After the dynamic optimism of the sixties, the seventies proved to be a decade of disillusionment. The seventies ushered in a mood of weary disenchantment. It was essentially a decade of disillusionment.

A Conservative government, under Edward Heath, was elected in 1970. He introduced further changes in politics and technology that were characteristic of the over- optimistic thinking of the sixties. For a while the economy seemed unreal. There was a sharp increase in real estate prices, leading to a great concentration of city development. Inflation rate became alarming. The trade unions were becoming very aggressive and were at odds with the Conservative government over its Industrial Relations Act. Heath tried his best to meet the crisis, but his government collapsed in 1974. When Harold Wilson returned as the next Prime Minister, it was a chaotic period of industrial unrest, power cuts and food shortages. Shipbuilding a s the aircraft industries were nationalised.

In 1975, when the country was on the very brink of a financial crisis, Wilson resigned. Over the next couple of years, the conservatives, under Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, won a long series of by-elections, toppling the huge Labour majorities. With the increasing power of the conservatives, there was a steady swing back to the right. Between1975 and 1976, both of Britain’s major political parties had chosen new leaders. James Callaghan replaced Harold Wilson as the leader of the Labour party . In 1979, the Conservative Party Won, and Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister of England. By the end of the seventies, the British people began to feel that a revival of conservative attitudes was essential. Various writers and politicians, who were earlier leftist, now warned the people that the power of the unions, if unchecked, would eventually change the country into a Marxist totalitarian state. Another Aspect of the seventies was the increasing interest in the religions of the East.

IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY (IRA):

In England, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) intensified its nationalistic campaign through a series of terrorist activities. Several people were wounded when two car bombs exploded in central London. The IRA was responsible for the disaster. Another explosion caused by the IRA backed terrorist activities in the seventies. In fact, Earl Mountbatten, Queen Elizabeth’s cousin was killed by an IRA bomb.

IMPORTANT EVENTS:

Giant strides are being taken in the world of science. For example, computers and cheap calculators were flooding the market. History was created in the world of medical science when the world’s first test tube baby was born in England in 1978. During the seventies, people began to take another look at the negative effects of science and technology. It was the seventies which, for the first time in history, received the earliest warnings that the earth’s supplies of energy and natural resources were getting depleted. And Mankind began to depend so much on oil, that oil consumption far outbalanced oil production. By the end of the decade , the global energy crisis was a harsh reality. Metals were also slowly disappearing.

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The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of Civil Wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century, fought between supporters of two rival Cadet branchesof the royal House of Plantagenet : Lancaster and York. The wars extinguished the male lines of the two dynasties, leading to the Tudor Family inheriting the Lancastrian claim. Following the war, the Houses of Tudor and York were united, creating a new royal Dynasty, thereby resolving the rival claims.

The conflict had its roots in the wake of the Hundred Years’ War and its emergent socio-economic troubles, which weakened the prestige of the English monarchy, unfolding structural problems of bastard feudalism and the powerful duchies created by Edward III, and the mental infirmity and weak rule of Henry VI, which revived interest in the Yorkist claim to the throne by Richard of York. Historians disagree over which of these factors were the main catalyst for the wars.

The wars began in 1455 when Richard of York captured King Henry VI in battle and was appointed Lord Protector by Parliament, leading to an uneasy peace. Fighting resumed four years later. Yorkists, led by Warwick the Kingmaker, recaptured Henry, but Richard was killed in 1460, leading to the claim by his son, Edward. The Yorkists lost custody of Henry the following year but destroyed the Lancastrian army, and Edward was crowned three months later in June 1461. Resistance to Edward’s rule continued but was defeated in 1464, leading to a period of relative peace.

