Newest Literature Essays

As John Ames prepares for his inevitable death, he reflects back on the life he's lived and those he’s impacted. John’s reflection established several thematic elements that developed throughout his lifetime: mortality and preparation for a good...

The gothic influence is still undeniably present on contemporary fiction. Although this influence is rather obvious in most of cases, it is more complex that it seems in some works, specifically in the creation of certain atmospheres or the...

A key element in Shakespearian comedy is the use of parallel characters; Shakespeare invites the audience to compare and contrast, often using characterization and language to highlight the similarities and differences between the characters in...

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, and Homer’s Odyssey are what many consider to be the greatest fantastical stories of their times. While the heroes differ in many ways, their circumstances bear multiple similarities. Both characters...

In Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, the four Mirabal sisters are caught up in the political revolution of the Dominican Republic. The book focuses on how their lives are changed by this involvement, and the impact the sisters...

Morally ambiguous characters are defined as characters who cannot be identified as wholly evil or good. Both Hally, from “Master Harold” …and the boys, and Troy Maxson, from Fences, exhibit qualities of morally ambiguous characters. In Fences, by...

Manipulation is an indirect mechanism utilized to influence an individual's thoughts or beliefs. The portrayal of manipulation is not necessarily explicit but through meaningful speeches and conversations. This can be viewed from a combination of...

Across the world of English literature, there are several eras of literary hallmarks. From the Elizabethan period with its fantastical scenes to the 18th century with its Augustan characteristics, the United Kingdom has provided a colorful...

In the eyes of the various lodgers of To the Lighthouse, the image of Mrs. Ramsay often evokes a sense of portraiture, art in movement. Mr. Bankes observes Lily painting Mrs. Ramsay reading to her son James, musing, “Mother and child then—objects...

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate,” Strother Martin stated in the 1967 film, Cool Hand Luke. This line could have easily been used in Thomas Pynchon’s novella published a year earlier, The Crying of Lot 49. The often convoluted...

Throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, the notion of monsters, monstrosities and the unnatural is a prominent theme. Often brought to light within the context of the villain Iago, the words “monster” and “monstrous” are used a combined 12 times...

Following its publication in 1899, Kate Chopin’s novel ‘The Awakening’ endured strong criticism due to its controversial portrayal of a female protagonist who openly expels the norms of maternity and monogamy. Diedre Stuffer notes how the...

As an audience, we crave comfort and reassurance that characters in the play, who we pity (ie. Lear) will not be harmed or the harming of them will be able to be prevented. Moreover as the tragedy in the play is unrelenting, Shakespeare uses...

Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment explores the inner turmoil of the protagonist, Raskolnikov, through his murder of an old pawn broker. Raskolnikov’s internal divide is displayed throughout the novel through his bipolar behavior and his...

For Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville, obsession is a central theme for their short stories. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator expresses a negative obsession for the pale-blue eye “with film over it” of an elderly man, but also...

In his book Denying History, author and scientist Michael Shermer provides readers a look into the dastardly and nonsensical world of Holocaust denial and why some believe the Holocaust never happened. To that end, a look into and refutation of...

Women in WartimeIn his novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien explores the physical, emotional, and mental burdens of war. Set during the Vietnam War, O’Brien guides the reader through the common feelings of guilt, loss, and terror felt by...

Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” portrays many male characters as, arguably, predatory patriarchs, where they can be seen to be preying on the vulnerable, generically referring to young girls we see without major parental figures - men are presented...

The carriage is elegant, decadent, and a true symbol of luxury and privilege. The carriage blocks out its surroundings as it is the main focus, and things around it seem minute. It is elevated, allowing the passengers to peer through the windows,...

In the filmmaking process, the director undergoes a series of creative choices that work to advance the narrative, deepen characterizations, and illuminate the theme of the film. While there is a longstanding debate between film critics and film...

If there is one thing that almost every single person in world has in common, it is an existential fear of death. The subconscious thought that eventually reaches a sudden, overwhelming, hyper-realistic tipping point that we have been internally...

Most people have a person, a set of rules, or a greater idea that suppresses them, leaving them with a feeling of entrapment. In Isamil Kadare’s Broken April this was the blood code, that left inhabitants of the High Plateau’s in Albania trapped...

The concept and action of dreaming is a natural process, innate to almost all human beings despite gender, race, and culture. People dream both subconsciously in their sleep and consciously dream towards a goal or a better future. This natural...