Gretta loosely follows the gender stereotype or concept of the nurturing mother. She nurses Gabriel’s mother “during all her….illness” (Joyce 1) but somehow is not anxious about her kids because “Bessie will look after them” (Joyce 1). This connects to the previous idea concerning Gretta’s liminal state. She realizes what she is supposed to be for society and for her husband, but certain events lead the reader to believe her mind is…
Ezra Pound eloquently highlights the overall impact Thomas MacDonagh had on Irish literature during his short life. Pound states that MacDonagh’s ‘loss is a loss to both Ireland and to literature, and it is a loss bound to be felt as his work becomes more widely known’. He was born in 1878 in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary to a father from Roscommon and a mother from Dublin, both school teachers. Both his family life and the influence of his parents are key to understanding the shape his life took…
Frances Gu 09.05.14 Stylistic uses of structure and language in “Act of Union” by Seamus Heaney to enhance a metaphorical relationship between Ireland and England A highly stylized element of Seamus Heaney’s poems is to never explicitly discuss political issues, but rather to allude to the past to understand the present. As a native from Northern Ireland, politics did, however, affect Heaney’s life inexorably as it did with many in the political and sectarian strife between Irish nationalists…
In A Doll’s House Ibsen uses the doll metaphor to develop the theme of entrapment and by extension to illuminate the social backdrop of the time period that gives rise to the many issues and conflicts between the characters in the play. Nora serves as a wife and mother, but not as an equal to Torvald; rather a majority of the protagonist’s stage time is spent as a doll: a weak obedient character with little individuality, her existence a compound of societal norms and the expectations of others,…
In James Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, explores the different phases of his life. He grows from an innocent young boy to an independent adolescent man. Throughout his maturation, the experiences and interactions he has with the surrounding world affect his development and shape his personality. The impact strongly comes from influences, like family, religion, and people who interact with him on a daily basis. Joyce suggests not only…
Matthew Vo IB HL English IV Johnson 23 October 2017 Analysis of Soap Suds In this short poem, a man is portrayed thinking back about a charming youth memory. After quickly remembering this experience he all of a sudden comes back to the present, apparently beset by what he recollects. In Soap Suds by MacNeice, he portrays the man's movement through a striking tactile ordeal of a youth memory to at last demonstrate that his adolescence is gone even with harsher substances of growing up. In…
“Think You 're Escaping and Run into Yourself”: An Analysis of Memories as a Form of Escape in James Joyce’s “The Dead” In “The Dead,” James Joyce marks his characters’ lives with an overwhelming paralysis that they can only break away from by reliving their memories. This reconstruction of memories is especially relevant to Gabriel Conroy, a character whose self-consciousness and routine-driven existence enhance the stagnation he perceives in his life. Gabriel finds his salvation by revisiting…
In Ibsen’s “A Doll House,” the act of pretending to be someone else seems to be the name the game. The characters falsely portray their true selves so that others can like them in the public. The story exemplifies the everyday spirited trophy wife, Nora, to that of a self-empowering woman. To her husband Torvald, she is a loving wife. However, unbeknownst to him, her persona shifts to that of a resilient and liberated woman. The first impression of Nora is of a respectful and yet…
In the short story, “The Dead” by James Joyce, he gives a brief insight at Gabriel’s character. There are three aspects revealed from Gabriel which are no remorse, curiosity, and pity towards the other character. The aspects revealed are not the common ones, or the aspects any coherent person in love suffering from the death of a loved one would feel. Instead, they were cold and almost as if he had no feelings for the person he had married. The techniques used were motif, point of view, and…
In, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Nora is the protagonist of the play. Nora is the wife of Torvald Helmer and a mother of three children. Throughout the play we come to see a woman who is very clever, but perceives her-self in a naïve way. Later in the play we come to see unexpected actions taken by Nora, which demonstrates her ambition and courage. Nora does not fill a parental role in her children’s life, but more as a friend than a mother. In the play, Nora’s role as a wife is to be a…