Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The role of mythology in literature
Importance of myths in literature
The metaphor in the metaphor story
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is not the typical fairytale that people every have gotten so used to hearing. Looking at how Gaiman somehow adheres to both Northrop Frye’s mythos of summer and winter, in addition to the strange cast of characters, and the unique setting of the novel; readers obtain an experience unparalleled to the classic fairytale. Gaiman follows all the rules of Vladimir Propp’s structure for a fairytale, but in an unconventional way. His heavy use of irony is what keeps the story interesting and sets it aside from other classic tales that have been told for so long.
Stardust follows the adventures of three sets of people along their journey to retrieve a fallen star. The first plot line is the typical boy who embarks on a journey
…show more content…
Audiences have been conditioned to think in a single mind and Gaiman knows this and challenges what the reader is expecting. The reader experiences what is known as situational irony. The characters, setting, and events in the novel stray from the standard and routine way of thinking (Shelly 776). The most prominent form if situational irony that readers pick up on in the novel is that the characters do not meet their standard archetypical functions. A pirate is expected to be gruesome, tough, and mean however our captain in the novel Stardust completely shatters these expectations. His name is Captain Johannes Alberic and he is actually a light hearted man who rather than stealing treasure, steals lightning out of the sky and sells it. The captain is just one of many characters that don’t not fit the ideal characters that we envision in this fairytale. When our main hero is found stranded in the sky by a pirate ship, readers are expecting conflict or some act of heroism and bravery that frees them form the grasp of an evil doer. Unexpectedly, the pirate captain is polite and chivalrous (Gaiman …show more content…
The mythos of autumn is a transitional piece of literature that goes from “summer” into “winter.” Frye describes this as the genre of tragedy, in that there is a movement from the ideal world to the real world; likewise, the mythos of spring involves a movement from the ideal world back to the real world (Tyson 210). If genres are the seasons, then Stardust’s physical structure of the wall that divides the lands acts an equinox. When the hero of the tale, Tristian, crosses over the wall there is a shift in genre. When crossing from the land of Faerie back into the town of Wall, his intentions were to deliver a piece of the star to woman called Victoria and in return he’d get his “heart’s true desire.” So Tristian cuts a piece of silver hair from the star to bring her as proof that he found it. He is confident, but upon meeting with the beautiful Victoria- the lock of hair turns to a handful of stardust. It is now that Tristian realizes that the two world can never meet. When Tristian originally crossed over into the land of Faerie however, he life was then filled with color. This transition as aforementioned is referred to as the mythos of spring and it concerns itself with the genre of comedy (210). A comedy features a protagonist with real world problems, the villains of comedies are often absurd and humorous. One of the villains of Stardust is a band of prince’s
In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, irony is often used to convey information and contribute to the overall theme of the novel. Many parts of the book contain this irony because it works well for fueling either the main antagonist or protagonist actions. Fahrenheit 451 is a book based on the ideals of a “utopian society” where books are illegal and burned if they’re found. Firemen are ordered to burn books and all houses that contain them, versus putting out fires and protecting people. In communities people don’t think, they cannot be ‘intellectuals’, and they are forced become drones of the government’s ideals. In the novel Farenheit 451 irony is used to express the complex ideas of the society, but also gives the book more understanding and meaning by making us think differently, how characters are ironically told not to.
An element of literature in The Interlopers is situational irony. Irony is the contrast between an actual outcome and what the reader or the characters expect. Irony is important to this story because a major family conflict would have ended, but an event occurred and changed that. Irony is in the interlopers when the wolves came and ate the men. When Georg says, “I will be your friend” it was major irony (Saki 309). The whole story the reader thought that the two men would surely kill each other when they met, but they made up. Also, when Ulrich said “Wolves” there is a turning point fueled by Irony (Saki 310).
As he slouches in bed, a description of the bare trees and an old woman gathering coal are given to convey to the reader an idea of the times and the author's situation. "All groves are bare," and "unmarried women (are) sorting slate from arthracite." This image operates to tell the reader that it is a time of poverty, or a "yellow-bearded winter of depression." No one in the town has much to live for during this time. "Cold trees" along with deadness, through the image of "graves," help illustrate the author's impression of winter. Wright seems to be hibernating from this hard time of winter, "dreaming of green butterflies searching for diamonds in coal seams." This conveys a more colorful and happy image showing what he wishes was happening; however he knows that diamonds are not in coal seams and is brought back to the reality of winter. He talks of "hills of fresh graves" while dreaming, relating back to the reality of what is "beyond the streaked trees of (his) window," a dreary, povern-strucken, and cold winter.
By definition, irony is the expression of one’s meaning that typically signifies the opposite. Authors have scribed irony in their literature since before pen and paper existed because even ancient bards such as Homer discovered the power irony can bring to a good story. Khaled Hosseini, the author of the novel The Kite Runner, masterfully weaves intricate and delicate examples of irony to enrich the story. Irony plays a pivotal role in the novel to develop the plot, by creating suspense, the themes, by informing the reader, and the characters, by showing their personalities and unconscious motives.
