Spearheaded by pigs, a group of animals in Mr Jones’ Manor Farm rise up in rebellion, aspiring for a life without human control and injustice. However, the ideals of a society that enjoys freedom, equality, and happiness veer to a new form of oppression that is perpetrated by some animals against their barnyard fellow animals. Napoleon, the pig, becomes a tyrant, successfully using propaganda to make the other animals toil more and eat less, and reducing the initial Seven Revolutionary Commandments to a single slogan: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Published in 1945, Animal Farm is a political satire for which George Orwell uses farm animals as characters. The allegory hints to the Russian revolution of 1917 and the ensuing one-party rule in the Soviet Union. As Lord Acton, the 19thcentury British historian puts it, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The Great Gatsby is a novel that portrays the extravagant life of Jay Gatsby, a selfmade man who quickly changes from poverty to opulence and takes to extravagant parties in his sumptuous mansion. This life of merrymaking and hedonism raises questions over illicit liquor selling and consumption. Meanwhile, Gatsby’s main obsession is to win Daisy…

Ever since its publication in 1603, William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet has been one of the greatest and most influential artistic works. Even today, the quote from the famous soliloquy “To be, or not to be: that is the question” is memorised by many learners of English worldwide. As a classical tragedy, the play tells the…

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a hilarious comedy written in 1595 by the dramatist, actor and poet William Shakespeare (15641616). Making use of dreaming and magic, and involving humans and fairies as characters, it provokes complex situations, poking fun at the fickleness of love. In a funny love triangle, Hermia elopes with Lysander, avoiding Demetrius,…

William Shakespeare’s (15641616) tragedy King Lear (1608) evolves through a main plot and a subplot skilfully intertwined to stress the consequences of misjudgement, family dysfunction and government chaos. Wishing to bequeath his kingdom to his three daughters, King Lear demands their expression of love for him. While Regan and Goneril display insincere flattery, Cordelia, the…

At a point when he is scornfully shunned by his classmate and beloved Becky, Tom Sawyer, the mischievous young orphan wants to escape the village of St. Petersburg, where he lives with his Aunt Polly. He dreams of his future, tempted by the twists of his youthful, vivid imagination. A persistent truant, he has tried…

Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece The Sun Also Rises (1926) is one of the most widely read novels in American literature. It showcases the plight of the post-war generation—the ‘Lost Generation’—, facing disillusionment and anxiety. Embodied by a group of American expatriates in Europe, namely Brett, Jake, Mike, Cohn and Bill, the sense of loss is emphasised in the novel by showing that love is ephemeral and pain and death are inevitable in life.
Many critics consider The Sun Also Rises as an autobiographical novel. Indeed, many features and events concerning the character Jake Barnes remind of the author’s own war experience and personal life (1899-1961). However, the term ‘Lost Generation,’ which was coined by the American poet Gertrude Stein, one of Hemingway’s contemporaries, applies to the post-war era and youth entirely in the aftermath of World War I, as portrayed by many other authors.