In 1469, Warwick withdrew his support for Edward due to opposition against the king’s foreign policy and choice of bride, and changed to the Lancastrian claim, leading to a renewal in fighting. Edward was briefly deposed and fled to Flanders the following year, and Henry was reinstalled as king. Henry’s renewal in reign was short-lived however, as the Lancastrians suffered decisive defeats in battle in which Warwick and Henry’s heir were killed, Henry was reimprisoned, and much of the Lancastrian nobility were either killed, executed, or exiled. Shortly afterwards, Edward reassumed the throne, after which Henry either died or was assassinated on Edward’s order. Edward ruled unopposed and England enjoyed a period of relative peace until his death twelve years later in 1483. Edward’s twelve-year-old son reigned for 78 days as Edward V until he was deposed by his uncle, Richard III. Richard assumed the throne under a cloud of controversy, particularly the disappearance of Edward IV’s two sons, sparking a short-lived but major revolt and triggering a wave of desertions of prominent Yorkists to the Lancastrian cause. In the midst of the chaos, Henry Tudor, son of Henry VI’s half-brother, returned from exile with an army of English, French, and Breton troops. Henry defeated and killed Richard at Bosworth Field in 1485, assumed the throne as Henry VII, and married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and sole heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the rival claims.

The Earl of Lincoln then put forward  Lambert Simnel as an impostor Edward Plantagenet, a potential claimant to the throne. Lincoln’s army was defeated and Lincoln himself killed at Stoke Field in 1487, ending the wars. Henry never faced any further serious internal military threats to his reign. In 1490, Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Edward IV’s second son and rival claimant to the throne, but was executed before any rebellion could be launched.

The House of Tudor ruled Englanduntil 1603. The reign of the tudor dynasty saw the strengthening of the prestige and power of the English monarchy, particularly under Henry 8 and ElizabethI, and the end of the medeival period of England which subsequently saw the dawn of the English Renaissance. Historian John Guy argued that “England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors” than at any time since the Roman occupation.

   A  Comedy is a play of light and amusing characters with a happy conclusion to the plot. It adopts a humorous or familiar style and depicts laughable characters, incidents, and situations. In a Comedy, even if there are serious and complex incidents, ultimately they are resolved and the plot ends in happiness. Like tragedy, comedy also originated in ancient Greece from the festivals celebrating the nature-god Dionysus. While tragedy dealt with persons in high places, comedy dealt with people of much less importance. Among the Greeks, Aristophanes was the most important comedy writer. The atmosphere of comedy is mirthful and light. Comedy moves us to laughter through humorous intrigues, strange situations, and witty dialogue. Comedy shows the common errors of life and ridicules man’s follies and foibles. Comedy is usually allowed to convey its own moral, though it is sometimes stated at the end of the play by one of the characters.

Comedy can be divided into two types- the Classical and the Romantic. The Classical form was based on the Greek and Latin Models. Ben Jonson and the Restoration Playwrights tried the classical form of comedy. Shakespeare and some of the university wits like Lily and Greene write Romantic Comedies. Ben Jonson’s comedy was called the ‘comedy of humor’ as it was based on the medieval theory of the four ‘humor’ that determined human character. The ‘Comedy of Manners’ of the Restoration period ridiculed the follies and foibles of the upper classes and was highly stylized and artificial. Then came the genteel comedy of Colley Cibber and the sentimental comedy in which there was an excess of Melodrama and moralizing and less of wit and laughter. Anti-sentimental comedies of Sheridan and Goldsmith retrieved comedy from too many weak moralizings and ridiculous sentimentalism. They combined morality with wit and sobriety with laughter. The language and atmosphere of the English comedy remained fairly remote from those of ordinary life until the 1860s when T.W. Roberston’s play ‘Caste’ appeared. Then onwards English comedy began to employ everyday language and familiar subjects culminating in the plays of Bernard Shaw and Galsworthy in modern times. The comedy of dialogue and narration flourished in the plays of Oscar Wilde. The plays like ” The Importance of Being Earnest” and ” Lady Windermere’s Fan’ derived their strength from witty dialogue and comic situations. Shaw’s plays dealt with social problems and his comedies are characterized by intellectual wit, irony, and satire apart from penetrating analysis of social and moral problems confronting society. Some of his important plays are ‘Arms and the Man’,’ The Applecart’, ‘Major Barbara’ and ‘John Bull’s Other Island’. An experimental playwright who wrote under the influence of Shaw was James Bridie. His themes covered a wide range and plays like ‘The Anatomist’ and ‘Mr.Bolfry’ were successes.

