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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

55:52

CR Episode 205: A Christmas Carol, Part I

Critical Readings ·

2023/12/25

The panel reads the first two 'staves' of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas story, covering the visitation of the first two ghosts—Marley and Christmas Past—and discussing both Scrooge's miserly spirit and how he is humanised, rather than villainised.Continue reading

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86:34

CR Episode 204: Dracula, Part VI

Critical Readings ·

2023/12/18

Dr. Madeline Potter joins the panel as a special guest to conclude, discussing Dracula's role as a theological monster, the original ending with the destruction of Dracula's castle, Mina's role as heroine, and the novel's differing depictions of death.Continue reading

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75:03

CR Episode 203: Dracula, Part V

Critical Readings ·

2023/12/11

The panel reads chapters 19–23, with a special focus on both Mina Harker's personality and her treatment at the hands of the male characters, along with the death of Renfield, the Count's ability to manipulate the elements, and his escape from London.Continue reading

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74:13

CR Episode 202: Dracula, Part IV

Critical Readings ·

2023/12/04

The panel reads chapters 15–18 and discusses Stoker's use of cliffhangers and foreshadowing both as a textual convention and as a narrative device, before attending to Seward's unification of the materialist and metaphysical theories that he encounters.Continue reading

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77:48

CR Episode 201: Dracula, Part III

Critical Readings ·

2023/11/27

The panel discusses chapters 12-14, comprising a series of false endings both literal and metaphorical, with attention given to how Stoker's overall plot structure is replicated within individual episodes, and to the combination of faith and science.Continue reading

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66:40

CR Episode 200: Dracula, Part II

Critical Readings ·

2023/11/20

The panel welcomes guest expert Dr. Madeline Potter to discuss chapters 5–11, comprising the letters and journals of Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra, and Dr. Seward, and their observations tragic and fantastical, from giant bats to bug-eating maniacs.Continue reading

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68:25

CR Episode 199: Dracula, Part I

Critical Readings ·

2023/11/06

The panel discusses the first four chapters of Bram Stoker's Dracula, with attention given to the history of the author and the text, the epistolary and gothic form of the novel in its Romantic context, and the narrative development of tension.Continue reading

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56:18

CR Episode 198: Byron’s Hebrew Melodies

Critical Readings ·

2023/10/30

The panel reads five poems from Hebrew Melodies, a cycle of poems by Lord Byron originally set to music by Isaac Nathan, including one of Byron's most-anthologised works, "She Walks in Beauty," and a companion piece to "The Destruction of Sennacherib".Continue reading

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58:16

CR Episode 197: Hamlet, Act V

Critical Readings ·

2023/10/16

The panel discusses the two scenes of the final act of Hamlet, with attention to the text's focus on death, the mirroring of Hamlet with Fortinbras and Laertes, Horatio's constant companionship, Ophelia's burial, and the ultimate defeat of Claudius.Continue reading

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69:28

CR Episode 196: Hamlet, Act IV

Critical Readings ·

2023/10/09

The panel discusses seven scenes, with attention to Ophelia's innocence and madness, Laertes' hot-blooded response to the death of his father, Claudius' failure to demonstrate the wisdom and prudence of a good king, and Hamlet's apparent inscrutability.Continue reading

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77:05

CR Episode 195: Hamlet, Act III

Critical Readings ·

2023/10/02

The panel reads Act III of Hamlet with attention to Hamlet's feigned (or semi-feigned) madness, his suicidal or existentially fatalistic attitude, and the instability and even fatal measure of his interactions with Ophelia, Polonius, and Queen Gertrude.Continue reading

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85:25

CR Episode 194: Hamlet, Act II

Critical Readings ·

2023/09/25

The panel begins with a brief exercise in parsing Shakespearean prose, followed by a reading of Act II's scenes, with attention to Polonius' ambitious scheming, and Hamlet's feigned (or genuine?) madness with his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.Continue reading

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72:01

CR Episode 193: Hamlet, Act I

Critical Readings ·

2023/09/18

The panel reads the first act of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, providing an overview of the action and the textual history, with selected readings from within the five scenes paying particular attention to puns, irony, and the mirroring of characters.Continue reading

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81:36

CR Episode 192: Frankenstein, Part III

Critical Readings ·

2023/09/11

The panel discusses the concluding volume of Frankenstein, beginning with Victor's narration of his series of personal tragedies and ending with Captain Walton's letter describing the death of Victor and the monster's final, vengeful resolve.Continue reading

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62:27

CR Episode 191: Frankenstein, Part II

Critical Readings ·

2023/09/04

The panel discusses the second volume of Frankenstein (chapters 8–16) focusing on the moral qualities of Victor Frankenstein and of his creature, their connexion to Paradise Lost, and the dangerous results of mankind usurping the creative place of God.Continue reading

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113:51

CR Episode 190: Frankenstein, Part I

Critical Readings ·

2023/08/28

Madeline Potter joins the panel to begin a three-week reading of Mary Shelley's gothic novel, Frankenstein, with this week's discussion attending to the multiple frames of the narrative and the web of tension between pride, creation, and human endeavour.Continue reading

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59:07

CR Episode 189: Sonnets of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Critical Readings ·

2023/08/21

The panel reads and discusses "God's Grandeur", "Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend", and "The Windhover", attending to their Romantic underpinnings, anticipation of modern poetic developments, and formal characteristics including 'sprung rhythm'.Continue reading

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93:44

CR Episode 188: Moby Dick, Part XIV

Critical Readings ·

2023/08/14

In the final episode on Moby Dick, the panel discusses the fulfilment of Fedallah's prophecy and his death, Starbuck's dilemma and despair, the destruction of the Pequod, the death of Ahab, Ishmael on the margins, and some final genre considerations.Continue reading

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90:15

CR Episode 187: Moby Dick, Part XIII

Critical Readings ·

2023/08/07

In the penultimate Moby Dick episode, the panel discusses chapters 114–128, focusing on the ship's sails, quadrant, compass, and line; the refashioning of the Pequod into the expression of Ahab's will; and Ahab's final abandonment of his humanity.Continue reading

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88:14

CR Episode 186: Moby Dick, Part XII

Critical Readings ·

2023/07/31

The panel discusses the Ahab's representation as a wrathful, inhuman avatar of anti-nature, the hellish nature of the Pequod, the sorcerous conniving of the captain and crew, and the abandonment of every comfort and sentiment in search of Moby Dick.Continue reading

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305 results

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