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2 answers
Interpreting the line "'O keep the Dog far hence, that's friend to men" in The Waste Land
I'm hoping to get some insight into line 74 of The Waste Land (you can read The Waste Land online). Here's the passage in question (line 74 is in bold):
That corpse you planted last year in your garden,
Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this…
user111
16
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2 answers
Why does the murderer call Macduff's son "egg"?
When Macduff's son defends his father's honor when the murderers sent by Macbeth call Macduff a traitor in Macbeth, they wind up stabbing the son:
Enter Murderers.
FIRST MURDERER: Where is your husband?
LADY MACDUFF: I hope, in no place so…
Mithical
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16
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Did Homer base the Iliad and the Odyssey on mythology?
Homer's two epic poems follow the story of the Trojan War through various perspectives. Did Homer make up the stories, or was there some kind of historical/mythological predecessor that he retold (or exaggerated, if the answer is historical)?
Matrim Cauthon
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16
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Symbolism of "hot gammon" in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land
I'm reading T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land (which you can read for free online) and one particular line stuck out at me:
Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,
And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot—
I…
user111
16
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1 answer
Were other characters apart from Alice inspired by real life people?
It is a commonly known fact that Lewis Carroll based Alice in his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass on Alice Liddell, after she asked him to tell him a story.
But were any other characters, for instance the Mad Hatter,…
Beastly Gerbil
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16
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Why is the superstate Winston lives in named Oceania in 1984?
Winston Smith lives in London, a city in the superstate of Oceania. As shown in this map, Oceania consists of all of the Americas, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In the modern world today, Oceania refers to the region of the world that includes…
fi12
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What was supposedly satanic about the Lord of the Rings?
From a comment on another recent question I learned that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have (in certain places and at certain times) been banned for supposedly satanic themes. A quick bit of searching online confirmed that indeed certain…
Rand al'Thor
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What does the letter V in Thomas Pynchon's book symbolize?
Obviously, V. is a character in the book, known only by her initial. That initial is also the title of the book, which actually includes the period.
But I assume this title/name symbolizes something else too?
Wikipedia's article "V." only mentions…
tobiasvl
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Did Piggy participate in the killing of Simon?
This spawns off an argument that my friend and I had. I had always assumed that he had, however my friend disagreed. The main point I cited, Piggy's attempt to console Ralph while also trying to absolve himself of guilt, was interpreted by her as…
Matrim Cauthon
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Is Alice in Wonderland about drugs?
I recently read Alice in Wonderland, and was struck by the use of organic substances (mushrooms, drinks) to alter reality. There seems to a strong pro drug message in the story line.
A news article Is Alice in Wonderland really about drugs?…
James Jenkins
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15
votes
3 answers
How old was Hercule Poirot?
The New York Times record Hercule Poirot's age as "unknown" in their obituary:
Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was unknown.
Source: Lask, Thomas. "Hercule Poirot Is Dead; Famed…
user8
15
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Was Rowling inspired by the railway station scene in Prince Caspian?
I was rereading Prince Caspian and noticed that in the start of the story they're in
an empty, sleepy country station, and there was hardly anyone on the platform but themselves
and then they're magically pulled away to Narnia from there (and at…
auden
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Pride and Prejudice: Why did Elizabeth think "my uncle and aunt would have been lost to me"?
In chapter 43 of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, when Elizabeth visits Pemberley with her aunt Mrs. Gardiner, she looks at the splendour of Pemberley, and thinks:
“And of this place, I might have been mistress! With these rooms I might now have…
WorldGov
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Why did iambic pentameter become so 'standard' in classical English poetry?
Iambic pentameter is probably the most prevailing and widely used meter in classical English poetry, and it's the 'standard' form of verse in many forms of poetry such as sonnets. From Wikipedia (admittedly not the best of sources):
The most…
Rand al'Thor
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Juvenile literature about a group of children living in a castle, looking for a treasure
There were at least two books, although I only recall the plot of the first one. They were paperbacks, probably about octavo dimensions, fairly short as I remember them, under a hundred pages. I read them in the early 1990s in Kentucky. They were…
Sean Duggan
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