Literary Ocean

What are the noble fruits of friendship according to Bacon in his essay Friendship

Francis Bacon’s main material in the essay Of Friendship consists in his discussion of the fruits of friendship. He specifically mentions one after another, the different benefits that friendship offers. These benefits are assessed from the practical consideration of relief, peace, and success in life. In this essay, Bacon discusses how the principal fruit of friendship works and…

23 hours ago0Comments BySupriya Maity

Plays

Why did Othello kill himself in Shakespeare’s drama Othello?

Othello, the Moor was a brave soldier, but his mind was rather simple as he could not suspect a person like Iago who knew well how to poison one’s mind gradually by way of presenting himself as a confidant. If Othello captivated the mind of Desdemona, it was because he could tell the stories of…

3 days ago0Comments BySupriya Maity

Short Stories

Significance of the title of the story ‘The Lagoon’ by Joseph Conrad

The word ‘Lagoon’ (from Spanish ‘laguna’) means a ‘stretch of saltwater parted from the sea by the low sandbank’. It implies the enclosed sea-water, within the ridge of some rock or sand. This is quite common in Asiatic countries and particularly in the Malayan region. Conrad’s story has the precise title The Lagoon. This is mainly because…

5 days ago0Comments BySupriya Maity

Plays

Dramatic Significance of the Opening Scene in Macbeth

In ” Macbeth”, the introduction of the witches at the very outset of the tragedy is deeply significant. Shakespeare’s objective is to raise the mind at once to the high tragic tone. The witches appear in a desert place with thunder and lightning. It is the barren place where evil has obtained the mastery of…

October 28, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity

Literary Terms

Magic Realism in Literature – Definition, Features and Examples

This term ‘Magic realism’, which has a long and quite distinctive history in Latin American criticism, was first used in a broader post-colonial context in the foundational essay by Jacques Stephen Alexis, ‘Of the magical realism of the Haitians’. Alexis sought to reconcile the arguments of post-war, radical intellectuals in favour of social realism as…

October 26, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity

Others

Critical Analysis of Meeting at Night by Robert Browning

Introduction: Robert Browning’s poem, “Meeting at Night” is among the most celebrated love poems in English. It holds a unique position among Browning’s poems because it is one of his shortest poems, comprising only twelve lines. It is not a dramatic monologue because it does not reveal any inner conflict, but simply describes the poet’s…

October 24, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity

Literary Terms

Michel Foucault’s Concept of Heterotopia and Its Six Principles

Michel Foucault in his 1967 lecture ‘Des espaces autres’ (Of other spaces) proposed the concept of ‘heterotopia’ to describe spaces such as that of the cinema and the cemetery, which have the ‘curious property’ of being connected to other places via a complex network of relations, but in such a way that they either suspend,…

October 22, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity

Author

Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995); Biography and famous works

Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995) is a French philosopher and historian of science. He was born in Castelnaudary in the Languedoc region. Canguilhem studied at the École Normale Supérieure in the same year as Raymond Aron, Paul Nizan, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Graduating in 1927, he held a series of jobs in lycées in regional France, the last…

October 20, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity

Plays

Role and Significance of Viola’s Disguise in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

In William Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”, Viola’s disguise plays an important role. Although a lady, Viola disguises herself as a gentleman to protect her youth and maidenhood in Illyria. This disguise helps her to get the job of a page at the court of the noble duke, Orsino. But when she visits Olivia as Cesario,…

October 17, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity

Plays

What Is the Chief Source of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II?

Christopher Marlowe’s chief source for his famous drama “Edward II” is Holinshed’s “Chronicle” which was first published in 1577 and subsequently ran in the second edition in 1587. According to Prof. Ward and Dr. Wagner, Marlowe derived his history for the main part from Fabyan’s “Chronicle or Concordance of Histories”. But Marlowe’s history presents some…

October 15, 20260Comments BySupriya Maity