Are even great novels like “Emma,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “Jane Eyre,” and “Middlemarch” complicit with patriarchy? Some feminists argue that this is in fact the case.
Monthly Archives: July 2017
Lit Frees Us from Our Mental Ghettos
In a fine “New Yorker” article, Shakespearean Stephen Greenblatt argues that Shakespeare was incapable to showing anything less than the full humanity of his characters, even the villains. He thereby liberates us from our “mental ghettos.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged anti-Semitism, cultural heritage, Humanities, Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, T. S. Eliot, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Brecht Explains Castile Shooting
To understand why cops continue to shoot innocent people of color and why juries acquit them, Brecht has the definitive explanation in his play “The Exception and the Rule.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Bertolt Brecht, Black Lives Matter, cop killings, Exception and the Rule, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice Comments closed
Lucille Clifton’s Cancer Poems
In her 1980s cancer poems, Lucille Clifton captures a range of feelings, ranging from confusion to anger to acceptance.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alice in Wonderland, cancer, cancer poems, hospitals, Lewis Carroll, Lucille Clifton, Medicine Comments closed
Dear Trump: America Contains Multitudes
To celebrate July 4, do not listen to Donald Trump, who preaches paranoia and exclusion. Read Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” His America contains multitudes.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Song of Myself", Diversity, Donald Trump, Immigration, July 4, Walt Whitman Comments closed
The Meadow-Scented Month July
In this Boris Pasternak poem, July is compared to a unkempt and untidy summer lodger, who enters our house and interrupts our carefully regulated work routine.
Born with a Knife in the Heart
Israeli poet Haim Gouri reflects upon the story of Abraham and Isaac and concludes that the descendants of people persecuted “are born with a knife in their hearts.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Heritage", Abraham and Isaac, Haim Gouri, Israel, violence Comments closed
