Tag Archives: William Shakespeare

GOP Intellectuals Want a “Red Caesar”

By Robin Bates | Published: October 17, 2023

Rightwing intellectuals are now advocating “Red Caesarism.” Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” provides some insights.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged authoritarianism, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, GOP, Jim Jordan, Julius Caesar, Liz Cheney, NeverTrumpers | Comments closed

A Moses Poem for a Lost Child

By Robin Bates | Published: August 19, 2023

Mourning her dead child, this writer chose to read a poem echoing the infant Moses story.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Cargoes", "Jabberwocky", "Late Fragment", "Moses", "Sonnet 29", "Taking Care", "Theme in Yellow", Calista Buchen, Carl Sandburg, child's death, death and dying, John Masefield, Lewis Carroll, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Raymon Carver | Comments closed

Florida’s Latest Author Ban: The Bard

By Robin Bates | Published: August 9, 2023

Some Florida schools are now censoring Shakespeare, taking out the racy parts and offering only excerpts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged banned books, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Ron DeSantis, Toni Morrison | Comments closed

Lear, Trump Rage Against Their Enemies

By Robin Bates | Published: August 7, 2023

Lear and Trump are two narcissists who resort to bombastic threats when backed into a corner.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Donald J. Trump, Jack Smith, January 6 insurrection, King Lear, Mike Pence, Trump indictment | Comments closed

It’s Hotter’n Milton’s Hell

By Robin Bates | Published: July 27, 2023

As the world experiences unprecedented heat waves, Milton’s hell come to mind.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged climate change, Cymbeline, extreme weather events, heat, John Milton, Paradise Lost | Comments closed

Mixed Feelings about “On Raglan Road”

By Robin Bates | Published: July 19, 2023

Before having second thoughts, I once was in love with Kavanagh’s “On Raglan Road.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "On Raglan Road", "Sonnet 147", Dark Lady of the Sonnets, Hilda Moriarty, Patrick Kavanagh, Unrequited love | Comments closed

Boys That Don’t Fit the Gender Stereotype

By Robin Bates | Published: July 5, 2023

Georgia has fired a teacher for sharing “My Shadow Is Purple,” thus denying her kids a narrative that they urgently need to hear.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged authoritarianism, Boy in a Dress, censorship, David Williamson, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Katherine Rinderle, L. Frank Baum, Land of Oz, LGBTQ+ issues, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Milt Diamond, My Shadow Is Purple, Stuart Scott, Supergirl, Twelfth Night | Comments closed

Prigozhin Didn’t Take the Tide at the Flood

By Robin Bates | Published: June 27, 2023

Did Prigozhin disregard Brutus’s advice, failing to take the tide when it was at its flood? If so, he might come to regret it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Hamlet, Insurrection, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, unsuccessful coup, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin | Comments closed

Poems that Celebrate Long Marriages

By Robin Bates | Published: June 24, 2023

Two poems to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, by Kunitz and Fanthorpe.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Atlas", "River Merchant's Wife", "Sonnet 116", "Touch Me", "When You Are Old", 50th marriage anniversary, Ezra Pound, Marriage, Relationships, Stanley Kunitz, U.A. Fanthorpe, W.B. Yeats | Comments closed