BELOVED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931) is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), and Beloved (1987). She was also commissioned to write the libretto for a new opera, Margaret Garner, first performed in 2005. She won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for Beloved and the Nobel Prize in 1993. On May 29, 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Morrison serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.
Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio, to Ramah and George Wofford. She is the second of four children in a working-class family. Her parents moved to Ohio to escape southern racism and instilled a sense of heritage through telling traditional African American folktales.She read frequently as a child; among her favorite authors were Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy.According to a 2012 interview in The Guardian, she became a Catholic at the age of 12 and received the baptismal name "Anthony", which later became the basis for her nickname "Toni".
In 1949 Morrison went to Howard University graduating in 1953 with a B.A. in English; she went on to earn a Master of Arts from Cornell University in 1955. She taught English, first at Texas Southern University in Houston for two years, then at Howard for seven years. She met Harold Morrison, a Jamaican architect, at Howard, whom she married in 1958. The couple had two children and divorced in 1964. After the breakup of her marriage, she began working as an editor in 1965 for a textbook publisher in Syracuse, going on two years later to Random House in New York City, where she became a senior trade-book editor.In that capacity, Morrison played a vital role in bringing black literature into the mainstream, editing books by authors such as Henry Dumas,Toni Cade Bambara, Angela Davis, and Gayl Jones.

SUMMARY:

Beloved is not narrated chronologically; it is composed of flashbacks, memories, and nightmares. As a result, it is not an easy read if you haven't encountered William Faulkner, James Joyce, or Virginia Woolf. Following, we have constructed a basic outline of the action in the story. In no way, however, does it reflect the wonder of Morrison's novel.

Sethe, a 13-year-old child of unnamed slave parents, arrives at Sweet Home, an idyllic plantation in Kentucky operated by Garner, an unusually humane master, and his wife, Lillian. Within a year, Sethe selects Halle Suggs to be her mate and, by the time she is 18, bears him three children. After Garner dies, his wife turns control of the plantation over to her brother-in-law, the schoolteacher, who proves to be a brutal overseer.

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Schoolteacher's cruelty drives the Sweet Home slave men — Paul D, Halle, Paul A, and Sixo — to plot their escape. In August, fearful that her sons will be sold, a very pregnant Sethe packs her children Howard, Buglar, and Beloved in a wagon and sends them to safety with their grandmother in Cincinnati. Schoolteacher discovers what she has done, and as Halle watches from the loft of a barn, schoolteacher takes notes as his nephews — the "two boys with mossy teeth" — suck the milk from Sethe's breasts. She reports the assault to the ailing Mrs. Garner. The nephews retaliate by beating Sethe with cowhide until her back is split open with wounds. Unknown to Sethe, schoolteacher roasts Sixo alive and hangs Paul A for trying to escape the plantation. Before she leaves Sweet Home, Sethe confronts Paul D, who is shackled in an iron collar for his part in the escape attempt. Sethe then makes her own escape.

Sethe flees through the woods and, with the help of Amy Denver, a runaway white indentured servant, gives birth to her fourth child. Then, with the help of Stamp Paid, a black ferryman, she crosses the Ohio river into freedom.

Safely reunited with her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, and her babies in Cincinnati, Sethe enjoys 28 days of contentment. Then one day as Stamp Paid replenishes the woodpile and Baby Suggs and Sethe work in the yard, schoolteacher, the sheriff, a slave catcher, and one of schoolteacher's nephews arrive to recapture Sethe and her children. To spare her children a return to bondage, Sethe slices the throat of the eldest girl, tries to kill her two boys, and threatens to dash out the brains of her infant daughter, Denver. The sheriff takes Sethe and Denver to jail, and Sethe is condemned to hang. She leaves her cell long enough to attend her daughter's funeral. Three months later, pressure from the Quaker abolitionist Edward Bodwin and the Colored Ladies of Delaware, Ohio produces Sethe's freedom. She barters sex for a gravestone inscribed "Beloved" to mark her daughter's burial site. Immediately, Beloved's ghost makes itself known in Baby Suggs's house at 124 Bluestone Road.

Sethe is granted a release from her death sentence, but after leaving jail she finds the black community closed to her. With the aid of Mr. Bodwin, she locates work and manages to build a stable, though solitary, life. Her mother-in-law withdraws completely from the community and dies several years later. Shortly after Baby Suggs's death, Sethe's sons leave home, unnerved by the presence of Beloved's ghost. Left with only Denver, Sethe lives in uneasy solitude.

Years later, after escaping a cruel Georgia prison and wandering North, Paul D arrives in Cincinnati and reunites with Sethe. He immediately banishes the disruptive ghost from the house. The two former slaves attempt to form a family, although Denver is uncomfortable with Paul D's presence. Sethe and Paul D's relationship is interrupted by the appearance of a mysterious young woman who calls herself Beloved, the same name that is on the headstone of Sethe's murdered daughter.

