Tag Archives: Sir Philip Sidney

Worried about BS? Read Great Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: December 29, 2022

While I enjoy Peter Brooks’s “Seduced by Story,” I wish it went further.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Defense of Poesy, fiction, Peter Brooks, Seduced by Story | Comments closed

Theories about Lit’s Impact

By Robin Bates | Published: March 12, 2018

A transcript of a talk given at the University of Ljubljana on “how literature changes lives.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aristotle, Bertolt Brecht, Chinua Achebe, Frederick Engel, Horace, Karl Marx, Martha Nussbaum, Matthew Arnold, Percy Shelley, Plato, Rachel Blau du Plessis, Samuel Johnson, Wayne Booth | Comments closed

Powerful Stories Change Lives

By Robin Bates | Published: August 6, 2016

The Bible is powerful in large part because of its gripping stories. Sir Philip in his “Defense of Poesy” uses the story of King David and the Prophet Nathan to argue for “poetical invention.” There is a truth that goes deeper than factual truth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Defense of Poes, King David | Comments closed

Stephen Gosson: Unhinged by Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: July 24, 2016

Stephen Gosson, a 17th century Puritan and failed playwright, unloads virtually every poet revered in the 17th century. Though we dismiss his words today, they anticipated contemporary attacks on literature/

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged attacks on literature, censorship, Defense of Poesy, ephuistic style, Invective against Poets etc, John Lyly, Stephen Gosson | Comments closed

Workers of the World, Read! (Then Unite)

By Robin Bates | Published: June 29, 2016

A “Washington Post” article argues that the arts are key in counteracting economic injustice. While this is true, the arts must be accompanied by smart politics to achieve this end.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Age of Innocence, Defense of Poesy, Donald Trump, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby, politics | Comments closed

A Cosmic Theory of Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: November 11, 2015

My attempt at an overarching theory of literature and its place in human history and human progress.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Terence, Twelfth Night, Wayne Booth, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Can Lit Also Be a Force for Evil? A Debate

By Robin Bates | Published: October 22, 2015

The classics are capable to doing great good but can they also do harm? Even as they powerfully open up the mind to new possibilities, can they also close it down? A debate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Anabelle Lee", Aristotle, Bridge to Terabithia, Charles Dickens, Earth Sea Trilogy, Edgar Allan Poe, George Eliot, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Jane Austen, Katherine Paterson, Middlemarch, Old Curiosity Shop, Percy Shelley, Plato, Pride and Prejudice, Twelfth Night, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ursula Leguin, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Poetry, the Road to Virtuous Action

By Robin Bates | Published: July 31, 2014

Sir Philip Sidney believed that poetry was the most powerful means of leading us to virtuous action.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aeneid, Defense of Poesy, delight and instruct, Ethical Criticism, Virgil | Comments closed