User Matt Thrower - Literature Stack Exchange

65 votes

Accepted

Why is there so much technical detail of whaling included in Moby-Dick?

answered Feb 7, 2017 at 17:27

46 votes

Why must "she" perform impossible tasks in order to be "a true love of mine" in "Scarborough Fair"?

answered Jan 29, 2024 at 10:55

45 votes

How did Shakespeare get away with staging witchcraft in his plays such as Othello, Macbeth, or The Tempest?

answered May 13, 2020 at 11:01

37 votes

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If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?

answered Jan 26, 2017 at 10:37

36 votes

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How could Thorin and co. journey all the way to Erebor without discussing how to deal with Smaug?

answered Jun 20, 2020 at 10:24

30 votes

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How did Leo Tolstoy approve Maude's English translation of War and Peace? Did he speak good English already?

answered Feb 24, 2023 at 9:50

28 votes

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Why are all the schoolchildren referred to as guns in Clint Smith's "The Gun"?

answered Mar 30, 2023 at 2:26

27 votes

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"Miss" as a form of address to a married teacher in Bethan Roberts' "My Policeman"

answered Mar 17, 2023 at 9:11

24 votes

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Why Pallas in "The Raven"?

answered Jul 10, 2023 at 21:24

24 votes

Why is Gravity’s Rainbow considered postmodern, yet Finnegans Wake is not?

answered Feb 7, 2023 at 9:24

23 votes

What does living "in a very small way" mean?

answered Feb 15, 2023 at 21:35

22 votes

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The meaning of "The rest is silence" in "Hamlet"

answered Jul 19, 2017 at 15:14

21 votes

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Why did T.S. Eliot compare “waiting for death” with “a feather on the back of the hand"?

answered Sep 15, 2022 at 10:39

20 votes

What's the significance of "Oranges and Lemons" in 1984?

answered Jan 26, 2017 at 12:20

20 votes

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Is Doctor Adams a self-insertion in Watership Down?

answered Jun 19, 2017 at 10:35

19 votes

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How might Shakespeare have become familiar with Dante's work?

answered Apr 29, 2020 at 12:53

17 votes

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Does "Animal Farm" explicitly state anywhere in the text that it is in fact a political allegory?

answered Sep 27, 2017 at 11:16

17 votes

Definition of "Victorian vandal"

answered Jun 6, 2023 at 19:49

16 votes

Accepted

What does this excerpt from "To Kill a Mockingbird" about Atticus shooting the dog mean?

answered Mar 13, 2023 at 21:14

16 votes

Accepted

Is Macbeth or Lady Macbeth the real villain in Shakespeare's play?

answered Dec 7, 2017 at 10:12

15 votes

Did Dante plagiarize the Divine Comedy from Kitab al-Miraj?

answered Feb 23, 2018 at 14:22

15 votes

Accepted

What was the irony of the end of Lord of The Flies?

answered Jan 31, 2017 at 17:05

14 votes

Why does Ray Bradbury use "flounder" for an action with a positive outcome?

answered Nov 12, 2020 at 11:51

14 votes

Accepted

What kind of letters is "many an unexpected letter that WOL had written to himself"?

answered May 2, 2023 at 9:08

13 votes

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"Devastate" in "Wuthering Heights"

answered Jan 17 at 16:03

13 votes

Accepted

Could Shelob have kept the ring for herself?

answered Jan 11, 2019 at 10:35

13 votes

What rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

answered Nov 30, 2017 at 14:50

12 votes

Why did Dickens write A Christmas Carol

answered Apr 10, 2018 at 15:23

12 votes

Accepted

Is the name Crowley in Good Omens a reference to the famous occultist?

answered Sep 25, 2017 at 13:03

12 votes

Accepted

Was the affair between John Proctor and Abigail in The Crucible historically accurate?

answered Nov 7, 2018 at 17:30

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191 Answers

Why is there so much technical detail of whaling included in Moby-Dick?

Why must "she" perform impossible tasks in order to be "a true love of mine" in "Scarborough Fair"?

How did Shakespeare get away with staging witchcraft in his plays such as Othello, Macbeth, or The Tempest?

If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?

How could Thorin and co. journey all the way to Erebor without discussing how to deal with Smaug?

How did Leo Tolstoy approve Maude's English translation of War and Peace? Did he speak good English already?

Why are all the schoolchildren referred to as guns in Clint Smith's "The Gun"?

"Miss" as a form of address to a married teacher in Bethan Roberts' "My Policeman"

Why Pallas in "The Raven"?

Why is Gravity’s Rainbow considered postmodern, yet Finnegans Wake is not?

What does living "in a very small way" mean?

The meaning of "The rest is silence" in "Hamlet"

Why did T.S. Eliot compare “waiting for death” with “a feather on the back of the hand"?

What's the significance of "Oranges and Lemons" in 1984?

Is Doctor Adams a self-insertion in Watership Down?

How might Shakespeare have become familiar with Dante's work?

Does "Animal Farm" explicitly state anywhere in the text that it is in fact a political allegory?

Definition of "Victorian vandal"

What does this excerpt from "To Kill a Mockingbird" about Atticus shooting the dog mean?

Is Macbeth or Lady Macbeth the real villain in Shakespeare's play?

Did Dante plagiarize the Divine Comedy from Kitab al-Miraj?

What was the irony of the end of Lord of The Flies?

Why does Ray Bradbury use "flounder" for an action with a positive outcome?

What kind of letters is "many an unexpected letter that WOL had written to himself"?

"Devastate" in "Wuthering Heights"

Could Shelob have kept the ring for herself?

What rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Why did Dickens write A Christmas Carol

Is the name Crowley in Good Omens a reference to the famous occultist?

Was the affair between John Proctor and Abigail in The Crucible historically accurate?