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

What are the Desires in “Desire Under the Elms?”

Desire Under the Elms is a highly realistic drama of O’Neill, the action of which takes place in the Cabot-farm-house in the New England. The main theme of the play is the variations of the word ‘Desire’. Every character in the play desires something. In the broader sense ‘desire’ signifies possessive instinct or passion. As … Read more

Theme of Passion in Desire Under the Elms

O’Neill’s Desire under the Elms has the qualities of an ancient classical tragedy. Although the characters of the play belong to an ordinary stratum of life, their circumstances are fully tragic as all of them are propelled by their passion to their inevitable doom. Although O’Neill’s character refers a sad fate, their sufferings are caused … Read more