YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → external augustan 9

external augustan 9 — Transcript

by Media Unit EDECU · 16,044 words · 2,330 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:02Welcome back to Augustine literature. So
0:05now we will be looking at this uh play
0:09called the way of the world by William
0:11Congra. So with this play we are coming
0:14to uh this age called the restoration
0:18age. So it's a part of the Augustine age
0:20and I'll talk about it u in my next
0:23slide. Uh so we are looking at the
0:26period between 1660 and uh 17 um uh
0:331700.
0:34Um okay. So um now uh I hope you have uh
0:40read the play and I will uh kind of
0:43start looking at the period and then
0:45I'll talk a little bit about uh uh this
0:49idea of comedy and then I'll move to the
0:52play. Uh now um what is interesting is
0:56that um uh this play is written by uh a
1:01man called William Congre uh who uh was
1:06kind of responding to the uh historical
1:10context of his time. So the uh this era
1:14is considered a time of relative
1:19political stability.
1:21I mean relatively things are kind of
1:23calm uh and uh there is a monarchy and
1:29uh there is a a kind of a sense of uh
1:32certain uh rights that people have. Uh
1:36so um I will go on to uh all of these
1:39issues uh in my next few slides.
1:42Okay. So let us move to the next slide.
1:51Let us first look at uh William
1:54Congress. So he uh is from 1670 to 1729.
2:02Uh now um he's actually born in England.
2:05Uh he's born in a place called
2:07Yorkshire.
2:09uh and uh he's considered an English
2:11dramatist who kind of uh creates or who
2:16he doesn't create it but he certainly
2:18perfects this um genre called comedy of
2:22manners. So I'll talk about that later
2:24on. Um so um now though he is born in uh
2:29England uh in 1674 I believe his father
2:35uh is kind of granted the place in the
2:38army to join a garrison in Ireland. So
2:41therefore
2:43because the father is transferred the
2:45entire family they move to Ireland. Uh
2:48and um it is in Ireland that uh Congre
2:53begins school. Uh so he goes to uh all
2:56of these very prestigious um uh schools
2:59in Ireland. Uh so he goes to um uh the
3:04Eden of Ireland literally uh you know
3:07where even princes and kings and they
3:10all attend. Uh and then later on he goes
3:13um to uh this university which is called
3:16Trinity College Dublin. Uh so um those
3:20are very interesting and he apparently
3:23um uh was also um uh familiar uh with uh
3:30Jonathan Swift of all people
3:33because um uh and apparently they had a
3:37kind of a lifelong friendship as well.
3:40Uh so um so now the father kind of is
3:44there. So he is in university but then
3:46they return to England and he enters um
3:51uh England uh and starts to study uh
3:56law. So he becomes a law student but
3:58apparently he was never a serious um uh
4:02student in law. Uh and uh but then he
4:05used to apparently write. He had a
4:07passion in writing and uh at that age
4:11apparently he was writing all these
4:13parodies
4:15um of fashionable romances
4:18uh and he quickly becomes known uh as
4:21somebody who is clever in writing and
4:23later on he actually becomes a protetéé
4:27of John Dryden. Now I told you um I
4:31think once and I'm yet to do Dryen's
4:34poetry with you. Um but this idea that
4:37Dryden almost can defines the age right
4:40uh and um what he does is uh uh when um
4:45I mean they even collaborated together
4:48uh with poetry and all of that. There
4:50was a lot of um collaborative work and
4:52he was considered a disciple of John
4:54Dryden. uh and um he begins writing
5:00plays. Uh so he wrote this play called
5:03the old bachelor. Uh and um it is
5:07considered uh a kind of a first play. Uh
5:12apparently an enormous success uh and it
5:15was even um I mean people did not read
5:19plays at that time. They went to watch
5:21plays, right? You're not supposed to
5:22read texts. you're supposed I mean plays
5:25you're supposed to watch them. Uh
5:27unfortunately we are kind of analyzing
5:29them. That's not the way it goes. Uh but
5:32um I mean he kind of uh uh became
5:36popular uh and he published it, he
5:40staged it uh and he was apparently even
5:43one of the managers of a theater. So
5:45very involved in theater, very involved
5:48in kind of public plays. uh and he kind
5:50of in turn to uh write many more uh and
5:54apparently his most successful obviously
5:58was way of the world uh and it's
6:01considered his masterpiece actually and
6:03it's produced uh in 1700.
6:08So it's kind of right on the cusp of
6:10like you know uh the 18th century. Uh
6:13and uh but what was interesting is that
6:16uh though he tried to kind of produce
6:19it, you know, he apparently had a
6:21brilliant cast, but it was absolutely a
6:25failure with the audience. Uh and it
6:28becomes his last attempt to write a
6:30play. Uh and later on he writes opera,
6:34he does even a bit of poetry. Uh but
6:38then you know this idea that he was
6:40never to kind of continue with um uh uh
6:44plays and uh the rest of his life passes
6:47quietly. Uh he always had a lot of money
6:50in the sense that he had a private
6:52income. He got royalties of his place
6:56and um he had a couple of uh positions
7:00uh that were considered prestigious
7:02uh and um a lot of translation mind you
7:06plus a considerable number of poems.
7:09Once again a little light the way he
7:11writes his um um plays.
7:16Okay, so I think that's about it, right?
7:18That's all you kind of need to know. Uh
7:22uh I'll just tell you how he died.
7:24Apparently he died after a carriage
7:26accident
7:28uh which is um very sad. Let me move to
7:32the next slide.
7:38Now we have to talk a little bit about
7:41what restoration comedy is. Um because
7:46um the restoration comedy it's really
7:49important to figure out what the
7:52implications are when we are reading a
7:54restoration comedy because that's what
7:56we are doing. We are reading a comedy.
7:57We are reading a play. Now um
8:03restoration comedy is a kind of a comedy
8:06that is performed between 1660 and 1700.
8:10So remember as I was earlier telling you
8:121700 was when he um brings out the way
8:16of the world. Now what what does
8:19restoration mean? Uh
8:25now um there was this uh king called
8:28Charles II and in 1660 what happens?
8:341660 he regains the throne.
8:40What does that mean?
8:44This idea that before Charles II, there
8:48was
8:49a kind of a civil war. There were there
8:52was a religious upheaval
8:54uh and uh there was a kind of a
8:57puritanical rule and what happens is uh
9:02in 1660 Charles is invited back to the
9:05throne after the end of the civil war.
9:07Now the civil war is between 1642 and
9:101651
9:12and at that time he is in exile in
9:15France. Now Charles I is beheaded.
9:19He's beheaded. Therefore the son kind of
9:22goes into exile. Uh and now the son is
9:26invited back to the throne. But when he
9:29does come he has been influenced by the
9:33French. Right? So what he does because
9:37that because of this fact that he spent
9:39um so much of time in France, he was in
9:42exile. He tries to emulate the uh the
9:47life of France. And when we think of
9:49France, even in um 17th and 18th
9:52centuries, it was a kind of a place of
9:55sophistication. It had splendor. There
9:58was a kind of a liberality to France. I
10:00mean there still is when you kind of
10:02think of France as opposed to other
10:04countries.
10:06And how does he how does he see this?
10:08Because at that time uh in France you
10:12had Louis the 14th and he kind of really
10:17uh represented all of this splendor this
10:21uh kind of abundance and sophistication.
10:23So uh as a result the lords and ladies
10:27of his court dressed in all these
10:30elaborate costumes
10:32uh they would kind of wear silk they
10:35would wear lace they would wear
10:37elaborate wigs uh sparkling jewels
10:41[clears throat] u I mean now you might
10:43have watched even certain films uh and
10:46you would have probably seen this they
10:48had these balls balls are these huge
10:51parties
10:52uh And what um Charles II did was he
10:57started to kind of establish a royal
10:59court uh similar to the French court in
11:03England. So there was now once again a
11:05pomp and a majesty
11:08that was absent before uh his time. Uh
11:13so now what does it mean to kind of
11:17restore something? What does it mean?
11:19What is restoration?
11:23restoration means, you know, something
11:25is kind of put back in place, right? So
11:28now this idea of the Steuart monarchy,
11:32the the the the kings that belong to
11:35that lineage, now they are back um in
11:39rule. They are back um on the throne
11:42literally. Uh so
11:45uh now with the restoration now what
11:49happens is uh the monarchy also realized
11:53that the parliament was now stronger
11:55than before. So they had to kind of now
11:58share their power with the parliament.
12:01Um but Charles was able to win support
12:05in parliament. Uh so there's a lot of
12:08things going on at this time. I I I
12:11wonder whether you have some of you
12:12would have heard of things like the
12:14great plague of 1665 and then there was
12:17this huge fire in London that completely
12:20gutted the whole town city. It's called
12:23the great fire of London one year later.
12:27Uh so I mean there were these massive
12:30disasters as well but however
12:34you know uh I mean Charles was able to
12:37hold things together um and uh I think I
12:40talked about this when I did um uh
12:43Galivver's travels this idea that there
12:46were very there were two strong factions
12:49in the parliament uh the chief political
12:51parties the Tories and the wig so
12:54they're also kind of strong at this time
12:56uh and uh so is the monarchy. Uh so the
13:00the there was a lot of rivalry as well.
13:02The rivalry is that uh uh the wigs um
13:07wanted to limit royal authority. They
13:09wanted to kind of uh uh put a stock to
13:13you know all these wealthy merchants,
13:15financiers you know all who mostly were
13:18from the noble stock uh and um they were
13:23more I mean uh towards um you know uh
13:28curbing or stopping this French
13:30expansion in Europe. uh they saw that
13:34you know this was a kind of threat to
13:35England whereas the Tories were
13:39supporters of royal authority so the
13:42Tories were pro- royal whereas the wigs
13:45were anti-royal and they were mostly why
13:48because the Tories were mostly
13:49landowning aristocrats and conservative
13:52Anglicans who did not have I mean could
13:55who did not tolerate any kind of radical
13:58idea uh idea so uh it's really it's a
14:02very interesting time uh and I think you
14:05already know um uh bitter because you
14:09have read Galiva's travels uh now the
14:12comedy that is written at this time is
14:15also really interesting uh because the
14:18comedy obviously we know isn't
14:20reflective of the above concerns
14:24because when we read way of the world I
14:26mean we don't have any reference to the
14:28great fire of London or the plague we
14:31are so when many were killed. Uh I mean
14:33you you don't really see a lot of that,
14:35right?
14:37Uh you're going to see something uh
14:39pretty light. I mean something to do
14:41with a couple of people. Uh you're not
14:45going to really have all these um you
14:47know political uh issues that surface
14:50with William Congre. But what is
14:53interesting is that uh still it has a
14:56point because uh it is reflective
15:01of um I mean a certain kind of a
15:04tendency in society. Uh a tendency was
15:08that uh you now celebrated the kind of
15:12restoration age. you started to kind of
15:16celebrate the co the life of the court,
15:19the nobility or the uh sexual intrigues
15:23and now in the uh restoration age there
15:26is a rejection of conventional Christian
15:28morality.
15:31All this while there was this idea that
15:33uh um you know um I mean there was a
15:37kind of a puritanism
15:40uh in uh society because uh the uh
15:44period before the restoration period is
15:46it's also called um the p the puditan
15:49era. Uh so restoration
15:54era and the literature that is a part of
15:57uh the restoration age begins to kind of
16:02reflect that reactive situation in the
16:05society because what would happen if a
16:07society puts a stop to every possible
16:11enjoyment in life. um what is going to
16:15happen for instance let's say um about
16:1840 50 years people are not allowed to
16:21act in a certain way people are not
16:23allowed to do certain things people are
16:25not allowed to follow what they want
16:27what would happen suddenly when those
16:30things end uh it's going to be reactive
16:32right because people would want to do
16:34the opposite of what happened so it's
16:36something like that where now suddenly
16:40um this becomes an age uh of what you
16:44call comic production because suddenly
16:47comedy allows the the comedians or
16:52allows the writer to kind of bring in
16:56certain things that have not really been
16:59talked about for a while. So therefore,
17:03restoration comedy is seen as some
17:06somewhat indecent or immoral
17:10uh and it's seen as something excessive.
