Study Like a Boss
The Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, is historical proof that flirting and temptation, relating to the opposite sex, has been around since the earliest of times. Because males and females continue to interact, the complications in this play remain as relevant and humorous today as they did to Elizabethan audiences. This is … Read more
“How little is the cost I have bestowed in purchasing the semblance of my soul,”(3. 5. 19-20) is where the heart of this play is in my eyes. Portia doing what she can for her one true love, Bassanio. Money is of no importance to her especially when it comes to the happiness or unhappiness … Read more
Although technology has become a standard in todays society, it was a major cause of the Great Depression. Before the advent of the tractor, may people made their living as farmers. As seen in The Grapes of Wrath, many of these people lost their occupations and their farms due to industrialization of farming. A tractor … Read more
Anglo-Saxon Ideal Code of Conduct he epic poem of Beowulf presents the characteristics of two heroes, Beowulf and Hrothgar. During this Anglo-Saxon time period, Hrothgar rules as the king of his Danish lands. However, this king faces many problems due to the disturbances of a monster known as Grendel. As an Anglo-Saxon warrior of the … Read more
Kafka uses symbolism in his short story, Metamorphosis. He uses this technique to make the reader try and figure out what was going on in his head. He brought out in this story many things about his life, including his father/family, love life, and his future. He used metaphors to show his love for people … Read more
In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare extends a humorous exploration of identity that he had begun in The Comedy of Errors. In the Twelfth Night, Viola and Sebastian are not identical twins; it’s not biologically possible. Sebastian is a male and Viola a female, and the comedy in it all is that they cannot be distinguished from … Read more
Imagine you could wish for your hearts desire. It could be anything you wanted. However, someone would have to die for your wish to come true. Remember, be careful of what you wish for; The consequences may be horrific. The idea of fate and symbolism, when mixed together, can make a lethal pair. Poe and … Read more
One of A Doll’s House’s central theme is secession from society. It is demonstrated by several of its characters breaking away from the social standards of their time and acting on their own terms. No one character demonstrates this better than Nora. During the time in which the play took place society frowned upon women … Read more
The play Antigone is usually thought of as either the tragedy of Creon or the tragedy of Antigone, but it is just as much the tragedy of Antigone’s sister Ismene. In the play, Antigone and Creon hold on to two different ideals, Antigone to the ideal of sororal duty and holy rights, while Creon holds … Read more
Heart of Darkness is a novel of indescribable horrors and actions that lie outside the human mind. It describes a mans (Marlow) voyage on a west African river to find an a man named Kurtz. The actual journey truly is towards the “heart of darkness”, where it takes Marlow by evidence of European indignity towards … Read more
After reading Antigone, one might feel that there is lacking a dialogue between Antigone and Haimon before their deaths. Sophocles does not include any direct communication between the two lovers during this drama. The reader might assume that such a conversation could have taken place but was not included by Sophocles; however, it is my … Read more
In the novel “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan, the ignorance, the disregard of, and the necessity of love are all introduced as the characters tell their life stories and memories. The characters in “The Joy Luck Club” take love for granted. By ignoring love, concentrating more on material possessions, and hiding their true … Read more
Beginning with the time of birth until the time of death, people have to make choices everyday on how to achieve the goals in their lives. One can imagine life as a long winding road with millions of other roads branching off in many directions. The only problem is that life is too short to … Read more
I do not agree with the comment of Hazlitt: ‘There is no play that suffers so much in being transferred to the stage’ Based on performances I have seen and other plays by Shakespeare, I think this is one of his better plays as it does not stick to guidelines. Although a long play, it … Read more
The attempt to capture the American dream is a theme in many novels, and that is no exception when it comes to The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome. Jay Gatsby, the central figure in The Great Gatsby, had the American dream that he could acquire happiness through wealth and power. Ethan Frome, the main character … Read more
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” tells the story of a single character, a timid, middle-aged man. Prufrock is talking or thinking to himself. The epigraph, a dramatic speech taken from Dante’s “Inferno,” provides a key to Prufrock’s nature. Like Dante’s character Prufrock is in “hell,” in this case a hell of his own … Read more
The Greek drama Oedipus Rex is clearly a tragedy. It definitely meets the five main criteria for a tragedy: a tragic hero of noble birth, a tragic flaw, a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and catharsis. Oedipus Rex clearly meets the first of these five criteria. Oedipus is the son of Laius, who … Read more
