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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 10, 2020 • 1h 4min
CR Episode 48: The Faerie Queene, Book V, Cantos 1-6
The full panel convenes to discuss Spenser's approach to justice in Book V, with attention given to the challenges Artegall's Solomon-like judgement faces--a dispute between knights, a giant of revolution, and ultimately the Amazon queen Radigund herself.Continue reading
Aug 3, 2020 • 54min
CR Episode 47: The Faerie Queene, Book IV, Cantos 7-12
The panel concludes the book of friendship with an examination of the character of Sclaunder, and an account of Spenser's planned poetic cartography--Epithalmion Thamesis--intended to give all the rivers of Britain 'their right names and right passage'.Continue reading
Jul 20, 2020 • 1h 10min
CR Episode 46: The Faerie Queene, Book IV, Cantos 1-6
The panel turns its attention to the Book of Friendship, sometimes described as the 'least interesting' of the sections, and discusses whether it has been unfairly maligned or whether Spenser's intentions can explain the book's perceived deficiencies.Continue reading
Jul 13, 2020 • 1h 11min
CR Episode 45: The Faerie Queene, Book III, Cantos 7-12
The panel addresses a reader question before turning to Book III's unwholesome delights and the means by which the virtuous refuse them and the sinful fall prey to them, with special attention to the conduct of Hellenore, Malbecco, and the satyrs.Continue reading
Jul 6, 2020 • 51min
CR Episode 44: The Faerie Queene, Book III, Cantos 1-6
The panel adds a new member, and begins a discussion of the first half of The Faerie Queene, Book III, by focusing on the character of Britomart, her historical and mythological characterisation, potential allegorical connexions, and chivalric impact.Continue reading
Jun 29, 2020 • 1h 6min
CR Episode 43: The Faerie Queene, Book II, Cantos 7-12
The panel reviews the second half of Book II of Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, with particular attention shown to the allegorical representation of the seven deadly sins and the means by which they can be overcome through the virtue of temperance.Continue reading
Jun 22, 2020 • 1h 12min
CR Episode 42: The Faerie Queene, Book II, Cantos 1-6
The panel reviews selections from the first six cantos of Book II of Spenser's Faerie Queene, with particular attention to Guyon's interactions with Belphoebe (and her connexion to Diana and Venus), the character of Palmer, and the return of Archimago.Continue reading
Jun 15, 2020 • 1h 2min
CR Episode 41: The Faerie Queene, Book I, Cantos 7-12
The panel examines the second half of the first book of The Faerie Queene, with particular attention to the foundations of textual analysis, demonstrating readings grounded in the texts themselves and in the material and tropes available to the author.Continue reading
Jun 8, 2020 • 1h 4min
CR Episode 40: The Faerie Queene, Book I, Cantos 1-6
The panel welcomes two additional experts to begin a several-month-long survey of Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene in its entirety, in this episode examining Spenser's personal history, his letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, and the first half of Book I.Continue reading
Jun 1, 2020 • 55min
CR Episode 39: Robert Frost and the Road Not Taken
The panel discusses two of Robert Frost's best-known nature poems, including "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", and their common misreadings, before discussing the unusually urban setting of his "Acquainted with the Night".Continue reading
