Essays on Literature

Free essays on literature refer to the writing pieces that are available to everyone online without any charges. These essays can cover a wide range of literary topics, such as the analysis of a character or a theme in a novel, a review of a poem or a play, or an interpretation of a literary movement. They can be written by students, scholars, or literary enthusiasts, and can offer diverse perspectives and insights into the world of literature. Free essays on literature can be useful for those interested in learning more about a specific literary work or genre or for those seeking inspiration for their own writing.
Slavery’s Effects in Beloved by Toni Morrison
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Exposition on America's Slavery Slavery was one of the most horrific crimes in the history of the United States. People were captured and forced into lives of captivity in which they were treated like animals and brutally punished for disobedience. Though the effects of slavery's tyranny are ongoing, the history of slavery has essentially been ignored and forgotten--the physical and emotional pain that slaves suffered is minimally discussed in schools and disregarded by the typical American. No one wants to dwell on such…...
Beloved
The Artistic Intent in Beloved, a Novel by Toni Morrison
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The writing and works of Toni Morrison hold a unique place in the history of literature due to her miraculous ability to capture her readers and bring them into unfamiliar worlds. This incredible talent is demonstrated profusely in the works of Beloved. Morrison approached the creation of this book to generate a disorienting platform for which the reader feels lost as they navigate through her words. The premise of Beloved would be defeated if not for the cryptic way in which Morrison shapes…...
Beloved
Obsession as a Human Trait in Doctor Faustus, a Play by Christopher Marlowe
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Human Obsession in Doctor Faustus In his Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe writes on the topic of obsession. Through his examination of the extremes to which humans go when obsessed with an idea, Marlowe concludes that obsession is a human trait that must be checked. Obsession with any goal will lead to a change in a person's character, which will then lead to one's fall. In the play Doctor Faustus, Faustus's moral decline is attributed to his fixation on the attainment of power…...
Doctor FaustusFaust
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Consequences of Dissatisfaction in Doctor Faustus
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Doctor Faustus is the tragedy of a boundlessly striving man to misdirect great gifts of mind and spirit and hence progressively loses his soul by disintegration as well as by capture. Faustus fights a battle that has been fought by all and that is for perfection. But yet he is never able to achieve this betterment because of his human nature of never feeling satisfied. Faustus is offered salvation multiple times throughout the play, but he continuously turns the opportunity down. Although throughout…...
Doctor FaustusFaust
The Impression of Faustus and the Play as a Whole
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Doctor Faustus is a complex play that demonstrates conflicting ideas with Marlowe's main preoccupation being a moral one of sin and redemption. This is embodied through the characterization of Faustus. In this passage, we are given a piece of dramatic dialogue that helps to create our impression of Faustus's character, and ultimately shapes our impression of the play as a whole. The language that is used in this scene between Faustus and Mephistopheles is figuratively dark, with the predominant repetition of damned', 'Lucifer'…...
Doctor FaustusFaust
Power’s Negative Influence in Doctor Faustus
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The play “Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe is a tragedy about life and death. A tragedy is a play that shows a conflict between a human character and a differing, overpowering force. In this play, the main character Faustus wants to experiment with black magic. This prompts a lot of inner conflicts for him, and an overall theme that power can be a negative influence. In this scene of the play, Faustus faces a conflict of whether or not to sign…...
Doctor Faustus
Peter Pan Chapters Review
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In this essay, I will focus on two chapters Chapter six The Little Hous,e, and Chapter seven The Home Under The Ground, and try to explore the play being presented within them. The central focus of the story of Peter Pan lies in Neverland a prominent place in the book. This is a magic and make-believe place. It can however be complicated in many ways. In my essay, I will focus on how the play are displayed according to their…...
Peter Pan
An Examination of Sexuality in Peter Pan
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Peter Pan is the story of a young boy who never wants to grow up. He meets a young girl named Wendy, who instantly falls in love with him and wants more than just friendship. Sexuality is a huge theme in the play, seeing as how both Peter Pan and Wendy are at the age when this becomes an issue. Peter never wants to grow up, however, he knows that sex is a grown-up thing and that is why Peter doesn't want anyone to…...
Peter Pan
The Significance of Home in Peter Pan
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It is well-known that "home is where the heart is," a cliché that has been embroidered in needlepoint by many a maternal grandmother. Home, a place of security and comfort for everyone and particularly so for the young child, is a constant in the lives of children, and as such, they tend to take it for granted. Yet, as inquisitive creatures, they crave adventure and excitement, which they seek in the form of fantasy and pretend play. Bruno Bettelheim comments that, by “spinning out…...
