Tag Archives: Thomas Hardy

Tess, More Relevant Than Ever

By Robin Bates | Published: November 14, 2017

Students find Hardy’s “Tess” to be only too relevant In the age of Trump, Weinstein, and Roy Moore.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Hardy Understood Sexual Predators Well

By Robin Bates | Published: November 9, 2017

“Tess of the d’Urbervilles” is a prescient account of how sexual predators operate. It is no less relevant today in the age of Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein than it was in 1892.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Even in Bad Times, Life Goes On

By Robin Bates | Published: November 13, 2016

Donald Trump is a disaster but, as Thomas Hardy reminds us, life goes on even during disasters. As bad as Trump is, he’s not comparable to World War I, the subject of Hardy’s poem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

On Forgetting Old Students

By Robin Bates | Published: August 28, 2016

Sometimes as teachers we forget students that we impacted greatly. Thomas Hardy’s Jude learns this when he looks up his old teacher Phillotson.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

Literature as a Public Event

By Robin Bates | Published: August 7, 2016

In my Theories of the Reader senior seminar, I will have my students study a literary work that became a public event. In today’s post I list a number of possibilities.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Wishing Hillary Godspeed

By Robin Bates | Published: July 28, 2016

What are we to make of these charismatic men like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama supporting Hillary? I offer up Thomas Hardy and James Baldwin references to advance different interpretations.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Conspiracy Theories Explained

By Robin Bates | Published: November 23, 2015

Why do conspiracy theories thrive? Because people can’t face up to the emptiness that would come with a real explanation. Thomas Hardy understands the phenomenon in his poem “Hap.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

Speaker Paul Ryan in Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: November 4, 2015

I’ve written a lot about Paul Ryan and his aspiration to be a John Galt figure. Now that he is Speaker of the House, I review other literary parallels I’ve drawn over the years.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Bloodless Criticism Undermines Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: June 17, 2015

Literature can function as an evasion as well as a guide. But only if we talk about it in evasive ways.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed