Tag Archives: Oliver Goldsmith

Downton’s Servants Put to the Test

A scene from the recent “Downton Abbey” echoes a highly comic scene in “She Stoops to Conquer.” Luckily for all involved, it goes in a different direction.

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Christian Man Bitten by Horse

Mike Pence has claimed he was bitten by Triple Crown winner Pharaoh, bringing to mind Goldsmith’s “Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.”

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From Wycherley to Crazy, Stupid, Love

In my “Restoration and 18th Century Couples Comedy” class, my students paired old rom-coms with contemporary films, including “Ten Things I Hate about You,” “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, “Friends with Benefits,” and others.

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A Play for the Painfully Shy

Oliver Goldsmith’s “She Stoops to Conquer” is balm for the painfully shy

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Taking a Break from Politics

Sometimes, like Mr. Hardcastle in “She Stoops to Conquer,” one needs a break from the world’s news.

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The Tragicomedy of High School Dating

“She Stoops to Conquer” captures all the pain of adolescent dating failures.

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Why Does Everyone Hate Duke?

Sports Saturday Once again, one of the most hated teams in the country resides atop the NCAA basketball rankings: Duke University.  In today’s post I find literary equivalents for the general animus against the Blue Devils. For the life of me I can’t understand why Duke is so disliked. Granted, I myself dislike Duke, but […]

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She Stoops to Circumvent Inhibitions

Oliver Goldsmith     Discussions in my 18th Century Couples Comedy class are proving to be a lot of fun because, almost seamlessly, we move between the 18th courtship scene, challenges faced by young people today, and contemporary movies and television shows.  Comedy rushes in where wise men fear to tread, giving us a way to talk […]

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Prancing Poetry and a Child’s Imagination

Last week I gave a list of my favorite children’s books when I was young.  My father, who is a poet along with being a French professor, read us poetry as well as fiction (each night, one story or chapter and one poem for each of my three brothers and me), so I thought I’d […]

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