Scott Fitzgerald’s well-crafted short story ‘Winter Dreams’ is set in the 1920s, which is also referred to as the Jazz Age in American history. Following the lull and chaos of the First World War, American society was primed to embrace a liberal and materialistic culture. The conventional structure of society was shaken up and new…
Category: Literature
Who, according to Han dignitaries and the Bhagavad-Gita, made a good ruler and what qualities did he/she need to possess?
The Bhagavad Gita, which is part of the classic Indian epic the Mahabaratha, records the dialogue between Arjuna, the Pandava warrior prince and Lord Krishna who is also his chariot driver. When faced with the prospect of fighting his own cousins in the field of battle, Arjuna is despaired and aggrieved. He communicates his moral…
How the Norman Conquest Affected England and English Literature
Introduction: The tussle for supremacy between England and France goes back to ancient history. After several failed attempts in previous centuries, the Normans finally defeated the English in the Battle of Hastings in the year 1066, thereby changing the course of the island’s history significantly. Not only did the Normans take over the political reigns…
Catch-22: Orr Character Report
By being the tent companion of the lead protagonist Yossarian, the character of Orr is crucial to the narrative of the novel. Orr is a bomber pilot, who undertakes highly risky bombing operations for his squadron. In his personal exchanges, he comes across as light-hearted, comical and even at times eccentric. And his habitual crash…
Feminist take on Carrie by Stephen King
While novels such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, Kate Chopin’s ‘The Awakening’, Margaret Atwood’s ‘Surfacing’ are essential entries in the feminist literary canon, Stephen King’s Carrie does not belong in this company. The crucial difference is that almost all novels that explore femininity and women’s identity are written by women authors themselves. Keeping…
Feminist interpretation of Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy is another work that could be classified under the feminist canon. The feminist expressions in this five-part novel could be found in the exchanges between the women characters. The imaginative and detailed inquiry into the relationships between mothers and daughters, rich and poor, and black and white in the book brings forth…
Feminist interpretation of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Feminism is commonly understood to be the women’s movement for political, social, educational and economic equality with men. While the United States and Europe have been the geo-political arenas for feminist ideas, the rest of the world is also catching up. Feminist issues range from “access to employment, education, child care, contraception, and abortion, to…
Autobiographical elements in To Room Nineteen by Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing as a literary artist incorporates autobiographical elements in most of her works. And the short story “To Room Nineteen” is no different. The other recurrent theme of Lessing’s writing is her provocative brand of feminism, which also finds expression in this story. The objective of this paper is to draw parallels between the…
Steinbeck’s depiction of the struggle of Agricultural workers during the Depression, his role as a social commentator, and its impact upon his work:
John Steinbeck is arguably the most prominent littérateur of his generation to have adopted the cause of working class America that was struggling to survive the harsh realities of the Great Depression. His most famous work The Grapes of Wrath depicts the everyday travails of a westward migrating white American family in search of better…
Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Chronicles of a Death Foretold
World Literature Essay: “In what ways is the behavior of Transito Soto in Isabel Allende’s « The House of the Spirits » and Angela Vicario in Gabriel Garcia Marquez « Chronicles of a Death Foretold », significant to the development and outcome of the story ?” The character of Angela Vicario in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s…