkoff
2. Raina Petkoff - heroine who is awakened from false ideals of war by Captain Bluntschili
3. Captain Bluntschili - a soldier running away from war, also a wealthy businessman
4. Major Paul Petkoff - Raina's father
5. Catherine - Raina's mother
6. Louka - a maid servant whom later Sergius proposes
7. Nicola - a male servant who is initially betrothed to Louka

Summary of the Play:

The play deals with the futility of war and presents in a realistic way how the general ideal notions of people about war are wrong, taking Bluntschili and Raina as typical examples. The background  of the play is the war between Serbia and Bulgaria in 1885 that continued for 14 years. Raina is  too idealistic about war and Sergius, the Bulgarian commander to whom she is engaged.  But Bluntschili who runs away from war, hides in Raina's bedroom to escape from Bulgarian troops informs her that not only he, but many soldiers carry only chocolates in their ammunition pouches.  His  statement "nine out of ten soldiers are fools"shocks idealistic Raina. From him, she learns how really soldiers are afraid and tired of war and how futile the war is. She gives him her father's coat with a photo of her within to escape from her home. When both Serbia and Bulgaria signs a peace treaty, Major Petkoff and Sergius return from war.  Sergius flirts with Louka, the insolent servant girl who is actually betrothed to Nicola.  During Bluntschili's return to return the coat, it is revealed that he is a wealthy business man and the awakened Raina also falls in love with him and decides to marry him.  Though Sergius calls Bluntschili for duel, the latter is not interested in war any more.  Major Petkoff and Catherine are shocked to know Sergius' proposal to marry the servant Louka. Bluntchili promises to make Nicola a manager in one of his businesses and the play ends with marriage bells for two sets of couples - Sergius and Louka, and Raina and Bluntschili.

Criticism:

George Orwell comments on the play as "it is probably the wittiest play he ever wrote, the most flawless technically." The play is apparently a satire on military melodramas of the period which considered war as a noble undertaking and soldiers as brave, heroic and courageous.  The title of the play is derived intentionally from the opening line of Virgil's  Aeneid to ridicule at the frivolities of the war and war heroes.  Transformation and reformation takes place in all characters except Bluntschili, the pragmatic professional who remains the same throughout the play but enlightens all of their false notions and assumptions.  "Soldiering, my dear madam, is the coward’s art of attacking mercilessly when you are strong, and keeping out of harm’s way when you are weak.”  says Sergius who has resigned his post though he has  won the battle (by accident). In addition to the theme of reality of war, the play presents the theme class prejudice as well. What does Nicola says to Louka? : “you don’t know the power such high people have over the like of you and me when we try to rise out of our poverty against them” (Act II) What The play ends with the marriage of Sergius  of the Upper Class and Louka of the poor class showing the fulfillment of the ambitions of the latter. In short, the play is a war between the real and the ideal and finally the real wins the battle.

Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw

Characters in the play:

Mrs. Kitty Warren - once a prostitute, now a owner of number of brothels

Vivie - daughter of Mrs. Warren, recently graduated from University with honours

Reverend Samuel Gardner - a minister,  possibly Vivie's out-of-wedlock father

Frank Gardner - son of Samuel Gardner, also lover of Vivie

Sir George Crofts - Mrs. Warren's business partner

Mr. Praed - a middle aged friend of Mrs. Warren

Summary of the Play:

Mrs. Warren in the title refers to Mrs. Kitty Warren, whose profession at present is prostitution,  running a number of brothels across Europe with her business partner Air George Crofts though she herself started her profession as a prostitute to support her daughter's education.  Her daughter who returns from Cambridge University after getting graduated from there with honours gets shocked to know her mother's profession.  Mother successfully explains her daughter about the conditions that forced her to take up that position.  Mother arranges for a meeting with her friend Mr. Praed but Vivie is romantically involved into an affair with Frank Gardner whose father Samuel Gardner happens to be possibly the biological father of Vivie. Since Vivie and Frank Gardner become half siblings,  the former gets rid of the latter as well as her own mother who continues her profession even when there is no longer any need for that. Sir George Crofts who is older than Vivie by 25 years is also attracted towards her and gets disappointed.  The play ends with the triumph of Vivie as a new independent woman by taking up her own office and with the heart broken Mrs. Warren whose longing to live with her daughter no longer gets fulfilled.

