Monday When I wrote last week about a Virginia legislator attacking teachers for assigning Toni Morrison’s Beloved, I didn’t realize that there was a mother in an adjoining county also going after the book. And unlike the Virginia legislator she gives reasons. Here’s from The Post’s article about Laura Murphy, a Fairfax County mother whose son […]
Tag Archives: John Milton
Let Our Teachers Teach
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beloved, censorship, High school teaching, Paradise Lost, Toni Morrison Comments closed
My New Granddaughter, Glorious Eden
I am a grandfather again. My latest granddaughter, Eden Rhys Wilson-Bates, brings to mind “Paradise Lost” and Lucille Clifton’s Garden of Eden poems.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "story thus far", grandchildren, Lucille Clifton, Paradise Lost Comments closed
A Debate about Sex, Pullman vs. Milton
This is the 20th anniversary of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series, which gives me an excuse for once again tilting with the fantasy author and figuring out my own thoughts on our vexed relationship with sexuality and our bodies. Once again I conclude that Milton goes far deeper into these issues than Pullman does.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Boom!", Christianity, Everyman, His Dark Materials, Howard Nemerov, Philip Pullman, Sin Comments closed
Lyra’s Epic Journey To Grow Up
Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy is a frontal assault on sin-obsessed patriarchal churches. While I don’t find this depiction to be compelling, I am drawn into his coming-of-age story.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christian church, Golden Compass, Paradise Lost, Philip Pullman, Sin Comments closed
What in Me Is Dark Illumine
An epiphany is the moment when something divine enters the human realm. During the Epiphany season, Christians celebrate such moments. In the famous opening of “Paradise Lost,” Milton notes that the Holy Spirit is his muse and connects his own inspiration with a number of famous visitations of the Holy Spirit throughout Biblical history.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged epiphanies, Epiphany, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John the Baptist, Moses, Paradise Lost Comments closed
Introducing a New Genre: Cli-Fi
Weather disappeared largely from literature when it was seen unrealted to the actions of humans. With climate change now upon us, however, a new literary genre has arisen.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged climate change, extreme weather, global warming, Lost Children, Mary Oliver, Pjlds; Comments closed
Jeb! Agonistes: An Unsettling Parallel
Does Jeb Bush resemble at the moment Samson Agonistes? His rivalry with Marco Rubio also resembles any number of Shakespeare tragedies. There’s an Oedipus parallel as well.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 election, GOP, GOP primary, Henry IV Part II, Jeb Bush, Joseph Campbell, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Marco Rubio, Oedipus, politics, Samson Agonistes, Sophocles, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Satanic Fury from the Freedom Caucus
The Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives has been behaving like Satan in “Paradise Lost.” They would be advised to see what happens to Milton’s anti-hero.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Congress, Freedom Caucus, GOP, House of Representatives, Paradise Lost, politics Comments closed
