LanguaTalk

Expanding Eyes: A Visionary Education

This podcast is aimed at a non-specialist audience interested in acquiring what Northrop Frye called, in the title of one of his books, an educated imagination. Its materials are drawn from the many courses in literature and mythology that I taught, combined with material from my book The Productions of Time, for which I hope the podcast may provide an accessible introduction, with concrete examples.

Episode 161: Goethe’s Faust. The Importance of the Three Preliminary Poems. The “Prologue in Heaven”: A Revisionist Replay of the Book of Job.

38 mins; April 28, 2024

Episode 160: Goethe’s Faust, Introduction. Goethe’s Life and Work. The Faust Legend and Other Works about Faust. The Lifelong Development of the Text.

40 mins; April 21, 2024

Episode 159: Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Act 5. The Themes of the Play: Illusion and Reality. The Uses of Art. The Use and Abuse of Political Power. The Colonialist Controversy. Strangeness and Wonder.

41 mins; April 14, 2024

Episode 158: Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Act 4. The Wedding Masque and Its Symbolism. Prospero’s Famous Speech about the Passing of All Things in Time.

37 mins; April 07, 2024

Episode 157: Shakespeare’s Tempest, Act 3. Three Ordeals: Ferdinand’s Labors for Miranda, the Tormenting of Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban; the Illusory Banquet for the Court Party.

38 mins; March 31, 2024

Episode 156: Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Acts 1 and 2. Gonzalo’s Golden Age Speech. Imagery from the Aeneid. Antonio and Sebastian Plot Murder. Caliban Meets Stephano and Trinculo.

37 mins; March 24, 2024

Episode 155: Shakespeare, The Tempest, Acts 1 and 2. Love at First Sight between Ferdinand and Miranda. Hopeful Vision or Cynical Negation: Gonzalo versus Antonio and Sebastian.

36 mins; March 17, 2024

Episode 154: Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1 Continued. The Back Story Continued. Prospero’s Servants, Ariel and Caliban. Prospero as Colonial Governor, Caliban as Native.

39 mins; March 10, 2024

Episode 153: Shakespeare’s Tempest, Act 1. Prospero Lectures His Daughter about the Past, How They Were Exiled to This Desert Island, Deposed by His Evil Brother.

38 mins; March 03, 2024

Episode 152: Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Shakespeare’s Late Career. The Four Romances. The History of the Genre of Romance. Act 1, Scene 1: Storm at Sea.

38 mins; February 25, 2024

Episode 151: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Act 5. Four Possible Marriages, Many Questions. The Double Meaning of “Measure for Measure”: An Eye for an Eye, or Forgive Us as We Would Be Forgiven?

39 mins; February 18, 2024

Episode 150: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Acts 4 & 5. The Duke’s Plan to Fool Angelo. The Duke’s Return. Isabella and Mariana Arrested for Slandering Angelo. Lucio Unhoods the Friar.

38 mins; February 11, 2024

Episode 149: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Acts 3 and 4. The Turning Point in Act 3: the Duke Introduces Mariana, Jilted by Angelo. Pompey and Mistress Overdone Arrested.

37 mins; February 04, 2024

Episode 148: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Act 3. Claudio Begs Isabella to Save His Life. Her Cold, Furious Rejection. The Deeper Motives of Fallible Human Beings.

39 mins; January 28, 2024

Episode 147: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Acts 2 and 3. Angelo Attempts to Extort Sex from Isabella. The Duke, as Friar, “Comforts” Claudio by Saying That Life Is Not Worth Living.

37 mins; January 21, 2024

Episode 146: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Act 2. The Constable Elbow Arrests Pompey for…Something. Isabella Pleads for Claudio’s Life, and Angelo Is Struck with Lust.

40 mins; January 14, 2024

Episode 145: Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Act 1. Angelo Put in Charge of Vienna. Claudio Condemned to Death for Getting His Fiancée Pregnant. The Duke Disguises Himself as a Friar.

39 mins; January 07, 2024

Episode 144: Concluding Discussion of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: the Threefold Larger Thematic Pattern. Introduction to the Problem Comedy Measure for Measure.

37 mins; December 31, 2023

Episode 143: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Acts 4 and 5. The Tormenting of Malvolio. The Great Recognition Scene of Act 5.

42 mins; December 24, 2023

Episode 142: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Act 3. “Cesario” and Sir Andrew Aguecheek Tricked into a Duel. Antonio Intervenes and Is Arrested. Malvolio Acts Bizarrely and Is Deemed Mad.