17:13Excessive means it's not moderate. It's
17:15kind of you know over the top uh and uh
17:19uh now um but but then I'll I'll talk a
17:22little bit about morality later on. So
17:24it rejects conventional Christian
17:26morality. Christian morality tells you
17:28to uh be very moderate, not to kind of
17:30do certain things. But we are we going
17:33to see in restoration comedy people
17:35flaunting or people not following those
17:40kind of precepts.
17:42Let me get on to the next slide.
17:48So what is the philosophy that was
17:50adopted?
17:55What does uh copium mean?
18:01What do you think it means? What is uh
18:04um I mean what does this uh kind of word
18:09suggest?
18:11It's a phrase, right? That was used by
18:13uh uh this Roman poet called Horus,
18:16right? Uh what does it mean? It means
18:21that you know it actually literally
18:23means um sees the day.
18:26I mean you know not to kind of uh um
18:29worry about the consequences you know to
18:32live for the moment literally. Uh so
18:35this idea that one should enjoy life
18:38while one can.
18:40uh and that is the kind of philosophy
18:43that is adopted in restoration comedy
18:45because now the importance of pleasure
18:50uh kind of gains significance. Now I I
18:53was telling you right before that in the
18:55puritanical age there is a kind of a um
19:00a kind of a stop to what you can do but
19:04now with the restoration of Charles II
19:08now pleasure
19:10uh gets the central place. So therefore
19:15now they're going to talk about this
19:16idea of pleasure that is gained by uh
19:19conquest uh and um the aristocracy after
19:24restoration they were euphoric because
19:28um the Puritans had uh kind of uh
19:34disallowed the
19:37aristocracy to do what they want.
19:42Now uh I'm I'm not sure whether I talked
19:46about this before but this idea that um
19:49before the restoration there was this
19:51kind of puritanical period. Why? Because
19:53this man called Oliver Cromwell uh he
19:56was a Puritan general right and he's the
19:59one who kind of created a a commonwealth
20:03where the monarchy was literally killed
20:06and chased out. Uh so he created a
20:09commonwealth which was like a 11-year
20:11commonwealth where the country was
20:13governed by parliament under the
20:15direction of Cromwell of course. Uh so
20:18therefore everything changed the the
20:21cultural life life of Britain was
20:23entirely different
20:25because now this time there was this
20:28idea that you know you had to uh kind of
20:31apply reason to everything. I have
20:33already talked about it when I did the
20:36uh the previous two texts. This idea of
20:38age of reason or enlightenment, this
20:41idea of neocclassical forms, this idea
20:44of order, logic, restraint, accuracy,
20:48correctness, decorum, everything. Uh and
20:51those were kind of exemplified as well.
20:53But what happens is uh with um the
20:57restoration there is a kind of a total
21:02uh rehashing of that and now
21:06um they kind of um did not want to
21:11follow the same moral standards that
21:13were put out by Oliver Cromwell. So now
21:17different moral standards are brought in
21:19and the moral standard is this carpedium
21:22live for play live for pleasure
21:26uh and uh while the commonwealth rule
21:29the aristocracy had no place right
21:31because it's then parliament govern but
21:32now aristocracy is back and when they
21:35are back uh it is going to be worse than
21:38before now all their titles and
21:40privileges were given back therefore
21:43there is a further indulgence in an
21:46extravagant lifestyle and manners. Uh
21:49and as the French code there is this
21:52exquisite kind of display in dress in
21:56manners and now uh suddenly something
21:59like wit I have talked about what wit is
22:03this idea of being clever. Um now those
22:06become valued. So now morality all of
22:10those take a backseat. Now people are
22:12tired of that. Right? Now people want to
22:15be fashionable. They want to flaunt
22:18recognized moral standards
22:21and because they did not dare to indulge
22:24in excesses before now uh they will do
22:28so and even if they don't the theater
22:31remember this is a play. The play
22:34creates possibilities for the audience
22:38in the sense that even if uh uh you
22:40cannot indulge in the excesses that are
22:43shown in the play you nevertheless um
22:46kind of come you watch the play and you
22:49are kind of you know enthralled by the
22:52cleverness in the play. So that this
22:54idea that the writers are writing to a
22:57audience who probably desire this kind
23:00of moral uh laxity or this kind of
23:04flaunting of moral ideals,
23:07you know, they because the uh the there
23:10was this kind of an indulgence in the
23:12court in with the king and with the
23:15aristocracy all of that. Uh so the plays
23:18now uh kind of show that uh world that
23:23everybody is embroiled in. [snorts] Um
23:26let me move to the next slide.
23:35Now who watched these plays? Um mostly
23:40an upper class aristocratic audience
23:42mostly.
23:44But then apparently other classes also
23:46watched. Uh I mean this was the same
23:49when it came to a Shakespearean play. Uh
23:52in the 16th century when Shakespeare uh
23:55put out his plays apparently everybody
23:58including even the queen um you know
24:03they were all part of the audience. So
24:06um this was actually a problem for the
24:09Puritans.
24:11they objected to this uh idea that you
24:14know classes would now mingle together.
24:17So the royalty, the aristocracy,
24:20the the the middle classes and the the
24:24poorest of the poor plus the
24:25pickpockers, the prostitutes, everybody
24:28would come and watch the play. Uh so uh
24:31the same with the restoration but mostly
24:33aristocratic. Uh so apparently there was
24:36this rowdy audience with the lower
24:39classes in the gallery. I mean even now
24:41we use that word gallery to kind of
24:43imply the same right. Uh what is
24:46interesting is that the actors were from
24:49the lower classes.
24:51Uh and uh the actors had to undergo
24:56extensive training. Why? Because they
24:59had to mimic this upper class speech and
25:01mannerisms. Now kindly remember England
25:04is a very classcon conscious society
25:06where dialect is also very much tied to
25:09class. So how you speak would betray
25:11your class.
25:14Therefore the actors had to learn
25:16because they were not speaking the upper
25:18class dialect. Uh and the most
25:21interesting uh during the restoration
25:24age is that um uh women [clears throat]
25:28are now given the opportunity to act.
25:32Now this was unheard of uh in um uh the
25:37Elizabethan age for instance in the
25:39Elizabeth bean age uh women could not
25:43act.
25:46Why? Why are women not allowed to act?
25:52Once again because of this issue of you
25:54know the role of women I mean this idea
25:56that women uh are not supposed to act uh
26:00they're supposed to kind of be at home
26:03or they're not supposed to kind of come
26:05and display themselves
26:07uh they're not supposed to kind of be on
26:10stage all of those. So usually in a
26:13Shakespearean play boys you know boys
26:16whose uh voices had not broken uh would
26:20act as women. So for instance Romeo and
26:23Juliet Juliet would be like a you know
26:25like a 12 or 13 year old boy whose voice
26:28who hasn't kind of yet attain puberty.
26:31Uh now I think so the so the Elizabethan
26:35age was very um kind of strict when it
26:39came to women. Uh
26:43now uh what happens with uh the
26:46restoration age?
26:48In fact, the restoration age is uh
26:53pretty liberal when it came to women
26:56because now
26:58uh women were allowed to kind of come
27:01and act. So women could act as women.
27:07women could kind of now uh break ground.
27:11And this was considered very
27:13forwardthinking because uh
27:17you know I mean um this idea that a
27:20female actor uh was unheard of before
27:25but now you had women coming in earlier
27:28they did not have that kind of uh
27:30privilege. Uh so uh in a sense uh
27:34boundaries are broken in the restoration
27:36age. Uh women become you know much more
27:41um kind of uh uh liberal because now uh
27:45they can kind of uh have a social role
27:49outside of home. All right. Uh whereas
27:53earlier it was kind of uh unheard of. So
27:57that is important this idea that women
27:59now could act. um there was also at this
28:03time a kind of a uh a progression with
28:06regard to um the these props. So now for
28:11the first time you had movable
28:13theatrical machinery. For instance, if
28:15you wanted to kind of display a change
28:19from summer to winter, now you could
28:21kind of you know move uh the the the
28:23scenery around. So these were pretty new
28:26at that time. uh and these all developed
28:30to the de I mean these all contributed
28:32to the development of English drama in
28:35the 17th and 18th centuries right uh so
28:38once again just like uh drama opening up
28:42female spaces of performance right
28:46uh likewise it also starts to kind of
28:49technically kind of improve um theater
28:54presentations
28:55uh so it was kind of you know um very
28:58forward thinking when it came to plays.
29:01Uh but what's interesting is that you
29:03had um I mean you you could not get away
29:06from predictable plots, stereotypes,
29:10exaggerated characters. Uh I'll talk
29:13about who are fies um uh fs or fallen
29:18women. Now fallen women are usually uh
29:22for instance women like um uh you know
29:24like uh a prostitute would be considered
29:27a fallen woman you know a woman who has
29:29uh lost her credibility
29:32uh in society you know who will no
29:34longer be accepted. Uh now uh who is a
29:38fob?
29:40Who is a fob?
29:49Now fops are these um I mean they were
29:52very much a huge part of restoration
29:54comedy. Fobs were these
29:56>> [snorts]
29:56>> uh men who were kind of foolish uh I
30:00mean not foolish but kind of uh
30:04attentive uh to you know how they acted
30:07who are very self-conscious who are very
30:10vain of their appearance dress or
30:12manners. uh you also use this word
30:14called the dandy. I don't know whether
30:16you've heard of this word dandy. You
30:18know this idea of uh for instance men
30:20who are uh overdressed who kind of take
30:24extra care about how they speak who are
30:27so conscious uh and who kind of you know
30:31uh walk and dress in a a particular way.
30:35Uh so the original meaning has actually
30:38been the word full. Uh but um when it
30:41came to the 17th century, it kind of
30:43meant a man who uh uh who was kind of
30:46fashionable, who was excessive
30:50um you know people at that time would be
30:53um wearing these massive gigantic wigs.
30:57They would wear too much of lace. They
31:00would kind of have exaggerated hands
31:02hand gestures, you know, like a man you
31:04would really notice if um you know he's
31:07in an audience. Uh so this idea that
31:12such a man would be kind of ridiculous.
31:14So that's a fop and you have a lot of
31:16these fops in um restoration comedy. Uh
31:20because uh this idea that uh uh these
31:24fops were kind of representative of this
31:27ideal social world of the court, right?
31:30I talked about this quote that was very
31:32fashionable, that was very
31:34self-conscious.
31:35uh so uh this idea of uh the presence of
31:40the f in the royal court so obviously he
31:43is also going to be now represented in
31:45theater right uh and also these men were
31:50naive you know they they they lacked
31:52intelligence
31:54um they are not really perceptive uh
31:58they don't realize that everybody is
32:00laughing at them uh they're kind of you
32:04know like friendly. Uh they're not
32:07they're not violent, you know, or you
32:10know, bad or whatever, but this idea
32:14that they're kind of lacking. Uh and
32:18they kind of represent that age because
32:20this age is not a kind of a serious age,
32:24right? Because this idea that they were
32:26too [snorts] kind of um restricted and
32:30now when they kind of come out uh it it
32:34becomes all fashionable society it
32:36doesn't really have too much of [snorts]
32:39uh you know depth to it. So the so a
32:42depthless society so that is kind of
32:45represented in the exaggerated manners
32:48and dress and uh conduct of the FOP. So
32:53the fox is a really important kind of a
32:55symbol uh for
32:58this um you know this age uh and you
33:02have uh in this uh uh play as well as in
33:06all the restoration plays uh these fops.
