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    12/09/2024
    Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great cover

    Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great

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    Chapter: 3 | Listen: 4

    Tom Thumb, small of stature, great of heart. This play was written as a parody of the tragic heroic biography of a great man, filled with biting satire as to people and events of the time. Note as warned by the title that this is not a happy-ending fairy tale. (Follow the etext link to see how the script is full of fictitious supposedly real researchy footnotes by “H. Scriblerus Secundus” providing fake references to the events and allusions of the play.) Supposedly Jane Austen put on a family performance of this play. – Summary by ToddHW Cast list: King Arthur, a passionate sort of king, husband to queen Dollallolla, of whom he stands a little in fear; father to Huncamunca, whom he is very fond of, and in love with Glumdalca: ToddHW Tom Thumb the Great, a little hero with a great soul, something violent in his temper, which is a little abated by his love for Huncamunca: Matthew Reece Ghost of Gaffer Thumb, a whimsical sort of ghost: Andrew Gaunce Lord Grizzle, extremely zealous for the liberty of the subject, very cholerick in his temper, and in love with Huncamunca: Alan Mapstone Merlin, a conjurer, and in some sort father to Tom Thumb: Wayne Cooke Noodle, courtier in place, and consequently of that party that is uppermost: Andrew James Doodle, courtier in place, and consequently of that party that is uppermost: Adrian Stephens Foodle, a courtier that is out of place, and consequently of that party that is […]

    06/08/2024
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    Myszeis

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    Chapter: 10 | Listen:

    “Myszeis” (znany także jako “Myszeidos pieśni X”) to chronologicznie pierwszy z trzech poematów heroikomicznych Ignacego Krasickiego. Poeta wyśmiewa w nim niektóre współczesne sobie zjawiska za pomocą opowieści o wielkiej wojnie między myszami i szczurami po jednej stronie, a kotami i ludźmi po drugiej. Król Popiel, po krótkim okresie faworyzowania myszy, zmienia zdanie i czyni swoim faworytem kota. Wkrótce nastaje wielkie prześladowanie myszy i szczurów, a te postanawiają odpowiedzieć kontratakiem. Wybucha wojna… Wzorując poemat na “Iliadzie” poeta nadał uczestniczącym postaciom zwierzęcym imiona mające pasować swoją rangą do epickiego charakteru opowieści. Odbiorca znajdzie też tu sceny podniosłych przemów i wielkich bitew. (Summary by Piotr Nater)     [chương_files]  

    05/08/2024
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    Monachomachia czyli wojna mnichów

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    Chapter: 6 | Listen:

    Monachomachia, czyli Wojna mnichów to poemat heroikomiczny autorstwa Ignacego Krasickiego wydany po raz pierwszy anonimowo w 1778. Jego tematem jest walka pomiędzy mnichami, a przedstawienie sporu mnichów w utworze naznaczone jest groteskowym humorem. Jednocześnie Monachomachia jest ostrą satyrą, krytyką ukrytą pod kostiumem zabawnych postaci. (Źródło: Wikipedia) Monachomachia, the War of the monks (from Gr. Monachos – monk, Machia – the fight) is a mock-heroic poem by Ignatius Krasicki first published anonymously in 1778.     [chương_files]  

    01/08/2024
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    History Of Lady Barton

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    Chapter: 60 | Listen: 2

    This is the story of the three Cleveland siblings: Fanny, the innocent yet very sympathetic sister; Louisa, the strong willed sister whose miserable marriage to Sir William is the center of the novel; and Sir George who tries to get over the loss of his lover by touring the world. Louisa is not an amoral woman, she is beautiful and very lively, values which 18th century society promotes, yet she suffers only affliction from her “respectable” college educated husband. In the main plot, and all the sub plots (of which there are many), the book tests many prominent values of the time and brings to light their negative implications. It raises questions such as: is marriage always right for women? If a woman is miserable in her marriage, when is enough? Is a great tour to find yourself always a good idea, or should you consider its implications on those around you? Does formal education matter or should inter personal communication skills be more important? Or, perhaps most importantly, is your family always there to protect you? This book is timeless in it’s discourses on right and wrong, friendship, and of course love. It has everything for everyone, even the favorite gothic story for those who look for it. It is a must read for every 18th century lover. A book that will make you think and think again. ( Stav Nisser.)     [chương_files]  

    31/07/2024
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    Goldsmith’s Friend Abroad Again

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    Chapter: 4 | Listen:

    This satire on the U.S.A.’s myth of being the “Home of the Oppressed, where all men are free and equal”, is unrelenting in its pursuit of justice through exposure. It draws a scathingly shameful portrait of how Chinese immigrants were treated in 19th century San Francisco. (Introduction by John Greenman)     [chương_files]  

    30/07/2024
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    Expedition of Humphry Clinker

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    Chapter: 85 | Listen:

