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…
Category: Critical Analyses
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…
Romantic Perspective in Francisco de Goya’s “Seasons” Paintings
In the late years of the eighteenth century, Romantic ideology began to plant its questioning seeds in the minds of the many great artists and thinkers of the era. Its impact first and most intensely reached England, France, and Germany, infiltrating Enlightenment thought with its abstraction, uncertainty, and mystic perspective. Given the revolutionary effect of…
An Irrevocable Decision
Upon reading and re-reading Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” a particular light within the lines caught my eye as it never had before. Frost is a striking poet because his writing is enjoyable with or without deep contemplation. The rhyme schemes are simple but pleasing, and the diction fits perfectly in every line. As…
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics in Jane Austen’s Emma
The concepts of virtue, morality, and character were very significant concerns in eighteenth and nineteenth-century England, the era in which Jane Austen was penning her novels. Just prior to Austen’s birth, England passed through what is now considered the greatest age of British philosophy, as it held the contemporary lives and work of John Locke,…
The Comic Vision of Usurped Authority in Aristophanes’ Birds and Lysistrata
The concept of authority in ancient Grecian culture centers heavily on two powers within the structure of society. First, is the divine seat of the gods, supreme power to which all mankind is submissive; and second, is the position of the adult male, most often portrayed in political, military, or household offices. Subservient to both…
Richard II’s Loss of Power and Gain of Intellect
There are many underlying themes beneath William Shakespeare’s King Richard II. One of the most significant themes is that of the continuous cycle of the rise and fall of nobility. Shakespeare emphasizes this theme throughout the play by following the falling monarch, Richard II, the rising monarch, Henry IV, and each individual involved in the chiastic…
The Purpose of Pain: An Exploration of Joban Philosophy through Five Centuries of Western Literature
Mankind, as a whole, has contemplated and faced the problem of suffering and pain throughout every age of uncovered history; a problem which has shown itself so potent, so vast, and so obscure that philosophers, scholars, and artists over centuries and innumerous cultures have devoted their lives and work to uncovering its roots, and seeking…
Candide: The Path to Contentment
What is the meaning of life? Can mankind find genuine serenity or contentment on Earth? Voltaire’s work begs these questions at every point in the story of Candide. Through the extensive and outlandish life story of the protagonist, Voltaire addresses many eighteenth-century ideas, including optimism, rationalism, and general skepticism. While it is difficult to extract Voltaire’s…