১৪০ দিনে ৫১তম বিসিএস প্রস্তুতি

Middlemarch
- A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot.
- Middlemarch is a great Victorian novel, but like several other great Victorian novels (Vanity Fair, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations) it is set in an earlier age.

এছাড়া, অপশনে প্রদত্ত বাকী তিনটি ‍উপন্যাসের লেখিকা হলেন  Jane Austen. 


Jane Austen
- She is called an anti-romantic novelist in the romantic age because of her stern attitude against youthful passion.
- Her famous novels: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion etc.

Source: ইংরেজি সাহিত্যের ইতিহাস. শীতল ঘোষ ।

- John Keats was a romantic poet, who is also called ‘Poet of beauty’.
- John Keats তার Sense of Beauty এর জন্য বিখ্যাত। কিংবা অন্যভাবে বলা যায়, তিনি ছিলেন সুন্দরের সাধক। পৌরানিক গ্রীক কাহিনী, মধ্যযুগীয় রুপকথা যেখানেই সৌন্দর্যের উৎস পেয়েছেন তার বন্দনা করেছেন।  
- তার সাহিত্যকর্মের মধ্যে আছে, sonnets, odes, and epics ইত্যাদি। বেশিরভাগ রচনাই লেখা হয়েছে ১৮১৯ সালে।    

Best works of John Keats:
- Ode to Psyche
- Ode on Melancholy
- To Autumn
- Bright Star
- On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
- Lamia
- The Eve of St
- La Belle Dame Sans Merci


Source: An ABC of English Literature by Professor M Mofizar Rahman 

War and Peace is a historical novel by Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910):
- Russian author Leo Tolstoy is considered a master of realistic fiction and one of the world’s greatest novelists.
- He is especially known for his two longest works, which are commonly regarded as among the finest novels ever written.
☞  War and Peace (1865–69) 
☞ Anna Karenina (1875–77)

War and Peace  ব্যতীত অপশনের অন্য বইগুলোর রচয়িতা Karl Marx.

Karl Marx (1818-1883):
- Revolutionary, sociologist, historian, and economist.

His famous books are:
- Das Kapital,
- Communist Manifesto,
- Holy Family,
- The Poverty of Philosophy.

Source: An ABC of English Literature, Dr M Mofizar Rahman and Encyclopedia of Britannica.

Mark Twain:
-Mark Twain was an American humorist, novelist, and travel writer.
Born:
-Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri.

Famous Works:
During his lifetime Mark Twain wrote more than 20 novels. His most famous novels included:
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) 
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

Source: Britannica.com 

Daisy Miller:
- It is a novel by Henry James that first appeared in The Cornhill Magazine in June–July 1878, and in book form the following year.
- It portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a sophisticated compatriot of hers.
- His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates when they meet in Switzerland and Italy.

Henry James: 
- He was an American novelist and critic. He was born in 1843 in New York City. 
- During his lifetime he wrote 20 novels, 112 tales, and 12 plays in addition to several volumes of travel writing and criticism.

Best Works of Henry James:
- Daisy Miller 
- The American 
- The tragic muse 
- The wings of the dove 
- The golden bowl
- The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
- The Bostonians (1886)
- The Ambassadors (1903)

He died in 1916 in London.

Source: Britannica.com

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) He was a renowned English Philosopher and political economist.
- He was the leading expositor of utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism: It is an ethical principle according to which an action is right if it tends to maximize happiness, not only that of the agent but also of everyone affected. Thus, utilitarians focus on the consequences of an act rather than on its intrinsic nature or the motives of the agent.

In other words, it's a theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number.’ (Merriam-webster.com)

Notable Works:
- Autobiography
- Considerations on Representative Government
- Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy
- Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy
- On Liberty
- Principles of Political Economy
- The Subjection of Women
- Utilitarianism
- A System of Logic

Source: Britannica.com

- "David Copperfield" is a novel written by Charles Dickens.-
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is generally considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
 
Charles Dickens's other famous novels:
- A Tale of Two Cities
- A Christmas carol
- Bleak House
- Great Expectations


Source: britannica.com

Wind in the Willows: 
- Kenneth Grahame এর লেখা বিখ্যাত শিশুতোষ ক্লাসিক। 
- Its animal characters—principally Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad—combine captivating human traits with authentic animal habits. 
- ছোটদের পাশাপাশি বড়দের কাছেও এটি সমান জনপ্রিয়।

Source: লাইভ এমসিকিউ আপকামিং কনটেন্ট। Britannica.com 

William Hazlit: (1778-1830) He was a great critic.

Best works includes:
- The dramatic literature of the age of Elizabeth (1820)
- The spirit of the Age (1825)
- He was best known for his humanistic essays.

