Song of Solomon Summary
Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Toni Morrison was born in Lorraine, Ohio, in 1931 as Chloe Anthony Wofford. An avid reader, Morrison studied literature, earning a bachelor’s degree at Howar... Read more

Biography EssayToni Morrison is one of America's most important writers of fiction. She has received critical acclaim, most notably the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987), the 1978 National Book C... Read more

"When they say I'm a great American novelist," Toni Morrison commented to Gail Caldwell in an interview published in Conversations with Toni Morrison, "I say, 'Ha! They're trying to say I'm not black.... Read more

One of the most prominent contemporary analysts of the black experience, Toni Morrison has, within a decade, established herself as a significant American novelist. As a senior editor at Random Hous... Read more

[This entry was updated by Catherine E. Lewis (University of South Carolina) from the entry by Denise Heinze (Western Carolina University) in DLB 143: American Novelists Since World War II, Third Seri... Read more

Critical Essay by Vivian Garnick [Song of Solomon] moves slowly, but with gathering momentum, into the heart of that myth-making impulse, pressing ever deeper on the human pain that is its motive forc... Read more

Critical Essay by Maureen Howard Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is a fine novel exuberantly constructed and stylistically full of the author's own delight in words. Morrison has a strong narr... Read more

In the following essay, Rabin explores the connections between the Songs of Songs and Indian—specifically Tamil—poetry. 1. Monkeys And Peacocks Letters written by Mesopotamian merchants ... Read more

In the following essay, Trible explores thematic and structural links between the Song of Songs and the book of Genesis. Love is bone of bone and flesh of flesh. Thus, I hear the Song of Songs. It spe... Read more

In the following essay, Meyers offers a feminist reading of the Song of Songs, considering the use of architectural and faunal imagery in the Song's treatment of gender. She finds in the poem a... Read more

In the following essay, Matter explores medieval Christian interpretations of the Song of Songs which associate the figure of the Bride with the Virgin Mary. The female gender of one of the voices of ... Read more

In the following three sermons, presented around 1136, St. Bernard explains the title of the Song of Songs; the kiss as a symbol of God's presence and as a sustainer of faith; and suggests an i... Read more

In the following commentary, written sometime in the fourteenth century, the author provides both a literal interpretation of the Song's "plain meaning," and a parallel "oc... Read more

In the following lectures, Lowth considers the Song of Songs as a form of dramatic poetry and suggests, after consideration of other Hebrew poetry, that the work should be read allegorically. Thus muc... Read more

In the following essay, Soulen focuses on the function and effect of imagistic, descriptive passages, or wasfs, in chapters 4 and 7 of the Song of Songs. In order to justify another look at the Song o... Read more

Since the beginning of time all human beings have had a fascination with human flight. Watching a bird soar through the air, people cannot help but desire the same capabilities. Imagine the point of v... Read more

In the novel Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison addresses aspects of racial relations within and between communities through the focus on Black American's response to prejudice. Racism is commonly thoug... Read more

The Song Of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, is about freedom, freedom from hardships freedom from hate or resentment, freedom from life. Many people fly away to achieve freedom in this book. Three o... Read more

People handle trauma and the way it shapes their life in different ways. The same goes for brothers and sisters who have experienced family trauma together. In the Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Ma... Read more

Love is a major theme in Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrisson be it love or the lack of it that binds each character to the next. Love plays a much larger role than usual in Song of Solomon, as it is us... Read more

In her novel Song of Solomon Toni Morrison uses the main character and protagonist Milkman, to demonstrate the value of caring for others and giving back what is received in return. The author shows t... Read more