Essays on Literature

Victor and the Monster: Struggling with Identity Victor and the monster are the main characters in Shelley's work who fight with their identities in an attempt to discover their places in society. One of the key themes of this novel is the search for self-definition. Victor creates the monster, and discovering...

Victor's Moral Character Transformation Victor appears to be a multifaceted figure in the novel, whose moral character alters as a result of the events and actions in Frankenstein. Victor's character clearly changes from an innocent, young youngster full of hope to a spiteful, resentful, and self-sacrificing individual as a result of...

Virtue and its Importance Virtue is a person's superior moral character. A morally great individual has good values. Such a person is brave, compassionate, forgiving, truthful, and polite. Because of these characteristics, he or she is committed to doing what is right regardless of the cost. A morally upright individual does...

What Happened to the Good Men? Kay Hymowitz wrote an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. In the piece, young men in the present world are portrayed as failures when contrasted to young men in their twenties at the time. This has been linked mostly to a lack of...

When an author writes a dramatic composition, he or she does so with the intention of having it performed. Pick two characters from the play and describe them briefly. We are met with two women in the Play the Stronger, one speaking and the other mute. Mrs. X and Miss Y are the...

When I was a kid, still trying to figure out what the world was all about, I used to hear my friends talk about their fathers as if they were superheroes. Because we had little interaction, I never got to know much about my father. This is perplexing because youngsters...

When the question of literal development comes up, what comes to mind are the traits of French symbolist doyens such as Baudalaire, Laforgue, Rimbaud, and Mallarme. Eliot's poetic evolution is, for the most part, a mirror image of the aforementioned dazzling bohemian literary "statespersons." Despite the fact that many literary...

Where Have the Good Guys Gone?' by Kay Hymowitz Where Have the Good Guys Gone?' by Kay Hymowitz explores the difficulties surrounding men's shortcomings when it comes to many concerns and roles in society. The essay was published in the Wall Street Journal and drew the attention of many readers due...

William Shakespeare is a playwright whose works include histories, tragedies, and comedies. Shakespeare's plays are of exceptional dramatic brilliance. For example, Richard III's play is centered on keeping everyone in the dark about everything. In the instance of Richard II, we are kept in the dark throughout the play. A...

William Shakespeare's Poem: Love and Affection William Shakespeare's poem is about love. In the poem, the speaker addresses his sweetheart directly, emphasizing the importance of her choosing him over others. He tells her to come to him and quit wandering around. The poem employs a variety of literary elements, including repetition...

The Traditional Structure and the Role of Women The traditional structure established society through the gender roles that people played. Women were required to perform their assigned roles. Even minor divergence from the expected duties had disastrous effects. In essence, social cohesiveness and social order centered conventional structure on men. Women...

Following Senator William L. Marcy's contentious declaration in 1829, "to the winners belong the spoils," the spoils system was founded. It was a new system in which political appointments dictated who would hold civil and government positions. While the contentious spoils system was considered to be a means of encouraging...