According to Adam Gopnik, Shakespeare would have understood the rise of Donald Trump better than we do today. Whereas we see him as a historical oddity, Shakespeare would have seen him as the kind of evil that has always resided within humankind.
Tag Archives: Twelfth Night
Shakespeare Understood Trumpism
In Defense of The Merchant of Venice
Percy Shelley believes that great art transcends the prejudices of its time, even when it is cloaked in them. If he is right, then “Merchant of Venice” is less of a problem play than many people consider it.
Shakespeare Was Malvolio
Recent research shows how much of a social climber Shakespeare was. The knowledge gives us new insight into characters like Malvolio and Othello.
Defending the Canon vs. New Attacks
Yale English majors have been complaining about requiring them to study canonical writers. Here’s is why they are wrong.
Christie as Prufrock & Other Lit Allusions
Political pundits have been turning to literature to talk about the GOP primaries. This past week saw citations of Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll, and Richard Adams (“Watership Down”).
A Cosmic Theory of Literature
My attempt at an overarching theory of literature and its place in human history and human progress.
Can Lit Also Be a Force for Evil? A Debate
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.