Gulliver’s Travels were published in the year 1726 and this work was controversial in more ways than one. Lemuel Gulliver was a man who belonged to a middle-class family in England. The novel is based around this middle-class family man in England. He was a very honest man but made...
The novel shows a gradual decline of the narrator’s mental state. She reaches the point of complete insanity when she tears down the yellow paper at the end. Having done so, she begins to think that she is the woman who has just been freed from the wall.More Information Charlotte...
The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper loses her mind following months of confinement in the rented mansion. She tears down the wallpaper and goes completely insane, as her husband John faints at the sight of it. More Information Toward the end of The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator’s diary entries change...
The protagonist of The Yellow Wallpaper spends a summer in a former nursery in a mansion. Her husband, a physician, confines her in the place. It is a part of a rest cure for “temporary nervous depression” after childbirth. This treatment drives her insane. Nothing and nobody seems to relax...
The narrator finds the yellow color of the wallpaper disturbing and revolting. She doesn’t like the erratic patterns and the fact that the wallpaper is peeling off. She claims it’s the worst paper she has seen in her life. More Information The narrator’s first impression of the wallpaper is quite...
Irony plays a crucial role in the story by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. It emphasizes how the course of treatment chosen by the narrator’s husband only worsens her condition. It also increases the reader’s engagement and facilitates sympathy for the main character. More Information The narrator is the main character of...
Mr. Darcy first attempts to propose to Elizabeth in Hunsford Parsonage. He met her there while she was visiting the newly-wed Collins family. Darcy caught Elisabeth entirely by surprise. Thus, the girl rejects this proposal for many reasons. More Information Elizabeth leaves for Kent to visit Charlotte and her husband,...
Mr. Darcy makes the first proposal to Elizabeth when she visits her friend Charlotte and Mr. Collins. Elizabeth rejects the proposition since she found out that Mr. Darcy had ruined Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley’s marriage. More Information Elizabeth Bennet is the second of five daughters of Mr. and Mrs....
Pride and Prejudice is one of Jane Austen’s most popular novels. It became classic English literature, attracting more readers every year. However, Jane Eyre and Little Women are books written in the same literary period. They fit a similar genre and tackle similar themes. More Information Many readers struggle with...
The Book of Job is probably one of the first theological severe discussions on the well-known philosophical problem of explaining the existence of suffering in the face of an omnipotent and merciful God. In the book, after hearing about the loss of his family, house, and cattle, Job falls to...
In her poem “Remission,” the author Linda Pastan uses a literary approach of metaphor to compare the death of a human body to grow into new shoes. The footwear in the piece symbolizes the end of life, as the author explains at the beginning of her work it is too...
Through his This Boy’s Life novel, Toby Wolff shows that the family life of Jack – the protagonist, is very troublesome. Jack’s family is characterized by numerous conflicts in which his mother faces successive family-related problems. Moreover, Jack himself endures serious suffering as a result of being a member of...
Authentically, a successful leader has to uphold a strong personality. However, in the intriguing play Hamlet, Shakespeare gives the main character (Hamlet) a weak personality or tragic flaws, which lead him to lose not only his throne but also his family, including himself. Character-wise, Hamlet’s irrational behavior forces him to...
Both poems by Seamus Heaney and Nikki Giovanni explore the issues related to writing, which often prevent many from creating and realizing their ideas in practice. Although they arrive at different conclusions, their messages have several common features. While Giovanni speaks about the difference and controversy between what is imagined...
Thus spit I out my venom, under hueOf holiness, to seem holy and true.But, shortly mine intent I will devise,I preach of nothing but of covetise.Therefore my theme is yet, and ever was,–Radix malorum est cupiditas.Thus can I preach against the same viceWhich that I use, and that is avarice.But...
After two world wars, humankind inevitably grew bored with swashbuckling idealism and wanted to witness inner torment, pessimism, alienation from society, and general incapability of dealing with life. Art had to reflect the new hopeless reality people were experiencing. Almost concurrently, we also discovered ennui, existentialism, and irony. All past...
