Literature

The portrayal of women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reveals the sociological and historical dimensions that characterized the period in which the poem was set. Propp outlines thirty-one functions that characters in fairy tales may take, categorized in seven dramatis personae villain, donor, helper, princess/sought-for-person, dispatcher, hero, and...

Arthur Miller’s stage play Death of a Salesman is an excellent depiction of one’s paranoic desire to achieve material success, recognition, and professional establishment. The ongoing theme of the American dream as a central metaphor in Miller’s work is mainly illustrated through William Loman’s reoccurring strive for success. Loman, while...

Jamaica Kincaid is an accomplished novelist who focuses on autobiographical detail in her pieces and interprets them to support her storylines. Kinkaid revolves her stories around emotions and feelings and creates her characters using the same method. Naturally, she spends more time developing the emotional side of her novels and...

Literature is not only a means of expressing emotions for the author but also reflects social realities. Especially for authors, the ability to convey acute social agendas through artistic images and to talk about possible ways of introducing changes is valuable. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an example...

In J. D. Salinger’s work, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Morrisey Caulfield is a fictitious character. The central protagonist and narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book written by Mark Twain, an American novelist. Even though Huckleberry Finn...

Introduction A short story constitutes a specific genre – a short, epic, prosaic form of narrative. A successful and well-structured short story presents a squeeze and tightly knit plot in which the collides lead promptly to a major crisis for the character. One more fundamental feature is the focus on...

The one-act play Trifles, written by journalist and artist Susan Glaspell, is a significant literary work revealing the early twentieth century’s reality. The author created this story about the murder of a husband by his wife based on actual events the writer witnessed as a reporter (Ahmed 107). The play...

Many writers, in their literary problems, raise various critical social topics. Hence, in work “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, the theme of love and marriage is raised. A short story tells about the toxic and abusive union of Delia and her husband, Sykes. Moreover, the author examines the influence of...

The play by Baldwin is constructed of several contextual references which mirror the situation revealed in his work. For instance, at the beginning of Act 1 of Blues for Mister Charlie, the audience can see the struggle of African American students as they are not being accepted by society and...

Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” and Herrick’s “To the Virgins” are both poems that are written in a carpe diem tradition, meaning these two writings praise the importance of the moment. Marvell’s poem is an author’s description of his feelings for the woman: firstly, he says that it will take...

The portrayal of gods and mortals’ relationship is one of the main themes of most ancient tragedies. Many ancient Greek authors depicted the divine and the mortal as mutually dependent. Thus, in their tragedies, both Sophocles and Euripides set out the essence of the relationship of people to the divine....

John Updike often described the typical people of everyday life in his books. Many of his characters resembled people he knew, or they reflected his views on what was happening in America. They expressed their opinions on the value system by which people lived. One of these ideas was individualism:...

Introduction Baldwin felt that art had the potential to save people from pain, or at the very least, to lessen it. On the other hand, Sonny utilizes blues and jazz as an outlet for his emotions, which his brother first does not comprehend. However, once Sonny’s brother visits the jazz...

Introduction Racial prejudices and difficulties of assimilation of Afro-Americans in white society are commonly discussed throughout the literature, especially in works of the 20th century. Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun initially takes its name from Hughes’ poem A Dream Deferred, or Harlem, namely, from the author’s answer to...

Introduction Women were often represented in Shakespeare’s plays as minor characters, on which there was put less focus than men. In the play called “Macbeth,” the author provides a rather controversial image of lady Macbeth, who started to behave like a man in order to achieve specific social status in...

Introduction Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning was published in 1946. During World War two, he was imprisoned in Nazi detention camps, and this book recounts his experiences. The book focuses on how he found purpose even in these challenging circumstances. Frankl addresses the importance of logotherapy, which aims...

The novel “A Doll’s House,” written by Henrik Ibsen, is a play, which concerns the contemporary issue that is women’s rights. This masterpiece exposes to what extent women were restricted in society and the imbalance between them and men. The novel still leaves doubts regarding the main theme, which is...

Introduction An elevated risk for many physical and mental illnesses has been found in epidemiological research conducted on traumatized individuals. According to Hauber and Zank, it is thought to be related to long-term alterations in fundamental immunological, neurological, and endocrine processes that take years to show pathologically (Hauber and Zank...

Witnessing the death of a loved one and realizing that now a person has to come to terms and live with this loss is a very difficult challenge in a person’s life. It is known that humans usually experience the loss of their friends and relatives in different ways. Some...

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known record of myths that presents a two-part story about the king of Uruk. This piece of literature provides one of the earliest looks at many topics that were crucial in the society of that time. Namely, religion and mortality are presented in...

