Literature Essays

Canterbury Tales: The Monk Corruption within the Catholic Church has been an ongoing issue for centuries. In medieval times, the Church was known for hypocrisy, abuse of power, and compromising morality. Geoffrey Chaucer portrayed this through The Monk, a character in the Canterbury Tales. The Monk joins a pilgrimage, possibly motivated by his love for […]

Medieval literature features a wide range of humorous stories, both in prose and verse, across various genres. Among these genres, the fabliau (plural: fabliaux) is of particular importance to Chaucer students. The Miller’s Tale, Reeve’s Tale, Shipman’s Tale, Summoner’s Tale, and the fragmentary Cook’s Tale all belong to the fabliau genre while other tales like […]

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written circa 1385, is a collection of twenty-four stories told by individuals on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral from London, England. Prior to the tales, Chaucer presents a General Prologue, providing a glimpse into fourteenth century life. In this prologue, Chaucer introduces all the characters participating in the journey and […]

Canterbury Tales presents a wide range of comedic tales from medieval literature, injecting humor into the novel. Geoffrey Chaucer incorporates numerous lighthearted stories to provide comic relief amidst the serious ones. The author cleverly infuses humor into various tales, offering the reader a refreshing and unique genre of comedy. In Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer showcases […]

Realism in literature refers to the portrayal of life, individuals, and objects without idealizing or romanticizing them. Chaucer, a realist writer, meticulously observes and represents the people, things, ambiance, and events of 14th-century England. His realistic approach stems from firsthand observation and a pragmatic outlook on life. He collects information about individuals from various levels […]

A franklin, in Chaucer’s time, was a freehold landowner whose status would have been that of the minor gentry. Chaucer’s pilgrim is described as having been a member of Parliament, a magistrate, a sheriff and a district auditor, and would thus have been a very important person in his local community. He is by no […]

The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer, and these are a collection of stories told by different people who lived in medieval time. All these people were pilgrims on the way to a tomb in Canterbury. All the tales portray different social classes and individuals occupying their roles in the society. What about women? […]

The Canterbury tales consist of 24 stories, along with epilogues and prologues. The tales showcase an extraordinary diversity in terms of genre, themes, and source materials. Some critics argue that the text should be analyzed as distinct pieces while also acknowledging the presence of unifying themes throughout. The pilgrims’ personal characteristics and social positions are […]

Compare the ways in which Rossetti and Tennyson employ and adapt aspects of the fairy and folk tale genres in their poems Goblin Market and The Lady of Shalott Although “Goblin Market” and “The Lady of Shalott” differ in several aspects, they are the poems on which Rossetti and Tennyson’s careers were established. Rossetti claims […]

Christina Rossetti’s poem “Promises Like Pie-crusts” explores the inherent riskiness of love and advocates for the safety of friendship over the tumultuousness of romantic love. The speaker acknowledges the many unchangeable factors that contribute to a relationship’s success or failure, and ultimately decides that it is better to remain friends. As the speaker puts it, […]

The poems ‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti and ‘The Seduction’ by Eileen McCauley both depict situations where young girls are seduced by men and become pregnant. A common theme present in both poems is the anger and feelings of innocence lost, as well as a sense of betrayal by both the men involved and society […]

Love comes in many different forms. When the word love is mentioned, people think of different things. They might think of love as what they have for their partner or their favourite cuddly toy. Both Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote poems about 4 different attitudes towards love. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the poems […]

Both of these poems deal with the subject of love, but their views are almost opposing. Burns whose poem was first published in 1794 writes about an idealised love, while Rossetti who wrote her poem on 18 November 1859, writes with a cynical view of romance. Burns was a famous poet in his day, he […]

The convent threshold is a story about a female who is talking to her lover, asking him to repent along with her but also about her struggle to repent herself. This gives us the indication that they have both sinned, so maybe had some kind of sexual relationship with each other. The title of the […]

The poem “Cousin Kate” tells the story of a humble cottage maiden who was enticed and seduced by the lord of the manor. He enticed her to his lavish home, causing her both joy and sadness. He objectified her, using her only for his pleasure, treating her as if she were a possession. He controlled […]

The poem ‘”No, Thank You, John”‘ by Christina Rossetti, is about a conflicting love relationship. Throughout this poem she uses catharsis, consonance and a rhythm and rhyming device, to convey her theme. The poem expresses her true feelings towards a friend who wishes to have a deeper relationship with her although she does not have […]

The sonnet “Remember” by Christina Rossetti was written in 1849 when Rossetti was just 19 years old, in this sonnet the themes of love, loss, and reaction to death are portrayed. Christina Rossetti was born in London in 1830 and died in 1894 a well-known poet. The sonnet, “Remember”, is written to a lover and […]

Christia Rosetti–“Uphill” Poetry Analysis “Uphill” in Depth Symbolism, by definiton, is an artistic imitation or invention that is a method of revealing or suggesting immaterial, ideal, or otherwise intangible truth or states. Symbolism in poetry has and still is used as an inspiration to write and sometimes can become the sole purpose of a poem. […]

For each of the texts, analyse how links between the beginning and end helped you understand a main theme or issue. The World War One poet, Wilfred Owen, wrote two poems named ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and ‘Disabled’. The main themes running throughout both poems are that of the pain and worthlessness of war, and […]

Doomed Youth? “Dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori”. A noble sentiment, taken from a poem by Horace, and one which was taken as a veritable truth by virtually every man, woman and child in the early years of twentieth century Britain. The memories of Britain’s last conflict, the Boer War, had faded. Victoria’s reign […]

Despite both being written during the great war, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Who’s for the Game’ took opposing positions. While both Wilfred Owen and Jessie Pope were inspired by the war, Owen fought in the western forefront, while Pope remained in the comfort of the home front. ‘Who’s for the Game’ falsely portrayed war […]

The poems “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen are both magnificent poems that are based on the same theme, from the same time period and written in similar circumstances. However, these two poems present such different points of view. Both John McCrae and Wilfred Owen were poets […]