William Shakespeare was an English playwright,poet and actor,widely regarded as the greatest  writer in English language and the world’s greatest dramatist.Shakespeare’s contribution to the English language is as great as that of the Bible translations.His vocabulary contained about 23000 words, more than three times the number used by Milton and is supposed to be the richest vocabulary ever employed by a single individual.He wrote about a variety of subjects and touched upon so many human facts and relations that he needed such an extensive vocabulary.Shakespeare constantly criticizes or satirizes linguistics and stylistics fashions among his contemporaries.He himself experimented with all kinds of innovations,dialectal adaptations and archaisms.

       Shakespeare used nouns for verbs ,adjectives  for adverbs  and also used scattered prepositions.In “Antony and Cleopatra“  Shakespeare used ‘widow’,’beggar’,’word’ and ’lip’ as verbs.In “The Tempest” he used the adverb ‘backward’ as a noun.In “King Lear” he used phrases like ‘childed’ and ‘fathered’.In ‘Julius Ceasar” he has used ‘fathered’ and ‘husbanded’. In Shakespeare’s language we can find different prepositions used to express the same relations.Corresponding to the present day ‘repent of’ in Shakespeare may be found  ‘repent at’,’repent for’,’repent in’ and ‘repent over’.

    Shakespeare has contributed doublecomparatives and double negatives to the English language.Example;’nor hath not’,’more braver’,’worser’,’more hotter’,’more larger’,’most unkindest’,’most heaviest’.Words already superlative in meaning were given added intensity by redundant comparative and superlative endings as  in‘chiefest’,’extremist’,’perfecter’,’perfeetest’, etc. Similarly he did not always use the words where they should be according to the rules of grammar as he used  “we sent to know that willing ransom he will give” instead of “what ransom he will willingly give “. There are a number of words derived from Shakespeares Warwickshire dialect .To this class belong ‘chop’(thrust with force).His language in general, is provided by his London environment.The different levels of style, the grant,the low, and the mean appear in his writings.There are many words that we may regard as his original contribution such as;’bump’,’dwindle’,’ardent’,’illume’,’orb’,’inauspicious’,’baseless’,’multitudinous’,’courtship’,’dickens’ and ‘lonely’.

    The prefix en- was was abundantly employed by Shakespeare in a number of words. Examples are;’enmesh’,’enscheduled’,’enscar’,’ensteeped’,’entame’,’entreasured’,’etc. Independent  words are combined in to compound words such as; ‘eye-beam’,’eye –drop’,’eye –wing’,’fire –eyes’,’after –eye’,’fire –new’,’fire –robbed’,’fire –work’,’dog –weary’ and ‘arm-gaunt’.Shakespeare used some words with original meaning they had in Latin.The word ‘communicate’ was used by him with the meaning of ‘share’.When Lorenzo in “Merchant Of Venice” says ‘’let us in and expect them coming”, he is using the word “expect’ with the meaning of ‘await’.Shakespeare used  the word ‘enlargement’  to denote the meaning  ‘freedom  from confinement’ .It was Shakespeare  who demonstrated that both the longer borrowed Latin words and the shorter native words have their own kind of usefulness and effectiveness.

       Shakespeare used many words with new meanings,they include; ‘capable’(having the ability),’cloud’(overspread with gloom),’common’(vulgur tongue),’condolment’(tangible expression of sympathy),’discharge’(emission),’distemper’(illness),’directly’(at once),’dull’(tedious).Shakespeare also introduced many phrases of his own ‘public haunt of men’,’fortune’s fool’  in “Romeo and Juliet” ,’custom stale her infinite variety’,’moated grange’.In “Hamlet”  Shakespeare introduced phrases like :’To be or not to be’,’mind’s eye’,’sweets to the  sweet’.The Shakespearean phrase ‘to out Herod Herod’ has become a model after which a number of similar expressions have been created (to  out Bently Bently,to out Milton Milton,to out Darwin Darwin etc).The idiom ‘to out Herod Herod’ used to allude excessive cruel or tyrannical nature.

         Shakespeare’s attitude towards English grammar seems to be rather indifferent.We can find an irregularity and freedom in his use of  grammar. Similiarly he  did not always use the words where they should be according to the rules of grammar. Besides this we can find many constructions which are archaic in character and a construction which is ungrammatical.

