
Sam Piper
eNotes Educator
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About
Cambridge University English Degree Barrister English teacher
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Recent Activity
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Answered a Question in William Shakespeare
The quotation appears to be in a line of death-longing ideas that include the famous "To be or not to be" speech in Hamlet. Briefly, these ideas focus on the difficulties of being alive: injustice,... -
Answered a Question in Virtue
The poem Virtue by George Herbert is set out in four four-line stanzas in the first three of which he selects an typical image of beauty and life (the day, a rose, the spring) before reminding... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
The beast signifies different things to different people: both characters in the book and readers. At its most basic level, the beast is associated with the dead airman who parachutes over the... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
This is the latter part of act 3 scene 3 in which Hamlet comes across Claudius kneeling and appearing to pray. As Hamlet says "Now might I do it pat, now he is praying": it is the perfect... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo's emotions are a rollercoaster through the play: when we first hear of him in Act 1 scene 1 he is love-sick over Rosaline and "Many a morning hath he there been seen / With tears augmenting... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
In the sixteenth century, people believed that illness, including and perhaps specifically psychological illnesses, were caused by an imbalance of humours in the body. The humours related to... -
Answered a Question in Hamlet
This is one of the main issues of the play. Romeo is deeply hurt by and suspicious of Claudius and Gertrude's wedding, even before the ghost reveals the true manner of his death: "A little more... -
Answered a Question in Of Mice and Men
Curley's wife in many ways illustrates the death of hope and dreams whereas George and Lenny represent the hope that dreams give them. In chapter 5, she tells Lenny that she "coulda made somethin'... -
Answered a Question in William Shakespeare
You're not alone: no-one knows and no-one really understands. Certainly, as an actor and playwright, Shakespeare needed to be at the hub of social and Court life, which was London; there is... -
Answered a Question in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The opening sets the poem in both a historical and literary context. Historically, the connection between the English Kings and the Trojan War is one that was very important to royalty... -
Answered a Question in Macbeth
I am assuming that you have been asked to write a report of the final scene of the play, although such a task could also easily be set for many other scenes such as MacBeth's being crowned King.... -
Answered a Question in Romeo and Juliet
The short answer is that we are never told. The Prologue to the play that the "two households" of Capulet and Montague have an "ancient grudge" but Shakespeare never explains what that grudge is or... -
Answered a Question in Frankenstein
The creature (much better word than monster) represents a range of ideas and concerns in the novel. Consider the following: It may be a symbol of science - the novel repeatedly posits... -
Answered a Question in Lord of the Flies
I echo the previous answer - the symbolism of the conch's authority and Piggy's intelligence and foresight and understanding being destroyed together is clearly important. I'd question whether...