Newest Literature Essays

Dante Alighieri uses Hell in his epic poem,The Inferno, to show the perfection of every act committed and idea thought by God. Dante’s purpose in writing the first part of his Divine Comedy was to demonstrate that God's action in human history can...

At first, references to fish in Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From The Goon Squad seem fleeting and insignificant. Fish appear to serve as nothing more than dinner for Lou’s family or an odd prop for Scotty to carry around. Upon further investigation,...

Instances of failed communication occur extensively in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In some cases — Oskar and his mother, William Black and his father — increased communication would improve the way characters deal...

Orientalism, as defined by Edward Said, is the system by which the West comes to understand the East by “making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it: in short, [. . . by] dominating,...

Richard Matheson’s novel, I Am Legend, displays a great deal of horror, presented in a magnificent way. Matheson includes realistic, believable details in plot to give the reader a more realistic feeling towards the vampires. Robert Neville, the...

At first, references to the four seasons in the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight seem to function merely as devices to paint a picture of the story’s setting. Upon further investigation, however, it grows apparent that the seasonal...

Role models influence our understanding of self, perception of reality, and personal growth. Parent’s are biologically programmed to serve as primary role models for their children, however some achieve more success than others. In her short story...

Philosopher John Locke claims that all of mankind has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of property, and while many accept this claim as fact and truth, there are those who contest whether this idea is right and proper in regards to the...

Privilege alters perspective. In her text Beloved, Toni Morrison explores the role that white privilege plays on a character’s ability to fight for social justice. While Morrison’s character, Mr. Bodwin, demonstrates positive intentions in his...

Employing a feminist while analyzing Jeannette Winterson’s The Passion allows for the use of many tools that can assist the reader while conducting a close reading of this work. Some terms from Tyson’s Critical Theory Today that will aid in the...

In writing the Constitution, very little was said by the founders about the judiciary branch, the powers of the Supreme Court, or the functions of law in general. To explain and provide detail to the broad statements presented in the Constitution...

Nora’s Action as Act of Feminism

In the play A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen portrays both the traditional roles of both males and females in the 19th Century. The character Nora in the play embodies the traditional female standard of the era, as she...

Aimé Césaire’s 1969 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Tempest strives to provoke postcolonial sentiment in its audience by demoting the shipwreck plot and instead focusing primarily on the unjust relationships between the sorcerer Prospero and his...

While concerns about the high costs associated with halting the printing of Persuasion’s original ending are understandable, Austen’s revised version better showcases the stylistic talents to which her readers have become accustomed. The original...

Alfred Hitchcock uses his classic mystery Rear Window to convey his opinion and view on the societal expectations of the roles of women and men. He illustrates the negativity of if women are in position, which it uncomforts men and pressures them...

Favell Parrett’s novel Past The Shallows is the chilling and hard-hitting story concentrated on the lives of brothers Harry and Miles as they grow up and experience the many hardships of life with their father in rural Tasmania. This book focuses...

Throughout Washington Square, the revelatory effects of love catalyze the heroine’s transformation against the wishes of a treacherously oppressive father. The juxtaposing development of the Doctor’s increasing inadequacy with that of Catherine’s...

In James Joyce’s collection of short stories Dubliners the stories are put in chronological order so it seems that the characters are slowly becoming older and older both physically and mentally. The collection of stories first start off with a...

Arguably, the presentation of waste is demonstrated in Journey’s End as the futility of war and the loss of innocent soldiers. There are subtle signs of foreshadowing throughout the exposition of the play, like referring to the “ foul smell of...

The wives of Caesar and Brutus played a very key role in Act II, scenes 1 and 2 in Julius Caesar, by Shakespeare. They both significantly affected their husbands. They had to do something to influence their husbands to prevent them from doing...

Albert Einstein once said, “Force always attracts men of low morality.” This statement illustrates the idea that men with low values or standards will often use force to build up a feeling of dominance which also makes someone oblivious to...

In her article on English Renaissance Drama, Katharine Eisaman Maus asserts how “in the Renaissance theater, the generic spectator is male, the spectacle female, and in some sense sexually available” (Maus 577), and the play Volpone by Ben Jonson...

Owen’s perception of blame is set on morality and the value of life rather than historical facts and occurrences. Nature is Owen’s enemy as it hinders the soldiers as well as makes them suffer more, thus being a factor that could lead to their...

The dialogue in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is an attempt by Stephen Crane to preserve the language of tenement dwellers in lower Manhattan in the late 1800s. During this time, many citizens were poor. Children were left to fend for themselves....