“The contents of this book defy description”, writes the play’s editor, Bernard Miles. Spike Milligan and John Antrobus’ absurdist comedy first hit the stage back in 1963, both bewildering and delighting its audience members. Yet it should not be treated merely as nonsense; Milligan and Antrobus’ madness conceals great method within. Maybe I’m deluded in […]Read More
Great Britain is known for its complex class system, convoluted social etiquette and confounding variance of accent and culture. Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel North and South sums this up almost perfectly – though admittedly from a mid-nineteenth century perspective. Certain things we believe to be true nowadays have indeed been so since the 1850s: living costs […]Read More
Being a teenager can be stressful, emotional, and so so wonderful. As a girl with only seven months left before I’m 20, I feel that I can look fairly objectively at the past six years of my life, which I would consider the most important years of my life so far. I’ve realised that there […]Read More
J.B. Priestley’s anti-Capitalist masterpiece: An Inspector Calls. It is the most popular dramatic text currently studied at GCSE in England, and thus a play well-known if not always fully understood. The National Theatre production directed by Stephen Daldry was first performed in 1992 and is currently undergoing a popular revival tour around Britain. I saw […]Read More
Valentine’s Day is all about love. But when love is so complex, so intense, so soul-encompassing, how are mere mortals like ourselves ever meant to be able to express our love? Fortunately for us, ‘love’ is a topic that writers have been making into an art form since literature was still in its foetus form. […]Read More
Literature is amazing. You know what else is amazing? Pure, unapologetic feminism. The desire for equality between all genders the basis of feminist theory, which as an intersectional idea takes into account the triumphs, successes and questions of all against the influence of the binary gender roles and patriarchal expectations in society. Literature, pieces of […]Read More
“Light of my life, fire of my loins”: the first words of both Nabokov’s masterful novel Lolita and the hook of Lana Del Rey’s track ‘Off to the Races’. This is just one example of the influence the magnum-opus of Russian-born, English writing Nabokov has had on the songs of Lana Del Rey. Del Rey’s […]Read More
When applying to universities, I swayed away from studying English Literature. It wasn’t that I didn’t think the study of literature was valid in society, or that I didn’t enjoy it – I was just put off from it. I had been made to feel by those around me that English Literature was somewhat inferior […]Read More
In my reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, set in New York in 1922, I was struck by a metaphor that Fitzgerald employs when introducing Daisy and Jordan, the two main female characters. The phrase in question is “Two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon”. What Fitzgerald seems […]Read More
Vloggers and YouTubers are taking over the internet, and best friend duo Dan and Phil are now at the very top of the YouTube game. Following the completion of their UK tour, I thought I’d give you a quick overview of what the event had to offer. Turning their hands to YouTube videos, radio, gaming, […]Read More
Everyone has a favourite author. Whether an avid, lackadaisical or infrequent reader, everyone has that one person that sparks their interest; whose writing style is so befitting to them that they are drawn in and, ultimately, consumed by adoration for their writer and the beautiful plots and stories that they create. This list will be a […]Read More
English Literature is a popular subject to take at school level and beyond. In these wonderful lessons, pieces of literature are studied in varying detail, depending on the level of qualification the student has reached. Novels and novellas, poems and poetry collections, plays and dramatic monologues all fall under the category of literature, over time […]Read More
1. The Color Purple // Alice Walker Alice Walker’s most famous novel focuses on the lives of black women in the 1930s American South. Raped and abused by her father, Celie is set on a new path of life when she is married off to an older man in the place of her sister, but […]Read More
Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel Lolita chronicles the sexual relationship between a 12 year old girl, Dolores Haze, otherwise known as Lolita, and her 38 year old step-father, Humbert Humbert. For many already familiar with the story or being introduced to it now, I would hope that your response to that synopsis would be disgust. Nabokov’s […]Read More
There is an idyllic, Lennon and McCartney-style union when it comes to literature and the summertime. Enjoying a lovely summer’s day requires a few necessities, among which is a decent book to make the sun-kissed day pass and daydreams begin. The number of books beside the pool or on an exotic beach, or a rockier […]Read More
