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 • 101 episodes
The Classic English Literature Podcast
Latest Episodes
The First Ghost Story? Daniel Defoe's "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal"
For you today, Trick or Treaters, a discussion of what some critics assert is the first modern ghost story in English: Daniel Defoe's 1705 "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal."The text:
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Season 1
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Episode 102
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21:58
Modish Men and the Way of the World: The Great Restoration Comedies of Manners
Well, I probably should have done this episode earlier, since it might have been good for it to precede our other discussions of Resto comedy. But I made a last minute decision and included a second play, which kind of threw off the old c...
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Season 1
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Episode 101
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31:59
"A Foolish Marriage Vow": John Dryden's Marriage a la Mode and Amphitryon
For our second episode on John Dryden, we'll talk about two of his plays which marked an innovation in the tragi-comic romance: Marriage a la Mode and Amphitryon. We'll discuss the "split-plot" play, the e...
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Season 1
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Episode 100
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30:49
"The Amendment of Vices": John Dryden's Satires
Once hailed as the towering literary figure of the Restoration age, John Dryden is little known now by the general reader. Let's take care of that with a close look at his most enduring works, the poetical satires Mac Flecknoe
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Season 1
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Episode 99
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37:43
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
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