In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, it is clearly evident that the fluctuation in attitude to the dual role and situation and tribulations imposed upon the character of Viola/Cesario ends up in a better understanding of both sexes, and thus, allows Viola to have a better understanding for Orsino. Near the opening of the play, when Viola … Read more
The book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is thought of as a fantastic, even fanatic, representation of Southern life, most memorable for its emotional oversimplification of the complexities of the slave system, says Gossett (4). Harriet Beecher Stowe describes her own experiences or ones that she has witnessed in the past through the text in her novel. … Read more
Erich Maria Remarque’s ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT is a very interesting and true-to-heart novel based in the first world war where many men and women died because someone called them the enemy. The main character is Paul Baumer, a nineteen-year-old man who is swept into the war, along with his friends, not one … Read more
In William Shakespeares Richard III, we see Shakespeares interpretation of despot rule and the parallels that stem from this interpretation. The character type of Richard has been examined and marveled for thousands of years. From Platos examination of despot rule in the Republic, we see the motives of what drives despot rulers. A look at … Read more
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus represents a traveler in life who is destined to make this journey alone, despite those who aid him, oppose him, or in some way interfered with his destiny. Gods and immortals alike aid him when it suits them, or fromsome feeling they have for him. Some gods and immortals also made … Read more
By the end of World War I, many America authors were ready to change their ways and views on writing. Authors were tired of tradition and limitations. One of these writers was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was a participant in the wild parties with bootleg liquor, but he was also a critic of this time. … Read more
In Frankenstein, the monster and Victor are both put through many depressing and hurtful situations. I think that the monster was the true victim. He was rejected by everyone he came across from the day he entered life. His creator was never there to teach him right from wrong or responsibility. And also, the monster’s … Read more
Surrealism is a dangerous word to use about the poet, playwright and critic T. S. Eliot, and certainly with his first major work, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock “. Eliot wrote the poem, after all, years before Andre Breton and his compatriots began defining and practicing “surrealism” proper. Andre Breton published his first … Read more
Oscar Wilde, author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, makes Basil’s life change drastically by having him paint a portrait of Dorian Gray and express too much of himself in it, which, in Wilde’s mind, is a troublesome obstacle to circumvent. Wilde believes that the artist should not portray any of himself in his work, … Read more
Raskolnikov’s mathematical evaluation of the moral dilemma presented to him in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment exemplifies the empirical view of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism attempts to distinguish between right and wrong by measuring a decision based on its calculated worth. Raskolnikov appears to employ the fundamentals of utilitarianism by pitting the negative consequences of murdering his old … Read more
Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of symbolism, which is portrayed by the houses and cars in an array of ways. One of the more important qualities of symbolism within The Great Gatsby, is the way in which it is so completely incorporated into the plot and structure. Symbols such as Gatsby’s … Read more
In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the main character, Willy Loman, is a struggling salesman. Willy Loman is a complex character who confuses illusion with reality. In a way, Willy has two personalities in this play. The one we see in the present action is a tired man in his sixties. … Read more
In J. D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield, muses at one point on the possibility of escaping from the world of confusion and phonies while George Bernard Shaws main character of Pygmalion, Eliza Dolittle, struggles to become a phony. The possible reason for this is that they both … Read more
Imagine living in a world where you are not in control of your own thoughts. Imagine living in a world in which all the great thinkers of the past have been blurred from existence. Imagine living in a world where life no longer involves beauty, but instead a controlled system that the government is capable … Read more
History tells us that since we have been able to write, our human race has had the habit of recording historical tales, or stories. Most of the first stories were tales of heroic men, scouring their land in search of some noble prize. These stories are known as epics, and they give us an excellent … Read more
In Margaret Atwoods, The Handmaids Tale, our eyes are open to an oppressive society of which seems to be the near future. Widespread sterility has led to the rich controlling young women of childbearing age, who are called handmaidens. The tale is narrated by Kate, also known as Offred, her handmaid name. She relates her … Read more