Beloved quickly becomes a dominant force in Sethe's house. She drives Paul D out of Sethe's bed and seduces him. She becomes the sole focus of Sethe's life after Sethe realizes that this young woman is the reincarnation of her dead child. Drawing Sethe into an unhealthy, obsessive relationship, Beloved grows stronger while Sethe's body and mind weaken. Sethe quits her job and withdraws completely into the house. With the aid of Denver and some female neighbors, Sethe escapes Beloved's control through a violent scene in which she mistakes Bodwin for a slave catcher and tries to stab him with an ice pick. Beloved vanishes, and Paul D returns, helping Sethe rediscover the value of life and her own self-worth.

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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll , was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, which includes the poem Jabberwocky, and the poem The Hunting of the Snark, all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy. There are societies in many parts of the world. dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life.

During his early youth, Dodgson was educated at home. His "reading lists" preserved in the family archives testify to a precocious intellect: at the age of seven, he was reading books such as The Pilgrim's Progress. He also suffered from a stammer – a condition shared by most of his siblings– that often influenced his social life throughout his years. At the age of twelve, he was sent to Richmond Grammar School (now part of Richmond School) at nearby Richmond.

SUMMARY:

Alice sits in her armchair at home, drowsily watching her pet kitten, Kitty, as she unravels a ball of string. She snatches Kitty up and begins telling her about “Looking-Glass House,” an imaginary world on the other side of the mirror where everything is backward. Alice suddenly finds herself on the mantelpiece and steps through the mirror into Looking-Glass House. On the other side of the mirror, Alice discovers a room similar to her own but with several strange differences. The chessmen stand in the fireplace in pairs, oblivious to Alice’s presence. She comes to the aid of the White Queen’s daughter, Lily, but realizes that the chess pieces cannot see her. Alice becomes distracted by a book on the shelf, in which she reads a nonsensical poem entitled “Jabberwocky.” Frustrated by the strange poem, she sets off to explore the rest of the house.

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Alice leaves the house and spots a beautiful garden in the distance, but every time she tries to follow the path to the garden she finds herself back at the door to the house. Confused, she wonders aloud how to get to the garden, and to her surprise a Tiger-lily responds. Other flowers join in the conversation, and several of them start to insult Alice. Alice learns from the flowers that the Red Queen is nearby, and Alice sets off to meet her. Alice meets the Red Queen, and the two engage in conversation, but the Red Queen constantly corrects Alice’s etiquette. Alice looks out over a field, sees a great game of chess in progress, and tells the Red Queen that she would like to join. The Red Queen tells Alice she can stand in as a White Pawn and marks a course for Alice, explaining that when she reaches the end of the game, Alice will become a Queen.

Alice inexplicably finds herself on a train with a Goat, a Beetle, and a man dressed in white paper. They each nag Alice until the train eventually lurches to a halt. Alice finds herself in a forest, conversing with a chicken sized Gnat, who tells her about the different insects of Looking-Glass World. After learning the names of the insects, Alice sets off again and discovers that she has forgotten the names of things, even her own name. She comes across a Fawn, who has also forgotten the names of things, and the two press on through the forest.

When Alice and the Fawn emerge from the forest, their memories of names come back, and the Fawn runs away in fear of Alice. Alice soldiers on alone until she meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, an identical pair of heavyset men. The twins ignore Alice’s repeated requests for directions and recite a poem instead. Tweedledum and Tweedledee notice the Red King sleeping nearby and explain to Alice that she exists only as a figment of the Red King’s dream. Upset at first, Alice decides that the two of them speak nonsense. A fight spontaneously erupts between Tweedledum and Tweedledee over a broken rattle. A giant crow swoops down and interrupts the fight, sending Tweedledum and Tweedledee running.

Alice slips away and encounters the White Queen, who explains that time moves backward in Looking-Glass World. As they speak, the White Queen plasters her finger, then screams in pain, and finally pricks her finger on a brooch. After explaining to Alice that she used to practice the impossible daily, she transforms into a sheep in a shop. The Sheep asks a disoriented Alice what she would like to buy. Though the shop is full of curious things, Alice finds that she cannot fix her eye on any one thing. The Sheep asks Alice if she knows how to row. Before she knows it, Alice finds herself in a boat with the Sheep, rowing down a stream. The boat crashes into something and sends Alice tumbling to the ground. When she stands she finds herself back in the shop. She purchases an egg from the Sheep, who places the egg on a shelf. Alice reaches for the egg and finds herself back in the forest, where the egg has transformed into Humpty Dumpty.

Humpty Dumpty sits on a wall and criticizes Alice for having a name that doesn’t mean anything, explaining that all names should mean something. Humpty Dumpty treats Alice rudely, boasting that he can change the meanings of words at will. When Alice learns this, she asks Humpty Dumpty to explain the words of the nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” to her. He defines the words of the first stanza and then recites a portion of his own poem. He abruptly bids her goodbye, and Alice storms off, annoyed. All of a sudden, a loud crash shakes the forest and she watches soldiers and horsemen run by.

Alice comes across the White King, who explains to her that he has sent all of his horses and men, presumably to put the shattered Humpty Dumpty back together again. The King’s messenger Haigha approaches and informs them that the Lion and the Unicorn are doing battle in the town. Alice sets off with her new companions toward the town to watch the battle. They catch up with another of the King’s messengers, Hatta, who explains the events of the fight thus far. The Lion and Unicorn stop battling and the White King calls for refreshments to be served. The White King tells Alice to cut the cake, but she finds that every time she slices the cake the pieces fuse back together. The Unicorn instructs Alice that Looking-glass cakes must be passed around first before they are sliced. Alice distributes the cake, but before they begin eating, a great noise interrupts, and when Alice looks up, she finds herself alone again.

The Red Knight gallops up to Alice and takes her as a prisoner. The White Knight arrives at Alice’s side and vanquishes the Red Knight. Alice and the White Knight walk and talk together, and Alice finds a friend in the eccentric chessman. He promises to bring her safely to the last square where she will become a queen. As they walk, he tells her about all of his inventions before sending her off with a song. She crosses the final brook and finds herself sitting on the bank with a crown on her head.

Alice finds herself in the company of the Red Queen and the White Queen, who question her relentlessly before falling asleep in her lap. The sound of their snoring resembles music. The sound is so distracting that Alice doesn’t notice when the two queens disappear. Alice discovers a castle with a huge door marked “QUEEN ALICE.” Alice goes through the door and finds a huge banquet in her honor. She sits and begins eating, but the party quickly devolves into total chaos. Overwhelmed, Alice pulls away the tablecloth and grabs the Red Queen.

Alice wakes up from her dream to find herself holding Kitty. She wonders aloud whether or not her adventures where her own dream or the dream of the Red King.

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THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) was an 17th-century English poet. He is best known for his satirical verse, as well as for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare.

Alexander Pope was born to Alexander Pope Senior (1646–1717), a linen merchant of Plough Court, Lombard Street, London, and his wife Edith (née Turner) (1643–1733), who were both Catholics. Edith's sister Christiana was the wife of the famous miniature painter Samuel Cooper. Pope's education was affected by the recently enacted Test Acts, which upheld the status of the established Church of England and banned Catholics from teaching, attending a university, voting, or holding public office on pain of perpetual imprisonment. Pope was taught to read by his aunt, and went to Twyford School in about 1698/99. He then went to two Catholic schools in London. Such schools, while illegal, were tolerated in some areas.

In 1700, his family moved to a small estate at Popeswood in Binfield, Berkshire, close to the royal Windsor Forest. This was due to strong anti-Catholic sentiment and a statute preventing Catholics from living within 10 miles (16 km) of either London or Westminster. Pope would later describe the countryside around the house in his poem Windsor Forest. Pope's formal education ended at this time, and from then on he mostly educated himself by reading the works of classical writers such as the satirists Horace and Juvenal, the epic poets Homer and Virgil, as well as English authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and John Dryden. He also studied many languages and read works by English, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek poets. After five years of study, Pope came into contact with figures from the London literary society such as William Wycherley, William Congreve, Samuel Garth, William Trumbull, and William Walsh.

SUMMARY:

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Belinda arises to prepare for the day’s social activities after sleeping late. Her guardian sylph, Ariel, warned her in a dream that some disaster will befall her, and promises to protect her to the best of his abilities. Belinda takes little notice of this oracle, however. After an elaborate ritual of dressing and primping, she travels on the Thames River to Hampton Court Palace, an ancient royal residence outside of London, where a group of wealthy young socialites are gathering for a party. Among them is the Baron, who has already made up his mind to steal a lock of Belinda’s hair. He has risen early to perform and elaborate set of prayers and sacrifices to promote success in this enterprise. When the partygoers arrive at the palace, they enjoy a tense game of cards, which Pope describes in mock-heroic terms as a battle. This is followed by a round of coffee. Then the Baron takes up a pair of scissors and manages, on the third try, to cut off the coveted lock of Belinda’s hair. Belinda is furious. Umbriel, a mischievous gnome, journeys down to the Cave of Spleen to procure a sack of sighs and a flask of tears which he then bestows on the heroine to fan the flames of her ire. Clarissa, who had aided the Baron in his crime, now urges Belinda to give up her anger in favor of good humor and good sense, moral qualities which will outlast her vanities. But Clarissa’s moralizing falls on deaf ears, and Belinda initiates a scuffle between the ladies and the gentlemen, in which she attempts to recover the severed curl. The lock is lost in the confusion of this mock battle, however; the poet consoles the bereft Belinda with the suggestion that it has been taken up into the heavens and immortalized as a constellation.