33:10So the fops the fallen women cakoles
33:13cako are men who um
33:16who are kind of uh cheated by their
33:18wives. Then you have these witty
33:20couples. Then you have this virgin. Uh
33:23and you have the rake. Now who is a
33:25rake? Uh rake is you know what you'd
33:28call like a man who um is not faithful
33:32who kind of you know uses women who who
33:35exploits women for his own gain. So that
33:38is called a rake. Um so you had that you
33:42so you kind of satize all of those
33:44people as well. So it's not the place
33:47while it kind of showed the excesses of
33:50u uh the restoration age it also
33:53criticized those excesses. So it's not
33:55like all these plays were uh kind of uh
33:59promoting the behavior of what was going
34:02on but it also criticized but please
34:04note that they also criticized the
34:06Puritans.
34:08The Puritans were equally
34:11um
34:13kind of condemned in uh restoration
34:17literature and the monarch was flattered
34:19because obviously the monarch had to
34:21fund the playrs. The playrs could not
34:23work alone. They always had to have some
34:25kind of uh um uh funding. they had to be
34:30kind of looked after by you know either
34:32an aristocrat or a king because you know
34:35people these uh writers did not have you
34:38I mean they they could not kind of come
34:40up with plays without doing so
34:45let me get on to the next slide.
34:52Okay. So let us look at the nature of
34:54restoration comedy. Uh now uh this was
34:58inferior to Elizabeth and drama. What is
35:02Elizabeth and drama?
35:05Uh it's the you know like Shakespeare
35:07falls into that category. So obviously
35:10uh this drama does not equal or parallel
35:14Shakespearean
35:16drama in any way. Shakespeare is kind of
35:20considered um
35:23a master of his craft, right? But see,
35:25but you don't have that kind of depth
35:27and uh
35:30uh the the kind of uh uh cleverness
35:33here. Uh these plays seem to be much
35:37more shallow uh compared to a
35:39Shakespearean play. Uh because these
35:42plays are less imaginative,
35:45less uh uh complex but more polished. So
35:50it uh it sounds better, looks better.
35:53But then the the content the substance
35:56is seriously lacking when you compare it
35:58to a Shakespearean play. Uh so very
36:01inferior to Elizabeth and drama. Why?
36:04Because the restoration comedy is about
36:06the sophisticated fashionable world. I
36:08have already talked about it. It is
36:10about city gentlemen. The heroes are not
36:14kings or the poor or whatever the
36:17mighty. These are just um people uh you
36:22know uh you'd see you know but then of
36:25aristocratic kind of uh uh lineage
36:30uh they are loose they are pretentious
36:32but they have good breeding for instance
36:34they are polite uh they know how to
36:37behave at any social gathering but that
36:40does not mean that they are not
36:42hypocrites that they are not
36:43pretentious. Uh so obviously men who
36:47perfected every way
36:50uh fashion so uh in conversation in
36:54gestures in conduct these are
36:56fashionable men and women
36:59uh they are kind of like dream um men
37:02and women. Why? Because they enjoy life,
37:05they reflect beauty
37:08um all of that. So you know they look
37:10good all of that. But then this idea
37:15that they lead a life of boredom and
37:17pleasure. I mean they they have they
37:19have fun but then there there's no
37:21substance to that life. So therefore
37:23they are kind of bored. So they're kind
37:24of looking for entertainment and the
37:27entertainment is also ultimately not
37:29entirely uh satisfying. Uh so it's a
37:33it's a interesting kind of a word. Uh
37:37it's a very surfacey kind of a word. Uh
37:41it's an existence that lacks in
37:43morality, ethics. Uh so you you are not
37:47going to really find uh um you know a
37:51lot of uh um morality here. Uh right.
37:56And I I I'll said I'll come to morality.
37:58I'll say uh I'll say something a little
38:00later on. Um but there's this idea that
38:03because they're overrefined that they
38:05are overconscious about how they dress
38:07and how they act and how they need to
38:09speak that it has led them to a lack of
38:12sincerity that they are just elegant
38:15quoteers. They are just stupid fobs but
38:18there is no sincerity integrity to them.
38:21Uh they are all just empty words. Um
38:26there's really nothing beyond that. So
38:28uh restoration comedy is very important
38:32and under restoration comedy we are
38:34looking at something called the comedy
38:37of manners.
38:39Uh let me get on to that a little later
38:43on. Now the comedy of manners is a
38:45subgenre of uh restoration comedy.
38:53What is this comedy of manners
38:56stand for?
39:01It satarizes so society's manners.
39:05Manners are what? Manners are ways and
39:08rules of behavior.
39:13Now usually comedy of manners
39:16um the these kinds of comedies were
39:20written by sophisticated authors. We
39:23talked about Congru. I mean he himself
39:25he's not he's not somebody who is not
39:27sophisticated, right? We we looked at
39:29his upbringing. He had gone to these
39:31very elite schools in both in Ireland
39:34and England. Uh so obviously kind of you
39:37know known um the sophisticated.
39:41So the comedy of manners is written by
39:43these authors for members of their own
39:46social class.
39:49So uh therefore
39:52uh what it presents uh is this upper
39:56class dynamic.
39:58So because it's kind of written for a
40:01kind of an upper class uh audience, it
40:04kind of uh represents that upper class
40:08dynamic. It also unveils its
40:11superficiality.
40:13It shows how vain these people are. uh
40:17it's also suggesting that these people
40:19have not learned anything from the
40:20revolution. Now mind you we talked about
40:22a civil war where Charles II comes and
40:26uh gets gets back to the throne. So we
40:28are talking of beheading violence all of
40:31that right
40:33but uh there's a suggestion that these
40:36people are kind of totally immune to
40:38what has happened. They they don't
40:39really care. They actually there is no
40:41mention of it at all. They just work
40:44with a couple of very superficial ideas
40:47here. Uh and uh what's uh interesting is
40:51that these people are supposed to lead
40:54exemplary lives, virtuous, righteous.
40:58Why? Because they're just after a civil
41:00war. They have kind of got back
41:02everything. But what actually happens is
41:04their lives are full of lies, betrayal,
41:07corruption, and an immorality.
41:10they become ridiculous, foolish
41:13characters and we're going to see a
41:14bunch of them here. Uh but please note
41:17that this differs from slapstick. Now
41:20what is slapstick?
41:25What is slapstick?
41:34What does it mean? You must have watched
41:37uh slapstick comedy, right? It's a kind
41:39of a physical kind of a comedy. Uh I
41:42don't know whether you have watched some
41:43of the early Charlie Chaplan films. I
41:45mean Charlie Chaplan films are not
41:47always slapstick. Some have very uh
41:51sophisticated ideas in them. But if you
41:54look at some you know this idea of
41:57physical kind of comedies you know like
41:59u somebody will hit somebody in the head
42:02or when someone's about to sit they'll
42:04pull the chair people fall down. uh
42:07somebody's eyes poked uh you know this
42:10uh what you'd call low kind of comedy
42:14uh this idea that u uh it's a low kind
42:19of comedy. So low kind of comedy rarely
42:22kind of moves into high art
42:24uh because why? because it kind of
42:27involves this exaggerated physical
42:30activity,
42:31you know, a lot of intentional violence
42:34and uh I think a Charlie Chaplain one
42:36would be very uh um I mean exemp I mean
42:41it would represent that kind of a uh
42:43traditional slapstick. Uh now you it's
42:47this is not slapstick at all. You don't
42:50have any physical form of comedy and
42:52this is going to be hard for us to
42:54grasp. Why? Because this is a comedy of
42:56manners. That means the comedy is all uh
43:00less in the plot and more in what we
43:03call verbal bit. Uh words
43:08how we kind of use the words. So the
43:10words are very intellectual, very
43:12sophisticated. There is a kind of a
43:13playfulness with words. uh and because
43:16we do not belong to that uh 17th century
43:19or 18th century English society
43:23uh we are not going to uh kind of grasp
43:27most of the humor here. So it evade us.
43:31So all all we have to do is kind of just
43:33look at the surfacey
43:36uh play. But actually if you were of
43:38that time and if you knew uh what is
43:42truly meant uh by these words then this
43:46would be in fact extremely fun. Right?
43:49So we miss most of it because we are not
43:51uh we are not native speakers of the
43:53language nor do we belong to this
43:55period. This is alien to us. Right? Uh
43:58so so that is important to keep in mind.
44:06There's a lot of fast and satire
44:13now uh tell me what is fast? Uh I mean
44:17what obviously you can't tell me right
44:19but uh what is meant by fast? uh fast is
44:23also very much linked to um what I was
44:27earlier talking about this idea of you
44:29know buffoonery a crude kind of a
44:32characterization for instance um let me
44:37now let's say if it's a politician you
44:39know this protruding stomach you know it
44:43would be kind of like a fast uh crude
44:46kind of a characterization
44:48which is aimed at entertaining uh the
44:51audience highly exaggerated, ridiculous,
44:54absurd. Uh and satire is this idea of a
44:57critique of society. So you have both
44:59fast here and satire. Uh and when you
45:03sat satarize somebody or criticize
45:05somebody here, you have the satire of
45:08materialistic existence of the upper
45:11classes and the hypocritical existence
45:13of the upper classes.
45:16So how they live uh their material
45:19existence and how hypocritical these
45:21people are, how much of a double
45:23standard they have in life and how
45:26conflicted they are and how frivolous
45:28they are. Frivolous means more
45:31childlike, more naive uh these people
45:34actually are. So the tone throughout is
45:37cynical. Uh cynical means it's kind of
45:40harsh. It's tongue and cheek. It's
45:43satirical.
45:45uh and uh language and actions are very
45:48sexually explicit. He's going to use a
45:50lot of sexual innuendos. Once again, we
45:53will not get most of it because we don't
45:54belong there into that um era. Now,
45:58characters in this play are mostly
46:00driven by greed and lust.
46:04Mostly by greed and issues would be
46:08marriage, desire and class. Those are
46:12the issues.
46:14uh and uh the environment
46:17is an environment of deceit and moral
46:20ambiguity. I mean everybody is uh lying
46:23to uh one another. Uh and it's also
46:27ambiguous. Now I also want to talk a
46:29little bit about morality. Now uh
46:31restoration comedy people says no one
46:35fights indecency and its immorality. Uh
46:38and uh people have always seen it as
46:41immoral. But then we've got to also
46:43understand that morality is a relative
46:45term. Uh what is moral for one may not
46:48be moral for another. Same applies to
46:52immorality. Right? So what is immoral in
46:55one age uh is not immoral in another
46:59age. Uh so therefore uh we must uh not
47:04judge this uh play by its moral
47:06standards
47:08but we must judge it by the moral
47:10standards of the age.
47:13Right? So we have to this idea that we
47:15have to contextualize this uh we should
47:18not say oh my god this is scandalous but
47:20we've got to look at why he's writing
47:23this kind of a play. Is he trying to
47:26make a comment about the 18th century
47:31and is he trying to kind of criticize
47:33the moral sensibilities at that time or
47:36is he trying to justify the moral
47:39sensibilities of that time right so uh
47:43when you're reading this think of why
47:46these plays are uh I mean indecent
47:51why why are these people
47:54kind of being so excessive? Is it
47:56because they are flaunting their
47:58excesses because uh they want to react
48:01to that age that has preceded them?
48:06Okay, let us get on to the next slide.
48:17Okay. Now, why why is there a need for
48:20comedy in this age? Why comedy? Why not
48:23tragedy?
48:25um we have to kind of look at the
48:27context. Now as I was earlier telling
48:30you because of what was happening
48:33because of this kind of overhaul in
48:35society there is a kind of a sense of a
48:38loss of order that there is a loss of
48:40social order and a loss of a natural
48:42order and because of that this idea of a
48:46crisis in personal relationships.
