Analyze Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Wickham from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The common connection with these characters is that they both scheme to escape their powerlessness in the British social structure of the time period. Possible that the novel was Jane Austen's own scheming to escape powerlessness and comment on that society?
What do you mean by "powerless" in this context? It might be helpful to clarify that before you delve too deeply into this topic. – Luthien10 years ago
The article could also address how Austen couldn't even publish under her own name since it was viewed as unladylike.
– Liz Watkins10 years ago
It has come to my attention that many people overlook the most obvious reading of these novels because of the erotic content of the novels. Christian Grey shows clear signs of repression of his violent childhood memories and displacement of the anger cause by that childhood onto the women he enters into BDSM relationships with.
I can see how this might become... bland. The whole "rough childhood transitioning into a violent adulthood" is a lot like the "it was all a dream" ending: possibly effective, but runs the risk of becoming a lazy explanation for the current disposition of a character. Whoever does pick this one up, try and add more than just the typical signs and traits of traumatic early experiences and stick to the novel more than the psychology. – Austin10 years ago
I don't believe Psychologists would call psychoanalysis a "lazy explanation for the current disposition of a character," because psychoanalysis is a completely valid explanation for every person's current disposition--not excluding fictional characters. Many people disregard psychology as excuses for behavior and ailments, but that is simply ignorance and lack of understanding. This novel actually has quite a lot of support from those suffering from psychological illnesses for bringing to light social taboos and fostering understanding for those who take part in them. – KeeleyFaith10 years ago
I don't mean from a psychological point of view, more from a literary one. Nor do I mean that the "lazy explanation" bit applies specifically to this novel. I just pointed those out because a past trauma is an easy way to give the character a reason to act a certain way but is sometimes done lazily so as to give the impression of false depth. – Austin10 years ago
Analyze the development of a classic fairytale such as "Cinderella" by looking at the changes made from the Perrault and Grimm tales to the Disney adaptations and retellings such as "Ella Enchanted".
This sounds like a great idea because you have ALOT of material to work with. So many companies are coming out with TV shows, movies, books, etc. based on classic fairytales and giving them their own twists. I also like how you are focusing on one story as opposed to multiple at once. It could get messy if you tried to do multiple stories. Good luck! – Jessica Zalzman10 years ago
Also, although her character has only been in a couple of episodes, Once Upon a Time put an interesting spin on the Cinderella character that gives her a little more agency regarding how she gets to the ball/her life after happily ever after/etc. – kdaley10 years ago
You could also mention media that is not strictly a fairy tale but are obviously influenced by Cinderella in some way. Like Ever After for example has no real magic in it but the story is very much the same. – Cagney10 years ago
A Cinderella Story starring Hilary Duff comes to mind as an example. – Amena Banu10 years ago
It might also be interesting to look at how the Cinderella myth manifests in other parts of the world, as well. Yeh-Shen in China or Vasilisa The Beautiful in Russia, for example. – Natalie Sheppard10 years ago
You could mention how we now see many portrayals of Cinderella in film/ tv and how it can be now seen as outdated – zazu5 years ago
Analyze authors who have become their own type of "brand", such as Nicholas Sparks or Sarah Dessen, who have easily identifiable work. For example both Nicholas Sparks and Sarah Dessen have their own "brand" of romance novels. Is the predictability of their work what continues to draw back readers because they know what to expect? Does the predictability lessen their literary merit? Look for other authors across different genres that have their own brand of work.
Doesn't every author has a brand? It is that author's voice, which is specific to a writer. You can pick out a writer from Stephen King to Margarett Attwood by just reading the work. That's why people have favourite authors ad will read their newest book. I think what you are talking about is writing-by-rote. What would be a really interesting article is analysing where the line between 'author's voice/brand' and 'writing by rote' is... – Francesca Turauskis10 years ago
I thin this is an interesting topic because authors like Nicholas Sparks become almost tired because all their novels become predictable – samcel10 years ago
Recently there have been a numerous books published by people who have been put in the spotlight by their appearances and contribution to Television (Lena Dunham's "Not that Kind of Girl," Mindy Kaling's "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?," Amy Poehler's "Yes, Please," and Tina Fey's "Bossy Pants" to name a handful.) This article would be a discussion of why these types of books are so appealing, while it is primarily female writers that produce such books, and some books that break from this convention while following a similar trend (such as BJ Novak's "One More Thing.") This article would use subjects such as the struggle for for the female voice in Hollywood, reader demographics, and trends in the memoire genre as support for the discussion.
