literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray is possibly one of the most controversial and scandalous pieces of Victorian fiction. There are many reasons for this, and yet we need only explore one of them to get the notion of why exactly it was censored, banned, and eventually it would send its own author to prison for two years of hard labour. Published in Lippincott's Magazine in the July 1890, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray made headlines with not only its gothic themes and twisted Greek mythology-inspired storyline, but also because of its homosexual undertones and prolific critique of 19th century high society. The most scandalous of all these begin with the identity of the three main characters: Dorian Gray, the young man who has his portrait painted; Basil Hallward, the painter; and finally, Lord Henry Wotton, the man who takes it upon himself to teach Dorian how he should live.
By Annie Kapur7 years ago in Geeks
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte (Pt. 4)
A section of New Historicism regards the structure of the novel itself and the characters are secondary. Gretchen Brown's essay entitled, Untarnished Purity: Ethics, Agency and the Victorian Fallen Woman deals with the fact that both stories of women in the Victorian Era are incredibly predictable and pretty much, all the same. In one stance, we have the "Fallen Woman," which includes the characters of Aurora Floyd and Vixen by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Adam Bede by George Eliot and the most famous Victorian Fallen Woman, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. In another stance, we have the Victorian Woman's bildungsroman, or "coming-of-age" novel. This is defined by Brown as "a loving marriage with a preferred suitor and stable social participation." Thus, stating that no matter how hard Jane seems to rebel, since she is not a part of the social chasm of the Fallen Woman, she will have to divert her attention to a loving marriage and the "happy ending" archetype. In fact, it is the theory of the Fallen Woman's story being the direct opposite to the Bildungsroman that keeps Jane going.
By Annie Kapur7 years ago in Geeks
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte (Pt. 3)
Now that we've covered what there is to cover of Jane's identity (in parts one and two) as a reliable or unreliable narrator—we must look now into theory and literary studies to find more descriptions and anecdotes of how she appears to a reader with a particular lens.
By Annie Kapur7 years ago in Geeks
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte (Pt. 2)
I will be looking intertextually and using historicism and formalist criticism with additions of psychoanalysis, structuralism and ecocriticism in some places—in order to identify what is so enigmatic about Jane Eyre and why does she change so much through the space of one novel? [Note that these lenses of criticism may appear in future articles on Jane Eyre.]
By Annie Kapur7 years ago in Geeks
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte
In 1852, the Literature Critic, George Henry Lewis, is sitting in his office and held spellbound by a work of semi-fiction by a man called Mr. C. Bell. He writes a lengthy piece of an article about it in The Quarterly Review and calls the book a "reality...a deep and significant reality." But who knew that this book was not actually written by Mr. C. Bell at all...?
By Annie Kapur7 years ago in Geeks
The Strength of a Tenacious Woman
People often play a crucial role in each others lives, which might not seem significant at the time. It might be a word, phrase, or statement which may seem insignificant, but a single action can change the course of a person's life. Everyone grows and develops a network in society, and these systems aid in allowing a person to become who they are. Similarly, throughout many works of literature, a novel’s minor characters support the main character rather significantly. These minor characters incorporate a key element from which the main character comes to be. The method in which they help the main character frequently varies due to the time and era of which the work takes place in. The Neo-Classicism era, also known as the restoration period, was a reaction against the Renaissance era. The Renaissance era was believed to be unsystematic, and humans had no rules in society. In the restoration period, literature was meant to be didactic. It was supposed to be teaching a moral value and preaching about living life properly. It pointed out the wrongdoings of society, from which came the Neo-Classicism era. Many works of literature came about in this era. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his satirical novel The Scarlet Letter, presents a heroine ahead of her time through her struggles with her ostracization for having an illegitimate child, her abusive former husband, and her forbidden love affair with the Reverend—thus becoming ultimately stronger, despite her punitive society's attempt to break her.
By Muhammad Salmaan7 years ago in Geeks
9 YA Novel Clichés That Make Me Want to Stop Reading
Do you ever read a sentence of a book and just roll your eyes? Not because the character has done something stupid or embarrassing, or the plot has made a weird turn, but because you've read that somewhere before?
By Leah Phillips7 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: 'The Couple Next Door'
The Couple Next Door is the debut thriller from Shari Lapena, and my oh my, does it pack a punch! The book follows the lives of Anne and Marco—a suburban couple—through the most harrowing ordeal any parent could imagine: The Kidnap of their baby daughter. Lapena cleverly draws us into the seemingly pleasant world of middle America with a host of first-world problems appearing to be the only threats to this couple's marital and parental bliss. But even before the end of the first chapter, we see that things are perhaps not as they seem. Anne and Marco return home from their neighbour's dinner party to find the front door open and their baby, Cora, missing. They had checked on her only half an hour earlier, but now, she is gone.
By George Boundy7 years ago in Geeks
'The Bullied Series'
My journey as a writer and reader has led me to many places and to many books. These books are gems, priceless because their meanings in my life are infinite but there are special books whose words weave around my soul before becoming a huge part of me. Sometimes, I have found them on a dusty old shelf and sometimes, I have found them on a tablet or phone. That is where I found The Bullied Series by Vera Micic… On a phone, while scrolling through Wattpad.
By Amanda Penn7 years ago in Geeks
Response to 'The Count of Monte Cristo' (Dumas)
There is one main question Alexandre Dumas asks the reader in the book: Are you rich, or is your life rich? Dumas even uses Edmond Dantes to illustrate this. At the beginning of the book, Edmond is poor, but he has his father, Mercedes, and a promotion in a company in which he works for someone who's like a second father to him. When he's rich, he doesn't feel himself enriched.
By Alexandra F7 years ago in Geeks
Isabel Allende
Today I thought the time had come to write about a fascinating writer in South American Literature who has meant a lot to me over the past 13 years. Her name is Isabel Allende, whose books have reached the intimate layer of everybody's soul, with the relentless mission to spread the powerful inner voice simmered in every woman around the world and where the magical dimension entwines with reality. Most of her novels contain aspects of the genre called "Magical Realism."
By Letizia De Luca7 years ago in Geeks