48:49Now this was a time when marriages were
48:52a contract
48:54uh that when marriages were created not
48:57based on love but because of the of a
49:01necessity and the necessity was always
49:03of a social kind. This idea that uh
49:07women and men needed to kind of form
49:10this institution called marriage. Now
49:12upon marriage women in the restoration
49:15age
49:18lost control of their property and
49:22because they lost control of property
49:24what happens what are you next in danger
49:26of losing
49:28uh you lost control of your independence
49:30because now you had to depend on
49:34men because men would take control of
49:37their money. Uh so it's almost like kind
49:40of like a dowy being passed over. Uh and
49:43because women now have to depend on men
49:47[clears throat] uh they also have to be
49:50uh uh I mean dependent on um men in
49:54other ways in the sense that they lose
49:56their kind of freedom. Uh now there's
49:59also a double standard
50:01uh where
50:03uh the behavior of the general
50:06population was restricted by society by
50:09Puritanism. Now Puritanism was not
50:11entirely over. There were strains of
50:13Puritanism everywhere. Yet the court had
50:17different rules. So the aristocracy and
50:20the nobility had a kind of a uh sexual
50:23lensiousness that was not available for
50:26for the general population. For
50:28instance, it's a little like let's say
50:31uh the upper classes and the lower
50:34middle classes in Sri Lanka. I mean
50:36certain uh patterns of behavior that are
50:41loved and condored and ignored in the
50:44upper classes probably would not be
50:46tolerated in the middle classes. So you
50:48have this in any society.
50:51Um so the same with uh the restoration
50:54age uh and male promiscuity was rampant
50:58as is always right. So this idea of
51:01unfaithful men uh but as I was earlier
51:06telling you it's a time of social
51:08progress in terms of gender.
51:11Uh why? Because now women could I mean
51:14even act and it's a time when women are
51:17also now beginning to write. So for
51:20instance you have women like Afra Bane
51:23who start writing plays. So now you it's
51:26a time of women writers.
51:32So female writers, female actors. Uh so
51:36uh what we have in Congress play is
51:40actually a battle between the men and
51:42the women. You could even call it a
51:44battle of the sexes. Uh you know this
51:46idea of women and men who are equally
51:49witty who kind of have a certain uh duel
51:54uh between one another. Uh
51:56[clears throat] so I mean obviously not
51:58very tragic material here not extremely
52:01profound but nevertheless uh starts to
52:04reflect the general status of that
52:07society at that time. Uh so um
52:12some critics have argued that this kind
52:15of uh battle also represents the anxiety
52:19that men had that they were also losing
52:22their authority in society that women
52:26were getting stronger and stronger. So
52:30uh this is the 18th century and later on
52:31in the 19th century women are going to
52:33start agitating for political rights.
52:35The rights to divorce, the rights to
52:38earn their own money, rights to have a
52:40job, all of that, right? So uh the
52:43restoration age becomes interesting
52:45because it kind of becomes like the
52:47starting point for um some of those
52:50trends that we are going to see later
52:52on.
52:54Let me move to the next slide.
52:59uh there was also this idea of cacoldry.
53:02Now I think I explained this earlier
53:04that uh you know that men feared that uh
53:09they would be subject to cultry but they
53:11did not openly express it this idea of
53:13you know the women kind of cheating on
53:16them. Why? Because the main aim of
53:19society was social elevation and
53:21reputation. So this is a very
53:23performative society. So you kind of
53:27worry about uh uh your wife not because
53:30there's any kind of bond but because you
53:33do not want to uh uh you know have
53:37society kind of comment about uh what's
53:39going on. So very much like for instance
53:41Sri Lankan society in 20 the 21st
53:44century right so the restoration society
53:48was very worried about social reputation
53:51and we're going to see this one
53:53character in this play who's going to
53:55kind of have the same kind of u uh
53:59worries uh about what society would
54:03think and how society would judge them.
54:06uh so that was also very much a uh
54:09restoration concern.
54:15Okay. So let us now come to the place.
54:17So I want to talk a little bit about who
54:19the characters are. Uh so there are
54:23about six main characters. I mean there
54:25are some um minor characters as well but
54:29these are the main ones. So we have Lady
54:32Wishport. Then we have Arabella phenol.
54:36Then we have phenol. Then Mirabel
54:38Milamment and Mrs. Marwood.
54:56Okay, I want to uh summarize uh the plot
55:01just for convenience.
55:05Okay. So the context is this that there
55:07is a young man uh called um
55:12Mirabel who wants to marry this woman
55:15called Mill. So a young man and a young
55:18woman right uh and lot of things now uh
55:24happened before this. Now Mirabel
55:27apparently
55:28uh was once a womanizer.
55:32Now he
55:34uh wants to marry Milleman who he
55:37apparently loves. Uh now unfortunately
55:42uh there is a problem.
55:45What's the problem? She has an aunt.
55:49This woman called Lady Wish. Now Lady
55:53Wishot is very important. Why? because
55:56uh uh I'm not sure whether I say this in
55:59this slide or the next but uh she um
56:03holds power over me. Why? Because Melan
56:08has 6,000 of inheritance.
56:11Uh and uh
56:14she's the one who has power over. So
56:17she's kind of like a like a legal
56:20guardian. So if she wants to get
56:22married, she needs to get Lady Bishot's
56:27um I mean um uh I mean she has to kind
56:32of uh agree to the uh relationship
56:35otherwise it it is not to be because why
56:38the aunt cannot approve uh the money. Uh
56:42so melam needs the approval of the aunt
56:45for marriage by as I have said here
56:48trustee of her wealth. Uh now uh Lady
56:53Vishot does not like Mirabel. Why?
56:58Why? Because he wants pretends to love
57:01her in order to kind of get close to her
57:05to get involved with Mirabel. So that's
57:08the wrong move, right? Why? because um
57:11it kind of obviously
57:13uh gives a false impression to lady wish
57:17that Mirabel loves her. Obviously not.
57:21He just wants to uh have her niece
57:25instead. Uh so obviously there is a
57:27rivalry. Now the problem in this play is
57:30that Mirabel cannot marry Milaman
57:33because Milan's aunt does not approve of
57:36the marriage.
57:38Now there is another
57:40uh issue going on. There's a kind of a
57:43mini uh a second mini plot. Uh now what
57:47is that uh plot? Uh there is uh this
57:52woman called Mrs. Feno, right? Uh now
57:57Mrs. Fenol
57:59uh marries uh Fenol after her first
58:04husband has died and in between she has
58:07an affair with Mirabel.
58:10Uh and why does she marry Fenol?
58:14Now don't get yourself confused with
58:17this. Right? Mrs. Fenol has a previous
58:20marriage where the first husband has
58:23died. Then she marries Fenol and becomes
58:26Mrs. Fenol. But in between she has also
58:30married she has had a relationship with
58:32Mirabel. We are not told the nature of
58:35that relationship
58:37but we are told that she marries Fenol
58:41to preserve her reputation. Why? Because
58:44there is a fear of pregnancy.
58:47Uh we do not know whether child exists.
58:49None of that is told to us. We just know
58:52that uh she marries Fenol out of
58:55desperation.
58:56Now the irony is that the marriage is
58:59arranged by Mirabel. Now we are never
59:01told why Mirabel does not marry Arabella
59:05Fenol. I mean he could have married her
59:07right without passing her on to Fenol.
59:10But that is also once again not really
59:13uh talked about in the plates almost as
59:15if none of these things matter. What
59:18matters is that phenol Mrs. Phenol is
59:20now
59:21uh married to sorry yeah so this woman
59:24Arabella is now Mrs. Fenol
59:27uh
59:28now Fenol the husband has agreed to the
59:32marriage not knowing about the affella.
59:35Now why has he married Arabella? He has
59:39married this woman Arabella because
59:42she is Lady Wish's daughter. Therefore
59:46he has an eye on Lady Wishford's money.
59:49So once again from the very beginning
59:51you realize that none of these
59:54relationships are genuine. None of these
59:57relationships have any um anything to do
1:00:01with desire or love. Uh and um
1:00:06there's a kind of an exploitative nature
1:00:08to every relationship here. Now Fenol in
1:00:12the meantime who is married is having an
1:00:15affair with this woman called Mrs.
1:00:17Marwood. Uh now Mrs. Mahoud
1:00:22by the way is interested not in Fenol
1:00:26who she's having an affair with but with
1:00:28Mirabel.
1:00:30I hope this is all very clear to you.
1:00:32The absurdity of the situation,
1:00:35right? So they're even having affairs
1:00:37with people that they're not even in
1:00:39love with. Uh so Mrs. Mah would actually
1:00:43is interested in Mirabel, not Fenol, but
1:00:47then she's having a relationship with
1:00:49Fenol. So, it's very difficult to kind
1:00:52of um work uh our way through this uh
1:00:57absolute jumble where people are
1:01:00involved with one another not quite
1:01:02romantically
1:01:04uh but it kind of creates chaos. So it's
1:01:06a chaotic situation and there is so much
1:01:10of what you have called an unrequited uh
1:01:14desire. What is what is unrequited
1:01:16desire? Where uh both Arabella and Mrs.
1:01:21Marwood are kind of in love with
1:01:23Mirabel.
1:01:25>> [snorts]
1:01:25>> uh but then Mirabel does not return uh
1:01:28their affections because why he is
1:01:30fixated on this woman called Milan uh
1:01:33Lady Vishod's uh niece.
1:01:37So let's hope everything is clear to
1:01:39you. Let me move to the next uh slide.
1:01:45Now uh let's get on to act one.
1:01:49What happens in act one? Uh
1:01:55the setting is this chocolate house. Now
1:01:59what is a chocolate house? Uh
1:02:03so it's it's kind of like a little tea
1:02:06place. Now I mean it's a little like the
1:02:07coffee shops in uh Colbo. uh you know
1:02:10like places where people could meet, a
1:02:13kind of a club where men could meet and
1:02:16have conversations and play cards, play
1:02:19pool, play poker, you know, whatever. Uh
1:02:22a a a place where you could mingle, a
1:02:25kind of a um a a place of social
1:02:29gathering. Uh and act one begins. So the
1:02:32setting is like a chocolate house where
1:02:34Mirabel and Fenol so remember Mirabbel
1:02:36is that young man and Fenol is uh Mrs.
1:02:40Fenol's husband who has married her for
1:02:42money. Now we find out that these two
1:02:45men are actually friends
1:02:48and we have at the beginning a
1:02:51conversation. So they are playing cards
1:02:53and we find out that Fenol has defeated
1:02:56Mirabel in the card game. uh and the
1:02:59conversation that they have gradually
1:03:02begins to reveal Mirabel's interest in
1:03:04Milan. So Mirabel openly tells Penol
1:03:07that he's interested in Milan. Uh and he
1:03:10also says that it's not going to work
1:03:13because Lady Vishot's approval is
1:03:15necessary and obviously she's not going
1:03:16to give it because she hates me. Uh so
1:03:19that's what Mirabel tells
1:03:22Fenol. Now, Lady Vishod, I have told you
1:03:27dislikes Mirabel because he has
1:03:29pretended to quote her to conceal love
1:03:31for Milamman. Not just to conceal, to
1:03:34also kind of find out more about
1:03:36Milamman.
1:03:38What happens is uh you know they they
1:03:40they have a chat and then they leave um
1:03:43they go their separate ways uh and uh
1:03:48Feno leaves and then a servant enters
1:03:52with news uh of a marriage of Mirabel's
1:03:56valet. Now who is a valet? Valet is kind
1:03:58of like a butler. uh a servant comes and
1:04:03tells Mirabel that his butler or valet
1:04:06has got married. Uh and Mirabel is so
1:04:09happy. Uh we are not told why but later
1:04:12on we realize that marriage of the valet
1:04:15is a part of Mirabel's scheme to get the
1:04:18woman he wants. So from the very
1:04:20beginning this is about the pursuit of
1:04:23one woman by one man and everything that
1:04:26happens in between. So please read the
1:04:28play very carefully.
1:04:30and you'll be able to understand what is
1:04:32going on. It's not a very long play uh
1:04:35either. Let me move to the next slide.
