Odger’s Funeral Henry James’ “Odgers Funeral” published in England in 1877 on Lippincott’s Magazine. The passage is critical and ignorant of his point of view on the people at the funeral. He criticizes and is disrespectful to the lower class people. Henry James’ diction conveys a feeling of ironical amusement mixed with disdain toward the poor funeral attendees. He views the funeral as “grotesque”, calling it a “spectacle”, and afterwards, a “serious comedy”. Instead of respecting the mourning of the crowd, he evaluates and views the funeral and people in terms of their entertainment value. On the other hand, his mocking brings sympathy for the people who experience the pain of loss. Henry James later on in the passage, pays
attention to the “Metropolitan mob”, the “dregs”, and the “rabble”, who gathered on the passage of the funeral hearse. This reveals his unfeeling and superiority, revealing his judgement of the poor attendees from start to finish. He reveals himself as arrogant and insensitive, capable of only patronizing, sarcastic comments.
James Agee's A Death in the Family is a posthumous novel based on the largely complete manuscript that the author left upon his death in 1955. Agee had been working on the novel for many years, and portions of the work had already appeared in The Partisan Review, The Cambridge Review, The New Yorker, and Harper's Bazaar.
Shakespeare's dynamic use of irony in King Lear aids the microcosmic illustration of not only 16th century Britain, but of all times and places. The theme that best develops this illustration is the discussion of fools and their foolishness. This discussion allows
Graves’ view of class and status had been contrived through his early family life. His mother came from a family of doctors, as well as she gained a wealthy inheritance from caring for an elderly lady. His father, a writer with a historical
This magazine’s silence for the contemporary issues is evident from its non-existent, editorial statement. One can hardly find explicit editorial position during 1843-44 for mainly two reasons. The owner and chief editor George R. Graham did not have his specific taste for literature or editorial position; his first concern was apparently a cultural business not culture itself. In his article “A Brief History of Graham Magazine,” Frank Luther Mott mentions that this magazine was the result of the combination of the Casket: Flowers of Literature, Wit and Sentiment and Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine. He continues to contend that when Graham purchased the two magazines and merged as Graham Magazine, he just followed the merits from each magazine, which would promote the readership (364). On the other hand, Grah...
“Boom-down, and you were dead, never partly dead” (23). In The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, soldiers cope with death in multitudes of ways. While none of the coping mechanisms described in the book can truly be characterized as “healthy,” some can definitely be perceived as less destructive behaviours to the soldiers coping with their loss or losses, as well as to the other members of the platoon surrounding them, in both a physical and emotional manner. As implied by Tim O’Brien, one of the most utilized methods, internalization, in comparison to violence, is considered to be, for the soldiers, the most harmful way of handling death.
Death is an unstoppable event that occurs in every individual’s life, and yet it is a very taboo topic as people rarely broach the subject because it causes incredible distress; it is certainly not a comical topic of conversation and one that is very seldom and rarely congratulated. Yet Oscar Wilde manages to deliver the ever present looming topic of death as if it held the same gravity as a bad hairdo in his comedic play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Instead of expressing support, sorrow and sympathy for the victims of Death and for the relatives, Wilde treats Death in comparison to a result of an impromptu action; no more serious than if a person was to walk into another, due to lack of observation in where they were going; The Importance of
In Emily Dickinson’s poem #280, “I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain”, she compares her state of depression and madness with a funeral. In a predominant male society, Dickinson feels trapped in a coffin, where she is unable to make any decisions on her own. The women’s role in society during her time was to be a good “Angel of the House”, to be a good housewife. This captivity is the cause of her depression, which in turn causes her to slowly lose her sense of self. The “Mourners” seem to be the majority of society who demands her to take up her part in society as a respectable young woman. This peer pressure seems to draw her in:
Morality plays have a reputation of being dreary, grim and didactic, but Tanner knows this not to be true. He begins his argument by asserting his disgust towards the critics and their opinions about the morality play Everyman. He tells us that today’s critics underestimate the use of humor in morality plays and have given them a bad name. He offers three examples of humor in just the beginning of the play; Everyman’s attempt to negotiate with death; Everyman’s conversations with Fellowship, then with Kindred and Cousin.
It is for this reason, that Lear and Gloucester are considered as fools for their actions as instead of taking responsibility for their actions, they absolve their guilt by viewing the Gods as omniscient figures who “kill [them] for sport”. By referring to his downfall as a “sport”, Gloucester conveys that the Gods view the downfall of man as entertainment and that man is powerless against all Gods as if they are “flies to wanton boys”. The theme of Materialism vs Spirituality also appears to be presented in The Bloody Chamber story, especially through the intriguing character of the Marquis and his contrast with Jean-Yves in the eyes of the female narrator. Carter appears to use this contrast on order to convey the notion that wealth and materialistic possessions can easily corrupt. Whilst the Marquis is presented as significantly wealthier that Jean-Yves and the wealthiest character in the story, he is simultaneously presented as the most distorted character in the story. The female narrator seems to acknowledge this, believing that he was in “despair” when he discovers her betrayal and also highlights his “atrocious loneliness”; thus portraying that even the
The clown contributes towards the humourous entertainment of this play through his numerous puns and jokes. He is a source of laughter, not because we are humoured by his "foolery"; for he proves to be no fool at all; but rather because he amuses us with his brilliant wit. Having mastered the art of jesting, Feste is sensitive of his profession, always aware of the circumstances he is in and the appropriateness of this folly.
Irish playwright Oscar Wilde sparked uproar during Britain’s Victorian Era with witty literature that cemented his legacy as being one of the greatest playwrights in history. Wilde’s acclaimed ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ showcases the satirical craftsmanship of his epigram. Times have changed since this satirical play was written and with this opens up questions that is it still funny nowadays. The play explores the themes of marriage, death, and the pun on the word earnest by using written devices and satirical techniques on how the word simultaneously correlates to the title and play. Though having been written over a century, Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ preserves its comedic appeal to a contemporary audience.
Wilde’s criticism on high society and manners are shown by creating absurd situations and characters whose lack of insight causes them to respond in an inappropriate manner. An example is shown in Lady Bracknell’s preoccupation with her own parties and that the lack of sympathy for invalids makes her react to the news of Bunbury’s illness in an exaggeratedly cold manner. “I think it is high time that Mr Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. I should be much obliged if you would ask Mr Bunbury, from me, to be kind enough not to have a relapse on Saturday, for I rely on you to arrange my music for me”. This quote conveys the audiences that Lady Bracknell is more concerned with the propriety of her music arrangements over the life and death struggles of Bunbury. As mentioned earlier, Lady Bracknell displays a great deal of pride and pretense through her sense of entitlement and by...
Henry James is contrasting the practice of literary criticism with the ideal of what literary criticism should be. Even the characters that seem to be in the purest pursuit of Vereker's great secret, Corvick and Gwendolen, will not share it with their friends. When they discover it, they all want to publish it for themselves. Vereker himself seems to hold the literary critics in the book in contempt, citing their lack of vision. Vereker speaks to the narrator at several points in the novel, "You miss it, my dear fellow, with inimitable assurance; the fact that your being awfully clever and your article's being very awfully nice doesn't make a hairs breadth of difference." (p.365)
In Hamlet, the majority of the comic relief is dark and depressing. The main character is obsessed with death and makes morbid jokes about old age, deception, and corpses. This side of the character is shown so that the reader can understand how much this disturbs the prince. The result of this is a play with some very depressing scenes.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.