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95Shakespeare's Presentation of Colonialism and Colonisation / Colonization in ‘The Tempest' - Theme Analysis
William Shakespeare wrote 'The Tempest' in around 1610. I interpret this play as a metaphor on colonisation. The story, which tells of a usurped duke and the shipwreck he arranges in order to to exact retribution, includes a number of themes: conflict and resolution; love and romance; nature and nurture; illusion and reality; vengeance and repentance; power and the abuse of power; colonisation and ‘otherness‘. Colonisation and otherness are a particularly interesting aspect of this Shakespeare p
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93Shakespeare's Hamlet and his 'Foils' - Fortinbras and Laertes.
Who are Hamlet's foils in Shakespeare's play? Indeed, what is a foil? A foil is a character, who sets off another person, by being a contrast to that person. So, how do we recognise Hamlet's foils? For a character to be a foil to Hamlet, he or she must have things in common with him, in order for any differences to become more obvious. One example is Ophelia: her apparently genuine madness is a foil for Hamlet's supposedly feigned 'antic disposition'. There are other examples, and this article w
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93'Bertha' in Charlotte Bronte’s 'Jane Eyre' and Jean Rhys’s 'Wide Sargasso Sea' - Comparison and Analysis
In Charlotte Bronte's novel, 'Jane Eyre', there is a minor, but terrifying, character, named Bertha ~ the original 'madwoman in the attic'. In Jean Rhys's novel, 'Wide Sargasso Sea', the main character is a sympathetic young girl, named Antoinette, who is taken away from her home, to a strange land, where her feelings are misunderstood and mistreated, leading to a breakdown. But Bronte's wild 'Bertha' is Rhys's sweet 'Antoinette'.
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90Geoffrey Chaucer and His Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer ~ fourteenth century English writer, poet, courtier, soldier and pilgrim / traveller; related to members of the royal court; possibly a spy! What do we actually know about him? What can be learned? How much can his 'Canterbury Tales' teach us? This is a brief introduction to a fascinating man.
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89Firing Squad at Dawn - Executions in World War One (WWI)
During the First World War, several hundred men were shot at dawn, by firing squads, made up of their own comrades, supposedly for cowardice and desertion. Many were suffering from trauma and other physical, psychological and / or emotional health problems. A number of them were young boys, who had lied about their age, when they enlisted, and then simply could not cope with the horrors that World War One forced upon them. They died a horrific and terrifying death, when they should have been sen
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89Shakespeare's Hamlet - Does Gertrude Know that King Claudius has Killed - Murdered - her Husband?
Does Gertrude know that Claudius killed Hamlet's father? In Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', is there any evidence of Gertrude's guilt, in connection with the death of her husband? Or did she know of Claudius's guilt? No, it seems not. Indeed, there is evidence, in Gertrude’s behaviour, and her words, that she did not know that 'Old Hamlet' had been murdered ~ and certainly not by her new husband, Claudius.
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89Origins of the Names 'New York' and 'Albany' - United States Place Names History
How did 'New York City' and 'New York State' - in the United States of America - get their names? Can we assume that the city and the state names originate in the same place? Was that York, in England? If so, why? And what about 'Albany', capital of New York State? Where does that name come from?
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86Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' - What does each Soliloquy, in Acts 1, 2 and 3, reveal about Hamlet's true Feelings? (To be ...)
Soliloquies in Hamlet ~ what can we learn from Hamlet's soliloquies? Do they help us to understand Hamlet, the character, and 'Hamlet', the play, better? How does Shakespeare show his own talents through the soliloquies? Shakespeare's soliloquies give the reader ~ or the audience ~ the opportunity to find out what is going on in a character's mind; and possibly to access some of Shakespeare's own thoughts and ideas. This article concentrates on the Hamlet's soliloquies on Acts 1,
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86Tennyson and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' (Poem Analysis)
'The Charge of the Light Brigade' Analysis "Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred." Tennyson has written a rousing poem, with a hypnotic beat. The thumping, rhythmic tempo, echoing the galloping hooves of the chargers, is alluring and has made this poem a popular favourite over the years, in spite of its description of a military failure.
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85"Goodnight John-Boy!" - "Goodnight Elizabeth!" ~ 2011: A Walton's Anniversary
The Waltons, America's favourite family, celebrate 40 fabulous years this month ~ December 2011. Happy Anniversary, John Boy!
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