The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer around 1386, is a collection of tales told by pilgrims on a religious pilgrimage. Three of these tales; “The Knight’s Tale”, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, and “The Franklin’s Tale”, involve different kinds of love and different love relationships. Some of the loves are based on nobility, some…
In order to depict in a short space of time, a conflict that will hold the attention of the audience or reader, and evoke a progressively strong emotional response, a dramatist (or novelist) must plan the structure and the dialogue of his or her play (or novel) with great care. Every conversation, aside, soliloquy, action,…
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman can be seen as an eulogy of a dreamer, which depicts one man’s tragic life and death as he tries to bring his family into grace. Miller does, however, also uses this play to express underlying themes and ideas. Reading Death of a Salesman from the starting point of…
Where does the story of Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong take place? Upon reading the story, one would first assume that it takes place in Vietnam. Upon further examination, however, it becomes quite evident that it really takes place inside Rat Kiley’s head. This isn’t to declare the story false; instead, one should examine…
“The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby” written by Stanley Ellin. The story tells us of a fastidious man named Mr. Appleby. Who owned a Shop called “Appleby: Antiques and Curious.” At the beginning of the story we are told he had come to investigate “the most efficient methods for disposing of wife” so that he…
“The tragedy of Richard III lies in the progressive isolation of its protagonist”. Discuss. From the very opening of the play when Richard III enters “solus”, the protagonist’s isolation is made clear. Richard’s isolation progresses as he separates himself from the other characters and breaks the natural bonds between Man and nature through his efforts…
The novel, Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta, focuses on a 17-year-old teenager who has an Italian background called Josephine Alibrandi. Josephine is really two different people at the beginning and the end of the book. In the beginning, Josephine is overdramatic, poised to react to her Italian background and her illegitimacy. At the end…
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are stories of inhumane beings causing destruction and agony for the main characters until the time of their defeat. These two classic horror stories possess similar character types which contrast in key elements. Each story includes a protagonist, villain, and secondary character. The manner in which these characters…
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller that was first produced in 1953, is based on the true story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Miller wrote the play to parallel the situations in the mid-twentieth century of Alger Hiss, Owen Latimore, Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, and Senator McCarthy, if only suggestively. (Warshow 116)…
The film Since You Went Away was released in 1944. This epic film attempted to relate to the American audience that was dealing with the war foreclosing and the flux of soldiers coming home at the time. The Hollywood studios were constantly trying to do their part for the war buy making films about the…
In Cool Hand Luke, the movie begins with the word, VIOLATION, across the screen. The word is from a parking meter and sets the tone for the entire movie. Luke Jackson, the title character, is arrested for cutting off the heads of the town’s parking meters while drunk, or in legal terms, for destroying municipal…
In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, King Lear, the issue of sight and its relevance to clear vision is a recurring theme. Shakespeare’s principal means of portraying this theme is through the characters of Lear and Gloucester. Although Lear can physically see, he is blind in the sense that he lacks insight, understanding, and direction. In contrast,…
This passage is all too true, both in Peter Shaffer’s ‘Amadeus’ and in life in general. However, the play is also concerned with the destructive nature of ignorance and naivety. Salieri is jealous not just of Mozart’s talent, but of the fact that God gave the talent to “Mozart … spiteful, sniggering, conceited, infantine Mozart”.…
A character is an elaborate blend of emotions and characteristics. Even though the character’s emotions are significant because they make an individual feel for the character may it be sympathy or anger. The characteristics are very also important because they make the character. They describe the character’s nature even if they are good-hearted or if…
The Great Depression was a period of lowered economic activity and extensive unemployment. In general, times were hard and most people lived in a state of hopelessness. There was a much-needed entertainment that arose during this time, and that was the work of Frank Capra. His dream of goodwill was expressed through his memorable works…
Arthur Miller creates several conflicts in All my Sons in order to keep the play captivating for the audience. For example he portrays Chris to be a man that feels guilty about the money he owns because he gets it out of a business that does not value the labor it relies on, but on…
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has been commended for forming the archetypical basis of all horror films that followed its 1960 release. The mass appeal that Psycho has maintained for over three decades can undoubtedly be attributed to its universality. In Psycho, Hitchcock allows the audience to become a subjective character within the plot to enhance the…
“Here comes the story of the Hurricane, The man authorities came to blame, For something that he never done. Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been the champion of the world.” Those are lyrics from a song by Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan made this song to give justice to the man…
Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ is clearly a representation of the true meaning of tragedy. John Proctor was, in fact, the medium, the tool, of which Miller utilized to convey a universal depiction of tragedy. A broad definition of a tragic hero is a protagonist who, through faults and flaws of his own and in the…
During the English renaissance in the 1500’s, King Henry VIII wants a divorce from his wife for various reasons, but divorce is against the Catholic religion. This is why he wants Sir Thomas More’s consent, because More is a highly respected Catholic, but he is such a good Catholic that he goes against divorce. In…