Literary Significance & Criticism
Although more than a century has passed since its publication, the novel's satirical observations of political and social life in Washington, D.C., remain pertinent.
Playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, speaking of his book Bambi Meets Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose and Practice of the Movie Business, used The Gilded Age as a metaphor for Hollywood. On an NPR call-in show, Mamet drew comparisons between the Hawkins family's 40-year quest to win funding for a dam in their hometown and the plight of a young filmmaker trying to sell a script in the unforgiving studio system.
Read more about this topic: The Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today
Famous quotes containing the words literary, significance and/or criticism:
“Simile and Metaphor differ only in degree of stylistic refinement. The Simile, in which a comparison is made directly between two objects, belongs to an earlier stage of literary expression; it is the deliberate elaboration of a correspondence, often pursued for its own sake. But a Metaphor is the swift illumination of an equivalence. Two images, or an idea and an image, stand equal and opposite; clash together and respond significantly, surprising the reader with a sudden light.”
—Sir Herbert Read (1893–1968)
“To grasp the full significance of life is the actor’s duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.”
—Marlon Brando (b. 1924)
“The aim of all commentary on art now should be to make works of art—and, by analogy, our own experience—more, rather than less, real to us. The function of criticism should be to show how it is what it is, even that it is what it is, rather than to show what it means.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)