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Q.1) Write a review of a play. You can choose a full-

length play or one act play. ( Word limit 1500-2000 )

TWELFTH NIGHT

In the kingdom of Illyria, a nobleman named Orsino lies

around listening to music, pining away for the love of
LadyOlivia. He cannot have her because she is in mourning
for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals
of marriage. Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a
terrible shipwreck. A young, aristocratic-born woman
named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore. Finding herself
alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother,
Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck, and tries to
figure out what sort of work she can do. A friendly sea
captain tells her about Orsino’s courtship of Olivia, and
Viola says that she wishes she could go to work in Olivia’s
home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to talk with any
strangers, Viola decides that she cannot look for work with
her. Instead, she decides to disguise herself as a man,
taking on the name of Cesario, and goes to work in the
household of Duke Orsino.

Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favourite of

Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Viola finds herself
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falling in love with Orsino—a difficult love to pursue, as

Orsino believes her to be a man. But when Orsino send
Cesario to deliver Orsino’s love messages to the disdainful
Olivia, Olivia herself falls for the beautiful young Cesario,
believing her to be a man. The love triangle is complete:
Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves
Cesario—and everyone is miserable.

Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s

household: her rowdy drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby; his
foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is trying in his
hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia’s witty and pretty
waiting-gentlewoman, Maria; Feste, the clever clown of the
house; and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of Olivia’s
household. When Sir Toby and the others take offence at
Malvolio’s constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria
engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia
is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from
Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose name is signified
by the letters M.O.A.I. ), telling him that if he wants to earn
her favour, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed
garters,act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain
himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it
is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying
Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its
commands. He behaves so strangely that Olivia comes to
think that he is mad.

Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but

believes his sister Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along
with his friend and protector, Antonio. Antonio has cared for
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Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and

perhaps sexually) attached to the young man—so much so
that he follows him to Orsino’s ___domain, in spite of the fact
that he and Orsino are old enemies.

Sir Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still

Viola in disguise), challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby,
who sees the prospective duel as entertaining fun, eggs Sir
Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks just like
the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir Andrew and
Sir Toby end up coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking
that he is Cesario. Olivia enters amidthe confusion.
Encountering Sebastian and thinking that
he is Cesario, she asks him to marry her. He is baffled,
since he has never seen her before. He sees, however,
that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore
more than willing to go along with her. Meanwhile,
Antonio has been arrested by Orsino’s officers and now
begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola
denies knowing Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying
out that Sebastian has betrayed him. Suddenly, Viola has
newfound hope that her brother may be ali.
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Q.2) Write an essay on any ONE of the following topics.

(Word limit 1000-1500).

G.B. SHAWS’S CONTRIBUTION TO DRAMA

The first decade of the twentieth century is a period of great

promise and considerable achievement in the field of
drama. With the plays of George Bernard Shaw,
Galsworthy, Barrie, Granville Barker and Synge (in Ireland)
the drama after a lapse of over a century had burst out into
a new and vigorous life and resumed its place in literature,
which it had forfeited in the interim. It was not a mere form
of entertainment but had become a form of literature,
rivalling poetry and novel, This spectacular advance, it may
be noted, was the result of much pioneering work and had
been slowly prepared for some time passed.

It is, therefore, necessary to look back and to take stock of

the dramatic literature before this period. Sheridan was
practically the last great English dramatist to attain
somewhat of stage success. His plays The Rivals and The
School for Scandal appeared in 1775 and 1777
respectively. From that date till 1865, which is the date of
Robertson's delightful play of comedy, Society, no British
play of social interest and literary and technical merit had
appeared on the stage, in spite of the attempts of the great
poets of this period to write successful stage plays. The
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audience, too, were apathetic or hostile. They wanted only

sentimental and romantic stuff in the theatre - a pleasure for
the eye and ears,rather than food for the mind.
In this low state of dramatic activity came the new plays of
Robertson which were concerned with the problems of
contemporary life, thus marking the dawn of the new
drama. He was followed by A. W. Pinero and H. A. Jones
who had brought into the stage a further breath of
naturalism; the latter especially made the drama an
instrument of social criticism. He was the direct ancestor of
Shaw and Galsworthy. In the last decade of the last century
there was also the outstanding success of the plays of
Oscar Wilde. His sense of comedy, brilliant wit, superb
artistry, brilliant dialogues considerably improved the literary
standing of the drama. Then came the influence of the
famous Norwegian dramatist, Ibsen whose plays in English
translations by William Archer, the famous dramatic critic
and friend of Shaw appeared in succession for ten years
ending 1899. The genius of the Norwegian had conquered
the English stage and gave impetus to the realist
movement, deeper study of character, a more subtle
conception of plot and characterisation. Shaw wrote his
famous Quintessence of ibsenism and lbsen paved the path
for Shaw in founding and forging the 'new drama'. The
drama waited for a great genius to receive it and that
genius was George Bernard Shaw.