The latter half of the present century saw plays with little literary merit succeeding on the stage. The audience wanted only entertainment and so the Playwrights provided dialogue that made a good impression and situations that tickled the audience into laughter. The theatre became a tangle of illusion and make-believe. Among the playwright of this kind, the foremost was Noel Coward who wrote plays about the leisured classes. He became famous popular with the plays such as ‘Hay Fever’ and ‘The Happy Breed’. The modern comedy is shying away from serious social and moral themes while concentrating on impressive dialogue and effective presentation on the stage.

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      Drama in England originated from religion. In the Middle Ages, church services were conducted in Latin which most of the congregation did not understand. The church wanted to provide people delight as well as spiritual uplift. The clergy,  therefore, used to act episodes from the life of Christ or scenes from the Bible especially on special occasions like Christmas and Easter. Elaboration of the church ritual and liturgy became the earliest kinds of dramatic Performances. Soon the Latin dialogue was replaced by the vernacular. Later purely vernacular plays were composed. one of the earliest plays was ‘Adam’ . Such plays were performed within the church and the monks and priests participated as actors. As time passed the churches could not accommodate the large crowds that assembled to see the church plays. So the performances were taken outside into the areas surrounding the church. This change of locale and the introduction of the vernacular marked a breakaway from the church tradition. Drama, thus, became secular, more humorous, and less rigid. Soon dramatic performances were taken over by the town guilds and this tradition continued till the 16th century.

MIRACLES AND MYSTERIES:

      The trade guilds produced a connected series or cycle of dramas under the supervision of the church. These plays dealt with scriptural events. By the 14th century, two types of drama came into existence – the miracles and the mysteries. The Miracle plays dealt with the lives of saints and the Mystery plays with themes taken from the Bible. They were shown at separate ‘stations’ in the town on wheeled theatres or stages drawn by horses. Actors were the members of the guilds; spectacular theatrical effects were produced on the stage; costumes were simple and humourous elements were provided. Four such cycles of Mystery plays are preserved today. These plays are chaotic in construction and the language used is often stilted. But the Mysteries gave the people of England a taste for theatrical shows and prepared the ground for the Elizabethan drama.

MORALITIES AND INTERLUDES:

      By the middle of the 15th century, the drama began to show new trends. It substituted moral teaching for religious instruction. Characters were no longer Biblical figures but personified virtues and vices. A stock character was ‘vice’. These plays were called Moralities. The best known among them was ‘ Everyman’. The cardinal feature of the Moralities was the pursuit of Everyman by evil forces and his rescue by Conscience or Wisdom. These plays were poetic and imaginative. The thoughts and emotions of characters were personified and there was even some sense of construction and unity. Morality plays to mark the beginning of soul struggle which later became a marked trait of Elizabethan Drama. Two other important Morality plays were ‘ Mankind’ and ‘ The castle of Preservance’. Towards the close of the 15th century, a new form of drama called The Interlude appeared. It may be defined as a play midst other festivities. It was a transitional form of drama between Morality and Elizabethan drama. Interludes were marked by witty dialogue and discussion. The best writer of Interludes was John Heywood. His important interludes are ‘ The Play of the Weather’, ‘A Play of Love’ and ‘The Fours Ps’. Interludes were free from didacticism. There was a mixture of fun and rich sentiment in them. Comedy and farce began with the Interludes. Sir Thomas More and Rastell were two other important writers of interludes.

