
The Classic English Literature Podcast
Where rhyme gets its reason!In a historical survey of English literature, I take a personal and philosophical approach to the major texts of the tradition in order to not only situate the poems, prose, and plays in their own contexts, but also to show their relevance to our own. This show is for the general listener: as a teacher of high school literature and philosophy, I am less than a scholar but more than a buff. I hope to edify and entertain!
Podcasting since 2022 • 97 episodes
The Classic English Literature Podcast
Latest Episodes
Puritans in Arcadia: Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, and Pastoralism
Since they wrote in 17th century Massachusetts, poets Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are often overlooked in surveys of English literature. Today, though, we'll bring them back into the fold as we look at how their purita...
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Season 1
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Episode 98
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42:29

The Ambiguity of Wit: William Wycherly's The Country Wife
Charles II reopened the theatres in 1660 and inaugurated the second golden age of the English stage. Today's show looks at one of the bawdiest plays to come from the period, a "comedy of manners" whose clever use of language points to the...
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Season 1
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Episode 97
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40:12

On The Battle of the Boyne
Today marks the anniversary of one of the most mythologized battles in Anglo-Irish history: the Battle of the Boyne. In July of 1690, King William III soundly defeated James II and secured Ireland's Protestant supremacy while sowing the s...
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Season 1
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Episode 96
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29:12

Tea and Revolution: Nahum Tate's "Panacea"
As Americans celebrate Independence Day, I'm here once again to remind them of the debt American independence owes to English literature and history. Stick in the mud. Today, we look at a genuinely weird poem that allegorizes the Gl...
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Season 1
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Episode 95
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23:13

Aphra Behn's Oroonoko: Blurring History and Romance
In today's chinwag, we'll explore a candidate for the first novel in English by the first professional female writer in English: Oroonoko by Aphra Behn (1688). It's the story of an African prince and his beloved, who are betrayed...
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Season 1
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Episode 94
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35:18

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