... or imply something. Symbols are often more powerful than directly stating an idea, and they tend to move on a deeper level. They can even bring a subconscious connection to the poem when used correctly. There are many reasons why writers and authors use symbols, and many people can agree that they bring life and essence ... give names to" (Phillips 52). I looked further into what a horse might symbolize and found that they often symbolize sexual and masculine energy, along with passionate desires and driving, influencing forces. As I pointed out earlier, Phillips is talking a lot about ...

• Word Count: 670
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the novel to symbolize the duality of the mind, a representation of Victor's conscious and unconscious mind. Victor's conscious behavior is clouded by his unconscious repressed desires, as he struggles with the Oedipus complex, defined as subconscious feelings in children of intense competition and even hatred toward the parent of the same sex, and feelings of romantic love toward the parent of the ... pleasure; his father and Elizabeth are competition for his mother's love. Caroline's death serves as the catalyst for Victor to experience a psychotic break from reality and begin explori...

• Word Count: 2532
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and housewives. Women were expected to conform to the role that society depicted for them rather than to behave as persons with individual needs and desires. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of Chopin's The Awakening seeks to defy convention by transforming from the wife and mother society expects her to be ... to a self-sufficient woman that follows her own ambitions and desires. In the beginning of the novel, Edna is a mother and a wife who is trying to conform to the expectations of society. Although she ... of other people. During this period, women led very sheltered lives that we...

• Word Count: 1097
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... been discussed. The question is brought up by Socrates as to what use is love to mankind. Since love is initially the love of good and beautiful things, one always desires to have good and beautiful things, in order to create happiness. There is a story that goes along with this, that is that people in love are seeking their other half ... all men are pregnant, both in body and in soul. By this she is saying all men always have love inside them, and when they turn a certain age our nature desires us to love. Once again we cannot love an ugly thing only the beautiful. So when an individu...

• Word Count: 1661
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... want of a winner to prove that he possesses what his mother considers "luck-: the kind that results in having money. As Lawrence makes it plain for all to see Paul desires something beyond what he has, namely, his mother's love. His moods and behavior became directly linked to his pursuit of "luck- and acquiring money and it is not long before ... to acquiring her love! His father does not have her love because he is unlucky, but if he is lucky "he can have her love!! Perhaps it is this subconscious awareness that prompts him to declare, "I'm a lucky person", even though he himself didn...

• Word Count: 1011
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... to the play. She comes off as someone who is grief-stricken because of the death of her brother. We later discover that she is bored and that she really desires to love. Olivia wears a metaphorical mask possibly for different reasons. One likely reason for her behavior is the fact that she is not interested in any suitors that live in ... underlying themes that often manifest themselves only indirectly below the surface action (Williams, 1961). The ridiculous mistakes that control the plot incite superficial laughter and at the same time reveal subconscious patterns of human behavior. T...

• Word Count: 3301
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography