The Undertones Essays

  • Exploring Characters and Subliminal Undertones in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are three main topics to discuss when it comes to analyzing Conrad’s Heart of Darkness - symbolic interpretations, character development and language. Heart of Darkness has an abundance of almost subliminal undertones.  This novella is written to such precision and high detail that almost every paragraph has a significant part to play in the overall plot. The author, Conrad, concentrates on creating a story to illustrate ideas and themes, rather than just a simple narrative. These ideas and

  • Comparison of the Undertones in the Plays Edward the Second versus The Dutchess of Malfi

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comparison of the Undertones in the Plays Edward the Second versus The Dutchess of Malfi The plays, “Edward the Second, “ and “ The Duchess of Malfi.” I will be discussing what lead to Edward and the Duchess’s demised and how did the way they were murdered represented in the plays. I will also show what were the undertones in the two scenes, and how did they represent in the plays. From the beginning, we learned that Edward was a homosexual, who was in love with Gaveston. We can have a sense

  • Effect Of Advertising On People

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    includes text which promotes indivuality and independent thinking. These elements make this ad very conceptual and would appeal to the informed reader. But, if the reader was not aware of of Duane Michaels they could still understand the indivual undertones of the text. The Altoid ad has a much simpler read, its simply selling a product. Its acquired picture would catch the audiences attention and its text would support the strength of the product. I do not feel there is a deeper meaning than that

  • Past and Present Views on Gossip

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    this progression take shape? As society adopted new trends and beliefs, the meaning of the word gossip changed from having religious connotations to having more social connotations. The original meaning of the word gossip had strong religious undertones, implying that society and culture then were very religious-minded. Stemming from the Middle English roots "god" and "sib", the word gossip referred to a person who sponsored a baptism and shared a spiritual rapport with another. During this time

  • Rene Descartes: The Concept of Dualism

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    believed that if two things do not have identical properties then they couldn't be the same. What Descartes was suggesting was that human beings' bodies are separate from their thoughts and that when the body dies the mind still lives, which had undertones of suggesting that there is an afterlife. Descartes called his concept Dualism. The premise that the body is divisible is true because the body is a physical thing. The body has weight, mass, and interacting parts just like a machine such as

  • Spiritual Healing

    1713 Words  | 4 Pages

    a third type of illness that can and is addressed, which is healing on the spiritual plan. According to research, most of the spiritual healers are concentrated in primitive societies and undeveloped areas of the world. However, there are still undertones of reliance on spiritual healing in modern medicine today and there are some in civilized, well developed parts of the world that have rejected modern medicine all together and adopted alternative healing methods. Even a person who does not believe

  • Film Versions of Shakespeare Comedies

    2205 Words  | 5 Pages

    Shakespearean plays are complex, intricate pieces of work in which a diverse range of interpretations and readings can be made. This is particularly true of his comedies, where the light-hearted humour is often offset by darker, more serious undertones. In adapting these comedies it is for the director – in the cinematic context – to decide how to interpret the play and which elements are privileged and which are suppressed. This variance in interpretation is exemplified in comparing two of the

  • King Henry Iv Part 1 - Hal

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    population that he is competent in order to remain a king once he has obtained the throne. Shakespeare wants the play to seem sympathetic to Hal, and he wants Hal to convince the audience (populace) himself.Therefore, Hal's fraudulence is hidden in undertones and slips of the tongue which he makes throughout the play. The first indication of this comes at his soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1. It would be impossible for a reasonable man to have boozed and bummed all of his teen years and suddenly renounce

  • Dracula - Symbolism Of Blood

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    family members would dig up their dead kin to check for the dreaded disease. Stoker takes the significance of this symbol and puts his own unique twist to the meaning of blood. He combines the traditional folklore of vampirism and the immense sexual undertones of the Victorian era to create a simply horrific tale which completely confuses the emotions of his readers. Stoker knew bloods importance in vampire history and used the overwhelming symbolism to convey his own personal lust and sexual obsessions

  • Critics of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    masterpiece has never been without criticism.  Upon its inception it was blasted for being indecent literature for young readers because of its lack of morals and contempt for conformity.  Modern indignation toward Huck Finn arises from its racist undertones, most notably Twain’s treatment of the character Jim.  As is the case with many canonized yet controversial books, the biggest conflict revolves around the inclusion of Huck Finn on required reading lists of public schools throughout the country

