In this post, I begin a series of notes on Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). PLOT Against his father’s wishes, Robinson goes to sea. Robinson refuses a safe plantation position to take part in a slave-ship. A storm hits the ship and Crusoe is washed onto a deserted island. He contemplates his life andContinue reading “Robinson Crusoe Part 1”
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Anatomy of Criticism: Literary Modes
I’m working my way through Northrop Frye’s seminal work Anatomy of Criticism (1957). The books first essay has the title HISTORICAL CRITICISM and charts the change of literary modes over time. I’ll provide five takeaways from Frye’s scheme for tragic and comic modes then give five possible applications. TAKEAWAYS Frye begins with Aristotle’s Poetics. TheContinue reading “Anatomy of Criticism: Literary Modes”
Critical Terms: Author
This is the third of a series of weekly posts on the book Critical Terms for Literary Study. Donald Pease begins his overview of this crucial term with five questions that he argues are connected to the term’s definition. Is an individual self-determined or determined by material and historical circumstances? Is the human self infinite orContinue reading “Critical Terms: Author”
BIBLICAL PRESUPPOSITION: Symbolism Matters
I’m reading through James Jordan’s excellent study Through New Eyes. Jordan begins the book by stressing the importance of symbolism. Everything, he argues from scripture, symbolizes God. Humanity, the Word, and Sacraments are special symbols, but the entire creation testifies to the God who made it. This leads to Jordan’s assertion that ESSENCE precedes EXISTENCE.Continue reading “BIBLICAL PRESUPPOSITION: Symbolism Matters”
The Miller’s Tale – A Covenantal Outline
This is the third in a series of posts about Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1390s). PLOT Transcendence: A clerk claims he knows God plans to destroy the world by flood.Hierarchy: The clerk is living with a miller and sleeping with the miller’s young wife. The scholarly clerk (Nicholas) is able to woo the wifeContinue reading “The Miller’s Tale – A Covenantal Outline”
Julius Caesar: A Covenantal Outline
In a previous post, I gave the covenantal plot for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1599). Here I complete an outline of that work using the biblical covenant as a model. QUOTATIONS Transcendence: “[K]iss dead Caesar’s wounds / And dip their napkins in his sacred blood” – Marc Antony (3.2); Antony turns Caesar into a sacrificial god.Hierarchy:Continue reading “Julius Caesar: A Covenantal Outline”
Pride and Prejudice: A Covenantal Outline
This is the third in a series of posts about Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Below I outline the points I would cover in discussing the novel with an eye towards implementing the covenantal model. PLOT TRANSCENDENCE: Marriage is on everyone’s minds, especially the Bennets, who boast five daughtersHIERARCHY: The two oldest Bennets attract suitors,Continue reading “Pride and Prejudice: A Covenantal Outline”
Julius Caesar: The Covenantal Plot
I am working on a Shakespeare e-course that connects the biblical covenant to Shakespeare’s famous tragedies. My first play is Julius Caesar. Below, I show how the play’s five acts mirror the five elements of the covenant. Transcendence: Caesar has become a god, and Brutus and Cassius lament the republic’s dissolution. Hierarchy: Rome has aContinue reading “Julius Caesar: The Covenantal Plot”
Critical Terms: Representation
This is the second of a series of weekly posts on the book Critical Terms for Literary Study. W.J.T. Mitchell begins his survey of the term “representation” by observing the truism that literature represents life. As such, the concept of representation has long been a problem IN literature and a problem FOR the study of literature.Continue reading “Critical Terms: Representation”
Biblical Presuppositions: Transcendence
I began working through Ray Sutton’s That You May Prosper today. Sutton articulates the biblical vision of the covenant, the way which God has chosen to interact with humanity. The covenant has five points: Transcendence, Hierarchy, Ethics, Sanctions, and Succession. I am building a Shakespeare e-course around these five points and will be working withContinue reading “Biblical Presuppositions: Transcendence”
Experiments in Criticism 