Shaw was just the man specially fitted for this task of the
reconstruction of the English drama on lbsenite lines. He
has conceived his function to be a teacher of his age. His
experience in novel-writing convinced him that his genius
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did not lie that way. At the time when he began to write
plays, the doctrine of 'art for art's sake, as propounded by
Pater and Wilde had held the field. This was the theory of
the decadents' as we have already seen it. Shaw saw in it a
ready-made excuse on the artist's part to hide his poverty of
thought and incapacity to deal with the fundamental
problems of life and society and to probe deep into the
human heart. And he said- "For art's sake alone, I would
not face the toil of writing a single line". His slogan was not
art but life. This is what Ibsenism meant to him and he
forged the drama not as an instrument of recreation and
relaxation for the idle moments but as a substantial food for
thought and reflexion in serious moments. The stage
became to him a 'school' or 'church' a place for education
and enlightenment. As he had confessed- "I write plays with
the deliberate object of converting the nation to my opinions
in these matters".

Thus the drama in his hands became 'problem play' which

focuses light on the problems of the age, with the
suggestion of his own opinion on them in such a vigorous
and humorous manner that the audience are persuaded to
his view. Shaw's plays are propaganda plays, but he has
made propaganda an art-form. It is not a blatant direct
expression of his point of view. His point of view is
developed and established by the contrast and
confrontation of ideas and through humour, wit and fun. But
stimulating thought on them and yet making them not
serious tracts but plays irradiated by humour, wit,
imagination and sparkling dialogues. In this he was
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followedby Galsworthy, Granville-Barker and Barrie in some

of his plays.

Thus the drama came to its own after a long interval since
the days of Shakespeare, with whom Shaw is often
compared. Shaw was greatly influenced by the Norwegian
dramatist, Ibsen. He perceived three innovations by Ibsen:
Stimulating the audience into thinking about themselves,
fusing ideas into the 'well made' play, and portraying both
characters and events realistically. The most characteristic
Shavian quality is the ability to make people think by
compelling them to laugh. His plays are comedies of ideas.
He deals with serious ideas in a light-hearted manner. From
his first play in 1892 to Buoyant Billions in 1949, there
flashes an unflagging wit and humour. No other playwright
has ever matched Shaw in lengthy speeches and long
stage conversation that somehow never drags or loses out
as theatre.

George Bernard Shaw came to the English stage in the

ripeness of time, when the English drama was on the way
to reconstruction and needed a great genius to remould it
and give it a definite character. Shaw brought this genius to
bear upon the task. In his earlier years he made a mark as
a socialist speaker and debater. He was already a familiar
figure to the London audience. He was perfectly conscious
of the mission as "the teacher of age." He had tried the
novel with little success and was convinced that his genius
did not lie that way. At the time when he began to write
plays, the aesthetic theory of Pater, namely art for art's
sake' had held the field.
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George Bernard Shaw dominated the English letters in the

first half of the twentieth century. He was awarded the
Nobel Prize in literature in 1925. His astounding vitality and
barbed wit continued unabated until his death. Shaw
created a new type of comedy - comedy of ideas. He made
people think by compelling them to laugh. He dealt with
various ideas in a lighthearted manner. The buoyancy and
wit of his plays fascinated the English speaking people.
One of his key techniques is turning everything topsy-turvy
and forcing an astounded audience to see "the other half of
the truth." A stern realist, he exploded the myth of romantic
love and all romantic ideas. An anti-materialist, he is a
vitalist believing in creative evolution which man should
further toward a perfect society, and in the Life force, really
the divine will. He has shown that comic art can embrace
philosophy, economics and social thought in its scope and
can give the profoundest expressions for the enlightenment
and enlargement of people's consciousness.
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