Unlike many of Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth centers around men of the king’s court rather than the royal family itself. Although King Duncan of Scotland, murdered by his once-valiant thane Macbeth, plays a sacrificial role in the play, his death allows Shakespeare to explore philosophical and psychological questions of power, murder, ambition, and nature. Specifically in... Continue Reading →
Spenser’s Leaves, Lines, and Rhymes: Unrequited Love in “Sonnet I”
In the expository sonnet of his 1595 autobiographical sonnet sequence, Amoretti, English poet Edmund Spenser writes from the point-of-view of a young poet who wishes to use his poetry to sway a young woman, who is later named Elizabeth, into sharing his adoration. To do so, the speaker (whose actions are referred to here in... Continue Reading →
Milton’s Astronomical and Cosmological Ambiguity
As seen in his poem “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” and his magnum opus, Paradise Lost, eminent British poet John Milton often juxtaposed astronomical and cosmological theories with Christian doctrine to emphasize God’s supremacy over competing religious and scientific ideologies. In “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” he incorporates imagery from various astronomical theories,... Continue Reading →
Blake’s Criticism of the Church in “The Chimney Sweeper”
In his 1789 poetry collection Songs of Innocence, poet and artist William Blake presents subtle, often metaphorical criticism of the social injustices he observed in London, England, where he resided. Particularly, he criticizes the normalization of child labor that was prominent in the city at the time, as he focuses many poems on the soiled... Continue Reading →
Crabbe’s Contest of the Muse in “The Village”
As seen in George Crabbe’s 1783 poem “The Village,” Neoclassicist poets of the eighteenth century often referenced Greek and Roman mythology when writing about subjects they deemed timeless or historically relevant. This was, in part, due to a desire to incorporate an element of the Classical tradition into their own poetry. Following this convention, Crabbe’s... Continue Reading →
Valperga Literature Review 