Perhaps Taming of the Shrew is less about taming shrews and more about male fragility. That would restore some of Katharina’s dignity.
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Author Archives: Robin Bates
Putin as Puppet-Master
Grimké’s “Puppet-Master” can be applied to Putin pulling DJT’s strings.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Harlot's House", "Puppet-Master", Angelina Weld Grimké, DJT, Hillary Clinton, Oscar Wilde, Vladimir Putin Leave a comment
Art, for When Life Is at Its Worst
In Lapus Lazuli, Yeats shows us how art offers us hope even at the darkest times. He wrote this on the eve of World War II.
The Iliad Saved My Freshman Year
In which I explain how The Iliad saved my freshman year in high school.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Creative Writing and Daydreaming", "Strange Meeting", force, Homer, Iliad, Richard Lattimore, Sigmund Freud, Simone Weil, war, Wilfred Owen Comments closed
Zuckerberg, Grendel, and the Cool Kids’ Table
Sorkin says the Zuckerberg (and Trump) are perpetually angry from having been denied admission to the cool kids’ table. Grendel is the same.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Aaron Sorkin, Beowulf, DJT, Mark Zuckerberg, resentment, Social Reckoning Comments closed
The Fine Balance between Hope and Despair
Mistry’s “Fine Balance,” which describes tyranny in India in 1975 and 1984, can be applied to DJT’s America in unsettling ways.
Joy Harjo and Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Joy Harjo’s “Remember,” a poem that captures the spirit of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Remember", Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples' Day, Joy Harjo, neofascism Comments closed
Ted Lasso and Mary Oliver??
Ted Lasso ends season four with a VoiceOver reciting Mary Oliver’s “When Death Comes.” I explore why.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "This Be the Verse", "When Death Comes", Mary Oliver, Philip Larkin, Soccer, Ted Lasso Comments closed