Melville’s “Clarel” wrestles with faith and doubt and whether science can be reconciled with religion. In the end, the poet tells us to look to the heart, a good Advent message.
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Like the Crocus Budding through the Snow
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Testament", Clarel, faith and doubt, Herman Melville, science and religion, Wendell Berry Comments closed
Derealized or Appareled in Celestial Light?
Wordsworth arrived at the underlying idea of “Intimations of Immortality” from a childhood experience that sounds like what psychology now calls depersonalization-derealization disorder.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Depersonalization-derealization disorder, Depression, Intimations of Immortality, William Wordsworth Comments closed
Euripides’s Attack on Authoritarianism
It’s possible to read “The Bacchae” as a critique of the autocrats who hijacked Athenian democracy and were running Athens into the ground.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged authoritarianism, Bacchae, Dictators, Donald Trump, Euripides, rebellion Comments closed
GOP Tax Plan and the Invisible Man
If the GOP tax plan panders to the wealthiest Americans, maybe it’s because they are like H.G. Wells’s Invisible Man and believe they can act with impunity.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, GOP Tax Bill, H. G. Wells, Invisible Man, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Plato, Republic Comments closed
Margaret Atwood’s Green Christians
Margaret Atwood imagines a cult of green Christians in “Year of the Flood.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged climate change, Dystopias, environmental issues, Green Christianity, Margaret Atwood, Year of the Flood Comments closed
Why Streetcar Didn’t Impress Women
When “Streetcar Named Desire” was first staged, male reviewers thrilled to the way Stanley dominated Blanche. Reviewer Mary McCarthy was less impressed.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged emasculation fears, Feminism, Mary McCarthy, Street Car Named Desire, Tennessee Williams Comments closed