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       The one-act play is to drama what the short story is to the novel. A one-act play is not an abbreviated drama. It has its laws. The one-act play has a single plot; it is either pure comedy or pure tragedy. The action is confined to a single place and the number of characters is limited. The simplicity of design and immediate impact are its characteristics. The one-act play observes brevity in the plot, in character, and in dialogue. As a short play, it automatically fits into the classical framework of the unities. The very nature of a one-act play demands concentration. As a result, the heightened emotions of” the one-actor may be poetical or intensely realistic. When it is poetical, it transcends reality and throws over the audience the spell of illusion through the music of words and the deepening sentiments.

     The History of the one-act play dates from the days of Mystery and Miracle plays. They were several little plays combined to form a Cycle. The interlude of the fifteenth century was also brief. The Short Play disappeared with the coming of the great Elizabethan playwrights and reappeared only by the end of the 19th century. In modern times, initially, the one-act play was used as a ‘ curtain raiser’ before a full-length play. But the audience generally ignored it. Later two or three one-act plays were presented on the same evening as in the case of James Barrie’s one-act plays. Shaw also could occasionally confine to the narrow limits of the one-act play as in ‘The Man of Destiny’ and ‘The Dark Lady of the Sonnets’. Another great writer of one-act plays was Noel Coward who wrote the famous ‘ Tonight at Eight-Thirty’. The plot in a one-act play is confined to the most essential point of the Story. In the famous one-act play ‘The Bishop’s Candle Sticks’, we have the central incident of the stealing of the candlesticks. Other details are introduced indirectly and in a limited manner. A one-act play uses only a limited time for its presentation. Its characters are limited in number and its dialogue observes the economy of words. The most important aspect of a one-act play is the central sentiment and its racy and crisp dialogue.

      The writer of one-act plays does not have the freedom which a writer of full-length plays enjoys. The one-act play imposes severe restrictions on the author. He must present the story and characters with suggestive strokes. He must use the dialogue carefully. With all these restrictions, the one-act play can still be profound, poetic, and subtle as we find in yeat’s ‘ The Land of Heart’s Desire’ or in J.M. Synge’s ‘ Riders to the Sea’. Though one-act plays are best suited for the exposition of comic themes, there are excellent one-act plays with tragic themes also. W.W. Jacob’s ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ and Synge’s ‘Riders to the sea’ are examples. Today one-act plays are supported by amateur dramatic societies and school and college troups. Some of the outstanding modern one-act plays are John Drinkwater’s ‘The Storm ‘, Galsworthy’s ‘The Little Man’, A.A. Milen’s ‘ The Man in the Bowler Hat’, J.B.Priestly’s ‘Mothers Day’ and Stanley Houghton’s ‘ The Dear Departed ‘.

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WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

According to F.T.Wood, “Language is a refined human cry” which was used by Ancient Man Before the existence of words. Ancient Man used to cry or shout to express their emotions and thoughts. A language is a tool for communication that is used as a medium for the expression of thoughts. It is an outlet for emotions. There are two forms of language. (1.) A system of vocal symbols (Spoken). (2.) A system of symbols(Written).

WHAT IS THE SOURCES OF LANGUAGE ?

1. DIVINE SOURCES: According to the Bible and the Christian belief, Adam was the first man in the world. Thus he might be a speaker of the language and taught his children and it followed generation after generation in different forms of language.

2. CAVE ARTS: There are enormous sources of cave art that were found all over the world. Most of them were written/ drawn even thousands of centuries. F.T wood proposes cave art Might be one of the sources in the origin of language.

3. UNREFINED CRIES: A trivial movement of the mouth and breathing can produce audible sounds. So, In Ancient times, even though Man doesn’t know how to speak properly. He must have cried or laughed to call someone or express that he feared for something.

EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE:

The evolution of language is the study of the development of language. The primary need of language is only to communicate. When people need to record a particular thing, they used written form or printing form Language is an evolutionary process that is not stable all the time and constantly changes from one period to another. For example Chaucer’s Age vs Modern Age. Changes in pronunciation, Grammar, and meaning are one of the evolution in language.

