Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses.  Homer tells of how the mighty king of Ithaca arrived home after twenty years of war and wandering.  However, in Tennyson’s monologue, one of the best-loved poems of the nineteenth century, we hear that he is restless and longs for the companionship and adventure that had come to define him.  We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.  ------   Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema Opening Passage Music...

EP14 - Not Altogether Fool | Shakespeare, King Lear (Part One)

Why do great novels, poems and plays move us and excite us? How can they change the way we look at ourselves and the world? What do these authors have to teach us? Why do they matter? There are no better answers to these questions than those provided by the authors themselves. We want to let them speak. Professing Literature is not a broad summary of major works. Instead, it will zero in on one or two key passages, looking at them closely in order to figure out what is at stake. The goal will be to appreciate an author’s brilliance by seeing him or her in action. We will unpack key phrases, images and metaphors and we will consider the techniques the writer uses to make ideas come alive.