Peter Pan
A Comparison of the Harry Potter and Peter Pan Movies
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Movies can have a lot of differences but still be similar. Books can be the same way. The Harry Potter Series and Peter Pan are based on children's books. Harry Potter is a young wizard whose parents died when he was a baby and got sent to live with his mean aunt, uncle, and cousin. He gets a visit from Hagrid and gets sent away to Hogwarts where he meets his best friends Ron and Hermione. Peter Pan is a young boy who lives…...
Harry PotterPeter Pan
The Concept of Getting Stuck in Childhood in the Story of Peter Pan
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The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up Trickster Tales, Fables, and Fairy Tales The story of Peter Pan was conceived by J.M. Barrie, a Scottish novelist, and playwright, and was first used as a character in his adult novel The Little White Bird, penned in 1902. However, several differences would make Peter hard to spot. Rather than Neverland, Peter flies from his nursery to the Kensington Gardens in London, spending his time with birds and fairies. He was described as being "Betwixt-and-Between" a…...
Peter Pan
The Berry College Theater Company and the Children’s Literature of the Peter Pan
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With their new theater currently under construction, Berry College Theater Company has undertaken an outdoor production of Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher. Fancifully unraveling the life of Peter Pan before he became the children's literature figure we know so well, the play explores the travels of “Boy” and his orphan friends Prentiss and Tedd as they sail across the sea. The little protagonists find themselves thrown into battles, face-offs, and chases throughout the story. The little protagonists join forces with Molly to…...
Peter Pan
Comparing the Dunbar’s Poem “We Wear the Mask and McKay’s Poem “If We Must Die”
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This paper will compare the poem: We Wear the Maskall by Paul Laurence Dunbar with the poem written by Claude McKay called Ai we Must Die.) These two poems were written in America during a time when the oppression of black society was at an all-time high. They both deal with different issues wth in black oppression during the late 1800s and early 18008ils. Also, the two poems differ by only about a difference a decade from the two literary…...
Claude Mckay
Racism in McKay and Hughes’ Poems
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Claude McKay and Langston Hughes are considered «two of the most influential African American poets during the Harlem Renaissance. They each helped shape the trends that would later define the literary movement with African Americans, In a reflective poem, Langston Hughes portrays racism and oppression in his poem “Harlem inform the reader of all the wrongdoings during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, Claude McKay in his poem “If We Must Die”, in comparison, also reflect on the Renaissance era,…...
Claude Mckay
Race Portrayed in 3 Texts
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The race has a tight grasp on our daily lives whether we realize it or not. The control it has. over our world and society stays quite elusive. It slowly creeps into our thoughts and actions without warning, The construction of race has changed and evolved, but the central root which takes its place within our very ears has remained stable. In the three works Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin, Theme for English by Langston Hughes, and The Lynching. by…...
Claude Mckay
Individual Identity Loss in Oryx and Crake
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In today’s fast-paced world, individuals are constantly faced with the challenge of finding themselves through all the noise. In Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2009), societal expectations of beauty and the pressure to keep up with innovation and technology, are barriers to forming individual identities. A person’s identity is the beliefs and qualities, which shape their personality and set them apart from everyone else. However, to fit in society many individuals have colored themselves in art they can’t even critique.…...
Oryx And Crake
Hyperbolic Writing and Personal Attitude in Oryx and Crake
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Humans are always pursuing higher goals. They dream of the idealized utopia, where everyone is treated equally without any gaps and social problems. However, plenty of groups and organizations ended up their try on building up utopian societies with problems that emerged from human greediness and selfishness over the last hundreds of years. At the same time, with the development of the industry and technology, humans are facing a series of challenges that have never appeared before. Utopia seems far…...
Oryx And Crake
Freedom vs Peace in Oryx and Crake
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Robert A. Heinlein once said, "You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.” If only Crake from Margaret Atwood's novel Oryx and Crake could have realized the truth in this statement, their world could have been a much better place. Time after time, when people try to create a perfect society, it ends in ultimate disaster. The creation of so-called perfect societies almost always involves limited free will. In this novel,…...
Oryx And Crake
The Dystopic Elements in Oryx and Crake, a Novel by Margaret Atwood
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Dystopic literature includes novels or stories based on fictitious worlds and societies describing a captivating vision of the future. This type of literature often depicts a specific group of people confined to only knowing what they are taught, which limits their understanding of the world in significant ways. Dystopian novels of this sort portray their characters as inferior to their ruler(s), who treat them as if they are nobodies. Typically in a dystopian society, the people are governed by an…...
