The presence of supernatural elements is a defining characteristic of Gothic literature, serving not only to create an atmosphere of fear and suspense but also to explore deeper themes of human psychology, morality, and the unknown. By integrating ghosts, curses, and other unearthly phenomena, Gothic novels delve into the complexities ...Read More
The presence of supernatural elements is a defining characteristic of Gothic literature, serving not only to create an atmosphere of fear and suspense but also to explore deeper themes of human psychology, morality, and the unknown. By integrating ghosts, curses, and other unearthly phenomena, Gothic novels delve into the complexities of the human mind, societal fears, and the thin line between reality and the supernatural.
Analyzing the role of supernatural elements in Gothic literature offers valuable insights into the historical and cultural contexts from which these works emerged. It allows for an exploration of how authors use the supernatural to challenge readers' perceptions and to comment on issues of their time. Furthermore, such an essay can illuminate the enduring appeal of the supernatural in storytelling and its impact on readers' engagement and imagination. Writing on this theme encourages critical thinking about the ways in which the supernatural influences narrative structure, character development, and themes, making it a rich topic for literary analysis.
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Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, which follows Rasselas and his companions as they search for the choice of life that generates the most happiness, influenced Johnson’s generation so profoundly that the period from 1750 to 1784 has been dubbed the “Age...
Harsh climatic conditions, no food and hard work; all of these aspects symbolize the daily life of a prisoner inside the Gulag. The horrifying treatment of the prisoners is very well documented in many prison novels. However, the way that the conditions are described can...
Pilgrim’s Progress is a work by John Bunyan that is considered to be one of the most well-known allegories of a spiritual journey. For one to even begin to understand this work, it is necessary to embark on one’s own personal spiritual journey. Biblical references...
Charlotte Brontë’s novel, “Shirley” was written in 1849. Although this novel is secondary in both quality and popularity, it addresses many social issues and dilemmas of Bronte’s time period, such as business, religion, and most importantly the gender inequality that females faced throughout the duration...
The River Between The novel by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, The River Between, tells the story of two tribes that hold very different beliefs central to themselves. However, though they agree on very little, there are still people that believe in peace and unity. The clash...
Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White portrays the distinctly partitioned sexual spheres in the Victorian era, as is reflected through the weak and victimized female characters and the powerful and domineering male characters. The Victorian femininity is characterized through passivity, endurance and unassertive meekness, while...
The Giving Tree: A Tale of Sacrifice and Altruism The popular children’s book The Giving Tree tells the story of a tree that loves a boy so completely and selflessly that it is willing to give up everything it has for the boy. Gilbert Grape...
James Joyce’s 1922 novel, Ulysses, is a recast of one of the most formulaic and fundamental plots of the Western canon, Homer’s Odyssey. The novel is divided into eighteen episodes, which is set on the 16th of June 1904 in Dublin. Joyce fills the lengthy...
The Martians in the book and the movie The War of the Worlds are a metaphor for the evils of cultural imperialism because their arrival severs the most important means of communication and transportation technology, challenges religion, and leaves identity unclear. The Martians in The...
In spite of the fact that Turgenev stated “Mumu,” a noteworthy presentation of the savageries of serfdom, while confined in St. Petersburg, his work was developing toward such expanded character studies as Yakov Pasynkov (1855) and the subtle yet critical examinations of the oppositeness of...
The novel commences with Lockwood, a wealthy dweller of Heathcliff’s. Grounded during a snowstorm at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood is attacked and later encountered by a ghost called Catherine. The next day, Heathcliff escorts Lockwood back to Thrushcross Grange. Riled up with curiosity, he implores Nelly...
In her novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, author Heather O’Neill draws on the themes of neglect and addiction to poignantly depict Baby’s loss of innocence at a very early age. Raised by a heroin-addicted father without a stable place to live, Baby finds herself drifting...
The narrator of John Cheever’s “Reunion,” tells of the time the narrator reunited with his father only to be disappointed in the end. In the beginning of the story, the narrator mentions that his father was a stranger to him due to his parents being...
Pushing the Bear and House Made of Dawn: Interpreting the Fragmented Works of Diane Glancy and N. Scott Momaday 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 Diane Glancy...
The issues of gender and identity have frequently been dealt with in literature. Women have lived under patriarchy for many centuries, yearning for and seeking an identity to call their own. Gender discrimination and stereotypes have often led to identity crises. From the earliest plays...
Society’s antagonism towards individuals and certain groups can be demonstrated through oppression, immoral regulations, and the misuse of law enforcement. Suzanne Collins’ 2008 novel, The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world. A sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss and her family live in the...
The Phantom of the Opera 1911 Leroux’s original novel has been adapted into hundreds of different versions. From this, I am going to explore the ways in which the main story is relevant to the modern audience. Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it...
A familiar stylistic approach to describing how characters interact with their PTSD has been to have them travel, within their mind’s eye, via a flashback into the trauma as discussed earlier. A journey is not an unfamiliar theme to literature if one considers Campbell’s Hero...
Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey, is an Australian novel published in 2009 about the life of Charlie Bucktin, a bookish 14-year-old, and how it changes after Jasper Jones, a half-white aboriginal, shows him the dead body of Laura Wishart. Jasper Jones is a novel regarding...
Life, a series of transformations, each small change and shift building of one another to create an even bigger impact. Humans face changes every day, whether it’s physically, mentally, or emotionally. In Gabriel Garcia’s Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World”, we are able...
Frankenstein is one such book that covers more than a few themes and important ones at that. Marry Shelley in her novel Frankenstein points towards a few themes that were already very popular during her time. She expresses her concern about how the invention of new...
Imagine being stripped away from home, forced to do something you didn’t want to do, not being able to carve your own path in life. This was the case for Esi and Effia two half-sisters both from Ghana but have never met. One captured into...
The opening paragraph of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is considered to be one of the most poignant, meaningful, and undoubtedly most famous openings in the horror genre, if not in all fiction. To consume is to destroy or expend by use....
The novel A Hero of our Time is a Russian novel about the life of a soldier named Pechorin serving in the Caucasus, written by Mikhail Lermontov and translated in one of its most famous versions by Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov. Throughout his novel, Lermontov’s...
Throughout Ondaatje’s novel Anil’s ghost, there are a multitude of allusions to an underlying theme of the struggle between the spiritual world and the physical. Ondaatje does a fantastic job in weaving these two world views into the singular perspective of the reader; it seems...
In Susanna Rowson’s novel Charlotte Temple, the main character dies; this spoiler is given immediately at the beginning of the book, leaving no question as to whether Charlotte Temple will thrive on to live a happy life. With a (rather horrific) death undoubtedly present in...
George Eliot’s novel, Silas Marner, conveys the power of the church in Victorian era England over the lives of its parishioners. Silas, in the opening pages, is an innocent, albeit na?ve, God-fearing Christian. When the church of Lantern Yard convicts him of theft, a crime...
Once given human consciousness, Prince’s journey works to answer many philosophical questions regarding what it means to be human as well as what a ‘good life’ really means through Andr? Alexis’ novel, Fifteen Dogs. Prince’s relationship with language forms almost immediately, showing the innate relationship...
Throughout the novel, The Centaur (1963) by John Updike, the theme of self-acceptance is prevalent. The protagonist, George Caldwell, who also symbolizes Chiron of Greek mythology, struggles to come to terms with his life as it is and always looks for what he cannot have....
The relationship between the ideal and the reality is many times pictured in black and white. The ideal can be defined as a conception of something in its perfection, whereas reality is defined as something that exists independently of ideas concerning it. In The House...
