• The Purpose of Art, in Response to Oscar Wilde

    The Purpose of Art, in Response to Oscar Wilde

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    Fay’s Christmas Painting, 1958John Altoon (American, 1925-1969) In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde famously ends his preface with the line, “All art is quite useless.” At first glance, this may suggest that art has no place in practical life. After all, it’s food and water we survive on. But art is not about…

  • When Alice Found Me | A Chronicle of Literary Awakening

    When Alice Found Me | A Chronicle of Literary Awakening

    An illustration by John Tenniel from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandPhoto: Courtesy of Retroimages/Getty Images Growing up in the early 1990s, I wasn’t the kind of kid who read Machado de Assis or memorized Shakespeare’s sonnets. I attended a public school in a city far from the capital, where education was precarious and basic. Until…

  • Beyond beauty: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a story about how physical patterns and mental health are connected

    Beyond beauty: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a story about how physical patterns and mental health are connected

    Source: Google Images How far does our vulnerability go? As humans, we are susceptible to many factors in our lives, yet many of us struggle to cope with these emotions. Sometimes, these feelings leave us feeling unstable. Often, it’s a battle within ourselves, as we confront our true emotions in certain moments or situations.  Hiding…

  • The Cultural Legacy of Obsolete Medical Practices in Global Literature

    The Cultural Legacy of Obsolete Medical Practices in Global Literature

    When I first delved into the world of literature, I was struck not just by the stories themselves but  by the shadows they cast – shadows of medicine, health, and the human body. From Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling tales to Gabriel García Márquez’s surreal stories, literature has long been a mirror reflecting our societal fears,…