La Bell Dame Sans Mercy by John Keats- Essay

 

La Bell Dame Sans Mercy

Introduction

"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" which means "The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy" is a ballad written by John Keats in 1819. The poem explores the themes of love, beauty, and despair. It also expresses Keats' philosophies of happiness.

The Knight’s Plight
           The poem begins with a speaker encountering a wandering lonely and sorrowful knight. The knight is pale and exhausted. He is consumed by suffering. He is looking very lean, hollow-eyed, tired, and worn-out. He appears very miserable. The speaker tells the knight that his eye brow is pale like a lily in winter. Anxiety is visible on his face and he suffers due to mental tension. Further, he questions the knight about the cause of his troubles.

The Enchantment
             The knight replies that he met a beautiful lady in the meadows. She was a "faery’s child."  She had a long hair and walked in a graceful manner. Her eyes were filled with love and emotions. The knight made a garland of flowers and bracelet as ornaments for that lady. Both rode on his horse the entire day. She sang a mysterious song of fairies and offered him delicious fruits. She also gave him honey and manna, the heavenly food. Later she took him to her cave. The woman’s affection created an illusion of love and the knight fell asleep.

The Dream of Betrayal
             After falling asleep, the knight dreamt of pale, ghostly figures like kings, princess, and warriors. They were the victims of the same woman. They warned him that he had been deceived like them. Upon waking, he found himself abandoned on the cold hillside. The lady had deserted him. This marks the end of his enchantment and the beginning of his endless torment.

Poetic Features
           The poem uses vivid imagery and symbolic contrasts to portray the knight’s emotions. The “beautiful lady without mercy” represents both love’s attraction and its potential to destroy. Keats employs a balladic structure, with simple, repetitive language, to emphasize the cyclical nature of the knight’s suffering.

Conclusion
           This poem has autobiographical elements. keats wrote this poem when he was battling tuberculosis, which led to his death. Keats’ relationship with Fanny Brawne, his muse and romantic partner, also influenced the poem. Hence, this poem is a window into his own soul.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank- Essay

 

The Diary of a Young Girl

Introduction

“The Diary of a Young Girl” is written by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was detained in 1944 and Anne Frank ultimately died in the concentration camp. The diary was retrieved by Miep Gies, who gave it to Anne's father Otto Frank, the only survivor of the family. The diary describes the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. It is addressed to Kitty, an imaginary character.

The Hiding Place

Anne and her family were hiding in the upper room of her father's office building in Amsterdam with another family. Their fear grew each time the doorbell rang, when there was a knock on their door, or when they heard that there was a burglary at the office building. They remained hidden for two years and one month, until their betrayal in August 1944. Later they were deported to Nazi concentration camps.

8^th July 1942

On Sunday afternoon, Anne’s sister, Margot, told her that their father had received a call-up notice from the SS, the Nazi guard. Later, alone in their room, Margot told Anne that it was really herself, not Mr. Frank, who had been called up. The girls quickly started packing their things. The next day, they piled on as many layers of clothes as they can, since they could not risk carrying suitcases. Margot left the house first, carrying a schoolbag full of books, and Anne followed later that evening. This section illustrates the poignant contrast between Anne’s innocence and the gravity of her family’s situation.

25^th May 1944

Anne’s writing style changes with the transition to her new life in the hiding place. The world had turned topsy-turvy. Innocent and respectable people were sent to concentration camps. The vegetable man was picked up for having two Jews in his house. Besides the Jews, non-Jews also suffered because of the atrocities of Hitler.

26^th May 1944

Anne wanted to be brave, but it was very difficult. She was depressed and wondered if it would not have been better to suffer a quick death rather than go into hiding. She diverted her thoughts by writing that they all loved life too much.

Conclusion

Anne’s diary ends abruptly on August 1, 1944. She writes from the perspective of a young girl. Hence, her tone is often emotional and insecure. She is optimistic despite the threats and danger from the Nazi soldiers. The tone and substance of her writing change considerably while she is in hiding. Anne is remarkably candid and sensitive at the beginning of the diary. Later, the unusual circumstances of the Holocaust, makes her more introspective and thoughtful.

 

Hardy and Ramanujan by C. P. Snow- Essay

 

Hardy and Ramanujan

C.P. Snow

C.P.Snow's "Hardy and Ramanujan" is an extract of his book Variety of Men. This  prose on Ramanujan is taken from the biography of the mathematician Hardy. It describes Hardy's interest on Ramanujan, his invitation of Ramanujan to London and their contribution to maths. The details are given from the perception of Hardy.

Hardy was a renowned mathematician working as a professor at Cambridge University. In 1913, January he received an untidy envelope from India. The sheets inside were not clean and written mathematical theories in non-English script. He looked at those signs with no interest and soon felt bored. Most of the theorems were either wild without any proof or already known. Hardy got irritated by it and left them aside.

One day, Hardy could not concentrate on anything. The wild theorems of the Indian started disturbing him. He doubted the Indian either a fraud or a genius. So he called for his friend Littlewood. They discussed the theorems in Hardy's room. Soon, they understood that those letters were from a genius mathematician. Before sending the manuscript to Hardy, Ramanujan had sent it to two more Maths professors in London. But they could not evaluate the knowledge of Ramanujan. Next, Hardy invited Ramanujan to England with the help of Trinity College which funded many geniuses earlier.

In 1914, Ramanujan reached London. Both Ramanujan and Hardy developed a close relationship. Hardy thought that Ramanujan was an untrained genius. Ramanujan did not have proficiency in English. So, when Hardy talked about general things in English, Ramanujan looked confused. Even in maths, Ramanujan was a self-taught. Hardy once thought that if Ramanujan had got education, he would be lesser in knowledge. Later he corrected himself by thinking that Ramanujan would be wonderful if he had better education. Hardy taught Ramanujan some formal maths. They both produced five papers of the highest knowledge. The Royal society of England elected Ramnujan as a Fellow at the age of thirty. He also received a Fellowship from Trinity. Ramanujan was the first Indian to receive such honour in England.

The climate of London made Ramnujan to be ill soon. He was admitted in a hospital. The famous taxi-cab number incident took place in the hospital. Hardy went to meet Ramanujan in the hospital by a taxi. He started the conversation by stating that the taxi number in which he travelled was a dull number 1729, which activated Ramanujan. He replied immediately that was a very interesting number by stating "smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways". This showed the intelligence and interest of Ramanujan in maths. Ramanujan died of tuberculosis in Madras at the age of thirty-three. In his apology Hardy mentions the list of great mathematicians who all died at young ages.