A scene from the recent “Downton Abbey” echoes a highly comic scene in “She Stoops to Conquer.” Luckily for all involved, it goes in a different direction.
Tag Archives: Oliver Goldsmith
Christian Man Bitten by Horse
Mike Pence has claimed he was bitten by Triple Crown winner Pharaoh, bringing to mind Goldsmith’s “Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, horses, Mike Pence Comments closed
From Wycherley to Crazy, Stupid, Love
In my “Restoration and 18th Century Couples Comedy” class, my students paired old rom-coms with contemporary films, including “Ten Things I Hate about You,” “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, “Friends with Benefits,” and others.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 10 Things I Hate about You, Alexander Pope, Aphra Behn Country Wife, Austenland, Belle's Stratagem, Brave, Crazy Stupid Love, Don Jon, Friends with Benefits, Hannah Cowley, He’s Just Not That into You, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Jane Austen, Mean Girls, Rape of the Lock, Richard Sheridan, Rivals, Rover, Say Anything, Sense and Sensibility, She Stoops to Conquer, William Wycherley Comments closed
A Play for the Painfully Shy
Oliver Goldsmith’s “She Stoops to Conquer” is balm for the painfully shy
Taking a Break from Politics
Sometimes, like Mr. Hardcastle in “She Stoops to Conquer,” one needs a break from the world’s news.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Henry Fielding, newspapers, politics, She Stoops to Conquer Comments closed
The Tragicomedy of High School Dating
“She Stoops to Conquer” captures all the pain of adolescent dating failures.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Comedy, Dating, Relationships, She Stoops to Conquer Comments closed
Why Does Everyone Hate Duke?
Sports Saturday Once again, one of the most hated teams in the country resides atop the NCAA basketball rankings: Duke University. In today’s post I find literary equivalents for the general animus against the Blue Devils. For the life of me I can’t understand why Duke is so disliked. Granted, I myself dislike Duke, but […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Basketball, Booth Tarkington, Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, Mark Twain, Penrod, Sports, Tom Sawyer Comments closed
She Stoops to Circumvent Inhibitions
Oliver Goldsmith Discussions in my 18th Century Couples Comedy class are proving to be a lot of fun because, almost seamlessly, we move between the 18th courtship scene, challenges faced by young people today, and contemporary movies and television shows. Comedy rushes in where wise men fear to tread, giving us a way to talk […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged adolescence, Relationships, She Stoops to Conquer Comments closed
Prancing Poetry and a Child’s Imagination
Last week I gave a list of my favorite children’s books when I was young. My father, who is a poet along with being a French professor, read us poetry as well as fiction (each night, one story or chapter and one poem for each of my three brothers and me), so I thought I’d […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged A. A. Milne, Alfred E. Noyes, Alice in Wonderland, Cat in the Hat, Cautionary Tales for Children, children's poetry, Dr. Seuss, Edward Lear, Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, Goden Treasury of Poetry, Gunga Din, Highwayman, Hilaire Belloc, James Whitcomb Riley, Lewis Carroll, Little Orphant Annie, Louis Untemeyer, Mother Goose, Nonsense Verse, Now that I'm Six, Rudyard Kipling, Song of Sherwood, The Listeners Tales for Children, The Raggedy Man, Walter De La Mare, When We Were Very Young Comments closed
