Trump’s victory may signal the decline of the American republic, just as the rise of the Caesar signaled the end of the Roman republic. Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” is only too relevant to today’s politics.
Tag Archives: William Shakespeare
Can Trump Cast Off His Falstaffs?
Can Donald Trump, like Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” plays, shift from irresponsible merrymaker to great leader? Can he say, “I know thee not old man” to his former companions? Dream on.
Shakespeare Understood Trumpism
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.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Adam Gopnik, As You Like It, Donald Trump, Hamlet, Henry V, Hillary Clinton, King Lear, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Richard III, Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night Comments closed
Shakespeare Does Halloween
Shakespeare does Halloween very well. Some of it was to entertain James I, who was fascinated by the supernatural (to the sorrow of many women, who were executed as witches during his reign).
Trump, Macduff, and “Untimely Ripped”
Donald Trump’s characterization of late-term abortions as “ripping” harken back to a verb used in “Macbeth.” Most people, however, would argue that both Trump and Macduff are describing caesarians.
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.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged anti-Semitism, Defence of Poetry, Merchant of Venice, Othello, Percy Shelley, Twelfth Night Comments closed
Bring the Liberal Arts to West Point
A military man argues that the military academies have been emphasizing the STEM disciplines while overlooking the traditional liberal arts. This is a mistake, he argues, and mentions the Agincourt speech in “Henry V.” Sir Philip Sidney, another warrior, would agree and would add Pindar’s Olympian odes.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Henry V, Liberal Arts, military academies, Olympics, Pindar. "Olympian Ode 1", STEM disciplines Comments closed
The Liberal Arts Will Not Die
Thursday My colleague Jeff Hammond, a national authority on Puritan poetry and a much lauded writer of reflective essays, recently gave a stirring defense of the liberal arts for our parents-alumni weekend. Jeff’s observations dovetail very nicely with Percy Shelley’s Defence of Poetry, which I happen to be teaching at the moment. Watching poetry getting […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Defence of Poetry, Henry V, Iliad, Jeffrey Hammond, Liberal Arts, Odyssey Comments closed
