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“First the realm I’ll pass Of Flora of Pan, sleep in the grass, Feed upon apples and strawberries And choose each pleasure my fancy sees.” (Sleep and Beauty) Like all romantic poets, Keats seeks an escape in the past. His imagination is attracted by the ancient Greeks as well as by the glory and splendour of Middle Ages . He rarely devotes himself to the pressing problems of the present. Hyperion, Endymion and Lamia are all classical in theme, though romantic in style. Keats this finds an escape into the past from the oppressive realities of the present. Also Keats’ themes are romantic in nature. Most of his poetry is devoted to the quest of beauty. Love, chivalry, adventure, pathos --- these are some of the themes of his poems. Another strain that runs through his poetry is the constant fear of death, which finds very beautiful expression in his sonnet, ‘When I Have Fears’. Another theme of his poetry is disappointment in love, which can be seen in ‘La Belle Dam Sans...

“The subject of the play is not Godot, but  waiting .” (Melvin J. Friedom) In addition to the themes implicit in the title itself, that is, the theme of waiting, there are several other themes in “ Waiting for Godot ”, which have captured critical attention. Some of these are triviality and boredom of human life, the theme of prevalence of suffering, the theme of ignorance, the theme of economic and intellectual exploitation and the theme of meaninglessness of space, time and identity. Then there is theme of Nothing to be Done. The production of Waiting for Godot was regarded by some critics as a great landmark in the history of the English theatre, although other looked at it as one more example of the literary anarchy of the present century. Beckett’s subsequent plays made this initial conflict of opinion even sharper and fiercer, and indeed his development since Waiting for Godot made that play seem almost traditional in its methods and hopeful in its philosophy. One ...

Image by [ r ♥ c e y t ♥ y ] {I br♥ke for bokeh} via Flickr “I am nude as chicken’s neck, does nobody love me?” Sylvia Plath was a poet who committed suicide in 1963 when she was 31 years old, leaving two children, and a body of brilliant work. She was at the height of her powers. There is some controversy as to whether the dramatic details of her death brought her to prominence, or whether her present acclaim is indeed due to her talent. There is a need in most of us to think of the poet as sacrificial victim; as if the poet's unhappy history added additional weight to the poetry itself, surrounding her work with an ambiance of religiosity. Plath satisfies this need, though she herself would have been distressed by an audience drawn to her by morbidity. Her work is incisive, bright, intelligent, not the least bit self-pitying in spite of its subject matter. She was full of life and had so much to look forward to that one can hardly believe, even though the evidence is i...

Culture is one of the things that eludes an accurate definition. Some of the various well-known definitions are cited by Said in his various works. For instance: “Culture is the learned, accumulated experience of the communities, and it consists of socially transmitted patterns of behavior.” The final analysis of definition boils down to “socially transmitted patterns of behavior”, and makes more sense, though like other definitions, it too cannot be taken as exact and conclusive. Said also cites anthropologist Clifford Greety’s definition, “An ordered system of meanings and symbols in terms of which social interaction takes place, and social system is the pattern of social interaction itself.” This definition too, has partial relevance to what culture amounts to. Said seems more in agreement with Matthew Arnold who regards culture as, “each society’s reservoir of the best that has been known and thought”. Edward Said’s entire professional life was devoted to the teachi...