Consider the following statements about the cartoon representation "The Clemency of Canning", Punch 1857. Which out of the following are correct:
A. Lord Canning is shown as looming father figure.
B. Lord Canning is shown with his protective hand over the head of a sepoy.
C. The sepoy is shown bending before Canning.
D. The sepoy is shown with unsheathed sword and a dagger in his hands.
E. Sword and dagger are dripping with blood.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A, B, D, E only
A. Lord Canning is shown as looming father figure. Correct statement. In this Punch cartoon, Canning is shown as a looming father figure, seated large over a small sepoy.
B. Lord Canning is shown with his protective hand over the head of a sepoy. Correct statement. Canning has his protective hand over the head of a sepoy, mocking his plea for leniency and mercy.
C. The sepoy is shown bending before Canning. Incorrect statement. The sepoy is standing upright beside Canning, sword and dagger still in his hands; he is not shown bending before him.
D. The sepoy is shown with unsheathed sword and a dagger in his hands. Correct statement. The sepoy still holds an unsheathed sword in one hand and a dagger in the other.
E. Sword and dagger are dripping with blood. Correct statement. Both the sword and the dagger are shown dripping with blood, an imagery that recurs in a number of British pictures of the time.
NCERT (2026-27): “5.5 No time for clemency … At a time when the clamour was for vengeance, pleas for moderation were ridiculed. When Governor General Canning declared that a gesture of leniency and a show of mercy would help in winning back the loyalty of the sepoys, he was mocked in the British press. In one of the cartoons published in the pages of Punch, a British journal of comic satire, Canning is shown as a looming father figure, with his protective hand over the head of a sepoy who still holds an unsheathed sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, both dripping with blood (Fig.10.17) – an imagery that recurs in a number of British pictures of the time.…”
Fig. 10.17 “The Clemency of Canning”, Punch, 24 October 1857 |