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THE ROVER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Aphra Behn (14 December 1640? – 16 April 1689) was a British playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. Rising from obscurity, she came to the notice of Charles II, who employed her as a spy in Antwerp. Upon her return to London and a probable brief stay in debtors' prison, she began writing for the stage. She belonged to a coterie of poets and famous libertines such as John Wilmot, Lord Rochester. She wrote under the pastoral pseudonym Astrea. During the turbulent political times of the Exclusion Crisis, she wrote an epilogue and prologue that brought her into legal trouble; she thereafter devoted most of her writing to prose genres and translations. A staunch supporter of the Stuart line, she declined an invitation from Bishop Burnet to write a welcoming poem to the new king William III. She died shortly after.
She is famously remembered in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own: "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.". Her grave is not included in the Poets' Corner but lies in the East Cloister near the steps to the church.

SUMMARY:

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"The Rover," alternatively known as "The Banish't Cavaliers," is the most frequently read and performed of Aphra Behn's plays (Burke, 118). First performed by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in 1677, the play was initially published anonymously (Burke, 118). Only in the prologue of the third edition did Behn finally take credit for the play. It is believed that it took her this long to claim authorship because she was afraid of potential plagiarism charges, as the play closely resembles Thomas Killigrew's "Thomaso."

The Rover follows the escapades of a band of banished English cavaliers as they enjoy themselves at a carnival in Naples. The story strings together multiple plotlines revolving around the amorous adventures of these Englishmen, who pursue a pair of noble Spanish sisters, as well as a mistress and common prostitute.

The titular character is a raffish naval captain, Willmore. He falls in love with a wealthy noble Spanish woman named Hellena, who is determined to experience love before her brother, Pedro, sends her to a convent. Hellena falls in love with Willmore, but difficulties arise when a famous courtesan, Angellica Bianca, also falls in love with Willmore.
As this plot unravels, Hellena's older sister, Florinda, attempts to avoid an unappealing arranged marriage to her brother's best friend, and devises a plan to marry her true love, Colonel Belvile. Finally, the third major plot of the play concerns English countryman Blunt, a naive and vengeful man who becomes convinced that a girl, Lucetta, has fallen in love with him. When she turns out to be a prostitute and thief, he is humiliated and attempts to rape Florinda as revenge against all women for the pain and damage that Lucetta has caused him.
In the end, Florinda and Belvile are married, and Hellena and Willmore commit to marry one another.

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PARADISE LOST

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.

Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644)—written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship—is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of free speech and freedom of the press.

William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language",though critical reception has oscillated in the centuries since his death (often on account of his republicanism). Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as "a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind", though he (a Tory and recipient of royal patronage) described Milton's politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".

SUMMARY:

Each book of Paradise Lost is prefaced with an argument, or summary. These arguments were written by Milton and added because early readers had requested some sort of guide to the poem. Several of the books also begin with a prologue. The prologue to Book I states Milton's purpose: to tell about the fall of man and justify God's ways to man.
The epic begins traditionally in medias res. Satan and the other rebellious angels awake to find themselves in Hell on a lake of fire. Satan is lying beside Beelzebub. Satan raises himself from the lake and flies to the shore. He calls for the other angels to do the same, and they assemble by the lake. Satan tells them that all is not lost and tries to inspire his followers. Led by Mammon and Mulciber, the fallen angels build their capital and palace, Pandemonium. The highest ranking of the angels then assemble for a council.
In the council, Satan asks what the demons think should be the next move against God. Moloch argues for open warfare. Belial twists Moloch's arguments, proposing that nothing should be done. Mammon, the materialistic angel, argues that they do the best with what they have. Finally, Beelzebub, Satan's second in command, proposes that the angels try to get at God through his new creation, Man. Beelzebub's proposal, which is really Satan's proposal, is adopted, and Satan volunteers to find the new world and new creatures. He leaves at once, flying to the Gate of Hell. There, he meets his children, Sin and Death. Sin opens the gate for Satan who flies out into Chaos and Night. Sin and Death follow him. Finally, in the distance Satan sees Earth.
God watches Satan approach Earth and predicts his success in corrupting Man. Man has free will. But God omnisciently knows what will happen. God adds that Man can be saved through mercy and grace, but he must also accept the just punishment of death, unless someone takes on death for Man. The Son offers to become a man and suffer death in order to overcome it. The angels rejoice.
In the meantime, Satan, sitting on the edge of the Earth, cannot see the way to Man. Satan disguises himself as a cherub and flies to the sun to talk with the archangel, Uriel. Uriel shows Satan the way to Man.

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Looking at Earth, Satan is taken with its beauty but quickly overcomes his sympathy to concentrate on what he must do. He sees Adam and Eve and is entranced with their beauty. As Satan listens to the pair, they talk about God's one commandment that they not eat from the Tree of Knowledge under penalty of death. Satan immediately begins to formulate a plan.
Uriel, on the sun, becomes suspicious of the cherub whose face shows changing emotions and goes to warn Gabriel. Gabriel says that he and his angels will capture any interlopers in the Garden, and late that night Ithuriel and Zephron capture Satan whispering in Eve's ear. The two angels bring Satan before Gabriel, who, with God's help, banishes the tempter from Earth.
When Eve awakes, she tells Adam of her troubling dream. Adam comforts her, reminding her that they are safe if they obey God. God decides to send the angel Raphael to warn Adam and Eve to be wary of Satan. Raphael goes to Earth where he eats with Adam and Eve. After the meal, Raphael tells Adam about the great rebellion in Heaven.
Raphael says that Lucifer (Satan) was jealous of the Son and through sophistic argument got his followers, about one third of the angels, to follow him to the North. There, only one of Satan's followers stood up against him — Abdiel, who returned to God.
Satan attacks God and the Heavenly Host, whose power has been limited by God. Nonetheless, God's forces have little difficulty in defeating the rebels. Michael splits Satan in half, which is humiliating, but not deadly, because Satan, as an angel, cannot die. After the first day of battle, the rebels construct a cannon and begin the second day's battle with some success. God's forces begin to pull up mountains and hurl them at the rebels, burying them and their cannons. God is amused at the presumption of the rebels but does not want the landscape destroyed. He sends the Son forth by himself in a chariot. The rebels are quickly herded into Hell.
Next, Raphael responds to Adam's questions about the creation of the world. The angel explains the day-by-day creation of the world in six days. Then, in an effort to keep the angel engaged in conversation, Adam asks about the motions of the heavenly bodies. Raphael explains that Adam should leave some questions to God's wisdom. Next, Adam describes his own creation, his introduction to Eden, and the creation of Eve. He describes how beautiful Eve is to him and the bliss of wedded love. Raphael gives Adam a final warning about Satan as he leaves.
Having been gone from Eden for eight days, Satan returns, sneaking in through a fountain near the Tree of Knowledge. He takes the form of a serpent to try to trick Man. When Adam and Eve awake, they argue over whether they should work together or alone. Eve finally convinces Adam to let her work by herself. Satan, in serpent's form, approaches Eve and, using clever but fallacious arguments, convinces her to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. After Eve eats, she reveals what she has done to Adam, who, unable to bear the thought of losing Eve, eats also. Having eaten the fruit, the two are overcome with lust and run to the woods to make love. When they awake, they are filled with shame and guilt. Each blames the other.
In Heaven, the angels are horrified that Man has fallen, but God assures them that He had foreknowledge of all that would happen. He sends the Son to Earth to pronounce judgment on the humans and the serpent. The Son goes to Earth and makes his judgments. He adds though, that through mercy, Adam and Eve and all humans may eventually be able to overcome death. In an act of pity, the Son clothes the two humans.
Sin and Death meanwhile have sensed an opportunity on Earth. They construct a huge causeway from Hell to Earth. On their way across, they meet Satan returning to Hell. They proceed to Earth while Satan enters Hell in disguise. Satan appears on his throne and announces what he has done. Expecting to hear the applause of all the fallen angels, he instead hears only hissing as he and all his followers are turned into snakes. When they eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge which appears before them, it turns to bitter ashes.
On Earth, Sin and Death see infinite opportunities. God, looking down on the two, says eventually they will be cast into Hell and sealed up. Adam and Eve lament, but Eve submissively asks Adam's forgiveness. He relents, his love overcoming his bitterness. She suggests suicide as a way to avoid the terrible curse on the world, but Adam says they must obey God.
God sends the angel, Michael, to take Adam and Eve out of Eden. Before doing so, Michael takes Adam to a hill and gives the human a vision of biblical history, ending with the birth of Jesus who will be the savior of Man. Adam rejoices. Adam and Eve together are led out of Eden. Behind them a flaming sword guards the entrance; ahead, they face a new life in a new world.

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FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was an English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the James Bond novels.
Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952. It was a success, with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two short-story collections followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels revolved around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond was also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

SUMMARY:

Late one night, James Bond is alternately stalking and being stalked through an ornate garden by a tall, blond assassin. Bond is captured and garrotted to death by a man named Grant. Suddenly, huge floodlights switch on and 'Bond' turns out to be a man wearing a Bond mask - it's all been a training exercise staged by SPECTRE.
Venice: a chess match is under way between the Czechoslovakian Kronsteen and the Canadian MacAdams. Kronsteen receives a message (on a napkin beneath his glass of water!) telling him that "you are required at once." He effortlessly finishes off MacAdams in a couple of moves and leaves. He is next seen on a large, luxury yacht where Ernst Blofeld, SPECTRE's Number One, is amusing himself and Soviet assassin Rosa Klebb (Number Three) with a tank full of exotic fighting fish.
Kronsteen (SPECTRE's Number Five) has arranged the theft of the Soviet Lektor decoding device and asks for the services of a female member of the Russian cryptograph service in Turkey and "the help of the British secret service." Klebb has already chosen a female operative and has been able to keep the fact of her own defection to SPECTRE a secret. Kronsteen explains that the British see a trap as a challenge and that they will be easy to manipulate - and they are certain to use James Bond on the mission, allowing SPECTRE to take revenge for the death of Dr No.
Klebb departs to SPECTRE Island, the organisation's secret training base, where she meets convicted murderer Donald Grant, "a homicidal paranoiac," who escaped from Dartmoor before joining SPECTRE. Grant is being specially groomed for the mission against Bond.

