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| 9795938932 | Zora Neale Hurston | author of Their Eyes Were Watching God | 0 | |
| 9795941874 | Sophocles | author of Oedipus Rex and Antigone | 1 | |
| 9795948484 | William Shakespeare | author of Hamlet | 2 | |
| 9795958533 | Arthur Miller | author of Death of a Salesman | 3 | |
| 9795965300 | Franz Kafka | author of The Metamorphosis | 4 | |
| 9795968232 | Emily Bronte | author of Wuthering Heights | 5 | |
| 9795975132 | Chinua Achebe | author of Things Fall Apart | 6 | |
| 9795980618 | Tennessee Williams | author of A Streetcar Named Desire | 7 | |
| 9795994742 | Ralph Ellison | author of Invisible Man | 8 | |
| 9796030612 | Major themes of Their Eyes Were Watching God | God and fate ultimately hold the answers; Learning is accomplished through experience; Fate versus free will; You must choose your own path, not let others choose it for you; The search for true love can be a long and weary one; | 9 | |
| 9796044347 | Major themes of Invisible Man | Identity is a conflict between the view of the self and the projection from others; Identity can be defined by race, which can lead to invisibility; You must overcome illusions and deceptions to reach the truth; Ideology focuses too much on the collective at the expense of the individual; memories and the past are important tools to reflect upon and use to create perspective and obtain new feelings toward experiences; Sometimes those you admire are so flawed you realize you have only yourself to rely on; the situation of the white woman is drawn parallel to that of the black man | 10 | |
| 9796211409 | Major themes of Antigone | Women defy the traditional roles of society; Dedication (to family) is extremely noble; The tension between individual action and fate | 11 | |
| 9796211410 | Major themes of Wuthering Heights | The nature of love, explored as good versus evil can describe love versus hate; Hate and revenge intertwine with selfishness; Families are a source of violence, greed, alienation, and jealousy; love can transcend the grave; No one wants to take responsibility from the suffering that comes from foolishness; the constraints of social class can be catastrophic; feeling like an outsider can lead to a desire to seek revenge | 12 | |
| 9796217930 | Major themes of Things Fall Apart | balance between masculine and feminine forces (mind/body/mother/father/emotional/rational)must be present or the whole system will, ahem, "fall apart"; the family unit is the most fundamental unit for society; Reputation is extremely important (to men) and it is based on merit; Fear causes suffering and can ultimately consume you and invite disapproval from your family, the community, and the gods; sin is the ultimate crime against the gods; traditions and customs are essential for community unity, cohesion, and longevity; the earth can be generous, but also deadly and ruthless; social rank and wealth play a great role in determining one's destiny; the clash between fate and free will; language can both include and alienate a person | 13 | |
| 9796221430 | Major themes of Hamlet | taking advantage of appearing insane has its benefits and its consequences; revenge may or may not be as useful and valid as we think; the living world is made of death and decay; if we all eventually die, does it matter how we do?; religion and spirituality shape how an individual interprets the world; a portion (large or small) of our identity is based on performance; deception is a necessary part of life; | 14 | |
| 9796225862 | Major themes of Death of a Salesman | loss of identity can tear a family apart; the inability to accept change within one's self or society can lead to the loss of identity; Individuals turn to denial to escape reality; individuals recreate the past in an attempt to escape the present; individuals endeavor to find order in a world full of disorder | 15 | |
| 9796225863 | Major themes of The Metamorphosis | a person's will to live is inextricably linked to the opinion loved ones have of that person; without a clear purpose, a human being has difficulty remaining human; The ties of blood are not strong enough to overcome egocentricity; a human being who is isolated and alienated from others cannot sustain life; family duties drive the interactions between one another | 16 | |
| 9796234666 | Major themes of Oedipus Rex | tensions between individual action and fate: individuals cannot be fully responsible for their actions; the pursuit of knowledge can lead to one's undoing; knowledge is limited in its ability to bring happiness to those who seek it; determination can lead to excessive pride and can sometimes be a greater hindrance than asset; power can be corruptive and blinding; looking too far into the past can be dangerous and harmful | 17 | |
| 9796245118 | Major themes of A Streetcar Named Desire | brute masculinity is both primitive and sub-human, while also attractive and sexually appealing; masculinity is defined by aggression, control, physical dominance, and violence; marriage can consist of many challenges, but also maintain a fierce passionate love; sex is a destructive force; alcohol is used as a means of escape; the need to appear youthful can be consuming; loss, depression, financial ruin, and cruelty of others can lead to madness; death comes in many forms including loss of identity, reputation, sanity, youth, physical well-being, and relationships | 18 | |
| 9796094786 | Main character of Invisible Man | An unnamed African-American narrator unseen by others who therefor becomes manipulated and deceived. He perpetually tries to deliver speeches, most of which are unsuccessful. Ends up living underground. | 19 | |