Did Mary Shelley initially title her work about Victor Frankenstein and his creation The Modern Prometheus solely because of the glaring similarities between their stories? That is a question that is often discussed, but a conclusion rarely arrives. One of the possible reasons for this could be because there are many different interpretations of the … Read more
Depending on which extreme the rain is in, it can be harmful or helpful. This is true for man, man can become both extremes bad or good depending on his choosing. The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during … Read more
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller, is a fictitious novel that depicts life on an American bomber squadron on Pianosa, an island off the coast of Italy, during the closing years of World War II. A bombardier by the name of Yossarian, the main character in the story, is joined by many others to create a comic … Read more
When we read T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” you almost get the feeling that Prufrock is gay. In fact, when the story is read a bit more in depth you can conclude that he is gay. The first flag that is raised to our attention of prufrock being gay is … Read more
Wuthering Heights, a story of love and vengeance between two families for two generations. The Earnshaw family of Wuthering Heights, the Lintons of Thrushcross Grange, and the woman that stands between them, Nelly. These two families joined by love but separated by Heathcliffs desire for vengeance against Edgar Linton who married the women he loves, … Read more
In Shakespeare’s “Othello,” Iago carefully and masterfully entraps Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with Cassio. He does this through a series of suggestions and hesitations that entice and implant images into Othello’s head that lead him to his own end. More importantly, Iago gives Othello the motive to murder … Read more
When defining the word blindness, it can be interpreted in various ways. Either it can be explained as sightless, or it can be carefully deciphered as having a more complex in-depth analysis. In the novel Blindness, Jose Saramago depicts and demonstrates how in an instant your right to see can be taken in an instant. … Read more
The Good Earth is a third-person narrative, but the story it tells is Wang Lung’s. Everything that happens is described as he experiences it and as it affects him. The narrator explains Wang Lung’s thoughts and feelings but almost never those of other characters. You understand them through their words and actions. This is obviously … Read more
For as long as man has walked on earth, he has taken it upon himself to judge and punish. It has been recognized as something man does and it has been accepted among society. It seems as though every race, religion, action, and belief a person associates themselves with will be judged and will be … Read more
Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any mans conceptualization or control. Oedipus actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning … Read more
Nathaniel Hawthorne made his mark as a major American writer in 1850, with the publication of The Scarlet Letter. His work appeals to different levels of readers because he creates complex and elaborate settings. Through conflicts within his characters, he analyzes the moral and psychological issues often consumed by their own passions. As he was … Read more
The Odyssey is an epic poem written in a series of 24 books. It is one of two epics written over 2500 years ago by the Western European poet, Homer. This epic joins Odysseus 10 years after the Trojan War. The story follows him as he attempts to return to his home in Ithaca where … Read more
Symbolism in Fahrenheit 451 Light, especially fire, and darkness are significantly reoccurring themes in Fahrenheit 451. Guy Montag, the main character, is a fireman, but in this futuristic world the job description of a fireman is to start fires wherever books are found; instead of putting them out. Montag takes a journey from a literary … Read more
The four main characters in the play Othello represent four different character traits of manhood: Roderigo, the failure; Othello, the hero, yet the insane lover; Cassio, the noblemen; and Iago, the villain, yet the strongest character of the play. Of these four characters Roderigo reveals the weakest character traits. Iago effortlessly profits from Roderigos deficiency … Read more
In many works of literature, some characters isolate themselves from society due to certain events that happen in their life that make them isolate themselves. Isolation from the society can cause loneliness in ones life. In “A Rose For Emily”, William Faulkner suggests that isolation from society can cause people to do unspeakable acts because … Read more
Chapter 1: Hester Prynne has committed adultery. Two years ago her husband in Europe sent her on ahead to America while he settled some business affairs. Alone in the small town of Boston, Hester has shocked and angered her neighbors by secretly taking a lover and bringing forth a girl child. The Puritans of Boston … Read more
The Homeric hero strives to be the best among his peers. His goal is to achieve the greatest glory in order to earn the highest honor from his peers, his commander, and finally from his warrior society. He strives for excellence in particular areas of human behavior, such behaviors are strength, skill, and determination. These … Read more