Monthly Archives: March 2020

Trump’s Modest Proposal

By Robin Bates | Published: March 31, 2020

It may be April Fools’ Day, but there are Republicans who are advocating a version of Jonathan Swift’s “Modest Proposal.” For real.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Iago, White Supremacist

By Robin Bates | Published: March 30, 2020

To understand Iago’s motivations, think status anxiety–the fear of losing cultural and social dominance over “the Other.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

The Sun Rises in Spite of Everything

By Robin Bates | Published: March 29, 2020

A Derek Mahon poem read on Irish state television assures us that “Everything Is Going to Be All Right.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Valley of Dry Bounds, a Waste Land

By Robin Bates | Published: March 28, 2020

Spiritual Sunday As we are in the Lenten season, the liturgy has of reading one of the strangest passages in the Bible, that being Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones. I repost today an essay from April 6, 2016 on  T. S. Eliot’s allusion to the imagery. Given how desolate many of us are feeling these […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

The Green Knight on Handling Death

By Robin Bates | Published: March 26, 2020

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is one of the most profound works I know for dealing with death.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

The Courage to Face the Darkness

By Robin Bates | Published: March 25, 2020

In “IT” Stephen King shows how Americans close their eyes to horrific truths. Certain Americans have been closing their eyes to COVID19, showing King to know what he’s talking about.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Illness in 19th Century Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: March 24, 2020

19th century literature is filled with images of illness. Reading it should make us grateful to the advances in medical science.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

GOP Bailout: Nothing If Not Consistent

By Robin Bates | Published: March 23, 2020

GOP obsession with lining the pockets of the wealthy, now on display in their COVID bailout package, reminds me of the Baron in Voltaire’s “Candide.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

It’s a Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

By Robin Bates | Published: March 22, 2020

For those of us living in the lull before the COVID-19 storm, Swift’s “Description of a City Shower” captures what we’re experiencing–and about to experience.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed