IGNOU BEGC-113
- Modern European Drama,
Latest Solved Assignment
(July 2024 - January 2025)

SECTION A

1. Write notes on any two of the following (250 words each):

i) Transformation of Characters in Rhinoceros
ii) The Concept of Existentialism in Waiting for Godott
iii) Symbolism in Ibsen’s Ghosts

2. Critically examine, with reference to the context, any two of the following:

DAISY: I never knew you were such a realist-I thought you were more poetic. Where's your imagination? There are many sides to reality. Choose the one that's best for you. Escape into the world of imagination.

It's not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us. It's all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we can't get rid of them.

To be good to you, my son,
I shall be a tigress to all others.

Vladimir: I don't understand.
Estragon: Use your intelligence, can't you?
Vladimir uses his intelligence.
Vladimir: (finally) I remain in the dark.

SECTION B

Answer any three of the following questions:

1. Analyze Ghosts as a problem play in the context of 19th-century society. How does Ibsen use the characters and plot to critique moral, social, and institutional conventions?
2. Write a detailed note of Characterization in Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Woman of Szechuan.
3. Analyze the transition from Romanticism to Realism and Naturalism. In what ways did the socio-political upheavals of the French Revolution influence this shift in literary style and themes?
4. How does Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot embody the characteristics of the Theatre of the Absurd? Discuss with reference to its themes, structure, and characters.
5. Analyze how Beckett and Ionesco use absurdity to address themes of existence, conformity, and individual agency in a modern, often meaningless, world.

SECTION A

1. Write notes on any two of the following (250 words each):

i) The theme of Rhinoceros
ii) Characterisation in the Play Waiting for Godot
iii) Brecht’s idea on the impact of capitalism and poverty

2. Critically examine, with reference to the context, any two of the following:

"The spirit of rebellion makes us seek happiness here in this life; that's precisely its aim. But what claim have we human beings to happiness? No, Mrs. Alving, we must do our duty!"
“Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! Let us do something, while we have the chance....at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! What do you say?”
Find Shen Te, and give us a report on her. We hear that she’s come into a little money. Show interest in her goodness—for no one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand. Meanwhile we shall continue the search, and find other good people. After which, the idle chatter about the impossibility of goodness will stop!

SECTION B

Answer any three of the following questions:

1. Eugène Ionesco’s Art of Drama creates a unique image which suggests Universalism.

2. What role do the Gods play in shaping the narrative and the characters' development? How do they embody Brecht’s critique of divine intervention in human affairs?

3. What ideological shifts occurred as a result of the French Revolution that contributed to the development of Realism and Naturalism?

4. How does "Waiting for Godot" reflect the existential themes of meaninglessness and absurdity? Provide specific examples from the play.?

SECTION A

1. Write notes on any two of the following (250 words each):

i) Berenzer in Rhinoceros
ii) Structure of the Play Waiting for Godot
iii) Enlightenment Movement and their influence on the literary movements

2. Critically examine, with reference to the context, any two of the following:
Daisy: They’re singing.
Berenger: they’re roaring, I tell you.
Daisy: you’re mad; they’re singing
To win one’s mid-day meal
One needs the toughness which elsewhere builds empires.
Except twelve others be trampled down
The unfortunate cannot be helped.
Vladimir: Pull on your trousers.
Estragon: You want me to pull off my trousers? Again,
"Let's go". (They do not move)

SECTION B

Answer any three of the following questions:

1. Eugène Ionesco’s Art of Drama creates a unique image which suggests Universalism
2. Write a detailed note of Characterization in Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Woman of Szechuan.
3. Discuss the effects of the French Revolution and the Romantic Movement on Realism and Naturalism.
4. Discuss Waiting for Godot as an Existentialist play?