Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on A Comparison of Persian Letters and Oroonoko. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page analysis of the Persian Letters by Montesquieu, published in 1721, and Oroonoko: or The Royal Slave, a true history by Aphra Behn, published in 1688. These are two early examples of the art of writing a novel. They both take the stance that their subject material actually existed, and they both build a structure around the perspective of the imagined cultural 'other' as the basic context of each work. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_90other.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
numerous similarities. They take the stance that their subject material actually existed, and they both build a structure around the perspective of the imagined cultural "other" as the basic context
of each work. But while this perspective constitutes a similarity, it also forms the major difference between the two early novels. Behn uses her own cultural perspective in evaluating the
noble and royal slave, Oroonoko. Montesquieu turns the tables on this perspective and uses a cultural perspective of his Persian traveler to comment from an "other" point of view on
his own culture. Of course, in discussing what was happening back in Persia, and also in giving directions to his slaves regarding the care of Usbeks estate, Montesquieu also
employs a view of the Persians that renders them as "other," but the first perspective dominates the work. Montesquieus novel burst upon the European scene in either the spring or
early summer of 1721 under the pen name of Jacques Desbordes. The real name of the author was Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brede and de Montesquieu. Born with
the last name of ?de Secondat, at the time, he was using the last name of ?Montesquieu,? which was his uncle?s name. (Because his uncle was without children, he had
been designated his uncle?s heir and began using his name at that time.) The Persian Letters was an enormous success, a runaway best seller for almost the entire first
half of the eighteenth-century. The novel is supposedly a collection of letters written by several Persians as they travel throughout Europe from the years 1711 to 1720. Since, as they
travel, these foreigners from the exotic East comment on what they see and experience?which was so different from their native land?this novel represents an extremely accurate record of what social
...