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The Signalman written by Charles Dickens in 1866 is a short story that falls into the gothic fiction genre. This particular style of writing combines elements such as the supernatural, castles, darkness, madness and the unknown. At the time the story was being written, the industrial revolution was in full force. This had a huge […]

In Week 1, Professor Sally Shuttleworth delves into Middlemarch and the Victorian Period. The novel was written shortly after the passing of the second Reform Bill and is set during the time of the first. Looking back to the 1830s from the early 1870s, George Eliot explores prominent issues of the Victorian age such as […]

E.M.Forster wrote ‘A Room with a View’ and it was published in 1908. Critically this novel has been treated as a fine example of travel literature, character development and comedy. Forster’s novel was immediately popular with early readers, as he wanted to offer his reader a significantly different perspective of females poised on the edge […]

Within the female characters that Morag encounters, there is a diverse selection of options available to women during the 20th century. Mrs. Crawley, Ella Gerson, and Mrs. ____ are examples of such characters that can be explored. In Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners, Morag Gunn’s relationship with Ella Gerson, Julie Kazlik, and Fan Brady offers her […]

Amber arrives in court with handcuffs, escorted by two female officers. As the defendant enters the courtroom, her gaze is cast downwards until she meets the eyes of both the prosecutor and judge. Female officers lead her to the hearing chamber for her final trial where the judge announces Amber Johnson, an 18-year-old who stands […]

Critics often hold different views on the play, and while some critics regard the examination of power as posing a feminist viewpoint by the end of the play, others would argue that the world of the play is profoundly misogynistic and rooted in a male fantasy of women as saints or sinners, Madonna’s or tarts, […]

Harper Lee grew up in Alabama in the 1930s, and witnessed a great deal of racism around her as she grew up. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is also set in 1930, and contains a child narrator, in the form of Scout, and therefore the racial divisions and conflict Harper Lee witnessed may be directly represented […]

Predominantly found in Keats’ poetry, there are noticeable contrasting relationships between reality and ideals, rationality and imagination, as well as physical sensations and logical reasoning. Keats experienced a pronounced dichotomy between the allure of aesthetic beauty and physical sensation versus intellectual clarity and reason. For Keats, genuine perception involved pure sensation devoid of mental limitations. […]

The relationships between men and women are explored seriously and humorously in ‘The Withered Arm’, ‘Tony Kytes – the Arch-Deceiver’, and ‘The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion’. It is through the plot that concerns about marriage and social status are revealed, and through this Hardy presents a fictionalised picture of society and relationships at […]

The Birthday Party is a play right written by Harold Pinter. The play is based on power. The dictionary definition of power is’ The ability to act or produce an effect’ or ‘possession of control, authority, or influence over others’ In the play there are several characters. These include Petey, a man in his sixties […]

1. IntroductionThe England-based Georgians had been attacked by the modernists as “unoriginal and slack in technique, shallow in feeling, slight in intellect… and weekend escapism” (David 1976, p.204). The American-based Genteel Mode, on the other hand, was also criticized as “… in its Romantic spiritual elevation it did not grapple with experience…”(David 1976, p.204). Modernist […]

In this essay the question of racism in Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness will be discussed. Using this essay I will attempt to prove that it is not a racist novella. Liberal humanists believe that a text can be taken from the social environment of its origins, placed into any other timeframe and essentially any […]

This composition will focus on three melancholic poems by Thomas Hardy penned during the late 1800s and early 1900s, towards the end of his life. The poems share common themes, and their somber tone unites them seamlessly. During a difficult period in Thomas Hardy’s life, his poems captured his mood and emotions. The absence of […]

“I exist! ” So begins the novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Ruby Lennox has literally just been conceived and is already starting to narrate her life story. Although many of the chapters in the book are told from Ruby’s perspective, commenting on the present, there are others that follow called footnotes. These depict […]

Hush-hush whispers in the shadows. Unspeakable things which take place in the cover of darkness. Suspicion and wariness. Dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. The word of one person against the word of another—a scenario with no witnesses.A culture of repression.These are all statements which may easily refer to the situation in late 17th-century Massachusetts, a situation ripe […]

During the seventeenth-century, New England went through many social, religious and economic changes. In Salem Possessed, Boyer and Nissenbaum focused primarily on how Salem’s economy caused factionalism within the village. As a result, they neglected to examine the larger New England economy and the origins of its transformation. In order to fully understand the effects […]

In 1641, following the passing of the Grand Remonstrance in England, a statement was made that “If the Remonstrance had been rejected I would have sold all I had the next morning and never have seen England more, and I know there are many other modest men of the same resolution”[1]. This historic document listed […]

After Louis XVIII had been restored as King of France in 1814, it was evident that he had inherited a difficult and divided legacy. This was the legacy of the “indigestible revolution” of the late 18th Century. He had taken over a country that had supported his enemy Napoleon, and the revolutionaries. Inevitably, this was […]

There has been much discussion surrounding the occurrence of a military revolution during the early modern period and its timing. As per The New Oxford Dictionary vol. 2 (1976), a revolution entails bringing about complete and fundamental change through forceful replacement of old governance or rulership with new leadership [1]. This definition implies that a […]

The period of 1848-49 is commonly known as the year of revolution, during which there were revolts in almost all European countries except for Russia and Britain. The revolutions of the 19th century were sparked by a combination of long term and short term factors. Long term causes included population growth, industrialization, and opposition to […]

I will show how James build the Identity of Isabel through “The Portrait of a Lady “and how by doing that, he announces at the same time her mental death. James begins his novel with a situation and a character. He creates a situation ,and then he will place his characters in it and observes […]

Louis XIV, born in 1638 to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, possessed the qualities of a great king. At just four years and eight months old, he became the third king of the Bourbon dynasty. As an absolute monarch, Louis XIV effectively rebuilt France’s political, social, economic, and cultural standing. His kingdom consisted of […]