Author Archives
Literariness is an open access collection of notes inviting everyone to explore the unfathomable English Language, Literature, and Theory. Feel free to discover and share knowledge.
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NTA UGC NET English December 2019 Questions and Answers
QUESTION 1 ANSWER: 1 QUESTION 2 ANSWER: 1 QUESTION 3 ANSWER: 3 QUESTION 4 ANSWER: 2 QUESTION 5 ANSWER: 3 QUESTION 6 ANSWER: 3 QUESTION 7 ANSWER: 2 QUESTION 8 ANSWER: 3 QUESTION 9 ANSWER: 1 QUESTION 10 ANSWER: 2… Read More ›
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Analysis of Franz Kafka’s Stories
Franz Kafka’s (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) stories are not about love or success. They do not leave the reader feeling comfortable. Writing was, for him, a necessity. On August 6, 1914, Kafka wrote in his diary: “My… Read More ›
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Analysis of Guy de Maupassant’s Stories
Although his active literary career began in 1880 and lasted only ten years, Guy de Maupassant was nevertheless an extraordinarily productive writer whose short stories dealt with such diverse themes as war, prostitution, marital infidelity, religion, madness, cultural misunderstanding between… Read More ›
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Analysis of Kate Chopin’s Stories
Until the 1970’s, Kate Chopin (1850–1904) was known best literarily, if at all, as a “local colorist,” primarily for her tales of life in New Orleans and rural Louisiana. Chopin manages in these stories (about twothirds of her total output)… Read More ›
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Analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s Stories
Any study of Ernest Hemingway’s (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) short stories must begin with a discussion of style. Reacting against the overblown, rhetorical, and often bombastic narrative techniques of his predecessors, Hemingway spent considerable time as a… Read More ›
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Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Stories
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s reading in American colonial history confirmed his basically ambivalent attitude toward the American past, particularly the form that Puritanism took in the New England colonies. Especially interested in the intensity of the Puritan-Cavalier rivalry, the Puritan inclination to… Read More ›
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Analysis of Graham Greene’s Stories
“Goodness has only once found a perfect incarnation in a human body and never will again, but evil can always find a home there. Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.” So said Graham Greene in… Read More ›
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Analysis of Nikolai Gogol’s Stories
Nikolai Gogol (31 March 1809 – 4 March 1852) combines the consummate stylist with the innocent spectator, flourishes and flounces with pure human emotion, naturalism with delicate sensitivity. He bridges the period between Romanticism and realism in Russian literature. He… Read More ›
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Analysis of Leo Tolstoy’s Stories
Leo Tolstoy’s (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910) ego embraces the world, so that he is always at the center of his fictive creation, filling his books with his struggles, personae, problems, questions, and quests for answers, and above… Read More ›
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Analysis of Dylan Thomas’s Stories
Dylan Thomas’s ten stories in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog are charming reminiscences of his relatives, school friends, and neighbors in the town where he grew up. Their wit and accessibility made them immediately popular, in contrast… Read More ›
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Analysis of R. K. Narayan’s Stories
R. K. Narayan (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001) said that he found English the most rewarding medium to employ for his writing because it came to him very easily: “English is a very adaptable language. And it’s so… Read More ›
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Analysis of Muriel Spark’s Stories
Muriel Spark (1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006) was an adept storyteller with a narrative voice that was often distant or aloof. Her tales are psychologically interesting because Spark was reluctant to reveal all that her characters think and… Read More ›
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Analysis of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Stories
Isaac Bashevis Singer (November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) relished the short story; he believed that it offered, much more than the novel, the possibility of perfection. His stories, however, seldom reveal signs of a painstaking artisan conscious of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Saki’s (H. H. Munro) Stories
The brilliant satirist of the mind and manners of an upper-crust Great Britain that World War I would obliterate, Saki (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916) operates within a rich national tradition that stretches from the towering figure of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Margaret Atwood’s Stories
One of Margaret Atwood’s (born November 18, 1939) central themes is storytelling itself, and most of her fiction relates to that theme in some way. The short-story collections each focus on key issues. Dancing Girls is primarily concerned with otherness,… Read More ›
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Analysis of Jorge Luis Borges’s Stories
Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986) may be, quite simply, the single most important writer of short fiction in the history of Latino literature. The stories he published in his collections Ficciones, 1935-1944 and El Aleph, particularly the former, not… Read More ›
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Analysis of Alice Munro’s Stories
Alice Munro (born 10 July 1931) is first and foremost a writer of short fiction. However, the line between long and short fiction is sometimes blurred in her writings. She has published one book that is generally classified as a… Read More ›
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Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s Stories
During his life, Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) was a figure of controversy and so became reasonably well known in literary circles. Two of his works were recognized with prizes: Manuscript Found in a Bottle and The Gold-Bug. The Raven, his most… Read More ›
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State Eligibility Test (English) Questions and Answers
STATE ELIGIBILITY TEST (ENGLISH) PROVISIONAL ANSWER KEY EXAM CONDUCTED ON 29 SEPTEMBER 2019 Which character in Chaucer’s General Prologue was stout and brawny, with a wart on his nose? A) The Summoner B) The Monk C) The Miller D) The PardonerANSWER:… Read More ›
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Analysis of Anton Chekhov’s Stories
In his lifetime, Anton Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) gained considerable critical acclaim. In 1888, he won the Pushkin Prize for his fiction, and in 1900, he was selected to honorary membership in the Russian Academy of Sciences for both… Read More ›
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English Literature and Theory MCQs
Access world’s largest database of English Literature and Theory MCQs.
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Video Lectures December Session
Coming Soon from Literariness.org 6 Month Online Coaching for the Post of Lecturer in English (Kerala Collegiate Education) 📌 450 Essays📌 300 Short Notes📌 10000+ MCQs📌 50 Mock Tests📌 250 Audio Lectures📌 Video Lectures Only ₹3000 for 6 Month Course… Read More ›
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Online Coaching PSC Lecturer in English
Coming Soon from Literariness.org 6 Month Online Coaching for the Post of Lecturer in English (Kerala Collegiate Education) 📌 450 Essays 📌 300 Short Notes 📌 10000+ MCQs 📌 50 Mock Tests 📌 250 Audio Lectures 📌 Video Lectures Only… Read More ›
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Kerala University M.Phil English Entrance Answer Key with Detailed Solution
Entrance Examination for Admission to the M.Phil Courses, 2019 English Language and Literature Time: 3 Hours … Read More ›
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Detailed Solution Mock Test 3 UGC NTA NET JRF ENGLISH EXAM
DETAILED SOLUTION MOCK TEST 3 UGC NTA NET JRF ENGLISH EXAM 1. The term invective refers to (A) The abusive writing or speech in which there is harsh denunciation of some person or thing. (B) An insulting writing attack upon… Read More ›
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Kannur University M.Phil English Entrance Questions and Answers
University of Kannur M.Phil Entrance Examination, August 2019 Department of Studies in English, Thalassery Campus Exam Date: 02 August 2019. Time: 2 Hours … Read More ›
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MOCK TEST 3 UGC NTA NET JRF ENGLISH EXAM
PDF MOCK TEST 3 UGC NTA NET JRF ENGLISH EXAM All questions are compulsory and each carry equal marks. Time 35 Minutes 1. The term invective refers to (A) The abusive writing or speech in which there is harsh denunciation of… Read More ›
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Solved Paper Mock Test 2 UGC NTA NET JRF English
PDF MOCK TEST 2 UGC NTA NET JRF English Exam Solved Paper All questions are compulsory and each carry equal marks. Time 35 Minutes 1. Which of the following statements on Pathetic Fallacy is NOT TRUE? (A) This term applies to… Read More ›
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MOCK TEST 2 UGC NTA NET JRF English Exam
PDF MOCK TEST 2 UGC NTA NET JRF ENGLISH EXAM All questions are compulsory and each carry equal marks. Time 35 Minutes 1. Which of the following statements on Pathetic Fallacy is NOT TRUE? (A) This term applies to descriptions that… Read More ›
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UGC NTA NET JRF English Exam Mock Test 1 Solved
PDF of UGC NTA NET JRF ENGLISH EXAM MOCK TEST 1 Solved 1. Bertolt Brecht’s Epic Theatre (a) turns the spectator into an observer (b) wears down the spectator’s capacity for action (c) relies on argument (d) presents man as… Read More ›
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UGC NET JRF English Online Coaching
The Coaching Classes for UGC NET JRF English will commence on 1st August 2019. The duration of the coaching classes is Five months. Aspirants are requested to register here. Course Features: Audio and Video Lectures by top faculties An all-inclusive… Read More ›
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British Literature (19th Century) Scholarly Materials
University of Calicut
M.A. English Literatue
ENG1 CO2 British Literature 19th Century Materials -
Introduction to Cultural Studies Paper Scholarly Materials
University of Calicut
M.A. English Literatue
ENG3E05 Introduction to Cultural Studies -
University of Calicut Literary Criticism and Theory Paper Scholarly Materials
University of Calicut M.A. English Literary Criticism and Theory Paper Scholarly Materials
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University of Kannur M.A. English Literature Scholarly Materials
