Autofiction and The Lover
French author, Marguerite Duras, revisits her teens in French colonial Indochina reflecting on the illicit love affair she had with a Chinese man twice her age and the memories and emotions it evokes in ‘The Lover’ (2100 words).
Realism and narrative
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” Discuss the relationship between theory and literature in relation to Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’ (2000 words).
Orwell and totalitarianism
Contrary to popular opinion, the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four tells us more about Orwell’s England than it does Stalin’s Soviet Union. It even has some insights to offer contemporary Australian politics. Read full essay … (2100 words).
Plato’s women
Plato was not a feminist author in contemporary terms. But let’s take the ‘normative’ view and simply ask: Did Plato at some stage in his writings grant or argue that select women should enjoy the same rights as men? Essay in blog format; opens in a new window … (2500 words)
Assessing Marx’s critique of capitalism
In London’s Highgate cemetery squats a large marble tombstone, resplendent with a massive bust of one of capitalism’s greatest critics—Karl Marx. The irony of the salubrious suburban location would not be lost on the firebrand revolutionary. Read full essay … (3300 words).
Notes on Bram Stoker’s Dracula
“The girl advanced, bent over me…[and] went on her knees. She arched her neck – lower and lower went her head … I could hear the churning sound of her tongue … Now I felt the hot breath … ” Read full essay … (3800 words).