
Critical Readings
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.
Latest episodes

Sep 23, 2024 • 1h 15min
CR Episode 240: Wordsworth’s Beggars
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

Sep 9, 2024 • 2h 15min
CR Episode 239: Le Morte Darthur, Part XIV
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

Sep 2, 2024 • 1h 45min
CR Episode 238: Le Morte Darthur, Part XIII
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

Aug 26, 2024 • 1h 32min
CR Episode 237: Le Morte Darthur, Part XII
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

Aug 19, 2024 • 1h 18min
CR Episode 236: Le Morte Darthur, Part XI
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

Aug 12, 2024 • 1h 54min
CR Episode 235: Le Morte Darthur, Part X
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

Aug 5, 2024 • 1h 24min
CR Episode 234: Le Morte Darthur, Part IX
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

Jul 29, 2024 • 1h 37min
CR Episode 233: Le Morte Darthur, Part VIII
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

Jul 22, 2024 • 1h 40min
CR Episode 232: Le Morte Darthur, Part VII
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

Jul 15, 2024 • 1h 19min
CR Episode 231: Le Morte Darthur, Part VI
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