University of Kannur M.A. English Literature ENG3E08 Third Semester European Fiction Scholarly Materials
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Twentieth Century British Literature Post-1940 Scholarly Materials
University of Calicut M.A. English Literature ENG3C09 Twentieth Century British Literature Post-1940 Syllabus Section A: Poetry Dylan Thomas : Fern Hill Philip Larkin : Church Going Thom Gunn : On the Move Ted Hughes : View of a Pig Seamus… Read More ›
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NTA UGC NET English June 2019 Questions and Answers
NTA UGC NET English June 2019 Questions and Answers
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University of Calicut M.A. English Literature Materials
University of Calicut M.A. English Literature Materials
ENG1CO1 British Literature from Chaucer to 18th Century -
Analysis of Daphne Du Maurier’s Novels
The theatrical quality of du Maurier’s (13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) novels is evidenced by the frequency and reported ease with which her works were adapted for the big screen. Alfred Hitchcock directed film versions of Jamaica Inn,… Read More ›
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Analysis of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Novels
Arthur Conan Doyle’s (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) epitaph “STEEL TRUE/BLADE STRAIGHT” can also serve as an introduction to the themes of his novels, both those that feature actual medieval settings and those that center on Sherlock Holmes…. Read More ›
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Analysis of Agatha Christie’s Novels
Agatha Christie’s (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) trademarks in detective fiction brought to maturity the classical tradition of the genre, which was in its adolescence when she began to write. The tradition had some stable characteristics, but she… Read More ›
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Analysis of J. G. Ballard’s Novels
Ballard (15 November 1930 – 19 April 2009) is one of a handful of writers who, after establishing early reputations as science-fiction writers, subsequently achieved a kind of “transcendence” of their genre origins to be accepted by a wider public…. Read More ›
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Analysis of Kingsley Amis’s Novels
Almost from the beginning of his career, Kingsley Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) enjoyed the attention of numerous commentators. Because his works have been filled with innovations, surprises, and variations in techniques and themes, it is not… Read More ›
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Analysis of Virginia Woolf’s Novels
From the appearance of her first novel in 1915, Virginia Woolf’s work was received with respect—an important point, since she was extremely sensitive to criticism. Descendant of a distinguished literary family, member of the avant-garde Bloomsbury Group, herself an experienced… Read More ›
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Analysis of Anthony Trollope’s Novels
Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was acknowledged during his lifetime as a prominent though not necessarily a weighty or enduring writer. He wished to entertain and he did so, at least until the late 1860’s when… Read More ›
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Analysis of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Novels
J. R. R. Tolkien’s (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) fiction dismayed most of his fellow scholars at the University of Oxford as much as it delighted most of his general readers. Such reactions sprang from their recognition of… Read More ›
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Analysis of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Novels
Long remembered as a social satirist par excellence, William Makepeace Thackeray (18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) wrote more in the manner of Henry Fielding than of Samuel Richardson and more in the realistic vein than in the style… Read More ›
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Analysis of Mary Shelley’s Novels
Shelley’s literary reputation rests solely on her first novel, Frankenstein. Her six other novels, which are of uneven quality, are very difficult indeed to find, even in the largest libraries. Nevertheless, Mary Shelley lays claim to a dazzling array of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Samuel Richardson’s Novels
Perhaps Richardson’s (19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) most important contribution to the development of the novel was his concern for the nonexceptional problems of daily conduct, the relationships between men and women, and the specific class-and-caste distinctions of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Jean Rhys’s Novel Wide Sargasso Sea
When Wide Sargasso Sea, her last novel, was published, Jean Rhys (24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was described in The New York Times as the greatest living novelist. Such praise is overstated, but Rhys’s fiction, long overlooked by… Read More ›
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Analysis of Henry Fielding’s Novels
Henry Fielding’s (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) lasting achievements in prose fiction—in contrast to his passing fame as an essayist, dramatist, and judge—result from his development of critical theory and from his aesthetic success in the novels themselves…. Read More ›
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Analysis of George Eliot’s Novels
