Darkness–a natural element that absorbs, engulfs, and overwhelms. There is no escaping its reach; there is no retreat from its presence, for as soon as it is allowed a pinch of a hold, it overtakes the whole in one sweep. There is only one element capable of expelling darkness: light. Without the presence of light,…
Category: Critical Analyses
Origins of Morality: John Stuart Mill versus Immanuel Kant
Throughout history, the question of the origin of morality has plagued the searching minds of every generation, and resultantly has proven itself an essential aspect of humanity. In the late eighteenth century, the philosopher Immanuel Kant defined morality as that which a person would only do while “at the same time, will that it should…
An Argument with Socrates
In book IV of The Republic, the character, Socrates, defines three facets of the human soul: appetite, reason, and spirit. He argues that spirit, while frequently found partnering with the other two components, is its own separate entity that causes emotional provocation. While he defends the independence of spirit in relation to appetite and reason,…
Voice and Temporal Morality in The Coquette
Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette was written during a time and cultural structure in which morality was largely based upon the foundations of Judeo-Christian ideology. These principles were brought to the American continent through the movement of Puritans seeking religious freedom from England. Puritan faith characterized the settlers’ morality for many years, later transforming during…
The Deceptive Imagination
A young and hesitant hand reaches for the doorknob, pauses, and reluctantly follows through with its original intent. The door creaks slowly open to a dim-lit room with the familiar noise ringing through hollow halls. The lighting in the home changes abruptly many times as the television scenes shift back and forth between darkness and…
Prudent Insects in Gulliver’s Travels
Nearly one hundred years prior to the release of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Francis Bacon published a work titled, The New Organon, or True Directions concerning the interpretation of Nature. Within it, he offered the public hundreds of aphorisms concerning his observations of human nature and the natural world. As a well-respected intellectual of his…
A Brief Exploration of Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, Book I
Among the many layers of allegorical content within Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, there is a particular and striking emphasis placed on the two stanzas describing the character of Una, the Redcrosse Knight’s companion. They are the fourth and fifth stanzas of the first book, possessing also a locational importance as they are a part…
A Short Exploration of Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath”
The character of the Wife of Bath in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales encompasses a longstanding feminine plight, present even in modernity. Her plight is founded on societal and traditionally religious opinions that men are superior to women in every sense of the term. Within the story, Chaucer’s claim about what women want most in…
Imagination and Reality in Blake’s “The Divine Image” and “The Human Abstract”
While thoroughly educated in the common Christian beliefs of eighteenth-century England, William Blake gradually developed his own system of faith over the course of his life, through personal observation of the human condition as well as an extensive study in art (Greenblatt 124). Though his studies led him to a Universalist Unitarian perspective on religion,…
A Short Exploration of Christian and Pagan Values in Beowulf
Christianity in the eleventh century Anglo-Saxon community was significantly influenced by the Pagan traditions and values of Celtic heritage. Many of these values revolved around a warrior spirit—a theme found in the majority of the texts throughout the era. The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, captures this influence by depicting a victorious warrior who rescues men from…