Oryx And Crake
Gattaca vs Oryx & Crake: Future Views
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Being that the film "Gattaca” and our book “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood are both set in the future, they have many similarities yet many differences at the same time It strikes me as shocking that both materials have such similarities yet such different views and opinions on what the future will look take, Getac is more focused around orderliness and what you can call a modified version of “survival of the fittest. Instead of people being able to…...
Oryx And Crake
A Life of War in Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Farewell to Manzanar Farewell to Manzanar, was written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston (Wakatsukis husband) in 1973. It is an autobiography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houstons life and her family during World War II, The book opens when Pearl Harbor is bombed. Jeanne was only seven years old at that time and is force to leave behind the life she as known up that point. The family is moved to Manzanar, where the government has set up internment…...
Books
An Autobiography By Jeanne Wakatsuki in the Novel, Farewell To Manzanar
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In the novel, Farewell to Manzanar, an autobiography by Jeanne Wakatuski Houston, her stubborn father demonstrates his pride, To begin, Papas pride shines on all of his possessions. Papa is an accomplished fisherman. His boat, The Nereid, is very valuable. When Papa takes The Nereid out to sea, his pride for his boat and fishing business becomes bluntly obvrous: It was worth about $25,000 before the war, and the way he stood in the cabin steering towards open water you…...
Books
A Reflection of the Memoir, Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki
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In life, it often happens that one’s growth is intertwined with a person close to them; we mature together not apart, with many influences we sometimes are completely unaware of, One of the most prominent influences is our heritage; even the most independent and rebellious of us are never free of it These ideas resurface in literature and quotes tied to the most varied forms. They are exemplified in the words ofAlice Walker: “In search of my mother’s garden, I…...
Books
The Changes in Manzanar in Farewell to Manzanar, a Memoir by Jeanne Wakatsuki
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Manzanar Experiences in life can change us forever. If you were in a fire at some point in life, you would be scared of fire or cautious around it. It would change you. Pearl Harbor got bombed on December 7, 1941. After that, the U.S. took horrible and drastic measures. They gathered all Japanese-Americans and put them in internment camps, One of those camps was Manzanar, the place the Wakatsuki family briefly called home. Being in Manzanar changed the Wakatsuki…...
Books
The Book That Changed My Life The Godfather by Mario Puzo
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The Book That Changed My Life.  Most of us have that one book that inspired us or made us feel something deep inside. The Godfather by Mario Puzo did it for me. The Godfather is my favorite book, it was the first book  ever read for leisure and it went on to change my life. It is about a Sicilian crime family operating out of New York, the author describes the complex structure of the mafia and the way it…...
Books
Lily’s Reflections On Mr. Ramsay’s Work
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In Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, the key symbol of the scrubbed kitchen table in relation to Mr. Ramsay's work takes on a new significance over time, as evidenced by Lily's early observations and her reflections ten years later. Initially, upon being told that Mr. Ramsay's work concerned "subject and object and the nature of reality”, Lily fails to comprehend the meaning of these words. As a dreamer and an artist, the solid concept of subject and object means little…...
LiteratureTo The LighthouseVirginia Woolf
Epiphanies in To the Lighthouse
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Epiphanies are found by the dozens in this Virginia Woolf novel. Characters ranging from Mrs. Ramsay, the soft and amiable matriarch, to Cam, one of her youngest daughters, all learn something new about themselves or about each other they did not previously know. The flashback style and in-depth psychological perspective of To the Lighthouse allows for the reader to fully understand the feelings of each character in a given period of time and setting. This is important mostly due to…...
LiteratureTo The LighthouseVirginia Woolf
The Painting of Lily in the Novel, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
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Throughout Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse, Lily's painting remains ultimately as a reference point for both time and everything that is going on around her. It becomes something that she struggles with, trying to interpret her feelings through the process of making art, where she is always unsure about what she is depicting; yet this struggle becomes precisely what defines her character. The painting becomes a culminating focus point for the novel, a centerpiece that ties everything else together. Through…...
LiteratureTo The LighthouseVirginia Woolf
Gender Relationships in To the Lighthouse
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The relationship between the genders is a major focal point in this first chunk of the book, beginning with Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay's very different ways of engaging with James about the trip to the lighthouse and concluding with the very odd description of their “encounter” on pages 37-40. What is Woolf trying to say about what men and women want and need from one another - or, rather, what is Woolf trying to say about what men and women…...
Gender RolesTo The LighthouseVirginia Woolf
Is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn banned?
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In 1998, the NAACP sponsored a petition demanding that the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be excluded from the compulsory read list of schools because it proved to be psychologically detrimental to the offensive language and the values it contains (NAACP cited by Hentoff). For example, since its publication, the book has been put by parents, students, and scholars at the two ends of the spectrum. The criticisms cover a wide range of arguments: the offensive language used in…...
