http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/english-literature Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sun, 05 Jul 2026 16:05:18 -0400 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 16:05:18 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1964/the-perennial-perversion-idolatrous-self-worship-in-brave-new-world By Adam H. Post - This literary analysis compares the spiritual landscape of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World against his nonfiction work, The Perennial Philosophy. In Brave New World, Huxley’s World State appears spiritually promising. It embeds self-transcendence and interconnectedness into its social order, minimizing the individual self in favor of a collective identity. These themes are highly suggestive of the Perennial Philosophy, a framework championed by Huxley through which individuals can eclipse their separate selves and spiritually actualize. However, the Brave New World does not eclipse... Mon, 20 Feb 2023 09:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1964/the-perennial-perversion-idolatrous-self-worship-in-brave-new-world http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1961/unity-in-virginia-woolf-and-hannah-arendt-creating-reality-in-the-insensitive-and-inaccessible By Esteban A. Sanchez - Woolfian Scholars regularly denote the moments where Woolf’s characters feel inexplicably connected and inseparable from one another as representing the spiritual and mystic beliefs of their author. I want to reframe this notion, considering Woolf's moments of unity, not as a metafictional tool, but as a rebellion against the insensitive and inaccessible natural world. Wittgenstein's refutation of the linguistic contentions in Plato’s Cratylus will outline language’s relationship to reality and how Woolf rejects Platonic Forms. Woolf along with Hannah Arendt will consider thought... Thu, 22 Sep 2022 10:48 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1961/unity-in-virginia-woolf-and-hannah-arendt-creating-reality-in-the-insensitive-and-inaccessible http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1938/gothic-romance-in-the-haunting-of-bly-manor-the-modern-transformation-of-the-victorian-gothic By Lotte De Boer - This article explores the expression of the Gothic romance genre in the 21st century, by examining Mike Flannagan’s The Haunting of Bly Manor. Very little literature focuses on contemporary expressions of this genre. The Gothic reflects the social, cultural, and political anxieties of society, and these naturally differ between works depending on the time they were written. Due to emancipation, the conventional central problem of the Gothic Romance – love as the main obstacle – is no longer feasible in our contemporary society. Furthermore, many of the repressed themes often... Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:20 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1938/gothic-romance-in-the-haunting-of-bly-manor-the-modern-transformation-of-the-victorian-gothic http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1895/revenant-narratives-and-the-representation-of-demonic-lovers-in-english-gothic-ballads By Maggie E. Sadler - The Demon-Lover functions as a significant motif in English Gothic ballad tradition, which scholar Hugh Shields articulates as a “supernatural intrusion into a narrative which is of this world” (Shields p. 107). While this intrusion implies the violent and problematic sexual dynamics of the Demon-Lover Motif, Shields’s statement also speaks to how writers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries capitalized on the popularity of Gothic conventions such as horror and the grotesque supernatural to imperfectly resurrect the declining literary traditions of folklore and... Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:35 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1895/revenant-narratives-and-the-representation-of-demonic-lovers-in-english-gothic-ballads http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1893/16th-century-clapback-the-manipulation-of-poetic-devices-in-sir-philip-sidneys-an-apology-for-poetry By Adeola P. Egbeyemi - Often thought to be a recent development of pop culture, writers have been using biting clapbacks in response to criticism since antiquity. This essay will explore how poet and scholar Sir Philip Sidney effectively manipulated poetic devices in An Apology For Poetry​ to respond to criticism about the usage of poetry for education. This will be done through a description of the devices found in what Sidney considered to be the key types of poetry: verse, philosophical poetry and biblical hymns. Then, the paper will reveal the presence of these devices in Apology itself. Finally, this paper will... Mon, 05 Apr 2021 02:54 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1893/16th-century-clapback-the-manipulation-of-poetic-devices-in-sir-philip-sidneys-an-apology-for-poetry http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1890/foreignness-and-freedom-in-the-plays-of-christopher-marlowe By Abigail Slater - Few writers and dramatists have managed to inspire a persona that is as interesting as that of Christopher Marlowe. Born in Canterbury in the mid-16th century, Marlowe rose to prominence in the theatre community of London through his exceptional plays. Much of his work tackled taboo topics with little regard for political correctness, utilizing characters who explored these themes with unique perspectives previously unseen. Marlowe’s own life was riddled with rumors of espionage and social deviance. These rumors met their final fate at a tavern, where Marlowe saw his bloody end (Meyers,... Tue, 16 Mar 2021 02:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1890/foreignness-and-freedom-in-the-plays-of-christopher-marlowe http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1862/the-development-of-the-modern-author-in-horace-walpoles-castle-of-otranto-and-strawberry-hill By Megan E. Ritchie - Much contemporary literary criticism has been devoted to Horace Walpole’s novel, The Castle