  • Free Essays: Language in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    outcome is unpredictable many physical and emotional changes take place. Joyce Carol Oates’s story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" places Connie, a typical teenager, in this situation. Throughout the story, occasionally using religious undertones, Connie’s language of a typical teenager gradually changes, from calm and somewhat curious to nervous and terrified. Early in the story on a Sunday morning, Connie’s family leaves to go to a family barbeque down the street. Connie is left by herself

  • Lust and the Degeneration of Man Exposed in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129

    2246 Words  | 5 Pages

    in a waste of shame" is the mark of an ill-fated desire that has missed its point of satisfaction, lost in a deep cavern of an inescapable nature. When humans fall into such depths of despair, it is quite natural to fall back into the animalistic undertones that creep ste... ... middle of paper ... ...9). Works Cited Fineman, Joel. Shakespeare's Perjured Eye : The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets. Berkeley, U of California P, 1988. Leisham, Stephen. The Riddle of Shakespeare's

  • Jacob's Ladder

    2279 Words  | 5 Pages

    at death allows the transition to your afterlife to run smoothly without remorse. Heaven is seen as a good place, a place of inner tranquillity where there is no pain. The cultural attitudes of this film in respect to death and afterlife have undertones of the Christian attitudes toward death and afterlife, although large differences do exist. The central cultural attitudes toward death and afterlife in this film can be summed up by a quotation from Jake's chiropractor (who can also be seen

  • Comparing Hawthorne's and Melville's Works

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    descent into the strange, nightmarish unknown realms of the mind unable to return to the known world of reason.  This is a major theme in literature, and is particularly evident in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville.  The nightmarish undertones are one of the main similarities in Hawthorne's and Melville's works.  Another similarity is writing style.  Both men write very descriptively, and their writing is based more in intellect than emotion.  Also both men write about the nightmarish

  • Apathy in Ithaca

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    almost mathematical precision of the text in juxtaposed with gut wrenching emotion surrounding infidelity.  The parallels that one can draw between the characters of Ulysses and the Odyssey are perhaps the deepest in Ithaca while the themes and undertones of the work drift further apart. The attempt at a father-son relationship between Bloom and Dedalus is never more apparent as they converse, and fail to converse.  Bloom plays the role of a cuckold almost too well, objectifying in Stephen

  • It’s Just Casual Sex Between Friends

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    specifically for a “fling.” None of these encounters end in pregnancy, disease, or emotional distress. They become something to be laughed about and taken as the “norm.” References to sex are just as frequent in dialogue, yet never with serious undertones. Even if a character is mildly upset about an occurrence, by the conclusion of the half hour, everything is all right again and by the next episode it is completely forgotten. Joey will never again speak of his theater “rehearsal” with Kate, nor

  • Naturalism in The House of Mirth

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    discord which seems opposed to the naturalistic idea of inevitability (Gerard, 4 1 0). Indeed, Wharton's works are not as critically concerned with naturalistic themes as are the works of London, Drieser, or Zola. However, it is clear that undertones of naturalism, and stronger overtones in many situations, are present throughout The House of Mirth. Wharton creates characters who are victims of their environment, controlled by animal-like instinct. Evidence of this is found from the very first

  • Analysis of King Solomon's Mines and its Undertone of Sexism

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    Analysis of King Solomon's Mines and its Undertone of Sexism During the nineteenth century, women were viewed as inferior to men. Men also saw women as prizes as well as possessions. We can see this undertone in the book King Solomon's Mines by H.Rider Haggard. Here, the writer uses Lyn Pykett's essay "Gender, Degeneration, Renovation: Some Contexts of the Modern" as the backbone for the comparison and discussion. As Allen Quartermain and company gets closer and closer to the diamonds, the

  • Racial Undertones Portrayed in the Movie District 9

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    I feel that the movie District 9 has strong racial undertones. The film is set in South Africa, Where a massive alien mothership has came to a halt over the city of Johannesberg. Three months pass before the government finally decides to cut their way into the hull of the ship. What they find is a ghastly sight, thousands of aliens are found and it is discovered that the aliens are sickly, malnourished, and lacking leadership and initiative. The South African government flies them all to the surface

  • Feminist Undertones of "Over My Dead Body"

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    African American politician and feminist Shirley Chisholm was once quoted, “The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl”” (Gallagher 400). Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels were written during the second wave of the feminist movement. The women in his novels usually portray very typical female roles for the period. The main characters are men and the trend remains throughout the series. Over My Dead Body storyline centers two female characters