One of the most read women in American literature courses, Emily Dickinson is a revered poet in our literary canon. The ways in which she achieved this role, however, are far from conventional. In this essay I discuss Dickinson's posthumous literary emergence, and what that signifies about her editors, anthologists, and readers.
The events that lead to Faustus' downfall are undoubtedly at the fault of Faustus himself. I discuss the tragic flaw of Faustus, and how each of his disciplines plays a role in his ruin.
Both Lady Macbeth and King Lear suffer dramatic bouts of insanity that lead to their doom. There are vital differences between these characters' psychoses, however. I consider the cause and effect of each.
Although the men in "Paradise Lost" have far more sway and authority than the women, I argue that the different female characters in "Paradise Lost" exhibit their own power through their ability to propel their male counterparts into circumstances that give them access to knowledge and power.
As a knight of Camelot, Sir Gawain is bound to demanding rules and expectations to which he is almost overly attached. His interactions with a playful fairy (the Green Knight) lead Sir Gawain to produce a motion that I believe undercuts all his focus and training as one of Camelot's knights.
Although theorists in the past have demanded readers consistently kowtow to writers and their intentions, I argue that the role of the reader has come to the forefront, and what is demanded of the reader must change.
Despite being the human embodiment compassion, Rama continually exposes himself to be a man capable of incredible cruelty to women whom he believes have the potential for agency or sexual deviance. I discuss the ways in which women are able to maintain power despite this cruelty, and the echoes of this pattern in the modern short story "Draupadi" by Mahasweta Devi.