George Eliot’s (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880) pivotal position in the history of the novel is attested by some of the most distinguished novelists. Reviewing Middlemarch in 1873, Henry James concluded, “It sets a limit, we think, to… Read More ›
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Analysis of Margaret Drabble’s Novels
Margaret Drabble’s (born 5 June 1939) novels charm and delight, but perhaps more significantly, they reward their readers with a distinctively modern woman’s narrative voice and their unusual blend of Victorian and modern structures and concerns. Although there seems to… Read More ›
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Analysis of Walter de la Mare’s Novels
Walter De la Mare (25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) published only five novels, one of which, At First Sight, is more a long short story than a true novel. His fiction is metaphorical and resembles his poetry in… Read More ›
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Analysis of Joseph Conrad’s Novels
In the late twentieth century, Joseph Conrad (3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) enjoyed an extraordinary renaissance in readership and in critical attention. Readers and critics alike have come to recognize that although one of Conrad’s last novels, The… Read More ›
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Analysis of Wilkie Collins’s Novels
Collins’s reputation nearly a century after his death rests almost entirely on two works—The Woman in White, published serially in All the Year Round between November 26, 1859, and August 25, 1860; and The Moonstone, published in 1868. About this… Read More ›
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Analysis of George Orwell’s Novels
Although George Orwell (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) is widely recognized as one of the best essayists of the twentieth century, his reputation as a novelist rests almost entirely on two works: the political allegory Animal Farm and… Read More ›
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CUCET M.Phil/Ph.D English 2019 Answer Key
CUCET M.Phil/Ph.D English 2019 Answer Key Part B 51. (D) John Milton 52. (A) Matthew Arnold 53. (C) The French Lieutenant’s Woman 54. (D) L. C. Knights 55. (B) Anachronism 56. (A) Martin Esslin 57. (B) Dr. Johnson 58. (C)… Read More ›
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CUCET English Answer Key 2019
Answer Key CUCET English (PG) PART B 26. (C) Morality plays A type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him or her to choose a good life over… Read More ›
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Analysis of George Meredith’s Novels
In the late nineteenth century, George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) achieved the status of a literary dictator or arbiter of taste. The path toward this recognition was, however, a long and arduous one. For years, Meredith… Read More ›
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Analysis of W. Somerset Maugham’s Novels
W. Somerset Maugham’s (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) twenty novels are exceptionally uneven; the first eight, though interesting, suggest the efforts of a young novelist to discover where his talent lies. From the publication of Of Human Bondage… Read More ›
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Analysis of Doris Lessing’s Novels
Doris Lessing (22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) has been one of the most widely read and influential British novelists of the second half of the twentieth century. Her works have been translated into many languages and have inspired critical attention… Read More ›
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Analysis of Rudyard Kipling’s Novels
Best known for his short fiction, Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) wrote more than 250 stories. His style of leaving a story open-ended with the tantalizing phrase “But that’s another story” established his reputation for unlimited storytelling…. Read More ›
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Analysis of John Dryden’s Plays
In a period of just over thirty years (1663-1694), John Dryden (August 9, 1631 – May 12, 1700) wrote or coauthored twenty-eight plays, an output that made him the most prolific dramatist of his day. His amplitude remains even more remarkable… Read More ›
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Analysis of William Congreve’s Plays
William Congreve’s (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) first play, The Old Bachelor, was an instant success; its initial run of fourteen days made it the most popular play since Thomas Otway’s Venice Preserved (pr., pb. 1682). The Double-Dealer… Read More ›
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Analysis of Lanford Wilson’s Plays
During his first period of playwriting (1963-1972), Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937 – March 24, 2011) struggled to learn his trade—mainly in the convivial atmosphere of Off-Off-Broadway, where it did not matter if sometimes audiences did not show up. His… Read More ›
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Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Plays
Arthur Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) has been acclaimed as one of the most distinguished American dramatists since Eugene O’Neill, the father of modern American drama. Because of his direct engagement with political issues and with the… Read More ›
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Analysis of William Wycherley’s Plays
William Wycherley’s (8 April 1641 – 1 January 1716) dramatic canon consists of only four plays, and his stature in English letters depends almost entirely on a single work, The Country Wife. In his own day, The Plain-Dealer was his… Read More ›