Introduction The novel uncovers the theme of desire and the way it corrupted the American dream. It was originally related to the fact that anyone could rise from being poor and earn wealth by working hard enough. However, on the contrary, during the time when the concept gained popularity, most...

The title of the poem “Second attempt crossing” refers to going past America’s boundary into the country. One would expect the author to begin the poem with a feeling of fear, danger, and peril, as the title suggests a risky mission. However, Zamora opens the poem in a light sense...

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde occupies a special place in Robert Louis Stevenson’s work. It unites moral and philosophical depth, a unique writing style, detective plot, fiction, mysticism, and other features. Mary Reilly, written by Valerie Martin, is a novel inspired by Stevenson’s book, and it...

In her essay “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan states that the “broken” language of immigrants impacts their future perspectives and relationship with native speakers. The author writes: “I think my mother’s English almost affected limiting my possibilities in life…” (Tan 636). Tan always wanted to become a writer but was constantly...

In this story, the main character should learn that love can bring light in life or make one a fool, innocence can be lost in the aging process, and that expectations might differ from reality. The narrator, who happens to be the main character, comes from a damp and unpleasant...

The kingship style of Charlemagne is well brought out in the twenty-first and thirty-first topics. From the twenty-first topic, it is evident that the biographer discusses how Charlemagne treated foreigners in his kingdom. In that regard, the chapter exhibits several traits of the king. Consequently, the thirty-first chapter discusses the...

In “Much Ado About Nothing,” the central theme is gossip and how it disrupts the relationship between couples who are in love. In the modern context, some changes to the plot and the setting are needed to adapt Shakespeare’s story. For example, in the first act, Duke Don Pedro returns...

Frankenstein’s Creature, described by Mary Shelley, is a controversial figure in the literature. In a manner, Shelley uses the Creature as a proxy for humanity to demonstrate how the Monster’s creation by Frankenstein is similar to humanity’s creation by God. According to Heringman (2019), the novel under discussion creates “a...

Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the novel known as Young Goodman Brown, while Washington Irving is the writer of Rip Van Winkle. For both books, the authors are attempting to incentivize readers with something like a tale of identity in the wilds. Nathaniel Hawthorne sends his protagonist into the...

Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is the most famous play by the English playwright. This tragedy has been recognized for several centuries, and this is due to its precise love lines and political situations. The philosophical component of the work – deep reflections on life and death-always attracts attention....

Beautiful Thing, a Digital Theater play directed by Jonathan Harvey, tells the story of two middle-class teenagers who fall in love with each other. The viewer can observe and experience, together with the characters, the stages of the boys’ realizing their homosexuality, accepting it, and trying to figure out what...

The most drastic change to a person indeed can happen after escaping death. To be more precise, if one fully realizes that one could have died in a particular situation but did not due to some exceptional circumstances or individual luckiness. True crimes can instantly alternate a personality in various...

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play that consists of various conflicts and controversial dilemmas. Almost every character is used to depict a particular force or life value, which may be opposed to other powers and principles. Blanche and Stanley are central characters of the play, and hence, they depict...

Introduction The Narrow Road to the Interior by Matsuo Basho, the Japanese poet, describes the author’s dangerous and exciting journey through Japan in the spring of 1689. In his writing, Basho manages to portray pilgrimage as a way to feel the ephemeral essence of beauty and life, become inspired by...

Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing centers on themes of appearance and reality, and how the perception of either contributes to the events of the story. In the very early stages of the story, the banter between Benedick and Beatrice appears cruel and antagonistic but as the narrative progresses, the reader...

Introduction Probably, the most unnerving actions are the ones people are capable of without actually realizing it. Human nature is susceptible to sudden and dramatic changes. People can commit actions, that they have never contemplated before or never imagined themselves capable of doing. The darker side of human nature is...

Introduction The novel “Pride and Prejudice” was written by Jane Austen and published for the first time in 1813. The story is mainly centered on the central character Elizabeth Bennet and the way she deals with issues of etiquette, education, ethical relevance, and marriage in her noble society. The story...

There is ample substantiation of the significance of The Glass Menagerie as found in the fact that Tennessee Williams has named the play after it. Glass is considered as a medium of ornamental articles in being beautiful and fragile. Menagerie is understood as being a compilation of things thus connoting...

Introduction Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of the novels that are frequently argued about. The complexity of the novel and its meaning is often compared to the challenging and full of struggles life of the writer herself. As a result, the critics expressing their interpretation and reflection on the...

The book, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Letcher is about a man who had two fathers. The Poor dad was his biological father, a Ph.D. holder, with little knowledge in finances, while the Rich Dad was his friend’s (Mike’s) father. The rich dad was an 8th-grade...