37 mins; December 17, 2023

Episode 141: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Acts 2 and 3. The Plot Against Malvolio. “Cesario” Challenged to a Duel. Antonio and Sebastian, True Male Friends.

40 mins; December 10, 2023

Episode 140. Twelfth Night, Act 2. Sebastian, Viola’s Brother, and His Friend Antonio. Orsino and Olivia Both Infatuated with the Disguised Viola. The Revelers Plot Against Malvolio.

39 mins; December 03, 2023

Episode 139: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Act 1. Introduction of Characters. Orsino, Mooning in Love. Olivia, Refusing to Love. Sir Toby Belch, Andrew Aguecheek, Maria. Feste and Malvolio.

38 mins; November 26, 2023

Episode 138: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The Background of Shakespearean Comedy. The Sea Imagery: Transformation Emerges Out of the Sea, as Viola Survives Shipwreck on the Shores of Illyria.

36 mins; November 19, 2023

Episode 137: Shakespeare’s Henry V. Act 4, the Aftermath of Agincourt. Comic Scenes with Fluellen. Act 5: The Wooing of the French Princess Catherine Despite the Language Barrier.

39 mins; November 12, 2023

Episode 136: Shakespeare’s Henry V. The Larger Context of the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses. Henry Rallies the Troops at Night. The Battle of Agincourt.

38 mins; November 05, 2023

Episode 135: Shakespeare’s Henry V. Central Themes and Patterns in the Play. The Death of Falstaff, and a New Humorous Character, Fluellen. The Siege of Harfleur.

38 mins; October 29, 2023

Episode 134: Shakespeare’s Henry V, Act 1. Henry as Idealized Model of a Ruler. Legal Arguments over Henry’s Right to Rule France. Act 2: The Lower Class Characters Return. News that Falstaff Is Ill

37 mins; October 22, 2023

Episode 133: Shakespeare’s 2 Henry IV, Act 5. Hal’s New Father Figure, the Lord Chief Justice. The Rejection of Falstaff, the False Father. Introduction of Henry V, the Last Play of the Tetralogy.

38 mins; October 15, 2023

Episode 132: Shakespeare’s 2 Henry IV, Acts 4 and 4. Prince John Defeats the Rebels. Henry IV Collapses and Lies Unconscious. Hal Puts on the Crown. The King Accuses Him.

39 mins; October 08, 2023

Episode 131: Shakespeare’s 2Henry IV. Northumberland Betrays the Rebel Cause a Second Time. Dysfunctional Behavior in the Tavern: Falstaff, Mistress Quickly, Doll Tearsheet, Pistol.

38 mins; October 01, 2023

Episode 130: Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2. A Dark, Ironic Sequel. A Personified Rumour Spreads Fake News of the Battle of Shrewsbury. Northumberland Is “Crafty-Sick.”

37 mins; September 24, 2023

Episode 129: Shakespeare’s I Henry IV. Act 5: The Battle of Shrewsbury, July 21, 1403. The Death of Hotspur at the Hands of Prince Hal. Falstaff’s Famous Speech about Honor.

40 mins; September 17, 2023

Episode 128: Shakespeare’s I Henry IV, Acts 3 and 4. At the Center of the Play, the Confrontation between Father and Son. In Act 4, All the Rebels Back Out Except Hotspur and Douglas.

38 mins; September 10, 2023

Episode 127: Shakespeare’s I Henry IV, Acts 2 and 3. The “Henriad”: Shakespeare’s Epic Vision. The Unexpected Humor in the Play, and Why. Hotspur’s Baiting of Welsh Owen Glendower.

39 mins; September 03, 2023

Episode 126: I Henry IV, Act 2, Continued. The Social Chaos Resulting When the Rule of Law Is Set Aside. Rebellious Nobles, Out-of-Control Lower-Class Characters.

38 mins; August 27, 2023

Episode 125: Shakespeare’s I Henry IV, Acts 1 and 2. King Henry’s Allies Turn Against Him. Hal’s Opposite Number, Hotspur. The Prince and Poins Rob the Robbers.

38 mins; August 20, 2023

Episode 124: Shakespeare’s 1Henry IV. Act 1: Scottish and Welsh Rebels, Hotspur the Rebellious English Ally. Prince Hal Missing from Action, Hanging Out with Falstaff and His Gang in a Tavern.

