In 1967, the French literary critic, Roland Barthes wrote an essay called ‘The Death of the author’. In it, he tries to communicate that any piece of writing has a life of its own. HeContinue reading
Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. It was published in 1958 and is part of a thematic trilogy that includes the books- No longerContinue reading
The Planners is a short but powerful poem by Boey Kim Cheng. In it, he discusses the increasing modernisation of Singapore at the hands of a few “planners”. These plannersContinue reading
Published in 1847, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is one of the most famous novels from the Western literary canon. Originally published under the pseudonym, Curer Bell, the novel quickly gainedContinue reading
Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys, was published in 1966, nearly a hundred years after the publication of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It deals with the story of Bertha Mason,Continue reading
Published in 1925, Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf, is a psychological novel. This means that the emotions and characters are more integral to understanding the novel than just the storyline.Continue reading
Written by Thomas Lanier Williams, the play, The Glass Menagerie, was published in 1945. It is set in St. Louis in the 1930s when the American working class was stillContinue reading
The Western literary canon is made up of books most of us have read. This includes the works of William Shakespeare, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby or George Orwell’s 1984, amongstContinue reading
‘Waiting for Godot’ by Samuel Beckett emphasises on Vladimir and Estragon’s “wait” for Godot, a character that the audience is well-aware will never come. The play uses the theme ofContinue reading
Set in Georgia, USA, in 1982, The Colour Purple is a novel that deals with issues of domestic abuse, racism, sexism and imperialism. At the core of the novel, however,Continue reading
While studying English Literature at Delhi University, one of my favourite texts was Anita Desai’s In Custody. It is a text that still lives in the back of my mindContinue reading
