Author Archives: hmay3

I think one of the most prevailing themes in literature is the idea of good and evil. As a human race we have created mythologies and belief systems centered on this innate desire to know what it means to be good or bad. Many of our origin stories center on the idea of good andContinue reading “Good vs. Evil”

The Victorian Era and the Industrial Revolution brought new times and never before seen accelerated advancement of science and technology. With this new technological age, much of Victorian literature followed a strict leaning towards realism. All of Europe (except England) had been involved in sweeping revolutions in 1848 and these failed revolutions brought a newContinue reading “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Your Darkest Desires”

Northanger Abbey is a direct parody of the gothic novel, and in that way, Austen is not discouraging readership of gothic novels but rather making fun of the silly girls. The first sentence of the novel sets the tone of mockery by stating, “No one who had seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would haveContinue reading “Northanger Abbey and the Gothic Novel”

“I have wished to keep the Reader in the company of flesh and blood, persuaded that by so doing I shall interest him” Wordsworth’s “Lucy Gray” is a simple yet compelling poem to read and it embodies the key aspects of Wordsworth’s arguments about poetry in his preface to lyrical ballads. Wordsworth argues that goodContinue reading “Flesh, blood, and Ghostly Excitement”