John Wycliff - The Morning of Star of Reformation: 1384 - 1324

·         John Wycliff was a scholastic philosopher, theologian, priest, reformer, biblical translator, and seminary professor at the University of Oxford. 

John Wycliffe - 1384 - 1424

·         Translated directly from the Vulgate into Middle English in 1377.

·         This earned him the title of ‘Father of English Prose’.

·         Known to have translated the entire New Testament.

·         Was called the ‘Morning Star of Reformation’ for he set out the Lollards Movement in England from the 14^th to 16^th Century.

·         It was a protestant movement against the Orthodox Catholic Church.

·         Sir John Oldcastle was the English Lollard leader.

Lollards Movement 14th - 16th century

    John Wycliff propagated seeking religion only through the Bible and not through any middlemen i.e. the so-called corrupt priests.

           Along with the Lollards (poor priests, John          Wycliff set them to spread the teachings all and       across.)

          

      However the Lollards Movement failed because of a lack of printing facilities and literacy in the 14^th century, which curbed the widespread dissemination of the word.

The title that Wycliff received, ‘The Morning Star of Reformation’ has a beautiful analogy to it. 400 years later, another reformer, Martin Luther rose in the 17^th century and successfully took up the baton of propagating Wycliff’s lost cause of Reformation. 

Martin Luther 1483 - 1526

John Wycliffe has been called “The Morning Star of the Reformation.” The morning star is not actually a star, 

but the planet Venus, which appears before the sun rises and while darkness still dominates the horizon. The morning star is unmistakably visible.

So here, it can be inferred that Wycliff was planet Venus,        which appears and signals the dawn, Martin Luther was the arrival or the break of the day where the whole world was enlightened with the Protestant beliefs.

Sources:

1.       World Literature in Your Fist by Prem Shankar Pandey.

2.       https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-morning-star-of-the-reformation#:~:text=John%20Wycliffe%20has%20been%20called,morning%20star%20is%20unmistakably%20visible. 

Mulk Raj Anand: 1905 - 2004

Image Source: The Quint

• Mulk Raj Anand was a part of the inception of early Indian English Literature along with R.K Narayan, Raja Rao, and Ahmed Ali.

• Wrote about the marginalized, deprived, and poorer sections of traditional Indian society.

• His first essay was a response to the suicide of his aunt who was excommunicated from the family because she shared a meal with a Muslim woman.

• The introduction to his work “The Untouchable” 1935, his first novel was written by Edward Morgan Forster.

• George Orwell wrote a notable review for his “The Sword and the Sickle” (1942).

• Anand became famous for translating Punjabi and Hindi idioms into English and was called as the Balzac or Zola for doing so.

• He spent half of his life in London and half in India.

• He returned to India in 1946.

• Published a literary magazine “Marg” in 1946.

• Began writing his seven-part long autobiographical trilogy work (1950) from which Morning Face won the Sahitya Akademi Award.

• In 1952, he won The International Peace for Noble Peace.

• He called himself the bogus professor.

• Known among the Founding Fathers of Indian English Literature.

• Sources:

  1.       World Literature in Your Fist by Prem Shankar Pandey.

  2.       https://x.com/TheQuint/status/675517945376727040

William Langland: 1332 – 1400

 

Detail from Corpus Christi MS 201 f.1r.

     William Langland: 1332 – 1400

·                Son of a poor man.

·                Was born in Malvern, Worcestershire.

·                 Date of death is undefined.

                       He had the reputation of a man who did not bow to his         superiors,  a man "loathe to reverence lords or ladies, or any soul else."

·                Wrote one work in his lifetime

o                The Vision of Piers the Plowman (1377)

·        Begins with Will, looking for Piers to teach him the Ideal Christian life, and falls asleep on Malvern Hill.

·         He has two dreams:

o   First of Piers (Visio)

o   Second, a series of dreams (Vita) called “The Search of Dowell, Dobet, and Dobest.”

·         Social commentary on the social hierarchy in the 14^th Century:

o   Nobility at the top.

o   Clergy in the middle.

o   Common in the lowest class.

·         It’s a dream allegory where human values are personified.

·         Mentions the 7 deadly sins:

o   Greed, lust avarice, sloth, wrath, gluttony, and pride.

·         First published in 1362 of 1800 lines, later revised version published in 1377 of 1500 lines.

·         Langland was an important part of the 15^th Century Alliterative Revival.

·         Its stanzas are called as Passus.

·  

Sources:

•       https://www.luminarium.org/medlit/langlandbio.htm
•   World Literature in Your Fist by Prem Shankar Pandey

Louise Henry Derozio: 1809 - 1831

·         Henry Louis Vivian Derozio.

Henry Louise Vivian Derozio
1809-1831

·         Head Master of the Hindu college in Kolkata.

·         His students were known as the Young Bengal.

·         First Indian Nationalist Poet.

·         Famous poems include:

o   To India – My Native Land.

o   The Orphan Girl

o   The Fakeer of Jhangira

o   The Harp of India

·         ·         Influenced the social movement- Bengal Renaissance in the late 18^th and early 20^th century through his works.

·         He was a Radical Reformer and highly motivated his students to debate freely and question authority.

·         Launched his newspaper “The East Indian” in 1831.

·         Uma Charan Basu was his student and the Secretary of the Young Bengal.

·         Major Themes of his works include:

o   Past glory of India.

o   Restraints of British Raj.

o   Hope of freedom.

 

·         Source:

o   World Literature in Your Fist by Prem Shankar Pandey