The Tempest explores themes of servitude and duty as we witness numerous characters either submit to or challenge Prospero’s position of authority. Prospero utilizes three henchmen with vastly different places in the social hierarchy to achieve his goals: Ariel, Caliban, and Ferdinand. Caliban is a slave reviled by the other...
There are two primary drivers behind Agamemnon’s vendetta against Troy. The first is the personal desire to seek revenge for the insult dealt with by his brother Menelaus. Many men, including Prince Paris, King of Troy, were in line to marry Helen before she settled with Menelaus. Prince Paris was...
Shakespeare is deemed a great writer with his notable works premising on human life, the sanctity of life, and human relationships. His writings primarily center on the themes such as mystery, grief, love, and war. For example, in the play, The Merchant of Venice, love, mystery, wealth, and wit brings...
Shakespeare asserts that human beings are naturally theatrical creatures. In Hamlet, the Ghost is counted as Hamlet’s superego, the moral part that makes him behave the way he does. Shakespeare uses Claudius as the persona in Hamlet to showcase pleasurable desires such as love. Likewise, he reveals that human beings...
Shakespeare’s works portray love in his literary pieces, notable ones being, Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice, Troilus and Cressida, Henry IV, Henry V, and King John. War is necessary within a society with the key goal of affirming victory and strength in any given society, as is the...
The novel by Joseph Conrad presents the reader with an artful game of contrasts. The primary plot is tightly related to the global wave of terror wreaking havoc in 19th-century Europe. However, in its global background, the personal tragedy of the Verloc family is naturally woven into the story. As...
Through the words of the main character, the development of the personality and the change of views over time can be easily traced. The play Dr. Faust is a philosophical and psychological tragedy that reveals the inner struggle of a humanist scientist who strives for unlimited knowledge but is aware...
This storyline is built on the contrast between the Asian and African cultures and how stereotypes about different races affect people’s ability to see others as they are. For example, the Hong Kong natives have prejudice toward Africans. During one of the discussions with frineds, Marshawn says the following about...
Roland is Regina’s younger brother, whom Marshawn decided to look up to. Unlike Marshawn, Ro grew up in Pomona outside Los Angeles in a middle-class family. This means that Ro did not experience the struggles and violence that Marshawn saw when he grew up. Ro’s successes motivated Marshawn since he...
Marshawn is an African native who grew up in poverty. One of the unusual plot twists in this novel is that he is invited to Hong Kong by his uncle. His appearance is described as “darker than brown skin.” Marshawn grew up in a dangerous neighborhood in Los Angeles, where...
“Tartuffe” is Moliere’s first comedy, where he criticized the vices of the clergy and nobility. In his work, the French comedian harshly criticized such human vices as meanness, hypocrisy, stupidity, selfishness, cowardice, and greed. The central character, Tartuffe, appears to the viewer as a being devoid of any human dignity....
Some writers in America love to apply realism, while others approach naturalism as they endeavor to convey different messages in society. Authors like Ambrose Bierce and William Howell use realism, while Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Realist and naturalist writers create stories that reflect societal norms, but how the...
Romantic poetry is characterized by a variety of features that differentiate it from other literary periods and styles. Since Romanticism is rich in a variety of literary devices, one might select several essential ingredients that would make a good Romantic poem. In particular, these ingredients include a form of elegy...
The portrayal of women in literature has traditionally been a point of contention and debate among researchers. As traditionally the published writing sphere has been historically dominated by men, their ability to provide an insight into a woman’s mind is debatable at best. Nevertheless, throughout literary history, numerous female writers...
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” or “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” is among the longest poems composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem has been set in the later Middle Ages and has a very mysterious, ghostly, and uncanny atmosphere. The poem has a number of themes. Firstly,...
“On His Blindness” has been written by John Milton and it is a lyric poem having 14 lines. This poem is among his more mature poems. It shows us Milton’s command over the Italian form of sonnets, bringing it almost to the point of perfection. It has the form of...
