In his Sonnet 19, Shakespeare presents the timeless theme of Time’s mutability. As the lover apostrophizes Time, one might expect him to address “old Time” as inconstant, for such an epithet implies time’s changeability. But inconstant also suggests capricious, and the lover finds time more grave than whimsical in its alterations. With the epithet “devouring”…
In Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë makes use of atmospheric conditions to emphasize events and highlight the mood of the characters in the story. The Yorkshire moors are known for their harsh beauty and sometimes desolate landscape. This theme of a rough countryside filled with hidden beauties and seasonal storms fits well into the storyline of…
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner’s details about setting and atmosphere give the reader background as to the values and beliefs of the characters, helping the reader to understand the motivations, actions and reactions of Miss Emily and the rest of the town, and changing the mood or tone in the story. The…
Sea dogs of the 1500 and 1600s worked for Queen Elizabeth, robbing and pillaging the Spaniards. Over this period of 200 years many shipments of gold and treasure were stolen from Spanish ships while they were sailing from port to port on the Spanish Main. In one attack the infamous Francis Drake, …surprised and attacked…
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, to those who know and understand his poems well, exists in three modes, as Philosopher, Poet, Friend. If the truth were told, we should all be obliged to admit that the Philosopher escapes us. It is the opinion of many that Coleridge as Poet is almost equally an evanescent shadow; and though…
The experiences of six people that survived the planets first nuclear explosion are reported to us in Hiroshima by John Hershey. The book begins by describing the situation of the six individuals just before and at the moment of the explosion that changed history. The book first introduces Miss. Sasaki, a tin factory secretary, who…
Rosemary Well’s When No One Was Looking is a suspenseful story of a girl’s ambition, friendship, and love of tennis, that takes her to the top. Although she is not beautiful, rich, or good in school, fourteen year old Kathy Bardy has a natural talent for tennis. One day, Kathy loses a match against Ruth…
Romeo is the type of person who loves everything except his enemies. He shows his love and hate to everyone. Whenever he saw Juliet, he would tell her how much that he loved her. If he saw another Capulet, he would try and start a fight or just leave them. Romeo’s actions reflect many things…
Slash, cling, clank these are the sounds that are heard in a sword fight as a man is killed. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare the theme death is portrayed many times by the characters Mercutio, Romeo, and Juliet. The first instance of the theme death was in act 3 when Mercutio…
The Capulet family is one of pride and high social standing. It consists of Lord and Lady Capulet, their young daughter Juliet, and their kinsman Tybalt. They have a nurse, as well, who has taken care if Juliet since she was born. They get along quite well, yet, like all families they have their differences.…
“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star crossed lovers take their life.” Romeo and Juliet’s death was a result of many misfortunes, but they were mostly victims of the society in which they live, malignant fate, and their own passions. Romeo and Juliet are members of two families that…
Act III, Scene V of Romeo and Juliet is significant for it is the most pivotal scene of this tragic play. Although prior scenes present extreme circumstances, this scene reveals the results of past activities and begins a series of tragic misunderstandings and fatal reactions. Transformations occurring amongst characters and their relationships with one another…
The City of Rome, Italy is located along the Tiber River in the west-central part of the Italian mainland, approximately a mere fifteen miles inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The City of Rome is situated on the famous Seven Hills of Rome, which are again bordered by hills to the north, south, and east. Rome…
Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and is characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on an individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, a departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. Romantic writers usually involve one…
In both texts, Beowulf and Grendel, the main purpose of the Queen’s are to serve the courts as “weavers of peace”. In Grendel however, Queen Wealththeow is described in much greater detail and serves a further purpose. The reader gains insight to a part Grendel that is not present in Beowulf, his desire for a…
Henry IV, Part One, has always been one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays, maybe because of Falstaff. Much of the early criticism I found concentrated on Falstaff and so will I. This may begin in the eighteenth century with Samuel Johnson. For Johnson, the Prince is a “young man of great abilities and…
Michael Moore is a writer and film director who stands up for the blue-collar, working class people. In his film, ‘Roger and Me’, he shows how these groups of people are mistreated and disregarded by the stockholders and the company chairman of General Motors. Moore shows that corporate America is the “American dream” perfected and…
On the surface, “Two Tramps in Mud Time” seems to display Robert Frost’s narrow individualism. The poem, upon first reading it, seems incongruent, with some of the stanzas having no apparent connection to the whole poem. The poem as a whole also does not appear to have a single definable theme. At one point, the…
Robert F. Kennedy was born in 1925 in Brookline Massachusetts, and was raised with traditional family values. He was a true patriot, with a strong sense of nationalism. While Attending Harvard University, he saw that his country needed his help, so he put his undergraduate studies on hold to serve his country’s Navy in World…
Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812, in Camberwell, which is now a part of London. He had no real formal education so he was largely self educated. His father was a smart man with an extensive library. His mother was kindly, religious minded woman, who loved music and her brilliant son. He lived…