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Istanbul: three women leave the Soviet Consulate, one of them, Tatiana Romanova, heading off for a rendezvous with Klebb. Romanova, a former ballet dancer, is a good and loyal worker and is to be rewarded with a special assignment.
London: Bond is enjoying the company of Sylvia Trench on a secluded part of the Thames when he receives a call from Moneypenny telling him that M is looking for him. He promises to report in soon, but decides to finish what he was doing with Sylvia first...
M tells Bond that Romanova has contacted Station T in Turkey, run by agent Karim Bey, asking to defect and bringing with her a Lektor device, which both MI5 and the CIA have been after for years. It also appears that Romanova is claiming to be in love with Bond. Bond realises that it's a trap, but with the Lektor as bait M decides that Bond should take on the mission anyway.
Boothroyd from Q division enters and shows Bond a special black leather attaché case crammed to the gills with all manner of toys and gadgets, including 20 rounds of ammunition, a flat throwing knife, a .22 folding sniper's rifle, 50 gold sovereigns and a tear gas grenade concealed in a tin of talcum powder. Everything an agent needs in fact...
After a brief flirtation with Moneypenny (during which M demands the return of a photograph of Romanova he had let Bond look at earlier), Bond heads off for Istanbul where he is met by a driver sent by Karim Bey. However, even this early in his mission, Bond is being watched, both by a scruffy man in glasses and by Grant, both of who set off after Bond's car. The driver doesn't seem too concerned about their tails, telling Bond that the car behind them is full of Bulgarians working for the Russians and that this sort of cat-and-mouse is all part of the game.
The driver takes Bond to see Bey, whose staff seem to be comprised entirely of his sons! Bey tells Bond that Romanova is making her own plans to meet and that they have nothing to do but wait. Bond checks in to his hotel where he checks his room and finds it full of hidden bugs. Pretending that the bed is too small, Bond asks to be moved but is told by the staff - who all seem to Russian agents - that only the bridal suit is available. He calls their bluff and takes it.
Outside the Russian consulate, Grant abandons his car and drives off in another. The Consulate guard checks the abandoned car and finds a dead Russian agent in the back seat. In the other car, Klebb tells Grant that the Russians will suspect the British and that the Cold War in Turkey is about to heat up. Later Bey and his mistress are nearly killed when a limpet mine attached to the wall of his house suddenly explodes.
Next day, Bey takes Bond down to his cellar where the board a boat and sail off along an underwater canal, eventually coming to a chamber beneath the Russian consulate complete with periscope peeking the Russian's conference room! They spy on a meeting of the leading Russian agents in Turkey, and Bey recognises Bulgarian assassin Krilencu at the table. Bond also gets his first real glimpse of Romanova. He asks Bey for plans of the Russian Consulate and they head for a a gypsy settlement loyal to Bey where Bond can hide from the attentions of Krilencu.
Bond is clearly in his element here - first of all, he is treated to a very close-up performance from a belly dancer and is then fascinated by a gypsy tradition in which two volatile young women in love with the same man must fight each other for the honour of marrying him. The cat fight is interrupted by the violent arrival of Krilencu's men, who set about laying waste to the settlement amid much gunfire and struggling with knives. Grant is lurking nearby and shoots any man who looks like he might be about to kill Bond.
With Bond's help, the gypsies manage to fight off the Bulgars and Bond is hailed a hero. In return he asks that the girl fight be stopped and they agree, but only if Bond decides the winner. That night, the women visit Bond in his quarters.
Next morning: Bond is being pampered by the two gypsy women and that evening he finally leaves with Bey, heading off to sort out the Krilencu problem. They track him to a room in a hotel behind a giant facade advertising the Bob Hope / Anita Ekberg movie Call Me Bwana. Bey uses Bond's folding sniper's rifle to shoot Krilencu through the window of his room which is conveniently placed in Ekberg's mouth!
When he returns to his hotel suite, Bond prepares for a shower but is distracted by noises in his bedroom. He finds Romanova waiting fore him in bed. Never being one to pass up such an opportunity, Bond seduces her and makes plans to take possession of the Lektor device. As Bond and Romanova make love, they are unaware that they are being watched and filmed from behinds a mirror by Grant and Klebb.
The next day, Romanova heads off for a pre-arranged rendezvous at a nearby mosque with Bond, tailed by the scruffy, bespectacled man. Bond joins a tourist tour of the mosque and slips away to meet Romanova. Bond spots the main tailing her, but before he can do anything about it, he is, unseen by Bond, killed by Grant. When Bond finds the body, he also finds the plans for the Russian Consulate he has been seeking. Later, Bond and Bey study the plans and Bey warns him that it all seems to a bit too easy. He also cautions Bond against becoming too involved with Romanova.
Bond meets Romanova on a ferry and gets her to tell him about the Lektor, taping their conversation on a recorder hidden inside his camera. The tape is later analysed back in London by M, Q and other agents. M is embarrassed by Bond and Romanova's more intimate exchanges, but never more than when Bond starts to recount "an interesting experience" he and M enjoyed in Tokyo!