The culture of any country, be it its language or whichever dimension ought to be preserved. In his poem Shahnameh, Ferdowsi Tousi, a culture conservative, sets to revive the different civilizations and myths of the Iranian people. Before the emergence of Islam, the Iranians followed the Zoroastrian religious sect and...

As long as various forms of arts existed, it has always taken inspiration from other artists and forms of art and built on it. Outside of few unique geniuses, most artists take inspiration from others either in form, structure, theme or context to create their own unique piece, one that...

Mondal, Disha. “Triumph of Destiny in the lives of Karna and Achilles.” Global Journal of Human Social Science 19 (4): (2019) 21-22. In this article, the author reveals the theme of the tragic fate of the heroes of two epic poems, comparing the characters of Achilles from Homer’s Iliad and...

Summary The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel written by a prominent Canadian author Margaret Atwood in 1985. It describes the imperfect society of the future when an ecological disaster and massive depopulation resulted in the establishment of a tyrannical dictatorship based on distorted religious principles. Women have lost their...

Introduction The genre of Gothic literature originated in the second half of the eighteenth century in England and is especially characteristic of the era of early romanticism. The genre of Gothic literature, created in opposition to the prevailing classicism and widespread rationalism in those distant times, gained wide popularity among...

In brief, the three foremost ideas that are being promoted in Tonry’s (2004) book Thinking about crime: Sense and sensibility in American penal culture can be outlined as follows: The penal reforms that had taken place within the system of American jurisprudence, during the 20th century (and especially during this...

Introduction The anthropological theoretical perspective is one of the frameworks which different myths justify. The approach creates a critical qualitative comprehension of why and how diverse human behaviors, cultures, and expressions occurred and even continue to transpire in the present society. The Persian, Greek, Roman, European, African, and American mythologies...

What Inspired You to Write Your Book? I wrote the book to show and educate people throughout the world on how young individuals engage in gang crimes in society, discriminating against others based on their race and religion. As Lee and Tandoc (2017) mention, novelists write, putting the intended audience...

Introduction Weaving the Web is a book written by Tim Berners-Lee in 1999 to address the questions that many people have regarding the World Wide Web. This book is more descriptive than technical; the author presents the story of the Web creation and shares his suggestions and expectations with the...

Everyone has only one life. If he dies, then his life ends. Everyone is afraid of death, so when a person commits really awful crimes, such as murder, he/she deserves an execution. Even though many human beings’ executions occurred in history, nobody has the right to kill even the guilty...

The inside awakening of several emotions to the audience is what underlines a great play. Moreover, if the writer of the play can evoke these emotions continuously, then the play passes for an extremely powerful piece for it then causes the audience to experience a “catharsis” moment. Catharsis in a...

The play A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen a Norwegian playwright was written in 1879. The play was written during a period that was critical of the marriage norms. Thus, the play raised controversy after its publication. The play is relevant even in today’s world as it addresses pertinent issues...

The relationships between humans and nature have been a subject of interest for as long as humanity exists. The philosophers, thinkers, poets, writers, and scientists of all the times tried to define the connection between the people and natural powers, name it, trace it, establish certain regularities in this connection....

Some people may question why I would choose the character of Jay Gatsby to influence my life, but considering that Gatsby knew his dream and worked diligently to make the dream come true inspires my goals. Gatsby’s uniqueness of purpose and consistent loyalty are characteristics that I wish to emulate....

Use of metaphor is one of the techniques that are used by many authors of literature. This technique makes an essay very interesting and makes a reader think deep rather than just reading plain points. A reader is encouraged by the use of metaphors, imagery and other techniques to continue...

“His fire! – sears me, sweeps me again – the torture! Apollo Lord of the Light, you burn, you blind me – Agony!” (Aeschylus, 1984, p. 154). These are the words, spoken by Cassandra in The Oresteia. She has already suffered very much for betraying Apollo and allowing herself to...

Introduction In one of the national bestsellers of the last century, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that was first published in 1989, Stephen R. Covey talks about the ways to improve personal effectiveness. It is based on the idea of the character ethic that should be aligned with...

Introduction William Shakespeare is one of the most significant figures of the United Kingdom and the whole world. His contribution to the development of culture and literary and theatrical art is priceless, and the fact that this ingenious writer lived and created literary works is a gift for all humankind....

A Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr., a social activist and member of the American civil rights movement against racial discrimination, is an example of well-structured, convincing, and persuasive literary creation. Although King was mostly known as a magnificent speaker, this document demonstrates his outstanding writing skill...

Introduction Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play about Willy Loman whose life is a myriad of failures. Written by Arthur Miller, the play has won accolades including the coveted Tony Award for Best Play. Set in America, Arthur depicts the protagonist as a perpetual failure that misses all...