Fairies, mortals, magic, love, and hate all intertwine to make A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare a very enchanting tale, that takes the reader on a truly dream-like adventure. The action takes place in Athens, Greece in ancient times, but has the atmosphere of a land of fantasy and illusion which could be anywhere. The mischievousness and the emotions exhibited by characters in the play, along with their attempts to double-cross destiny, not only make the tale entertaining, but also help solidify one of the play’s major themes; that true love and it’s cleverly disguised counterparts can drive beings to do seemingly irrational things.
In the novel The Fault in Our Stars (2012), John Green shows that the misfortunes of humanity are sometimes not cause by our own doings but by the merciless and insensitivities of the universe. Green achieves this through the romantic relationship of two central adolescent characters Hazel and Augustus, who constantly use figurative techniques such as metaphors and similes in their dialogue with one another. The irony of Augustus’s death reinforces Green’s concept that humanity’s blunders are sometimes not caused by our own actions, but by the cruel and insensitive twists of fate.
Through his portrayal of characters and unorthodox style of writing throughout the fairy tale, Goldman pokes fun at the literary process and ordinary fairy tales. Through his fairy tale, The Princess Bride, Goldman ridicules numerous tropes of fairy tales and simultaneously critiques overdone expositions. Every character represents an archetype of a common fairy tale, but they all have glaring flaws that directly contradict how they are supposed to act. William Goldman sets forth his satirical theme that the literary industry’s rigid rules reflect its inability to adapt in an ever changing society.
David Kaplan is an American writer that uses magic realism, or the use of everyday settings and objects with an added sense of magic added to them. “Doe Season” is a short story filled with various literary elements. Through this essay we will discuss other vital elements Kaplan uses in his short story such as the setting, plot, point of view, characters, symbolism, and theme.
“GIANT FLYING CAT TERRIFIES STATES.” This is the beginning of an article done by the Sun, a “newspaper”. This is in “MUTANT FLEAS TERRORIZE MIDWEST”, by Dave Barry. “...every single word in the headline is true except for ‘GIANT’, ‘FLYING’, ‘TERRIFIES’, and ‘STATES’.” This set the general theme for the entire story. The story is a satire, and the author uses many types of humor to make fun of how media portrays things as well as people’s overreactions to them. The purpose of the humor used in this article is to make fun of how people overreact to modern-day media to make people laugh. The author uses satire, irony, hyperbole, and sarcasm to convey his sense of humor in this article.
Within life and literature, people and characters often overcome some type of circumstance that has hindered them in the past. However, fairy tales typically display the outcome of that unfortunate situation as being somewhat of a happily ever after. However, life routinely has moments of bliss as well as misfortune. In Anne Saxton’s “Cinderella” Saxton both highlights the inaccuracies of common fairy tales and challenges the traditional version of Cinderella and questions the aftermath of her encounter with the prince.
In conclusion, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare effectively uses the motifs of the seasons, the moon, and dreams to show that love, irrationality, and disobedience directly cause chaos. By calling to mind the seasons in unnatural order, describing the moon behaving strangely, and discussing the dualistic, irrational nature of dreams, Shakespeare effectively evokes a sense of chaos and disorder. Linking each of these motifs to the themes of love, irrationality, and disobedience allows Shakespeare to illustrate the disarray that is bound to result from any romance.
In Guy de Maupassant’s story, The Necklace, he utilizes situational irony in order to highlight the theme. He displays this irony in order to reveal several themes that can be observed in the story. One of the major themes in this short story is how appearances can be misleading.
Irony can often be found in many literary works. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is masterfully written full of irony. The characters of the short story, Mrs. Mallard, Josephine, Richards, Mr. Brently Mallard, and the doctors all find their way into Chopin’s ironic twists. Chopin embodies various ironies in “The Story of an Hour” through representations of verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony.
Irony is most commonly used in dialogue to express sarcasm and humor, and throughout the book, the irony becomes a prominent aspect of Holden’s personality. Salinger utilizes ironic devices to provide depth to Holden’s character and emphasize his own instability, as he constantly contradicts himself. Irony is used differently throughout the story, and most importantly, it conveys Holden’s shortcomings, making him more relatable and realistic.
Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples” is far from the modern day fairy tale. It is a dark and twisted version of the classic tale, Snow White. His retelling is intriguing and unexpected, coming from the point of view of the stepmother rather than Snow White. By doing this, Gaiman changes the entire meaning of the story by switching perspectives and motivations of the characters. This sinister tale has more purpose than to frighten its readers, but to convey a deeper, hidden message. His message in “Snow, Glass, Apples” is that villains may not always be villains, but rather victims.