London cables Bond telling him that Romanova's description of the device seems genuine and that he is to go ahead with the deal. He applies for a visa from the Russian Consulate, allowing his access to the building. At a pre-arranged moment, Bey sets off an explosive charge in the chamber beneath the building, releasing tear gas throughout the Consulate. In the resulting chaos, Bond is able to find Romanova and make off with the decoder. After a nasty run-in with a pack of rats in the cellar, Bond and Romanova join Bey and make good their escape. All three board the Orient Express, pursued by Soviet security man Benz who recognises Romanova. Grant is also on the train. Bey has arranged cover for Bond and Romanova as a married couple, which Romanova is very pleased about. Bey sets off to secure the help of the train guard, a man whose services he has used before, leaving Bond and Romanova to carry on where they left off in Bond's hotel suite. Bey later spots Benz listening at the cabin door and warns Bond of the danger. Bey and Bond confront Benz in his cabin and restrain him before Bond returns to Romanova where he fails to resist the power of her slinky new dress...
Later, while heading for the restaurant car, Bond is stopped by the guard with bad news - he takes him to Benz's cabin where the Soviet agent and Bey have apparently killed each other. Bond bribes the Guard not to stop the train at the next stop, an out of the way place where two of Bey's men are waiting. Bond breaks the news of Bey's death to Romanova, accusing her of acting under orders and roughing her up. She insists that she knows nothing and that she really does love Bond.
The train continues on its journey across Europe, finally arriving at Beograd where Bond gets out to stretch his legs. There he meets with one of Bey's sons, explaining why he didn't stop at the pre-arranged rendezvous. He gets the man to send a message to M, arranging for an agent from Station Y to meet him at Zagreb.
In Zagreb, Grant intercepts the British agent and murders him the toilets before Bond can get to him. He then poses as the agent, Nash, and makes contact with Bond, boarding the train with him as it sets off again. In his cabin, Bond tells 'Nash' about the Lektor and about how difficult it will be to get it across the border. 'Nash' invites Bond and Romanova to dinner in the restaurant car, but Bond is suspicious. He sends 'Nash' onahead with Romanova, then checks the tear gas booby trap in his attaché case.
During dinner, 'Nash' spills Romanova's wine and, while refilling the glass, slips in a drug. While she's unconscious in one part of the cabin, Grant knocks Bond out in the other half of the cramped quarters. He relieves Bond of his gun then taunts Bond when he revives. Only now does Bond realise that SPECTRE is involved in his mission and that they have been playing the Russians and the British off against each other. Grant reveals that SPECTRE have been keeping him alive (which is why Grant saved him at the gypsy camp) until he could get the Lektor device for them. He also tells Bond that Romanova knows nothing of what is happening and that Rosa Klebb, whom Bond knows as a SMERSH operative, is running her. He also tells Bond that his death will be staged as a crime of passion - they'll plant the film of Bond and Romanova making love on Romanova and a letter apparently from her threatening to release the film to the press will be planted on him. This way, it'll seem as though she was trying to blackmail Bond and he killed her before taking his own life.
But Bond isn't taking this lying down - he offers to buy a last cigarette for 50 gold sovereigns and dupes Grant into opening the booby trapped attaché case. A struggle breaks out during which Bond and Grant brutally assault each other in the narrow confines of the compartment. Grant tries to garrotte Bond with a wire hidden in his watch, but Bond is able to stab him with the concealed blade from the attaché case, then ends up strangling him. He takes the incriminating reel of film from Grant's pocket.
The train is now slowing down at Grant's pre-arranged escape point and Bond has to get a still very dopey Romanova off it as soon as possible. They manage to escape and Bond neatly overpowers and disarms the contact waiting for the SPECTRE agent. With Romanova sleeping off the effects of the drug in the back, Bond drives off in the contacts flower truck. As dawn breaks, they are spotted and buzzed by a SPECTRE helicopter. The passengers of the helicopter begin bombing the truck with grenades, forcing Bond to leave Romanova hiding beneath the vehicle as tries to attract their attention away from her. He sets off across the fields as the helicopter continuously passes low overhead, almost hitting him. He takes refuge beneath some rocks and uses the folding sniper's rifle to shoot the passenger, who drops a primed grenade and blows the helicopter up. Bond drives on, eventually reaching a boat waiting at a remote dock. Bond and Romanova set off on the boat heading for Venice.
Klebb and Kronsteen try to explain their failures to their leader, but he's an unforgiving sort and has Kronsteen murdered by his henchman Morzeny who kicks him with a poison tipped blade hidden in his boot.
Bond and Romanova are making good progress towards Venice when they are suddenly intercepted by SPECTRE agents aboard a small fleet of power boats. Bond tries to outrun them, but they attack with rifle grenades. It seems that Spectre wants to stop Bond, not kill him. But when their stray bullets puncture several barrels of fuel stored on his boat, Bond throws them overboard and pretends to surrender. But then he fires flares into the water which, now full of oil, explodes, engulfing the pursuing boats in flames.
Finally, Bond and Romanova arrive in Venice and check into a hotel. But it's not quite over for Bond yet. Disguised as a maid, Klebb has managed to get into his room and is trying to whisk the Lektor away from under his nose. Romanova recognises her but, still thinking that she's a SMERSH agent, doesn't give her away. Klebb holds Bond at gun point and gets a reluctant Romanova to help her make off with the Lektor.
But in a last second change of heart, she disarms Klebb who goes toe-to-toe (literally) with Bond, who pins her to a wall with chair as the SPECTRE assassin tries to kick him with her own poison tipped toe-blade. The day is saved when Romanova shoots her. With their mission accomplished, Bond and Romanova take time for a gondola trip and Bond throws the film of him and Romanova making love that he retrieved from Grant into the canal.

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LYSISTRATA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaeum, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his thirty plays survive virtually complete. These, together with fragments of some of his other plays, provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, and they are used to define the genre.
Also known as the Father of Comedy and the Prince of Ancient Comedy, Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author.His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
His second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by the demagogue Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through the Chorus in that play, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all ".

SUMMARY:

Lysistrata, a strong and clever Athenian woman with a great sense of individual obligation for the nation, has made a secret plan of meeting among all of the women of Greece to discuss on the topic how to end the Peloponnesian War. She has called the women of Sparta, Thebes, and other cities in the meeting.
Lysistrata procedures with a plan to ask all the women to have sex strike with their husbands till a peace treaty has been signed by the warriors from both sides.
The women are suspicious of the plan and reluctant at first, but with Lysistrata’s power of convincing the women, the agreement is finalized with oath around a wine bowl, and the women agree to avoid all sexual pleasures. Her another plan is with the older women of Athens, who are supposed to seize the Akropolis on the same day. Akropolis holds the treasury of the state without which the warriors cannot continue the war any further due lack of fund.
There are two groups of choruses: the chorus of old men and the chorus of old women in Lysistrata. The chorus of men is seen on the stage with woods and fire to smoke the women out the Akropolis. They are in great rage, but the chorus of women appears with jugs of water on the stage so as to put out the fire of men. The chorus of men is defeated by the chorus of women and the men get a good soak from the jugs of water.

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The magistrate comes to the Akropolis asking for the funds for the naval ships in the war. The Commissioner is greatly shocked to see the women at the Akropolis and orders the police to arrest Lysistrata and her supporting women. In that humorous conflict the policemen are scared off. The Commissioner complaints the men of Athens that they have been too flexible and have allowed unnecessary freedom to the women of the city.
The Commissioner and Lysistrata are left behind to argue about the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata argues that war is a big concern of women because women have sacrificed greatly for it, women have given their husbands and their sons for the sake of war. Lysistrata further adds that it has become difficult for a woman to find a husband. The women mockingly dress the Commissioner as a woman first and later as a corpse.
After some considerable time, the sex-strike of Greek women begins to take effect on the men. Lysistrata finds Kinesias, the husband of Myrrhine, coming to the Akropolis to see his wife. Kinesias has a full erection and is madly desperate for his wife. But, Myrrhine skillfully rejects his sex proposal, saying they can enjoy sex when peace exists between Athens and Sparta. It is so amusing that Myrrhine hints that she could make love to Kinesias and makes him more desperately willing for sex but later leaves him in great pain. He now can only think about the peace treaty between the two states.
One Spartan messenger arrives in the Akropolis who is also suffering from a hard erection. The messenger describes about the helpless situation of the Spartan warriors caused due to sex strike and appeals for the peace treaty. When men from both states meet at the Akropolis for the discussion of the peace treaty, all men have full erections. Lysistrata addresses them on the need of the reconciliation between the states. She reminds them all about their previous role of helping each other at the time of need. Then the Spartan and the Athenian leaders come to the point to implement land rights which will eventually end the war. The peace treaty is signed by both sides and Lysistrata gives the women back to their men. The play ends with happy song sung by both men and women's choruses.

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