Through discovering a new perspective, an individual may become able to re-evaluate the values of their world and gain a new insight into their own beliefs or morals. These discoveries are meaningful on a personal and societal level, as they facilitate change. In his poem...
With the imminent threat of global war looming over Europe, fear and hostility came to cast a shadow over the continent. A war that would almost decimate a generation of young men, became the reality for writers, poets, scholars, and artists who left an impression...
The short story “The Garden Party” was penned by Katherine Mansfield, a burgeoning short story writer from New Zealand; this work of fiction was first published in 1922 in The Garden Party and Other Stories. This short story delves into modernity through innovative literary techniques,...
In “Miss Brill,” Katherine Mansfield uses a combination of symbolism and mood to portray an old woman’s veiled loneliness and loss of innocence. In the story, the protagonist Miss Brill maintains the quiet life of a person who is content to watch the events of...
The discoveries can be transformative for individuals as they develop new ways of viewing themselves and society; however, sometimes broadening one’s understanding can have detrimental effects. Robert Gray and Katherine Mansfield, in their writings, portray how these negative discoveries may cause the persona to reject...
During the Modern period, writers were concerned with “making it new.” People had been disillusioned, largely due to the devastation of the First World War, and they were fed up with the hypocrisy of Victorian society. People’s way of looking at themselves and society had...
In general, we as humans like a sense of closure in regards to literature; ambiguous endings are usually seen as an easy way out of a novel. However, in John Fowles’s novel The French Liutenant’s Woman, ambiguity does not stem from a lack of an...
The French Lieutenant’s Woman is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles, written in a double narrative form alternating between the Victorian era and the present day. Currently, some literary debate surrounding the novel concerns its validity as a Feminist text. There are...
“Life is a tragedy full of joy.” The view advanced by Bernard Malamud, while somewhat morbid, is mirrored in his life’s work. To express the futility of life in Russia, Malamud creates a setting which seems entirely removed from this century. Through his use of...
‘Life is full of riddles that only the dead can answer.’ Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences + experts online Get my essay The ‘dead’ are important to Ben Okri’s The Famished Road...
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Russ’ The Female Man is a key text of feminist science fiction. Writing in response to Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, Russ explores “gender, Utopia and the divided self” (xii) in her convoluted narrative that spans multiple universes and hundreds of years....
Ben Okri’s The Famished Road (1991) captures the innocent perspective of a child caught in the turmoil of Nigeria’s independence. Azaro, the young protagonist, grows up in an unnamed rural village in the midst of change [presumed to be Nigeria]. An Abiku ‘spirit child’, he...
John Cheever’s cynical ruminations on man’s loss of humanity in the modern world are artfully articulated in his short story “The Five-Forty-Eight” (Kennedy, 316). A brief recollection of an average man’s flight from a jilted, seemingly psychotic ex-lover in New York City to the suburbs...
First acknowledged by Francis Galton in 1874, birth order remains a psychological theory within social sciences today. The theory itself states that the order of the birth of siblings establishes certain predetermined traits for each child. According to psychologist Frank Sulloway, as explained in his...
The concept of an `unspoken’ boundary is one drenched in ambiguity, with any clear sense of its nature, function and effect seeming initially obscure. However, these unnoticeable boundaries still exert a strong restrictive grip on both protagonist and narrative in Bohumil Hrabal’s novel I Served...
Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene follows its protagonist Redcrosse on a traditional hero’s journey, all of which is a religious and historical allegory for the conflicts of the church taking place during Spenser’s time. Redcrosse encounters the mysterious Duessa on his journey, a figure who...
The portrayal of women in Early Modern Literature is a complex tapestry woven from threads of admiration, disdain, and fear. The literary works of this era reflect the societal norms and attitudes of a patriarchal society, revealing a wide spectrum of views on femininity. While...
“The Faeire Queene” is an epic poem written by Edmund Spenser in the 16th century – English Renaissance, but set in the Middle Ages because of its being a chivalric romance. Aside from religious allegories, juxtapositions, and contradictions, Spenser mentions the place of gender by...
Varying representations of both genders are abundant in romantic literature of the Renaissance period in general, a fine example of which can be found in Edmund Spenser’s allegorical epic poem, The Faerie Queene. The poem depicts the tale of seven knights, who each represent the...