[Music] welcome to EPG parala I am Professor B hariharan from The Institute of English University of canala the paper that we are looking at is 20th century English literature and the module that we we'll be discussing now is on Roots by Arnold Wesker let's straight away get into the text Arnold Wesker was born in 1932 his very famous for his plays that were written during the 1950s and 60s his Jewish parents were active Communists workingclass and belonged to the workingclass environment he worked as a Furniture Maker's Apprentice he worked as a farm laborer as a pastry cook it was while working in a hotel in norch that he conceived this idea of his first play the kitchen this play had um disolution M with socialist ideals as its main theme we must also remember that the kitchen was uh conceived in 1959 and um this was the time when the angry young men group had emerged in England notable among them as you know was John Osborne Wesker had once said that he had watch watched look back in anger and realized that he could write a play he could do it and that's how he wrote the first play of The Wesker Trilogy chicken soup with barley now we will look at the other important works of vesar there's a collection of lectures that he had given titled fears of fragmentation two collections of short stories there's a memoir he has written a novel there is one collection of poetry but then we are looking at his plays now I was talking about the weska trilogy the first play chicken soup with barley the second play is what we are looking at now in detail Roots the third one is I'm talking about Jerusalem and there are three more uh plays that he has chips with everything and caras a play two actx and in 1994 came wild spring and other plays he has two television plays also to his credit we need to go back and look a little bit at English drama in the 1950s and 60s we must remember that these Place depicted the post World War II decade the 1950s especially now this was the time of the rise of the welfare state and there were discussion about access to education now what happened was after the world war you had a number of educated unemployed youth this gave way to a whole lot of anger and frustration now it is against this background that we need to look at the angry young men group now along with this there were the other themes that came up was the rural versus Urban setting now this greatly does inform the play that we are looking at another concern that came up during the 50s and 60s was the portrayal of the working class or the lower middle class English society other themes that gained prominence during this this time was themes of self-discovery class cultural identity now this is very interesting because this was the time again the 50s was the time when abser drama also was gaining prominence at the same time you had plays here that were talking about ordinary people you're talking about the day-to-day reality of life of Living so so these plays were giving you another kind of realism or reality and these plays uh derived their Force because of this kind of an engagement so we have this other very interesting strand as it were when we look at English drama of the 50s and 60s now we will try to identify some of these uh play rides who writing in the 50s and 60s one obvious name is John osbor look and his Play Look Back in Anger Arnold wesker's chicken soup with barley Shaya Delani A Taste of Honey and John Arden Sant Musgraves dance there are many many more now we now have some kind of an awareness of uh the plays and the plays that were written during this period now uh I think we need to learn to look at the the features that uh structure that shape kitchen sink drama why are they called kitchen sing drama that's not because they were set inside the kitchen they talked about social reality they talked about everyday life they talked about the way in which the lower middle class and the middle class worked hard and earned their bread and the way in which they went about their life we will also try to identify some themes that are present in this place we will also look at the language the form and the content of this place the way in which these place are structured we will also by this perhaps understand the relevance of the place today now when we talk about Kit syn drama we are talking about as I said earlier a kind of realism now this is a term that was coined to describe a British cultural movement that developed in the late 50s and the 60s now um there is this classic book titled the loneliness of the longdistance run now now this is a book that really captures that anger this is a novel so I urge you to take a look at this novel also now um this is the moment to come back to ensing realism this is something that developed as I said in the late 50s and early 1960s in not just theater it was there in theater it was there in art in novels in film in television where the heroes were angry they were all Angry young men and we know why they were angry it used a kind of social realism which depicted working class Eng English people living in rented accommodation spending their time in dimly lit dirty pubs exploring social issues trying to become part of or even engage in political controversies now this was the background this is the background that we need to keep in mind when we think about the angry young men and kitchen sing drama it will be good to look at the uh cultural climate in England before you read kitens sing drama proper