Literature Essays

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Essay on 'Hunger Games': Book Review

2 Pages 1136 Words
People are born with a natural sense of fairness and when they are denied their societal rights of equality and justice a rebel is born and steps forward to inspire and lead for a better future. This supports the idea that “ Rebels don’t break rules because they want to, but because they have to”. This theme is reflected by...

Essay on 'Grey’s Anatomy': Character Analysis

2 Pages 1011 Words
“I’m not happy and bubbly, I’m dark and cloudy” claims Dr. Meredith Grey from the hit drama TV show Grey’s Anatomy. Many people are obsessed with the show and the show's main character, Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo. Pompeo has had many interviews, but two online articles seem to surprise Pompeo’s fans: Sarah Grossbart's (online author for Enews’s )...

Essay on 'Epic of Gilgamesh' Religion

3 Pages 1167 Words
Literature is the basis of knowledge. Everything we know, or claim to know, has come from literature in one way or another. At some point, people realized, an oral presentation wasn't enough. To improve and develop as a society, people needed to keep records of ideas, experiments, and narratives. By writing down literature, people were able to transform renowned narratives...

Essay on 'Death of a Salesman' Protagonist

4 Pages 1988 Words
Death of a Salesman In his play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays a classic dysfunctional family, characterized by psychological conflicts. Willy Loman is the protagonist of the play, a sixty-year-old salesman who is obsessed with the desire to achieve success as a measure of perfection. Willy suffers intensely from self-delusion, which blurs his perception of a perfect life....

Essay on 'Cactus' Metaphor

2 Pages 760 Words
O’ Henry’s story is an emotional prologue that sparks emotions upon reading it, especially for people who have experienced the challenges in marital life. Marriage is a good tradition as it can help nourish as a whole, yet the healthy cactus in Henry’s story shows the symbolism of what pain can inflict on someone. The symbolism in the novel shows...

Essay on 'Becoming a Writer' by Russell Baker

3 Pages 1320 Words
Yezierska’s Breadgivers, Baker’s Growing Up, and Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi, all demonstrate the idea of The American Dream. For Yezierska, Baker, and Moody, their version of the American Dream was different. They went through many obstacles to try and achieve their version of the American Dream. In Yezierska’s novel, Sara Smolinsky’s dad stood in the way of achieving...

Essay on 'Angels in America': Book Review

1 Page 545 Words
Angels in America was a fascinating tale about homosexual life in Manhattan in the 1980s, and although many of the social allusions were out of date, the work's substance and relevance are still pertinent in today's cultural and political atmosphere. No modern play has succeeded so indisputably in confronting Reaganism or McCarthyism, religion and immigrants, and even AIDS against the...

Essay on 'An Ode to a Nightingale':Meaning of the Bird Song Is Eternal

3 Pages 1321 Words
Do we get to choose? Do we get to live or do we get to die? Quite an indecisive argument that every individual holds up at a certain point in life continuously living in the ruins of time. Every Leaf turns brown, every youth wrinkles away and every bone cracks its age. Nothing is immortal------ immortal is the soul, immortal...
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Essay on 'A Modest Proposal'

3 Pages 1452 Words
In one of his many attempts to address Ireland’s deteriorating state of religious, political, and social crisis, Swift reportedly wrote to Alexander Pope in 1729 that his country was ‘absolutely undone, as I have been telling it often in print these ten years past,’. In his essay A Modest Proposal, Swift satirizes the worsening condition of famine in Ireland and...

Essay on '13 Reasons Why': Book Report

3 Pages 1369 Words
The idea of bullying, such as “not so popular” high school teens getting their head dunked in the toilet or getting humiliated online. Bullying has been stronger than ever; You have smarter kids and are known to do things worse than ever. With social media apps of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, bullies can do whatever they want whenever they want...

Essay about Peripeteia in Oedipus Rex

2 Pages 823 Words
Aristotle in his famous book 'Poetics' describes the traits needed to complete the tragedy. As in accordance to Aristotle, any tragedy is a perfect tragedy when the action has soberness, expansive, and ideal in it. Some of the important factors of a perfect tragedy are Peripeteia, Anagnorisis, and catharsis. King Oedipus of Greek mythology owns all the features of a...

Essay about Oscar Wilde's Social Status

3 Pages 1421 Words
The Picture of Dorian Gray was initially published in the literary magazine Lippincott’s Monthly in June 1890. Upon its release, the novel faced much criticism for its portrayal of Victorian morality and its homoerotic undertones. This resulted in the novel making little money and Wilde released a longer version the following year, in 1891. The longer adaptation contained more subtle...

Essay about Oscar Wilde's Hedonism

3 Pages 1258 Words
Literature is an art that allows an author to exhibit the undesired primal aspects of humanity. The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde is a prime example of this. Published in London in 1890, the gothic literature carries heavy themes of aestheticism, the superficiality of beauty, homosexual undertones, and hedonism which directly attacked Victorian society’s repressive nature for...

Essay about Oedipus Rex Riddle

1 Page 473 Words
In the play, “Oedipus the King”, the story evolves as a murder mystery where Sophocles underlines the irony of a man determined to find, reveal, and punish the murderer of Laius, which ends up him hunting himself. The idea of sight and blindness in this tragic play is a comparison, with blindness symbolizing wisdom or knowledge, entwined with light and...

Essay about Oedipus Rex Free Will

2 Pages 1007 Words
An Individual's choices and behavior lead to certain consequences that they face in the end. Many believe in higher powers having control over their actions and fate. Others, however, believe they have control over their actions and the consequences that precede them. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Sophocles depicts the Greek's belief that fate controls lives, rather than free will....

Essay about Oedipus Punishment

4 Pages 1710 Words
Thank you, Your Honor. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your time as all the evidence was carefully presented. So, all the facts and evidence have been presented to you today and with that, I’d like to say the fate of Oedipus’ life now is within your hands. Oedipus has been convicted of committing an inhumane crime...

Essay about Oedipus Hubris

2 Pages 830 Words
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, defines a tragic hero as a character having valiant traits that earn the audience's sympathy but also have human flaws that ultimately lead to their own downfall. Aristotle states a tragic hero's fortune should be not from bad to good but from good to bad caused by their own doing. A tragic hero's misfortune is seen...

Oedipus: The Inescapable Path of Fate

2 Pages 911 Words
Introduction In the realm of classical literature, the notion of fate often emerges as an omnipotent force, shaping the destinies of individuals regardless of their personal desires or actions. Sophocles' tragic play "Oedipus Rex" is a quintessential exploration of this theme, depicting the inexorable fate of its protagonist, Oedipus. This essay examines the extent to which fate governs Oedipus's life,...

Essay about Oedipus Eyes

1 Page 683 Words
Catharsis is the feeling of pity or fear for someone whose misfortune is undeserved. In the texts, “Hamlet”, by William Shakespeare, and “Oedipus the King”, by Sophocles the audience experiences these feelings for the main characters. It is easy to feel this way for these characters because it is basic human nature to be compassionate for others. We do so...

Essay about Oedipus Character Traits

3 Pages 1285 Words
Oedipus submits the offensive demonstration of slaughtering his dad and wedding his mom. The grievous occasions that pursue appear to be able to discipline for this wrongdoing. However, in Sophocles' Oedipus the Ruler, Oedipus is just 'an offspring of Fortune' (Sophocles, 1080), not blameworthy of his wrongdoings since his destiny was resolved before birth. In endeavoring to keep away from...

Essay about Ishtar in 'Epic of Gilgamesh'

1 Page 594 Words
Women make up half of humanity and, in many countries, they outnumber men. To society, women were and are still intellectually and physically inferior to men. Through many centuries, the story remains the same women would work hard for small rewards, receive less education, and have to have a “humble” status in society. However, women would still hold titles such...

Essay about Homeric Code

1 Page 431 Words
The Importance and Influence of the Heroic Code in the Iliad Throughout the story of the Iliad the heroic code and what it embodies strongly affects a lot of the character’s actions and in turn, affects the way the story progresses. In the Iliad, the heroic code is a straightforward and simple idea, for heroes to achieve the honor. The...
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Essay about Gilgamesh's Transformation

3 Pages 1292 Words
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an important story that shows the transition of a mythical hero. Gilgamesh is a character who undergoes a significant change throughout the book, as his personal characteristics are called into question and he develops new norms with relationships with those around him. Throughout the epic, one can see some lessons being taught about the nature...

Essay about Gilgamesh's Journey

2 Pages 909 Words
The art of storytelling is depicted cleverly in “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. The author takes us on a journey of transformation seen in the life of Gilgamesh. The epic starts by describing who Gilgamesh is and how he came into being. He was the son of Lugalbanda and son of the august cow Rimat-Ninsun and was described as extremely strong....

The Profound Bond in Gilgamesh: Enkidu's Role

2 Pages 872 Words
Introduction The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian narrative, chronicles the legendary exploits of Gilgamesh, the part-divine king of Uruk, and his profound friendship with Enkidu. This epic, often hailed as one of the earliest masterpieces of world literature, explores timeless themes of friendship, mortality, and the human quest for meaning. Enkidu, created by the gods as a counterbalance to...

Essay about Creon in 'Oedipus the King'

5 Pages 2169 Words
King Oedipus is a prominent example of how fate inevitably controls his life and leads him to his predestined denouement. He attempts to escape Delphi’s prophecy by committing acts of sacrifice to save his family and his citizens. Though the intentions were there, Oedipus ultimately brought the prophecy to life because of these same actions. He banished himself from Corinth...

Creon’s Role in 'Oedipus Rex': A Comprehensive Analysis

2 Pages 1046 Words
Introduction In Sophocles' timeless tragedy, 'Oedipus Rex,' Creon is a character who is pivotal to the unfolding drama, yet often overshadowed by the tragic hero, Oedipus. As the brother-in-law of Oedipus and the uncle to his children, Creon occupies a unique position within the narrative. His role is not merely that of a supporting character but rather serves as a...

Essay about Catharsis in Oedipus

1 Page 529 Words
According to Aristotle, “ a tragedy should arouse in the spectators the feeling piety and fear – ‘pity’ mainly for the hero’s tragic fate and ‘fear’ at the sight of the dreadful suffering that occurs the characters, particularly the hero. By arousing these feelings of pity and fear, a tragedy aims at the catharsis or purgation of these and similar...

Essay about Blindness in 'Oedipus the King'

1 Page 567 Words
Once in our lives, there is a minute that we may consider ourselves superior to somebody or something different. There may likewise be a moment when creating a choice prompts an incredible blunder in judgment. In the play, Oedipus the King, composed by Sophocles, both of these attributes can be found in the primary character. These qualities are called appalling...

Elements of Tragedy in 'Oedipus the King': Essay

2 Pages 704 Words
Through the whims and wills of the Gods, humans play a preconceived part in the story of life, and our every deed is simply a line in the play. This idea that the span of a person’s life is nothing but an allotment of misery and suffering doomed upon oneself can be held as a precept among many. No matter...
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