Critical Readings
Episodes
CR Episode 302: Romeo and Juliet, Part IV
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the fourth act, with attention to the self-serving plan of Friar Laurence, who imperils the two lovers by avoiding more rational c...
CR Episode 301: Romeo and Juliet, Part III
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the third act—the 'beginning of woe'—when the drama shifts decidedly from comedy to tragedy with the departure of Mercutio and...
CR Episode 300: Romeo and Juliet, Part II
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the second act, including the secret marriage plans facilitated by Friar Laurence, with attention given to the impetuous behaviour...
CR Episode 299: Romeo and Juliet, Part I
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the genre classification of Romeo and Juliet before moving on to an examination of the poem's first act, with special attention gi...
CR Episode 298: The Dunciad, Part IV
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel concludes The Dunciad with a full reading of the standalone text that became the fourth book of the 1743 edition, before examining Pope's po...
CR Episode 297: The Dunciad, Part III
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the third book of the 1743 Dunciad, in which the poem swells to its crescendo, heaping scorn upon the agents of Dullness and the rampa...
CR Episode 296: The Dunciad, Part II
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the second book of Alexander Pope's final Dunciad (of 1743), with attention to the historical personages who are satirised, includ...
CR Episode 295: The Dunciad, Part I
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads in full the first book of Pope's final version of The Dunciad, giving special attention to the various cultural references and persona...
CR Episode 294: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Celebrating Halloween, the panel discusses one of Washington Irving's best-known works—The Legend of Sleepy Hollow—with special attention to the r...
CR Episode 293: Pride and Prejudice, Part IV
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the concluding chapters and a series of insightful reader questions about the influence of Austen's religion, the role of romance ...
CR Episode 292: Pride and Prejudice, Part III
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses chapters 35–49, with special attention to the rational development of Elizabeth's appreciation of Mr. Darcy, and to Jane Austen'...
CR Episode 291: Pride and Prejudice, Part II
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses chapters 18–34, with topics of interest including Mr. Darcy's concealed gallantry, whether Mr. Collins has any goodly qualities,...
CR Episode 290: Pride and Prejudice, Part I
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads chapters 1–17 of Pride and Prejudice, with special attention to the developing form of the novel in the Regency era, the biographica...
CR Episode 289: E.A. Robinson’s Gothic Verse
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses five poems by E.A. Robinson, with discussion centring on their use of the gothic, their shared imagery of death and hell (and thei...
CR Episode 288: Edwin Muir’s Narrow Place
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses four poems from Edwin Muir's collection The Narrow Place (1943), with a focus on their formal features, their connexion to a versi...
CR Episode 287: The Beginnings of English Poetry
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses two of the earliest examples of English poetry—Caedmon's Hymn and The Dream of the Rood (sometimes attributed to Cynewulf)—wit...
CR Episode 286: The Rape of the Lock, Part II
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the concluding three cantos, with attention to Pope's heroi-comic satire of epic in both content and form, and his use of referenc...
CR Episode 285: The Rape of the Lock, Part I
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the first two cantos of Alexander Pope's heroi-comical peacemaker poem, with special attention to its use of foreshadowing, the st...
CR Episode 284: Poetry and Music
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel is joined by the novelist H.S. Cross to discuss three poems that have been famously set to music: "The Lark Ascending" by George Meredith, "...
CR Episode 283: Tristram Shandy, Part XIV
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel concludes the summer reading with the ninth and final book of Tristram Shandy, compassing the manner of the liaison between Uncle Toby and t...
CR Episode 282: Tristram Shandy, Part XIII
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the conclusion of the eighth book, with attention to metaphorical fortifications and battle plans, a tale of one-sided love between Co...
CR Episode 281: Tristram Shandy, Part XII
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the books seven and eight, with particular attention to the parallel narratives used to describe the approach to Lyons, the differ...
CR Episode 280: Tristram Shandy, Part XI
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses narrative lines straight and winding in book six, and parallel trips in France in book seven, including Tristram's three visits to...
CR Episode 279: Tristram Shandy, Part X
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the majority of the sixth book, with attention to the 'picture' of the Widow Wadman, the story of Le Fever and his orphaned son, t...
CR Episode 278: Tristram Shandy, Part IX
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the conclusion of the fifth book, with attention to how the hobby horses of Trim and Toby reappear, and what they suggest about th...
CR Episode 277: Tristram Shandy, Part VIII
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the beginning of book five, including the extreme discomfort of riding post-chaise, the concupiscent meanings which attach to ordi...
CR Episode 276: Tristram Shandy, Part VII
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the conclusion of the fourth book, including Walter and Toby stuck on the stairs amidst further discussion of the definition of a ...
CR Episode 275: Tristram Shandy, Part VI
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the conclusion of book three and the beginning of book four in which the topic of noses recurs and features prominently, providing an ...
CR Episode 274: Tristram Shandy, Part V
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel approaches the moment of Tristram's birth beginning with the author's preface (in book 3), followed by a definition of 'nose', and a series ...
CR Episode 273: Tristram Shandy, Part IV
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel concludes the second book and, in a series of retrograde manoeuvres, progresses through the third book until Dr. Slop is able to receive del...
CR Episode 272: Tristram Shandy, Part III
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses book II, chapters 6–17 and Sterne's use of metanarrative focus on the correct art of oratory, the use of puns and textual elisio...
CR Episode 271: Tristram Shandy, Part II
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses Tristram's father's theories about nominative determinism, the different translations of identical biblical names, and the latest ...
CR Episode 270: Tristram Shandy, Part I
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel begins the summer reading of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman with a biographical overview of Laurence Sterne, followed b...
CR Episode 269: Pygmalion, Part V
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the final act of Shaw's Pygmalion, and then excerpts from the epilogue, with particular attention to Shaw's preference for realism ove...
CR Episode 268: Pygmalion, Part IV
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the fourth act in full, with a discussion of Prof. Higgins' narcissism and its collision with his deepening feelings, an examination o...
CR Episode 267: Pygmalion, Part III
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the third act, in which the antisocial Higgins and the gallant Pickering are exposed as juveniles by the savvy Mrs. Higgins, and L...
CR Episode 266: Pygmalion, Part II
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses Shaw's work on Wagner and a brief overview of the classical inspiration for his Pygmalion, before reading the second act with atte...
CR Episode 265: Pygmalion, Part I
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the first act of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, with an introduction to the author, and a consideration of how the play reflect...
CR Episode 264: Doctor Wortle’s School, Part IV
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel concludes the novella with a look at the primary falling action and the resolution of the Mary Wortle subplot, with particular attention to ...
CR Episode 263: Doctor Wortle’s School, Part III
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the third quarter of the novella with attention given to the romanticism of Doctor Wortle's character and how it guides his interactio...
CR Episode 262: Doctor Wortle’s School, Part II
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads parts three and four with attention given to the moral, logical, and legal conundrums that perplex Doctor Wortle, and with a considera...
CR Episode 261: Doctor Wortle’s School, Part I
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the first two parts (or six chapters) of Trollope's fortieth novel, beginning with an introduction to the author and the text, followe...
CR Episode 260: The Second Coming of Yeats
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses four poems by Yeats, including his most famous—"The Second Coming"—as a way of examining his understanding of a cyclical cosmo...
CR Episode 259: John Berryman’s Eleven Addresses to the Lord
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads John Berryman's "Eleven Addresses to the Lord" and considers the poems within the context of the author's biography and Judeo-Christia...
CR Episode 258: Tennyson’s Tiresias
10 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads Tennyson's Tiresias and considers its story of the blind prophet's extended (but not eternal) life in the context of what it reveals a...
CR Episode 257: Tennyson’s Ulysses
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads Tennyson's Ulysses with special attention given to how the return to Ithaca changed Ulysses; how he may be compared to and contrasted ...
CR Episode 256: Tennyson’s Tithonus
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads Tennyson's "Tithonus," a dramatic monologue written in 1833, and considers both what the poem suggests about the importance of mortali...
CR Episode 255: Skelton’s Phyllyp Sparowe
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads "The Boke of Phyllyp Sparowe" by the Tudor poet John Skelton, a poetic champion of Chaucer, and the inventor of Skeltonic verse, a rou...
CR Episode 254: The Poetry of A.E. Housman
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads three poems by A.E. Housman, the renowned British classicist and poet, and discusses the presence of death in his poetry, the influenc...
CR Episode 253: Pope’s Messiah
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads Alexander Pope's "Messiah," based upon Virgil's Fourth Eclogue and the biblical Book of Isaiah, with a discussion of its formal qualit...
CR Episode 252: Julius Caesar, Act V
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the final act, reflecting on the role of Brutus as a tragic figure, with attention given to his relationship with Cassius, his misunde...
CR Episode 251: Julius Caesar, Act IV
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the fourth act, with special attention to the fraught relationship between Brutus and Cassius, the political situation in the late Rom...
CR Episode 250: Julius Caesar, Act III
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the play's self-awareness, its complexity of character, the presence of character flaws which serve to advance the action of the d...
CR Episode 249: Julius Caesar, Act II
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the the play's contrasts of public and private settings, its parallelism of scenes and characters (especially Calphurnia and Porti...
CR Episode 248: Julius Caesar, Act I
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the first act of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, with attention to Caesar's biographies, the fraught sociopolitical situation in Rome...
CR Episode 247: In Parenthesis, Part II
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the biographical details of David Jones, and his participation in the Great War, before reading parts 5–7 of In Parenthesis, wit...
CR Episode 246: In Parenthesis, Part I
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads Parts 1–4 of David Jones' In Parenthesis, with attention to its Modernist and post-Romantic moves, its structure as a prose poem and...
CR Episode 245: Wuthering Heights, Part IV
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the conclusion of Wuthering Heights, with special attention given to the message of the novel; its place in the genres of Gothic, ...
CR Episode 244: Wuthering Heights, Part III
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Guest expert Dr. Madeline Potter joins the panel to discuss chapters 17–24, with a focus on the cycles of violence and manipulation at Wuthering Hei...
CR Episode 243: Wuthering Heights, Part II
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses chapters 10–16, from Catherine's marriage until her death, and examines Heathcliff's increased severity, the potential innocence...
CR Episode 242: Wuthering Heights, Part I
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Madeline Potter joins the panel to discuss the opening chapters of Emily Brontë's only novel, with attention to the influences of the gothic and ...
CR Episode 241: The Shimmering Form of Robert Penn Warren
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the American Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren—the only person to win the Pulitzer prize both for Poetry and for Fiction—readin...
CR Episode 240: Wordsworth’s Beggars
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads Wordsworth's "Beggars" (and its sequel) examining the verses with attention to what they suggest about society and economics, beauty a...
CR Episode 239: Le Morte Darthur, Part XIV
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses The Morte Arthur: Aggravayne and Mordred's entrapment of Launcelot and Guenevere, the death of Garyth and Gaherys, Gawayne's venge...
CR Episode 238: Le Morte Darthur, Part XIII
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the penultimate sequence of the Morte, 'Launcelot and Guinevere,' with attention to Launcelot's pledge to defend the Queen's honou...
CR Episode 237: Le Morte Darthur, Part XII
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the complysshment of the Sankgreal, Galahad's unwieldy role as a model of virtue, Gawain's manifest impurity, Launcelot's outward ...
CR Episode 236: Le Morte Darthur, Part XI
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the first half of the Quest for the Holy Grail, including Galahad's knightly debut, the arrival of the Grail in the court, Gawain'...
CR Episode 235: Le Morte Darthur, Part X
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the conclusion of the Tristram sequence, including the begetting of Galahad, with special attention to the quality of worshypfulness a...
CR Episode 234: Le Morte Darthur, Part IX
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads of the Tournament at Surluse and the strife of the Orkney brothers, and considers in detail what a question about the use of a single ...
CR Episode 233: Le Morte Darthur, Part VIII
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the King Mark sections of Le Morte Darthur—presenting the first fully-realised villain of the piece, complete with motivations, pers...
CR Episode 232: Le Morte Darthur, Part VII
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads three episodes from the Tristram section—"Le Cote Male Tayle", "The Madness of Sir Tristram", and "The Tournament at the Castle of M...
CR Episode 231: Le Morte Darthur, Part VI
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the first two tales in the Tristram section—Sir Tristram and la Beall Isode and Sir Lamerok de Galys—with attention to Malory'...
CR Episode 230: Le Morte Darthur, Part V
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the episode of Sir Gareth of Orkney, with attention given both to the anti-egalitarian worldview and historical reality of the per...
CR Episode 229: Le Morte Darthur, Part IV
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the tale of Sir Launcelot du Lake, with attention given to the features of mediaeval romance, Malory's use of humour and his knowledge...
