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Critical Readings

CriticalReadings.com

Critical Readings examines key literary texts using close reading and critical analysis, and explains these approaches in discussion. Listeners will learn about the texts themselves and about how to approach a text for critical analysis.

arts literature

All Episodes

106:37

CR Episode 242: Wuthering Heights, Part I

Critical Readings ·

2024/10/14

Dr. Madeline Potter joins the panel to discuss the opening chapters of Emily Brontë's only novel, with attention to the influences of the gothic and romanticism, and the narrative's depiction of the unstable tension between civilisation and nature.Continue reading

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62:14

CR Episode 241: The Shimmering Form of Robert Penn...

Critical Readings ·

2024/10/07

The panel discusses the American Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren—the only person to win the Pulitzer prize both for Poetry and for Fiction—reading two of his poems from the November 1979 Poetry Magazine volume issued in honour of Allen Tate.Continue reading

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75:26

CR Episode 240: Wordsworth’s Beggars

Critical Readings ·

2024/09/23

The panel reads Wordsworth's "Beggars" (and its sequel) examining the verses with attention to what they suggest about society and economics, beauty and physical attraction, national pride, the Romantic attitude towards nature, and Wordsworth scholarship.Continue reading

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135:17

CR Episode 239: Le Morte Darthur, Part XIV

Critical Readings ·

2024/09/09

The panel discusses The Morte Arthur: Aggravayne and Mordred's entrapment of Launcelot and Guenevere, the death of Garyth and Gaherys, Gawayne's vengeance and death, Arthur's war with Mordred, and the end of Camelot, The Round Table, and the tale.Continue reading

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105:21

CR Episode 238: Le Morte Darthur, Part XIII

Critical Readings ·

2024/09/02

The panel discusses the penultimate sequence of the Morte, 'Launcelot and Guinevere,' with attention to Launcelot's pledge to defend the Queen's honour in right or wrong and the increasing Orkney-led noyse of sclaundir and treson in the Arthurian court.Continue reading

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92:26

CR Episode 237: Le Morte Darthur, Part XII

Critical Readings ·

2024/08/26

The panel discusses the complysshment of the Sankgreal, Galahad's unwieldy role as a model of virtue, Gawain's manifest impurity, Launcelot's outward conversion, the effect of the Quest upon the Arthurian court, and Malory's conflicted theology.Continue reading

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78:06

CR Episode 236: Le Morte Darthur, Part XI

Critical Readings ·

2024/08/19

The panel discusses the first half of the Quest for the Holy Grail, including Galahad's knightly debut, the arrival of the Grail in the court, Gawain's impetuous vow, and King Arthur's sorrow—and what it means for the common good of the realm.Continue reading

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114:06

CR Episode 235: Le Morte Darthur, Part X

Critical Readings ·

2024/08/12

The panel reads the conclusion of the Tristram sequence, including the begetting of Galahad, with special attention to the quality of worshypfulness and how it may be acquired and kept, including by women and through means other than knyghtly prouesse.Continue reading

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84:17

CR Episode 234: Le Morte Darthur, Part IX

Critical Readings ·

2024/08/05

The panel reads of the Tournament at Surluse and the strife of the Orkney brothers, and considers in detail what a question about the use of a single word—lette—might imply not only for the character of King Arthur but for the entire Malorian project.Continue reading

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97:18

CR Episode 233: Le Morte Darthur, Part VIII

Critical Readings ·

2024/07/29

The panel reads the King Mark sections of Le Morte Darthur—presenting the first fully-realised villain of the piece, complete with motivations, personality, and an identifiable modus operandi—and discusses its implications for Malorian kingship.Continue reading

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100:02

CR Episode 232: Le Morte Darthur, Part VII

Critical Readings ·

2024/07/22

The panel reads three episodes from the Tristram section—"Le Cote Male Tayle", "The Madness of Sir Tristram", and "The Tournament at the Castle of Maidens"—and examines the actions of four malevolent characters: Mordred, Morgan, Mark, and Mellyagaunce.Continue reading

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79:06

CR Episode 231: Le Morte Darthur, Part VI

Critical Readings ·

2024/07/15

The panel discusses the first two tales in the Tristram section—Sir Tristram and la Beall Isode and Sir Lamerok de Galys—with attention to Malory's sources, the Lancelot-Tristram parallelism, and the apparent shift towards an interest in courtly love.Continue reading

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88:38

CR Episode 230: Le Morte Darthur, Part V

Critical Readings ·

2024/07/08

The panel discusses the episode of Sir Gareth of Orkney, with attention given both to the anti-egalitarian worldview and historical reality of the period, and to the role of violence and prouesse in the Arthurian Court—and the moral clarity it provides.Continue reading

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98:03

CR Episode 229: Le Morte Darthur, Part IV

Critical Readings ·

2024/07/01

The panel reads the tale of Sir Launcelot du Lake, with attention given to the features of mediaeval romance, Malory's use of humour and his knowledge of the details of knightly combat, and the different, sometimes competing ends of Arthurian governance.Continue reading

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90:43

CR Episode 228: Le Morte Darthur, Part III

Critical Readings ·

2024/06/24

The panel reads the Roman War sequence with particular attention to Malory's use of historical progression, metaphor, and physical violence, especially in regard to his understanding of military knighthood and the use of wise counsel in governance.Continue reading

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90:49

CR Episode 227: Le Morte Darthur, Part II

Critical Readings ·

2024/06/17

The panel catches up on the tale of "Balyn and Balan," before discussing "The Wedding of King Arthur" and "The Book of Adventures", with comments on the vexed nature of Malorian chivalry, and Malory's use of both foreshadowing and narrative parallelism.Continue reading

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78:31

CR Episode 226: Le Morte Darthur, Part I

Critical Readings ·

2024/06/10

The panel discusses the biography of Sir Thomas Malory, the textual history of Le Morte Darthur, the lineage of King Arthur, and the initial formation of the textual world of Arthurian England, including Merlin, Uther, Igraine, Morgause, and Mordred.Continue reading

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78:16

CR Episode 225: All for Love, Act V

Critical Readings ·

2024/06/03

The panel closes discussion of Dryden's All for Love with an examination of the death of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, how the scene differs from that of Shakespeare, and what role is ultimately played by Octavius, even despite his absence from the stage.Continue reading

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65:43

CR Episode 224: All for Love, Act IV

Critical Readings ·

2024/05/27

The panel discusses the penultimate act of Dryden's All for Love, with special attention to the depictions (or rather, lack thereof) of Octavius, the villainous portrayal of Alexas, and the play's lack of a clearly-defined figure of heroic virtue.Continue reading

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68:37

CR Episode 223: All for Love, Act III

Critical Readings ·

2024/05/20

The panel discusses the third act of Dryden's most successful play, All for Love, with particular attention to Marc Antony's lack of constancy, and Dryden's artistic reimagining of historical events in order to place Octavia in Cleopatra's palace.Continue reading

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342 results

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