now this is an additional work that can be done to to augment these resources that you are getting here we will now turn our attention to the features of kitchen sing drama now these are uh uh very specific things which need to be elaborated as you read and become become familiar with some of these plays and some of these writers now these plays had Roots as it were in socialism they tried to convey a socialist message now these plays were opposed to the kind of romantic or romanticized plays that were very popular particularly um let's say the name that comes to mind immediately is of Terrence ratigan uh and so you had these place that were very unlike those place that were very popular that were easily perhaps at that point digestable for the audience the setting for these place was always Urban and when you talk about Urban it was congested very crowded so you could feel the stifling atmosphere in which people lived what about the rural people rural lives it was impoverished there was poverty so you had poverty you had this uh not very comfortable living conditions and then there was this failure of communication a total failure of communication this is something that you find happening a lot in much of uh postwar post World War literature there is an abundance of black humor in these place and this is something that we also had seen that we also would see when we uh read or watch abser plays invariably in all these place you would have educated but angry and frustrated youth frustration was something that emerged very powerfully very strongly in uh these plays these the characters that you have the working class characters who are present were are all invariably very poor and that also gives you the the kind of background the kind of setting the kind of things that these play would be trying to talk about there is a very important theme here that emerges uh that is the theme of self-discovery now this is a theme that you uh see very clearly articulated in a play like roots and there are um struggles that you have with class or cultural identities or class and cultural identities so there are there are struggles here when you look at kitchen s drama you you find that there are struggles at multiple levels it could be in in terms of let's say the way in which you lead your lives the way in which you try to make sense of what you are and where you are you try to make sense of um the the anger that you have the way in which you have you learn how to live here this is big struggle that you have what is the place for Romanticism here so these are things that we need to be aware of when we look at plays by uh um Arnold Wesker or uh Arden now look at we will look specifically at Roots this is the second play of wesker's uh Trilogy now this has been rated as one of the most one of the 100 most important 20th century English language plays this is by the National Theater and um you just need to look at the the the visuals that accompany this this this class to to see this whole idea of uh self affirmation of trying to uh identify and understand who and what you are and that becomes even more significant here when it happens to be a young girl who comes home to share the fact that to to share to tell this news that she has a new fiance and she wants to get married and she wants to introduce this young man now this is the skeletal story of Ru we will look at the the characters in this play first there is BT brand she is the if you want to use the word heroine she is the heroine of this play Jenny and Jimmy Beals Mrs and Mr bran Jenny is her sister Mrs and Mr brand her parents Pearl and Frankie brand stanman Mr he Ronnie Ronnie can is the fan now there are three acts to this play and the second act has two scenes now the setting the whole action takes place in the family home of BT brand now this gives us some idea of uh the the the the the the structure of the play and the characters here we will look at the setting of the play the play opens in the home of Jenny and Jimmy Beals and it's here that the main character the protagonist is introduced BT brand is living in London and she is making a visit home and she doesn't do this often this is a very rare visit now uh be is boyfriend droni seems to believe that people who are living in uh in the rural areas are in Mystic communion with nature this is what he believes there certainly is a big divide or a difference between the urban and the rural now the tedious life of the bees of the Beals are disturbed by this bubbly energetic girl be because she is coming from the city she's full of Vitality full of energy she jumps upside down she dances she sings she speaks she talks endlessly there's so much of energy in her and this is something that you can contrast that we contrast with the tedious or even the sedentary laidback life in the village in the rural area now that life is disturbed by the arrival as I said of this young girl now she comes and she sees this life the life that they live here and she is very critical of it and Jenny's husband Jenny's uh B Sister Jenny's husband Jimmy reacts do this very angr he is very much provoked now Bey somehow uh dots on her boyfriend naturally and then she is uh somehow Carried Away by his ideals maybe perhaps without fully understanding what they are and gbly kind of quotes him copiously when whenever she wants to say anything she would quote her boyfriend and she thinks no end of him and she's waiting she she really wants him to come and join her