Newest Literature Essays

If you used the word faggot in Shakespeare’s time; you wouldn’t be called a homophobe, you’d simply be referring to a bundle of sticks. If you considered women less capable than men; you wouldn’t be called a misogynist, you’d be a Jacobean...

Golding’s exploration of the human condition continues to be read, year after year, because it challenges the reader to consider notions that are fundamental to the human condition. Through a simple premise, Golding creates an environment in which...

In the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer presents two characters' conflicting views on marriage and whether or not marital happiness can be achieved. Both Franklin and the Wife of Bath emphasize the importance of power in a relationship, but...

The king’s position is an honorable title desired by many. Before a king, subjects must humble themselves and know their place, so they do not overstep the boundaries between themselves and the king. Dedicated to King James I, William Shakespeare...

Dante’s Inferno is one of the most famous poems ever written in the vernacular. Dante is renowned for being a master of words and a great artist. But what few people know is Dante’s personal history, and the climactic events that prompted him to...

The most intriguing character of Henry IV Part I is Prince Harry. This troubled young man struggles with his father’s expectations, his destiny to assume the throne, and his wild friends. Initially he seems little more than a rebellious youth, but...

Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare makes heavy use of religious imagery, especially when concerned with the young couple. This imagery serves two purposes in the play. It underlines the purity of Romeo and Juliet’s love by associating it...

Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia both make excellent examples of the roles of women in the eighteenth century, including what those roles were supposed to be and what they...

In the allegorical novel Animal Farm, George Orwell uses animals to represent humans or groups in Stalin's Russian Revolution. A character who is integral to the development of the storyline is Benjamin, an aged donkey. It is unclear which group...

America. The land of the free. This country’s foundation was built on individuality, on autonomy, and on the ability to “pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps” and begin again. Today, however, this individualistic spirit has manifested itself as...

In his early novel, The Time Machine, H. G. Wells is critiquing the Victorians’ fears of evolution. Charles Darwin’s theories were cutting-edge in Wells’ time, and they terrified many of the upper class. What if humans devolve to the point where...

The novel In the The Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, consists of a frame narrative told by the only Mirabal sister to survive the reign of Trujillo, Dede Mirabal. This story takes place in the Dominican Republic all the way back in...

“Which action would give the greatest number of people the greatest happiness?” is a question a utilitarian would ask him or herself before making a decision. Utilitarianism is the belief system in which an action is considered ethically...

The poem Beowulf marks a period of change in the history of England, namely, the introduction of Christianity amongst the Anglo-Saxons, which led to a newfound interest in literacy. In the seventh century, Irish monks from the north were active in...

It is of little coincidence that John Updike’s A&P occurs in one of America’s most well-known supermarket chains where, “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” search for the best bargains, and customers give “hell” over a few pennies...

Emile Zola uses the setting within the novel Therese Raquin in order to deepen the meaning in the text, specifically focusing on the reoccurring imprisonment versus freedom theme. Interestingly, Zola often uses his freedom with choice of setting...

Does assimilation into American culture occur easily for immigrants or individuals with foreign-born parents? As the characters in Chang Rae Lee’s novel, Native Speaker, demonstrate, adjusting to the Western world comes with great difficulty and...

Do geographical demarcations define one’s identity? This question is especially poignant for people from post-colonial nations exiled from their homelands. A recent article on diaspora asserts that “Diaspora brought about profound changes in the...

In her novel Passing, published in 1929, Nella Larsen delves into the identity struggle experienced by some African Americans who possess the same outward appearance as Whites. Clare Kendry, a protagonist in the novel, permanently crosses the...

Charles Baudelaire uses his works to describe his idea of the spleen, or “the restless malaise affecting modern life” (Bedford 414). The spleen is an organ that removes toxins from the human body, but to Baudelaire it is also a symbol of...

In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge tells the story of a sailor and his perilous adventures. This tale follows the Mariner and his crew as they travel between the equator and the South Pole, and then travel back to...

The assertion of the first epistle of Pope's “An Essay on Man” is that man has too narrow a perspective to truly understand God's plan, and his goal is to “vindicate the ways of God to man” (Pope 16). The ignorance of man befits his place in the...