Now, I doubt many people would put Holly Golightly and Amy Elliott Dunne together – and I’ll admit, I came across the idea totally by chance. I recently read Gillian Flynn’s 2012 thriller Gone Girl, and afterwards chance upon Truman Capote’s 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Gone Girl tells the story of Nick’s search forContinue reading “Gone Girls and Cool Girls: Holly Golightly and Amy Elliott Dunne”
Tag Archives: Victorian Literature
‘An Ideal Husband’ at the Lyric Hammersmith 2026: A sharp cast and bold aesthetic reimagine Oscar Wilde’s classic play of class, scandal and secrets
The Lyric Hammersmith’s latest production of ‘An Ideal Husband’ offers a reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s Victorian domestic drama. The show primarily focuses on Robert Chiltern, whose unassailable reputation is under threat from a past secret weaponised in the present by American socialite Mrs Cheveley. Wilde’s works, like Shakespeare’s, are often revisited because the themes thatContinue reading “‘An Ideal Husband’ at the Lyric Hammersmith 2026: A sharp cast and bold aesthetic reimagine Oscar Wilde’s classic play of class, scandal and secrets”
‘Frankenstein’ 2025: An Analysis
Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is probably one of the most famous British novels – if not THE most famous in Gothic circles. Personally, I’ve always been more team ‘Dracula,’ so I was very interested to see what Guillermo Del Toro’s take had in store for the iconic story. Safe to say, the film has received raveContinue reading “‘Frankenstein’ 2025: An Analysis”
‘Wuthering Heights’ at the National Theatre: An Analysis
Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ is famously hard to adapt, in part because of the non-linear narrative and the nature of the protagonists. While the book has legions of fans, including myself, it is not difficult to understand why people would find Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff irritating, and why readers would find the narrative, and thereforeContinue reading “‘Wuthering Heights’ at the National Theatre: An Analysis”
‘A Doll’s House’ and ‘The Merchant’s Tale’: Hidden Truths Will Always Be Revealed
In ‘A Doll’s House’ and ‘The Merchant’s Tale,’ secrets drive the plot forward, and their reveal occurs at the climax of each respective work. A hidden truth can be interpreted as a known secret that it kept secret deliberately, which makes the reader question why, and for whose benefit. When discussing truth and secrecy inContinue reading “‘A Doll’s House’ and ‘The Merchant’s Tale’: Hidden Truths Will Always Be Revealed”
My Dissertation: ‘It’s too late!’ An exploration of the conflicts that Tess Durbeyfield and Catherine Earnshaw encounter in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’
‘It’s too late!’[1] Tess Durbeyfield’s haunting utterance comes at the climax of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891) and expresses Tess’s anguish at her husband, Angel Clare’s, return. Although Angel and Tess wish to reunite, they cannot, as Tess has become the mistress of Alec D’Urberville, the man who sexually abused her in herContinue reading “My Dissertation: ‘It’s too late!’ An exploration of the conflicts that Tess Durbeyfield and Catherine Earnshaw encounter in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’”
The Ghostly Cycle in ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’
Perhaps no character is ‘recalled to life’ so forcefully as the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820). The Horseman returns to the land of the living but does so without his head. In losing his head, he is physically deprived of an integral part of his being, and is thereforeContinue reading “The Ghostly Cycle in ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’”
‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’: Why it’s problematic
TW: Sexual Assault E.L James’s ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is no literary masterpiece, but what intrigued me the most about it was the numerous references to Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles.’ For me personally, it is this that makes the book problematic. Anastasia is writing an essay on ‘Tess’ at the novels start, andContinue reading “‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’: Why it’s problematic”
Happiness as a vain illusion in Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ and Chaucer’s ‘The Merchant’s Tale’
‘The Merchant’s Tale’ and ‘A Dolls’s House’ both examine the idea of marriage, and what a truthful marriage really is. In Chaucer’s fabliau, and satire of courtly love, Januarie’s incorrect and over optimistic view of marriage appears as a vain illusion, especially when the audience is introduced to May’s clandestine affair with Damyan. Despite this,Continue reading “Happiness as a vain illusion in Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ and Chaucer’s ‘The Merchant’s Tale’”
Nora Helmer in ‘A Doll’s House,’ Act One: Puppet or Puppeteer?
In Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ the main female protagonist Nora displays many traits. Her role within the play and the dramatic action she takes at the end rest on how much control she has within the house, leading the reader to question whether she is the puppet or the puppeteer. Nora is able to manipulateContinue reading “Nora Helmer in ‘A Doll’s House,’ Act One: Puppet or Puppeteer?”
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