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Gender refers to the socially constructed roles,behaviours,expressions and identities of men,women and gender diverse people.In 1964, Robert Stroller coined the term’ gender identity’,which refers to an individual’s personal concept about their gender and how they feel inside.    It is based on how people perceive themselves and each other ,how they react and interact and the distribution of power and  resources in society.Different cultures had a deliberate description about different gender- specific behaviour for men and women but there is a lot more to the explanation of gender difference. Gender identity is personal, internal perception of oneself;  where an individual may see themselves as a man ,a woman,as having no gender ,or as having a non-binary gender.

             ’Sex’ and ‘gender’ are often used interchangeably, despite having different meanings. Historically ,the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ have been used interchangeably.Sex refers to a set of biological attributes associated with physical and physiological features whereas gender is a sociological concept.Major historical events have had  a huge impact on the way men and women are seen and treated.Earlier, women have always been  treated as secondary to men and seen as fragile whose job is to take care of the household chores.There were feminist movements which refers to political campaigns to reform on issues of women suffrage,equal pay,maternity leave,domestic violence and sexual vilence.  

                Feminism in parts of the Western world has gone through a series of waves. First-wave feminism was oriented around the idea  of middle- or upper-class white women and involved suffrage and political equality. Second-wave feminism attempted to further combat social and cultural inequalities. Although the first wave of feminism involved mainly middle class white women, the second wave brought in women of colour and women from other developing nations. Third wave of feminism  was based on  financial, social and cultural inequalities and includes renewed campaigning for greater influence of women in politics and media. In reaction to political activism, feminists have also had to maintain focus on women’s reproductive rights, such as the right to abortion. Fourth-wave feminism focused on body positivity ,stratification of traditionally marginalized groups.

                 The idea of gender in history always had much to say about the rights or duties of men or rights and duties of women , but it never bothered to provide a definition of who is a man or woman is . There were laws that defined specifically what a man or woman  can or cannot do , what work they must not do ,what clothes they must not wear,with whom they can  or cannot enter in to marriage ,or what specific obligations they have .People who having a conservative approach towards gender identity , they cling on to the traditional concepts  whereas now a days as a result of some revolutionary movements we have achieved freedom to pursue our own gender identity , which is devoid of the stereotypes  put forward by society.

    The nature  and development of gender identity have been studied and disputed by psychologists, philosophers and social activists since the late 20^th century.People having a conservative attitude hold that gender identity is fixed at birth by genetic or other biological factors.Early stages of history ,people argued that gender identity or the manner in which gender  is expressed , is ‘socially constructed’ ,determined by social and cultural infuences.As a variation from this  social constructivism there came a performatism holds that gender identity is constituted rather than expressed, by the continuous  performance of gendered behaviour.Further more, a second gender identity developed based on sex associated behaviours ; hetero sexual or homo sexual orientations.

     The development about the concept of gender identity starts from one’s own home, by means of how parents teach their children.Parents teach children about sexual behaviours  and this is reinforced as the children grow older and enter  a wider social world.We can also  see a change in the use of language in describing various roles such as in early stages there were only two words to like ‘she’ and ‘he’ on the contrary now a days there is another term also included to denote the third category as ‘zee’.Lesbian, gay , bisexual,intersex and related identities have been present in various forms through out history.Although the  LGBT  community and individuals remains target  for hate, violence  and  backlash throughout  the world. When we analyse some films also we can see how the gender  identity is portrayed and how some people are marginalised in society.For example we can see some patriarchal stereotypes in the movie “Drisyam 2” where we can see how  a mother tries to reinforce her traditional concepts towards her younger daughter.

           Transvestite is a term that alludes a person who wears clothes designed for the opposite sex, cross dresser is also another term to denote this.In the academic world ,’Gender Studies’ is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gender representation.It includes women studies ,men’s studies and also queer studies.It also analyses how race,ethnicity,religion,nationality influence the categories of gender and sexuality.To conclude there is a broad development in area of gender identity  and in the concept of sexuality in our society as the aftermath of various movements.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

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  “Obituary” by A. K.Ramanujan  describes the aftermath poetic person’s father’s death and al things he left behind,physical and emotional.The word ‘obituary’means a notice of death in a newspaper including a brief biography.By describing his father’s  life and death ,A.K. Ramanujan alludes the  transience of human life in his poem.The poem discusses the death of his father and his own sufferings.It is written in first person narrative,the son is the persona in the poem describing his father’s life and death.There are two obituaries in this poem;the one published in the newspaper and the other the poetic recreation.