| 9796100626 | Main character of Their Eyes Were Watching God | Janie Crawford: A mix-raced African American woman who undergoes a beautiful coming of age moment under a pear tree, but the majority of her life is tragically committed to being defined by or controlled by the three men she is married to. | 20 | |
| 9797368732 | Main characters in A Streetcar Named Desire | Stanley -hyper masculine, overly sexualized bully. Husband to Stella. Poker player, violent temper. Stella - typical feminine domestic figure; wife to Stanley; mother to Stanley's child; younger sister to Blanche; caretaker, sandwich-maker, etc. Blanche - older sister to Stella; fixated on loss of youth; delusional, habitual liar, alcohol is escape mechanism | 21 | |
| 9797429017 | Main character in Hamlet | Prince Hamlet. Fixated on following through on revenge for his father's death by uncle, along with mother's sexual relationship with uncle-now-father, Claudius. Hamlet may or may not have gone crazy; sees his father's ghost. | 22 | |
| 9797451754 | Main character in Things Fall Apart | Okonkwo, tribe leader. Determined to escape the fate of his weak father, Okonkwo attempts to take his fate into his own hands. This leads to three main sins: killing his adopted son, Ikemefuna, which leads to Okonkwo's exile; killing a Christian missionary; and ultimately Okonkwo takes his own life at the end of the novel (a feminine crime) | 23 | |
| 9797503234 | Main character in Oedipus | Oedipus. Tries to escape a terrible curse his whole life: he will kill his father and marry his mother, but of course is unsuccessful in doing so. Ultimately his hubris (excessive pride) causes his downfall. | 24 | |
| 9797503235 | Main character in Antigone | Antigone. A proud young woman and daughter of Oedipus. Family honor is more important than law, and Antigone is determined to bury her dead brother, Polyneices. Antigone is imprisoned for her crime, and commits suicide. | 25 | |
| 9797505725 | Main characters in Wuthering Heights | Catherine - wild and passionately in love with Heathcliff. Instead marries Edgar for social class preservation. Heathcliff - outsider of WH. Racially and biologically removed. Passionately in love with Catherine to the point of obsession. Following her death he seeks revenge for her marriage to Edgar in future generations. Edgar - Catherine's husband. He loves her, which allows him to overlook their incompatibility. Cathy - daughter of Catherine. Kept away from WH for protection. Eventually discovers WH and marries Linton. Shows traits of her mother, Catherine, but in a milder form. Linton - son of Heathcliff and Isabelle. Weak, winy, and overly emotional. A pawn in Heathcliff's game of revenge. Marries Cathy. | 26 | |
| 9797508253 | Main character in The Metamorphosis | Gregor Samsa. Obsessed with how he will get to work, despite the transformation into a beetle he awakens to one morning. His metamorphosis emphasizes familial pressures, inability to communicate, and loss of identity. | 27 | |
| 9797521221 | Main character in Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman. The father of the Loman family, who holds on to his job that is clearly pushing him out. Delusional with memories of the past that become fantasies of the present, exacerbated by guilt from a previous affair. Deterioration of his character puts extreme stress on the family. | 28 | |
| 9833633764 | Minor Characters of A Streetcar Named Desire | Mitch - Blanche's potential love interest | 29 | |
| 9833704635 | Minor Characters in Hamlet | Claudius - Hamlet's uncle and the late King Hamlet's brother. Claudius is guilty of poisoning (and killing) King Hamlet. Gertrude - Hamlet's mother, who has married King Hamlet's brother. Hamlet is disgusted by his mother's quick re-marriage and becomes over-concerned with her sexual relationship. Horatio - Hamlet's lower-class friend Ophelia - A potential love-interest of Hamlet's. Kills herself by drowning. | 30 | |
| 9834004366 | Minor Characters in Invisible Man | Bledsoe: Director of Narrator's college; manipulative, corrupted Mr. Norton: donor to narrator's college; narrator drives Norton around Emerson: Narrator constantly tries to find Emerson in NY and get a job from him Ras the Destroyer/Exhorter: powerful leader; nationalist strongly opposed to the Brotherhood Mary: "landlord" to narrator; stuck in the racist past Reverend Barbee: Blind, black reverend & speech/sermon giver Brother Jack: leader of the Brotherhood. Manipulative and corruptive Brother Tarp: honest member of the Brotherhood; carries around link from chain on chain gang to remind of slavery's past Clifton: tragic character killed by cops; previous Brotherhood member found selling racist dolls on the street; young, handsome, impressionable | 31 | |
| 9834911357 | Minor Characters in The Metamorphosis | Grete Mother Father | 32 | |
| 9834921014 | Minor Characters in Death of a Salesman | Biff Happy Linda The Woman | 33 | |
| 9834923490 | Minor Characters in Antigone | Haemon Creon Ismene Eurydice Polyneices | 34 | |
| 9834929353 | Minor Characters in Oedipus | Jocasta Tiresias | 35 | |
| 9834934871 | Minor Characters in Things Fall Apart | Ikemefuna The Gods The Oracle Christian Missionaries | 36 | |
| 9834938866 | Minor Characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God | Logan Jody Tea Cake Phoebe Nanny Porch-sitters | 37 | |
| 9834946704 | Minor Characters in Wuthering Heights | Nelly Lockwood Isabella Hindley Hareton | 38 |
