Newest Literature Essays

We, as individuals, seek greatness. It is a fundamental and irresistible pull that allows us to continue to move through life and seek out a greater purpose or experience. This thread, while often proving valuable, can cause us to act in ways that...

The English filmmaker, Alex Garland, has written and directed the movie Ex Machina, which is a science fiction film which talks about artificial intelligence and how humans are interested or even obsessed in creating something in their own...

Emily Dickinson’s poem, numbered 622, opens with the line, “To know just how He suffered—would be dear—” (Dickinson 1). The speaker in this poem addresses the subject of death, forming fragmented thoughts and questions about the passing of a loved...

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. This is a quote directly from Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American minister and Civil Rights Activist fond of...

In Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters, stories of characters from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds give readers a taste of life in 1950s Manila, Philippines under a dictatorship. For much of the text, it seems that Hagedorn’s female characters are able...

Lillian Hellman is not a self-identified feminist. In fact, she has been cited multiple times stating that she is a skeptic of feminism, and thus does not write “feminist theater.” However, although Hellman did not necessarily believe that her...

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it” (Roald Dahl). At a young age, we stop believing in magic. As we grow up and move through the mundanity of our lives, magic exists exclusively in the nostalgia of our childhood. However, in this...

In an often harsh and unfair world, there is no love as genuine and sincere as the one existing between a mother and daughter. A mother is one of the most important people a child’s life who will shape them with their care and support to become...

The House That Jack Built (2018) is the latest thriller piece by Danish director Lars Von Trier, notorious for his never-ending greed for controversy and shocked audience. Eric Kohn describes the film as “often-horrifying, sadistic dive into a...

Happiness is thought to be linked to fulfilled expectations and living according to other people’s expectations. Expectations usually cause more harm than good, as demonstrated in Svava Jakobsdottir’s short story “Party Under a Stone Wall”. In...

Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata” is a didactic poem that deals with improvement of the self and outlines a simple, positive credo to achieve happiness in relationships and hence in life. “Desiderata” is Latin for “desired things,” and the poet sees...

This essay provides an analysis of Henry V[1] and the use of staging throughout the years. Of particular interest are the 2007 Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by Michael Boyd[2], the 2015 Royal Shakespeare Company production directed...

The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen is a novel which follows a complicated, puzzling story taking place in the midst of Second World War time London. In a time, full of secrets and suspense, the main character Stella finds herself stuck in a...

Within ‘In the Drear-Nighted December’ and ‘On the Sea’ Keats displays the formidable, eternal power that nature holds over man both physically and emotionally. Whilst being stationed in the unrelieved, mundane city to train as an apothecary as a...

Renaissance dramas still remain among the most popular pieces of literature of today. The ability to create a piece of writing which surpasses time with its wit and humour comes as one of the main reasons why it still does not fail to astonish its...

Satyajit Ray’s overwhelming influence in world cinema as a filmmaker continues unabated; but he was also an accomplished short story writer, and it is interesting to see that a small but rewarding portion of his corpus concerns the macabre or the...

In “Salvatore” William Somerset Maugham questions what it means to be good, and whether a life is better spent being “merely” good than chasing love, ambition, or wealth. Maugham centres his narrative around a young fisherman, Salvatore, and his...

Have you savored the hot taste of life? (180) How do you view and interact with the world around you? From a young age, we are taught to enjoin right and forbid the wrong; however, the definition of what is right and wrong can change according to...

During the mid to late 1800’s, the United States of America was experiencing civil strife between the Northern states and the Southern states. One of the major conflicting issues between the two sides was their opinion on slavery. The South mainly...

When one thinks of the Beat Generation they immediately think of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso, who made the movement so well-known. They were three men who loved the pleasures in life, and the extremes in which they could use...

The migration of people from the former colonies of the British empires following World War II resulted in an influx of authors and performers to the United Kingdom. Even though this influx resulted in Britain's multiple identities, black people...

“So God created man in his own image, / in the image of God he created him; / male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). As the Image of God, man reflects God in many ways through his created nature. He is rational, moral, vocational,...

‘Plenty’ addresses the contrast between materialistic wants and emotional needs – a distinction very vividly presented when childhood and adulthood are thrown in the balance. Through careful diction, a measured sprinkling of punctuation and other...

“Beauty can come from the strangest of places, even the most disgusting of places.” – Alexander McQueen

Sujata Bhatt’s poem ‘Muliebrity’ celebrates beauty in its most exquisite and raw form – the beauty of everyday life. It captures with...