IGNOU MEG 2 Solved Question Paper | December 2021

Table of Contents

Welcome to our blog, In this post, we’re sharing the IGNOU MEG 2 Solved Question Paper of December 2021 examination, focusing on British Drama.

This guide is here to help you prepare for your exams with clear answers and explanations. Whether you’re just starting or revising for your exams, this resource will make studying easier and more effective. 

In this post, we’ll discuss all the answers including the short and long answer questions.

You can also download all previous year question papers of MEG 2 from our website.

Price range: ₹129.00 through ₹499.00

Question 1

1. Critically comment on any four of the following passages with reference to the context in about 150 words each :
 
(a) O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven,
It had the primal eldest curse upon’t,
A brother’s murder ! Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will.
 
Answer :
 
These lines are from Hamlet’s confession scene in Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Here, King Claudius expresses deep guilt and remorse for having committed a terrible crime — killing his own brother, King Hamlet — to usurp the throne. His sin is described as “rank” and “smells to heaven”, reflecting its moral depravity and the way it offends the heavens. He alludes to the “primal eldest curse”—the story of Cain killing Abel—as a way to underscore the gravity of his act. Although his conscience urges him toward repentance, his will falters, reflecting the human struggles between temptation and conscience.
(b) What boots it then to think of God or
heaven ?
Away with such fancies and despair,
Despair in God, and trust in Beelzebub…
Abjure this magic, turn to God again.
 
Answer:
 
These lines from Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe reflect the dramatic conflict within Faustus’ soul. Here, the character finds himself battling temptation and conscience. His first thought — “What boots it then to think of God or Heaven?” — reveals his growing disbelief in the possibility of redemption. The temptation to align himself with Lucifer, trusting in Beelzebub’s promises, underscores his descent into darkness. However, a voice of conscience briefly intervenes, urging him to “abjure this magic” and “turn to God again.” This moment highlights the internal struggles of Faustus — a soul divided between temptation and the hope of redemption. 
(c) Galatea never does quite like Pygmalion: his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable. 
 
Answer:
 
This observation highlights a key theme in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Galatea, a mythical statue brought to life by Pygmalion, finds herself in a strange and somewhat oppressive relationship with her creator.

For Full Answer Get Access To Our MEG eBook

(d) … as imagination bodies forth
The form of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing A local habitation and a name. 
 
Answer:
 
These lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream reflect Shakespeare’s view on the power of imagination. Here, the poet is described as a magician who can give form to the formless — turning pure imagination into something vivid and real.

For Full Answer Get Access To Our MEG eBook

(e) Have you not done tormenting me with
 your accursed time ? ……. One day, is that
 not enough for you, one day he went dumb,
 one day I went blind …… one day we are
 born, one day we’ll die ……
 
Answer:
 
These lines from Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett reflect a deep awareness of human suffering and the inexorable flow of time. The speaker expresses frustration with the persistent awareness of time and its role in human tragedy.

For Full Answer Get Access To Our MEG eBook

Question 2

2. Discuss The Alchemist as a comedy of character and event. 
 
Answer:
 
Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist is a remarkable comedy that effectively merges character and event to produce a rich and vivid portrait of human folly. The play derives much of its comic appeal from the careful delineation of character traits alongside a clever, well-structured plot — a perfect blend of character comedy and event-oriented humor.
 
At the center of the play are its main comic figures — Face, Subtle, and Dol — a trio of clever con artists who manipulate their victims by masquerading as practitioners of alchemy, magic, and the occult. Each of these characters is a well-drawn comic “type”— Face is a charming trickster; Subtle is a fraud masquerading as a scholar; and Dol plays the role of a woman who assists in their schemes. Jonson highlights their ridiculousness by putting them in situations where their cleverness depends on deceiving a range of ambitious and naïve people.
 
The events in the play — the succession of duped clients — reflect the character traits of both the tricksters and their victims. Each person who comes to their door is defined by their desires and weaknesses. Epicure Mammon, for example, is obsessed with transforming base metal into gold and achieving eternal youth; Ananias, the Puritan, is blinded by his own piety and fails to see through the fraud; while Dapper, the lawyer’s clerk, is eager to find a magical way to win at gambling. The tricksters exploit these traits to manipulate their victims and extract their wealth. The comic effects arise not just from the ridiculousness of the frauds but from the way these schemes illuminate human weaknesses — greed, naïveté, hypocrisy, and the universal temptation to find shortcuts to success.
 