1:04:44Now, this little plot
1:04:48uh that uh Mirabel creates through with
1:04:52his servant is also called the Sir
1:04:55Roland plot.
1:04:57Uh now uh what is uh this plot? Now this
1:05:02is a plot that is entirely planned and
1:05:04executed by Mirabel. Uh so remember
1:05:07Mirabel is a very attractive kind of a
1:05:10man who's very clever, intelligent, all
1:05:12of that. Uh now what he does is he gets
1:05:16this woman called Foil who is Lady
1:05:18Wishfor's maid to get married to his
1:05:23butler or his valet called Waitwell. So
1:05:25now foil and wait will get married.
1:05:29All the actions are manipulated by
1:05:33Mirabel. In fact Mirabel says he's going
1:05:36to bribe them. I mean he's
1:05:37[clears throat] going to reward them for
1:05:38getting married. So once again even foil
1:05:41and wait will get married for something
1:05:43else not because they are in any way um
1:05:46I mean attracted to one another. So this
1:05:49whole idea what's going on I mean when
1:05:51you read this
1:05:53plot summary that I have put out here
1:05:55for you what do you start to think with
1:05:58regard to marriage
1:06:00what has marriage become here
1:06:04from the very be beginning marriage
1:06:06becomes a fast isn't that so because
1:06:09everything is manipulated by other
1:06:12people uh and marriage itself has no
1:06:15substance
1:06:16so what happens is 8 well now
1:06:21uh
1:06:23what does he do now? Uh so they have
1:06:26kind of got married and wait will will
1:06:29also do something else. So that's the
1:06:31first plan is that the valet gets
1:06:33married to the maid. The second plan is
1:06:37that he will disguise himself as a sir
1:06:39Roland. So this lowerass man will
1:06:42disguise himself as an aristocrat. Sir
1:06:45Roland. Uh now who is sir Roland? Sir
1:06:48Roland is actually Mirabel's
1:06:51uh pretend uncle.
1:06:54So there is a kind of a um pretend uncle
1:06:58that they create. Mirabel creates this
1:07:00pretend uncle Sir Roland
1:07:03who will now come and visit Lady
1:07:05Wishford
1:07:07uh to quote her. So they create uh this
1:07:11man called Sir Roland who wants to get
1:07:14married to Lady Wishot.
1:07:17Uh and later on the plan is that when
1:07:20Lady Wishot is ridiculed
1:07:23uh they will blackmail him, blackmail
1:07:25her and get her to approve of the
1:07:27marriage between uh Milan and Mirabel.
1:07:31So not very wise but um nevertheless uh
1:07:34quite a plan. Now what does Mirabel want
1:07:38to do? As I was earlier telling you, he
1:07:39will blackmail lady wish for Milleman's
1:07:42hand in marriage after getting Lady Wish
1:07:47to fall in love with Sir Roland who is
1:07:50none other than the servant of Waitwell.
1:07:52So obviously why blackmail her because
1:07:56Lady Wish when she finds out that she
1:07:59has been duped by a lowerass servant
1:08:02uh would want to kill herself, right? I
1:08:04mean she would not want the world to
1:08:06know. So obviously then blackmail would
1:08:08work. So in exchange for secrecy she
1:08:11would do anything because it's
1:08:14humiliating and she will once again not
1:08:16be able to conduct herself in society.
1:08:18As I was earlier telling you this is a
1:08:20society which is all about appearance.
1:08:24It's it's all about appearance and how
1:08:26you project yourself. It's nothing to do
1:08:28with one's integrity or sincerity.
1:08:31Now uh so this is the plot and when this
1:08:34plot so this is all uh in act one and
1:08:37when um what happens is uh
1:08:41uh there is a conversation later on by
1:08:46Witwood and Petulant. Now who are these
1:08:49two characters? I did not have these in
1:08:51the character list did I? These are
1:08:53minor characters. There is a light
1:08:56conversation between these two. Now
1:08:58Witwood's elder brother is sir Wil
1:09:02willful from the country and he's also
1:09:06coming to uh court Milleman. So there is
1:09:09another man now Witwood and Petulant two
1:09:12men and Witwood's elder brother Sir
1:09:16Wilful is coming to court Millan uh and
1:09:20uh so you know so now there are these
1:09:22three other people as well. So a lot of
1:09:25minor plots here right. Uh now um we
1:09:29learn later on that both Witwood and
1:09:32Petulan too have quoted mill. So these
1:09:35are all you know upper classmen uh and
1:09:39what they do is they kind of go for a
1:09:40walk. So these are things that we find
1:09:42out. So things start to get trickier and
1:09:46stickier
1:09:47>> [snorts]
1:09:47>> uh page by page. It's going to be a very
1:09:51um chaotic kind of a plot uh as it moves
1:09:55forward.
1:10:00What goes on in act two?
1:10:03Now remember in act one it's the
1:10:05chocolate house. Now the act two the
1:10:07setting is St. James Park
1:10:11uh where Mrs. Fenol and Mrs. Ma would
1:10:14now begin a conversation. Now remember
1:10:17earlier we had two men which who we
1:10:19later find out are not actually that
1:10:22close uh either but then they have this
1:10:26wonderful
1:10:27uh kind of a time together uh you know
1:10:30they socially meet they play cards but
1:10:32then we realize that there is no loyalty
1:10:34between them once again suggestive of
1:10:36the kind of relationships these people
1:10:38have
1:10:40likewise the same with Mrs. Mahoud and
1:10:43Mrs. phenol.
1:10:45Both women are suspicious of each other.
1:10:50Why mood suspects Mrs. Fenol of a
1:10:54relationship with Mirabel?
1:10:56Uh so uh once again it's very ironic.
1:10:59Here are two women. They are kind of
1:11:02strolling the park. Uh they're having
1:11:04conversations but then there is zero
1:11:06susp there's zero trust between them. So
1:11:08once again the idea of the
1:11:10superficiality of this world the the the
1:11:14superficiality in friendship there's
1:11:16nothing of substance either in love
1:11:18marriage friendship
1:11:21now when they're talking and they're
1:11:22kind of going together Fenol and Mirabel
1:11:24arrive Mrs. Fenol goes off with Mirabel
1:11:30and Fenol walks with Mrs. Marwood. Now
1:11:32this should have been the other way
1:11:34around. Isn't that so?
1:11:36Read this line very carefully.
1:11:39Fenol and Mirabel arrive. Mrs. Fenol
1:11:41goes off with Mirabel. Fenol walks with
1:11:44Mrs. Mahoud. Now we all know that Fenol
1:11:47is having a relationship with Mahoud and
1:11:50Mrs. Fenol has had a relationship with
1:11:52Mirabel. We are not told whether she
1:11:54continues it. Now once again nothing is
1:11:56clarified.
1:11:58Now when they are going for that walk,
1:12:00Fenol suspects Mirabel and his wife. So
1:12:04he has always had a suspicion. Now mind
1:12:07you, this is the man who played cards
1:12:09with this man uh before. Uh so once
1:12:14again this idea of performance, right?
1:12:16Everything is performative. Uh they do
1:12:19not say what they feel. They do not
1:12:21reveal their true inner selves.
1:12:24uh and what happens is uh he accuses
1:12:28Mahoud of preventing Mirabel and
1:12:30Milleman's marriage by revealing
1:12:32Mirabel's fake courtship to Lady Vishot.
1:12:37Uh so now Fenol and Mahoud are having a
1:12:41relationship but then he accuses Mahoud
1:12:44of saying that you know you are jealous
1:12:45you don't want Mirabbel to marry Milaman
1:12:47because you are in love with him anyway.
1:12:50uh and um Marwood threatens Fenol of
1:12:54revealing their affair and so it kind of
1:12:57becomes a little violent too. So please
1:12:59uh read this very carefully. I don't
1:13:01want to kind of go to start reading out
1:13:03loud. It's going to take forever.
1:13:13So that is uh
1:13:17Fenol and Mrs. Mau now Mirabel and Mrs.
1:13:21Fenol remember they have kind of gone
1:13:24another way they start talking and
1:13:26Mirabel reveals his plot to marry Milan
1:13:31to Mrs. Fenol so there is a suggestion
1:13:33then that they actually they have kind
1:13:36of come to a a um a place where they are
1:13:41no friends because Mrs. Fenol shows no
1:13:45signs of uh kind of a sexual jealousy at
1:13:48that moment. So um if she had been in
1:13:52love with him, she would have obviously
1:13:54been right. But it's not obvious. So
1:13:56there's a suggestion that they are kind
1:13:57of friends. Uh and at that point uh
1:14:02Milleman enters and uh she uh tells
1:14:06Mirabel she knows about his plot uh and
1:14:10leaves and then Mirabel meets Foyel and
1:14:13Waitwell and then he's very happy that
1:14:16they've got married and he congratulates
1:14:18them and he sends Foyel back to Lady
1:14:21Bishot and promises a bribe of a farm if
1:14:24the plot succeeds. So he kind of feeds
1:14:27her mo says okay do this do that and
1:14:29sends her back to Lady Wishport. So now
1:14:31Lady Wishport's maid and Mirabel's valet
1:14:35both have got married to help Mirabel
1:14:38achieve
1:14:39um taking the hand of Milan. So Milamman
1:14:43from the beginning is the object of
1:14:45appreciation of Mirabel and Mirabel is
1:14:48the object of appreciation of a lot of
1:14:51women in the text and also Mirabel is
1:14:54the object of jealousy of Fenol as well.
1:14:59So that's real and of uh uh Lady Vishbot
1:15:03as well. So you can realize that it's
1:15:05this is kind of a crazy crazy world.
1:15:12What's going on in act three?
1:15:16The setting moves to Lady Wish's house.
1:15:21Lady Wishot prepares for the arrival of
1:15:24a sir Roland. Now remember
1:15:27well uh will pretend to be like this
1:15:30long lost cousin called Sir Roland who
1:15:33will uh with the help of Fel. Now
1:15:36remember foil is his wife. Uh will kind
1:15:39of try to trick lady wish to humiliate
1:15:42her. Uh now uh while lady Vishfort is
1:15:48kind of getting all dressed up to meet
1:15:50this man who she knows is a prospective
1:15:53admirer and a lover uh Mrs. Mahoud
1:15:56arrives and we now realize that Lady
1:15:59Vishwart and Mrs. Mahoud are friends and
1:16:02Mrs. Mahoud reveals to Lady Vishod that
1:16:06she has seen Fable in conversation with
1:16:08Mirabel. She says, "You know what? I
1:16:11think I saw Fel talking to Mirabel. You
1:16:13better watch out. You know, this
1:16:15servant, I I don't think you can trust
1:16:17this woman." Uh, and what Lady
1:16:19[clears throat] Wish does is she tells
1:16:22uh Mahoud to hide in the closet
1:16:26uh while she speaks to Fel. Now Foil
1:16:30does not know that Mahoud is hiding in
1:16:32the closet. Uh so Foel when she's
1:16:36confronted by Lady Wishot I mean defends
1:16:38herself. She has an excuse. She says oh
1:16:41no I mean by chance I met him. Uh and
1:16:44Lady Wishot um I mean kind of seems to
1:16:47accept it and she suddenly leaves. Uh
1:16:50now when she leaves uh please note Mrs.
1:16:53Marwood is still in the closet listening
1:16:56in. Uh and at at this point Mrs. Fenol
1:17:00comes to the room.
1:17:04Remember Mrs. Fenol knows the plan. Why?
1:17:07Because Mirabel and Mr. Mrs. Fenol are
1:17:09friends and Mirabel has already revealed
1:17:11to her what's going on. Now she tells
1:17:14Fer that she knows about the Sir Roland
1:17:16plot. Thus revealing it to Mrs. Mood who
1:17:20is in the closet.
1:17:22Remember Mrs. Marwood who hates Mrs.
1:17:24Spenol and Milleman. Uh now she listens
1:17:29to everything. Now she indirectly finds
1:17:31out that there is a plot. Uh so for now
1:17:36these two do not know that anybody
1:17:37there's a third person in the room.