Criticism

Mrs. Warren's Profession is a problem play,  following the innovations of Henrik Ibsen,  dealing with contentious social issues, (here,  prostitution) in a realistic way by presenting debates between Mrs. Warren and her daughter.  It is not lust but circumstances in Britain that forced Mrs. Warren to take up prostitution to take care of her daughter.  Shaw condemns his society which gave no employment opportunities to women and portrays Vivie as a modern independent woman aspiring to find her own office and having the courage to reject marriage proposals. What we see inn Vivie is gender reformation - a woman for the first time is realistic,  pragmatic,  asexual and unromantic. The boundary between sexual desires and proposed marriages is blurred - Frank is too frank to flirt with both Vivie and her mother Mrs. Warren. Sir George Crofts, with 25 years age difference, proposes Vivie in addition to his relationship with her mother Mrs. Warren. "My work is not your work,  my way is not your way. " is not only Vivie's answer to her mother but Shaw's introduction of new woman envisioned for his Britain.

The Philanderer by George Bernard Shaw

Characters in the Play:
1. Charteris - the hero, whom the title philanderer refers to
2. Mrs. Grace - a widow but in love with Charteris
3. Julia Craven - also in love with Charteris
4. Sylvia Craven - sister of Julia Craven, also attracted by Charteris
5. Colonel Craven - father of Julia and Sylvia, supposed to suffer from liver complaint
6. Cuthbertson - father of Grace, a theatre critic
7. Dr. Paramore - the one whom Julia finally marries

Summary of the Play:
Charteris is  the philanderer( one  who has sexual relationship with many women) who  openly admits to Mrs. Grace that Julia is among many women who are attracted towards him.  The arrival of Julia there leads to quarrel between her and Grace. Colonel Craven who is  supposed to have liver complaint has no hope of surviving next Easter after knowing these quarrels. Cuthbertson, the theatre critic as well as father of Grace gets shocked to know the triangle Charteris-Julia-Grace relationship  However, Charteris tells both the fathers that he is going to marry only Grace.

The next scene set up in  Ibsen  Club reveals the inner dirtiness in each character. Dr. Paramore who has planned vivisection (experiment or surgery on live animals or human beings) with Colonel Craven comes to know that the latter's disease really does not exist and he resents on it.  Charteris reveals that both Grace and Julia are in love with him but he is not at all going to marry either. The Ibsen Club scene presents the change of interest in most of the characters. Julia dances with Dr.Paramore but tries to trap Charteris alone. Her sister Sylvia is interested in Charteris and tells him that Julia is in love with Dr. Paramore. Grace is also attracted by Dr. Paramore and retires with him privately.  Charteris who could not endure the connection  between Dr. Paramore and Grace, arouses Julia's jealousy by pointing out their private meet. Again both Grace and Julia quarrels with each other but this time for Dr. Paramore, not for Charteris. Julia takes Dr. Paramore away from the Club and in the next scene accepts him to marry. Julia and Grace get reconciled and congratulate  each other for having escaped from Charteris. Charteris  who, a philanderer, is considered "no fit husband" is delighted at this union of Dr. Paramore and Julia. For the same play, Shaw's own ending in manuscript is divorce but he has dropped out this  at his friend's suggestion. According to this, after 4 years of their marriage, Dr. Paramore is tired of Julia and she is bored of marriage. The suggestion given by Charteris is divorce since Dr. Paramore wants to marry Grace now. Most of the stages choose only the marriage, not divorce at the end.