of Otranto; so, too, has much criticism been directed toward the author’s villa, Strawberry Hill. And yet the conversations surrounding these two entities have largely been kept exclusive. This article seeks to establish a relationship between The Castle of Otranto and Strawberry Hill, given that the latter was constructed at a point in literary history where writing shifts from a private patronage system, heavily linked to the physical manuscript, to a commercial economy... Fri, 15 Jan 2021 12:44 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1862/the-development-of-the-modern-author-in-horace-walpoles-castle-of-otranto-and-strawberry-hill http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1852/courtly-love-in-chaucer-characters-as-commentary-in-the-franklins-tale-troilus-and-criseyde-and-parliament-of-fowls By Noelle E. Equi - Through major works including “The Franklin’s Tale,” Troilus and Criseyde, and “Parliament of Fowls,” Chaucer illuminates the complexity of the popular writing trope of courtly love. His accounts of courtly love border on satire and criticism, both praising the institution of marriage as the protagonist and the unorthodox courtly love dynamic as the villain (as seen in “The Franklin’s Tale) and highlighting the manufactured, tenuous nature of the dynamic (as seen in Troilus and Criseyde and “Parliament of Fowls”). In all, the three works considered... Wed, 16 Dec 2020 10:46 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1852/courtly-love-in-chaucer-characters-as-commentary-in-the-franklins-tale-troilus-and-criseyde-and-parliament-of-fowls http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1846/the-subversion-of-conventional-charisma-in-john-miltons-paradise-lost-and-johann-wolfgang-von-goethes-faust-part-one By Ching Yan Clarissa Lee - This paper focuses on the manifestation of an unorthodox charisma in the devil figures of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust: Part One. Using the respective connotations of ‘charisma’ with positive charm, and of the devil with ignobility and vice as a starting point, I explore how the intricate dispositions of Goethe’s Mephistopheles and Milton’s Satan isolate the two from the cookie-cutter stereotype of the devil, thus subverting the expectations readers hold for a wicked devil-antagonist. I propose that the display of the devils... Fri, 04 Dec 2020 05:46 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1846/the-subversion-of-conventional-charisma-in-john-miltons-paradise-lost-and-johann-wolfgang-von-goethes-faust-part-one http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1779/the-everyday-as-empowering-violence-and-suburban-monotony-in-the-interwar-writing-of-george-orwell By Florence Ward - Rather than challenging these stereotypes, the few exceptions to this rule, Richards among them, have celebrated suburbia as a refuge from the world’s horrors. Richards’s version of suburbia, published while Britain was reeling from the destruction of the war, argues that suburbia is not just an architectural phenomenon but a way of life for the middle-men of England who wish to remain protected in its ‘oasis’ (36-9). In 1918, David Lloyd George promised “Homes fit for Heroes,” catering to the post-war appetite for security and stability. His promise instigated... Thu, 27 Feb 2020 08:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1779/the-everyday-as-empowering-violence-and-suburban-monotony-in-the-interwar-writing-of-george-orwell http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1751/the-captains-compromise-political-symbolism-in-herman-melvilles-benito-cereno By Brian Chen - Until the outbreak of civil war, the United States would continually try and fail to subdue the existential threat of slavery, with each attempt exacerbating the sectional tensions between slave and free states. In 1830, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster claimed that the country stood on the “precipice of disunion” and foresaw a future in which “the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union” are drenched in “fraternal blood.”[1] As tribalism tore away the shared history between the North and South, Webster’s grim prediction would eventually... Wed, 09 Jan 2019 10:37 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1751/the-captains-compromise-political-symbolism-in-herman-melvilles-benito-cereno http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1676/cognitive-embodiment-and-mind-reading-in-jane-austens-persuasion By Karah L. Smith - Empirical psychology first emerged as a scientific discipline during the eighteenth century when it was launched into the academic realm by being taught in universities, appearing as chapters in philosophy manuals, and debuting as the topic of scientific journals and textbooks (Vidal 408). Psychology “then, and for the first time­­­––[was thought of] as an empirical research discipline, committed to a naturalistic perspective on the mind” (409). This perspective led to the rejection of the soul’s agency in the body claiming that thoughts could be explained... Tue, 31 Oct 2017 09:55 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1676/cognitive-embodiment-and-mind-reading-in-jane-austens-persuasion http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1644/aristocratism-and-authoritative-politics-in-behns-oroonoko-the-existential-and-socio-political-semiotics-of-death-and-torture By Conner R. Hayes - Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko offers a complex representation of the semiotic and socio-political meaning of seventeenth-century torture and death and the intersectional manner in which physical agony coincides with authoritative colonial politics. The novella’s protagonist, Oroonoko, is hyperbolically described in terms of his Eurocentric physicality and aristocratic traits; this descriptive treatment reinforces his singularity from his slave peers and objectifies him as the subject of their mass spectatorship. His sharp physical, cultural, and ideological divergence from the collective slave... Tue, 30 May 2017 09:28 