English history

  • A Shakespearean Ghoststory Part 2: Anne Hath a Way

    “In fact, it could be argued that versions of Anne Hathaway are always constructed in connection with Shakespeare, and that the ways she is depicted are designed to produce a particular ‘Shakespeare’ rather than an independent portrayal of Hathaway as an early modern woman…” – Katherine Scheil “Anyone steeped in western literary culture must wonder…

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  • Decoding Dedalus: Hamlet, ou le Absentminded Beggar

    “The art of James Joyce, like that of Mallarmé, is art preoccupied with method, with how it’s made. Even the sensuality of Ulysses is a symptom of intermediation. It is an hallucinatory delirium – the kind treated by psychiatrists – presented as an end in itself.” – Fernando Pessoa This is a post in a…

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  • Decoding Dedalus: Pretenders

    This is a post in a series called Decoding Dedalus where I take a passage of Ulysses and  break it down line by line. The passage below comes from “Proteus,” the third episode of Ulysses. It appears on pages 45 in my copy (1990 Vintage International). We’ll be looking at the passage that begins “Pretenders…” and…

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