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Analysis of Michel Tremblay’s Plays
Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is part of a new generation of playwrights that emerged in Quebec during the 1960’s and 1970’s, a time of profound political and cultural change for this province. Led by Tremblay, these writers saw… Read More ›
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Analysis of Wendy Wasserstein’s Plays
Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) has been hailed as the foremost theatrical chronicler of the lives of women of her generation. Her plays, steeped in her unique brand of humor, are moving, sometimes wrenching explorations of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Oscar Wilde’s Plays
To accuse Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) of anything so active-sounding as “achievement” would be an impertinence that the strenuously indolent author would most likely deplore. Yet it must be admitted that Wilde’s presence, poses, ideas,… Read More ›
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Analysis of Stephen Sondheim’s Plays
Stephen Sondheim (born. March 22, 1930) was the most critically acclaimed figure in American musical theater during the last three decades of the twentieth century. Sondheim has won the Tony Award for Best Original Score five times, more than any… Read More ›
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Analysis of August Strindberg’s Plays
Tremendously influential in both Europe and the United States, August Strindberg (22 January 1849 – 14 May 1912) was begrudgingly praised by Henrik Ibsen as one who would be greater than he, and more generously lauded half a century later… Read More ›
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Analysis of Neil Simon’s Plays
Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) has established himself as a leading American playwright of the late twentieth century. As a master of domestic comedy and one-line humor, his popular appeal was established early in his career…. Read More ›
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Analysis of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s Plays
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (30 October 1751 – 7 July 1816) was the best playwright of eighteenth century England, a time of great actors rather than great playwrights. Judged on theatrical rather than strictly literary merit, Sheridan also ranks with the… Read More ›
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Analysis of Terence Rattigan’s Plays
The first author ever to have had two plays (French Without Tears and While the Sun Shines) run for more than one thousand performances each on London’s West End, Terence Rattigan (10 June 1911 – 30 November 1977) was one… Read More ›
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Analysis of Ntozake Shange’s Plays
Ntozake Shange’s (October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) work embodies a rich confusion of genres and all the contradictions inherent in a world in which violence and oppression polarize life and art. These polarizations in Shange’s work both contribute… Read More ›
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Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays
Few dramatists can lay claim to the universal reputation achieved by William Shakespeare. His plays have been translated into many languages and performed on amateur and professional stages throughout the world. Radio, television, and film versions of the plays in… Read More ›
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Analysis of J. B. Priestley’s Plays
Much of J. B. Priestley’s ((13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984)) drama explores the oneness of all human beings. That notion leads the dramatist to view individuals as members of a charmed or magic circle. The circle is continually… Read More ›
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Analysis of Christopher Durang’s Plays
Christopher Durang (born January 2, 1949) belongs to the postmodernist wave of American playwrights who emerged during the 1970’s, including A. R. Gurney, Jr., Tina Howe, and Sam Shepard. These writers fused the experimental techniques of the structuralist theater experiments… Read More ›
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Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s Plays
Henrik Ibsen (20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) is widely acknowledged as the father of modern drama, but his significance in literature and history overshadows the influence of his revolutionary stage techniques and his iconoclastic concept of the theater…. Read More ›
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Analysis of Noël Coward’s Plays
As a playwright, composer, lyricist, producer, director, author, and actor, Noël Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) spent his life entertaining the public. This he did with a flair, sophistication, and polish that are not readily found in… Read More ›
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Analysis of Jean Cocteau’s Plays
Early in his career, during and after World War I, Jean Cocteau (5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) wrote scenarios for ballets and adaptations of Greek myths. His plays of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s were highly original… Read More ›
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Analysis of Caryl Churchill’s Plays
Caryl Churchill (born 3 September 1938, London) has become well known for her willingness to experiment with dramatic structure. Her innovations in this regard are sometimes so startling and compelling that reviewers tend to focus on the novelty of her… Read More ›