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1644/aristocratism-and-authoritative-politics-in-behns-oroonoko-the-existential-and-socio-political-semiotics-of-death-and-torture http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1553/sex-and-sexual-violence-in-mary-shelleys-frankenstein By Rachel Chung - Told through the framed account of a Captain Walton, who encounters Frankenstein in pursuit of his monster across the frozen northern sea, Frankenstein begins with a brief account of his picturesque childhood. Frankenstein begins his great experiment at university in Ingolstadt, where he brings his horrifying creature to life. A year after panicking and abandoning the monster, Frankenstein learns that his brother, William, has been murdered. Frankenstein’s conviction that his monster is the murderer is confirmed when he encounters the creature in the mountains outside of Geneva. In another... Thu, 09 Mar 2017 09:26 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1553/sex-and-sexual-violence-in-mary-shelleys-frankenstein http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1524/examining-eveline-a-study-in-the-origins-of-the-paralysed-subject-in-joyces-dubliners By Ramy Habib - When James Joyce rewrote “The Sisters,” intending it to serve as an introduction to the whole of Dubliners, he altered the first line of the story with much significance: “There was no hope for him this time” (19)[1]. As it stands, the series not only begins with a clear statement about the lack of hope but also with an allusion to the inscription on the gates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno: “All hope abandon ye who enter here” (III.9). It is this with attitude, expecting only despair, that we should “enter here” when reading any of the stories... Tue, 31 Jan 2017 10:30 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1524/examining-eveline-a-study-in-the-origins-of-the-paralysed-subject-in-joyces-dubliners http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1523/the-sentimentality-of-sternes-tristram-shandy-a-mind-and-body-story By Amritpal Singh - The literature of the 18th century includes parodies, satires, and denunciations; however, the role of sentimentality usually comes second when discussing the literary movements of the century. The author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Laurence Sterne, is commonly known as he “who introduced the present mode of sentimental writing” (The Sentimental Magazine). Among authors such as Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding, and Daniel Defoe his novel stands as a text outside the ordinary and invokes as much empathy as it does laughter. The text continually makes use of... Tue, 31 Jan 2017 09:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1523/the-sentimentality-of-sternes-tristram-shandy-a-mind-and-body-story http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1491/the-anxiety-of-the-unforseen-in-stevensons-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde By Ben D. Fuller - Robert Louis Stevenson typifies an anxiety shared by many prolific Victorian writers: that God will disappear as human psychology is readily researched and understood. Such a concern is evident in Stevenson’s personal experiences and writings, wherein he passionately expresses the belief that there is no such thing as definitive evil or good in a person, a medieval notion that had survived through the Romantic movement and until the time of skeptical Victorian writers. Following the example of his fellow Victorians, Stevenson created a character, Mr. Hyde, who exemplifies the concentrated... Fri, 04 Nov 2016 02:41 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1491/the-anxiety-of-the-unforseen-in-stevensons-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1468/new-media-adaptations-of-classic-literature-from-pride-and-prejudice-to-the-lizzie-bennet-diaries By Noelle M. Kozak - Pride and Prejudice, the work of nineteenth century novelist Jane Austen, has been celebrated for over two-hundred years since its first publication. It has been adapted, reinvented and re-imagined over and over again to the delight of both loyal readers and interested newcomers. One such adaptation is the new media sensation, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Developed as a web show, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries successfully honors important themes found in Pride and Prejudice, namely its strong female characters, to tell a story that remains true to Austen's roots while engaging a new generation of viewers... Wed, 26 Oct 2016 10:14 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1468/new-media-adaptations-of-classic-literature-from-pride-and-prejudice-to-the-lizzie-bennet-diaries http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1026/exploring-the-corruption-of-the-soul-in-the-works-of-oscar-wilde-bram-stoker-and-robert-louis-stevenson By Hayley E. Tartell - Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are all "Democratic Age"1 novels that evoke a theme of appearance versus reality. In Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, this motif physically materializes in the form of the canvas of Dorian Gray, superficially a beautiful, charming and wealthy young man. Similarly, a physical depiction of this theme is shown via the vehicle of Count Dracula, an alluring vampire with a corrupting influence, and his interactions with other characters. By... Sun, 12 Apr 2015 05:39 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1026/exploring-the-corruption-of-the-soul-in-the-works-of-oscar-wilde-bram-stoker-and-robert-louis-stevenson http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1019/feminist-and-new-historicist-readings-of-kiplings-the-man-who-would-be-king By Kelley S. Kent - “The Man Who Would Be King” (1888)[1] is one of Rudyard Kipling’s most well known and highly acclaimed short stories. Michael Caine, Sean Connery, and Christopher Plummer starred in John Huston’s classic film adaptation (1975), which provided a testament to the story’s enduring popularity (Beckerman 180). Even when Kipling’s critical reputation suffered, “The Man Who Would Be King” continued to garner acclaim. However, because of its unsettling ambiguity, this story “resists classification” (Gilmour 37). Like the rest of misogynistic... Wed, 25 Mar 2015 11:07 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1019/feminist-and-new-historicist-readings-of-kiplings-the-man-who-would-be-king http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1009/anti-semitism-and-religious-intolerance-in-aristocratic-age-english-literature By Hayley E. Tartell - In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the witches’ scene intimates an anti-Semitic theme by comparing Jews to filthy, grotesque objects, while in The Merchant of Venice, Shylock’s portrayal serves as a means through which anti-Semitic themes are also conveyed. Similarly, in The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe, an anti-Semitic theme is implied through the character Barabas the Jew. Finally, John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XII and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales impart decidedly anti-Semitic themes while alluding to the crucifixion of Jesus. These referenced literary works poignantly... Tue, 10 Mar 2015 03:53 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1009/anti-semitism-and-religious-intolerance-in-aristocratic-age-english-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/892/visibility-for-women-in-the-works-of-george-eliot-and-virginia-woolf By Emily Caliendo - When examining the works of both George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, many critics are quick to assess the credibility and quality of characters based on how they react to the external experiences they are faced with in their imaginary worlds. However, this way of thinking serves as an injustice to both authors. Rather than finding truth in what goes on externally in these imagined worlds and judging characters’ perceptions by their relative proximity, readers should instead understand that Eliot and Woolf’s works demonstrate that subjective experience determines reality. These authors... Mon, 28 Apr 2014 09:38 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/892/visibility-for-women-in-the-works-of-george-eliot-and-virginia-woolf http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/537/comparing-oscar-wildes-the-importance-of-being-earnest-and-henry-james-daisy-miller By Jack D. Nicholls - Significantly, the example the dictionary gives of 'style's use in this manner is from a nineteenth century art scholar, Fuseli. In his essay “The Decay of Lying”, where Wilde briefly outlines many of his Aesthetic beliefs that inform his writing, he arrives at this final doctrine: 'Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art' (87). Before arriving at this conclusion, he argues at great length that beauty achieved through expression in Fuselian style over realism ('as a method Realism is a complete failure' [86]). Here he offers the 'case of the English... Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/537/comparing-oscar-wildes-the-importance-of-being-earnest-and-henry-james-daisy-miller http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/301/female-writers-in-the-18th-century-the-power-of-imagination By Natasha L. Richter - Female writers of the Eighteenth Century often focused on the role of the female imagination in novel writing, poetry composition, and as an outlet for temporarily escaping a harsh world.  In Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft focused mostly on the latter notion, the ability of a woman to employ her imagination in transcending the physical prison of an insane asylum, as well as the metaphorical prisons of a tyrannical marriage and an oppressive world.  Meanwhile, Anna Letitia Barbauld emphasized the artwork which the female imagination can fashion in her poem “Washing... Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:10 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/301/female-writers-in-the-18th-century-the-power-of-imagination http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/270/mysticism-and-christianity-in-early-english-literature-comparing-beowulf-and-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight By Ellen T. Goodson - The introduction of Christianity to England in 597 established a structured, uniform faith among a people accustomed to different branches and pockets of polytheistic paganism. Over the next seventy-five years, the burgeoning country quickly grew unified under the tenets of Catholicism, transforming many of the practices of their ancestors into Christian traditions. However, the fusion of the two religions reshaped more than the Britain’s spiritual beliefs. Remnants of pagan mysticism and magic blurred and interwove with themes from the Bible to create proselytizing legends. An Old English... Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/270/mysticism-and-christianity-in-early-english-literature-comparing-beowulf-and-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/123/comparing-characters-from-albert-camuss-the-fall-and-samuel-taylor-coleridges-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner By Katherine Blakeney - Clamence’s crime is rather more like a mistake. He witnesses a total stranger committing suicide and does nothing to help her, although as she sinks below the waters of the Seine she obviously utters a cry for help. Clamence is tortured by doubts and feelings of guilt; Was it his responsibility to save her? Did he even have the right to get involved? Did he walk away because he was scared, or indifferent? And was his passivity in fact tantamount to an act of murder? All of these questions plague his mind for years along with “that cry which had sounded over the Seine behind me years... Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:44 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/123/comparing-characters-from-albert-camuss-the-fall-and-samuel-taylor-coleridges-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner