SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The present thesis is a monograph on the life and short poems of Isvarcandra Gupta, an extremely popular poet in mid-nineteenth century Bengal, It falls into three parts. The first part discusses the existing accounts of Isvarcandra Gupta's life, assesses the additional information adduced by two modern scholars, Bhabatoa Datta and Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay; and also adds gleanings from a newspaper file not previously examined by other scholars. The second part constitutes a thematic discussion of the contents of Gupta's short poems. This discussion reveals Gupta's attitudes towards religion, contemporary Hindu and European society, contemporary political events, and the glimmerings of patriotism inherent in his poetry. The final part studies the development of literary criticism in Bengal and the beginnings of comparative criticism in Bengali, It also assesses Gupta's place in both contemporary terms and also in terms of Bengali literature as a whole. The final chapter throws light on Gupta's literary technique and suggests that even Gupta was unaware, that his contemporary and posthumous reputation would rest upon his hastily written short satires.