Abstract This paper examines Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" and the allusions it makes to Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost" and Goethe's "Faust". The paper holds that "Frankenstein" includes these allusions to present the reader with a clear explanation of the inner torment of the characters. The paper expands upon the parallels between the characters in each work in detail and concludes that familiarity with "Faust" and "Paradise Lost" adds to our understanding of "Frankenstein" and makes the novel memorable and powerful.
From the Paper "The monster's epiphany is a catalyst to his destructive path. He realizes that his creator has handled creationism in an irresponsible manner and is repulsed by Victor's utter abandonment. "'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? (125) He also realizes that his grotesque appearance will forever condemn him to loneliness. "God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of your, more horrid even from the very resemblance... Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred" (125). This idea drawn from "Paradise Lost", that even Satan has companions, pains the monster terribly; he knows he is a good natured, genuine creature, yet he is rejected by the world."
Abstract This paper contends that there is an element of the Evangelical missionary in Hamlet's character. Other allusions in the text are illustrated, first, in order to help explain the allusion to Hamlet as a missionary. Using the context established by these allusions, the paper then compares Hamlet's character to that of an Evangelical prophet. The reference to a fisherman, or a fisher of men, is cited as an example of Hamlet's role as one who seeks to bring repentance to the people around him. The paper also compares Hamlet's failure as a prophet to the Biblical character, Jonah, who is devoured by the whale, or in Hamlet's case, devoured by the King.
From the Paper "It is difficult to approach Hamlet without stumbling over a mass of biblical allusions. In many ways, the entirety of the work can be taken as one massive allusion to religious struggles and issues. Tracing the pattern of allusions to the afterlife, repentance, and the fate and nature of mankind, it is easy to see Hamlet as an evangelist of sorts -- a figure with something of the New Testament spiritual missionary about him, and something of the Old-Testament social prophet. Many of the allusions can be glossed over in passing, as they are sufficiently obvious within the text to make further explication relatively unnecessary. However, there is one relatively obscure set of references which, if approached in more than passing detail, promises to firmly ground Hamlet's character in a missionary tradition. The set of comments regarding fish and Polonius, when cross-reference to the significance of fish and fishing in the New Testament, suggest that Hamlet is serving as a "fisher of men" in the fullest sense, both working for their salvation and (in accordance with an older tradition) their destruction."
This paper compares and discusses the following poems: ?Sonnet 18? and ?Sonnet 130? by William Shakespeare, "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, and ?Resume,? by Dorothy Parker.
1,927 words (approx. 7.7 pages), 0 sources, 2002, $ 61.95
Abstract This paper successfully gives a detailed practical criticism on four well-known poems. A summary of each poem is given, followed by various literary devices including: alliteration, symbolism, tones, rhyme, allusion. The writer compares and contrasts the two Shakespeare Sonnets.
From the Paper "This sonnet at first seems very different from the previous sonnet. At first, it seems as if Shakespeare is talking about someone he definitely does not love, with all the negative comparisons. Again, the theme of this poem is love, but it looks at it from a different angle. We do know by the end, that the writer is in love with his ?mistress,? but it is not quite the flowery language of the previous poem, it is tongue-in-cheek. ?And in some perfumes is there more delight, Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.?
Abstract This paper looks at underlying and alternative meanings in the poem through imagery, sound effects, figurative language, meter, features, allusion, symbolism and word choice. The paper shows how, at first glance, the poem is a simple children's rhyme, but inside are hidden many meanings, just as inside the ugly caterpillar hides a beautiful butterfly.
From the Paper "Underneath the gentle spring night depicted in this deceiving poem is an underlying message, one of sadness and despair. Just as the glow worm loses his glow when imprisoned, the world loses its glow when one has to face the realities of life, and that is the theme the author conveys in the last line of this poem, "-So turn the world's bright joys to cold and blank disgust" (Smith). Ultimately, the author conveys there is no joy in the world, and anything joyful will eventually turn dark and disgusting."
