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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Peripeteia according to Aristotle is the moment when the fortunes of the tragic hero turns for the worse and spell the beginning of is eventual doom. In Othello, this happens in Act III. Scene III, when Othello decides to believe the lies of Iago regarding an affair between his wife Desdemona and trRead more

    Peripeteia according to Aristotle is the moment when the fortunes of the tragic hero turns for the worse and spell the beginning of is eventual doom. In Othello, this happens in Act III.

    Scene III, when Othello decides to believe the lies of Iago regarding an affair between his wife Desdemona and trusted friend Cassio, Consumed with jealousy, he chooses to trust Iago over his beloved Desdemona and her pleas of innocence.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Prejudice is an emphasised note in Othello. It appears in several forms but predominantly as racial prejudice against black and coloured people. Othello being a black man is ridiculed and belittled through by Iago, Rodrigo and even by Othello himself. Apart from that there is anti-woman or sexist prRead more

    Prejudice is an emphasised note in Othello. It appears in several forms but predominantly as racial prejudice against black and coloured people.

    Othello being a black man is ridiculed and belittled through by Iago, Rodrigo and even by Othello himself. Apart from that there is anti-woman or sexist prejudice where both women, Desdemona and Emilia, are murdered by their husbands.

    Another form of prejudice is religious bias as ‘Moors’ and ‘Turks’ which are both used to describe Muslims are subjected to derision and abuse throughout the play.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    As discussed earlier, figurative language is the language in which the real meaning of the words is quite deeper. In this poem, the poet uses the Crow, the hemlock tree and the Dust in order to show what according to the popular belief would have happened to him on encountering all these three simulRead more

    As discussed earlier, figurative language is the language in which the real meaning of the words is quite deeper. In this poem, the poet uses the Crow, the hemlock tree and the Dust in order to show what according to the popular belief would have happened to him on encountering all these three simultaneously. These three symbolise doom, despair and trouble.

    However what happens to the poet is quite on contrary to what might have happened. He feels so good that his boredom goes away and that his day has not been wasted.

    Read the detailed summary of the poem or its analysis.

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    In the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" or "The Lady Without Mercy", the knight tells the poet that the lady took him to her "Elfin Grot" i.e. a small fairy cave. There she lays herself in the arms of the knight and weeps a lot and kept mourning. The knight is full of love for her and kisses her eyesRead more

    In the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” or “The Lady Without Mercy”, the knight tells the poet that the lady took him to her “Elfin Grot” i.e. a small fairy cave. There she lays herself in the arms of the knight and weeps a lot and kept mourning.

    The knight is full of love for her and kisses her eyes. And afterwards he goes to sleep and dreams of kings and princes who warn him that the lady is without mercy. After waking up, he finds that she is not there and he is left alone to suffer the loneliness and misery.

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    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven
    This answer was edited.

    The poem Charge of the Light Brigade is divided into six stanzas having 8,9,9,12,11,6 lines respectively. Many phrases are repeated a number of times in the poem to create the poetic effect. e.g. in the first stanza, the phrase “Half a League” is repeated three times to bring the experience of a parRead more

    The poem Charge of the Light Brigade is divided into six stanzas having 8,9,9,12,11,6 lines respectively. Many phrases are repeated a number of times in the poem to create the poetic effect. e.g. in the first stanza, the phrase “Half a League” is repeated three times to bring the experience of a parade. Again the phrase “Forward the Light Brigade” is repeated and so on.

    In the poem, each line of the stanzas is in dimeter i.e. it has two stressed syllables and each stressed syllable is followed by 2 unstressed syllables.
    Read about the poetic devices used in the poem or the detailed summary.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    In the poem "Holy Thursday", William Blake talks about the celebration that takes place on the auspicious "Holy Thursday" (it is believed that Christ was crucified on this day). On this day, hundreds of orphan children walk in bright and coloured clothes. However, according to the poet, they are notRead more

    In the poem “Holy Thursday”, William Blake talks about the celebration that takes place on the auspicious “Holy Thursday” (it is believed that Christ was crucified on this day). On this day, hundreds of orphan children walk in bright and coloured clothes.

    However, according to the poet, they are not happy and also these bright and shining clothes are not given to them as a token of love but to extract money from the people who watch them walking on the streets.

    The “Grey-headed beadles” are their guardians who have no sympathy for these poor orphans and rather use them to earn money in the form of donations from the people.

    The poet is thus exposing the hypocrisy in the society. The people think that they have done their duty by donating money and on the other hand, the guardians of those orphans use that money for their own benefits.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Racial bias and prejudice is strident in Othello with the title character facing the brunt of it. Pitting his physical virtues against his wife Desdemona who is fair and pear white in complexion becomes a constant tone of discussion and attack. Iago, Brabantio, Rodrigo, Othello (self-flagellation) aRead more

    Racial bias and prejudice is strident in Othello with the title character facing the brunt of it. Pitting his physical virtues against his wife Desdemona who is fair and pear white in complexion becomes a constant tone of discussion and attack.

    Iago, Brabantio, Rodrigo, Othello (self-flagellation) all show a clear revulsion to Othello’s race and even his ethnicity being a ‘Moor’.

    Desdemona is probably the only person that decided to look past the racial difference between herself and Othello and accept him for his valour and courage.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Othello is based in 16th Century Europe when the Christian Venetians were locking horns with Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the Mediterranean lands of Cyprus etc. The word ‘Moors’ used for Othello was used for Muslims and may suggest he was converted to Christianity and recruited to the Italian aRead more

    Othello is based in 16th Century Europe when the Christian Venetians were locking horns with Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the Mediterranean lands of Cyprus etc.

    The word ‘Moors’ used for Othello was used for Muslims and may suggest he was converted to Christianity and recruited to the Italian army in the crusade against the Turks. The inspiration behind the text was a story Giraldi Cinthio’sfrom Hecatommithi.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Themes of gender disparity and sexism is manifest used in Othello. The women are considered sinister and disloyal and the two feminine characters end up getting murdered. Even though Emilia and Desdemona are strong and intelligent they are shown to be gullible and impressionable. Male characters likRead more

    Themes of gender disparity and sexism is manifest used in Othello. The women are considered sinister and disloyal and the two feminine characters end up getting murdered.

    Even though Emilia and Desdemona are strong and intelligent they are shown to be gullible and impressionable. Male characters like Iago and Othello openly condemn women as witches.

    In the society established in Othello women play dormant roles in terms of political involvement and militaristic governance and often relegated to homes and palaces.

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    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    In the Dramatic Monologue "The Patriot", Robert Browning uses imagery to show his glory in the beginning and tragic end of his life in the end. In the beginning, the patriot says that when he came back from a war after winning, there were "roses, rose...with myrtle". In addition, there were so manyRead more

    In the Dramatic Monologue “The Patriot”, Robert Browning uses imagery to show his glory in the beginning and tragic end of his life in the end.

    In the beginning, the patriot says that when he came back from a war after winning, there were “roses, rose…with myrtle”. In addition, there were so many people on the roofs of houses (to welcome him) that “house-roofs seemed to heave and sway” and the flags were waving on the top of Churches. It looked like “church-spires flamed”. All these images show how Patriot was treated by the people when he came victoriously.

    However, after 1 year, he is going to be executed because he tried to do too much for them. Now, nobody praises or supports him. There are “just a palsied few at the window set”. The word “palsied” depicts their cold behaviour towards the Patriot. However most of them have gathered to see him hanging. It is raining and he is bleeding as people are throwing stones at him.

    He describes his execution scene as follows, “Thus I entered, and thus I go!” meaning that he was not giving a moment and stoned to death.

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