Those Cocky Cockneys and Their Rhymes
Those Cocky Cockneys and Their Rhymes As a fan of British mysteries, I’ve several times come across the term “brown bread.” Twice this was used
Tag: history
“Hamnet”: Cynical Manipulation… or Just Healthy Catharsis? Could It Be Both?
Last week in the post about the film “Hamnet,” I mentioned the “debate” between Plato and Aristotle about the ability of drama and story to
“Hamnet”: Manipulation… or Just Great Dramatic Structure? Could It Be Both?
“Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao’s 2025 film, dramatizes the emotional conflict that led to Shakespeare writing Hamlet. It’s fictionalized, of course—we know very little about the historical
The Rambling Writer Review: “The American Revolution” a Ken Burns documentary
An immersive tour through the complex history of the American Revolution. I do not pretend to be a historian, so these are my impressions as
Temporary Utopia: The Lovely New Harmony commune
The Unique New Harmony In the beginning of the pandemic, my husband Jeff and I wanted to keep up our travelling hobby, but do it
A Story Song with a Happy(ish) Ending! “Take a Letter, Maria”
Many story songs end with an ironic twist or a moment of tragedy or despair. But one of my favorite story songs, from 1969 ends
A story song that echoes across centuries (well, 20th and 21st C): Ode to Billie Joe
Bobbie Gentry, a Mississippi singer/songwriter, wrote several great story songs. “Fancy” is my favorite, the story of a poor but beautiful girl being coached by
“Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.” -The story of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”-
So the first “story song” I’d like to discuss is Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” This 1976 folk ballad is in
Trollope and the Toxic Friend
The Evolution of a Toxic Friendship The Palliser novels of Anthony Trollope are all about power and connections. One common theme of the novels is
Family Friendships with Trollope’s Women
Finally the Bechdel Test! The Bechdel test is the invention of cartoonist Allison Bechdel, who in the 1980s noticed how frequently Hollywood films diminish
Bad Women of Trollope
Trollope’s Bad Women As I’ve shown, Trollope clearly had no preference for the patriarchy. He presented the undoubted reality that men had more power, more
Research-reading Trollope: The Poison of Power
Louis Trevelyan, Domestic Tyrant Trollope understood that men can be the victims of masculine power and violence too. There’s Phineas Finn, for example, who is
Another Trollope Trope: Bad Husbands Self-Destruct
Bad Husbands and the Paradox of Power There are two 21st century terms which apply to Trollope’s 19th-century bad husbands: Toxic masculinity and death by