Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature

Albee’s “filthy” use of sexual themes and profanity. Two of the jury’s members resigned in protest. In the 21st century, the pla ...

in both their lives, suggests that all family, career, and social institutions are fundamentally destructive to the human beings ...

lations, and betrayals. Those most visibly showcased in Woolf are referred to fancifully in the text as “the bit about the kid,” ...

so, finally, they get their courage up... but that’s all baby. (Act 3) Nick is not an unfaithful husband who attempts, albeit wi ...

primarily on Alcott’s happy childhood in a large, formerly upper-class family who have fallen on hard times. Alcott’s novel foll ...

opportunity that would not have been available at home. As time passes, she heeds the advice of Mr. Bhaer and writes a successfu ...

140 Alcott, Louisa May the reader a glimpse of the real dangers illness pre- sented in the Victorian period. The idea that Beth’ ...

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven 141 is the religious education of their children. As the family patriarch and as ...

142 Alexie, Sherman He moves in with a white girl, gets a clerk job at a 7-11, and runs the graveyard shift. When he and his gir ...

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistf ight in Heaven 143 and (sadly) laughing Indians, and she wants to hear a different kind of story ...

144 Allende, Isabel Alexie deals with the misplaced assumptions of a positive tradition transparently in “A Drug Called Traditio ...

The House of the Spirits 145 Revenge parallels love. Trueba’s first illegitimate son, Esteban García, is directly responsible fo ...

146 Allende, Isabel military, a reality symbolized by the passing of the Poet, whose death represents the fall of freedom. In th ...

The House of the Spirits 147 help him and Blanca flee into exile, away from the fight for human rights. Alba is the only charact ...

148 Alvarez, Julia pregnant with the offspring of such an unworthy suitor. Blanca’s husband, the count, oppresses the servants i ...

How the García Girls Lost Their Accents 149 dream seems to have worked against the four García “girls,” rather than helped them. ...

150 Amis, Kingsley trained to be (a good Catholic girl who is deferential to her husband). Even as an adult, Yolanda continues t ...

Lucky Jim 151 larly in its use of satire to critique and ridicule higher education. Equally, it is credited with instigating the ...

152 Amis, Kingsley The novel’s climax, Dixon’s drunken lecture on “Merrie England,” encapsulates the contrast between the charac ...

Lucky Jim 153 actually fishing or even discussing fishing. Just as he has a romanticized view of “Merrie Old England,” he has a ...