It’s possible to read “The Bacchae” as a critique of the autocrats who hijacked Athenian democracy and were running Athens into the ground.
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Tag Archives: Donald Trump
Euripides’s Attack on Authoritarianism
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged authoritarianism, Bacchae, Dictators, 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 Also tagged GOP Tax Bill, H. G. Wells, Invisible Man, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Plato, Republic Comments closed
Robert Mueller, the Eye of Sauron
Comedian Seth Meyers recently compared Robert Mueller’s gaze to the eye of Sauron. No wonder there is panic in the White House.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Sauron, temptation Comments closed
Moliere and Religious Hypocrites
Moliere’s “Tartuffe” is a great satire of religious hypocrisy. It also shook up the 17th century French church in other ways and was banned.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Hypocrisy, Louis XIV, Moliere, rightwing evangelicals, satire, Tartuffe Comments closed
Chaucer’s Solution for Sexual Assault
What are we to do about all of our sexual assaulters, given that they probably number in the thousands? Chaucer’s Wife of Bath has an answer.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Al Franken, Bill Clinton, Charlie Rose, Geoffrey Chaucer, Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Roy Moore, sexual assault, sexual harassment, Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Comments closed
The Evangelical Rose Is Sick
Many rightwing evangelicals are selling their souls for Trumpism. William Blake would have something to say about that.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Holy Thursday", "Sick Rose", London, rightwing Christianity, Roy Moore, William Blake Comments closed
Brecht Quatrains for Challenging Times
During World War II Bertolt Brecht wrote quatrains that speak powerfully to our own political times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Adolph Hitler, Bertolt Brecht, refugees, war, War Primer Comments closed
Tess, More Relevant Than Ever
Students find Hardy’s “Tess” to be only too relevant In the age of Trump, Weinstein, and Roy Moore.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson, Roy Moore, sexual assault, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy Comments closed
Hardy Understood Sexual Predators Well
“Tess of the d’Urbervilles” is a prescient account of how sexual predators operate. It is no less relevant today in the age of Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein than it was in 1892.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Bill Cosby, Bill O'Reilly, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Rape, Roger Ailes, sexual assault, Tess of the d'Ubervilles, Thomas Hardy Comments closed