39 mins; August 13, 2023

Episode 123: Shakespeare’s Richard II. Act 5. The Final Parting of King and Queen. Aumerle Denounced by His Own Father. Richard’s Final Soliloquy and Brave Death. Henry’s Allies Now His Enemies.

37 mins; August 06, 2023

Episode 122: Shakespeare’s Richard II. Act 4, the Deposition Scene, Not Printed Until after the Death of Elizabeth.

38 mins; July 30, 2023

Episode 121: Shakespeare’s Richard II. Act 3: Richard’s Descent from the Walls of Flint Castle, His Willing Surrender into the Hands of the Rebels.

36 mins; July 23, 2023

Episode 120: Shakespeare’s Richard II. Bolingbroke Gathers Forces Against Richard. Richard Returns from Ireland and Makes Grandiose Speeches about Being God’s Anointed King.

37 mins; July 16, 2023

Episode 119: Shakespeare’s Richard II. John of Gaunt’s Famous Deathbed Speech. Richard’s Determination to Take Gaunt’s Estates After His Death, Which Rightly Belong to Gaunt’s Son Bolingbroke.

38 mins; July 09, 2023

Episode 118: Shakespeare’s Richard II, Act 1, Scenes 1-3. Bolingbroke Accuses Mowbray of the Murder of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, a Member of the Royal Line. A Trial by Combat, Aborted.

38 mins; July 02, 2023

Episode 117: The Genre of the History Play. Shakespeare’s Double Tetralogy of History Plays. Introduction to Richard II.

36 mins; June 25, 2023

Episode 116: Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, Act 5. The Symbolic Death and Rebirth of Hero, and the Happy Ending.

39 mins; June 18, 2023

Episode 115: Much Ado about Nothing, Act 4. Hero Publicly Accused of Sexual Betrayal at Her Own Wedding Ceremony. All Hell Breaks Loose.

37 mins; June 11, 2023

Episode 114: Much Ado about Nothing, Act 3. Twin Plots. Their Friends Plot to Bring Benedick and Beatrice Together, While Don John Plots to Break Claudio and Hero Apart. Comic Relief.

38 mins; June 04, 2023

Episode 113. Much Ado about Nothing, Act 2. The Masked Ball. Beatrice Wounds the Disguised Benedick. Claudio Believes that Don Pedro Woos Hero for Himself instead of for Him.

40 mins; May 28, 2023

Episode 112: Much Ado about Nothing. Much Ado about “Noting”: the Theme of This Comedy of Manners.

39 mins; May 21, 2023

Episode 111: The End of Hamlet. A Genre-Bending Play: Hamlet as an Attempt to Encompass All Three Tragic Thematic Patterns.

40 mins; May 14, 2023

Episode 110: Hamlet Act 5. The Graveyard Scene and the Skull of Yorick. The Funeral of Ophelia. Hamlet and Laertes in the Grave. Hamlet’s New and Unexpected Sense of Divine Providence.

38 mins; May 07, 2023

Episode 109: Hamlet, Act 4, Concluded. A Bad Day at the Court: Ophelia’s Threefold Mad Scene, a Vengeful Laertes, a Letter from Hamlet Announcing His Return.

36 mins; April 30, 2023

Episode 108: Hamlet, end of Act 3. Gertrude’s Guilt—or Partial Innocence. Act 4. Hamlet’s Riddling Yet Suggestive Speech about Polonius’s Dead Body. Fortinbras’ Army: Action without Thought Again.

38 mins; April 23, 2023

Episode 107: Hamlet, Act 3. Hamlet’s Advice to the Players. The Mousetrap Play and Its Aftermath. Claudius’ Soliloquy as He Attempts to Pray. Hamlet Confronts His Mother.

38 mins; April 16, 2023

Episode 106: Hamlet, End of Act 2, Opening of Act 3. The First Player’s Recitation. Hamlet’s Soliloquy about His Own Inaction. Act 3, Scene 1: “To Be or Not to Be.” Hamlet’s Furious Tirade.

38 mins; April 09, 2023

Ep. 105: Hamlet, Act 2. Polonius Spies on His Own Son. Hamlet’s Pretended Madness with Ophelia. Fortinbras Averted. Polonius, Then Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Spy on Hamlet. The Arrival of Players

36 mins; April 02, 2023

Episode 104: Hamlet, to the End of Act 1. Polonius’s Advice to His Son and Daughter. Hamlet’s Humor, against the Rules for Tragedy. Hamlet’s Conversation with the Ghost

37 mins; March 26, 2023

Episode 103: Hamlet, the First Two Scenes. The Play in Microcosm.

