Newest Literature Essays

In his essay “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”, Derrida construes the idea of “play” as a decentering of structures within the structures themselves. The term “jeu” which translates to “play” has also been called “...

How do films articulate familial connection and cultural heritage through music? In his 1994 film Eat Drink Man Woman, Taiwanese director Ang Lee examines issues such as patriarchal structures and the increasing independence of women, focusing on...

Simone de Beauvoir’s belief that one “is not born” but becomes a woman holds most true in Jane Austen’s portrayal of her fictional heroines in 17th century England, such as Fanny Price in Mansfield Park – such ‘coming of age’, in a twist of the...

Whilst Snowball is used to convey an image of just leadership in Animal Farm, Orwell demonstrates how this leadership alone is inadequate. Orwell presents his views on leadership and governance through the characterisation of Snowball as the ideal...

The willingness of the characters of both texts to face truth and totalitarianism affects their ability to recall experience accurately. Both texts show that the subjectivity of personal experiences taints their historicity. Whilst Ishiguro frames...

Octavia E. Butler gives readers an insight on the cruel reality of slavery in the antebellum period through her novel, Kindred. Throughout her narrative, Butler shines a light on the brutal conditions those enslaved must endure by heavily shaming...

Can masculinity be applied to genders other than male? This is a question posed and answered in Judith Jack Halberstam’s Female Masculinity, published in 1998. In this book, Halberstam discusses the appearance and characteristics that are applied...

Prejudice is, unfortunately, a reality in American society. In the “12 Angry Men” film, director Sidney Lumet shows the audience how prejudice plays part in the opinions of the jurors of a murder trial. Prejudice is an adverse judgment or opinion...

In Early Modern English, romantic love played a significant role in literature, and Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella is no exception to that rule. Astrophil and Stella, a collection of 108 sonnets and eleven songs, follows the development...

If individuals can acknowledge people belong to particular classes, they may be able to realize how much a classes traits influence the characteristics of who they are. From there, they may be able to believe that class certainly plays a role...

The party line for Jane Austen’s Persuasion traditionally emits the idea that true love can combat all obstacles despite what menacing circumstances present. This romantic notion gives the implication a person is in control of his/her own fate. ...

The long-lasting legacy of harsh Francoist policies is evidenced through Spanish cinema in various ways. Contemporary filmmakers draw from Spain’s tumultuous political past and shifting social history to create narratives centered around national...

Reflection versus Conversation

The 19th and 20th centuries introduced readers to a variety of prominent authors who are still read today. Two of these prominent and well-read authors from each period include Charlotte Brontë and Jean Rhys...

Throughout history, women have often been characterised as subordinate to men, their thoughts, feelings, and actions labelled as excessive or insignificant. In Shakespeare’s Richard III this phenomenon is subverted, his representation of Margaret...

Since the end of World War II there has been an unwritten rule in the discourse of American politics. Though unwritten and mostly unspoken, this rule has been for the most part so widely respected and adhered to that over the decades has arisen a...

It is difficult to think of another film which has been so substantially changed for the first-time viewer more than the second entry in the original Star Wars trilogy, the 1980 sequel to the eponymously-titled blockbuster which started it, The...

In the early 1950s, French psychiatrist Jacques Lacan broke into the field of psychoanalysis with his theory of the mirror stage. Within Lacan’s notable text Ecritis, the psychiatrist gives two facets to his theory. In the first, the mirror stage...

The role of the chorus and its functions is much debated since antiquity, scholars have worked on several theories to reach the truth of the emergence of the chorus as an essential element of tragedy. Aristotle writes in Chapter 18 of Poetics, “...

A feminist struggle is a form of strife that focuses on liberating women from the oppressive patriarchal social orientation that operates to undermine the woman in the society. It is aimed at empowering women to overcome barriers that have led to...

Sylvia Plath’s use of “psychic landscapes”, as she describes it, has proven to be quite effective in highlighting key themes in her various poems. It serves as an outlet for expressing intense feelings that are otherwise impossible to convey...

Postmodernism is a contemporary theory introduced by Fredric Jameson that aims to explain the culture of the novel world we currently live in. Perhaps the most defining feature of Postmodernism is the lack of distinction between high culture and...

Home is a novel by distinguished writer Toni Morrison that explores the story of Frank, an African American man returning home post the Korean War, and his naïve and uneducated sister Cee. The novel takes us through the evolution of these...