Criticism:
Who is Charteris? Is he Shaw himself?  In his mid-thirties,Shaw himself had sexual affairs with many women,especially with a widow, elder to him and with  an actress slightly younger in  age. Thus in the first place, the play is autobiographical as well as unpleasant as Shaw himself designates it as one  of the Unpleasant Plays. What about Ibsen Club? It is a place where upper class people with modern and advanced ideas about marriage socialize. It is employed by Shaw skillfully to drive home his ideas about marriage. The hero Charteris is unheroic; the husband-hungry hyperemotional lady Julia is tempestuous and accepts the infactuated but ambitious Dr. Paramore and rejects Charteris;  Club  scenes get flavoured with  mannish Sylvia. The plot is weaved on grotesque sexual combats.Shaw himself was unwilling to update the unpleasant play and said, "The human nature in it is still in fashion."

Widowers' Houses by George Bernard Shaw

Characters in the play:
1. Harry Trench - a young doctor
2. Sartorius - a landlord, exploiting the slum people.
3. Blanche - the landlord's daughter
4. Lickcheese - rent collector dismissed by Sartorius
5. William Cokane-Trench's friend

Summary of the play:
There are three acts.  The first act deals with how Harry Trench falls in love with Blanche and gets engaged during their holiday treat in a place where Sartorius and his daughter meets Harry while holidaying.

In the second act,  how Sartorius has accumulated his wealth by exploiting the slum tenants is revealed that shocks Harry who, therefore asks Blanche not to receive any money from father after marriage.  After bitter argument,  they break up. In the same act,  Lickcheese is getting dismissed for being too lenient in dealing with poor tenants.

In the third act,  Harry compromises with his own moral principles and he along with Lickcheese meets Sartorius for a shady business deal.  Since he has realized that his money from the interest of mortgaged houses of the tenants is as dirty as Sartorius 's,  he is not having any conditions to Blanche in using her father's money.  The couples get reunited before the curtain falls.

Criticism :
The disparity between poor class and rich class is the central theme. Gentrification of a man of principles like Harry Trench is what Shaw has in his mind while staging his first play. A man of high moral nature has to compromise after getting disillusioned by reality. Shaw seems to say,  all money is dirty,  whether it is Harry's or Sartorius 's just as all people are dirty in terms of morality.

George Bernard Shaw and His Dramas

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is an Irish playwright, theater critic and music critic. In writing plays,  he is influenced by Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian Playwright known as the father of realism. His plays not only dealt with political and social issues but also his own philosophical ideas such as the theory of Life Force and Creative Evolution.  Shaw rejected the idea of Art for Art's sake and in his opinion, all art must be didactic.

Shaw's Dramas:

(1890s)

The "Plays Unpleasant"
1. Widower's Houses  - the theme of landlords of Slum Properties
2. The Philanderer - the theme of New Woman
3. Mrs. Warren's Profession - dealing with the Prostitution of the Society

The "Plays Pleasant"
4. Arms and the Man -a Comic Romance contrasting impractical idealism and pragmatic socialism
5. Candida - A woman's choice  between two men
6. You Never Can Tell - The gap between two generations

Three Plays for Puritans
7. The Devil's Disciple - set in America (questions of empire and imperialism)
8. Caesar and Cleopatra - set in Ancient Egypt (questions of empire and imp
10. Man and Superman - Shaw's interpretation of Creative Evolution
11. John Bull's Other Island - the relationship between Britain and Ireland
12. Marjor Barbara - ethical issues, on the one side arms manufacturer and Salvation Army on the other hand
13. The Doctor's Dilemma -  A tragedy dealing with Medical ethics
14. Getting Married
15. Misalliance

(1910-1919)
16. Fanny's First Play - Shaw's examination of Middle class British Society
17. Androcles and the Lion - a play for children dealing with nature of religion
18. Pygmalion -study of language and speech in society and personal relationship
19. Heartbreak House - Europe before war drifting towards disaster

