This story by D. H. Lawrence is a humorous take on gender dynamics during World War 1 after a disproportionate number of women entered the workforce to replace men sent to war. It deals with a group of hardened women (they fear nobody, and everybody fears them) working as tram conductors in England’s industrial Midlands. When a womanizing ticket inspector takes advantage of one too many of the conductors, they join forces and exact sweet revenge. An important (feminist) theme of the story is exploited women finding their collective “voice”. Other themes include power, desire, passion, rejection, vengeance and rage. More…
Cinderella
Cinderella, perhaps the world’s best-known children’s story, has its origins in folklore. The version immortalized by Disney was first published in Charles Perrault’s 1697 book Stories or Tales from Times Past, with Morals, also known as Tales of Mother Goose. (Yes, Mother Goose was a man!) There are said to be over 1,000 variants of the story across the world. Perrault took the original framework, which has been around since the days of the pharaohs, and added the three elements for which his version is famous today: a fairy godmother, a pumpkin-carriage, and glass slippers. More…
The Drover’s Wife
In this story by Henry Lawson, a woman remembers the many hardships and few good times in her life as she sits up all night with only a dog to help protect her and her children from a deadly snake. The snake has crawled under their house. They can’t sleep inside, as the wooden floor has gaps in it. They cower in the kitchen, which is attached to the side of the house and has an earthen floor. The children sleep on the table. She sits on a chair with a stick on her lap, waiting for the snake. More…
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
This story, considered by Arthur Conan Doyle to be his best Sherlock Holmes mystery, features one of his most creative (and unlikeliest) murder plots. Thirty-year-old Helen, Holmes’s client, is a victim of Victorian attitudes towards women. Fearing for their future, her dead mother had decided that she and twin sister Julia would not receive their inheritances until they married. Their violent stepfather, who manages the money, will become destitute should either of them wed. After announcing her engagement, Julia dies under mysterious circumstances. Helen fears that she will be next. Themes: decay, isolation, fear, murder, class, greed, hasty judgement, justice. More…
A Clean Well-Lighted Place
This story by Ernest Hemingway takes place in a cafe. Two waiters (one young, the other middle-aged) talk about an old man sitting alone at one of the tables. A line from each waiter exemplifies three major themes. From the young waiter: I wouldn’t want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing. (attitudes towards the aged). From the older waiter: It [life] was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. (emptiness and despair). Other themes include aging and death, gender stereotyping, and the fact that money doesn’t buy happiness. More…