Arun Kumar Das Gupta taught English literature for over 40 years, first at Presidency College, Kolkata, and then at the University of Calcutta. His interpretations of Western literature and thought, particularly of the Renaissance, shaped a whole generation of students. Some of them have produced this volume of essays in tribute to their mentor.

Two essays directly address the intellectual milieu of the European Renaissance. Sukanta Chaudhuri examines the unusual merger of modes and registers in Renaissance philosophic discourse, while Niranjan Goswami looks at a particular example of Ramist practice. The other pieces relate to English writers and works, notably Shakespeare and Milton, in a wider perspective of Renaissance concerns and general critical issues. Abhijit Sen analyses the stage and verbal imagery in Macbeth. Supriya Chaudhuri and Paromita Chakraborty take King Lear as their point of departure. Chaudhuri brings out the full conceptual implications of the Dover Cliff scene, while Chakraborty dissects the play’s sexual imagery. Swapan Chakravorty takes in a wide range of dramatic and non-dramatic texts in his survey of reading on the Early Modern stage. Amlan Das Gupta studies the Miltonic simile, specifically in Paradise Lost Book IV. Finally, Malabika Sarkar reads Samson Agonistes in a context of magic and alchemy to draw out some implications deeply relevant at the present time.

Sukanta Chaudhuri is Professor of English and Director of the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University. He is the author of ‘Infirm Glory: Shakespeare and the Renaissance Image of Man’ (Clarendon Press, 1981), ‘Renaissance Pastoral and Its English Developments’ (Clarendon Press, 1989), and ‘Translation and Understanding’ (OUP, 1999).

Anthem South Asian Studies

The Renaissance God as Man of Letters - SUKANTA CHAUDHURI The Union of Philosophy and Eloquence: The Ramist Legacy - NIRANJAN GOSWAMI Hypocrite lecteur: Reading on the Early Modern Stage - SWAPAN CHAKRAVORTY Vertigo - SUPRIYA CHAUDHURI Folly and Androgyny: Shakespeare’s King Lear - PAROMITA CHAKRAVARTI Fatal Visions in Macbeth - ABHIJIT SEN The Miltonic Dissimile: Language and Style in Paradise Lost, Book 4 - AMLAN DAS GUPTA ‘A Moving Grave’: Positioning Samson Agonistes - MALABIKA SARKAR