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modernism in american literature essay
modernism in american literature essay
modernism in american literature essay
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The famous poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay once said, “Life is a quest and love a quarrel”. In this quote, Millay explains how one can spend their entire life trying to discover the true meaning of life, while love is simply a continuing series of disagreements. The remarkable life of Edna St. Vincent Millay is extremely important to understand in order to fully appreciate her works. Throughout Millay’s life, she remained true to herself and her beliefs, and this dedication was translated through her stimulating and inspiring poems and plays. Edna St. Vincent Millay thoroughly expresses both the influences of the Modernism Era as well as her life experiences in the sonnet collection, Fatal Interview, and the poems Justice Denied in Massachusettes and Huntsman, What Quarry? which presents a confident, yet insecure theme of the tragedies and bliss that love brings.
Modernism is a style of literature that was increasing in popularity in the years of 1915 to 1946. Modernism poets defied the styles of straightforward and standard writings that were popular in the 19th century. Instead, they chose to tell fragmented stories and poems that reflected society in the era of World War I and challenge popular beliefs. (Dugan). They were experimental and unique while they also demonstrated a poetic license. When she first started writing, Millay was clearly a modernist. She acted as a bohemian figure that was active in the problems of society, which was displayed in the various events in which she protested. Millay felt strongly about the Sacco-Vanzetti case, which involved two Italian immigrants who were accused of robbery and murder. Millay expresses what happened in the poem, Justice Denied in Massachusettes:
Let us sit h...
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...ric Poet." Case Western Reserve University. Web. 12 Feb. 2010. .
Cone, Temple. ""Love is Not All. It is Not Meat Nor Drink."" Bloom's Literary Referance. Facts On File. Web. 15 Feb. 2010. .
Newcomb, John T., and Elizabeth Majerus. "On "Justice Denied in Massachusettes"" Welcome to English. Web. 15 Feb. 2010. .
Gale, Robert L. "Edna St. Vincent Millay's Life." Welcome to English. Web. 15 Feb. 2010. .
Patton, John J. "Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)." Georgetown University: Web hosting. Web. 15 Feb. 2010. .
Pagan writes a captivating story mingled with the challenges of the Eastern Shore legal system. This book gives a complete explanation backed up by research and similar cases as evidence of the ever-changing legal system. It should be a required reading for a history or law student.
We are told there are days when she "was happy to be alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be one with sunlight.." On such days Edna "found it good to be alone and unmolested." Yet on other days, she is molested by despondencies so severe that "...
When her husband and children are gone, she moves out of the house and purses her own ambitions. She starts painting and feeling happier. “There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day” (Chopin 69). Her sacrifice greatly contributed to her disobedient actions. Since she wanted to be free from a societal rule of a mother-woman that she never wanted to be in, she emphasizes her need for expression of her own passions. Her needs reflect the meaning of the work and other women too. The character of Edna conveys that women are also people who have dreams and desires they want to accomplish and not be pinned down by a stereotype.
Remy, Richard C., Gary E. Clayton, and John J. Patrick. "Supreme Court Cases." Civics Today. Columbus, Ohio: Glencoe, 2008. 796. Print.
Edna’s first action that starts off her route to freedom from her relationship is when she fell in love with Robert. Edna had already married a man that she had not loved but he has not been treating her a...
Delbanco, Andrew. "The Half-Life of Edna Pontellier." New Essays on The Awakening. Ed. Wendy Martin. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988. 89-106.
Palmer, Elizabeth A. "The Court and Public Opinion." CQ Weekly 2 Dec. 2000. CQ Weekly. SAGE Publications. Web. 1 Mar. 2000. .
Worchester, . "John Marshall’s Decision on Worcester v. Georgia." PBS. Community Television of Southern California, 18 Mar 2010. Web. 15 Jan 2014. .
St. Vincent Millay, Edna. "Time Does Not Bring Relief." 1917. Renascence and Other Poems. Kessinger, 2005. 1-52. Print.
Almost every society in the history of the world has had some form of a judicial court system, but there are obviously major differences in the various court systems. One of the most outlandish court systems has to belong to Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690’s. The court system of Salem, Massachusetts is so memorable because of the events of the Salem Witch Trials. When you compare the Salem courts from the 1690s to present-day America, it will become quite evident all the freedoms that you get today. The Salem courts from the late seventeenth century and the present-day American courts differ in the freedoms and privileges a person was given, public opinion, and religious bias.
In this paper I will explain and discuss the historical events that took place in a small rural town in early Massachusetts. The setting for which is Irene Quenzler Brown's and Richard D. Brown's, The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler. I will explain the actions and motives of Hannah and Betsy Wheeler in seeking legal retribution of husband and father Ephraim Wheeler. I will also discuss the large scope of patriarchal power allowed by the law and that given to husbands and masters of households. Of course, this will also lead to discussions of what was considered abuse of these powers by society and the motivation for upholding the Supreme Court's decision to hang Ephraim Wheeler.
There are constant boundaries and restrictions imposed on Edna Pontellier that ignite Edna’s struggle for freedom. Edna is a young Creole wife and mother in a high-class society. Leonce Pontellier, her husband is declared “…the best husband in the world”, while Edna sits and feels unsatisfied with her marriage. Edna did not respect her husband as the other women did. Leonce condemned Edna for neglecting their children. Edna’s mind was at rest concerning the present material needs of her children. Edna’s thoughts are clouded with her unhappiness, one night she awakes and sits in the night air and cries. She does not know how to explain her crying, but the reader is able to understand that it is because she is unhappy with her life.
Edna St. Vincent Millay grew up in a small town in Maine. She was always encouraged by her mother to pursue her writing and musical talents. She finished college and moved to New York City where she lived a fast pace life pursuing acting and play writing. Her liveliness, independence, and sexuality inspired her writing styles and gave her poetry a freshness that no others had. She is famous for writing sonnets like “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why.” This poem holds many metaphors and symbols pertaining to how certain seasons make people feel. She compares the feeling of nature with her personal feelings of being alone after having so many lovers.
Marianne Moore’s most popular poem, which is also her most ambiguously titled poem, is called “Poetry.” In this poem Moore decisively strayed away from her conventional writing style of contrariety and the bizarre, but it does seem to share other characteristics of her earlier poetry. Moore’s apparent purpose in writing “Poetry” was to criticize the present social outlook on the entire idea of poetry, to come up with a universal definition of poetry and of genuine poetry, and ultimately to convince those who dislike poetry of its benefits. She attempted to present this criticism and definition by means of blatant irony, and even though she desperately wants to describe the seemingly trivial activity of poetry, she fails to provide a definition that is not caught up in the negative.
Love is the ubiquitous force that drives all people in life. If people did not want, give, or receive love, they would never experience life because it is the force that completes a person. People rely on this seemingly absent force although it is ever-present. Elizabeth Barrett Browning is an influential poet who describes the necessity of love in her poems from her book Sonnets from the Portuguese. She writes about love based on her relationship with her husband. Her life is dependent on him, and she expresses this same reliance of love in her poetry. She uses literary devices to strengthen her argument for the necessity of love. The necessity of love is a major theme in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnet 14,” “Sonnet 43,” and “Sonnet 29.”