This video delves into the nuanced portrayal of Caliban in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and its implications for postcolonial criticism. By examining the ways Prospero's authority subverts Caliban's humanity, the analysis opens a...

This video analyzes Act 3, Scene 4 of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," focusing on the complex portrayal of Hamlet as he confronts his mother Gertrude. The discussion explores how Hamlet's mental state fluctuates, his strategic pretense of...

This video analyzes a crucial scene from Act 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," where Hamlet's complex feelings towards women, particularly Ophelia, are vividly displayed. The video discusses how Hamlet's behavior transitions from...

This video explores the varying interpretations of the supernatural elements in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" among different literary critics across centuries. It highlights the debates between critics like Samuel Johnson, who criticized the...

In this latest episode of What The Theory?, I hope to provide an introduction to Marxism, culture and Marxist Literary Criticism and Theory. We're going to begin with the economic theories of Marx and Engels, particularly their base...

A video entitled “Literary Criticisms” which explores how to evaluate a literary work.

Since at least 213 BCE, book burnings have been a reaction to the power of the written word. When roasting paper in a giant circle went out of style (at least in the intellectual sphere), the governments would take it upon itself to ban...

Edward Cullen. Han Solo. Killmoklknger. Lestat. What do all these characters have in common besides being heartthrobs? They share a common ancestor: the Byronic Hero. Brooding, sensual, violent, intelligent, and single-minded, the...

Some say that theater is dead, and that’s probably because most playhouses the world over are closed at the moment owing to a worldwide pandemic. and yet the musical lives on… on Disney plus -- as the nation has been rapt with a filmed...

Before women were asking “Am I a Carrie or a Samantha?”, they were asking “Am I a Jo or an Amy?” Before there was Edward vs Jacob, there was Laurie vs Professor Bhaer. And over the more than 150 years since Little Women was originally...

According to Tolstoy himself, War and Peace was "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle." And in this day and age of publishing, where word count, “readability”, and topical relevance are the lifeline...

Tolkien is widely regarded as the most influential author on the fantasy genre… period. But one of the less-discussed aspects of his work is the way Tolkien used constructed language in his writing. Nowadays authors are constantly...

Few writers have had the sheer staying power, popularity, and prolific output as Stephen King. From insatiably flesh-hungry clowns and sentient cars to telekinetic teenagers and mystical gunslingers, if there’s one author who has taken...

One of the trademark texts of the American school system is Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. For decades it has been widely read in high schools and middle schools as a key anti-racist text. But how did...