    The poem begins with the persona telling the reader  that his father died.When he died he left behind a lot .Ramanujan lists the things that his father had left behind;dust and old papers,debts,daughters and a grandson named after him.In the first stanza poet gives importance to the meaningless things by focusing on what the father left behind.Instead of admiring his father the persona enlists the burden  and responsibilities that his father left behind after his death through this the poet alludes the absurdity of life.These lines also shows the culture of typical Indian family.The poet is more concerned about the duties which he has to perform and the description itself indicates the impermanence of human life.

Ramanujan juxtaposes the themes of transience of life and also ridicules the rituals practised after death in the Indian society.In the second stanza persona says that he has inherited a house from his father which is leaning  on a coconut tree and thus in bad condition.The poetic persona deliberately explains how his father cremated.Poet draws the readers attention towards the coin that is left in the ashes ,looking the same as when it went in to the fire alongside there were also several spinal discs.It symbolically represents no matter how great or unimportant a person is death will reduce them in to ashes.The ritual also related to the tradition of putting coins on a dead person’s eyes when they are buried.

      The poem  ‘Obituary’ is a satire  that ridicules the  rituals conducted after the death of a person and states its  insignificance. The poet explicitly states that neither was his father’s birth is much  important nor was his death.  The son,the speaker and his brothers engages in a ritual throwing the bits of bones in to the river.This shows that the how they performs the Hindu rituals and it happens somewhere near railway station.Third stanza of the poem alludes how the priest forces the sons to do the rituals; the priest advises them to pick gingerly the burnt spinal cords and to throw in to the river.”Obituary” is a fine poem, which is steeped in irony because the rituals are practised  for honouring and remembering the died person but here the poet ridicules it.The father’s ashes,the tangible evidence of the man left behind, are thrown in to river and there is no headstone with the dates of his birth and death.The author reflects that this man cremated and disappeared all too easily from this physical existence.

        The poem is a reminder of whatever  we accomplish in life ultimately leave to posterity and  also reminding the transience of human life.The persona says that his father was born in a Brahmin ghetto and he died by heart failure in the fruit market, here he contrasts places with important events. The poet connotes that whether a person is born in an elite family or not all are equal before death.His fathe’rs birth and death was ordinary and his father  achieved nothing in his life.All he gained in his life worth mentioning,the two line obituary inserted in a local Madras newspaper.Even the newspaper’s name is not mentioned in the poem this underlines the triviality of whatever the father has achieved.Earlier on the poet used to read the news papers which had groceries like salt and  jaggery wrapped up in it.However,now a days he does it for the reason that some  day he may succeed in finding those lines relating to his father’s obituary. Thus the poet attempts to find some meaning of his father’s existence in life .

           There are two obituaries in this poem; the one published in the newspaper and the other the poem itself.The poem reflects on how a person’s life has been reduced to a two line obituary a newspaper.There are many imageries in the poem ”Obituary”;images are concrete,precise,accurate,real and highly suggestive. All the imageries employed in the poem reminds the readers about the inevibility of death .To conclude the family is left with annual rituals which were started by a man who is no longer alive. The poet shows his dislike for the rituals which is celebrated in the memory of his father for his peace . Ramanujan’s poetry incorporates a sustained quest ,the quest for roots in the tradition and the quest for a higher self.

  

  

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  Jacobean drama is, quite simply defined, the drama that was written and performed during the reign of Elizabeth’s successor, James I.Some of the most prominent of the Jacobean playwrights, apart from Shakespeare, are Jonson, Webster, Tourneur, Beaumon and  Fletcher.James inherited a whole English drama culture. Audiences loved the humour and the many human situations – the tragic and comic dramas – that were unfolding before them on the stage. Playwrights, reading the audience’s changing appetite, felt the need to give them even more realistic representations of the society of which they were a part. The playwrights were focusing on the human being’s capacity for selfishness, and exaggerating such Renaissance forces as human ambition, and its effects. They were exploring the nature of evil, pushing things to the extremes of human behaviour.

Extreme violence was being portrayed on the stage. A final, almost separate feature of Jacobean theatre sprang from a passion of the king and queen – the musical drama, and so the Jacobean theatre is full of masques – dramas with music and elaborate sets.By showing extreme violence on stage the playwright can produce catharsis in the minds of spectacle.The revenge tragedy, or revenge play, is a dramatic genre in which the protagonist seeks revenge for an imagined or actual injury. The term, revenge tragedy, was first introduced in 1900 by A.H. Thorndike to label a class of plays written in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean era. The revenge drama derived originally from the Roman tragedies of Seneca but was established on the English stage by Thomas Kyd with The Spanish Tragedy. 

