The panel discusses the concluding volume of Frankenstein, beginning with Victor’s narration of his series of personal tragedies and ending with Captain Walton’s letter describing the death of Victor and the monster’s final, vengeful resolve.
Tag: Prose
CR Episode 191: Frankenstein, Part II
The panel discusses the second volume of Frankenstein (chapters 8–16) focusing on the moral qualities of Victor Frankenstein and of his creature, their connexion to Paradise Lost, and the dangerous results of mankind usurping the creative place of God.
CR Episode 190: Frankenstein, Part I
Madeline Potter joins the panel to begin a three-week reading of Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, with this week’s discussion attending to the multiple frames of the narrative and the web of tension between pride, creation, and human endeavour.
CR Episode 188: Moby Dick, Part XIV
In the final episode on Moby Dick, the panel discusses the fulfilment of Fedallah’s prophecy and his death, Starbuck’s dilemma and despair, the destruction of the Pequod, the death of Ahab, Ishmael on the margins, and some final genre considerations.
CR Episode 187: Moby Dick, Part XIII
In the penultimate Moby Dick episode, the panel discusses chapters 114–128, focusing on the ship’s sails, quadrant, compass, and line; the refashioning of the Pequod into the expression of Ahab’s will; and Ahab’s final abandonment of his humanity.
CR Episode 186: Moby Dick, Part XII
The panel discusses the Ahab’s representation as a wrathful, inhuman avatar of anti-nature, the hellish nature of the Pequod, the sorcerous conniving of the captain and crew, and the abandonment of every comfort and sentiment in search of Moby Dick.
CR Episode 185: Moby Dick, Part XI
The panel discusses chapters 91–101, with attention given to the cross-ship conduct between the Pequod and the Samuel Enderby, and to the psychological effects of sea life (and its attendant disasters) upon Ishmael, Ahab, and the rest of the ship’s crew.
CR Episode 184: Moby Dick, Part X
The panel discusses chapters 82–90, with attention given to humour as a potential coping mechanism for Ishmael, before considering again the evidence for his identity, given his familiarity with significant legal works including Bracton and Blackstone.
CR Episode 183: Moby Dick, Part IX
The panel discuss chapters 72–81 and focus particularly upon Ishmael’s connexion (literal and figurative) to Queequeg, and the analogous, fated and willed relationships between the Pequod, the crew, Captain Ahab, and across humanity more generally.
CR Episode 182: Moby Dick, Part VIII
The panel reads some excellent listener questions, and then discusses chapters 60–71, with special attention to the studied ambiguity of the text, Ahab’s identification and contrast with Moby Dick, and the ‘problematisation of the hierarchy’ (ding-ding).
CR Episode 181: Moby Dick, Part VII
The panel discusses chapters 52-59, with special attention given to how the structure of the narrative both anticipates and surpasses post-structuralist critiques whilst challenging the genre of the novel and changing the attitudes of its readers.
CR Episode 180: Moby Dick, Part VI
The panel discusses chapters 43-51, examining the presence of Romanticism in the text and character of Ishmael, and highlighting how the text’s rapid shifts in perspective and narrative focus may further structuralist and poststructuralist readings.