39 mins; March 19, 2023

Episode 102: An Introduction to Shakespearean Tragedy and Hamlet

37 mins; March 12, 2023

Episode 101: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What Is the Purpose of Act 5? The Rude Mechanicals’ Play. Life as a Dream.

39 mins; March 05, 2023

Episode 100: A Milestone. The Lovers’ and the Fairies’ Conflicts Resolved in Act 4. Duke Theseus’ Famous Speech on the Imagination. But Parallel with It, Bottom’s Speech about a “Bottomless Dream

37 mins; February 26, 2023

Episode 99: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Night-Rule”: The Overturning of Order. But behind the Chaos, a Pattern of Interchanging Opposites.

39 mins; February 19, 2023

Episode 98. A Midsummer Night’s Dream as One of the “Green World” Comedies. The Meaning of “Midsummer.” The Marital Discord of Oberon and Titania. Bottom Given the Head of an Ass.

37 mins; February 12, 2023

Episode 97: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Acts 1 and 2 Continued. The Imagery of the Play: the Moon and Its Many Thematic Associations; the Celtic Imagery of the “Goddess Cultures”

37 mins; February 05, 2023

Episode 96: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1. A “Festive Comedy” from Shakespeare’s “Lyrical Period.” The Dating of Shakespeare’s Plays. Four Groups of Characters.

37 mins; January 29, 2023

Episode 95: An Introduction to Shakespeare. The Self-Effacing Artist. What We Know about Shakespeare, and What We Don’t. The Nature of Comedy.

37 mins; January 22, 2023

Episode 94: Samson Agonistes, Acts 4 and 5. The Giant Harapha. Samson Pulls the Arena Down upon the Philistines.

42 mins; January 15, 2023

Episode 93: Act 3 of Milton’s Samson Agonistes: Divorce Story. The Bitter Conversation with Dalila.

37 mins; January 08, 2023

Episode 92: Samson Agonistes, Act 2. Samson in Dialogue with His Father, Manoa, Takes Responsibility for Betraying a Secret to Two Wives, Thereby Failing Both His Country and His God

36 mins; January 01, 2023

Ep. 91: Christmas Special. Milton’s Nativity Ode, the Greatest of All Christmas Poems. The Paradox of Christianity: The Redemption Is “Now,” but “Not Yet.” The Nativity Is Potentially in Every Moment.

37 mins; December 25, 2022

Episode 90: Milton’s Samson Agonistes, Act 1. Samson’s Justified Marriages to Two Philistian Women. The Choral Ode Justifies God’s Ways—but Not by Reason.

36 mins; December 18, 2022

Episode 89: Introduction to Milton’s Verse Tragedy Samson Agonistes.

37 mins; December 11, 2022

Episode 88: Paradise Regained. The Temptation of Athens. The 3rd Temptation: The Pinnacle of the Temple. Jesus Stands, and Thereby Regains Paradise.

40 mins; December 04, 2022

Episode 87: The Temptations of the Earthly Kingdoms. Parthia (warlike power), Rome (civilization, justice), Athens (Classical learning and culture).

39 mins; November 27, 2022

Episode 86: Paradise Regained. The Second Temptation: Temptations of Appetite (Sex, Food, Riches) and Ambition (Glory, Kingdom).

37 mins; November 20, 2022

Episode 85: The Three Temptations, of Body, Mind, and Spirit. The 2nd Temptation: From Physical Need to Desire: Temptations of Sex, Food, and Riches. The Basis of Jesus’ Refusal.

38 mins; November 13, 2022

Episode 84: Milton’s Paradise Regained, Book 1. The First Temptation, “Turn These Stones into Bread.” The Temptation of Physical Necessity, but Also of False Charity, a Spurious Populism.

37 mins; November 06, 2022

Episode 83: Paradise Regained. The “Sequel” to Paradise Lost, and an Expansion of Its Vision.

37 mins; October 30, 2022

Episode 82: Book 12 of Paradise Lost. The Vision of the Fortunate Fall. The Internalization of Paradise.

39 mins; October 23, 2022

Episode 81: From Tragic Fall to Divine Comedy. The Redemptive Countermovement of Books 11 and 12 of Paradise Lost.

