Newest Literature Essays

Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth presents an interesting study of the social construction of subjectivity. The Victorian society which Wharton's characters inhabit is defined by a rigid structure of morals and manners in which one's identity is...

The principal concern of a literature student is to try to infer what the author's intentions are. However, we often include our own perspectives and forget the author altogether. Take a look at The Hobbit. Many people assume Tolkien wanted Bilbo...

<i>"Mr. Baggins began as a comic tale among conventional and inconsistent fairy-tale dwarves, and got drawn into the edge of it - so that even Sauron the terrible peeped over the edge."

-J.R.R Tolkien, letter to his publisher (quoted in...

While Moses Herzog sits in the Chicago police station after he has crashed his rental car, the narrator of Saul Bellow's work exclaims angrily, "See Moses? We don't know one another" (299). This is the lone moment in the book where the narrator...

Saul Bellow's Herzog is a complicated and multifaceted novel. Moses Herzog, the protagonist, has a powerful though meandering intellect which does not seem to discriminate much in its choice of object. These myriad reflections can make the novel...

In Henry V, Shakespeare presents the king as a man who is exceptionally deft with his use of language and politics. Henry conquers France in a relatively short amount of time with a small army, and after his victory he declares, "Let there be sung...

"In many different societies, women, like colonised subjects, have been relegated to the position of 'Other,' 'colonised' by various forms of patriarchal domination. They thus share with colonised races and cultures an intimate experience of the...

In Henry IV, Shakespeare presents a troubled England with a king whose grip on the throne is tenuous at best. Those who had supported his rise to the throne when he overthrew Richard II are now turning against him. The king even doubts the loyalty...

In spite of its title, Henry IV, Part 1 is, without question, the story of a prince as he stands, however uncertainly, on the threshold of kingship. Yet Shakespeareâs literary account of this historical figure is not merely a diary of a royal...

In Part 1 of Henry IV, "blood" is the defining characteristic, separating the players into two distinct groups easily designated by their relationship to blood and providing the basis for the two lifestyles that Hal leads. The nobility's obsession...

The world of Shakespeare has many beloved heros and loathed villains, but never so beloved a villain as Sir John Falstaff. Through his comic appearance and endless witticisms, this incorrigible rouge has won the affection of audiences for...

"I want to be invisible...I paint my face and travel at night." Ralph Reed, as quoted in The Virginian Pilot and Ledger Star, 11/9/91

Attaining "invisibility," or privacy from the glaring eye of the public, remains a distinct desire of modern...

In his histories from Richard II through Henry V to Richard III, Shakespeare depicts the English monarchy as a game between family and friends of vying for a gold ring -- the crown. Shakespeare gives his reader a central metaphor through which to...

Henrik Ibsen depicts Hedda Gabler as a woman who is trapped in her own life. Hedda has a thirst for life which she has not satisfied. She prefers a life filled with excitement, thrills and courageous situations: "There was something really...

In the play Hedda Gabler by Isben, Hedda works as a type of artist of life. In an attempt to create a sense of beauty which she obsessively strives for, she creates her art by manipulating the lives and wills of the other characters around her....

One of the central themes in Henrik Ibsen's tragic play, Hedda Gabler is the illusion of power among the social classes. To expose this theme, Ibsen creates a powerful and socially privileged character whom he titles Hedda. She represents the...

In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Africa is described as the "dark continent" not merely because its inhabitants are dark of complexion, but because it is a place regarded as trapped in primordial darkness. In search of Mr. Kurtz, the character of...

In Joseph Conrad's classic novella, Heart of Darkness, the identity of Kurtz is unknown for most of the story. For the majority of the story, Marlow's image of Kurtz is based solely on hearsay from other Europeans. He is a seemingly extraordinary...

Based on a close reading of the conclusion to Conrad's Heart of Darkness, explain Marlow's reaction to the death of Kurtz.

Several dramatic shifts in perspective characterise Marlow's changing reaction to the death of Kurtz in Conrad's Heart of...

Constructing a narrative to impose order on an unfamiliar idea or place is a natural human impulse. Designed to change ÃÂÂRaw realities...from free-floating objects into units of knowledgeÃÂ? (Said 67), narratives about the strange, the ÃÂÂ...

It is fair to say, that late 19th Century Europe is not remembered for its progressive and humanistic values. Indeed, European society at this time could probably be described as racist and sexist, with colonialism and 'empire building' national...

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a novel about European imperialism and its far-reaching aims, methods, and effects. The author, Conrad, presents his own personal opinions through his central character, Marlow, who learns a great deal about...

In Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, Mr. Kurtz's chilling final words reveal his epiphany about the true nature of man. He has come to realize that the flickering light of his own morals could not overcome the darkness of his human nature. By...

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, and "Hollow Men," by T.S. Eliot have several comparative themes, though each author has an entirely separate way of conveying them. Each work displays a darkened and dismal mood, separation, and obscurity,...