“The Duchess of Malfi” by John Webster is a kind of Revenge Tragedy modeled on Seneca, the Latin playwright of 1st century A.D. This play contains the depth of extreme violence, plotting and mostly revenge on the best part which are the chief elements of revenge tragedy.  From the beginning to the end of this drama, there are a lot of elements of horrors. In this drama, we find people taking revenge and are murdering others .The revengeful brothers are both villains. A love affair between the Duchess and Antonio and at last they marry and they produce three children. On hearing the news of their secret marriage and their children, the cardinal and The Duke Ferdinand react angrily. And from the beginning to the end of Act two, scene five, we seed the reaction of the two brothers for the action of their sister. They think that the Duchess has destroyed the reputation and status of their family.

To conclude, this drama contains all the elements of a revenge tragedy and also characters.A drama is a reflection of that era.Through the drama a playwright introduces human follies.Playwrights portrays political,social,cultural and economical issues in a play.In this drama we can understand people’s apetite for power and their craving to be selfish in their life.

A STUDY ON SELECT COLLEGES IN KERALA

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        The COVID -19 pandemic situation brought about drastic change in the education system and it  gave rise to online learning method .Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.The first case of the COVID – 19 pandemic in Kerala was first confirmed in Thrissur district on 30 January 2020.According to the survey  based on the impact of COVID in the learning experience of college students in Kerala, many students are not able to adapt to the new mode of studying ;through virtual classroom.

            The COVID-19 pandemic is a great  challenge to the  educational system . As a part social distancing students are unable to go to colleges and the institutions adopted online learning measure. Due to the shift from traditional method of studying to  digital mode , many students lack proper facilities to attend the online classes.According to the online survey  conducted among  students in Kerala ,it is observed that students  face regular problems while they accessing study  materials such as; 36% of the students face connectivity problems,32% of students have  unfavourable home environment,24% of them suffers from stress due to the inability to access materials through online and 8% have insufficient data problems.These issues prevent/ students from  concentrating on their studies and gave them more stress. It is not always about  technology ; majority of students have physical problems too .Around 68% of students have physical problems like: headache,bad posture and eye strain due to the e-learning  method  on the otherhand   24% of students have no health issues.

           In Thrissur district, around  92% of  students access their study materials through mobile phone and only  4%  of the students uses laptop and desktop computer.It was great challenge for  students who are not financially sound to cope up with this unforseen pandemic.Lack of support from Government and society even  caused some students to commit suicide.Therefore this method made some students more vulnerable.  The excessive use  of technology also made students more  lazy and also it tempted them to use another social medias.It is assumed that only  28% of students are studying on a daily basis while 24% of them are not .The duration of live classes varies from different colleges such as ; 1-5 hours, 6-10 hours and 10-15 hours in a week.E-learning also brought about changes in the pattern and mode of examinations.Majority of the students prefers written exams than online exam,because they  feel more stress while attending  exams in virtual mode on the otherhand some students are comfortable in this method.

           Another challenge for  students are sustaining interactions with teachers in the digital platform,due to noise disturbance in the amplitude of modulation. Although online learning method benefited college students in a certain way , recorded classes are useful them to clear their doubts and they can access it in anytime.Recorded classes is also beneficial for students who have connectivity issues while attending live classes. Around 64% of the students disagrees to the statement that; online learning is better than offline ,while 20%  of them agrees with it and 16% took a neutral stand in this statement. Peer pressure induced learning is more via e-learning than offline.

        The survey provided  that, majority of the students are discontended  in the online learning method and they prefers to re-open colleges by  following COVID  safety protocols.Digital education also  brought about change in the learning routine of students to a great extent.One  of the major consequence  of this pandemic is that,it is an obstacle for providing quality education to college students.Although digital education appears to be viable solution in this current situation ,it fails to ensure a healthy atmosphere for learning.

David crystal is a British linguist,academic,and author.He was awarded the OBE and became a fellow of the British Academy in 2000.He is also a Founding Fellow of the Learned  Society of Wales.Crystal has authored,co authored and edited over 120 books on a wide variety of subjects.David Crysta’ls classic “English  as a Global Language” considers the history,present status and future of the English language, focusing on its role as the leading international language.

        Crystal states that a language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country.  Such a role will be most evident in countries where large numbers of the people speak the language as a mother tongue – in the case of English, this would mean the USA, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, several Caribbean countries and a sprinkling of other territories. To achieve such a status, a language has to be taken up by other countries around the world.  There are two main ways in which this can be done. Firstly, a language can be made the official language of a country, to be used as a medium of communication in such domains as government, the law courts, the media, and the educational system. Secondly, a language can be made a priority in a country’s foreign-language teaching, even though this language has no official status. , there is great variation in the reasons for choosing a particular language as a favoured foreign language: they include historical tradition, political expediency, and the desire for commercial, cultural or technological conta.

