Enjoy our online database of English literature notes, academic articles. New notes/articles are published every week. Some of these notes are exclusive to members only. When you become a member on site, you get unlimited access to these articles and notes. To support us and help bring more educational content to you, please support us on Patreon.
In Preface to the Lyrical Ballad, William Wordsworth tells that he had chosen low and rustic life for treatment in his poems, unlike the Neo-classical poets who chose the life and manners and morals of the urban people, specially of the aristocratic class, to be the fittest subject for poetry.
How does Wordsworth justify his low and rustic life in poetry? Read More »
Alternate question: Every Woman is not Ann but Ann is Everywoman. George Bernard Shaw has been pre-occupied mainly with the exposition of his philosophy through the media of plays and this is a crystal truth as far as Man and Superman is concerned. Characterization or depiction of characters in their full human round has never
Characterization of Shaw’s Ann Whitefield in “Man and Superman” Read More »
In the poem “Birches” we come across Frost’s desire to withdraw from the world as also his love of the earth as symbolized by the boy’s game of swinging birches. The central thought of this poem is that the poet dreams of becoming a swinger o birches once again in his life as he was
Measure for Measure is one of the dark comedies or problem plays of William Shakespeare . In this group of plays, we find Shakespeare confronted with some practical problems of life— generally with the problem of evil in daily life—and we find him also trying for a comic solution but net often getting it.
T.S Eliot is one of the greatest literary critics of England from the point of view of the bulk and quality of his critical writings. His five hundred and odd essays occasionally published as reviews and articles had a far-reaching influence on literary criticism in the country. His criticism was revolutionary which inverted the critical
Realism means conceiving and representing the things as they are. The basic essence of human life is embodied in realistic literature. Besides it, we have also realistic picture of contemporary society. We, thus, have realism of particular order i.e. a true picture of society, manners, people and customs. We also have what we may call
Henry Fielding’s proclaimed aim was to tear the veil off affectation and expose it to ridicule, which is the true source of laughter. Humor, naturally, occupies an important place in Fielding’s concept of novel. Satire has an equally important role, for it has to strip the mask off the ills of society, holds up a
The end of George Eliot‘s The Mill on the Floss is the most controversial issue of the novel. It has been subjected to biting criticism as it is alleged to be illogical, unnatural and rapid. Lytton spots that “the end is weakly prepared”. To Henry James, the end is ‘defective and shocking’. Bennet views that
The fact that Thomas Hardy resented being called a pessimist is no reason why he should not be thus described. Hardy was the painter of darker side of life as it was no wonder if people charged him of “pessimist”. The opinion is both right and wrong in this context. In fact, there are some
Truth sometimes means reality, while reality is usually not beautiful at all. Reality can be disappointing or cruel or ugly. By choosing beauty to believe in as the total truth, we can surpass the ugly part of reality the same way we surpass the fear of death by believing in God. From here, we can
Alternate question: Why is Tess considered a pure woman? Tess was a simple, innocent, guileless and hypersensitive girl, trapped in a traditionally bound-society. She went to the D’Urbervilles to seek help for her starved family. There she met Alec who seduced her, ruining her life. She came back and narrated the whole story to her
Literature is the mirror of its age. Supreme literary artist is one who becomes a mouthpiece and provides a real picture of his age with its minute details. Chaucer is a perfect representative of his age. He is in true sense a social chronicler of England. His poetry reflects the 14th century not in fragment