1:17:40Fiber reassures her of her own safety.
1:17:42She says no no I'm everything is kind of
1:17:44foolproof. I know how to get get away
1:17:46with it. And also at this point mentions
1:17:50Mrs. Fenol's affair with Mirabel.
1:17:54Remember
1:17:57foil has always been the maid of lady
1:18:01wish. So you know this idea that um they
1:18:04know what's kind of going on. So she
1:18:06says you know what uh you know I'm I'm
1:18:09aware of this and so now Mrs. Ma finds
1:18:13out uh so many things just by hiding in
1:18:17the closet.
1:18:24Now these two women leave. Fable and
1:18:27Mrs. Fenol leave and Mrs. M finally
1:18:30comes from the closet and she's furious
1:18:33and she's absolutely jealous and now she
1:18:37kind of uh wants to revenge herself on
1:18:40Mrs. Fenol and Mirabel
1:18:44uh because she's so angry. And now this
1:18:47is a woman who knows of both plots. She
1:18:50knows the sir Roland plot end of Mrs.
1:18:53Fenol's past affair with Mirabel.
1:18:57Now at this point Lady Wishford comes
1:19:00back.
1:19:01Uh but what's interesting is that uh
1:19:05Mahu does not reveal to Lady Wishford
1:19:08what she has learned.
1:19:11once again shows the duplicity of all
1:19:14the characters in the sense that there
1:19:16is no sincerity because at this point
1:19:18she could have said you know what you
1:19:20know sir Roland is actually the servant
1:19:22and you better watch out but she doesn't
1:19:24all she does is she suggests that
1:19:27Milamman be married to Sir Wilful
1:19:30remember sir Wilful and petulant
1:19:33uh those three characters uh and then
1:19:35Lady Wishbot leaves
1:19:38and at this point Milma
1:19:41comes and Mahoud and Milleman argue over
1:19:45Mirabel.
1:19:49Please read all of this very carefully,
1:19:52especially the play.
1:19:57Now what happens?
1:19:59Witwood petulant turn that half brothers
1:20:02are willful. Now they all three of them
1:20:04appear and Witwood makes fun of his
1:20:08brother's lack of polished manners or
1:20:10sophisticated with why. Where is Sir
1:20:14Willful from?
1:20:19Sir Willful is from the country.
1:20:23Once again not a city gentleman. So this
1:20:25idea that city people are much more
1:20:27polished.
1:20:30Now what happens? Fenol and Mrs. Marwood
1:20:36want to fire the Roland plot.
1:20:40Now Fenol is finally aware of Mirabel
1:20:43and his wife's previous affair because
1:20:45wife obviously Mrs. Marwood has gone and
1:20:47told him. Marwood suggests revenge
1:20:52by telling Lady Wish for Mrs. Fenol's
1:20:55affair with Mirabel.
1:20:59Fenol will uh now what? So that is her
1:21:03plan and what is his plan? His plan is
1:21:06that he will prevent Sir Wilful's
1:21:08proposal to Milan. He's not going to
1:21:10allow it. Why? Why? Why is he not
1:21:12allowing Milleman to get married?
1:21:16Do you remember what he is eyeing?
1:21:19For instance, if uh Fen Melaman marries
1:21:25willful, that propos that marriage could
1:21:28be approved by Lady Bishot and if it is
1:21:32approved by Lady Bishot, what would
1:21:33Millean get? Milaman would be able to
1:21:36secure the £6,000. But who is the £6,000
1:21:39along with Lady Bishot's other money?
1:21:43It is uh Fenol. So obviously he doesn't
1:21:48want um Milaman to marry Survil. In fact
1:21:52he would want her to marry somebody
1:21:56um not of Lady Bishwart's choosing. Uh
1:22:01so therefore uh he will now um prevent
1:22:04it. Now Ma would in the meantime is
1:22:07going to send an anonymous letter to
1:22:09Lady Bishkot informing her of her
1:22:12daughter's affair with Mirabel.
1:22:15Why? once again with the intention to
1:22:18blackmail her.
1:22:20So you can see everybody who moves
1:22:23together, who talks together, who
1:22:25converses together, who plays cards
1:22:26together, none of them have any
1:22:29sincerity
1:22:31uh uh between or among them. There's so
1:22:34much of kind of cutthroatism here. Once
1:22:38again, shows what a superficial
1:22:40uh
1:22:43society this is.
1:22:49Now, what goes on in act four?
1:22:52So, the uh lady wish awaits her roller.
1:22:56Now, she's all decked up. She's wearing
1:22:58pretty clothes. Her hair is all done up.
1:23:01Um I'll talk about the irony of this
1:23:04later on. Now, Lady Wishford instructs
1:23:07her willful in the meantime to propose
1:23:10to Milman.
1:23:12You know, she says, "You know what? I
1:23:13think you're the best for my niece. Why
1:23:15don't you? But he hesitates. And
1:23:17obviously [clears throat]
1:23:18he fails because uh Milleman is shown as
1:23:21too bright and too um you know kind of u
1:23:25progressive than surv. Uh and there is a
1:23:29scene in act four where finally Mirabel
1:23:32and Milleman uh have this conversation
1:23:35and they reveal to one another that they
1:23:39like one another. I mean he reveals his
1:23:41love. She also reveals her love uh and
1:23:45they agree to marry but they will also
1:23:47kind of agree to certain conditions upon
1:23:50marriage which I will talk about later.
1:23:53In the meantime there is also drunk
1:23:55scene where petulent wit and survul
1:23:59have had too much to drink and uh it
1:24:02kind of creates a kind of a little comic
1:24:04skit within a comedy. As I was earlier
1:24:06telling you this is not slapstick this
1:24:09is a kind of a comedy of bangers.
1:24:11Therefore, these three men will kind of
1:24:13show a bit of comic relief, you know, uh
1:24:16kind of a buffoonery. Uh all three men
1:24:20getting together.
1:24:22Now, in the meantime, Sir Roland,
1:24:24remember way the servant, he hurries to
1:24:27Lady Vishwart, uh and he says, you know,
1:24:30I I want to kind of marry you. Let us
1:24:32kind of consent to an early marriage um
1:24:36as early as possible. And Mrs. I'm I'm
1:24:39sorry. Lady Bishot is also very
1:24:40flattered. Uh but then Mrs. Mahoud's
1:24:44anonymous letter arrives and there is a
1:24:48revelation. Uh and um she is uh so upset
1:24:53and Foil provides an explanation which
1:24:57is temporarily believed by lady
1:24:59Bishwart. So remember fable is also a
1:25:02part of the uh the performance right
1:25:07because now vual is a husband so now she
1:25:10will protect him so he she says you know
1:25:12no this is all kind of false there's
1:25:15nothing of the kind and uh lady wish at
1:25:19that point believes the maid
1:25:29what happens In act five,
1:25:32Lady Wishford finally discovers the plot
1:25:36and she is so mad wants to dismiss
1:25:40fiber.
1:25:42In the meantime,
1:25:45uh Fenol has arrested Wait, you know the
1:25:48impostor, Sir Roland impostor. And Fenol
1:25:52also wants a separation from his wife
1:25:55because now he's heard of this previous
1:25:56affair.
1:25:58uh but not without money mind you. Uh
1:26:02now fo tells Mrs. Fenol of her husband's
1:26:07affair with Mrs. Mahoud in the meantime.
1:26:12Lady wish now. So you can see how
1:26:15chaotic this is and even when I'm going
1:26:17through the uh plot I myself uh I get
1:26:22confused uh because there's so much of
1:26:25jumble here. Now, Lady Vishfort
1:26:28confronts Mrs. Fenol of her affair with
1:26:31Mirabel
1:26:33and Mrs. Fenol confronts Mahoud over her
1:26:36affair with Fenol. So, it's very
1:26:38cyclical. It's endless. It's like a
1:26:40loop, you know, one loop, one loops onto
1:26:44another and then vice versa. And then
1:26:47Marwood scares Lady Bishot.
1:26:50Uh
1:26:52why? Because she says, "You know what?
1:26:54But if phenol divorces your daughter,
1:26:58the scandal is going to be terrible. So
1:27:00it's nothing to do about two people or
1:27:02uh their emotional well-being, they're
1:27:04more worried about their reputation and
1:27:06their social standing. Uh Mahoud would
1:27:09kind of scares Lady Bishot saying that
1:27:11you'll be ruined. Nobody will accept
1:27:13you. I mean you will not be able to move
1:27:15in the society that you are in because
1:27:17the scandal will be too much to bear.
1:27:24So now lady Bishot is desperate right
1:27:27that her daughter be uh married and stay
1:27:30married to Fenol. Therefore when she
1:27:34asks him you know to reconsider Fenol
1:27:37puts forward conditions
1:27:39he says you know what yeah I will not
1:27:43divorce her if certain things happen.
1:27:46What are those certain conditions that
1:27:48he wants um to be fulfilled? He says
1:27:51lady wish will hand over her estate to
1:27:54his manager.
1:27:57What does estate mean here?
1:28:01Estate is like your entire property. So
1:28:04property can be your movable and
1:28:06immovable property. Your money plus your
1:28:08land all of that. Now phenol will take
1:28:12full control and he says upon control
1:28:17he will give her maintenance and the use
1:28:19of her estate for her lifetime.
1:28:23See how ridiculous this is. He will not
1:28:26only take over her property, he will
1:28:28also give her kind of a little stipend a
1:28:31little allowance that uh she can use to
1:28:34get by and uh she can use her estate for
1:28:38her lifetime. But afterwards, no it is
1:28:40not. So she doesn't have any authority
1:28:42over it, she cannot pass it down to
1:28:44anybody she wants to. He will take
1:28:47control. Uh
1:28:50he also forbids if forbids Lady Vishbot
1:28:53from marrying again or not without his
1:28:56approval. I will not let you marry. Why?
1:28:59Because obviously then her spouse will
1:29:02get control of the money. So this is the
1:29:04pathetic situation of women at that
1:29:06time. You know women could not retain or
1:29:08control property. Mrs. Fenol in the
1:29:11meantime will give the rest of her
1:29:13fortune to her husband. Now what is this
1:29:15rest of the fortune? Remember she had a
1:29:18previous marriage as well where she
1:29:20inherited the money or from her first
1:29:22husband that money to the second husband
1:29:25want. So he wants her mother's money
1:29:29plus the money from her marriage as
1:29:32well. So you can see how phenol is being
1:29:35built up in this play. Uh and Milleman's
1:29:396,000 also needs to be given to him.
1:29:41Why? Because now she's engaged to
1:29:44Mirabel without Lady Vish's consent. He
1:29:47says, "I also want your niece's money as
1:29:50well."
1:29:55So you can see what kind of a greedy
1:29:58character Fenol is, right? He wants to
1:30:00grab everything. uh that he can kind of
1:30:04get his hands on. Uh let me move to the
1:30:07next slide.
1:30:10Now what happens when Fenol is
1:30:13attempting to gain control of
1:30:15everything? Sir Willful and Milleman
1:30:18arrive
1:30:20uh and Milleman finally says you know
1:30:23what we have agreed to get married uh
1:30:26and that Mirabel has come as a weakness.
1:30:28Now we realize later on that this is
1:30:30Mirabel's plan. Uh now Fenol obviously
1:30:33is not happy because now that would mean
1:30:35that her 6 6,000 would not be his. Now
1:30:40Fenol brings the deed
1:30:42uh that will sign over his wife's estate
1:30:45and Milleman's money to him
1:30:50and he threatens to turn his wife out of
1:30:53his house. But Mirabel at this point
1:30:56offers to intervene
1:30:59and uh he how will he intervene? He
1:31:04becomes a savior and in return lady wish
1:31:08uh we have to grant consent for Milan to
1:31:10marry him. Now how can this man
1:31:13intervene?
