One can think about a particular topic in many different ways. Everyday thinking tends to rely upon commonsense and the individual's subjective experiences. Sociological thinking differs from everyday thinking in that it aims to view the world more objectively by looking beyond one's pers...

The Hopeless Romantic Hopeless romantics are people who find romance in every situation, who love being in love, or even only a resemblance of that overwhelming feeling. Frances, wife of the mindless nitwit Michael, is just another victim to the hopeless romantic list. In Irwin Shaw's short s...

"Jane Eyre as a Romance Novel" In perhaps her greatest literary creation, Jane Eyre, Charlottes Brontë crafts a powerful tale of an orphan girl overcoming her predisposition in life and rising to the highest levels of society. Brontë provides her commentary on the romantic trends of t...

In Casablanca, the prominent themes of unhappy love and self-sacrifice set this romantic melodrama apart from most in its genre. These themes are best expressed in the interactions of the three main characters: Victor Laszlo, a heroic political leader; Ilsa Lund, an enigmatic femme fatale; and Richa...

The story of Ts'ui Ying-ying takes place during the T'ang dynasty, which is one of the most well known dynasties. This story is one that is good example to see what it was like to live during that time, especially in the context of romantic love and marriage. The story of Ying-ying seems to be f...

How many times have you heard that "Well, I think we should just live together first to see if we are compatible, and then we can get married." How many times have you saw the sight that the bride walked down the aisle who was already living together with her boyfriend. Nowadays, unmarried couple...

The nineteenth-century American poet, Emily Dickinson, is best known for her short, cynical lyrics riddled with death and her personal reclusion from the outside world and even her family. Of course, as a recluse, Dickinson never married or had any significant romantic relationships, often wearing w...

In the play A Midsummer Night's Dream love was a main concept. However, in order for the emotions of love to take their place, there is a need of power to generate it. Only through power is love really made evident. The power of authority, the power to transform perceptions and the power of ...

Arms and the Man is one of George Bernard Shaw's successfully written plays that have become predominant and globally renowned. Shaw's play leads itself to two themes that people can relate to, which are the importance of war and the essentials to true love and marriage. These themes are...

Wilde's Mockery of Marriage Love is perhaps the most actively sought moral objective of one's life. And though marriage is often thought to be the logical consequence of love, it is Oscar Wilde's conflict in his comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, that love begets bliss and...

The questions left unanswered in Twelfth Night leave behind a haunting resonance of the reality of human frailty and error, long after the comic resolution of main characters and their themes have diminished in our consciousness of its importance. Much of the play's comic value comes from deceptive...

Much Ado About Nothing is one of William Shakespeare's many comedy plays. Much Ado About Nothing differs from most of the other comedies in that it has "naturalized" the romantic materials. There are not any fairy kingdoms, as in Midsummer to help the story flow better. Even the language does no...

Arguing For Romantic Love One of the biggest debates at the turn of the seventeenth century was determining who was responsible for choosing a mate and what criteria that mate must possess in order to be suitable for marriage. The Canonization by John Donne continues with the metaphysical style o...

The concrete and spiritual effects of jealousy upon a relationship, in both the writings of Lady Murasaki and Junichiro Tanizaki, stress that this emotion can be destructive to the sufferer and to the inflictor. However, Murasaki's "Tale of Genji" depicts jealousy as almost a mythic force ...

In Shakespeare's Othello, the tragic hero, Othello falls prey to the ingenious Lucifer, Iago and willingly chooses to trust him rather than his wife, Desdemona, eventually working together to plot her death. This is mainly attributed to Othello's high regard of Iago as a friend, as well a...

Parallels In Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece, Jane Eyre, of the Victorian period and the Romance of Tristan and Iseult, as retold by Joseph Bedier, the couples that find themselves in love are Jane Eyre with Edward Rochester, and Tristan with Iseult. Both couples face major obstacles that jeo...

The Catalogue of the Universe is an enchanting book that displays many themes that can be related to life. It shows the themes of betrayal, rejection, self-discovery, the struggle of a single parent and most of all love. Despite the title, the book abandons fantasy mode and deals with real issues in...

Culture Shock: Eloquent European Luxury to Simple New England life Throughout Henry James' The Europeans, the interaction of individuals who possess vast cultural and social differences creates powerful themes of social order, conformity, tolerance, and love. The admiration of a foreign nob...

Parallels In Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece, Jane Eyre, of the Victorian period and the Romance of Tristan and Iseult, as retold by Joseph Bedier, the couples that find themselves in love are Jane Eyre with Edward Rochester, and Tristan with Iseult. Both couples face major obstacles that jeo...

The role of women in society has always been an issue throughout the ages and throughout Western Europe, and more or less all over the world. Before the age of the Enlightenment, or the Dark Ages, women were always seen as secondary to men in all aspects. Most reasons were religious while others we...

Cultural Sexuality Sexuality, courtship and mating rituals differ among cultures. The Trobriands and the United States have several similarities and differences, which can be compared and contrasted. These constructs begin in early childhood, continue to adolescence, and extend into adulthood....

The role of the female in male dominated societies is a prevalent theme in American literature and has been explored by countless authors. Edith Wharton, in The House of Mirth, and Zora Neale Hurston, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, are just two of the many who examine this issue in their literar...

The role of the female in male dominated societies is a prevalent theme in American literature and has been explored by countless authors. Edith Wharton, in The House of Mirth, and Zora Neale Hurston, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, are just two of the many who examine this issue in their litera...

"The Lady With the Pet Dog", written by Anton Chekhov, is a passionate love story portraying betrayal at its greatest . The story presents a deceiving nature that perfectly depicts real life in most of society today. The title gives the impression that this story is just a si...

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice the most important topic to theme and character development throughout the novel is that of courtship and marriage. From the very first chapter; the very first line, in fact, you see that this is a novel about the surmounting obstacles of courtship...