Things Fall Apart celebrates the African culture among the Igbo of Nigeria. The author Chinua Achebe wrote the novel on the background of colonialism in Nigeria. He gives the story of the African way of life before and after the coming of the Europeans. Achebe’s work is rich in African...

Nella Larsen’s literary work Passing is the narration about two African women Irene and Clare who choose different paths in life. The title of the novel constitutes the main metaphor that defines the main essence of the novel. At first sight, the literary work reveals a racial nonconformity pertaining to...

“Gideon’s Trumpet” by Antony Lewis is a story about a man who stood up for his rights irrespective of common belief that his case was hopeless. He was accused of breaking into a poolroom in Panama City, Florida, with a purpose of committing a larceny. At this, people who knew...

Mrs. Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf which, depicting one day of Clarissa Dalloway’s life, manages to tell the whole story about it. In Mrs. Dalloway Woolf manages to create tension between the past and the future using flashbacks to the past, which helps her to express the correlation...

August Wilson was born to a German father and an African American Mother in 1945. This concludes that Wilson is of a lesser race compared to other children in the school. Due to his racial color, his school professor could not believe he could write a sophisticated paper and accused...

Introduction Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie is a play that tells the tale of a splintered Southern family living a displaced existence in St. Louis during the 1930s. The patriarch having run out on the family sixteen years earlier, Amanda Wingfield, the mother, does her best to guide her adult...

The novel, “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer is about Chris McCandless and his journey with tragic death. The novel opens with Jim Gallien who is driving through Alaska and meets Alex who came from South Dakota. Alex informed him that he plans to live in Denali National Park for...

Outline Shakespeare, was influenced by the Greek play ‘The Libation Bearers’ written by Aeschylus in writing his play ‘Hamlet.’ This is evident throughout the play, with the similarities both have in the theme, characterization and character development. The heroes, Orestes and Hamlet, are presented with similar qualities and characteristics. The...

Every person experiences certain emotions and feelings during his or her life. These feelings and emotions can be positive or negative, and together they constitute the emotional state of a person. At the same time, art on the whole and literature in particular, are used by people to describe their...

A Rose for Emily is a very good short story written by William Faulkner, this short story uses flash back techniques to draw the immediate attention of the readers. It starts with the funeral of Emily, the antagonist of the story. There is no protagonist in the story as the...

Bibliography According to Frank Preston Stearns Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. To be born on this day which is so special for the United States of America is “as if to make a protest against Chauvinistic patriotism” ( Frank Preston Stearns, 35)....

Possession by Sarah McLachlan Listen as the wind blows From across the great divide Voices trapped in yearning Memories trapped in time The night is my companion And solitude my guide Would I spend forever here And not be satisfied And I would be the one To hold you down...

Introduction Human society is a rather specific thing and no one can understand all its processes and reasons for acting this or that way. Sometimes, such terrible things as dishonesty, discrimination, and immorality become natural and usual for people around us. These aspects of the same problem – lack humane...

Introduction Hemingway’s story, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, has mainly three characters: an old waiter, a young waiter, and an old deaf man. The story is very simple. An old man, aged about eighty years, tries to spend his night drinking brandy in a Spanish café, but the young waiter becomes...

Introduction The novella “Heart of Darkness” written by a Polish-born English author Joseph Conrad is considered as one of the most prominent examples of symbolism. Conrads dense prose and his style, in general, have always been a subject of literary and stylistic analysis. Main body It must be mentioned that...

Introduction Literature is a rather specific matter for analysis. It reflects the phenomena of reality in their great variety but also has its symbols and other means of decoding messages (Howe, 1993). Thus, the present paper will focus on the analysis of two works created by the worldwide famous writers...

Introduction Beowulf and Hamlet have 2 things in common and 2 differences. Both are heroes but in wildly varying degrees. Beowulf embodies all the characteristics of an ideal hero. His youth is richly littered with feats of heroism ranging from displays of extraordinary strength and bravery to the famous swimming...

Introduction During reading Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King”, it cannot escape our attention that the author attaches great importance to the theme of the mystical relationship between people’s existential mode and the land (soil), upon which they live. This can be explained by the fact that, unlike our contemporaries, ancient...

The scene chosen is Scene II of Act III (Shakespeare, p. 61) which is set in another part of the woods where Oberon meets Puck to meet regarding Oberon’s plan to make Titania fall for a hideous creature in the woods. Puck reports that Titania has fallen in love with...

Life of Shakespeare It is said that more facts are known about William Shakespeare than about any other playwright of his period than Ben Jonson. Mary Arden, the dramatist’s mother, was the daughter of a prominent landowner. In 1557, she married John Shakespeare, a glove-maker and merchant in various farm...