39 mins; October 16, 2022

Episode 80: The Aftermath of the Fall. The Tension between the Human Tragedy and the Divine Comedy. Adam and Eve’s Bleak Despair.

38 mins; October 09, 2022

Episode 79: The Fall of Adam. The Consequences of the Fall. The Corruption of Human Nature. The Corruption of Marriage. The Apparent Triumph of Satan.

36 mins; October 02, 2022

Episode 78: Satan Returns to the Garden and Possesses the Serpent. Adam and Eve Have a Marital Rift as Eve Insists on Going Off by Herself. The Temptation and Fall of Eve, and Her Inward Corruption

38 mins; September 25, 2022

Episode 77: Adam’s Emotional Dependency upon Eve. The Sex Life of the Angels. Book 9: The Opening Invocation, Another Personal Moment. Who Is the Hero of the Epic?

38 mins; September 18, 2022

Episode 76: The Theme of Education in Paradise Lost. Book Learning Versus Life Learning. Adam Tells Raphael the Story of His Creation—What It Felt Like to Come into Being.

37 mins; September 11, 2022

Episode 75: Raphael and Adam Discuss “Saving the Appearances,” the Attempts to Save the Old Astronomical Model. The Distinction between Theoretical Knowledge and Practical Knowledge.

36 mins; September 04, 2022

Episode 74: Milton’s Account of Creation in Book 7. A Recreation, Not a Mere Paraphrase. Sublime Poetry and a Vision of Upward Metamorphosis.

37 mins; August 28, 2022

Ep. 73: Book 7 of Paradise Lost, the Book of Creation. Invocation to the Muse at This Halfway Point. Milton’s Dark Personal Circumstances. The Son as the Traditional Active Agent of Creation.

38 mins; August 21, 2022

Episode 72: Paradise Lost, Book 6. The Third and Climactic Day of the War in Heaven. The Triumph of the Son. Why Does God Put His Good Angels through the Ordeal of This War?

37 mins; August 14, 2022

Episode 71: Satan Gathers the Rebel Host in Book 5. Abdiel, the One Loyal Angel. Book 6: The War in Heaven, Day 1. The Satanic Host Lose Badly. Satan Invents Gunpowder and Cannon Overnight.

37 mins; August 07, 2022

Ep. 70: Milton’s Anti-Authoritarian View that the Chain of Being Is Not Fixed but in Process of Vertical Spiritual Evolution. The Chronological Starting Point of Paradise Lost.

39 mins; July 31, 2022

Episode 69: Why Angels Eat Lunch: the Affirmation of the Body and the Senses through a Vision of the Spiritualization of Matter, a Repudiation of Western Dualism

38 mins; July 24, 2022

Episode 68: Milton’s Bold Affirmation of Human Sexuality. Satan Plants a Dream of Temptation in Eve’s Mind While She Sleeps. The Confrontation of Satan with Gabriel and His Angelic Sentry.

37 mins; July 17, 2022

Episode 67: The Spirit vs. the Letter of the Law in Milton’s Treatment of Women, Love, and Sexuality in Book 4 of Paradise Lost.

36 mins; July 10, 2022

Episode 66: The Portrayal of Eve. Milton’s Attempt to Liberalize the Sexism Both of His Time and of the New Testament. Milton’s Personal History: Three Wives, Three Daughters. The Divorce Tracts.

38 mins; July 03, 2022

Episode 65: Milton’s Complex Cosmos and Its “Many Worlds.” Satan Deceives the Angel of the Sun, Lands on Earth, and Addresses the Sun in a Soliloquy Revealing His Inwardly Tormented State.

37 mins; June 26, 2022

Ep, 64: Milton’s Attempted Liberalization of the Christian Doctrines of Predestination and the Atonement. Then a Moment of Satire: The Limbo of Vanities or Paradise of Fools.

39 mins; June 19, 2022

Ep. 63: God’s Foreknowing Speech in Book 3 of Paradise Lost. The Most Difficult Issue in Christianity: the Conflict between Human Free Will and Predestination.

37 mins; June 12, 2022

Ep. 62: The Satiric Episode of Satan’s Family Reunion with Sin and Death. Satan’s Wild Journey through Chaos. The Beautiful and Moving Personal Invocation that Opens Book 3.

36 mins; June 05, 2022

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Expanding Eyes: A Visionary Education

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