A close reading of Jonathan Swift’s famously obscene poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room” offers several targets for the author’s satire. The focus on Celia’s vanity and deceit, compared with the forgivability of Strephon’s crimes… Continue reading
As literature for Jonathan Swift and TV/film for Monty Python became relevant, respectively, to a public audience, both, Swift from the 18th century and Monty Python, a British sketch comedy troupe famous in the 1970s and on into the 21st century, harnessed popular mediums… Continue reading
Given the publication date of Robinson Crusoe, it comes as no surprise that it is a largely racist work. Ethnic groups are frequently painted as barbaric savages by the narrator, for example.… Continue reading
In our discussion of She, much has been said about the dualities in the novel (life/death, mind/body, beauty/ugliness, and the the list goes on. And on.), but it seems to me that not… Continue reading
H. Rider Haggard seemed quite fond of his immortal sorceress Ayesha, the titular antagonist of She, and featured her in three sequels to the 1887 novel. But Haggard does not simply explore and exploit the… Continue reading
What do Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones have to do with writer H. Rider Haggard? All of these pop culture darlings have Haggard to thank for popularizing the Lost World genre. Haggard’s formula… Continue reading
Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” and H. Rider Haggard’s “She” are not simply comparable in their elaborate tales of adventure, but also in their underlying themes of English imperialism and racial superiority. Published in… Continue reading
