In this blog post, we will examine Henry James’s life and the major themes of his work, focusing on his novel “Washington Square.” The Author’s Life It is said that Henry James’s grandfather was the second-richest person in New York State at the time of his death. Since the first was John Jacob Astor—the wealthiest man in the United States at the time and the country’s first...
What Kind of Poet Was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?
In this blog post, I will take a closer look at Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s life, his body of work, and his literary significance. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) is one of the most widely recognized poets not only in the United States but throughout the world. It is interesting to note that two distinct images often come to mind when thinking of him. One is that of a white-haired...
How did Zora Neale Hurston fall into obscurity and then get rediscovered by Alice Walker?
In this blog post, we’ll explore Zora Neale Hurston’s life and work, and how Alice Walker, along with Black feminism and academia, brought her back from being a hidden master in literary history to a central figure. Rediscovered Artists: Bach, de La Tour, Hurston There are people who fade from public memory after their passing, only to make a spectacular comeback when suddenly thrust back...
Who is Jean Webster, and what is her work about?
This blog post covers Jean Webster’s life, as well as an analysis and review of her novel ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’. Author and Work Analysis Jean Webster was born on July 24, 1876, in Fredonia, New York. Her father was a publisher who had published Mark Twain’s famous novel ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, and her mother, Mark Twain’s niece, was known for her wit. Webster...
Why Should We Embrace Lovecraft’s Bizarre World?
In this blog post, we’ll examine what philosophical questions and perceptions of reality Lovecraft’s bizarre world encompasses beyond mere horror, and explore its significance. Five Works That Define Lovecraft’s World The works I reviewed this time are “The Outsider,” “The Rats in the Walls,” “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Whisperer in the Darkness,” and “The Color Out of Space”—five stories...
Can Raskolnikov’s murder in Dostoevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’ be justified?
In this blog post, we’ll take a close look at how Raskolnikov’s ideology and sense of guilt clash, exploring Dostoevsky’s life and the plot and characters of ‘Crime and Punishment’. About the Author Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in Moscow in 1821 as the second son among seven siblings of a doctor at the Moscow Mariinsky Charitable Hospital. Although his father’s family was of...
“Darwin’s Table” Debate: Is Rape an Evolutionary Adaptation? What Do the Characters and Narrative Reveal?
In this blog post, I will summarize and critically examine the pro- and con arguments regarding whether rape should be viewed as an adaptation—as discussed in “Darwin’s Table”—and present my own position. The Concepts of Natural Selection and Adaptation The mechanism of “natural selection,” as explained by Darwin in ‘On the Origin of Species’, addresses “the question of...
Is rape an evolutionary adaptation? Can it be explained through reproductive strategy and evolutionary psychology?
In this blog post, we will examine the debate surrounding whether rape is an adaptation—as raised in evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology—along with the evidence supporting it, and explore how this can be interpreted from the perspectives of natural selection and reproductive strategy. Arctic foxes living in cold regions evolved to have larger bodies and smaller ears to...
Is ‘Little Women’ simply a coming-of-age novel, or is it a feminist novel depicting women’s lives?
In this blog post, we’ll explore the four sisters’ journey of growth, their mother’s educational philosophy, and the themes of women’s self-actualization and feminist significance embedded in Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’. Even readers who had a contented smile on their faces throughout their reading of ‘Little Women’ might have found themselves thinking this...
How does Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ depict conflict and reconciliation in Puritan society?
In this blog post, we will examine how the conflict with Puritan society is revealed in the work and what clues to reconciliation it offers, by exploring Nathaniel Hawthorne’s life, his early literary career, and the background behind the creation of ‘The Scarlet Letter’. Early Life and Background Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. The son of...