1:31:16Wait returns with this black box and in
1:31:20that black box there is a deed of
1:31:23conveyance.
1:31:24Uh so what is this deed of conveyance?
1:31:26It's kind of like this idea of a like
1:31:29not exactly a gift deed but um let me
1:31:34explain it now. When Mrs. Fenol was
1:31:37widowed and before she married Fenol she
1:31:41has secretly signed over all her
1:31:44property to Mirabel in trust.
1:31:47Remember they had a relationship as well
1:31:49but there's more so than a kind of a
1:31:52sexual relationship there seems to be a
1:31:54kind of a friendship between the two.
1:31:56[snorts] Uh it's a very complex
1:31:58relationship that they have. Uh so she
1:32:00has secretly signed over all her
1:32:03property to Mirabel in trust. So Mirabel
1:32:05is kind of like her trustee. He has to
1:32:09approve what she does. And in a sense
1:32:12because of this legal move, Fenol cannot
1:32:16grab his wife's money because there is a
1:32:20kind of a legal block in between that he
1:32:23has not known since then. So it's almost
1:32:26as if um Mrs. Fenol and Mirabel both
1:32:29have anticipated and have known what
1:32:32kind of a man Fenol is that he is after
1:32:35the money. So because they were
1:32:37desperate she got married to him but
1:32:39it's not because Fenol was a good man.
1:32:45Now what does Fenol find out? Fenol
1:32:47finds out that Mirabel controls the
1:32:49property of his wife.
1:32:51Therefore at that point he's entirely
1:32:54defeated. He can do nothing. he cannot
1:32:57claim property at all because there is
1:33:00no property with uh Mrs. Fenol at that
1:33:03point. So he leaves with Mrs. Marwood by
1:33:07the end of the play. Uh and by the end
1:33:10of the play willful also withdraws. He
1:33:12says you know what I don't want to marry
1:33:14you. So that allows Mirabel to marry
1:33:17Milleman because Milleman is now not
1:33:19under any obligation to marry anyone
1:33:22else.
1:33:23Mirabel at that point returns the deed
1:33:26to Mrs. Fenol. So he relinquishes his
1:33:29trust. Now Mrs. Fenol will have uh
1:33:33control over her property. Uh and
1:33:36Mirabel assures Lady Vishport of Fenol's
1:33:39defeat and powerlessness. So Mirabel
1:33:42says, you know what, don't worry because
1:33:44he can no longer blackmail you. He has
1:33:46no power. Uh so we end with this happy
1:33:49resolution. end we end with the uh uh uh
1:33:54the the likelihood uh of a marriage
1:33:58between Milleman and Mirabels. That's
1:34:00how we began and now we end with a kind
1:34:02of a confirmation. Uh and there's also
1:34:06the defeat of the villain of the play
1:34:08and the villain is actually fenol here
1:34:11because it is his behavior that is in
1:34:13fact extremely cruel more so than even
1:34:16Mrs. uh mau.
1:34:25Okay. So let us start uh analyzing the
1:34:28play. So that's the plot and I want to
1:34:30start with the analysis and try to uh
1:34:33wrap up um uh if possible today. Uh now
1:34:37what's the setting like? Um uh the
1:34:40setting is London, right? I have already
1:34:43talked about the setting. The so it's a
1:34:45society obsessed with wealth, fashion,
1:34:48sex and what we have in this play are
1:34:51all fashionable parts of London. St.
1:34:54James's Park, chocolate houses, these
1:34:57chocolate houses were places of gossip
1:34:59and gambling for the upper classes.
1:35:02Salons of the women. Salons were also
1:35:05like little uh you know like meeting
1:35:07places for women. uh um kind of like you
1:35:12know like uh like uh like drawing rooms
1:35:15you know where women could meet and talk
1:35:17and kind of mingle. Uh now the other
1:35:22interesting thing I want to talk about
1:35:23which I have not explained you must have
1:35:25all wondered where Mr. Mahoud was when I
1:35:28was telling you about Mrs. Mahoud but
1:35:30Mrs. Mahoud is not married.
1:35:33All female characters who are not
1:35:35servants are referred to as Mrs. as a
1:35:38term of respect. Uh so only Mrs. Fenol
1:35:42here is actually married. So Mrs. Mahoud
1:35:45is in fact a single woman, right? So
1:35:48don't get confused. It was kind of like
1:35:50the terminology that was used at that
1:35:52time.
1:35:59What's the form?
1:36:01You already know this. It's a comedy.
1:36:04Less physical action. you'd realize,
1:36:06right? There's really no no wars or no
1:36:09huge murders or people running away or
1:36:13elopments or all of that. It's just kind
1:36:15of very simplistic kind of conversation
1:36:19but the wit is uh held together by uh
1:36:25the comedian in the sense that it is
1:36:27verbal wit here. uh and what we have are
1:36:32a number of revelations and counter
1:36:34revelations.
1:36:36When one says something, there is
1:36:38another uh something that kind of is
1:36:41said. Uh so it's just not one but
1:36:44another. Uh and what's interesting is
1:36:48that adultery becomes uh more of a plot
1:36:51device than a kind of a social
1:36:53phenomenon.
1:36:54Uh and the other is you also have this
1:36:57uh idea of a lustful older woman in the
1:37:00form of lady wish who always wants to
1:37:03kind of attract the attention of men and
1:37:05kind of get married and all of that.
1:37:07[snorts] Uh the next is Kakolder.
1:37:10I have already talked about it. We'll
1:37:13talk about that later on when we begin
1:37:15the analysis. Uh there are fops and
1:37:18there are rakes. Fops I have talked
1:37:20about you know these fashionable men.
1:37:21Ras are literally these bad boys you
1:37:25know who kind of play around with women.
1:37:32Let us go through the characters first.
1:37:40Now when we look at Mirabel
1:37:43uh what kind of a man is Mirabel?
1:37:47Uh
1:37:51I mean what's the impression you got
1:37:52from uh Mirabel? What is he? Uh so uh I
1:37:57mean he's he can be called a rake right
1:38:00in the sense that he breaks every
1:38:02woman's heart literally. But then
1:38:04there's a suggestion at the beginning of
1:38:06the play that he is a kind of a reformed
1:38:10rake that now he is uh sincere uh in his
1:38:14kind of uh love. Um
1:38:19and then uh this idea that he though he
1:38:23is a seducer
1:38:25um he is also a witty man. He's also
1:38:31very intelligent. He's creative. uh and
1:38:34he doesn't accept defeat. I mean you see
1:38:37right how intelligent he is. He kind of
1:38:39puts uh plans together. Uh so Mirabel
1:38:44becomes um a kind of an interesting
1:38:47character uh where he is also like the
1:38:51trickster figure right uh because I mean
1:38:55in in a sense he has this history right
1:38:58uh he used to be with Mrs. Fenol he
1:39:01flirts with Mrs. Marwood I think and
1:39:03then he has also got lady wish to fall
1:39:07in love with him. Uh so literally a rag
1:39:10but then now uh is sincere in his love
1:39:14for milment and uh he also shows himself
1:39:20as very intelligent. He's extremely uh
1:39:24strategical, right? In the sense that he
1:39:26is a strategist in the sense that he
1:39:29will create all these little plans that
1:39:32will enable him to marry Milleman. Uh
1:39:37and please note right that Milleman I
1:39:41haven't talked about it that her £6,000
1:39:44was a lot of money at that time. I mean
1:39:47even now £6,000 is huge. So you can just
1:39:49imagine 300 years ago. So it's an
1:39:52impressive sum of money.
1:39:55So he uh uh is uh I mean clever in that
1:40:00way as well. So in a sense he is a uh a
1:40:04divided character because um
1:40:09I mean this rake was an invention of
1:40:12restoration comedy just like the fob the
1:40:14male of the court he's the the rake is.
1:40:18So the rake is usually seductive, witty,
1:40:21arrogant, charming. He disregards
1:40:24convention. He has a kind of a sexual
1:40:27freedom and he is a man who always wins
1:40:30the courtship game, right? Because I
1:40:32mean a lot of women are interested in.
1:40:34And then he also makes women uh [snorts]
1:40:36his enemies plus men as well.
1:40:40So Mirabel is a divided character. I
1:40:43mean on the one hand he has a certain
1:40:46charm and a charisma that makes him
1:40:48attractive but then there is also a
1:40:51suggestion that he is also heartless
1:40:53that he is an agent of deception that he
1:40:56manipulates other characters.
1:40:59So u uh in uh act four uh Mirabel is uh
1:41:06seen as a hunter
1:41:09uh and I think at one point he asks
1:41:11Milan do you lock yourself up from me?
1:41:15Uh so this idea of a womanizer
1:41:18but what is interesting is that uh
1:41:21though he is uh I mean uh in that sense
1:41:24u uh problematic he is never as crude as
1:41:30phenol.
1:41:32So phenol is uh uh in fact the the
1:41:36villain here right. So though Mirabel is
1:41:39characterized by things like sexual
1:41:41infidelity,
1:41:43dishonesty,
1:41:45uh all of that, I mean there's a
1:41:47suggestion that he's far more uh better
1:41:52uh than a man like Fenol. So Fenol's
1:41:57kind of uh
1:42:00uh weaknesses are far worse than uh
1:42:03Mirabels.
1:42:16Okay. So, what is Fenol like? He's only
1:42:18slightly more villainous than Mirabel.
1:42:21Uh
1:42:23but then uh though he begins uh like
1:42:27that he starts to kind of uh progress
1:42:30from bad to worse to in fact to
1:42:34absolutely unethical by the end of the
1:42:37uh play because by the end his pursuit
1:42:40of money
1:42:42uh starts to become obscene, right?
1:42:45Because he's mercenary towards the end.
1:42:47He's predatory. He's exploitative.
1:42:51uh and he's also very cynical. Uh he he
1:42:55seems to be very critical of things like
1:42:58love and marriage and we know from the
1:43:00very beginning that he has married for
1:43:02money and more money to be gained
1:43:04through the lady wish for. So he hasn't
1:43:07just married his wife for money but more
1:43:09money because he knows that finally he
1:43:11will able to get everything she has
1:43:14including the money of people related to
1:43:17wish like uh Milan
1:43:21and uh so this idea that uh uh there is
1:43:26nothing redeeming about him uh at all. I
1:43:29mean uh
1:43:32towards the end I think he even tries to
1:43:35beat uh Mrs. Fenol when he has failed
1:43:38and when he's absolutely desperate
1:43:41[snorts] uh and he tries to blackmail
1:43:43his mother-in-law out of her fortune
1:43:46uh so starts to become uh a kind of a
1:43:49monstrous figure uh and he squanders his
1:43:52money we are told on Mrs. Mahood but
1:43:56then he doesn't treat Mrs. Marwood in um
1:43:59in a in any way that uh makes it better.
1:44:02I mean he's also very harsh towards her
1:44:05as well. Uh and the fact that he
1:44:08threatens to publish
1:44:11Mrs. Fenol's relationship to the world
1:44:14unless Lady Bishop signs over to him his
1:44:17uh you know her money uh and also
1:44:20Milamman's estate
1:44:22uh and even uh this idea of whatever
1:44:27after her life ends I mean it kind of
1:44:31shows that this is a man who is u uh his
1:44:34greed has no limits
1:44:37you know he kind of thinks generations
1:44:40ahead uh So once again this idea that
1:44:44Mirabel becomes uh angelic compared to
1:44:47phenol by the end
1:45:03now. Uh what kind of a woman is uh um
1:45:10Milleman?
1:45:12Millemon is this uh rich, beautiful,
1:45:15sophisticated, confident kind of a
1:45:18character. Uh and uh in act two,
1:45:22scene one, uh she also plays the cocket.
1:45:26I mean this woman who kind of flirts
1:45:28because she says at one point I quote
1:45:31why one makes lovers as fast as one
1:45:34pleases and they live as long as one
1:45:36pleases and they die as soon as one
1:45:38pleases and then if one pleases one
1:45:41makes more end quote.
