The Classic English Literature Podcast M. G. McDonough
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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!
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Fair Youths and Dark Ladies: Shakespeare's Sonnets
For our final episode focusing on Shakespeare, we look at his sonnets, arguably the most famous collection of lyric poems in the language.
Support the Show.
Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen. Thank you!
Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, 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! -
"You taught me language": Shakespeare's The Tempest
For our (probably) final episode on Shakespeare's plays, we sail through The Tempest, a late romance which has attracted historical and psychoanalytical interpretations, but stands out for many readers as perhaps a play in which a version of Shakespeare himself appears as the protagonist.
Audio clip from The Tempest ; 2004 Naxos AudioBooks. Taken from The Internet Archive
Support the Show.
Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen. Thank you!
Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, 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! -
The Felix Culpa: George Herbert's "Easter Wings"
To mark the Easter holiday, we return to George Herbert, Jacobean poet and priest, and his most famous work, the pattern poem "Easter Wings."
Here's a link to an image of the poem:
https://clinicalpsychreading.blogspot.com/2016/03/easter-wings-george-herbert-15931633.html
Support the show
Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen. Thank you!
Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, 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! -
Shakespeare: The Narrative Poems
While most people know Shakespeare as a playwright, he saw himself as a poet in the quite traditional sense. Today, we'll look at his two major narrative poems: Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.
clip from "Mrs. Robinson" by Paul Simon; perf. by Simon and Garfunkel. 1968. Taken from We Got Good at It: A Wrecking Crew Anthology 1962-1971. The Internet Archive.
Support the Show.
Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen. Thank you!
Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, 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! -
Shakespeare's The Tragedy of King Lear and the Absurdity of Suffering
The Tragedy of King Lear, while considered by many as Shakespeare's greatest play, is also his most devastating. In this episode, we consider what Lear has to say about the meaning of human suffering.
Support the Show.
Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen. Thank you!
Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, 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! -
Shakespeare's Problematic Plays
In this episode, we look at how our current concerns with identity politics intersects with those of Shakespeare's plays which portray sexist, racist, or anti-Semitic material.
Fair warning: this episode will deal with language and tropes that some may find uncomfortable
Support the Show.
Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen. Thank you!
Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, 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!