Write a Note on the Predicament of Dido in Virgil’s The Aeneid

Virgil presented Dido in the opening book of the Aeneid with all her majestic charm and beauty. She is compared to Goddess Diana, though her sad predicament makes everyone sad. The composition of the Dido episode in the Aeneid is a remarkable aspect of this epic poem series, revealing Virgil’s originality in depicting this central woman character. Virgil is … Read more

Significance of the Aeneas – Turnus Conflict

The conflict between the Trojan hero and leader Aeneas, and the Rutulian Prince and the leader Turnus, of all Italian forces against the invaders, carries an epic conclusion. It is, therefore, very much significant in the whole scheme of the epic.  The Aeneid is not a personal epic about Aeneas, but a national epic, a … Read more

Aeneas’ Visit to the Underworld

Virgil has described Aeneas’ visit to the underworld in Book VI of The Aeneid. It has been considered the most outstanding achievement of Virgil’s imaginative and poetic prowess. The episode is the keystone of the whole of The Aeneid.  Without this episode, the poem would break apart into two separate incomplete and incoherent short epics.  In fact, … Read more

Significance of the Last Words of Kurtz “The horror! The horror!” in The Heart of Darkness

In the dying moment, the last words of the evil antagonist Kurtz, “The horror! The horror!” reveals his realization of man’s weakness in character and what disasters it can bring upon him. He ponders how the ultimate battle between ‘man and his greed’ he took on was flawed. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Heart of … Read more

Conrad’s Moral Vision in the Heart of Darkness

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale-mystery, exotic setting, and suspense. But as judged from an allegorical point of view, it is a journey within a journey into the darkness of the human heart. Marlow, Conrad’s representative in the novel, makes a double journey – one on the surface … Read more