Analysis of "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost Robert Frost is the author of the poem The Road Not Taken, he is a man of many faces. He has written poems and books explaining why humans are the way they are. Unfortunately, it seems to me that this leads to a generalization of the human species as a whole. Along the way in his writings he has made blanket statements about human nature and what he believes is the right way to go about choices and crossroads in life. Also, he has...

19th Century Performance Conditions 1800-1900 Theatre of the Time o Much larger theatres – Drury Lane (3000) Acting space diminished meaning actors moved behind the proscenium arch o Huge size necessitated slower, more demonstrative acting technique o Less audience involvement due to the large distance from the stage o 1817 introduction of gas light o Auditorium now in darkness during production o Free standing props and hydraulic machinery o Henry Irving – famous actor o Introduction of...

Critical Analysis of the Play "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell The play trifles is a true murder mystery by Susan Glaspell. The setting is in a lonely, cold landscape of the Wright’s kitchen, where the action of the play takes place. The kitchen is in disorder with unwashed dishes, a dirty dishtowel, and a loaf of bread sitting out. The scene gives the impression of a lonely household with little attention having been paid to cleaning up recently. Three men, Sheriff Peters, the court...

Death Of A Toad The structure of the poem adds much to the meaning Robert Wilbur was trying to convey. The theme of “The Death of a Toad” is the disruption of the natural cycle of life”. Wilbur wrote this poem that structurally makes this point, as well. The use of feminine rhymes makes the rhyme scheme unnatural. For example, the word “caught” does not rhyme exactly with “got”. Also, there are only three stanzas, making the balance of the poem...

Themes of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller’s literary play, Death of a Salesman, sets up a theme involving the American Dream and the main character, Willy Loman, in a downward spiral. Death of a Salesman shows that all men must be sentenced to discover their own smallness rather than hiding behind the illusion of a big man who is undone by his own greatness. The major theme is that one must be able, in general, to distinguish between reality and illusion, which becomes...

Realism in "Uncle Vanya" and "A Doll's House" A play serves as the author's tool for critiquing society. One rarely encounters the ability to transcend accepted social beliefs. These plays reflect controversial issues that the audience can relate to because they interact in the same situations every day. As late nineteenth century playwrights point out the flaws of mankind they also provide an answer to the controversy. Unknowingly the hero or heroine solves the problem at the end of the play...

Reference Back In Reference Back, Philip Larkin is referring back to the days where he would just sit at home listening to music. He wasn’t listening to the music alone. “That was a pretty one” quotes the narrator. The other person present would appear to like the speaker’s choice of music. It would also appear that the music being played is fairly loud, “you call from the unsatisfactory hall to the unsatisfactory room”. This quotation also gives us the...

Rudyard Kipling and Poetry "Kipling strikes me as personally the most complete man of genius that I have ever known" (Ricketts 270). Such was Henry James' opinion regarding Rudyard Kipling. Surely a man held in such esteem would be capable of becoming an accomplished poet. However, Kipling became a very disputed author. He produced works that caught the eye of many critics, receiving both positive and negative attention particularly in the genre of poetry. Because of the content, style,...

Robert Lowell - "On Skunk Hour" - The Stinky Criticism Steven Gould Axelrod and James E. B. Breslin’s criticisms of Robert Lowell’s “Skunk Hour” agree about the significance and meaning of the first four stanzas. However they start to veer away from each other in their analysis of stanza five where there is an obvious shift in tone and direction. Both give a completely different analysis of the second half of the poem from the other with one skipping the end...

Dramatic Horizons of Significance in Stoppard's Plays Before turning to Stoppard's play, however, I'd like to linger for a few moments on those plays we have read in Liberal Studies: some Greek tragedies, Aristophanes's Clouds, and Shakespeare's Tempest and, most importantly, Hamlet. These all contain elements that seem to be lacking in Stoppard's play--and our initial confusion, if there is any, may stem in large part from our sense that we're missing something that we are used to. ...