so that he will be introduced to her parents so this is the this is how the First Act opens there is one line that Ronnie for example keeps telling her and she keeps mousing it without even thinking what it is something wrong with Comics all the time now this is what Ronnie had told her and then she keeps mouthing it all the time so this is what you this is the the First Act this is what this is how the ACT begins that these are some of the things that we get to understand when we look at the first act now uh she's uh she's so energetic that she Hops and jumps throughout this act and uh you would see her standing and then as though she is talking to a big um group a big crowd whenever she has to say something whenever she quotes Ronnie she would stand up and then raise her hands and then uh quot Ronnie with full energy and full wigor Jimmy does not approve of people in the town who read books who have a lot of leisure who see painting who listen to classical music because that's a very different culture because there is there is time there is Leisure but then what would people in the rural areas have there is work what facilities do they have so it is very difficult and this could be perhap one reason why Jimmy disapproves of people from the town now BT as I said keeps saying this there is something wrong with Comics all the time and it's not that she says this she would even go to the extent of singing this she talks to Jenny she talks to her sister about her relationship with with Ronnie and the fact that she he will be joining them joining her and so that he can be introduced now at the end of this act Stan a very rich man who was Rich at one time appears he is now poor drunk he's a tragic Comic character Paralyzed by drunkenness so he is a chronic alcoholic so here is this man he also stands for this for the way in which life is being led now what we have here is a contrast between the life that Jenny leads and uh the life that Bey uh wants to lead right so there is this contrast between the characters of Jenny and be in this now this is something that we get to see in the first act itself now after this the scene in the second act in the first scene the scene uh the play the ACT open in BT's parents house now this house compared to the first one has electricity Jenny's house has no electricity now this house is a little bit more modern in the sense that there is electricity now this is very interesting because we need to keep this in mind this is a play that was that was staged in the in the mid 50s now we need to look at a place like India when did uh houses started when did when was houses when were houses getting uh electrified as it were so the situation is something uh I'm not saying very similar but then situation is something that merits a closer attention now dhne Brad B's mother is a rural housewife she is frustrated there's lot of boredom l L liness she has a pet cat and she's fond of music but then there is boredom she talks with Stan man while she's peeling potatoes now as she her conversation with Stan tells you that she had a past which was happy which which she really enjoyed it was a happy past now uh that thing is is captured in a statement like this you do go up and down in your spirits now uh her father BT's father Jack is a mean and miserly person he is worried about his job the mother and daughter DNE and Bey are PS apart in their attitude and in their temperament BT parents are not at all interested in the life that their daughter is leading in London London somehow did not interest them now the action here is slow paced but you have a vivid portrayal of the daily routine uh you have water PES being filled and cakes being baked so the routine everyday routine is taken up here for elaboration and you get to see this on stage if you ever happen to watch this play Mr he is the boss of be's father and he arrives and he reveals side of Mr Brian's character he is not like this at home in front of his boss he's very respectful and submissive now what it does is portray the relationship between the manager and the worker in the farming Community now there is a touching moment in this act and that is the news that they receive of the tragic death of Stan Stan man the first scene the scene the first scene ends with Jack's V protest at B baking a cake for Ronnie now this is something that Jack somehow doesn't like and she insists on baking this cake um she is also upset over uh her parents bitterness at the end of the scene and it ends with lunch so there's a lot of bitterness in the family now uh it's there you can see that in the conversations let's say between BT and and her mother now uh the there are things that are simmering there are things that are brewing in the first act now let us first and then uh the second scene also in the first scene you do see that you can see it again the second scene now it's the same setting there is a squarrel that's continuing now B is mediator now there's a quarrel again now between the parents she tries to solve this problem this issue between the parents there is a filling of the path it's a slow activity and this is something that dominates the scene that tells you something about uh the life that these people live in rural England there is a conversation as I said earlier between the mother and the daughter uh they gossip they exchange gossip and then of course in that process B also talks about and quotes from quotes the kind of things that Ron Ronnie used to say it's