The men in Much Ado about Nothing are obsessed with cuckoldry. Out of the play, however, arises a revolutionary vision of how male-female relationships could be.
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Tag Archives: Pete Hegseth
Much Ado about Male Insecurities
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Cuckoldry, Marriage, Much Ado about Nothing, Relationships, Taming of the Shrew, toxic masculinity, William Shakespeare Leave a comment
Is Taming of the Shrew about Male Fragility?
Perhaps Taming of the Shrew is less about taming shrews and more about male fragility. That would restore some of Katharina’s dignity.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Male fragility, Much Ado about Nothing, toxic masculinity, William Shakespeare Leave a comment
What to Make of the Resurgence of Macho
With Pete Hegseth’s over-the-top exhibition of macho, I look at the history of literary cuckold jokes, which reveal the anxieties of insecure men.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged As You Like It, Canterbury Tales, Christopher Marlowe, Country Wife, cuckold jokes, cuckolds, cuckservatives, Doctor Faustus, Donald Trump, Geoffrey Chaucer, Miller's Tale, Othello, William Shakespeare, William Wycherley Comments closed
Ravenous Wolves in the White House
The archangel Michael in Paradise Lost foretells how people like Pete Hegseth will cite Jesus while behaving like “grievous wolves.”
Measure for Measure and Our Religious Hypocrites
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, about a pious but corrupt judge, captures many of our own political figures that are brandishing their religion.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged corruption, Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Measure for Measure, religious hypocrisy, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Hegseth, Banquo, and Murders at Sea
Pete Hegseth denying he gave the order to kill survivors of a Navy attack is reminiscent of Macbeth distancing himself from Banquo’s murder.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Macbeth, Navy’s small craft attacks, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Macduff as the Trump Resistance
“Macbeth” is probably the best Shakespearean play for capturing the Trump presidency and Trump resistance.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, King Lear, Macbeth, William Shakespeare Comments closed
The Trap of Toxic Masculinity
Toxic masculinity is defining the Trump administration. Authors such as William Wycherley and Adrienne Rich recognize the dangers.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged “Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to Her Husband", "Knight", Adrienne Rich, Country Wife, cuckolding, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, toxic masculinity, William Wycherley Comments closed
Dems Channel Inner Lady Macbeth
Shakespeare and Henry James showed up in commentary on this weeks events: the impending government shutdown and the required gathering of 800 military leaders.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Government shutdown, Henry James, Macbeth, Turn of the Screw, U.S. military, William Shakespeare Comments closed