Tag Archives: politics

Masters of Spite: Satan and Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2017

Many wonder whether spite drives many of Donald Trump’s policy decisions. If so, he has good company in Milton’s Satan, who is defined by spite.

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Trump as Lear, Howling in the Storm

By Robin Bates | Published: March 21, 2017

Donald Trump has a lot in common with King Lear. I suspect, however, that Lear has the happier ending.

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McConnell as Moriarty, Trump as Figaro

By Robin Bates | Published: December 11, 2016

Mitch McConnell is proving himself to be a veritable Moriarty in his ability to weave devious plots to get his way. Trump, by contrast, is more a trickster figure a la Figaro or Mac the Knife.

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If Swift Had Known Donald Trump…

By Robin Bates | Published: November 27, 2016

Jonathan Swift would have had a field day with Donald Trump. I suspect I’ll say this often in the upcoming years.

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Thanksgiving in the Age of Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: November 23, 2016

Thanksgiving this year may encounter the strains of the recent election. For a depiction of how bad it can get, check out the Christmas dinner scene in “Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.” It will show you what to avoid.

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All Must Love the Human Form

By Robin Bates | Published: November 19, 2016

In “The Divine Image,” Blake gives us a poem for our time, a call to pray for mercy, pity, peace, and love and to recognize the human form in diversity. In “The Human Abstract” he adds that prayer is not enough. It must be accompanied by human justice.

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Satanic Trump Unleashing Dark Forces

By Robin Bates | Published: September 1, 2016

When Donald Trump excited the alt-right with his Wednesday night speech promising to deport all undocumented immigrants, he reminded me of Milton’s Satan inspiring Sin and Death after engineering the Fall.

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Politically Incorrect Okay for Hemingway?

By Robin Bates | Published: August 31, 2016

If Bill Gorton, a positive figure in “The Sun Also Rises,” is politically incorrect, does that mean that Donald Trump is correct in his attacks on PC? Award-winning high school teacher Carl Rosin tackles the issues by contrasting Gorton and Trump.

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Trollope’s Melmotte Anticipates Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: July 6, 2016

Anthony Trollope foreshadowed Donald Trump in the figure of Augustus Melmotte in “The Way We Live Now” (1875).

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