very interesting here to note that we note this how much of what Ronnie sorry BT is saying uh she has really understood she seems to be uh repeating like a parat whatever Ronnie had said now by the time we come to the end of the play we would see a very different be now this is uh What uh really the trans this is really the transformation that we see in this play now Bey accuses her mother of not allowing her permitting her to listen to music or read books now the scene ends harmoniously in the sense that the mother also uh enjoys the the music that is played now we come to the third act in the third act the setting is again BT's parents home now the whole family is waiting for the arrival of of Ronnie Ronnie is a Jewish boy incidentally now they have not seen him he's mysterious dhne the mother has prepared a feast to welcome the future son-in-law this young girl this bubbly girl is anxious to show off her boyfriend to her parents her siblings Jenny Frank than their spouses Jimmy and pearl now as they are waiting there's a riddle that she throws to everyone now she sings the song she uh she is so enthused because she thinks that Ronnie is about to arrive at that time suddenly there's a letter that arrives from Ronnie it arrives from London now we don't know why but then the letter tells you that tells us that Ronnie will not come after all that he won't be able to make it now this is something that changes the entire atmosphere of the plane dhne reads aloud Ronnie's letter PT is shocked upset she can't believe it she can't believe this no he coming the the dialect is from norfol so she can't believe it reactions are there there's a lot of confusion her parents are indifferent Jenny is quite sympathetic at this point Mrs briyan makes an ironic comment the apple don't fall far from the see that it don't now BT is very upset there's an outburst this provokes the mother to slap her daughter and she challenges her challenges her to talk now this is the turning point in the play now B stops quoting Ronnie this is the final moment when she knows she feels her real confidence and this is what gives her strength to move on in life I am beginning on my own two feet back I am beginning on my own two feet I'm beginning that's the song so this is the newly found confidence that she has yes she stands alone she's articulate she now realizes that her family will continue to live as they live whatever she does but then she is confident she is on her own now this is the turning point for her this is how the play ends now let's look at characterization we'll look at some of these characters Jenny and Jimmy Jenny is contrasted with BT we saw that she is down to earth she's likable she is she's led a very tough life they don't have any facilities modern amenities there is a tone of discontent Jimmy on the other hand is blunt he is outspoken he speaks against Ronnie's ideas now Jenny is very warm she's very caring she loves her sister she has a lot of sympathy towards her now when we look at Bey it's slightly different she is as I said earlier she is very Lively she dominates the whole plot she visits home it's a very rare visit she wants to show off her London Avatar and her boyfriend she keeps on quoting Ron's principles his ideals often then you start wondering doesn't she have anything to say on her own but then that final rejection enables her to cross the threshold and then she becomes articulate now what we have here is BT's transformation into an intellectual thinking woman this is the takeaway of this play Let's now look at the other characters stanman he we said is a paralytic drunk he was rich he's a pathetic figure he evokes he evokes our sympathy he dies a tragic death now stand man what does he stand for he is a symbol of a golden past before modernization set him and so what you have in him in the play when you see him you see him as a symbol of degeneration and decay so what you have in stand is a critique of the entire modernization program Mr and Mrs Bryant they are BT's parents they are not at all interested in what she is doing jack the father is mean selfish the mother is bored and frustrated they don't care when Ronnie doesn't turn up they ignore their daughter their daughter's hysteria and emotional reactions now dhne is quite harsh towards her daughter but then this perhaps enables Bey to become articulate and she speaks now let's try to sum up some of these major arguments that we have the major them of the play revolves around BT's growth into an articulate individual the play also showcases this conflict between the rural world as having a very dull sedentary environment and the urban world as something very very stimulating now Roots is it has been said an unparalleled achievement it's a profoundly moving embodiment in imaginative terms of wesker's generations experience now uh I think it is important that you look at this play there are multiple possibilities to to read this play for instance it might be very interesting to focus exclusively on BET to look at the emerging or the emergent woman of the 50s now it could be possible to come up with multiple readings of the play now what I have been talking about now has not attempted to do that but then I'm just trying to throw open some of these possibilities for you to take up but then for you to do this kind of a reading you will have to go back go again go to the text and read it and then try to see how you can develop some of these arguments all the best and thank you