Following philosopher Adrienne Martin, I meditate on what it means to “hope against hope” or to have “unimaginable hope.” The texts I use are “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” “Beowulf,” and “Wizard of Earthsea.”
Tag Archives: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Connecting Art to Life
In a lovely introduction to a reading I gave the other night, my son Toby examined the value of the liberal arts.
10 Famous Fetish Objects in Lit
Literature is filled with fetish objects that take on outsized significance to various characters.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alexander Pope, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Emma, Great Expectations, Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, Marcel Proust, Prophet's Hair, Rape of the Lock, Salman Rushie, Tell-Tale Heart, Tom Jones Comments closed
Sexual Misconduct in the Classics
A sexual misconduct course required of all employees got me thinking of problematic situations in the books that I teach.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "The Lover: A Ballad", "Written in a Lady's Prayer Book", Aphra Behn, Bacchae, Charlotte Bronte, Euripides, Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, John Wilmot, Lucille Clifton, Rape, Rover, Sense and Sensibility, sexual assault, sexual harassment, Tom Jones Comments closed
Sir Gawain & the ISIS Beheadings
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” helps us understand the horror we feel at the ISIS beheadings.
Warning Labels for the Classics
Suggestions that certain classics come with “trigger warnings” leads of the following reflection.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged censorship, Geoffrey Chaucer, Homer, Iliad, Importance of Being Earnest, John Milton, Oscar Wilde, Paradise Lost, Wife of Bath Comments closed
An Afghan Vet’s Green Knight Encounter
An Afghan vet found his war experience captured by “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.”
Is Peyton Manning Pitted against Puck?
Tomorrow’s Super Bowl drama may be forces of order vs. forces of chaos. Or it may involve Denver trying to outwit a trickster Puck-like team.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Football, Midsummer Night's Dream, Peyton Manning, Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks, Sports, Super Bowl, William Shakespeare Comments closed
