Gothic horror often deals with sexuality, sexual torment, and graphic violence. One of the common polemical retorts against Catholicism is that it is obsessed with sexuality, sexual violence, and blood imagery. But how did Catholicism arrive at this nexus of the intersectionality of sex, violence, and the sacred? The Biblical account is unclear whether Adam … Continue reading Catholicism and the Gothic Psyche, (2/3): Sex, Violence, and the Origins of the Sacred
Literature
Catholicism and the Gothic Psyche (1/3): Depth, Depravity, and the Restlessness of Man
The image of the Gothic is something usually depicted as something dark, depressing, and horrifying. The Gothic was, for a time, nearly synonymous with Catholicism, especially in the Protestant world where Gothic was associated with darkness and superstition like Catholicism was depicted as being—and this was reinforced and propagated by British Gothic horror often being … Continue reading Catholicism and the Gothic Psyche (1/3): Depth, Depravity, and the Restlessness of Man
Reading “War and Peace”: The Tyranny of Historicism and Tolstoy’s Philosophical Reflections
Philosophy of History is a major sub-theme that runs through the work; it begins to appear more readily in the second half of the story and a dedicated second epilogue by Tolstoy is nothing more than reflections on the philosophy of history. War and Peace, therefore, is more than just a story, more than a … Continue reading Reading “War and Peace”: The Tyranny of Historicism and Tolstoy’s Philosophical Reflections
Reading “War and Peace”: Kutuzov and Napoleon
There are many “great men,” or historical figures, who appear throughout Tolstoy’s work. Many have single appearances, like the Austrian general Karl von Mack. Others appear repeatedly; their shadow sort of hanging over the principal characters. Two such great men stand out, and both are dialectically contrasted with each other: The French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, … Continue reading Reading “War and Peace”: Kutuzov and Napoleon
Reading “War and Peace”: Natasha and Helene
The two of the most prominent female characters in War and Peace are Natasha and Helene. The two women couldn’t be more starkly contrasted with each other. And in their stark contrasts, the two move toward different destinies like the two unfolding cities in St. Augustine’s masterpiece The City of God. Like Andrei and Pierre, … Continue reading Reading “War and Peace”: Natasha and Helene
Reading “War and Peace”: Andrei and Pierre
Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece War and Peace is nothing short of a literary masterpiece. 2019 also marks the 150th anniversary of the work’s publication in book form, which came out in 1869. I have also written a long-winded 10,000-word commentary on the book for the occasion which can be read here. As such, I will not … Continue reading Reading “War and Peace”: Andrei and Pierre
Introduction to Plato: Foreshadowing and Prefiguring
Plato is probably the first author to develop the literary notion of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is contained in the very opening of his most famous work, The Republic. I want to explore, and explain, Plato’s foreshadowing and why it’s such a clever tactic and one that, when recognized by the reader, enriches the reading of Plato … Continue reading Introduction to Plato: Foreshadowing and Prefiguring
Introduction to Plato: Platonic Irony and Satire
Plato was one of the great ironists of the ancient world and, in fact, bequeathed to the rest of literary culture the notion of literary irony. What is Platonic irony? Why does it enrich one’s reading of Plato? Why should we be aware of his use of irony and satire? Admittedly, Platonic irony is more … Continue reading Introduction to Plato: Platonic Irony and Satire
A Tale of Two Resurrections
“With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into the detested word, the living sea rose, wave on wave, depth on depth, and overflowed the city to that point. Alarm-bells ringing, drums beating, the sea raging and thundering on its new beach, the attack begun.” Charles Dickens crafted … Continue reading A Tale of Two Resurrections
Singing of Sodom: John Keats and the Resurrection of Sexuality
John Keats was a romantic poet who died at the age of 25, alone, when he was in Rome. He was a remarkable failure in his own time but grew to prominence after his death. As such, he became a sort of prophet and patron saint of later generations of romantics and his poetry entered … Continue reading Singing of Sodom: John Keats and the Resurrection of Sexuality
