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
Nov 11, 2024 • 1h 34min
CR Episode 245: Wuthering Heights, Part IV
The panel discusses the conclusion of Wuthering Heights, with special attention given to the message of the novel; its place in the genres of Gothic, Romance, and Tragedy; and how its cycles of revenge and pain are eventually broken through acts of love.Continue reading
Nov 4, 2024 • 1h 33min
CR Episode 244: Wuthering Heights, Part III
Guest expert Dr. Madeline Potter joins the panel to discuss chapters 17–24, with a focus on the cycles of violence and manipulation at Wuthering Heights, the symmetry of relationships, and the re-embodiments of abuse perpetuated by Heathcliff.Continue reading
Oct 21, 2024 • 1h 17min
CR Episode 243: Wuthering Heights, Part II
The panel discusses chapters 10–16, from Catherine's marriage until her death, and examines Heathcliff's increased severity, the potential innocence of Isabella and Hareton, and the role that Nelly has played in escalating the fraught circumstances.Continue reading
Oct 14, 2024 • 1h 47min
CR Episode 242: Wuthering Heights, Part I
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
Oct 7, 2024 • 1h 2min
CR Episode 241: The Shimmering Form of Robert Penn Warren
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
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