1:45:44What is she saying here?
1:45:49So this idea that she seems to kind of
1:45:52enjoy um the attention of all her
1:45:55suitors and she has various suitors
1:45:58[snorts] uh and uh so a woman who is
1:46:00very aware of her kind of charms. Uh but
1:46:03what's interesting is that she's also
1:46:05very intelligent. Uh we realize uh at
1:46:09one point I think it is in act four uh
1:46:12that she is a match for Mirabel because
1:46:14Mirabel is that other intelligent
1:46:17character in this novel. very
1:46:18manipulative but nevertheless
1:46:20intelligent
1:46:22and likewise Milleman is strong. She's
1:46:25independent
1:46:27uh but she's also very cautious. She's
1:46:30emotionally detached
1:46:33um uh for safety. So she's not in any
1:46:37way a weak character. She's cautious and
1:46:39she's extremely cautious of Mirabel
1:46:42because she realizes that um uh he's not
1:46:46a very easy character. Uh so um as we
1:46:51read we realize that Milleman rejects
1:46:54the role of the stereotypical lover. She
1:46:57actually at one point even say she
1:46:59doesn't want to uh [snorts] even uh kind
1:47:02of associate with the word love. So she
1:47:05is what you'd call the more modern woman
1:47:07of the restoration period. I told you
1:47:09this restoration period is also a period
1:47:12which gave a lot of
1:47:15uh
1:47:16acknowledgement to women where women
1:47:19kind of you know for the first time come
1:47:21out as writers as actors. So in a sense
1:47:24you know that uh that woman is uh um I
1:47:28mean suggested here through me uh she's
1:47:31also very witty. She's very ironic when
1:47:34she I mean I'll I'll take you to these
1:47:37places later on when she talks to um all
1:47:40her suitors and what's interesting is
1:47:43that in a situation where women are
1:47:46powerless
1:47:48especially upon marriage millan finds a
1:47:52way of gaining a degree of control over
1:47:55her predicament. So that's very
1:47:58important and I I'll we'll go to uh act
1:48:01four when we begin the analysis and I'll
1:48:04take you uh to this point this idea that
1:48:07she negotiates
1:48:09uh and uh creates a deal where she will
1:48:13not be kind of um under the control of
1:48:18Mirabel because she realizes that
1:48:19Mirabel is also equally intelligent and
1:48:22will be uh a difficult kind of a match
1:48:25for her.
1:48:32Okay. So what kind of a woman is Lady
1:48:34Bish for? Uh she is the central source
1:48:37of wealth in this play. She is the most
1:48:41powerful in in fact everyone needs to
1:48:43work around her in order for uh any kind
1:48:47of power. Even Mirabel is helpless.
1:48:51He also has to somehow uh kind of work
1:48:54around her. Uh what's interesting is
1:48:56that she is the target of all men in the
1:48:59play romantic or otherwise.
1:49:02Uh and she becomes a comic character. Uh
1:49:06one of the reasons would be because um I
1:49:09mean despite her age, uh she longs for
1:49:13love, gallantry, courtship. Uh she
1:49:17rehearses her spontaneous response to
1:49:20the visit of a suitor, Sir Roland. And
1:49:22so when she finds out that there is a
1:49:23sir Roland who might be interested in um
1:49:27kind of uh marrying her, she kind of
1:49:30starts to dress up and rehearse uh and
1:49:33kind of almost acts like a teenager than
1:49:36a woman uh in her in kind of um
1:49:41in uh her age uh at that age literally I
1:49:46think in the uh 50s if I'm not mistaken
1:49:49and she tries out different poses
1:49:52We are shown her sitting, walking,
1:49:54turning, coiling,
1:49:56um, lying down. I mean, it becomes
1:50:00enormously funny. I'll take you to these
1:50:02places. But what's interesting is that
1:50:04despite her wealth, despite her power,
1:50:06she's also very vulnerable. She's also
1:50:09vulnerable as a female. And I'll talk of
1:50:12that later on. So um because of the fact
1:50:16that she is a woman that itself makes
1:50:18her vulnerable to certain um men
1:50:22especially to Mirabel who flatters her
1:50:25and Lady Bishot is one of those women
1:50:28who values reputation above all for her
1:50:31reputation matters more than anything.
1:50:38The other character is Mrs. Fenol.
1:50:42Uh I think that Mrs. Fenol comes out
1:50:46pretty positive in this uh play because
1:50:49uh one of the issues is this idea of a
1:50:52civil friendship with Mirabel. We do not
1:50:55see her uh in any kind of jealous fate
1:50:59uh the way we see Mrs. Marwood. Uh in
1:51:02fact um uh the fact that she has
1:51:05conveyed all her estate to Mirabel as a
1:51:08trustee also says a lot about her. Uh
1:51:14I mean the fact that they are very close
1:51:16and she has made it when she was a widow
1:51:18and could execute a valid conveyance of
1:51:21her pro property. Uh so remember if she
1:51:25was a married woman she could not have
1:51:28done that because she was a widow she
1:51:30could have some kind of legal uh act to
1:51:35get the money across to Mirabel as her
1:51:38trustee. So you can see that women who
1:51:40are married are less powerful than women
1:51:42who are single. I think this has all
1:51:44also been the case even in the 19th
1:51:47century. Therefore she's able to gain
1:51:49power over Fenol. But then there is a
1:51:51kind of a civility to Mrs. Fenol from
1:51:54the beginning to the end
1:51:57that you do not see in uh Mrs. um Mahoud
1:52:02at all.
1:52:09Uh and um the other thing is that uh uh
1:52:13I mean there is a kind of a character
1:52:16growth in her as well because um I mean
1:52:20she also seems to embrace a kind of an
1:52:23independence of the restoration period
1:52:25right because uh
1:52:29we I mean we are not told that she's
1:52:31kind of pining for Mirabella or anything
1:52:33but [snorts] finally she realizes that
1:52:36uh um she needs to be more independent.
1:52:40And at by the end of the play, we have
1:52:42her actually reclaiming her first name,
1:52:46Arabella,
1:52:48uh, and telling her husband that she
1:52:50despises him. So, she kind of tells him
1:52:52that she hates him. She has never told
1:52:53that. And she also kind of takes back
1:52:56her first name. It's a suggestion of her
1:52:58independence because uh in the play
1:53:01throughout she's called Mrs. Fain or
1:53:03she's never called Arabella, but later
1:53:04on she will take on that name. So
1:53:06there's once again a movement towards
1:53:10uh female independence and female
1:53:12affirmation here.
1:53:18Uh yeah. So let us now talk about Mrs.
1:53:21Marwood. Now uh some critics have called
1:53:25Mrs. Marwood the central female
1:53:27protagonist and not uh Milan or Lady
1:53:31Wishford. So I leave that to you to kind
1:53:34of figure out. Uh now Mahoud is also
1:53:37extremely clever. She's strategic. She's
1:53:40also extremely manipulative. Uh you see
1:53:44how the way she reacts to Lady Bishot.
1:53:46She manipulates. Doesn't reveal the
1:53:49truth. Only reveals the truth when it's
1:53:50too late. Uh she's very jealous. She's
1:53:54extremely unhappy. Uh and we know she
1:53:57secretly loves Mirabel. But she wishes
1:54:00to separate him from Milaman. I don't
1:54:02think we are ever told that she
1:54:04expresses her love for Mirabel.
1:54:07She fails to receive love in the sense
1:54:10that though she has a relationship with
1:54:13Fenol, he manipulates her. We never see
1:54:16any genuine concern uh that he has
1:54:20towards her. Uh because as I was earlier
1:54:22telling you, he is the villain here,
1:54:24right? He's incapable of love and
1:54:27affection. uh and mood also shows how
1:54:33gender works because uh we are told that
1:54:38Mrs. Marwood is in fact more beautiful
1:54:40than Milaman but then we are told also
1:54:44that she's older than um Milaman which
1:54:48reduces her power. Why? Because this
1:54:51idea that younger women have more social
1:54:54capital more more um I mean they all
1:54:58this idea that by virtue of being young
1:55:02they hold more social power. So likewise
1:55:05though Melaman is prettier than sorry
1:55:07Mahoud is prettier than Milaman the fact
1:55:10that she's older and here when I say
1:55:12older it doesn't mean she's like 10 12
1:55:14years old she's just about 2 or 3 years
1:55:16older uh has made her lose her power
1:55:20because we are looking at this society
1:55:22at this time right not current society
1:55:26uh and um this idea of the villain in
1:55:29her because she discovers the plan of
1:55:31Mirabel and tells Lady Vishod She also
1:55:34tells Fenol of his wife's form of favic
1:55:36mirabel. So uh this idea that she plots
1:55:40against um everybody and revenge becomes
1:55:44her driving characteristic and she's a
1:55:48woman who suffers from unrequited love.
1:55:50a pretty much a tragic uh figure because
1:55:54though she has as much wit and beauty
1:55:58I mean she doesn't use it positively she
1:56:00exploits uh and finally uh gains nothing
1:56:05right because along with the miss phenol
1:56:08she's expelled by the end of the play
1:56:16so uh she actually Uh what's interesting
1:56:21is that she kind of projects a stern
1:56:23exterior as well because uh I mean uh uh
1:56:28though she is uh this woman who seems to
1:56:32be kind of desperate
1:56:34uh she doesn't ever show her
1:56:38vulnerability to the outside world. She
1:56:41always projects a kind of a stern
1:56:43exterior. Uh when speaking of Mirabel to
1:56:46Mrs. Fenol I mean Mrs. Marwood begins to
1:56:49blush and uh Mrs. Fenol notices. Uh
1:56:52those are the only moments when she
1:56:55shows some kind of uh uh vulnerability.
1:56:59Uh but other than that, she's kind of a
1:57:01very closed off kind of a uh figure. Uh
1:57:05okay. So what I'll do is I will kind of
1:57:08continue with um
1:57:11uh the uh analysis uh next time. But I
1:57:15hope that the the issues are very clear
1:57:19here, right? Uh this idea that um I mean
1:57:23this this
1:57:25comedy or this play what it does is it
1:57:28satarizes the hypocrisy and the
1:57:31pretensions of that society.
1:57:34uh and uh it kind of uh uh
1:57:39creates
1:57:41uh all these very um morally trivial
1:57:46characters, right? I mean from the plot
1:57:49uh you would have realized that u uh
1:57:52none of these is kind of to do with the
1:57:55the functioning of a state or um the
1:57:59functioning of a country or anything of
1:58:02the kind. It's just a bunch of um
1:58:07relationships, some scandalous, some
1:58:10more scandalous than the rest. Uh but
1:58:13what is interesting is that uh what is
1:58:16more important is the kind of commentary
1:58:19on human weaknesses because all are kind
1:58:22of u uh in a way uh duped by society. We
1:58:27all are caught up uh in this society
1:58:31where there is really um nothing but
1:58:34dissatisfaction,
1:58:35right? Uh this idea of love and money
1:58:41and um you know uh
1:58:46I mean uh people scheming with one
1:58:49another.
1:58:51uh a lack of um sincerity and this uh um
1:58:57word intrigue there's a lot of intrigues
1:59:00here intrigue within intrigue right I
1:59:04mean even the servants
1:59:06uh are kind of embroiled in these
1:59:09intrigues everyone is involved in one or
1:59:12the other of these schemes there's
1:59:14nobody really outside of these schemes
1:59:17everybody even Mrs. Fenol
1:59:21uh and even Lady Vishart in her
1:59:23willingness to kind of marry Sir Roland
1:59:26is also part of a scheme. Uh so um this
1:59:31idea that uh uh this is about intriguers
1:59:35and it's also about who is more
1:59:37successful than the other. Uh so yes I
1:59:41will continue with the analysis um
1:59:46in my next uh presentation. Thank you
1:59:50everybody.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of external augustan 9 by Media Unit EDECU, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 16,044 words across 2,330 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.