Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre has now attained an iconic status as a literary work. There are several reasons behind this achievement. The first is the inherent beauty and complexity of the novel. The twists, turns and fluctuations of fortune that comprise the plot are both original and engaging. The second most notable aspect of the…
Category: Literature
Phaedra as an example of Enlightenment values
Are love, passion and other emotions as dangerous as the play seems to make them and is reason alone enough to achieve happiness? Are human emotions a sign of weakness, disease, lack of control, or absence of Reason in the play? What is the cause of this tragedy? Phaedra, originally part of the large body of Greek…
The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde: An overview
The Importance of Being Ernest is one of the finest humorous plays to have premiered at the turn of twentieth century. Reviewers of the play, then and now, have universally classified as a ‘farce’ and a ‘social satire’. And this assessment is quite accurate. The focus of the play on street-smart humor was so pronounced…
Pride and Prejudice: Critical Analysis
A critical appreciation and a literary analysis involving plot, point of view, character, setting, time and style in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is one of the most popular novels in English literature. It continues to remain as popular today as it was upon its release in the United…
My Modest Proposal: A parody on Jonathan Swift’s classic essay
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you are well aware, our country is going through one of its worst economic crisis. Economists have termed it the Great Recession, next only in acuteness to the Great Depression of the early twentieth century. Unemployment has been at unprecedented levels since the 2008 Wall Street crash. And for those who…
Ramayana and Shakuntala: A Comparison
Both Ramayana and Shakuntala are great works of artistic and philosophical merit. Originally written in Sanskrit close to two millennia ago, their authorship and date of origin are both speculative and mythologized. Yet, these ambiguities do not detract from their unique contributions to Eastern philosophy and literature. Both are great dramatic narratives and are integral…
Romantic elements v Victorian elements in Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights is a key text in the English literary canon. The first and last novel of the short-lived life and career of Emily Bronte, the novel lends itself to analysis through various disciplines such as psychoanalysis, race, gender and cultural studies. For example, it could be read under the feminist framework…
Edgar Allan Poe’s Eleonora: Summary & Analysis
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most illustrious litterateurs to have graced the art in the United States of America. His short stories and poems were enjoyed by the public during his own life time as they are still relished posthumously. His two greatest artistic gifts are his perceptiveness of psychological nuances and his…
Comparing Percy Bysshe Shelley’s main purpose in ‘Alastor’ with that of William Wordsworth’s ‘Resolution and Independence’
A quest for intimate truths about nature is at the center of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Alastor, first published in 1816. This 720 line long poem has strong allusions to Roman mythology, starting with its title Alastor. The poem is about the adventure in search of truth of a poet, whose actions are inspired by…
Whiteman by Tony D’Souza: A review
Tony D’Souza is one of the fresh young writers to have emerged in the American literary scene in the last decade. Born to an Indian father and an American Caucasian mother, his mixed racial identity makes a subtle appearance in his works. In his much acclaimed novel Whiteman, for example, the protagonist Jack Diaz, who…