FOUR BASIC THEORIES OF LANGUAGE:

1. BOW-WOW THEORY: Bow-wow theory is defined by sounds. This theory was coined by Max Muller. Bow Wow theory hypothesis is the most popular but perhaps the most far-fetched hypothesis of all. It is the idea that human language and vocabulary originated as a form of imitation. Words are coined by the imitations are called onomatopoeia. For example, the imitation of animal sounds, such as bow wow for a dog’s bark or a-choo for a sneeze.

2. DING DONG THEORY: The Dingdong theory was adopted by German scholar Max Muller. This theory holds that the beginning of language is to be found in the sense of Rhythm. For example: whenever we try to push our car or let’s take a group of workers pushing some big rock will make sound like Ho Ho or Yo Yo .

3. POOH POOH THEORY: Pooh pooh theory was first proposed by Jean Jacques Rousseau. This theory holds that speech began with the intersection: Spontaneous cries of pain (“ouch”), Surprise(“oh!”), and other such emotions. Rousseau says that language is a refinement of pain, pleasure, Surprise, Wonders etc.

4. GESTURE THEORY: This theory was first produced by Wilhelm Wundt, and later restarted by Sir Richard Paget. In his Book, Human Speech which we may call the gesture theory. This theory states that Man first started using gestures to communicate. These gestures began to Accompany by sounds that eventually developed into a language.

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THE VICTORIAN ERA:

The period of British history when Queen Victoria ruled; includes the entire second half of the nineteenth century, a time when Britain was the most powerful nation in the world. The Victorian period was known for a rather stern morality.

The importance of Education was not fully realised by the people of England Before the Nineteenth century. There was no state Educational system for the common people, and the Majority of the working class was completely Illiterate. Different sections of people followed Different Systems and Standards.

SCHOOLS IN EARLIER PERIOD:

In the earlier period, there were many kinds of Schools in England. The only schools available for the working Classes were three Kinds-dame schools, the schools supported by private subscription, and the charity and Sunday schools. the only aim of these schools was to save the soul of men and women by bringing them up a Bible reading, evangelical Christians. Primary education of the poor was neglected in England. The secondary education of the well-to-do underwent remarkable Development. children of the upper and middle class went to the public schools which were founded by kings and town corporations in the earlier centuries.in many villages (dames) old women taught the children the alphabet for a small fee.

Dr.ARNOLD’S EDUCATION SYSTEM:

Dr.Thomas Arnold, the illustrious Headmaster of Rugby and Father of the poet Mathew Arnold. He focused on the Moral Education of the Boys. He emphasized the study of religion and introduced the monitoring system for maintaining discipline among students. He retained the practice of flogging and he insisted on the right to expel any boy. Arnold introduced the modern history, geography, and modern languages.

GLADSTONE’S EDUCATION ACT:

Gladstone’s education act made provision for the establishment of a school board in every District. Gladstone’s government made attendance at elementary schools compulsory. The school board must provide education for children between the ages of five and twelve. This education was cheap but not free, Elementary Education improved after1870. Some of the famous schools founded by Arnold were Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster.

BOARD OF EDUCATION:

A Royal Commission was appointed to study the system of education in the country. The board of education was established in 1899. Something more effective was done by Prime Minister, Arthur James Balfour. His Education act of 1902 was established. this act insisted that elementary education was restricted to children under fifteen. For older children, Central schools were started. An education committee was set up to look into the running of schools. Training colleges for teachers were set up to improve the teaching methods.

DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN EDUCATION:

During the Victorian period, There was a great development in women’s education. Some of the examinations of Oxford and Cambridge were opened to girls as well as boys. In 1848, Queen’s college for women was established and it was followed by Bedford and Cheltenham College. London University gave it’s degree to women for the first time in 1879. The Victorian Age is a “Golden Age to every woman and Middle class and poor class people in England .

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