    The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was the last of the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett, and is considered by many to be his best and funniest work. Published in London on 17 June 1771, it is an epistolary novel, presented in the form of letters written by six different characters: Matthew Bramble, a Welsh Squire; his sister Tabitha; their niece and nephew, Jery and Lydia Melford; Tabitha’s maid Winifred Jenkins; and Lydia’s suitor, Wilson. Much of the comedy arises from differences in the descriptions of the same events by different participants. Attributions of motives and descriptions of behavior show wild variation and reveal much about the character of the teller. The setting, amidst the high-society spa towns and seaside resorts of the 18th century provides his characters with many opportunities for satirical observations on English life and manners. (Summary by Wikipedia)     [chương_files]  

    30/07/2024
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    Lady Susan

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    Chapter: 6 | Listen: 1

    Jane Austen demonstrated her mastery of the epistolary novel genre in Lady Susan, which she wrote in 1795 but never published. Although the primary focus of this short novel is the selfish behavior of Lady Susan as she engages in affairs and searches for suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter, the actual action shares its importance with Austen’s manipulation of her characters’ behavior by means of their reactions to the letters that they receive. The heroine adds additional interest by altering the tone of her own letters based on the recipient of the letter. Thus, the character of Lady Susan is developed through many branches as Austen suggests complications of identity and the way in which that identity is based on interaction rather than on solitary constructions of personality. Lady Susan’s character is also built by the descriptions of the other letter-writers; but even though their opinions of this heroine coincide with the image that develops from her own letters, Austen demonstrates the subjectivity of the opinions by presenting them – primarily – in the letters of one woman to another, thereby suggesting the established literary motifs of feminine gossip and jealousy. Readers recognize these subjective motifs and examine all of the idiosyncrasies of the characters in order to create their own opinion of Lady Susan – as they would of any real acquaintance. (Summary from Wikipedia) Cast: Lady Susan Vernon – Kristin Hughes Mrs. Vernon – rachelellen Mr. De Courcy – Patrick Beverley Mrs. Johnson – Kirsten […]

    30/07/2024
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    John Donne’s Satires

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    Chapter: 7 | Listen: 1

    Donne’s Style In John Donne’s day, a satire was such a poem as a satyr might compose. Satyrs were rough, savage creatures in Greek mythology, human to the waist but goat from there down. That is the reason that Donne’s style in these poems exceeds his normal difficulty in syntax, vocabulary, thought, and meter. His age enjoyed untangling such puzzles, and some poets cultivated obscurity as an art, called asprezza. Wordplay like “while bellows pant below” (Satyre 2), where the same syllables, stressed differently, produce two different words almost side by side, entertained them. An acoustical analogue to obscurity, Donne’s rhymes are often deliberately lame, while his rhythms nearly defy scansion and yet refuse to become mere prose. By keeping the drum beat just barely audible, he makes us feel that we are stumbling, out of step—neither marching nor merely walking. Why was this abuse of the reader enjoyable? Perhaps for the same reason that grafitti appeals to some people. At first glance Donne appears lax, but in fact he is naughty; not undisciplined but rebellious; he does not fail to abide by the rules but rather gives the impression of breaking them. Metempsychosis The poem appears to be incomplete, its “First Song” having no counterpart, no “Second Song.” Similarly its promise to end by identifying what celebrity the soul in question now inhabits is never fulfilled. On the contrary, the poem’s initial epic pretentions founder at the second generation of mankind rather than tracing human history from the Garden […]

    29/07/2024
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    Love and Friendship

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    Chapter: 3 | Listen: 2

    Begun when she was just eleven years old, Love and Friendship is one of Jane Austen’s stories that very few readers may have encountered before. Austen experts feel that this story was written, like many others, only for the pleasure of her family and friends. It is scribbled across three notebooks, in childish handwriting, and the complete work is thought to have been written over a period of six or seven years. It is dedicated to one of her cousins, whom she was very close to, Eliza de Feuillide. Eliza herself was an extremely colorful figure and is thought to have been the illegitimate daughter of the first Governor General of India, Warren Hastings. She was also a witness to the French Revolution where her husband, the self styled Comte de Feuillide was guillotined. For the young Jane, these events must have been sheer inspiration to a writer’s imagination. Love and Friendship takes the shape of an expostulatory novel. Written as a series of letters from Laura to a much younger Marianne who is her friend Isabel’s daughter, it is meant to apprise the young and flighty Marianne about the dangers of infatuation and falling headlong into romantic love. The book offers an early and crucial insight into Jane Austen’s style, her wonderful sense of humor and her take on contemporary society. At times, she portrays events almost in parody form, at others, she is sharp and critical, but as always, the typical Jane Austen brand of gentle, sparkling wit […]

    25/07/2024

    Verteidigung des Unsinns, der Demut, des Schundromans und anderer mißachteter Dinge

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    Chapter: 17 | Listen: 4

    Verschiedene Essays, in denen Dinge wie Schundromane, Planeten, Posse, Demut und unüberlegte Gelübde verteidigt werden. Ein hochvergnügliches Augenzwinkern ist unüberseh- bzw. unüberhörbar. ( Zusammenfassung von Bernd Ungerer)     [chương_files]