(1920-1950)
20. Saint Joan - about 15th C Joan of Arc, a tragedy without villains
21. Back to Methuseiah - a series of 5 plays
22. The Apple Cart - about fictional King Magnus
23. Too True to be Good - Existential Crisis in Europe after First World War
24. On the Rocks - Written in the midst of depression after Hitler Came into power in Germany
25. The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles - Shaw's attempt to create Utopian society in Polynesian Island
26. The Millionairess -the story of Epifania a spoilt heiress and her search for suitor
27. Geneva - a meeting between three dangerous dictators
28. In Good King Charles's Golden Days or A true Histroy that never happened - a Shavian Restoration comedy
29. Buoyant Billions or a Comedy of No Manners - about a brash young man courting the daughter of an elderly billionaire

How to Write a Short Message in English

Nowadays it is common to send short messages on mobile, Whatsapp, Facebook, etc. The following four elements are the typical ones found in any short message:

•   Date, Time and Place
•  Salutation to the addressee
•  Body of the message
•  Signature/ sender’s name

Example:

• Dos and Don’ts in Writing a Short Message
• Be as brief as possible by directly coming to the point.
• Try to convey the matter clearly and understandably
• Don’t use From, To, how are you, convey my kind regards, etc. as you do in letter writing
• Don’t write more than two or three sentences. (otherwise, it is not a short message!)
• Ensure the delivery of the message, otherwise the very purpose for which you are writing may not be fulfilled.
• Use imperatives while giving directions to the receiver to do something.

Exercises for you:
1. Write a short message to your friend about the delay to reach his home.
2. As a manager,write a short message to assistant manager to arrange for meeting.
3. As a doctor, write a short message to the nurse to arrange for the surgery.
4. Draft a short message to your colleague about the repair of your car and ask him to pick up you from your home on the way to office.

UGC NET ENGLISH All Previous Year Exams PAPER 1 AND PAPER 2 WITH KEY

The solved papers for all the previous exams in English (both paper1 and 2) conducted by NTA are available. Click here.


To attempt a mock test to familiarize yourself with the computer based UGC NET, try here

To know the revised scheme of examination,  eligibility,  last date for applying,  etc.  Click here

The Revised Syllabus for UGC NET Paper I and Paper II from June 2019

Paper 1: common for all subjects including English

Subject: GENERAL PAPER ON TEACHING & RESEARCH APTITUDE
Code No. : 00 PAPER-I

The main objective is to assess the teaching and research capabilities of the candidates. The test aims at assessing the teaching and research aptitude as well. Candidates are expected to possess and exhibit cognitive abilities, which include comprehension, analysis, evaluation, understanding the structure of arguments, deductive and inductive reasoning. The candidates are also expected to have a general awareness about teaching and learning processes in higher education system. Further, they should be aware of interaction between people, environment, natural resources and their impact on the quality of life.

The details of syllabi are as follows:

Unit-I Teaching Aptitude
 Teaching: Concept, Objectives, Levels of teaching (Memory, Understanding and Reflective), Characteristics and basic requirements.  Learner’s characteristics: Characteristics of adolescent and adult learners (Academic, Social, Emotional and Cognitive), Individual differences.  Factors affecting teaching related to: Teacher, Learner, Support material, Instructional facilities, Learning environment and Institution.  Methods of teaching in Institutions of higher learning: Teacher centred vs. Learner centred methods; Off-line vs. On-line methods (S 2  Teaching Support System: Traditional, Modern and ICT based.  Evaluation Systems: Elements and Types of evaluation, Evaluation in Choice Based Credit System in Higher education, Computer based testing, Innovations in evaluation systems.

Unit-II Research Aptitude
 Research: Meaning, Types, and Characteristics, Positivism and Postpositivistic approach to research.  Methods of Research: Experimental, Descriptive, Historical, Qualitative and Quantitative methods.  Steps of Research.  Thesis and Article writing: Format and styles of referencing.  Application of ICT in research.  Research ethics.

Unit-III Comprehension
 A passage of text be given. Questions be asked from the passage to be answered.