                        Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak it. It is much more to do with who those speakers are. There must be something inherently beautiful or logical about the structure of English, in order to explain why it is now so widely used.  ‘English doesn’t have a lot of endings on its words, nor do we have to remember the difference between masculine, feminine, and neuter gender, so it must be easier to learn. A language may have certain properties which make it internationally appealing. A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion. A language has traditionally become an international language for one chief reason: the power of its people – especially their political and military power.

      Crystal explains why do we need a global language. Translation has played a central  role in human interaction for thousands of years. The more a community is linguistically mixed, the less it can rely on individuals to ensure communication between different groups. In communities where only two or three languages are in contact, bilingualism (or trilingualism)  but in communities where there are many languages in contact, as in much of Africa and South-east Asia, such a natural solution does not readily apply. The problem has traditionally been solved by finding a language to act as a lingua franca, or ‘common language’. Sometimes, when communities begin to trade with each other, they communicate by adopting a simplified language, known as a pidgin, which combines elements of their different languages for example, West African Pidgin English is used extensively between several ethnic groups along the West African coast.

AN ANALYSIS

        In  “Of Marriage and Single Life” ,Bacon highlights the differences between the married life and the single’s life and the various advantages and disadvantages of the same.Bacon starts his essay with a sudden statement. The statememt clearly depicts that marriage is an impediment to great fortune and luck.Bacon supports his argument by telling a fact that ; most of the works  that helps the society is done by  non-married or childless men.In response,these bachelors married public and endowed their affection and life to it.the burden of  married life according to Bacon, a married man has a family to raise and take care of.He is totally committed to providing security to them, but such commitment leaves him  unable to take up any enterprise whether good or bad,noble or wicked.There is another kind of men those who are unmarried yet,they spend their lives caring about themselves and they  are not apprehensive of future time.

            There is  a few people ,who are married but consider their wives and children  as mere bills of charges and as burden in their own freedom .There are also some wealthy people who wittingly decide to not to reproduce or have children in fear of losing their riches to their heirs.To them material possessions are more important than  having a family.They refuse to see the needs and benefits of  a family because  they are only influenced by the fears of losing their wealth.There are some foolish covetous men who believes that having no children is a pride and they consider themselves as richer.

            Bacon explores the themes of independence,liberty and marriage throughout his essay.He also comments on the liberty that being single provides individuals who wish to live free from the restraints and responsibilities of marriage.However most men choose to remain single for the sake of liberty that a single life allows. Bacon says that  unmarried men are best friends,best masters and best servants ,but they do not make the best citizens as they  have so great sense of freedom that they tend to run away from responsibilities.The single life is best suited for a clergy man because he can be more charitable as he does not have  any needs to satisfy. For magistrates the situation is indifffernt because if they are corrupted it makes them servants who are worse than wives.For soldiers it is often an emotional support  to think of wives and children before going in to battle .That is why bacon says that the dislike of marriage among Turks makes the vulgar soldiers even more so .

          It is one’s wife and children that provides them with a moral understanding of their behaviours  and conducts  whereas single men lack the empathetic and sensitive side that comes from genuine companionship therefore single men tend to be cruel and hard hearted .A grave man with traditional beliefs is often a loving husband they are not tempted by the pleasures of infidelity and remain honest and loyal to their wives and marriage.Here  bacon gives the example of Ulysses who valued his wife more than an immortal life.Women are often proud of their chastity and a wife will always remain chaste and obedient if she thinks that her husband is wise and not jealous.

            Bacon pays tribute to wives in his eassay as for a young man, a wife serves the purpose of a mistress,in the middle age she is a companion and to the old man she is a nurse.Bacon observes that bad husbands often have good wives.He says that this may be because it makes the husband’s kindness more valuable or because the wife takes pride in her patience in dealing with him.Therfore  a man can reasonably decide when he would like to get married.Bacon here quotes a philosopher and mathematician who answered the question of when a man should marry and said -”a young man not yet,an elder man not at all”.

           Bacon compares the advantages and disadvantages of single and married life through different view points.He puts forward the pros and cons of marriage in terms of how it is viewed by society and how it affects an individual.even though he enlists the burden and limitation of marriage he extols  the benefit of marriage and how it shaped a person.Bacon insists that having a family can make a man generous and merciful and it teaches a form that singlemen lack and thus are more cruel and reckless.