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1500 questions
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What was a "prince" in Dostoevsky's times, i.e. mid-late 19th century?
In Dostoevsky's The Idiot, the main character is Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin. Sometimes the word "prince" almost seems an honorary title, e.g.
"Here you all are now," the prince began, "looking at me with such curiosity that if I don't satisfy…
Andrew Cheong
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Why are all the schoolchildren referred to as guns in Clint Smith's "The Gun"?
Clint Smith's poem "The Gun" describes a school shooting from the perspective of a child. However, the central character, as well as its fellow classmates, are all referred to as "guns":
the gun moved to a closet filled with several other shaking…
bobble
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3 answers
How many sailors from Odysseus' crew survived the Odyssey?
It's been a long time since I've read it, maybe 20 years. Of course, Odysseus survives, but does anyone else? How many sailors did he start with, and how many made it home with him (or safely departed along the way)?
miltonaut
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Why would one of Germany's leading publishers publish a novel by Jewish writer Stefan Zweig in 1939?
I am reading the Penguin Edition of Impatience of the Heart by Stefan Zweig - also known as Beware of Pity in other translations. The reverse of the title page states that the book was first published in "Germany as Ungeduld des Herzens by S Fischer…
Terry Bunn
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How did Shakespeare get away with staging witchcraft in his plays such as Othello, Macbeth, or The Tempest?
The themes of witchcraft and magic loom large over Shakespeare’s later plays. While there is no overt use of magic and spells in Othello, per se, as compared to the witches in Macbeth conjuring on stage, or Prospero using magic to control the…
user10067
23
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4 answers
What reference is Shakespeare making in Act 2 Scene 2 of Macbeth?
In Act 2 Scene 2 of Macbeth there is this line.
What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes.
Someone two days ago told me this is a reference to a different piece of literature. I didn't know how to spell the name of the reference so didn't…
Featherball
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Can the Count of Monte Cristo's calculation of poison dosage be explained?
In Chapter Fifty-Two of The Count of Monte Cristo there is a discussion between the titular count and Madame de Villefort about exposing oneself to poisons:
“Well,” replied Monte Cristo “suppose, then, that this poison was brucine, and you were to…
Alex
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What did Wodehouse say about writing in the first-person?
P. G. Wodehouse is known as a consummate stylist, and a lot is known about how he plotted and wrote his novels. Did he ever say anything about his writing in the first person? I'm particularly curious about how he wrote "as" Bertie Wooster, who has…
Gaurav
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Did later literary analysis agree with Mark Twain's criticism of J.F. Cooper?
This excellent answer by @CHEESE linked to a Mark Twain's "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses".
SPOILER ALERT: That essay is extremely critical of Cooper's work.
Did later literary analysis largely agree with Mark Twain's criticism of Cooper or…
DVK
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Is there any evidence for a gay relationship in The Merchant of Venice?
A couple of years ago, I went to a stage performance of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which Antonio and Bassanio were portrayed as being in a gay relationship together since before the start of the play. This correspondingly affected the…
Rand al'Thor
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22
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Is the house plan in Anne Frank's diary an artistic rendition, or is it sketched by Anne?
There is this image in the "Friday, 9 July, 1942" section of Anne Frank's diary; a design of the house which is popularly called the Secret Annex.
Did Anne's original diary have a (rough) sketch of the Secret Annex, or was it completely a rendition…
Dawny33
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6 answers
In Ozymandias, who is the "ye" in the line "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" meant to be addressing?
Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias is a well-known and oft-referenced English-language poem from the early 19th century, and purports to quote — presumably in translation from Egyptian hieroglyphs — a line from the pedestal of a statue of Ramesses II…
Mark S
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4 answers
What is the earliest reference in fiction to a government-approved thieves guild?
I remember reading about the Thieves's guild in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and I remember thinking they seemed... Novel? Especially as it was government-approved.
One of the remarkable innovations introduced by the Patrician was to make…
AncientSwordRage
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22
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Did C. S. Lewis support the Ransom Theory in the Chronicles of Narnia?
Some critics have claimed that the explanation of Aslan's sacrifice in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe supports the ransom theory of the atonement. (Edit: There's also a much briefer definition of what that is here; basically, the Ransom…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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Why did George Orwell name himself after the River Orwell?
Eric Arthur Blair, author of such famous books as Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm among many others, used the name George Orwell for his books. From the linked Wikipedia page (cited to Voorhees, The paradox of George Orwell):
The pen name…
Rand al'Thor
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