The Frog and The Nightingale by Vikram Seth

1. The Frog and The
Nightingale
By :Vikram Seth

2. Summary
 The story of the The Frog and the Nightingale goes like this: A frog
under a sumac tree in Bingle Bog has the habit of croaking all night
considering himself a superb singer. The inhabitants of the Bog
have to put up with this cacophony as nothing succeeds him in
weaning him from his fond practice. The arrival of a nightingale one
night creates a sensation of sorts. Perching on the sumac tree, she
starts singing out melodious notes of heavenly kind. The entire bog
is simply stunned. They applaud her at the end of each song. The
egoistic frog is naturally stung by jealousy. When the nightingale is
getting ready to sing next evening, the frog introduces himself
calling himself the owner of the sumac tree and a singer as well as a
critic of repute in the vicinity. The nightingale is easily taken in by his
pomposity; she is naive enough to ask him what he thinks about her
song. Telling her that it is not bad, he adds that certain force is
wanting in it. He offers to train her in return of a small fee for the job.
Influenced by the glib talk of the frog, the nightingale meekly falls
into submission.

3. Summary
 The frog takes control of the situation and what follows is
sheer exploitation. The nightingale is forced to sing non-
stop which draws in more listeners. The frog reaps the
benefit when the nightingale labors hard. Constant
singing tells on her health. Her song loses its sheen of
freshness and this leads to the loss of customers. The
frog scolds her calling her a brainless bird. The
nightingale attempts to sing. She bursts a vein in her
effort to sing and dies. The frog emerges as the
undisputed singer in the bog once again. The frog and
the nightingale is the perfect example of how people are
manipulated in the world of show business.

4. Fable
 The poem is a fable where the birds and animals are
characters. The aim of this poem is to make the
readers realise and value one one’s own
individuality. If one follows somebody blindly ,he
loses self –respect and confidence .This results in
decay and death .The Frog and the Nightingale” by
Vikram Seth is an interesting and thought provoking
poem. Written in the form of a fable, it conveys a
moral message as all fables do. A fable is a story in
which human characters are made to speak and act
like human characters. The events that unfold in the
story show that in the world of show business the
talented that are prone to influence are easily
exploited by those who know nothing about art.


5. literary DeviceS
 Personification-
Animals and birds have been personified
and they have been given human like
characteristics and to accentuate the effect ,he
adds on titles of the elite society of England to
the birds who came to listen to the song of the
nightingale
 Allegory-The poet allegorizes the corrupt face of
the modern world where greed, fame and
competition outweigh the ethics and values

6. literary DeviceS
 Metaphor-The frog has been compared to
Mozart ,a famous Austrian music
composer who has come to help her.
 The characters of frog and nightingale
symbolise vice and virtue respectively.
The politics of Bingle Bog resembles the
politics of the modern industrialised world.

7. The Frog
The frog was a boastful vain creature who
falsely projected himself as a talented singer.He
was sinister in his intention and wanted to take
advantage of the nightingale’s gullibilty and
destroy her .He was cunning and greedy as he
successfully befooled the nightingale and made
money out of her.He was self –opinionated
creature who considered himself to be a good
singer. He was stubborn and wicked. At the end,
he was able to remove the nightingale whom he
took as a threat to his singing in the bog. He was
again the sole singer in the bog.

8. The Nightingale
 The nightingale sang beautifully and enthralled the
audience in the Bingle Bog. She was proud of her art till
she met the frog and trying to imitate him ,lost her
individuality which ultimately resulted in her death.She
was simple hearted who was easily impressed and
greatly flattered by the frog whom she considers as a
great critic. She , inspired by her art and adoration ,sang
beautifully and won over more hearts. The gullible and
innocent nightingale lost her confidence and was greatly
demoralised by the frog’s criticism .She lost her
motivation and lost all her confidence. She became
sorrowful and pale and in a desperate attempt to please
the frog ,she burst a vein and died. She was tense and
nervous and got trapped in frog’s devious scheme.

9. theme
 The poem tells us that one must know one’s own capabilities and
even limitations so that nobody else can take undue advantage of
one. The nightingale had no confidence in her own capabilities so
she fell prey to the frog’s evil designs.
 It also projects the modern industrialised society where greed, fame
and competition override ethics and values.
 The crafty are often victorious over the innocent. The innocent and
the gullible are sacrificed at the altar of ambition and envy.
 The theme of social criticism is projected through the poem –the
modern man is so prone to get influenced by the public opinion that
sometimes he is ready to lose his originality in the wake of social
criticism.
 The poet also mocks at the mindless people who enjoy high status
in society and satirizes the idle rich upper class.

10. vikram Seth
Born in 1952 in Calcutta, India, Vikram Seth was educated at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Stanford University and Nanjing
University. He has travelled widely and lived in Britain, California,
India and China. His first novel, The Golden Gate: A Novel in
Verse (1986), describes the experiences of a group of friends
living in California. His acclaimed epic of Indian life, A Suitable
Boy (1993), won the WH Smith Literary Award and the
Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book). An
Equal Music (1999), is the story of a violinist haunted by the
memory of a former lover.
Vikram Seth is also the author of a travel book, From Heaven
Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983), an account of a
journey through Tibet, China and Nepal that won the Thomas
Cook Travel Book Award, and a libretto, Arion and the Dolphin: A
Libretto (1994), which was performed at the English National
Opera in June 1994, with music by Alec Roth. His poetry
includes Mappings (1980), The Humble Administrator's
Garden (1985), winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia),
and All You Who Sleep Tonight: Poems (1990). His children's
book, Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992), consists of ten
stories about animals told in verse. Vikram Seth's latest work
is Two Lives (2005), a memoir of the marriage of his great uncle
and aunt.

11. Made By
 Neha Sehgal
 Sat Paul Mittal School
 Ludhiana