The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
Characteristics of Huck in The Novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
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The characterization of Huck specifically plays a huge part in this novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain had multiple different aspects of fiction that contributed to the remarkable and controversial story that it has come to be known as today. Within this paper assignment, I will seize the opportunity to show not only their ingenuity of Huck, but his bravery, compassion, and logical thinking that guided him throughout the entirety of his quite amazing journey. I hope, that you…...
The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
Hinduism and Caregiving
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Hinduism is a minority religion in America accounting for 0.7% of the total population (Religious Landscape Study, 2014). Hinduism is a strictly personal religion and, unlike other religious traditions, has no standard form of worship (Johnsen, 2009). For example, some Hindus meditate, others pray and some combine meditation and prayer with physical exercises as in some forms of yoga. Most Hindus have a small wooden shrine or an alcove in their homes set aside for offering devotional worship (Bhaskarananda, 2002).…...
Mahabharata
Environmental Issues in the Philippines
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The Philippines, the country that is made of ​seven thousand and six hundred forty one islands. It is located in Southeast Asia, surrounded by the huge bodies of water and neighbouring countries. The Philippines is also a part of the group that resides in the ​‘Ring of Fire’ ​which according to ​National Geographic, ​that the Ring of Fire is “​a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.” ​Despite being located in the Ring of Fire,…...
Invisible Man
Brazil’s rainforests
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As the fifth largest country in the world, Brazil’s tropical and subtropical landscape covers roughly 2,700 miles and includes some of the world’s most abundant resources. Occupying half of South America, Brazil contains a significant portion of the Amazon River basin, “which has the world’s largest river system and the world’s most extensive virgin rainforest,”. Containing one-third of the world’s rainforests, Brazil’s landscape traverses across rivers, mountains, wetlands and highlands that complement the dominantly tropical climate. Considered one of the…...
Invisible Man
Technology and Human Vulnerability
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In today’s world, technology is everywhere we look. Whether it be in our own home, the workplace, or out in public places, a common fear among many is wondering if these robotics can become self aware. Is it possible that they can potentially take over? In the article Beware the Robots, Says Hawking written by Paul Rodgers, after Elon Musk announced last year that artificial intelligence may be a concern, Stephen Hawking advanced people’s concerns by stating that it may…...
Stephen Hawking
Theme of Red Scare in “The Crucible”
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In every literary work, there are themes. A theme is a central insight into human nature provided by a piece of literature. Everyone interprets the theme differently, but that’s the uniqueness of themes. One great literary work is The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. Miller paints his story using the small tightly knit community of Salem, brilliantly weaving historical fact and fiction to portray a scenario not unlike events since seen. The infamous witch hunts of 1692 and…...
The Crucible
Their Eyes have been looking God Novel Analysis
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Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes have been looking God, is a third man or woman narrative based across the existence of a woman protagonist, Janie Crawford. Having set the radical in early twentieth century southern United States, Hurston is capable of use Janie as an automobile to portray the female roles bounded with the aid of the society of that time. She emphasizes the restraints and rigidity of the social values that Janie overcomes, making her an eyesore amongst…...
Writer
Delia Jones Character Analysis in Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston
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Zora Neale Hurston's incredibly famous short story is about Delia Jones, an African American lady who has been in a stressed marriage for a long time. The creator utilizes her encounters to clarify how mistreatment and physical maltreatment influenced African-American women of this period. At last, Delia gets her vengeance on her better half, Sykes for his abuse throughout the years. From the earliest starting point of the story, it is apparent that Delia Jones is in a stressed marriage…...
Writer
Feminism In Zora Neale Hurston’s Sweat
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The Harlem Renaissance has produced some wonderful works of intersectional literature, but arguably none compares in terms of impact to brevity as Zora Neale Hurston’s short tale “Sweat.” Zora Neale Hurston’s story Sweat is only about 15 pages long yet it addresses the trials and tribulations of modern femininity in ways some sociological treatises don’t even strive to reach. Hurston does this through efficient use of symbolism, linking the world of the “feminine” with the world of the “natural,” which…...
Writer
Democracy Definition From Zora Neale Hurston
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When I think of the word “democracy”, a couple different concepts come to my mind immediately. ‘Community’, ‘participation’, and ‘republic’ are the three of them, and what binds all of them together is the idea of people. We as individuals, as groups, and as a society have a duty to make sure democracy survives. Without us, there would be no democracy. So ideally, I believe that we are all responsible for it, but if we don’t communicate and participate, our…...
Writer
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