Recommended: The lady of shalot (literary essay
“Studying a work’s major themes helps develop understanding of an author’s intent and the quality of the work” (Beauty and the Beast 59). The author clearly portrays full understanding of the play, Cyrano de Bergerac, by studying the work’s major themes. Cyrano de Bergerac, a play by Edmond Rostand, reveals the struggles that Cyrano, the renowned poet, confronts in order to receive love from his beloved one, Roxane. Unfortunately, Cyrano’s hideous appearance discourages him from expressing his true feelings to Roxane. Charles Marowitz, the author of the literary criticism, depicts his thoughts on countless aspects of the story, from romance to uniqueness.
Edmond Rostand’s comedic play Cyrano de Bergerac recounts the tragic heartbreak of an unsightly French poet as he aids his handsome but dull cohort Christian in capturing the heart of the beautiful Roxane. Cyrano de Bergerac, a colossal-nosed man with a masterful talent for wielding both words and sword, battles self-doubt and insecurity as he contends with his own feelings of love for Roxane. Throughout the play, Rostand reveals a stark polarity between Cyrano and Christian, illuminating the gaping disparity between the characters’ appearance and intellect while portraying the men as foils for each other. From the play’s beginning, Rostand’s audience becomes keenly aware of the divergence between Cyrano’s intellectual substance and Christian’s physical attributes. While Cuigy pronounces Christian “a charming head,” the character describes himself as “...far from bright” (Rostand 1.4-5).
Her hair was uncovered, and the sun’s ray brought a golden gleam from its brown meshes. She did not take the broad beaten road which led to the far-off plantation of Valmonde. She walked across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her tender feet, so delicately shod, and tore her thin gown to shreds. She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep sluggish bayou; she did not come back again” (Chopin 1861/2022 pp. C567-C-568).
The other side the block, (5) I’d tunnel till my groove Pushed sudden through to his; Then my face take her recompense, The looking in his eyes. (10) But ‘tis a single hair, A filament, a law, A cobweb wove in adamant, A battlement of straw, (15) A limit like the veil Unto the lady’s face, But every mesh a citadel, With dragons in the crease.
Lancelot performs several dangerous acts after reading a letter from an imprisoned person. He is committing these acts as an attempt to win the lady’s heart. When Lancelot makes it to Camelot, he discovers a man. This
In the following essay I will discuss and form a clear analysis about Elizabeth Bishop’s poem ‘Exchanging Hats’ that was published in 1979. Elizabeth Bishop is an American short-story writer that was born in 1911 and loved writing poems to describe the dominating side between male and female. It addresses many things such as crossing dressing, gender roles and it brings out a deeper meaning of fashion. It refers to the world famous story of Alice in Wonderland. It is done in such a way where everything that is being describe is not being said directly but rather describing actions that symbolizes different principals of theories.
In the poem Ozymandias and the novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, the authors tell stories of two men whose thirst for victory and rule turn them into unforgiving leaders. As with every ancient egyptian king, Ozymandias wanted a vast empire that would conquer the world and intimidate anyone who dares to challenge their authority. The once mighty statue, now a pile of
In the poems “To Helen” by Edgar Allen Poe and “Helen” by Hilda Doolittle both speakers vividly portray conflicting opinions about Helens beauty through tone, imagery, and alliteration demonstrating physical beauty as an obsession. In both poems Poe and Doolittle both portray Helen as a very beautiful woman. Through the use of allusion, alliteration, similes, and personification both authors are able to create a vivid image for the reader of just how beautiful Helen actually was. In Poe’s poem he compares Helen to a “perfumed
464). Flessiner argues similar arguments by explaining how sonnets 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 141, 144, and 147 all have textual evidence that suggest a black woman is the subject. Beginning with sonnet 130, Flessiner explains how this poem is the most famous of all of the sonnets that can be used as evidence. As powerful as this poem is, if interpreted that the appearance of the Dark Lady is black-skinned, many of the lines of this sonnet could have multiple meanings. The first line, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” could relate to brown eyes that could suggest the woman was an African American or could suggest that the lady does not have charming eyes (Shakespeare l. 1).
Also in line 19, the word “autumn” appears, and it gives the image of the fall of life, and a time that is near death. Even more, “shroud” which is used to describe people’s heart, originally means a piece
The vivid imagery contrasts considerably with the speaker’s identity, highlighting the discrepancy between her imagined and true personas. The speaker undergoes a symbolic transformation into a boy, but in order to do so, she must cast away her defining features as a woman. One way she does this is by repositioning
As the legendary Science-Fiction author Arthur C. Clark, famous for stories such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, once said, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’. With this in mind, today, I will be looking at one of the most famous stories concerning magic and giving it a modern, scientific approach. I am of course talking about Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare’s most ambitious, famous, and presumably cursed plays. So Ladies and Gentlemen, grab your test tubes and light your Bunsen burners because I am about to drop some science.
Sir Lancelot is a symbol for temptation and lustful desires, as he had an affair with Queen Guinevere. Being allured by the shadow of Sir Lancelot, Lady of Shalott forgets about the curse and looks down to Camelot. After being ideologue with purity and chastity, she brakes free from her established destiny and is caught by the moment, which was an immoral thing to do for a woman in that
She critiques it by saying marriage tends to place men in power over women where they denigrate women’s capabilities. Moore quickly introduces two opposed beings, Adam and Eve, who dominates the poem and served as vehicle for her ironic commentary on the battle of sexes. Images in this poem are found in the line “this firegilt steel alive with goldenness; how bright it shows--” where “this firegiltt steel” symbolize the wedding ring that relates to a cultural practice. Rhetorical devices such as alliteration and apostrophe are used in the poem. There is a repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence can be seen in the line “one says one need not change one’s mind”.
In the first quatrain, the beautiful image of a woman usually created during a romantic poem (i.e, having red lips, pure skin, silky hair) is parodied as he portrays his mistress as plain and not following normal beauty regulations. An example of this begins in the first line when Shakespeare states that his “mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” (1). Contrasting standard romantic poetry, Shakespeare immediately sets the tone to be perceived as negative by insinuating that his mistress’ eyes do not shine. Every line in this quatrain includes a direct comparison like this which begins by describing something beautiful to be compared to, then shifts the tone to express that she is unlike that characteristic. For example, he begins line 2 using the language of “coral” to describe her lips, but the tone is shifted when he says that
