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Stoner – A life unlived
Stoner was written to portray a society which is shaped by emotional absence. John Williams created the environment around his protagonist to mirror what life is like for an outsider who is silently disappointed by his own existence. This essay will outline the meaning behind how Stoner’s family contributed to his defeat and similarly, how he… Continue reading
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The Phantom of the Opera
How Leroux’s description of noise overpowers everything else The Phantom of the Opera was a novel that thrived on the power of sound and music. It created silence and a description of speech which dominated the words’ meanings. Gaston Leroux demonstrated the influence of what we can hear and how it subdues everything else, with discernible… Continue reading
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The Importance of Being Earnest
The Hilarity in Absurdity. ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ by Oscar Wilde was indescribably entertaining and an utterly hilarious read, which I hadn’t expected in the least from an 80-page play. The wit of Wilde’s writing and the ending that couldn’t have been more fitting, ensured that I kept turning the pages until I had reached the very… Continue reading
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The Master and Margarita
What Political Satires display between the lines. Mikhail Bulgakov wrote ‘The Master and Margarita’ for many reasons, mostly to reflect his views on the Soviet Union. I believe that he sought to expose the wrongdoings of his party, using writing to reveal Stalin’s actions and the restrictions on artistic liberty. In ‘The Master and Margarita,’… Continue reading
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Of Mice And Men
The Unattainable American Dream Within Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays the unattainable American dream through the construct of Curley’s wife. She is presented as a marginalised gender minority in society amidst her complex exhibition of seduction, silence and solitude. Her character questions whether her traits come naturally or from oppressive forces. Is she fully… Continue reading
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Oliver Twist
The presentation of Nancy in Oliver Twist How would a poverty stricken woman feel to be defined as ‘fallen’ in Oliver Twist? Charles Dickens uses Nancy as a tragic allegory to symbolise to his readers that she is not just the victim of her brutally abusive lover, Bill Sykes, but of society in general. Her… Continue reading
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Romeo and Juliet
How humans undermine personal effects of control until something significantly irreversible takes place. In Romeo and Juliet, the relationship between Juliet and her parents begins to debate how misguided attempts to help the young can influence an innocent adolescent to the point of rebellious acts. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny… Continue reading
