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A Woman and Her Dog: The Experiences of Confinement and Liberation in Virginia Woolf’s Flush
In ‘Flush’, Virginia Woolf explores the ways Elizabeth and Flush experience confinement and liberation, focusing on how certain aspects of their identities inform these experiences. The parallels between Elizabeth and Flush’s experiences have led to the Feminist reading championed by Susan Squier that Flush’s confinement is an allegory of the position of the Victorian woman.1… Continue reading
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Man, Animals and Power: The Covert Dynamics between Man and Animals in Ted Hughes’ ‘The Dove Breeder’
In ‘The Dove Breeder’, Hughes explores the relationship between man and animals. Through his illustration of the simultaneous experiences of loss and gain for the titular breeder and the birds he keeps, Hughes suggests that the relationship is inherently exploitative because of man’s anthropocentric view of life. The poem’s narrative voice presents other humans as… Continue reading
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The Impact of the Idolatry of Marriage on Female Relationships Within the Church
There’s a chapter in Little Women where the March sisters join Laurie and Laurie’s English friends for a day at the beach. Alcott describes a scene where Kate Vaughn, the haughtiest of Laurie’s friends and the one closest in age to Meg, intentionally insults Meg because she’s noticed that Meg has caught the attention of… Continue reading
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Review: Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree, 2024)
So Gelon says to me, ‘Let’s go down and feed the Athenians. The weather’s perfect for feeding Athenians.’ Gelon speaks the truth. ‘Cause the sun is is blazing all white and tiny in the sky, and you can feel a burn from the stones as you walk. Even the lizards are hiding, poking their heads… Continue reading
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Views From Sixteen: The Books That Impacted Me The Most Between Sixteen and Eighteen
This is a list of some of the books that have had the biggest impact on my thinking or were earth-shattering for me in some way. Coincidentally, these are all books I read at sixteen or seventeen while studying for my A-Levels (not my A-Level texts themselves) so maybe there’s just something about the books… Continue reading
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Review: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Granta Books, 2023)
Lemoine said in a cool, clear voice ‘Do you have something you want to say?’ He could only be addressing Shelley. There was another lull. Mira stood in the dark astonished, mouth open, waiting for Shelley’s reply. ‘I’m guess I’m just a little worried that we might be doing this for different reasons,’ Shelley said… Continue reading
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Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press, 2022)
Lucrezia can see that they are nearing Santa Maria Novella; there isn’t much time. These are the last moments of her girlhood – with every passing second, her time with her family is ebbing away. Very soon, she will be married. The feasting, the dancing and the gaming have already taken place – the celebrations… Continue reading
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Review: Vanya by Simon Stephens (2023)
I went to see a National Theatre Live screening of Simon Stephens’ Vanya a few days ago because Stephens’ production of the Chekhov classic was marketed as a “one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotion”, which, as a description, was good enough for me. (What is drama if not an exploration of the… Continue reading
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When Biblical Modesty isn’t Biblical: A Critique of the Evangelical Understanding of the Issue of Women’s Modesty
In the opening chapter of his treatise on modesty titled On the Apparel of Women, Tertullian (c. 160AD – 125) famously described women as “the devil’s gateway” and if you were to look through my journal entries about my own body between twenty-one and twenty-three, written during my first eighteen months in church as a… Continue reading