Category: Literary Criticism

William Shakespeares belief in humanism was a contradiction to commonly belied ideals of infinite spirit and destiny in the 1600s. Making Romeo and Juliet tragedy a mask for fate versus free will. During the Elizabethan era, ones destiny or fate was viewed by most as predetermined. Individuals of the time believed in astrology, the philosophy…

Language within The Tempest is important in understanding the nuances of its imperfect characters, as well as the complexity of the colonial and ethical narratives within the text. Calibans language provides an alternative narrative to that of Prospero and that of the colonizer, as well as proving his own character to be layered rather than…

Production History On November 1st, 1611, at the Banqueting House in Whitehall Palace, Shakespeare’s The Tempest was performed for the first time in front of James I and the Royal Court. Only two known productions of the play took place during Shakespeare’s lifetime. The second performance took place two years later, as part of the…

The textual conversation between both texts shares a relationship between themes, ideas, intertextuality, and context. Themes such as justice, guilt, and revenge in order to be more understandable for the audience today. Through the use of resonances and dissonances, it allows the readers to make connections between characters, plots, and particular scenes in both Hag-seed…

The Tempest is shaped by the allusions of Christian Humanism more specifically Montaignes views on ethics and empathy. In a metaphysical reading of The Tempest, Shakespeare offers a nuanced portrayal of the humanist elements that shape individuals, the soul. Atwood acknowledges the power of forgiveness electing to reimagine this trope through the foil characterization of…

When we think of A new Dilemma we think of a situation in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives, especially equally undesirable ones. The main conflict in the play is between Prospero and his brother, Antonio, who overthrew Prospero as Duke of Milan and ordered him and his daughter to…

In the 1800s most women had very difficult lives. There were many issues and restrictions such as, not having the right to own their own property, they could not keep their own wages, and were viewed as mentally ill. In The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the story is told in a third-person…

The Story of an Hour is a very famous short story by Kate Chopin, published in 1894. This story is one of the earliest pieces of feminist writing in American literature and links up with the awareness of womens rights and the female position in society. The protagonist of this story is Mrs. Louise Mallard,…

‘The Story of an Hour’ by Kate Chopin uncovers the convictions held by the general public seeing ladies as mediocre when contrasted with their male partners. Ladies were relied upon to hold fast to the desires of their spouses in a home setting. It was normal that each lady gets hitched, and this was for…

The Crucible is a story of the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in the community of the Puritans of Salem in 1692. The Crucible had many characters that were motivated by the wrong reasons but a few characters were motivated positively. The characters that were motivated positively were John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Giles Corey.…