M.A English: Pygmalion myth

Shaw's play, as its title indicates, owes much to previous sources, mostly mythology. Pygmalion was a character in the tenth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. A sculptor from Cyprus who did not enjoy the company of women, the man Pygmalion created an idealized female form out of ivory and then fell in love with the statue. He began to bring it presents as he would a lover, and he prayed to Aphrodite-the goddess of love-to meet a woman like his statue. Instead, Aphrodite brought his statue to life. Pygmalion named her Galatea, married her, and had a son named Paphos.

Milton’s Unique Style

In the twentieth century, Milton first received criticism from T. S. Elliot.

Elliot embraced Milton in "A Note on the Verse of John Milton" (Martz

12-18): "What he could do well he did better than anyone else has ever

done." Elliot continued saying, "Milton's poetry could only be an influence

for the worse, upon any poet whatever." The general point of Elliot's

criticism is that Milton's style is both so complicated to understand and

difficult to write that it causes a deterioration in the poetic style of

those who are influenced by it and cannot meet its demands. "In fact,"

said Elliot, "it was an influence against which we still have to struggle."

Elliot's main concern is from Book V as Satan addresses his followers

concerning the Son:

M.A English: George Herbert

George Herbert was born on April 3, 1593, the fifth son of an eminent Welsh family. His mother, Magdalen Newport, held great patronage to distinguished literary figures such as John Donne, who dedicated his Holy Sonnets to her. Herbert father died when he was three, leaving his mother with ten children, all of whom she was determined to educate and raise as loyal Anglicans. Herbert left for Westminster School at age ten, and went on to become one of three to win scholarships to Trinity College, Cambridge. 

M.A English Notes:Touchstone Method by Methew Arnold

Poetry is something which sustain, console and interpret life for us. Arnold had given a very high position to poetry that it is a substitute for religion. Arnold says "The strongest part of our religion today is its unconscious poetry". At this point, Arnold offers his theory of Touchstone Method.