Essays on Literary Genres

3288

Social and Cultural Constraints in Midaq Alley

1 page / 998 words

In the novel Midaq Alley, author Naguib Mahfouz depicts a poorer middle eastern alley. This measly Alley doesn't act only as a physical barrier, but a societal one as well. Midaq Alley is shielded from the rest of the world, and has little outside influence....

Fiction

3289

The Character of Zaita in Midaq Alley

1 page / 1506 words

Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, revolutionized the world of Arabic narrative. Neither the novel nor the short story were common forms of expression until Mahfouz’ works became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His writing is unique, both in Arabic culture...

Fiction

3290

Personification of The Sins of Midaq Alley

1 page / 1521 words

Throughout Naguib Mahfouz’s 1947 masterpiece Midaq Alley, the alley’s microcosmic nature turns its powerfully crafted characters into living renditions of sin. More specifically, Mahfouz creates characters to represent the Christian church’s Seven Deadly Sins, with almost each and every character fitting perfectly into a respective...

Fiction

3291

Analysis of Middlesex as a Modern Epic

1 page / 963 words

Jeffrey Eugenides’s novel Middlesex is one full of interesting and somewhat unique themes. There is no question as to why the work has gone so far as to win a Pulitzer Prize: it follows a pattern that has proven successful for thousands of years. Just...

Novel

3292

Women's Fight for Gender Equality in Midaq Alley

1 page / 2851 words

Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, Midaq Alley, is a story about a group of people living in an alley in Egypt in the 1940’s. Already, from that description, the reader can see that the women of this tale have a significant disadvantage in equality. Surprisingly enough, the...

Fiction Gender Equality

3293

Impact of The Past on The Present in Middlesex and The Lacuna

1 page / 940 words

Although the past has chronologically been removed from present time, “the past is never dead and buried. In fact it’s not even past,” said William Faulkner. The theme of time is a common expression in American literature, as is seen in The Lacuna, by Barbara...

Novel

3294

The Theme of God and Humanity in "Metropolis"

1 page / 1206 words

Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction epic, Metropolis, recalls the Christian creation and apotheosis narrative through a dystopian lens. The main characters in Metropolis personify Jesus and his apostles and close associates in a postmodern society. The city of Metropolis itself represents the relationship between humanity...

Science Fiction

3295

Technological Impact in Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"

1 page / 2819 words

Shaken by the effects of World War I and forever changed by the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, 1920s Germany found itself in a dilemma: how to cope with increasingly pervasive technology and the rapid evolution present in every segment of society? With technology...

Science Fiction

3296

Oppression of The Poor by The Rich in "Metropolis"

1 page / 1343 words

From the beginning of Metropolis, there is a stark divide between the upper class and the working people. We see working people walk like soldier into huge elevators, heads hanging in clear misery, descending into what we can only assume is their version of hell,...

Movie Review Science Fiction

3297

Love and War as Depicted in Ovid's Metamorphoses

1 page / 1319 words

In Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, there are a great many instances that link love and war, thus creating a disconcerting antithetical comparison prominent throughout the canon of literature. In particular, this theme can be seen in and around the region of Thrace: home to a “primitive, warlike,...

Metamorphosis Poetry

3298

Eurydice: The Gift that Was Given

1 page / 1610 words

In Book X of The Metamorphoses, Ovid recounts the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is the well-known story of a Thracian poet, Orpheus, who travels into the underworld seeking return of his new bride, Eurydice, who had been bitten by a serpent and...

Metamorphosis Poetry

3299

Love The Trigger of Transformation in Metamorphoses

1 page / 939 words

The tile of Ovid’s poem Metamorphoses literally translates to mean “transformation.” The compendium is actually itself a transformational work, merging a multitude of Greek and Roman historical traditions into one massive epic poem. There are many different types of transformations that occur for different reasons...

Metamorphosis Poetry

3300

Gender Oppression According to Saadawi's Memoirs of a Woman Doctor

1 page / 3147 words

Nawal el Saadawi, an Egyptian feminist writer, has worked throughout her life to highlight the need for improvement in the lives of the modern Arab woman. Her book, “Memoirs of a Woman Doctor”, written in 1958, takes her own experiences from living in Egypt and...

Gender Inequality Literature Review Novel

3301

Ovid's Metamorphoses Impact Ob Readers' Perception

1 page / 1768 words

At the end of the Metamorphoses, Ovid boldly states “I will be borne, /The finer part of me, above the stars, /Immortal, and my name shall never die” (XV. 877-78). For Ovid, metamorphosis is a path to eternity and the preservation of time. Characters no...

Metamorphosis Poetry

3302

Artist as a Mediator Between Nature and Art in Pygmalion and Metamorphoses

1 page / 1000 words

Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a work about transience, and perhaps no two things in the natural world are more fleeting than life and beauty. Artists aim to preserve these two qualities in their work by simultaneously imitating the natural world to give the appearance of life...

Metamorphosis Poetry Pygmalion

3303

No Freedom and Dictatorship Woes

1 page / 1445 words

Matigari, a novel by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, alludes to the effects of post-colonialism in an African society. In the novel, the main character, Matigari, in a search for truth and justice, stumbles upon several instances of these effects. In many ways post-colonialism left people imprisoned...

Novel

3304

Suffering Women in Frank Norris's Novel

1 page / 1660 words

The motifs of greed and possession run throughout Frank Norris’s 1899 novel, Mcteague. At the beginning of the novel, we see greed in its most undiluted and disgusting form in the Polish Jew, Zerkow, and again in a more unstable, neurotic form in Maria Macapa....

Novel

3305

Selfish Intentions and Ambiquities Ruins Morals

1 page / 2004 words

Wake up, have a cup of coffee, and put on some makeup before walking out the door for the first time in twelve hours. The day ends with a phone call from a loved one as the makeup comes off and the sweatpants go on...

Comedy Literature Review Society

3306

Both Poor and Rich Have an Opportunity to Voice Feelings

1 page / 2682 words

In Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Mary Barton, class inequality becomes a major theme from the beginning of the book, especially in light of the possibility of a marriage between Mary Barton and Harry Carson. While Mary saw Mr. Carson as an escape from her lower class...

Novel Voice