However, it wasn’t always clear to Moll Flanders how to build up a good and useful reputation such as this. When her second husband, a thief, flees the country, Moll finds herself entirely at loose ends for perhaps the first time in her life. She seems to instinctively know that if she stays where, andContinue reading “A Reputation of Deceit: How Moll Flanders Beat the Gossip Game (Part 2 of 2)”
Tag Archives: Essay
Inspiration – Making Connections with 1776
Seeing as how it’s Presidents’ Day tomorrow, it feels only fitting to talk about a show which captures the very beginnings of the United States of America, 1776. 1776 opened on Broadway in spring of 1969 and was well received by critics and the public. A film adaptation was later produced, released in 1972, starringContinue reading “Inspiration – Making Connections with 1776”
A Reputation of Deceit: How Moll Flanders Beat the Gossip Game (Part 1 of 2)
Literary works of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries tend to depend, in one way or another, on reputation. In works such as Samuel Richardson’s Pamela or Eliza Haywood‘s Fantomina, the issue of good and bad reputation informs the main conflict of the story. It is important to note, however, that the reputation atContinue reading “A Reputation of Deceit: How Moll Flanders Beat the Gossip Game (Part 1 of 2)”
Celebrating Valentine’s Day
Did you know that there is not one, but three different saints named Valentine who are officially recognized by the Catholic Church? They were all martyred for different reasons at different times; small wonder there’s so much confusion about what Valentine’s Day is really about. The most popular story involves the Saint Valentine (or Valentinus)Continue reading “Celebrating Valentine’s Day”
Inspiration – The Stories Behind Histories
In his book The Magic Circle of Rudolf II: Alchemy and Astrology in Renaissance Prague, Peter Marshall explores the life and times of one of the Hapsburg family’s most misunderstood members, Rudolf II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1576 to 1612. Marshall examines Rudolf, not from a 21st century context, but in theContinue reading “Inspiration – The Stories Behind Histories”