Tags: language, meter, sound, imagery, allusion, symbolism, word
Abstract This paper discusses that, in their film, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", the Coen brothers built in ironic commentary that underscores the understanding of the story of Odysseus. The author classifies the film as a "road picture". The author states that like Homer the always-inventive Coen brothers have taken recognizable allusions to other movies and the surprise of new ones and blended them into a remarkable film.
From the Paper "Into this, they weave some very obscure allusions: Waldrop is the surname of Penny's suitor and of Howard Waldrop who wrote a novel called A Dozen Tough Jobs, in which the central character is a modernized version of Hercules. The title of the movie comes from a 1941 play by Preston Sturgis, called Sullivan's Travels, in which the protagonist must choose whether to obey the studios and create a facile, feel-good comedy or portray the real sufferings of exploited man."
Abstract This paper explains how Chopin intermingles reference, literary allusion, biography and psychology with her story of Mrs. Baroda, Gouvernail and Gaston to ridicule the conventions, which control the behaviors of "respectable" nineteenth-century women. This paper points out Chopin's intertextual reference to Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself". The author believes that Chopin intersperses her own knowledge of society and convictions to transcend the small-minded judgments of her audience.
From the Paper "In addition to evoking eroticism by referring to Whitman's ?Song of Myself,? Chopin scrutinized the nineteenth-century's negative reception of Whitman by embracing his "vehemence of pride and audacity of freedom necessary to loosen the mind of still-to-be-form"d America? (Whitman 516) and, at the same time, denouncing the critics she herself faced. As Whitman's writing achievement suffered because readers, offended by his celebration of sexuality and the body, disregarded his genius, so did Chopin endure the realities of a society controlled by taboo -- in ?A Respectable Woman,? a married woman attracted to a man other than her husband. She, too, experienced the hostility of a public that regarded her work as scandalous. She acknowledges her artistic kinship with Whitman in "A Respectable Woman" by quoting from one of his greatest works."
Abstract This paper examines how, through symbolism, allusions, and dialogue, Shakespeare reveals his attitudes concerning love, marriage, and gender roles in 16th-century society in his play, "The Taming of the Shrew".
From the Paper "One of William Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, The Taming of the Shrew takes audiences on a rather comprehensive journey through Renaissance social culture. Though the courtship between main characters Petruchio and Katherina is far from typical, it does offer insight into not only the customs and attitudes of Europeans in general but those of Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare seems to hold the same opinions as those of most men of the late 1500s?that love is generally very superficial and based on physical attraction; that marriage closely resembles a business proposition; and that women are nothing without their husbands or fathers to whom they must submit. Through literary devices ranging from witty dialogues and impassioned speeches to plentiful allusions and creative symbolism, Shakespeare reveals his attitudes concerning love, marriage, and gender roles in sixteenth-century society."
This paper discusses a poem by Alexander Pope: "An Epistle to the Right Honorable Richard, Earl of Burlington", occasioned by Burlington's collection of Palladio's drawings.
Abstract This paper explains that Alexander Pope's poem discusses issues of aesthetic taste and judgment, which were at the heart of the Burlingtonian movement in architecture, by preceding the poem with a quotation from Horace's Satires (Book I, Satire X), urging simplicity and clarity in place of elaborateness and complexity. The author points out that the style of the poem is unforced and conversational, but rich in allusion and pointed observation, and creates an impression of cultivated elegance combined with sharp wit. The paper relates that, as is the case with the Horatian satires, which are Pope's inspiration, an over-arching structure binds the poem together, carrying the reader sequentially through to the resolution of the final passage.
