Category: Literary Criticism

The Sound of Silence was originally written by Simon and Garfunkel in 1964. When it was released, it was a commercial failure, leading to the disbandment of the group with Simon returning to England. The Sound of Silence was Simons way of expressing his angst towards his, and others, feelings of alienation in a post-modern…

It is in the human nature of every man alive to develop an eager, as well as an exorbitant desire for power and supremacy. From this greed, arises the need of the individual to prioritize his own requirements in order to find the right actions to make, to then be able to obtain what he…

The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a fictional story based around the cultural and social life of an African tribe of the lower Niger River region. It depicts the daily life of the tribe and its members. It additionally shows the culture and customs of the tribe. The book focuses on one…

Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats Romanticism as reflected in Nature Nature and romanticism are inextricably linked in the romantic era because the romantic movement widely emphasized the grandeur and beauty of nature. Therefore, the power of the natural world was significantly highlighted. Many intellectuals of romanticism are of the opinion that certain artists…

In the past years, gender equality has been a subject of interest for many feminists. Women have always struggled to get equal recognition with men, especially in many professions. Society has taken too long to accept that a womans place is no longer in the kitchen. In this regard, Virginia Woolf, in her work, Professions…

Intentionalism suggests that the meaning of the work must be considered regarding the views of the author. Whilst according to anti-internationalists, you can generate a good understanding of the work solely based on literary techniques and ignore the author`s beliefs. The key to a good interpretation in the literary arts is how well the interpreter…

According to Sophocles, one must not only see something but also understand it. The only ones who can truly see are the blind. This is a popular theme, especially in Oedipus Rex where Sophocles rears the idea that in real vision the eye is not needed to see the surface things. Sophocles uses the theme…

This play is distinctively known for its comedic elements. One of the main elements that compose this text is the comedy of manners. This is basically deriding the upper-class society which could be interpreted as a mockery of the way heterosexual people have vilified homosexuals and treated them as an abomination. If we take into…

William Shakespeare is likely the most well-known literary figure in Western history, and thus an analysis of his works can deeply connect us to our cultural history. The beauty of studying Shakespeare is that any one of his works, such as Sonnet 116 which we will be observed in this paper, opens our eyes to…

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) both address women in different ways whether this be because of their class or because the genre of the individual texts changes the overall portrayal of the characters. The comedic nature of the play allows for the women to flourish as they…