Unit-IV Communication
 Communication: Meaning, types and characteristics of communication.  Effective communication: Verbal and Non-verbal, Inter-Cultural and group communications, Classroom communication.  Barriers to effective communication.  Mass-Media and Society.

Unit-V Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude
 Types of reasoning.  Number series, Letter series, Codes and Relationships.  Mathematical Aptitude (Fraction, Time & Distance, Ratio, Proportion and Percentage, Profit and Loss, Interest and Discounting, Averages etc.).

Unit-VI Logical Reasoning
 Understanding the structure of arguments: argument forms, structure of categorical propositions, Mood and Figure, Formal and Informal fallacies, Uses of language, Connotations and denotations of terms, Classical square of opposition.  Evaluating and distinguishing deductive and inductive reasoning.  Analogies.  Venn diagram: Simple and multiple use for establishing validity of arguments.  Indian Logic: Means of knowledge.  Pramanas: Pratyaksha (Perception), Anumana (Inference), Upamana (Comparison), Shabda (Verbal testimony), Arthapatti (Implication) and Anupalabddhi (Non-apprehension).  Structure and kinds of Anumana (inference), Vyapti (invariable relation), Hetvabhasas (fallacies of inference).

Unit-VII Data Interpretation  Sources, acquisition and classification of Data.  Quantitative and Qualitative Data.  Graphical representation (Bar-chart, Histograms, Pie-chart, Table-chart and Line-chart) and mapping of Data.  Data Interpretation.  Data and Governance.

Unit-VIII Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
 ICT: General abbreviations and terminology.  Basics of Internet, Intranet, E-mail, Audio and Video-conferencing.  Digital initiatives in higher education.  ICT and Governance. 4

Unit-IX People, Development and Environment
 Development and environment: Millennium development and Sustainable development goals.  Human and environment interaction: Anthropogenic activities and their impacts on environment.  Environmental issues: Local, Regional and Global; Air pollution, Water pollution, Soil pollution, Noise pollution, Waste (solid, liquid, biomedical, hazardous, electronic), Climate change and its Socio-Economic and Political dimensions.  Impacts of pollutants on human health.  Natural and energy resources: Solar, Wind, Soil, Hydro, Geothermal, Biomass, Nuclear and Forests.  Natural hazards and disasters: Mitigation strategies.  Environmental Protection Act (1986), National Action Plan on Climate Change, International agreements/efforts -Montreal Protocol, Rio Summit, Convention on Biodiversity, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, International Solar Alliance.

Unit-X Higher Education System
 Institutions of higher learning and education in ancient India.  Evolution of higher learning and research in Post Independence India.  Oriental, Conventional and Non-conventional learning programmes in India.  Professional, Technical and Skill Based education.  Value education and environmental education.  Policies, Governance, and Administration.

NOTE:
(i) Five questions each carrying 2 marks are to be set from each Module.

(ii) Whenever graphical/pictorial question(s) are set for sighted candidates, a passage followed by equal number of questions and weightage be set for visually impaired candidates.

Download the revised syllabus for PAPER 1 here

PAPER -2
To download the revised syllabus of all subjects including English that is applicable from June 2019 UGC-NET onwards, click  here

The Revised English syllabus is given below for your ready reference:

UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION NET BUREAU NET SYLLABUS (Revised and to be followed from JUNE 2019 onwards)

Subject: English

Code No. : 30

Unit –I : Drama

Unit –II : Poetry

Unit –III : Fiction, short story

Unit –IV : Non-Fictional Prose

NOTE: The first four units must also be tested through comprehension passages to assess critical reading, critical thinking and writing skills. These four units will cover all literature in English.

Unit –V : Language: Basic concepts, theories and pedagogy. English in Use.

Unit –VI : English in India: history, evolution and futures

Unit –VII : Cultural Studies

Unit –VIII : Literary Criticism

Unit –IX : Literary Theory post World War II

Unit –X : Research Methods and Materials in English