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Analysis of Frank Chin’s Plays
It may be said that Frank Chin (born February 25, 1940) has pioneered in the field of Asian American literature. His daring and verbally exuberant theater has asserted the presence of the richly unique and deeply human complexities of Chinese… Read More ›
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Analysis of Alan Ayckbourn’s Plays
With labels flourishing during the new era in drama (Osborne’s angry theater, Beckett’s Theater of the Absurd, Pinter’s comedy of menace, Arnold Wesker’s kitchen-sink drama), Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939), too, has been honored with his own label, the… Read More ›
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Analysis of Aeschylus’s Plays
Despite the fifth century b.c.e. Athenian political and religious issues that are diffused more often in Aeschylus’s tragedies than in those of Sophocles and Euripides and that demand some historical explanation for the modern reader, the plays of Aeschylus (c…. Read More ›
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Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s Plays
T. S. Eliot’s conservative dramaturgy is clearly expressed in his 1928 essay “Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry” in which he suggests that “genuine drama” displays “a tension between liturgy and realism.” To be sure, Eliot differed sharply from the advocates of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Anton Chekhov’s Plays
Anton Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904 was talking about other writers when he said, “The best of them are realists and depict life as it is, but because every line they write is permeated, as with a juice, by… Read More ›
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Analysis of Karel Capek’s Plays
Karel Capek (9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was concerned with the natural order of things, a theme that pervaded much of his work. His allegorical approach to expressionism linked his deep philosophical concerns to striking and often disturbing human… Read More ›
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Analysis of Samuel Beckett’s Plays
The dramatic works of Samuel Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) reflect the evolution of his interests in various means of artistic expression, as he composed plays for stage, radio, cinema, and television. In his stage plays, he… Read More ›
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Analysis of Tennessee Williams’ Plays
If the weight of critical opinion places Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), below Eugene O’Neill as America’s premiere dramatist, there should be no question that the former playwright is without peer in either the diversity of… Read More ›
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Analysis of Amiri Baraka’s Plays
Working with forms ranging from the morality play to avant-garde expressionism, Amiri Baraka (October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014) throughout his career sought to create dramatic rituals expressing the intensity of the physical and psychological violence that dominates his… Read More ›
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Analysis of Sam Shepard’s Plays
Sam Shepard (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was one of the United States’ most prolific, most celebrated, and most honored playwrights. Writing exclusively for the Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater, Shepard has nevertheless won eleven Obie Awards (for Red… Read More ›
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Analysis of Jean Anouilh’s Plays
The young Jean Anouilh (23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) arrived in Paris during one of the richest periods of French dramatic activity since the seventeenth century. Recently rescued from the commercial doldrums by a “Cartel” of four brilliant… Read More ›
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Analysis of John Millington Synge’s Plays
When, in 1893, John Millington Synge (16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was choosing between musical and literary careers, two seminal documents were published that would profoundly affect his decision and form the character of his subsequent work. These… Read More ›
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Analysis of John Osborne’s Plays
John Osborne’s (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) most generous critics credit him with having transformed the English stage on a single night: May 8, 1956, when Look Back in Anger opened at the Royal Court Theatre. He is… Read More ›
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Analysis of George Bernard Shaw’s Plays
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) came to an English theater settled into the well-made play, a theater that had not known a first-rate dramatist for more than a century. The pap on which its audiences… Read More ›
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Analysis of Tom Stoppard’s Plays
Tom Stoppard’s (born. 3 July 1937) dramaturgy reveals a cyclical pattern of activity. He tends to explore certain subjects or techniques in several minor works, then creates a major play that integrates the fruits of his earlier trial runs. Thus… Read More ›
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Analysis of Luigi Pirandello’s Plays
In Each in His Own Way, Luigi Pirandello (28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) playfully has one of his characters ask another to justify his incessant “harping on this illusion and reality string.” So persistent is Pirandello’s dramatic examination… Read More ›