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1. Representation of foreign lands, especially what came to be called the "Orient," was a popular literary subject in the Romantic period as well as the twentieth century. However, the tropes, language, and attitudes common to each period were different. Consider the selection from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and E. M. Forster's A Passage to India from the twentieth century. From the Romantic period, consider Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Kubla Khan (see pages 439–441 in volume 2a).
2. T. S. Eliot expressed admiration for the Metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century and can be seen to incorporate some of the rhetorical strategies common in metaphysical poetry. Compare T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land to John Donne's exemplary metaphysical poetry, for example the selection from An Anatomy of the World (see pages 1262–68 in volume 1B) or any of his shorter poems such as The Flea and Song (see pages 1236 and 1237 in volume 1B).
3. James Joyce's Ulysses is a tour de force exemplifying the distinctly modernist turn inward, with the inner psychological world and experiences of a character, as well as "stream of conscious" narration, becoming the centerpiece of fictional representation. This modernist turn inward marked a reaction to Victorian novelistic representation, which often focused on the outside world, social problems, and class tensions. The selection from George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (see pages 1469–71 in volume 2B) is an example of what the modernists were reacting against. Consider how each represents characters, their inner worlds, and their interactions with other characters.
4. Comic theater took different forms over the centuries and can be classified into different subgenres. The Comedies of Manners during the Restoration employed witty lighthearted dialogue to critique social mores. William Congreve's The Way of the World (see pages 2217–80 in volume 1C) is an apt example. In the twentieth century, however, absurdity, farce, and darker comedy became popular theatrical modes to level scathing critiques at society. Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter is a good example of the use of farce in social criticism. Consider the use of comedy and the aspect of society each play is attempting to critique.