Notice: lecture on Hamlet and King Lear

The Department of English,

Jamia Millia Islamia

and

the Department of English,

Bharati College

invite you to a lecture titled

‘Shakespeare’s Questioning of the Renaissance Image of Man in

Hamlet and King Lear’,

to be delivered by

Dr. Subhajit Sengupta,

Associate Professor, Department of English and Culture Studies,

University of Burdwan

on Monday, 16^th March 2015

from 12:15 p.m. onward

in

the Seminar Room,

Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi – 25.

Abstract:

This proposed lecture falls into two distinct, though related, sections. The first briefly historicises Renaissance perceptions on the question of human greatness, while the second looks at Shakespeare’s Hamlet and King Lear as plays that counter certain major Renaissance humanist assumptions about man, and occasionally, about the universe. These plays problematize Renaissance humanist ideology by subjecting it to subtle but incessant questioning. The essentialist humanism which shapes Hamlet’s mind undermines, almost paradoxically, the very possibilities of that humanist ideology.  Several of his speeches are characterised by an acknowledgement of conventional Renaissance humanist wisdom about the universe and about man, only to subsequently give way to a very private perspective upon the same. This private perspective, pessimistic and cynical, constitutes Hamlet’s questioning of Renaissance humanist thought. In this complementary parallelism of macrocosm and microcosm, we have a remarkable antithesis of humanism and counter-humanism. The skeptical questioning of Renaissance humanism informs King Lear too. This play about filial ingratitude is also a play about the ‘barrenness’ of man, and the suggestions of man’s fundamental affinity with beasts threaten to undermine the distinctions between man and beast so energetically made in conventional Renaissance formulations of the image of man.

For more details, please feel free to mail to conf.eng.bc@gmail.com, or call/text Mr. Anubhav Pradhan at 09999105003.

Notice: talk on Keats' life, poetry and letters

 The Department of English,

Bharati College

invites you

to a talk titled

‘John Keats: His Life and Poetry’

to be led by

Prof. Robert S. White,

Program Leader, Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, University of Western Australia,

on Friday, 13^th March 2015

in the college Theatre Room

from 12:55 pm to 1:50 pm.

Abstract:

Prof. Robert White will give an introductory lecture on the life, poetry and letters of John Keats, based on John Keats, A Literary Life (Palgrave Macmillan 2012), his acclaimed biography of the poet. This informal talk is focused primarily on “The Eve of Saint Agnes,” “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to a Nightingale,” and “Autumn.” It also explores some of Keats’ letters, discussing how they reveal the romantic poet’s creative process. The talk is intended to provide some basic information about the Romantic poet John Keats, and will aim to enhance the audience’s appreciation of his works.

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For more details, feel free to call/text Ms. Bhawna Khera at 08376953641 or email to conf.eng.bc@gmail.com.