By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The stories of the US short-story writer O. Henry, real name William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), are characterised by their irony and by their surprise endings, which became something of a signature of a good O. Henry short story. The 1907 story ‘The Last Leaf’ is among his most famous: along with ‘The Gift of the Magi’ it may be the best-known O. Henry story of all.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Jason and Medea is among the most famous doomed love affairs in classical mythology, and the Greek myths are known for having their fair share of doomed love affairs. But what is the meaning and significance of the Jason and Medea myth? What did Jason do to Medea, and what drastic action did she take in response to his actions?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Soldier’s Home’ is a 1925 short story by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, and one of his earliest and clearest examples of what would prove a prevalent and important theme for his work: alienation.
You can read ‘Soldier’s Home’ here before proceeding to our summary and analysis of Hemingway’s story below.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The 1955 play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is widely regarded as Tennessee Williams’s greatest play, and in it we find an echo of many of America’s main social and political preoccupations and struggles of the 1950s. But the way Williams taps into the national psyche at a particular point in US history is subtle, and requires closer analysis. Before we offer an analysis of the play, however, it might be worth recapping the plot of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which had its premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in 1966, is one of the most famous plays by the Czech-born British playwright Tom Stoppard. Stoppard’s work has long been concerned with revisiting Shakespeare and offering a new take on his work; he even wrote the screenplay to the hugely successful 1998 film Shakespeare in Love.