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Articles 31 - 60 of 89
Full-Text Articles in Comparative Literature
The Configuration Of Society In "The Dispossessed" And "Blindness", Patrick Ryan
The Configuration Of Society In "The Dispossessed" And "Blindness", Patrick Ryan
The Criterion
In both Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed and José Saramago’s Blindness, character’s are posited into scenarios where the structure of society is either foreign, dilapidated, or outright missing. This essay aims to rationalize why the authors arranged their respective worlds this way, and illuminate points of comparison and contrast between the two works. To achieve this goal, this essay specifically analyzes the types of societies seen within the two novels, and what role individual characters have in shaping them. Additionally, through a supplementary examination of related secondary sources, this essay hopes to answer fundamental questions about the portrayal …
Milton’S Exploration Of The Demonic Consciousness, Niall Mckenna
Milton’S Exploration Of The Demonic Consciousness, Niall Mckenna
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
The Facade Of Names In Benjamin Clark’S “The Emigrant”, Brad Donegan
The Facade Of Names In Benjamin Clark’S “The Emigrant”, Brad Donegan
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Language And The Lord Of The Rings: The Expansion Of A Universe, Thomas Beutz
Language And The Lord Of The Rings: The Expansion Of A Universe, Thomas Beutz
The Criterion
Tommy Beutz’s essay, “Language and The Lord of the Rings: The Expansion of a Universe” explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s world-building through the lens of linguistics. Beutz argues that Tolkien’s creation of Middle-Earth, anchored in his invented languages, extends beyond the bounds of the text. Drawing on Tolkien’s background as a philologist, Beutz contends that the languages of Middle-Earth are not mere literary devices but rather the foundation of its entire mythology. By examining linguistic markers embedded in the primary text, Beutz reveals how Tolkien hints at a larger world outside the narrative. Through an analysis of historical accounts and characters’ …
The Search For Worth: How Relationship Conflicts Reveal The Universal Nature Of Insecurity, Grace C. Conroy
The Search For Worth: How Relationship Conflicts Reveal The Universal Nature Of Insecurity, Grace C. Conroy
The Criterion
Since the beginning of time, romantic relationships and their dynamics have taken center stage in media--whether in books, plays, or other forms of literature. In this essay, a comparison of couples' relationships in James Joyce's "The Dead" and Marina Carr's play "The Mai" reveals the core human element of insecurity, prevalent in moments of marital conflict.
“A Disputant Of The Landscape:” Redefining The English Landscape In “To Autumn”, John Sager
“A Disputant Of The Landscape:” Redefining The English Landscape In “To Autumn”, John Sager
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
The (Ir)Reverent Social Roles Of Religion In The Work Of James And Wharton, Jannette Kazlauskas
The (Ir)Reverent Social Roles Of Religion In The Work Of James And Wharton, Jannette Kazlauskas
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Bawdy Works: Vulgar Humor And Bodily Autonomy In Austen's "Mansfield Park" And Fielding's "The History Of Tom Jones", Sloane Larsen
Bawdy Works: Vulgar Humor And Bodily Autonomy In Austen's "Mansfield Park" And Fielding's "The History Of Tom Jones", Sloane Larsen
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Enigmatic Nashe And The Subversion Of Romance, Louie Alexandris
Enigmatic Nashe And The Subversion Of Romance, Louie Alexandris
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
The Exile Enigma And The Cycle Of Haunting, Caroline Boardman
The Exile Enigma And The Cycle Of Haunting, Caroline Boardman
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Ownership Is Power, Madeleine Moino
Awareness In Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush", Caroline Coffey
Awareness In Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush", Caroline Coffey
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Christian Humanism In Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood", Grant Ward
Christian Humanism In Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood", Grant Ward
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
What Is The Right Feeling? Keat's Poetic Representations Of Agentive Femininity, Brendan Bonner
What Is The Right Feeling? Keat's Poetic Representations Of Agentive Femininity, Brendan Bonner
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Heurodis's Body: Reading "Sir Orfeo" With Three Significant Losses, Grace J. Bromage
Heurodis's Body: Reading "Sir Orfeo" With Three Significant Losses, Grace J. Bromage
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Fated By A Fallen World, Danielle Dentremont
The Gendered Shackles Of Clarissa Dalloway And Septimus Warren Smith, Abigail Coburn
The Gendered Shackles Of Clarissa Dalloway And Septimus Warren Smith, Abigail Coburn
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Tension In The Eye: Milton And Surveillance, Joseph Abrams
Tension In The Eye: Milton And Surveillance, Joseph Abrams
The Criterion
No abstract provided.