CR Episode 228: Le Morte Darthur, Part III
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the Roman War sequence with particular attention to Malory's use of historical progression, metaphor, and physical violence, especiall...
CR Episode 227: Le Morte Darthur, Part II
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel catches up on the tale of "Balyn and Balan," before discussing "The Wedding of King Arthur" and "The Book of Adventures", with comments on t...
CR Episode 226: Le Morte Darthur, Part I
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the biography of Sir Thomas Malory, the textual history of Le Morte Darthur, the lineage of King Arthur, and the initial formation...
CR Episode 225: All for Love, Act V
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel closes discussion of Dryden's All for Love with an examination of the death of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, how the scene differs from that of...
CR Episode 224: All for Love, Act IV
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the penultimate act of Dryden's All for Love, with special attention to the depictions (or rather, lack thereof) of Octavius, the ...
CR Episode 223: All for Love, Act III
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the third act of Dryden's most successful play, All for Love, with particular attention to Marc Antony's lack of constancy, and Dr...
CR Episode 222: All for Love, Act II
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the second act of John Dryden's All for Love, with special attention to the rhetorical manoeuvres of Cleopatra, and the psychological ...
CR Episode 221: All for Love, Act I
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the first act of John Dryden's take on the story of Antony and Cleopatra, All for Love, with a focus on Marc Antony's mental state, th...
CR Episode 220: Antony and Cleopatra, Act V
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel concludes with the final act of Antony and Cleopatra, highlighting Octavius' intentions towards his defeated political foe, Cleopatra's atte...
CR Episode 219: Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the fourth act of Antony and Cleopatra with particular attention to the character of Marc Antony and his worldview of personal honour ...
CR Episode 218: Antony and Cleopatra, Act III
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the third act, with a focus on the deterioration of the Roman political situation, Marc Antony's skills as a battlefield leader an...
CR Episode 217: Antony and Cleopatra, Act II
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the second act of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, with a focus on the Roman political situation, the difference between republ...
CR Episode 216: Antony and Cleopatra, Act I
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the first act of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, providing an historical overview of the events, and reading the text with attenti...
CR Episode 215: Introduction to Lady Mary Wroth
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads three poems by Lady Mary Wroth, from The Countess of Montgomery's Urania and Pamphilia to Amphilanthus, discussing their context, soci...
CR Episode 214: The Poetry of N. Scott Momaday
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads three poems by N. Scott Momaday, including "The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee", "The Monoliths", and "Rings of Bone" with special attent...
CR Episode 213: Bartleby, the Scrivener
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses Melville's short story, "Bartleby, the Scrivener", and examines the symbolism of its characters, the meaning of Bartleby's passive...
CR Episode 212: The Poetry of Amy Lowell
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads three, middle-length poems by the XXth century imagist poet, Amy Lowell, with special attention to their use of garden-like symbolism,...
CR Episode 211: Later Poetry of Thomas Warton
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads two later poems by Thomas Warton, including "Verses on Sir Joshua Reynolds's Painted Window at New College Oxford" and "Written at Val...
CR Episode 210: Warton’s The Pleasures of Melancholy
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel introduces one of the Graveyard Poets, Thomas Warton the Younger, and reads in full his most famous poem, "The Pleasures of Melancholy", wit...
CR Episode 209: Poetry of Robert Burns
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In advance of Burns Night, the panel reads four poems by Robert Burns, including "To a Mouse" and "For a' That and a' That", with special attention gi...
CR Episode 208: Benito Cereno, Part II
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel discusses the second half of Melville's Benito Cereno, with a focus on the American abolition movement, the obliviousness (wilful or not) of...
CR Episode 207: Benito Cereno, Part I
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel provides a primer to academic publishing, including surveying the field, finding an argumentative niche, entering the conversation, and basi...
CR Episode 206: A Christmas Carol, Part II
01 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the last three staves, covering the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future, and Scrooge's penitential reformation, with special attent...
CR Episode 205: A Christmas Carol, Part I
25 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads the first two 'staves' of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas story, covering the visitation of the first two ghosts—Marley and Chris...
CR Episode 204: Dracula, Part VI
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Madeline Potter joins the panel as a special guest to conclude, discussing Dracula's role as a theological monster, the original ending with the d...
CR Episode 203: Dracula, Part V
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The panel reads chapters 19–23, with a special focus on both Mina Harker's personality and her treatment at the hands of the male characters, along ...