Chelsea Clinton revealed that she talked to her parents about Madeleine L’Engle’s “Wrinkle in Time” and watched the mini-series of “Pride and Prejudice” with her mother. Both feature strong heroines but also show these heroines to be confined to traditionally female roles.
Tag Archives: Jane Austen
Chelsea’s Books and Female Ambition
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine L'Engle, Pride and Prejudice, Wrinkle in Time Comments closed
Shakespeare Was Malvolio
Recent research shows how much of a social climber Shakespeare was. The knowledge gives us new insight into characters like Malvolio and Othello.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christopher Marlowe, Comedy, Doctor Faustus, social climbing, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Hillary Clinton as Emma Woodhouse
Hillary Clinton shares certain characteristics with Emma Woodhouse. (And far fewer with Lady Macbeth.)
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Emma, Hillary Clinton, politics Comments closed
“Emma” as Aid to Alzheimer’s Caregivers
A luminescent “New York Times” article explains how a woman used Emma to help her deal with her mother’s Alzheimer’s. Literature at such times does some very heavy lifting.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alzheimer's, cognitive impairment, Emma, Mental Illness Comments closed
A Cosmic Theory of Literature
My attempt at an overarching theory of literature and its place in human history and human progress.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Pride and Prejudice, Sir Philip Sidney, Terence, Twelfth Night, Wayne Booth, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Cruz as Beowulf? Try Grendel
Thursday Normally I would be delighted with a New York Times article that matched up presidential candidates with works of literature, such as Ted Cruz with Beowulf, Hillary Clinton with Persuasion, and Bernie Sanders with Around the World in 80 Days. This piece, however, strikes me as so uninformative that it’s all but useless. I’ve tried […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Around the World in 80 Days, Beowulf, Bernie Sanders, Carla Fiorina, Charles Dickens, Democrats, Donald Trump, Election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, Huckleberry Finn, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne, Mansfield Park, Marco Rubio, Mark Twain, Mike Huckabee, Oliver Twist, Persuasion, politics, Rand Paul, Tale of Two Cities, Ted Cruz Comments closed
For a Rich Life, Read Widely and Freely
Literature impacts our lives but the influence is best if we read a wide variety of works. Limiting ourselves to just a few authors can warp us.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Company We Keep, D. H. Lawrence, ethics of fiction, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Lermontov, Wayne Booth, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Can Lit Also Be a Force for Evil? A Debate
The classics are capable to doing great good but can they also do harm? Even as they powerfully open up the mind to new possibilities, can they also close it down? A debate.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Anabelle Lee", Aristotle, Bridge to Terabithia, Charles Dickens, Earth Sea Trilogy, Edgar Allan Poe, George Eliot, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Katherine Paterson, Middlemarch, Old Curiosity Shop, Percy Shelley, Plato, Pride and Prejudice, Sir Philip Sidney, Twelfth Night, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ursula Leguin, William Shakespeare Comments closed
