Tag Archives: King Lear

Obama Is to Trump as Albany Is to Goneril

By Robin Bates | Published: March 23, 2016

While Trump calls for torture of terrorists and Ted Cruz calls for carpet bombing them, President Obama calls for America to take the high moral road. He sounds like Albany arguing with Goneril in “King Lear.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Barack Obama, Donald Trump, ISIS, torture, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Conservative Extremists as King Lear

By Robin Bates | Published: December 30, 2015

In another significant post that appeared this past year, I compared GOP extremists to King Lear–more interested in self-indulgent behavior than in responsible governance. The result is a divided country at war with itself.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Benjamin Netanyahu, GOP, Iran, Iran agreement, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Lit Is Aristotelian Road to Happiness

By Robin Bates | Published: December 8, 2015

Psychologists say that a strong sense of narrative identity can lead to the profound sense of happiness described by Aristotle. Literature helps us make sure we have available to us the best narratives.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aristotle, Brothers Karamazov, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Emma, eudaimonic well-being, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Great Expectations, happiness, Jane Austen, stories, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Johnson: The Bard Instructs by Delighting

By Robin Bates | Published: November 3, 2015

Although today we are sometimes suspicious when literature seeks to instruct us, Samuel Johnson considered this to be literature’s primary aim. He held up Shakespeare as proof.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged consumer capitalism, Horace, Preface to Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, utilitarianism, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Jeb! Agonistes: An Unsettling Parallel

By Robin Bates | Published: November 1, 2015

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, John Milton, Joseph Campbell, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Marco Rubio, Oedipus, politics, Samson Agonistes, Sophocles, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Lear: Finding Love in Adversity

By Robin Bates | Published: May 8, 2015

Both “Doctor Faustus” and “King Lear” teach us the silver lining in adversity, “Faustus” in a negative way, “Lear” in a positive.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Adversity, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, hell, love, spiritual love, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Political Consultants Should Read Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: May 4, 2015

Which literary works would you recommend to a political consultant to stay in touch with his or her soul and avoid becoming lost in the dark side? How about Hawthorne, Melville, Shakespeare, Pinter, and Terrence McNally?