Big Cat, Little Cat: The Fourth Wall Was the Fourth Wall Always There? Back in my dissertatin’ days, one of my particular interests was: the occasions on which an epic poet talks in the first person. You might say: times when the poet breaks the fourth wall. For example, the way Homer does at the…
Tag: theater
It’s not Gay Christmas without Rocky Horror
The Gay Christmas Equivalent of the Peanuts Movie Perhaps my love for “Gay Christmas” should have been an early clue about my queerness. I love a good Christmas movie, but Halloween just isn’t Halloween without Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are lots of reasons why the film would never be okay if it were made…
Not Just a Phase?
I’ve written about the first time I kissed a girl. I’ve written about how much it would have meant to me to have queer role models. And I’ve written about why it was really important for me to have access to queer books as a teenager. I’ve never really talked about the “not just a…
Shakespeare Authorship Question
On the face of it, Who wrote the plays of “Shakespeare”? is not an interesting question. The answer is “Shakespeare.” People will make objections and say “what if?” or “isn’t it true that…?” But these are easily answered. I used to get asked this question quite a lot. Comes with the territory of working towards…
Make Literary Analysis Personal: The Rose
I have always had a fondness for the personal literary analysis. The kind you see in novels. Someone is talking about a work of literature, but they’re really talking about themselves. In my opinion, all literary analysis is personal. Nobody picks a subject of study unless they’re not just interested but invested in it. Yes,…
London Letters #3: “The Rain it Raineth Everyday”
I decided to call this one “London Letters,” even though I’m not in London anymore, because “Shropshire Letters” doesn’t alliterate. “English Countryside Letters” has a nice ring but oh well. We had to give up Anuja’s apartment in Camden Town on Sunday, and, rather than move to a different part of the city, we decided…
London Letters #2: “O for a Muse of Fire”
Yesterday I walked past Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. It was intense. Just walking past it. I’ve been in London now for over a week. I’ve seen a bunch of the tourist things you’re supposed to see, and not seen others. I saw the treasures of the Sutton Hoo excavation at the British Museum. I saw all…
Sticking Your Nose in a Book
Do you think books mind when we read them? Here they are carrying on with their lives, being beautiful or terrible according to how they were written, and we come along and literally stick our noses into their business. There are some people—scholars, philosophers, authors—who treat books as if they were alive. I once attended…