From the Paper "In following this trajectory, the poem falls into three main sections. The opening section, lines 1-98, which sees the poet considering the general principles of good and bad taste in architecture and gardening, is followed by the celebrated passage containing the description of Timon's villa and grounds, lines 99-176, which are held up as an example of vulgarity and bad taste in both, while the concluding section from line 177 to the end, portrays a future in which great patrons bring taste and elegance to 'happy Britain' (line 203). The poem's primary purpose has been described as 'the minute dissection of false taste and vanity of expense, and the promotion of positive artistic and moral values' (Ayres, 1990, p. 429). The fundamental distinction in the poem is between true and false taste in architecture and its companion enterprise of landscape gardening. Burlington is held up as the exemplar of good taste, an inheritor of the true Roman values of simplicity, elegance, strength through restraint, and a concern with truth rather than falsity in aesthetic judgment: 'You show us, Rome was glorious, not profuse, / And pompous buildings once were things of use' (lines 22-3)."
Abstract This paper explains that T.S. Eliot is one of the defining voices of modern poetry; his works, such as "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Prufrock), incorporate and explore almost all of the qualities which define modernity. The author explains that, through his technique of expressing emotions through an "objective correlative", Eliot uses Prufrock's thoughts to describe a breakdown of the social order and the fragmentation of experience so prevalent in modernist literature. The paper relates that the most striking modernist trend in this poem is Eliot's use of multiple allusions from a variety of sources, such as literature, history, mythology, science, the arts and his own work.
From the Paper "These internal allusions continue in the final portion of the poem. When Prufrock in line 122 asks, "Shall I part my hair behind?" he alludes to the many references in the body of the poem to his thinning, graying hair-thereby alluding to his own impending mortality and again bringing to mind the earlier image of a "patient etherised on a table." When in line 127 Prufrock introduces the image of the mermaids "Combing the white hair of the waves blown back," he again alludes to his earlier references to his hair. The next line's mention of "black water" reinforces the linkage between Prufrock's hair and his mortality."
Abstract "The City in the Sea", written by Edgar Allan Poe, tells the tale of the legendary Fall of Atlantis. The poem, divided into four stanzas comprising an introduction, two bodies and a conclusion is a wonderful representation of many poetic elements. This paper examines how, in the poem, Poe uses several of these elements of poetry to strengthen the integrity of his work and convey the story and tone of the poem. The paper also points out that through his use of key poetic elements, particularly through the use of repetition, allusions, figurative language, alliteration and assonance, Poe manages to create a wonderful poem which recreates the ancient legend of Atlantis in vivid and formal detail, a strong poem of extreme clarity and integrity.
From the Paper "Edgar Allan Poe particularly utilizes the repetition of key words and phrases to achieve great clarity in "The City in the Sea". Through the use of repetition, Poe highlights the importance of the phrases which become central to the poem. "Lo!" (line 1) appears not only as the very first word of the poem, but also at the beginning of the last stanza. By repeating the word "Lo", Poe introduces not only the suddenness of the first portion of the poem, but also introduces the conclusion. The two stanzas are, in fact, tied together by the common word, and thus readers are encouraged to use their imaginations by comparing and contrasting the sad reverence of the introduction with the fiery inferno which becomes the end of the city. Such an encouragement ties the poem in its entirety into the reader's mind and allows easier, clearer recollections of the events depicted in the poem."
This paper discusses the importance of psychoanalysis for effective reading as Peter Barry suggests in referencing Edgar Allan Poe's detective story "The Purloined Letter" and William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73".
Abstract This paper explains that, in Chapter 7 of "English in Practice", Peter Barry alludes to how much psychoanalysis is employed in literary analysis and especially the way detective work involves psychoanalysis, as exemplified in Edgar Allan Poe's detective story "The Purloined Letter". The author points out that psychoanalysis bridges the gap between fiction-reading and comprehension, which involves a kind of detective work, especially in the reading of detective fiction. The paper relates that Barry's allusion to "The Purloined Letter" in his interpretation of "Sonnet 73" shows that the connection between literary analysis and detective work is strong and important. The paper contends that Barry uses the prefect's methods of detection in "The Purloined Letter" in his analysis of "Sonnet 73" to say that the poem is about climate, nature and death.
