CR Episode 319: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I
20/04/2026 | 52 mins.
The panel discusses the setting and form of the play, before discussing the first act and its complicated love quadrangle, with attention given to love and the threat of violence, and the characters' creation of overlapping plans that threaten to collide. Continue reading
CR Episode 318: Paradise Regained, Book IV
13/04/2026 | 1h 3 mins.
The panel discusThe panel discusses the end of the second temptation, with Satan's exasperation and the exhaustion of his intellect, followed by his less cunning and crafty final temptation, set high atop the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, whence he falls anew. Continue reading
CR Episode 317: Paradise Regained, Book III
06/04/2026 | 1h
The panel discusses the continuation of the second temptation in the desert, with Satan's various presentations of worldly power, and the explication that acceptance of any of his 'gifts' is tantamount to acknowledging his sovereignty over the recipient. Continue reading
CR Episode 316: Paradise Regained, Book II
30/03/2026 | 56 mins.
The panel discusses the second book, with special attention to the newest appearance of Satan, his confusion, and the difference between his first temptation (bread) and this second temptation (a feast), before shifting to his offer of worldly powers. Continue reading
CR Episode 315: Paradise Regained, Book I
23/03/2026 | 1h 8 mins.
The panel discusses the first book of Paradise Regained, the sequel (or continuation) of Paradise Lost, with special attention paid to the particular qualities of the first temptation in the desert, and to the poet's references to the earlier poem. Continue reading
Critical Readings examines key literary texts using close reading and critical analysis, and explains these approaches in discussion. Listeners will learn about the texts themselves and about how to approach a text for critical analysis.
Ireland