“My Last Duchess” has been composed by Robert Browning and refers to the deceased duchess of the Duke of Ferrara, known as Lucrezia de’ Medici who died at the tender age of 17. The entire poem has been written in iambic pentameter, having alternately unstressed and stressed syllables, as in,...
“She Walks in Beauty” has been composed by Lord George Gordon Byron and it is a lyric poem. The essential topic of the poem is the amazing exterior and interior attractiveness of a young woman. The poem was published in his collection called the “Hebrew Melodies”. While the 1st stanza...
“Death, Be Not Proud” was written by John Donne, and it is a sonnet. The poem has the form of a Petrarchan sonnet and was originally named “Holy Sonnet X.” The sonnet is made up of 14 lines. There is one 8-line stanza. This is called the octave. There is...
“Daffodils” or “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is a typical poem characterizing the Romantics and was written by William Wordsworth on a stormy spring day while with his sister, Dorothy. This poem has 6 lines in 4 stanzas and has a constant rhyming scheme of ABABCC throughout the poem....
“Ozymandias” has been written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and is among his most famous short poems in the form of a sonnet. The principal theme of the poem is the unavoidable decline of man, all the work he has done, and the mighty empires that he has created. The text...
The “Note to God” song by Kuromi Romi is a prayer and a lea of a helpless and almost hopeless person. It acknowledges the shortcomings and the weakness of humans when left on their own: wars, poverty, pain, downward spiral. The song depicts that humans are aware of the roots...
This poem “If You Forget Me” is filled with passion for a beloved. It is however evident that it is a retributive love, who will base his feelings and actions on the actions and feelings of his lover. He will continue loving her as long as she shows her love...
Shahrazad is a legendary, intelligent, and wise Persian woman who volunteers to marry a ruthless king. As a skilled, sophisticated, and smart storyteller, Shahrazad utilizes numerous techniques to captivate the attention of the audience, especially the king. A notable device utilized by Shahrazad is folklore, a recurrent feature in ancient...
Bartleby presents a person vs. person conflict, where the titular character stands in opposition to other employees and society at large. One’s value depends on the person’s productivity, and Bartleby gradually stops performing the tasks required of his position because he “would prefer not to”. His perseverance initially causes the...
While attaining freedom for women in the nineteenth century was highly impractical, females were not contented with the injustices of a society overpowered by men. Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour was published when America experienced rapid technological advancement changes to economic recession. The author lived in a society that...
The Crucible is an informative play by Arthur Miller depicting the Salem Witch Trial in Salem, Massachusetts, towards the end of the 17th century. People accused of being witches are taken to court and several witnesses are called upon to testify. Out of all the witnesses, Abigail Williams is the...
The Girl Who Was Plugged In is a fantastic novella that raises philosophical questions about the political systems, the role of gender, the perception of human life, and the necessity to obey to survive. The author of the book is an American writer Alice Sheldon who decided to create her...
At first sight, Auden’s “Stop All the Clocks” seems to be a poem about the planned time for relaxation, when one does not have to worry about waking up by the alarm the next morning. At least that’s what I do when I am about to have a day of...
The archetype of a rebel inextricably linked with freedom may be regarded as traditional for American individuals, and it defines their behavior to a great extent. In general, American literature implies the unique combination of romanticism and pragmatism, traditionalism and experimentation. Similar to revolutionaries who fought for the country’s independence...
The chapter “Two Dream Elegies: Pearl and The Book of the Duchess” in Hieatt’s The Realism of Dream Visions: The Poetic Exploitation of the Dream-Experience in Chaucer and His Contemporaries provides the bases for comparing and contrasting the themes of The Book of the Duchess and Pearl. These works belong...
In the book, James McPherson presents seven essays in which he expands on his argument that Abraham Lincoln led the second revolution in America, as he calls the Civil War. This event was revolutionary as it transformed the states’ weak union into an entirely new nation based on democratic capitalism...