Event-wise, the play unfolds through a well-constructed series of deceptions and revelations. Each episode — the entrance of a new victim — adds to the comic chaos and tightens the dramatic knot. The conspiracy grows more elaborate and precarious with each new twist, reflecting the growing confidence of the tricksters and the growing vulnerability of their enterprise.
 
Ultimately, The Alchemist successfully merges character and event to produce a sophisticated comic masterpiece. The main comic effects emerge from the interaction between well-drawn personalities and a carefully crafted sequence of dramatic episodes. Jonson shows how human weaknesses can be easily manipulated by clever rogues and underscores a universal moral — that vice and folly often find their own punishment — while delivering a rich and entertaining portrait of a society obsessed with quick profits and earthly rewards.
Price range: ₹129.00 through ₹499.00

Question 3

3. Critically examine the role of the chorus in Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral. 
 
Answer:
 
In T. S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, the Chorus plays a profoundly significant role, serving not only as a dramatic device but also as a medium through which the communal conscience, doubts, and anxieties of ordinary people are articulated. The Chorus comprises the Women of Canterbury — ordinary people who find themselves unwilling participants in the dramatic upheaval surrounding Thomas Becket’s return and eventual martyrdom. They represent a collective voice — the voice of the community — that reacts to, interprets, and underscores the moral and spiritual implications of the play’s action.
 
Eliot uses the Chorus to connect the world of the ordinary people to the elevated tragedy of Thomas Becket. The Chorus is not a group of powerful players; instead, it comprises simple women who care profoundly about their peace and stability. At first, their main concern is their own safety and well-being; the return of Becket signals a potential upheaval in their lives. They express fear, apprehension, and a deep-rooted suspicion of change — reflecting a universal human tendency to avoid upheaval and upheaval’s associated responsibilities.
 
As the play unfolds, however, the Chorus evolves in its understanding of the moral dimensions of Becket’s sacrifice. From a chorus of villagers worried about their earthly peace, it transforms into a chorus of conscience — a communal soul that bears testimony to the eternal implications of the conflict between earthly power and divine will. The Chorus finds itself unwillingly participating in a dramatic transformation; it must confront its own cowardice, passivity, and resistance to change. The killing of Becket brings home the reality that choosing peace over principle can be a form of cowardice — a moral failing that the Chorus must come to terms with.
 
Eliot’s use of the Chorus highlights the communal dimensions of tragedy. The martyrdom of Thomas Becket is not a solitary event affecting only a great person; it resonates through the whole society, touching ordinary people and forcing them to reflect on their own responsibilities. The Chorus expresses universal human doubts and struggles — the temptation to avoid trouble, the fear of suffering, and the recognition that true peace comes at a price. The Chorus evolves from a passive bystander into a communal voice that resonates with the moral lessons of the tragedy.
 
Ultimately, the Chorus underscores the principle that tragedy is not an isolated phenomenon; it involves an entire community and reflects universal human conditions — doubts, choices, responsibilities — in the face of eternal questions of conscience and sacrifice.

Question 4

4. “Hamlet’s soliloquies reveal the tragic flaw inherent in his character.” Critically comment. 
 
Answer:
 
Hamlet’s soliloquies serve as a dramatic window into his soul, allowing us to view his doubts, anxieties, and internal struggles in a way we would not have been able to otherwise. They reveal not only his thoughts and motives but also illuminate his tragic flaw — his tendency toward inaction and overthinking — which ultimately brings about his downfa

For Full Answer Get Access To Our MEG eBook

Question 5

5. “Pygmalion hinges on the contrast of characters.” Critically comment with reference to the play. 
 
Answer:
 
George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is a play profoundly driven by contrast — a contrast of social classes, education, manners, and attitudes — which underscores its central theme of transformation and human potential. The play’s dramatic tension largely arises from the juxtaposition of its two main characters, Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, whose personalities, backgrounds, and perspectives are in dramatic opposition.

For Full Answer Get Access To Our MEG eBook

Question 6

6. Discuss the formulation of Elizabethan tragedy with reference to the prescribed plays.
 
Answer:
 
The formulation of Elizabethan tragedy was a remarkable transformation in the dramatic form during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Drawing upon classical traditions and native English dramatic forms, playwrights like Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare crafted a powerful medium to explore human suffering, ambition, revenge, fate, and moral conflict. The prescribed plays — Doctor Faustus and Hamlet — illuminate this formulation in rich detail.

For Full Answer Get Access To Our MEG eBook

Price range: ₹129.00 through ₹499.00