I have not read any of the mentioned, and those are not books I would typically put on my list to read, so it would be interesting for someone to write on the appeal of this books for anyone--not just fans of the celebrities. I would like to know which ones would be worth reading for someone who is just an avid reader. – Liz Watkins10 years ago
I have not read any of the books mentioned but my mother has. She loved them and is a big believer in some of them. I would to read an article about what is so note-worthy about these books. – abutler610 years ago
Compare 50 Shades to another erotic novel. For example, Taming the Beast I thought was an excellent book about a girl who has [what I think is considered] too much sex. It had intriguing characters and an interesting plot. I've never read 50 Shades but everyone has told me it was terrible. Why is it so bad? Is it just this erotic novel that is poorly written or is the whole genre just terrible?
Have not read, but I have heard much about The Story of O and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice (writing as A. N. Roquelaure) as novels that reintroduced erotic literature to the world. You also should look at the Marquis de Sade's works. – Liz Watkins10 years ago
Awesome topic! Another series worth mentioning is The Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz. Like 50 Shades its features explicit BDSM but its not treated as fantasy but rather as a life style. – Cagney10 years ago
I'd like to explore the various obvious and also subtle elements of Chris Hadfield's autobiography "An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth." Since the book is obviously from the point of view of an astronaut, I would like to explore the themes he mentions from the POV of a regular person and what his statements can mean for a life that isn't destined for the stars.
Most of Hadfield's autobiography is geared toward the "regular person" and he is often quite obvious about that. Try to focus of the more subtle interpretations rather than the obvious. – Natalie Sheppard10 years ago
Is the popular, best-selling book an actual tale of love, romance, and how two people find their way to one another? Or does the book hint at tones of abuse and misunderstanding?
It would be interesting to explore this potential abuse with gender in mind. The fact that Anastasia Steele (a woman) submits to the borderline abuse of Mr. Grey (a man) could look bad for both genders. No woman wants to be portrayed as someone who eagerly accepts abuse, and no man wants to portrayed as someone who eagerly abuses. I have not read the book or seen the movie, so I cannot say that the behavior is or is not abusive. But based on what I've read and what I've heard, the gender roles of the romance - whether abusive or not - could be worth looking into. – aileenmaeryan10 years ago
I have read the book. It would be classed as abuse technically. (though in my opinion it is terribly written, nothing to do with the content!)
I haven't watched the film, judging from the content of the book, most of it will be censured since it is not been made into a pornographic film.
This has potential to be expanded on does 50 shades promote sexual freedom, or social normalisation of abusive relationships? Could also look at Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty erotic novels, though these are written a lot better than 50 shades. – Yama14410 years ago
I haven't read the books or seen the fims, but I've read summaries, what others have written about them, and excerpts of the original text. Incidentally, I'd have to agree about the awful writing style! One of my friends likes the book (which I found surprising) but, from what I've heard and read, it does strike me as an attempt to eroticise an abusive relationship. I seem to remember reading something about Christian Grey presenting Anastasia with a rare edition of Hardy's 'Tess of the D' Urbervilles' (?) If this is correct, that strikes me as pretty disturbing, given that Grey is a 'dom' and I interpret what happens between Alec and Tess as rape*. Interestingly, when I recently attended a lecture/discussion about Heathcliff and Rochester at the Bradford Literary Festival, an audience member observed parallels between the romanticising of Heathcliff by some readers and the popularity of Christian Grey and '50 Shades.' One of the lecturers said that her mum had been impressed by the film because, unaware of the context, she had interpreted it as a ''film about a young woman who escapes an abusive relationship." She was therefore shocked and disturbed to learn that, in the sequel books/movies, Anastasia and Grey reconcile their relationship and go on to marry and have children. In contrast, Bronte shows Isabella initially being drawn to Heathcliff, but eventually escaping his violence with her son, terrified and disgusted at this brutality. For me, Heathcliff is more of an abusive brut than a romantic hero, and is evident that this is how Bronte intended to portray him. Yet, considerable readers and film adaptations have romanticised this character. Traditionally, we tend to regard fiction as a reflection of real life. Yet, fiction and narrative also influence social discourse and change. I often wonder if real people sometimes confuse abusive and disfunctional situations with 'passion' because the media is frequently guilty of doing the same thing... Anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts ☺️. *In 'Tess of the D' Urbervilles', two women speculate that 'more than persuasion had to do with the coming of it [Tess's pregnancy out of wedlock.]" One of the women evidences this by telling the other that people heard crying coming from the woods around the time the rape would have occurred. Apparently, another edition included a scene in which Alec seemingly drugs Tess. – AnnaConda5 years ago
