Essays on Literary Genres

2756

Samson as a Heroic Figure

2 pages / 1149 words

In Milton's drama, Samson Agonistes, the reader is shown the Biblical figure of Samson portrayed as a martyr of sorts. In the beginning of his life, though he was a great warrior, who fought not only against his enemies but those of God, he was...

Drama

2757

Blindness in Samson Agonistes

3 pages / 1366 words

In John Milton’s play Samson Agonistes, eyesight is a recurring motif and blindness used frequently as a metaphor to define the status of a character’s journey. Milton uses the presence or lack of clarity in vision, both physically and spiritually, to indicate characters’ direction. Although...

Drama

2758

The Theme of Corruption in Ha Jin’s Saboteur

2 pages / 1295 words

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process, he does not become a monster, and if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” These immortal words spoken by Nineteenth-Century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche sum up the...

Short Story

2759

Comparing Female Figures in Samson Agonistes and The Aeneid

4 pages / 2114 words

In the political hierarchy depicted by Milton and Virgil, power rightly belongs in the hands of a man, not a woman. During the times when men are the sole leaders of the nation, a woman’s possession of power and influence is viewed as unnatural and...

Drama The Aeneid

2760

Samson Triumph

2 pages / 1184 words

Samson Agonistes is Milton’s attempt to bring together the seemingly opposing worldviews of Christianity and tragedy. While some would contest that tragedy has no place in Christianity, Milton observed the tragedy in Judges 12-16, and, as an astute student of human nature, imagined the emotions...

Drama

2761

Rewriting The Tragic Mulatto

3 pages / 1638 words

Colson Whitehead’s novel Sag Harbor (2009) and Barack Obama’s memoirs Dreams From My Father (1995) both tell a portion of the complicated story of race and race relations in America. The main characters in both of these novels have experiences of being the “tragic mulatto”...

Novel

2762

Rumi’s Ghazal and The Mevlevi Sama: a Dynamic Dichotomy of Movement and Stillness

7 pages / 3455 words

The flowing white tennure, the rotating sikke, the twirling spin of the right foot, the turning hands – one pointing towards the heavens, one towards the earth- the revolving mass of the flesh, and the spiral gyrating of the spirit; nothing seems to be still....

Poetry

2763

Sama’ in Rumi’s Poetry

4 pages / 1908 words

The Sufi musical tradition, or Sama’, has been used as a way to connect with the divine for hundreds of years by incorporating poetry, song, and dance to praise God. For many mystics, this blend is the single most powerful link to God, and is...

Poetry

2764

One's Sense of Belonging in Room and in The Park

1 page / 775 words

Individuals who have experienced an unconventional or life-altering event will inevitably face the judgments of broader society, hence dictating whether such individuals feel a truly valid sense of belonging. This concept of the significance of exterior factors on one’s sense of belonging is portrayed through...

Novel

2765

The Imagery of Landscape in The Poetry of The First World War: from Rupert Brooke to Edward Thomas

3 pages / 1711 words

At the turn of the nineteenth century, and the start of the ‘War to end all Wars’, there was a rise in an exclusive kind of poetry, born in the suffering hands of the ‘War poet’. He is often seen in a state of despair,...

Poetry

2766

A False Father Figure: Charlie and Squizzy’s Situation in Runner

2 pages / 1062 words

In the novel Runner by Robert Newton, it becomes highly noticeable that Charlie Feehan had strong faith in Squizzy Taylor as a possible mentor, as Charlie had lost his father at a very young age. However, Charlie promptly came to the realisation that he was...

Novel

2767

The Animal Inside Us: a Close Reading of Running in The Family

2 pages / 1342 words

Throughout the novel Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje, there are many occurrences of humans, mainly men, displaying their animalistic nature over their human nature that sets them apart from other animals, especially with one of the major themes of the whole novel being...

Literary Devices Novel Symbolism

2768

The New Age of Divorce and Social Darwinism in ‘the Other Two’

1 page / 868 words

Published in 1904, Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two” explores the infancy of divorce within New York’s middle-class society by utilizing the concept of the futile struggle to escape social forces that are out of one’s control. In addition to that, the story presents consequences of...

Short Story

2769

Lost in The Rockslide of History: Toward an Understanding of Robert Lowell’s "History"

7 pages / 3310 words

“History” is a title fraught with dilemma. There is, to begin with, the ambiguity inherent the word: there are nine entries listed in the OED, three of which are of primary concern here. “A relation of events” is the first; “A written narrative constituting a...

Poetry

2770

Egocentrism Inhibits Camaraderie in "Roman Fever"

3 pages / 1623 words

Throughout Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever,” Mrs. Alida Slade experiences the consequences of an inflated ego as she fails to fully understand her companion, Mrs. Grace Ansley. She is consumed with egocentric priorities, like superiority, deception, and jealousy. While Slade’s egocentrism can be interpreted as purely...

Short Story

2771

Innovation, Rhyme, and Feel in Robert Pinsky’s Poetry

3 pages / 1451 words

The first U.S. Poet Laureate for three consecutive years (from 1997-2000), Pinsky has succeeded in much more than poetry. In 1984, for example, he was the author of an interactive fiction game called Mindwheel; today, he is the poetry editor for the irreverent online Slate...

Poetry Rhyme

2772

The Notion of Knowledge and Understanding in "Roman Fever"

4 pages / 1965 words

Edith Wharton challenges the notion of knowledge and understanding, even of one’s own personal experience, in her short story “Roman Fever.” The application of Jackie Royster’s scenic analysis to Wharton’s “Roman Fever” perpetuates the idea that an understanding of the reality of human life and...

Short Story

2773

Racism and Perspective in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

2 pages / 1055 words

Mildred Taylor’s novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, depicts the life of a young African American girl, Cassie, and her family living within a racist system. Readers experience the hardships that the Logan family face through the eyes of the only daughter, Cassie. Cassie...

Novel

2774

Alexa Stephens Truth and Envy in Edith Wharton’s "Roman Fever"

3 pages / 1421 words

Edith Wharton published an enticing tale of two older women looking back on their pasts titled “Roman Fever” in 1936, only a year prior to her own death. The short story took place in Rome with both women looking out onto what is called “Memento...

Short Story