Newest Literature Essays

Throughout history, humans’ fascination with art has sprung from the emotional response that a beautiful piece evokes. A sample of art’s effect on its viewer is conveyed in ekphrastic poetry, a medium by which poets, moved by works of art, attempt...

Empathy is about finding echoes of yourself in the eyes of others. The Shape of Water (2017) by Guillermo Del Toro is a magical realism film that follows mute heroine Eliza as she falls in love with a Fishman while facing the villainous...

In the late 1990s, French composer Gerard Presgurvic rewrote Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into a musical with modern influences, while largely remaining faithful to the original plot. This musical play was hugely successful and was translated...

The mother of English-Fiction, is the stature of Frances Burney, according to Virginia Woolf. Her diary is rife with literary experimentation, and her first published novel Evelina, or The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance Into the World (1778),...

Both D’Aguiar’s The Longest Memory and Enoch and Mailman’s The 7 Stages of Grieving explore communities defined by grief. Both texts provide a multifaceted examination of the personal, cultural and political aspects of grief and loss. The...

When Dr. Franz-Joseph von Leinsdorf first arrived ar South Africa, he never thought of falling in love with a dark-skinned woman during the time of apartheid. In the plot, this seems contradictory; courtship occurs in the inappropriate time and...

In short fictions “The Rocking Horse Winner” and “The Found Boat”, children are interrupted in both stories. While one takes place in England and another in Canada, some similarities still exist in the plots. Moreover, the fact that symbolic...

Throughout the interactions between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, Austen uses eye contact as a symbol for the literal blindness each has for the other regarding their true situation. This blindness regarding situational reality...

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...