Newest Literature Essays

Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare wrote plays in England during a time when Jews were banned from the country, making it unlikely that Jewish characters in their plays would amount to more than anti-Semitic stereotypes. Both Marlowe’s ...

Near the end of Thomas Pynchon’s 1965 novel The Crying of Lot 49, the protagonist Oedipa finds herself at a crossroads after trying to unravel the mystery of W.A.S.T.E., a conspiratorial underground postal system, without finding many tangible...

In Death and the Maiden, Gerardo constantly opposes Paulina’s ideas and plans, providing a more rational and less emotionally-charged solution. Gerardo acts as the voice of reason to emphasize Paulina’s irrational and crazed tendencies in the...

The notion of the “New Woman” arose in the late nineteenth century mainly defining middle class women who reproached the then current societal expectations for women. As stated by Susan Cruea, a professor of English and Women’s Studies at Bowling...

Dorothy Wordsworth, poetess, diarist, and sister of William Wordsworth, a well-known Romantic author, was not recognized as a notable literary figure until well after her death in 1855. Despite her close connection with her brother, her strong...

In September 1792, French revolutionaries murdered over one thousand political prisoners to prevent them from being freed and joining enemy forces. After the September Massacres, many, including the English poet Charlotte Turner Smith, had to...

The seventy-year-old Moll Flanders who narrates her own life story considers herself a reformed criminal. But to what degree should her perceived transgressions cause her to actually be understood as such? After all, Defoe’s novel makes it clear...

The Grimm fairy tales have been interpreted in endless ways since they were first written, and probably for good reason—the blood and gore of the original fairy tales do not necessarily make for ideal bedtime stories. However, Anne Sexton’s...

“The View From Mrs. Thompson’s” is an account of the author’s experiences in Bloomington, Illinois directly following the 9/11 attacks. Largely based around his thoughts while watching events unfold on TV at a neighbour’s house, the essay contains...

In the contemporary novel When the Killing's Done, author T.C. Boyle tells the powerfully relevant story of Alma Boyd Takesue, her antagonist Dave Lajoy, and their attempts to exert dominion over the natural world. Set on the Channel Islands off...

For centuries, nature in literature has been used as a means to reflect both our society and humanity. Both Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Christina Rossetti’s selected poems use nature as both a tool of oppression and a support, challenging the...

'The roote of my desire Was vertue cladde in constant louse attire.' (Arcadia, III)

Attire and appearance lie at the heart of Sir Philip Sidney's The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, (or simply Arcadia) with the plot hinging on ideas of costume,...

Juan Rulfo employs a fragmented structure in Pedro Páramo to provide information about the plot and characters from the point of view of different characters at different times. This allows stories to be echoed and reechoed throughout the novel....

French author Jules Verne, the third most translated author of all time, published his highly praised novel Around the World in 80 Days in the year 1873. Following his renowned novels which were published in previous years, Journey to the Center...

Some people say that the difference between real life and stories, is that real life always contains loose ends, unfinished plots, and indescribable feelings. It is when authors such as Chaim Potok embody these inexpressible feelings in their...

“Austen’s novels are all about money.” To what extent is this a true comment in relation to ‘Emma’?

Behind every action is a drive, a will that serves to uphold the most open and secretive desires of the self. Within Jane Austen’s Emma, money...

In the graphic memoir Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi discloses her experiences as a young girl growing up under the oppressive regime of the Iranian revolution. Throughout the novel, she faces moral dilemmas, suffers culture shock, and struggles to...

American silent comedy was at the height of its popularity in the early 1900s, namely during the 1920s. Being as creative and talented as he was, Charlie Chaplin is often regarded as the pioneer and central figure of this type of film during his...

The “Eye,” “Aye,” and “I’s” have it.

Indeed, the ‘Cyclops’ episode is recognizable at a glance. Following The ‘Sirens’ melodic fugue, the twelfth chapter sees a swift change, both in tone and form. The narrative shifts to a mysteriously verbose...

Andrew Marvell’s “Upon Appleton House” and Ben Jonson’s “To Penshurst” share similarities characteristic of the English “Country House” poem, but they also contain notable differences from each other. Both “To Penshurst” and “Upon Appleton House”...

At the turn of the nineteenth century, and the start of the ‘War to end all Wars’, there was a rise in an exclusive kind of poetry, born in the suffering hands of the ‘War poet’. He is often seen in a state of despair, and combines the peaceful...

The theme of escape has long been regarded as a powerful and timeless one in various works of literature, and in poetry more specifically. Escapism is a dominant and prevailing topic in poetry as it reveals an alternative existence to living a...

In Tamar Heller’s study, Dead Secrets: Wilkie Collins and the Female Gothic, she suggests that Ellen Moers’ use of the term “Female Gothic” refers to the nightmarish marriages that are presented in novels of this genre, in which women were often...

“Emily gazed with melancholy awe upon the castle, which she understood to be Montoni's; for, though it was now lighted up by the setting sun, the gothic greatness of its features, and its mouldering walls of dark grey stone, rendered it a gloomy...