Some responses may include: • The significance of the title is in its double meaning; it is a play on words. Wilde’s humour is aimed at the Victorian notions of duty and respectability. To be ‘earnest’ can mean to be serious or sincere, which Wilde saw as hallmarks of the Victorian character. To be called ‘Ernest’ is fundamentally important to shallow characters in this play. Gwendolen wants to marry a man called Ernest, not caring whether he possesses the qualities that comprise earnestness.
He even admitted his evilness to himself stating to Dimmesdale, "I have already told you what I am a fiend!" (Hawthorne 158). The ever growing corruption and evil inside of Chillingworth collided with the good that Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl were bringing into the world. Hawthorne hints the innate nature of the good and evil of both sides towards the end of the novel, by describing that Chillingworth is viewed badly by the town but Dimmesdale and Hester are viewed as good people. It is in this way that Roger Chillingworth's specific use in the novel is to portray the conflict good versus evil.
‘How does Wharton present the relationships in Ethan Frome and Great Gatsby and how do relationships in TGG illuminate this? Relationships are a vital theme in Ethan Frome as they explore deception as well as superficiality. Wharton’s methods used to convey these ideas highlight the superficiality of Ethan and Mattie’s relationship and how it is portrayed. The idea of fragility in relationships is illuminated in the Great Gatsby through the portrayal of similar over-arching themes. Lionel Trilling clarifies relationships are ‘hell-on-earth, not easily forgotten:’ the relationship between Ethan and Mattie is projected as if there is a lot of passion there although Mattie never reveals how she feels towards Ethan.
While the contrast of light and dark, white and black, and good and evil is a common theme in his novella, Conrad essentially reverses the meanings of the two. Conrad’s story is about the penetration of a corrupt light into darkness, and the consequences that result when the purity of darkness is tainted. In his story often the light is viewed as more menacing and evil than the darkness, and the
Analysis of Queen Mab Speech Mercutio's Queen Mab speech is a mocking declaration that dreams are illusory wish-fulfilment, and that they can have delusional and destructive effects. In juxtaposing lawyers and lovers, soldiers and the fairy entourage, his eloquent speech touches on a number of the play's opposing themes such as love and hate, fantasy and reality and idealism. Given the context of the speech, it seems like Mercutio is suggesting that, like Queen Mab, dreams are insubstantial and insignificant. One of the major themes of the speech is the veracity of dreams. Unlike Romeo, Mercutio does not believe that dreams can foretell future events.
In Shakespeare’s play, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, he greatly contrasts the relationships developed between Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero. One is developed through deception and works well while the other is developed through true love and descends into tragedy. There is evidently a contrast between the love of Claudio and Hero and Benedick and Beatrice, as there is in their characteristics and attributes. Claudio and Hero's relationship being simply conventional and apparent whereas Beatrice and Benedick's is based on their wit and deeper feelings. Claudio first presents his love at first sight for Hero in the quotation, ‘Can the world buy such a jewel?’ Claudio’s use of the word ‘jewel’ demonstrates that a jewel is something that is only attractive to the eye and demonstrates that he only cares about the looks of a woman.
The Untrue White F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolic colors to express the irony in the novel The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s assortment of color usage gives life to the characters, places, and objects in this book. However, the most definite is the color white; symbolizing purity, cleanliness, and innocence, white is one of the main symbols in the novel. Nevertheless, this color only gives the impression of chastity. In reality, this ‘harmlessness’ is corrupted with deception and false impression to camouflage the poison, malignance, and filth it truly represents.
Stevenson used his novel to criticise the Victorian society, which he lived in: showing how hypocritical it was. He attacked the men of his time, peeling off their masks to show how they were respectable by day but turned into demons by night; the wealthy and respected camouflaged their evil secrets and desires and hid them behind paper like walls, just out of sight. He unveiled and presented to the world the scandalous passages the upper class had weaved demonstrating how there really was a fine line between it and the classes beneath it. This essay will explore and interpret and try to understand how Stevenson explores the theme of duality in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’? Within his own life Stevenson experienced and saw contrasts; two different sides, duality almost.
He wears a scarlet letter on his soul which ruins his inner self more than any scarlet letter worn in public and this internal scarlet letter greatly contributes to the increasing decay of his soul. Also being known as a pious and blameless reverend worsens his emotional state, for Dimmesdale can not handle living a lie and having to accept the constant compliments of his peers, all the while knowing his outward persona is a lie. The fact that he must receive these compliments without correcting them only increases his guilt. He goes on to say that he is “all falsehood, all emptiness all death”(151), which perfectly describes Dimmesdale’s current emotional state. He is a living, breathing representation of hypocrisy and being such a symbol takes a great toll on him emotionally.
in truth, Jekyll enjoyed living as Mr. Hyde; who is free to behave in a less honorable manner and a partake in the darker side of London. Jekyll chose to live both as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to satisfy his ego's behavior. Dr. Jekyll clearly states that he felt no guilt about Hyde's action, as "Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde, but the situation was apart from ordinary laws, and insidiously relaxed the grasp of conscience. It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty." This explanation seems ridiculous, because Mr. Hyde is in fact Dr. Jekyll who should be responsible for his own action.