The Classic English Literature Podcast

M. G. McDonough
  • 4.9 (42)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED DAILY

Where rhyme gets its reason! In a historical survey of English literature, I take a personal and philosophical approach to the major texts of the tradition in order to not only situate the poems, prose, and plays in their own contexts, but also to show their relevance to our own. This show is for the general listener: as a teacher of high school literature and philosophy, I am less than a scholar but more than a buff. I hope to edify and entertain!

  1. 2D AGO · BONUS

    Seditious Greetings!: The Political Code of "O Come All Ye Faithful"

    Send us a text One of the most theologically and liturgically important Christmas carols may contain coded messages against the Throne of England! Additional Music: "Adeste Fidelis" by Bing Crosby with The Max Terr choir; John Scott Trotter and his orch.; Traditional; Decca (BM 03929) Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    14 min

  2. NOV 26 · BONUS

    "Read All About It!": The Rise of the Public Press

    Send us a text In the early 18th century, the public press came to dominate English writing.  Pamphlets, newspapers, and periodicals fed the appetite for news and commentary of an ever-hungrier reading public.  Richard Steele and Joseph Addison were the great innovators of the periodical essay, a quintessentially English genre of writing. Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    28 min

  3. NOV 9

    The First English Novel? Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

    Send us a text On this trip, we're looking at the conventional candidate for the first modern novel in English.  Defoe's story of a resourceful man shipwrecked on a desert island is so much more than a ripping yarn: it speaks to the rise of a literary vernacular language, the values of an increasing bourgeois and expansionist society, and of spiritual awakening.  Come aboard! Text: https://ia600207.us.archive.org/26/items/cu31924011498676/cu31924011498676.pdf Additional Music: "Theme from Emergency!" by Nelson Riddle. https://archive.org/details/tvtunes_206 "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" by Sherwood Schwartz.  https://archive.org/details/tvtunes_275 Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    37 min

  4. OCT 26 · BONUS

    The First Ghost Story? Daniel Defoe's "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal"

    Send us a text For you today, Trick or Treaters, a discussion of what some critics assert is the first modern ghost story in English: Daniel Defoe's 1705 "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal." The text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36587/36587-h/36587-h.htm Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    22 min

  5. OCT 10

    Modish Men and the Way of the World: The Great Restoration Comedies of Manners

    Send us a text Well, I probably should have done this episode earlier, since it might have been good for it to precede our other discussions of Resto comedy.  But I made a last minute decision and included a second play, which kind of threw off the old chronology.  But it's good all the same! The Man of Mode by George Etherege: https://coldreads.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-man-of-mode.pdf The Way of the World by William Congreve: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1292/1292-h/1292-h.htm Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    32 min

  6. SEP 21

    "A Foolish Marriage Vow": John Dryden's Marriage a la Mode and Amphitryon

    Send us a text For our second episode on John Dryden, we'll talk about two of his plays which marked an innovation in the tragi-comic romance: Marriage a la Mode and Amphitryon.  We'll discuss the "split-plot" play, the exorcising of Restoration political anxieties, and why we sometimes mock that which we cherish. Additional sound clip from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Text of Marriage a la Mode: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15349/15349-h/15349-h.htm#page_231 Text of Amphitryon: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47679/47679-h/47679-h.htm#Page_1 Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    31 min

  7. SEP 7

    "The Amendment of Vices": John Dryden's Satires

    Send us a text Once hailed as the towering literary figure of the Restoration age, John Dryden is little known now by the general reader.  Let's take care of that with a close look at his most enduring works, the poetical satires Mac Flecknoe and Absalom and Achitophel. Mac Flecknoe text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44181/mac-flecknoe Absalom and Achitophel text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44172/absalom-and-achitophel  Mea culpa:  At one point in this episode, I make reference to Dryden's "tasteless" satiric attacks.  I know, of course, that I should have said "distasteful."  I am dreadfully embarrassed by this mistake and I sincerely apologize to all listeners who were horrified and offended at my imbecilic misuse of the noble English tongue.  I vow to do better. Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    38 min

  8. AUG 24

    Puritans in Arcadia: Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, and Pastoralism

    Send us a text Since they wrote in 17th century Massachusetts, poets Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are often overlooked in surveys of English literature.  Today, though, we'll bring them back into the fold as we look at how their puritanical religious beliefs engaged with the pastoral and metaphysical poetic traditions that celebrated "Arcadia," that vision of unspoiled Nature. The Works of Anne Bradstreet:  https://archive.org/details/worksofannebrads00brad/page/n7/mode/2up The Works of Edward Taylor: https://archive.org/details/poemsofedwardtay00tayl Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

    42 min
See All (104)

4.9
out of 5
42 Ratings

About

Where rhyme gets its reason! In a historical survey of English literature, I take a personal and philosophical approach to the major texts of the tradition in order to not only situate the poems, prose, and plays in their own contexts, but also to show their relevance to our own. This show is for the general listener: as a teacher of high school literature and philosophy, I am less than a scholar but more than a buff. I hope to edify and entertain!

Information

You Might Also Like