While Dickens looks to wealthy benefactors for the poor, Orwell argues for systemic overhaul. In that way, Orwell should be our future rather than Dickens.
Monthly Archives: April 2020
Trump & COVID? Think Ministry of Magic
Trump dealing with COVID-19 can be compared to the Ministry of Magic trying to deal with Voldemort.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged COVID-19, Donald Trump, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling Comments closed
Passover: A Ritual for Wanderers
Henry Weinfield is deeply skeptical of a fixed Jewish identity but captures the wandering spirit in this Passover poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "My Father Was a Wandering Aramaean", Henry Weinfield, Passover Comments closed
Homer, Virgil & Dante Visit the Afterlife
In my Representative Masterpieces course, I conclude with Dante’s “Inferno,” where we see sinners creating their own hells.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Aeneid, Beowulf, Dante, Divine Comedy, Homer, Inferno, John Bunyan, John Milton, monsters, Odyssey, Paradise Lost, Pilgrim's Progress, Sin, Virgil Comments closed
Cuomo Channels Shakespeare’s Henry V
Andrew Cuomo’s recent speech to the National Guard has echoes of Henry V’s St. Crispin’s Day speech on the eve of Agincourt.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Andrew Cuomo, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Falstaff, health workers, Henry IV Part I, Henry V, National Guard, William Shakespeare Comments closed
When Millenarians Meet a Pandemic
Mandel’s “Station Eleven” predicts the kind of religious language we can expect to hear from some as the pandemic deepens. It’s not pleasant.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Book of Revelations, Christian nationalism, Emily St. John Mandel, end times, Millenialism, Rapture, Station Eleven Comments closed
How Iago Corrupts Othello
Why is Othello so gullible. It may be that he has an underlying security, which Iago understands and preys upon.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged misogyny, Othello, Outsider, toxic masculinity, William Shakespeare Comments closed