(Source: An ABC of English Literature By Professor Dr. M Mofizar Rahman)

অপশনে প্রদত্ত চারটি উপন্যাসের মধ্যে তিনটিরই লেখক, ভিক্টোরিয়ান যুগের শ্রেষ্ঠ ঔপন্যাসিক Charles Dickens. উপন্যাস গুলো হচ্ছে:

- A Tale of Two Cities
-David Copperfield
- Great Expectations

অন্যদিকে, 
Treasure Island is a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Source: Britannica.com 

A Grammarian’s Funeral
- This is a poem written by Robert Browning. 
- একজন Grammarian এর শেষকৃত্য করার জন্য তার  শবদেহ নিয়ে যাচ্ছে তারই প্রাক্তন ছাত্ররা। 
- Grammarian ছিলেন একজন একনিষ্ঠ জ্ঞানসাধক। পার্থিব জীবনের সুখ স্বাচ্ছন্দ্য প্রত্যাখান করে তিনি আজীবন জ্ঞান সাধনায় ব্রত ছিলেন। 


Robert Browning 
- Victorian age এর অন্যতম শ্রেষ্ঠ কবি হিসেবে তাকে গণ্য করা হয়। 
- তিনি খ্যাতি অর্জন করেছিলেন তার dramatic monologues বা স্বগতোক্তিমূলক কবিতার জন্য।
- So, he is often called the father of dramatic monologue. 
- এছাড়া মানব চরিত্রের বিভিন্ন মনস্তাত্বিক দিকও তিনি তার কবিতায় ফুটিয়ে তোলার চেষ্টা করতেন। 

Best Works:
- The Ring and the Book
- Fra Lippo Lippi
- My Last Duchess
- Paracelsus 
- Rabbi Ben Ezra
- Sordello
- Pauline
- The Patriot
- A Grammarian’s Funeral
- Andera del Sarto:
- Men and Women 
- Dramatic Lyrics
- Dramatis Personae
- Bishop Blougram’s Apology
- Christmas Eve and Easter-Day
- Porphyria's Lover


Source: Britannica.com

The Pickwick Papers
- এই উপন্যাসটিকে ভ্রমন কাহিনী বা travelogue   হিসেবে গন্য করা হয়।
- Published : In 1836, Dickens begins monthly installments of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers.
- The Pickwick Papers, in full The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, novel by Charles Dickens
- first published serially from 1836 to 1837 under the pseudonym Boz and in book form in 1837.

Charles Dickens:
- Born: February 7, 1812 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
- Death: June 9, 1870.
- Charles Dickens’s father was a Clerk.
- He was considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
- Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity during his lifetime than had any previous author.

Best Works:
- A Christmas Carol,
- David Copperfield,
- Bleak House,
- A Tale of Two Cities,
- Great Expectations, and
- Our Mutual Friend.

Source: British Library and Britannica

Tales from Shakespeare
- This is an English children's story book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807,
- It was intended ''for the use of young persons'' while retaining as much Shakespearean language as possible.
- এই গল্পের বইটি মূলত: শিশুতোষ বা অপরিণত বয়স্ক পাঠকদের জন্য। শেক্সপিয়ারের উপন্যাসের ভাষাকে যতটা সম্ভব শিশু কিশোর বা নবীন পাঠকদের উপযোগী করে তোলা হয় এই বইয়ে। এই গ্রন্থটি আজো সমান জনপ্রিয়। 


Charles Lamb (1775-1834):  
- He was basically an essayist.

Popular works:
- Tales from Shakespeare,
- The Adventures of Ulysses,
- The essays of Elia (1823),
- The last Essays of Elia (1833)

Source: Britannica.com

To the Cuckoo:
- This is a pastoral lyrical poem written by William Wordsworth.
- This is dedicated to the cuckoo bird. (Pastoral  poem হচ্ছে গ্রামীন পরিবেশের বর্ণনা সম্বলিত কবিতা , যেখানে মেষ চরানো সহ অন্যান্য সহজ সাধারণ বৈশিষ্ট্যের কথা তুলে ধরা হয়।)
- This is an  ode to the mysterious nature of the cuckoo bird, and at the same time, it celebrates the beauty of nature.

Other notable works of Wordsworth:
- The Solitary Reaper,
- Tintern Abbey,
- Rainbow,
- Lucy Poems,
- The Daffodils,
- Ode on immortality,
- The Excursion,
- Michael etc.

William Wordsworth is an English poet whose ‘Lyrical Ballads’ (1798), written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the English Romantic movement.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Victorian Age: 
- Victorian period is named after Queen Victoria of England who reigned England from 1837 to 1901.
- But as the Romantic period ended in 1832, so it counts Victorian English Literary Period from 1832 to 1901.
- The 19th century is widely considered to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels.
- It was in the Victorian era that the novel became the leading literary genre in English. - - English writing from this era reflects the major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society.
- Famous novelists from this period include Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, the three Brontë sisters, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy.

Source: Britannica.com 

The iconic gothic novel, "Frankenstein" is written by Mary Shelley.
- Her full name is: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Mary Shelley).
- She was an English novelist.
- She was the wife of the great romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Source: Britannica.com 

'Pride and Prejudice' is a famous Novel by Jane Austen.

Important characters of 'Pride and Prejudice' are:
- Mrs. Darcy,
- Elizabeth Bennet,
- Jane Bennet.

Jane Austen is called an anti-romantic novelist in the romantic age because of her stern attitude against youthful passion.

Best works:
- Pride and Prejudice
- Sense and Sensibility
- Mansfield Park
- Emma
- Persuasion etc.

Source: Britannica.com 

Almost in every creation, Victorian novelist Charles Dickens set a plot for London city.

Charles Dickens's greats novels:
- A Tale of Two Cities
- A Christmas Carol
- David Copperfield
- Bleak House
- Great Expectations

Source: britannica.com