From the Paper "The Prefect and his associate, the failed detectors, also appear as failed readers in their inability to "read" (analyze) the Minister D-- and his intellectual nature. Conversely, the Minister D-- appears as an astute reader and detector of the Queen's unusual behavior and literally an instant reader and interpreter of her lette. D-- also figures as a writer of the disguised letter. Dupin, the successful detective, is a successful reader of the disguised letter, and then figures as an equivalent author of a forgery or substitute signed by way of a literary allusion."
Abstract This paper explains that the plot of Herman Melville's "Billy Budd" revolves around the central axis of the war between good and evil by using Biblical and mythical allusions. The author relates that, although Billy Budd seems to be the innocent character, from a religious point of view he becomes guilty after committing an involuntary crime. The paper concludes that the central message of the story is that natural innocence is to be preferred instead of moral truth.
From the Paper "The character of Billy Budd is drafted on an opposition between the natural and the religious truth. He is at once portrayed as a noble savage, with a natural charm and a baffling innocence. Billy attracts everyone through his natural and pure character, but at the same time, he inspires some of the others with sinful feelings of either desire or envy. His shipmates and the captain also are irresistibly drawn towards Billy as to something incredibly pure and innocent. His beauty also emphasizes the idea that he represents natural perfection. He represents nature in its pristine form, untouched by the usual tinges of civilization. In shape, he seems to be descended from the "unadulterated blood of Ham", an ideal representation of nature and savageness, with an intensely black skin:"[He was] so intensely black that he must needs have been a native African of the unadulterated blood of Ham. A symmetric figure much above the average height."(Melville, 2) His shipmates swarm around him, attracted irresistibly by his natural virtue and sweetness: "Not that he preached to them or said or did anything in particular; but a virtue went out of him
Abstract This paper examines the works of Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson and T.S. Eliot - authors emerged from the second world war dissatisfied with the emotionless aura, rampant materialism, and shallow culture which seemed to stamp out art and the individual in America. The paper relates that the 'Lost Generation' authors wanted to break from the old-fashioned and confused society of post-war America. The paper also looks at how these authors accomplished this their writings which challenged romanticism through realism, structure and coherence through rhythm, and confined poetic construction through symbolism and literary allusion.
From the Paper "The notion of romanticism, so popular during the 19th century, was passionately abandoned by the Lost Generation, particularly by author, Sherwood Anderson, who favored realism in his writings. Anderson wrote prose which generally dealt with issues of the individual's emotions and situation with the larger structuralized society. Particularly in the short story, "Hands", Anderson deals with the sorrowful existence of a man, unjustly accused of pedophilia and homosexual inclinations as a school teacher."
Abstract One striking element is the narrator's identification with the Jews and their millennia-long history of oppression. Allusion is the most significant literary device used in the poem. "Babi Yar" is Auschwitz, is Cambodia, is every pogrom and is every act of brutal horror in history. Anne Frank appears in the poem, as an allusion to the faceless and invisible presence of the common person. Allusion, however, is not the only literary device used to great perfection within the poem.
Abstract This paper analyzes the history of illusions and the effect they have had on the intellectual development of the western world. The paper discusses the roots of the problem of the moon allusion in philosophy and the crossover into psychology. An outline is presented of what the moon illusion is, illustrating the issues of size and distance of the moon. The paper provides some of the common responses to the moon allusion by people like Baird and Wagner, Kaufman and Rock, Parks, and Reed. The implications for both science and philosophy for the various outcomes achieved by the researchers are examined.
From the Paper "Open up any philosophical text, from the elementary textbook, Does the Center Hold? by Donald Palmer to the Oxford History of Western Philosophy. The first entry in the book will be Socrates. Even as far back as that, and probably further back than that, people have been concerned with the problems of perception. Idealism, realism, skepticism. How do we know what we know when the world can change so frequently, so fast. If our senses sometimes deceive us, and they tend to deceive us often, how can we rely upon them to tell us about the outside world. Perhaps it was when these questions were first posed that the science of psychology was first born."
