Faust

The bloodiest war in American history was a result of seemingly irreconcilable differences and a challenge over slavery that had defined the country since its founding. A conflict over the power of the national government to regulate slavery resulted in unprecedented violence and the death of hundreds of thousands. As proven through the development of culture following the war, the immediate deep wounds and destruction that resulted of Civil War violence was forgotten over the years, and America…

Literally speaking, Margarete is a character from a play called Faust by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Margarete is a pious woman, and also the love interest of the main character of the play, Heinrich Faust. On the other hand, Shulamith literally refers to a princess from the “Song of Songs,” an erotic poem in the Hebrew Bible. These two characters are integral characters of…

As early as the 1790s, then, Ann Radcliffe firmly set the Gothic in one of the ways it would go ever after: a novel in which the central figure is young woman who is simultaneously persecuted victim and courageous heroine. But what are we to make the next major turning of the Gothic tradition that a women brought about a generation later? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in 1818, made over the Gothic novel into what today we call science fiction. Frankenstein brought a new sophistication to literary…

This chart compares the pay of non-star professional soccer player in the male and female leagues. The numbers 1-50 indicate the players rank. Note the dramatic difference in pay between the players ranked at 50. The man ($246,238) make 10 times as much as the female player (25,516) (Das, 2016). 
Women’s Median Annual Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Earnings for Full-time Work from 1974–2014. This graph shows that pay gap is narrowing but the progressive closing of the gap as slowed in…

After reading Drew Faust’s book James Henry Hammond and the Old South, I agree that is a far more than suitable text upon which to end the semester. It is does indeed, bring together all of the themes and ideas we have discussed so far in this class. James Henry Hammond lived an interesting lifestyle and it was one that could have only occurred in the Old South. By examining the writings and of both Anthony S. Parent and Joshua D. Rothman respectively, it becomes clear to see how Hammond…

If there is anything that can be learned from the stories and myths of Prometheus, Faust, and Frankenstein, it is that knowledge, in its various forms, can lead to suffering and pain. The Fountain, a film released in 2006, can join in this tradition of the archetypal theme of forbidden knowledge; there is a disclaimer, though: when it comes to death, the knowledge of acceptance should overcome the knowledge of how to reject it. Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman…

Over a few centuries, post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) has been known by plenty of names: at first, it stood as “irritable heart” during the American Civil War; later during the First World War, the symptoms were called “shell shock” or “hysteria”. When the Second World War and the War in Korea occurred, the symptoms were labeled as “war neurosis”, “battle fatigue”, and “exhaustion.” Lastly, during the War in Vietnam, “Post Vietnam Syndrome” remained as the last occurrence of names given…

Boris Thomashefsky was a Ukrainian-born, later American, Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre. Thomashefsky was born in a town near Kiev, Ukraine, he moved to the United States in 1881, at the age of 12. A year later, barely a teenager, he was mostly responsible for the first performance of Yiddish theatre in New York City, in what was to become the Yiddish Theater District, and has been credited as the pioneer of Beet soup Belt entertainment.…

The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Professor’s Analysis “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” (Wilde 3). There are many debates about the greatest book that ever existed, and this debate will continue to rage on but what is undeniable is that The Picture of Dorian Gray is definitely a well written book. The morality of this book however is a different issue altogether as this book discusses many different themes from youth…

If it was the end of the world and you only had one choice, would you choose knowing the truth or knowing you lived happily? In the book “Cat’s Cradle” written by Kurt Vonnegut, many characters have to face this decision, forming their own opinions on the meaning of “pure research” essentially between science or religion. Dr.Breed is one of the main characters that expresses his feelings toward “pure research”. As a scientist, he believes that pure research is needed in order to achieve…