IGNOU MEG 2 Solved Question Paper | June 2023

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Welcome to our blog, In this post, we’re sharing the IGNOU MEG 2 Solved Question Paper of June 2023 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.

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Question 1

1. Critically comment on any four of the following passages with reference to the context in not more than 150 words each :

a) It is not in time that my death shall be known :

It is out of time that my decision is taken

If you call that a decision

To which my whole being gives entire consent

I give my life to the Law of God above the Law of Man.

Answer:

This extract highlights a dramatic moment of submission and resolve. The speaker underscores that his decision to face death is not made within earthly time but “out of time”—implying a higher, eternal context. His whole being consented to this path, reflecting a deep conviction that the “Law of God” must take precedent over human judgments. The character’s sacrifice is not a weak submission, but a powerful affirmation of conscience and a moral code greater than earthly institutions. His words illuminate the tragedy of choosing eternal justice over temporary survival, adding a profound moral depth to the dramatic conflict.

b) But, you see, I was the only one who cared His family were embarrassed by the whole business. Embarrassed and irritated … we all of us waited for him to die. Every time I sat on the edge of his will you believe antiquity ? Records ?

Answer:

This extract underscores a dramatic moment of isolation and regret. The speaker highlights their unique role as the only person who cared when everyone else remained indifferent or ashamed. There is a feeling of unfairness in their observation—that the rest of the family treated a dying person as a mere embarrassment. The character’s words reflect a deep, painful awareness of a communal failure to connect compassionately. It underscores the human tendency to withdraw in the face of suffering instead of offering understanding or care. The mention of “antiquity” and “records” reveals their disbelief in traditions that ignore genuine human compassion.

c) I will show you a book, where Moses and his sister,
And Solomon have written of the art;
Ay, and a treatise penon’d by Adam.
 
Answer:
 
This extract reveals a dramatic moment where the speaker boasts possession of a book filled with ancient knowledge. ”

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(d) The children of perdition are, off-times made instruments even of the greatest works,
Beside, we should give somewhat to man’s nature.
The place he lives in, still about the fire.
And fumes of metals, that intoxicate the brain of man, and make him prone to passion.
 
Answer:
 
This extract underscores a dramatic view of human vulnerability and temptation. The “children of perdition”—those fallen from grace—can sometimes become instruments for greater plans, suggesting a paradoxical role for flawed people in a larger moral framework. Furthermore, the extract highlights human susceptibility to temptation and earthly desires. The 

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(e) If we shadows have offended

think but this, and all is mended,

 that you have but slumbered here

 while these visions did appear,

 And this weak and idle theme,

 No more yielding but a dream,

 Gentles, do not reprehend;

 If you pardon, we will mend.

Answer:

This extract forms the closing of the play, where the actor directly addresses the audience. It underscores the illusory nature of theatre by referring to the performance as “shadows”—something not meant to offend, but to reflect human imagination. The actor invites the audience to view the play as a dream, a fleeting illusion made to illuminate and entertain. Importantly, it highlights a dramatic tradition in which the actor drops character and speaks honestly to the spectators, asking 

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Question 2

2 . Bring out the salient features of revenge tragedy in Elizabethan England.
 
Answer:
 
The revenge tragedy was a profoundly popular dramatic form in Elizabethan England. It arose during a period of deep political, social, and religious upheaval — when questions of justice, revenge, and conscience were not just dramatic constructs but lived anxieties in a rapidly changing society. The form reflects the human need to resolve deep moral injuries when the ordinary legal structures appear powerless or corrupt.
 
One of the key features of revenge tragedy is the revenge motif itself — typically, the protagonist is called upon, often by a ghost or a supernatural medium, to revenge a murder or a great injustice. The ghost frequently reveals a hidden crime — a king’s murder, a father’s killing — prompting the protagonist to pursue revenge against a powerful opponent. Importantly, this quest highlights the flawed legal institutions of the time, suggesting that earthly justice has failed and must be addressed through a more elemental form of justice — revenge.
 
Furthermore, revenge tragedy typically comprises a dramatic exploration of a flawed hero’s conscience. The protagonist is frequently a character of high birth who finds himself wrestling with profound moral doubts about the ethics of revenge. Hamlet, for example, is paralyzed by these doubts, wondering whether killing in revenge makes him no better than a murderer. His internal conflict underscores a key feature of revenge tragedy — the exploration of conscience, morality, and justice.
 
Other salient traits include a dramatic structure filled with disguise, madness (real or feigned), bloody scenes, and dramatic irony. The revenge hero often adopts disguise or madness to conceal their motives and gather information about their enemies. Furthermore, revenge tragedy is marked by numerous deaths — often a dramatic pile-up of corpses — reflecting the inexorable progress of revenge toward tragedy. Death typically falls upon the protagonist and many of the main characters, emphasizing the idea that revenge destroys not just the guilty but the innocent as well.
 
Additionally, soliloquies and monologues are frequently used to expose the character’s internal struggles, adding depth and psychological complexity to the dramatic action. Audiences are given direct insight into the revenge hero’s doubts, desires, and plans, making the character more human and the tragedy more profound.
 
Ultimately, revenge tragedy reflects a view of human justice as flawed and unreliable and underscores the tragedy of a world where revenge becomes the only means to resolve injustice. It highlights the human cost of revenge — the descent into violence, madness, and death — and reveals the dramatic power of tragedy to illuminate universal questions about conscience, revenge, and the human condition.
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Question 3

3. Discuss the role and impact of soliloquies in Hamlet.
 
Answer :
 
The role of soliloquies in Hamlet is profoundly dramatic and psychological; these monologues serve as a powerful medium through which Hamlet expresses his internal struggles, doubts, and motives directly to the audience. They illuminate his character’s soul in a way that dialogue with other people simply cannot, adding depth, authenticity, and universal human dimensions to his dramatic journey.

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Question 4

4. Critically evaluate the relationship between Jimmy and Alison.
 
Answer:
 
The relationship between Jimmy and Alison in Look Back in Anger is a rich and dramatic portrait of a marriage in crisis — a marriage profoundly influenced by class conflict, disillusionment, and the struggles of a post-war generation. At its core, their relationship reveals a deep, raw bond that merges love and aggression, dependency and rebellion — reflecting not only their personal struggles but also a wider dissatisfaction within British society in the 1950s.
 
Jimmy, the “angry young man” at the center of the play, finds in Alison a symbol of the comfortable upper-middle class that he believes has become weak, ineffectual, and removed from genuine feeling. His aggression toward her reflects his own disappointments and disappointments with the world at large — a society that, in his view, has failed to provide opportunities for authenticity, passion, and fulfillment. His love for Alison is intertwined with his rage; it expresses a deep need for understanding and connection alongside his rejection of the values her class embodies.
 
For Alison, the marriage is a painful paradox. She is in love with Jimmy, but finds herself stranded, misunderstood, and frequently injured by his attacks. Her silence, passivity, and eventual withdrawal reflect her inability to match his aggression and conviction; yet her eventual return to him highlights the deep bond that ties them together — a bond forged through suffering and vulnerability.
 
The relationship evolves from hostility to reconciliation. 
The dramatic moment when Alison returns after a miscarriage underscores their deep, elemental connection — a recognition that their love is flawed, painful, yet inescapable. At the end of the play, their reunion over the imaginary roles of “bears and squirrels” signals a return to a more intimate, pure form of understanding — a temporary refuge from the disappointments of the world.
 
Ultimately, the marriage between Jimmy and Alison highlights a universal human conflict — the battle between love and aggression, dependency and independence, understanding and rejection. It underscores the struggles of a generation trying to find its place in a changing society and reveals how love can become a medium through which deep disappointments and desires are expressed. The relationship underscores the human need for connection, even when it is flawed, painful, or unconventional — reflecting a rich portrait of marriage, human attachment, and the human condition.

Question 5

5. Critically analyze the role of chorus in the play Murder in the Cathedral.
 
Answer:
 
The chorus plays a profoundly important role in T. S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, serving as a dramatic medium through which the communal conscience, the moral framework of society, and the universal human experience are articulated. Traditionally in classical tragedy, the chorus comprises ordinary people — in this case, the Women of Canterbury — who reflect upon the dramatic action and interpret its significance for the community.

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