Marilynne Robinson’S Housekeeping Read Through The Conceptual Prism Of “Tethers”, Sarah Street
Marilynne Robinson’S Housekeeping Read Through The Conceptual Prism Of “Tethers”, Sarah Street
The Criterion
Marilynne Robinson’s novel, Housekeeping, follows her central protagonist, Ruth, her sister Lucille, and her aunt Sylvie as they work to establish their place up against a greater surround. This paper attempts to read the novel through the conceptual prism of the word “tethers.” I argue that the characters' relationships with the surround shifts as they work through their trauma and grapple with the notion of impermanence by reconciling with both those things that tether them, those tethers that do not exist or have been released, and the tethers from which they want to break free. Ultimately I argue that …
Gawain, Women, And The Hunts: How The Body Influences Human-Animal Relationships In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, Meghan Gavis
Gawain, Women, And The Hunts: How The Body Influences Human-Animal Relationships In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, Meghan Gavis
The Criterion
In the narrative poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, women and animals appear, on the surface, to function in a quintessential medieval sense — as physical objects to bolster Sir Gawain’s chivalric image. However, the dynamics between women, animals, and Gawain in this text challenge the human hierarchy presented by other medieval standards. By reading the ritualized hunts as devolving in honorable attention to the animal body and mapping their language onto the Lady’s temptations in Gawain’s bedroom, a feminine reclamation of the body appears. Though Gawain undercuts the Lady and Morgan by reducing them to physical presences, …
18th Century Theater And The Legitimacy Of The Lower Classes, Nina Masin-Moyer
18th Century Theater And The Legitimacy Of The Lower Classes, Nina Masin-Moyer
The Criterion
18th century theater developed alongside the expanding role of the lower and middle classes. George Lillo’s working-class tragedy The London Merchant and John Gay’s comedic satire The Beggar’s Opera exemplify how both drama and comedy can bring awareness and legitimacy to the struggles of working-class people. The London Merchant uses cultural references and religious language to elevate the struggles of its titular merchant’s apprentice whereas The Beggar’s Opera uses language of honor and nobility to draw parallels between the criminal underground and high society, both in service of using the medium of theater to acknowledge the middle and lower classes’ …
Shakespeare’S Staging And The Self In The Sonnets, Xiani Zhu
Shakespeare’S Staging And The Self In The Sonnets, Xiani Zhu
The Criterion
This essay examines the theatricality of Shakespeare’s young man sonnets and how he uses the “stage” as a shortcut to deliver abstract ideas such as the concept of beauty, time, and love that are otherwise difficult to express. On a micro level, he frames each individual sonnet as a stage, where each specific setting and scenario allows dramatic tension to arise between the characters on stage, and from there, abstract ideas and emotions are naturally presented without being directly stated. On a macro level, the entire young-man sonnet sub-sequence — being in love with a beautiful young man — itself …
“His Own Was Ampler:” Dickinson And Whitman’S Sunset Poetry, Devyn Forcina
“His Own Was Ampler:” Dickinson And Whitman’S Sunset Poetry, Devyn Forcina
The Criterion
Although they are utterly dissimilar poets, Dickinson and Whitman made sunsets frequent subjects of their work. Dickinsonian sunset poetry attempts to imitate the natural phenomena and evokes tension and competition. A kind of closure is forced upon her unwilling speaker, who struggles against the inevitable ending of the day. In contrast, Whitmanian sunset poetry sings and celebrates the finale of the setting sun and delights in the cyclical nature of time. While Dickinson acknowledges the temporary quality of a single sunset, Whitman rejoices in their immortal occurrence. Both poets preserve the imagery of sunsets as photographers would, while imbuing them …
Letting The Cat Out Of The Wall: Irrepressible Perversity In Poe, Kelly Gallagher
Letting The Cat Out Of The Wall: Irrepressible Perversity In Poe, Kelly Gallagher
The Criterion
This paper examines several short stories by Edgar Allan Poe that feature the motif of immurement, the practice of imprisoning a victim within walls. Poe uses immurement in “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” to suggest psychological suppression as the narrators physically hide their victims while simultaneously hiding their own self-destructive natures, which he refers to as “perversity.” His stories “The Imp of the Perverse” and “The Cask of Amontillado” convey that attempting to suppress one’s capacity for self-destruction only guarantees self-destruction. Poe’s motif of immurement demonstrates how human beings tend to ignore their inherent perversity, but his stories …
Injustice In Childhood: Jane Eyre And The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, Christian Barkman
Injustice In Childhood: Jane Eyre And The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, Christian Barkman
The Criterion
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, are autobiographical novels narrated by the fictional Jane Eyre and the real Frederick Douglass. Both stories evoke an outpouring of pity for their respective narrator: Jane, for the unmerited abuses dealt against her by family and school administrators, but most of all Douglass, who reserves the greater portion of lament on account of his dreadful persecution under the evil of slavery. The environments Jane and Douglass inhabit throughout their childhood inflict an immense burden on their physical body and psyche. This essay specially examines the …
Women, Writing, And Storytelling In Medieval England And The Canterbury Tales, Sadie O'Conor
Women, Writing, And Storytelling In Medieval England And The Canterbury Tales, Sadie O'Conor
The Criterion
For a woman to succeed in an academic sphere, it is never enough for her to be clever-- she must be brilliant. “The Second Nun’s Tale” in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales explores the metaphorical brilliance (in sexual purity, intelligence, and faith) of St. Cecilia. The tale is also a mechanism for the Second Nun to advocate for her own vocation of “holy work,” for the sake of the learned religious women who preserved such writings. The themes of her tale are quite different from those espoused by the Wife of Bath, but the Wife also argues to have her voice …
Sex, Lies, And Murder: Feminized Detective Fiction And The English Estate Novel, Meaghan Lanctot
Sex, Lies, And Murder: Feminized Detective Fiction And The English Estate Novel, Meaghan Lanctot
The Criterion
In Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Ian McEwan’s Atonement, the protagonists unravel the events of egregious crimes and their own complicity with the central tragedies. Set against the backdrop of crumbling English estates, the crimes highlight the erosion of the British ruling class at the onset of the 20th century. The unnamed narrator of Rebecca and Briony, the narrator of Atonement, are bound by their youth, age, and gender in their respective investigations into the sinister events that plague the history of Manderley and the Tallis estate, respectively. We see how the English estate is a hotbed of illicit …