Literary Lantern

  Short Story as a Form of Literature What is a short story? What are the various characteristics of it? Introduction: A Short Story is a ‘short piece of fiction aiming at unity of characterization’. According to H. E. Bates, the short story has the infinite and infinitely variable nature of a cloud. Edgar Allan Poe says that the short story should have the unity of impression and singleness of purpose. Somerset Maugham says, “A Short Story should be a finished product of art with a beginning, a middle and an end.” Since the short story format includes a wide range of genres and styles, the actual length is determined by the individual author’s preference. Many short story writers define their work through a combination of creative personal expression and artistic integrity. A short story differs from an anecdote because it presents a structured narrative. Like the novel, it uses characters, dialogue, plot, and setting. However, unlike the novel, it is significantly shorter in b...

The term “Elegy” comes from ancient Greek and Latin poetry. In those times, it meant any poem written in a special rhythm called elegiac metre , not just sad poems. These poems could be about love, loss, or serious thoughts. But over time, the meaning of the word changed. Today, an elegy usually means a poem that mourns someone’s death. It is often written to remember a friend, a loved one, or even a famous person. The poem is serious, thoughtful, and often ends with some comfort or hope. One of the most famous elegies in English is John Milton’s “Lycidas” (1637) . In this poem, Milton mourns the death of a young poet. He follows the style of pastoral elegy , where both the poet and the dead person are imagined as shepherds. Many poets copied this style after Milton. A pastoral elegy is a special type of elegy. It has a few key features: The poet calls on the Muses or other mythological beings. Nature joins in the mourning. The speaker blames spirits or gods for the dea...

Dramatic Monologue The term “Dramatic Monologue” was made popular by poet Robert Browning. It means a kind of poem where one single character speaks for the whole poem. This character is not the poet but a made-up or historical person. The speaker talks to someone who is present but never speaks in the poem. This silent listener is only known through clues in the speaker’s words. A dramatic monologue is not a part of a play , but a type of poem . The poem is written like a speech. It happens at an important moment in the speaker’s life. Through the speaker’s words, we learn about their thoughts, personality, and feelings. The speaker often reveals more than they realize. This is what makes the dramatic monologue special. For example, in Browning’s My Last Duchess , a duke shows a painting of his late wife and talks about her. But as he speaks, we slowly understand that he may have had her killed. The poem does not directly say this, but the truth is hidden in his words. A dramatic ...

Theatre of the Absurd The term Theatre of the Absurd was coined by critic Martin Esslin in 1961. It is a type of drama that portrays how human life lacks clear meaning, purpose, or order. Writers in this style believe that traditional ways of storytelling cannot explain modern human experiences. So, they create plays where things don’t follow logic, the plot goes nowhere, and the characters act in strange or confusing ways. This type of theatre gained popularity after World War II, particularly in France. It was a reaction against the old belief that people are rational and the world makes sense. Writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus have said that human life is full of confusion. They believed people were alone in a universe that had no clear rules or values. Albert Camus described this condition as “absurd.” Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco were leading writers of the Theatre of the Absurd. In Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot (1954), two men wait for someone n...