Essays on Literary Genres

3725

Devil May Cry Or The Tragedy of Mephistophilis

6 pages / 2704 words

Sometimes, the Devil—or, at least, one of his most trusted minions—really is in the details. In Christopher Marlowe’s play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, the most compelling hero is not the eponymous main character. Doctor Faustus, with his puerile egotism and self-absorbed whining, is...

Literature Review Tragedy

3726

Sacrifice in The Name of Purity

3 pages / 803 words

Human history is characterized by numerous instances of mass purgings, genocides, and tyrannies, all motivated by an unyielding pursuit of purity. In Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a dystopian world emerges from the ashes of radioactive fallout, where individuals with...

Dystopia Fiction

3727

Representation of Females in "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep" and "Blade Runner"

3 pages / 1446 words

Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (a novel) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (a film) insist comparison: Ridley Scott’s film is based on the story told by Philip K. Dick’s novel. These works were created about ten years apart from one another...

Blade Runner Fiction

3728

The Facebook Sonnet: Analysis Regarding The Reduction of Real Socialization

2 pages / 927 words

“The Facebook Sonnet” by Sherman Alexie brings up ideas and controversy over social media because it decreases face-to-face communication. Though Facebook allows people to contact old and new friends, it renders away from the traditional social interaction. Online, people are easily connected by one simple...

Sherman Alexie Social Networking Sonnet

3729

Desire Under The Elms: The Desire for a Birthright

3 pages / 1449 words

Eugene O’Neill’s classic American tragedy Desire Under the Elms tells the story of characters that are driven by a number of common, and therefore competing, desires. Many believe that O’Neill intended the Desire Under the Elms to refer to the desire between Eben and Abbie,...

American Literature Literature Review Tragedy

3730

Philoctete’s Wound as The Wounds of Slavery

2 pages / 1102 words

Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines a simile as, “An explicit comparison between two different things, actions, or feelings, using the words ‘as’ or ‘like’…” (Baldick 334). In his critically-acclaimed epic poem, Omeros, Derek Walcott uses similes to connect Philoctete’s shin wound to the sea...

Poetry

3731

Technique, Theme, and Autobiography: Analysis of "A City’s Death by Fire"

2 pages / 1020 words

The poem “A City’s Death by Fire” by Derek Walcott is a semi-autobiographical poem, a recollection of the Great Fire of 1948 in Central Castries (the capital and largest city of St. Lucia). The Great Fire attacked three quarters of the town and left more...

Poetry

3732

The World of Black and White in "Devil in a Blue Dress"

2 pages / 779 words

Introduction There are several subtle images in Walter Mosley’s detective novel Devil in a Blue Dress that suggest the unusual ending. Throughout the novel, the main character, a black man named Easy Rawlins, sees people as either black or white. He is especially aware of...

Color Novel

3733

The Representation of Femininity and Class in Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress

2 pages / 801 words

Traditional qualities of a feminine women usually include a beautiful physique, a gentle, nurturing nature, and a degree of sexual reservation. Throughout literature and film, women that embrace typical ideas of femininity are also portrayed as members of the upper class and the elite, while...

Literature Review Novel Woman

3734

Jack Kerouac’s Fear of Women and Lust

4 pages / 1939 words

In Jack Kerouac’s novels and poetry he is always searching for something to believe in, be it himself, God, or something else. Surprisingly, he manages to also simultaneously be constantly running away. Fear of responsibility and conformity is present in the majority of his works;...

Literature Review Novel

3735

Family Dynamics in "Dinner at The Homesick Restaurant"

2 pages / 791 words

Anne Tyler’s Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is filled with many complex characters that make up the Tull family. However, throughout the interconnected lives of siblings Ezra, Cody, and Jenny, the one key figure they lack is their father, Beck. In Anne Tyler novel, Beck’s...

Book Review Character Novel

3736

A Poetic Call-and-response: The Discordant Intertextuality of Wordsworth’s "The World is Too Much with Us" and Levertov’s "O Taste and See"

5 pages / 2114 words

Literature is not a static, fixed entity, confined to the parameters of its initial creation. Literary pieces are forever evolving, adapting to new cultural, historical and social contexts through the processes of revision and reinterpretation. The grand scheme of literature is best represented as a...

Poetry The World Is Too Much With Us

3737

Analysis of Derek Walcott’s ‘the Almond Trees’

5 pages / 2080 words

Derek Walcott’s poem ‘The Almond Trees’ expresses the overwhelming power of colonial memory and the brutality of the colonial enterprise. Through his central image of “coppery, twisted, sea-almond trees”, Walcott justifies the critic Mark McWatt’s view that Walcott is “distanced by vocation, by a habit...

Poetry

3738

Impulse Vs Logic in Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

3 pages / 1536 words

In Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Mann explores the struggle between impulse and logic through the symbolism of luggage presented throughout. The luggage Aschenbach clings to represents the dominance of logic over his impulses, and the effects societal restrictions exert upon his natural instincts. The...

Short Story

3739

Discovery in Venice: Setting and Sexuality in Mann’s Narrative

4 pages / 1673 words

One thing workaholics are tired of hearing is “you need a vacation!” The classic workaholic has no idea when they have worked enough, and usually has trouble making the decision to take a break for even a short period of time. Workaholic Gustav von Aschenbach,...

Short Story

3740

The Dangers of Art in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice

2 pages / 969 words

In Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice,” Gustave von Aschenbach is described as “the watcher” (73), who becomes interested in the young Tadzio, eventually leading to a dangerous obsession that causes his death. In the novella, Mann uses Aschenbach’s sudden passionate fascination with the young Tadzio...

Short Story

3741

Anarchy, Nihilism and Liberalism in Dostoevksy’s Demons

4 pages / 1943 words

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Demons” (Besy, in Russian, variously translated as “The Possessed” and “Devils”) is a fundamentally political and social novel. It draws directly on the true story of a murder committed in 1869 by Russian anarchist and nihilist Sergei Nechaev (Saunders 324). The peasant reforms...

Novel

3742

Women as Performers in George Eliot's Daniel Deronda

12 pages / 781 words

In George Eliot’s novel “Daniel Deronda,” the exploration of women as performers emerges as a vital theme that underscores the complexities of identity, societal expectation, and the struggles for authenticity. Eliot intricately weaves the lives of her female characters into a narrative that challenges the...

Novel Victorian Era

3743

The Soul in The Jewish Marriage, as Embodied by Daniel Deronda

5 pages / 2287 words

The first few books of Daniel Deronda focused on Gwendolen Harleth, who shines as a self-centered, domineering young woman. In becoming trapped by marriage to Grandcourt, she develops growing fascination with Daniel, an attraction that began with their encounter in the opening pages of the...

Novel Victorian Era