The Classic English Literature Podcast

Send us Fan MailToday, I look askance at two plays by Ben Jonson, whom many see (not me, though) as the greatest English playwright bar Shakespeare: Every Man In His Humour and Every Man Out of His Humour.  These have become the paradigmatic examples of the 17th century "comedy of humours."Thank you to the Internet Archive for providing public domain recordings of The Benny Hill Show and Fawlty Towers theme songs.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailToday, we take a historical survey of the Bible in English, from early partial translations and paraphrases in the 7th century through the magnificence of King James I's Authorized Version of 1611.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailToday we look at Aemelia Lanyer's pioneering and influential work, "Eve's Apology in Defense of Women" from 1611's Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailFor our final episode focusing on Shakespeare, we look at his sonnets, arguably the most famous collection of lyric poems in the language.Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailFor 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 ArchiveSupport the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailTo 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.htmlSupport the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailWhile 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 showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailThe 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 showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailIn 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 uncomfortableSupport the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

Send us Fan MailIs Shakespeare's darkest tragedy a cautionary tale about ambition? a bit of Jacobean mythmaking?  Or is it the portrait of a deeply committed marriage gone catastrophically wrong?With apologies for all the appalling accents . . . .Performance Clip: Macbeth with Orson Welles, Fay Bainter, and the Mercury Acting Co.  Mercury Text Records.  From the Internet Archive (archive.org)Additional Music: "The Rout of Moy" perf. Albannach.  2006.  From the Internet Archive (archive.org)Support the showPlease like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!Or Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/classicenglishliteratureEmail: classicenglishliterature@gmail.comFollow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber OrchestraSubcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish GuardsSound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.orgMy thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!