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Language
English
Description
Cultivating an appreciation of the English classics requires studying the mother tongue as it was originally spoken. In this program, Dr. Joseph Gallagher brings language to life by reciting examples of Old, Middle, and Early Modern English in their original dialects. In addition, he discusses the evolution of English syntax and morphology. A dramatization of a portion of Beowulf is also included, along with visits to historic literary sites important...
Language
English
Description
In this introduction to George Orwell's life and work from the Famous Authors series, viewers follow Orwell through his privileged education, during which he nurtured his writing talents from an early age. He joined the Burmese military police but grew disillusioned with his role as an oppressor, returned to depression-era England, and committed himself to writing, notwithstanding stints in war. The film connects the politically and economically unstable...
44) Ancient Bibles
Language
English
Description
The Codex Sinaiticus is the world's oldest surviving bible. Made around 350 AD, it is a unique insight into early Christians and their effort to find a single version of the biblical text that everyone could accept. Approximately 800 years later, an illuminated bible rich in gold and lapis lazuli and produced in Winchester, recalls a time when bibles were at the center of the Church's struggle with the State for ultimate authority. Both of these bibles...
Language
English
Description
This overview of George Bernard Shaw's life and work from the Famous Authors series starts in Dublin, introducing Shaw's family and his mother's voice teacher and influential family friend, George Vandeleur Lee. The film discusses Shaw's experience as a Protestant in Ireland. Eventually Shaw moved to England, where his mother had started giving singing lessons, and set off writing. There he made a name for himself as a controversial socialist spokesperson,...
Language
English
Description
Founded in 1230, Scotland's Pluscarden Abbey still pulses with the prayers and spiritual pursuits of Benedictine monks. Abbot Hugh Gilbert describes their work in reassuringly human terms, framing the Christian battle against Satanic evil as an inner struggle within one's own psyche. But, as this program shows, the culture which brought Pluscarden into existence was rigidly institutional-and entrenched in the cosmology of heaven and hell. The film...
Language
English
Description
Medieval science wasn't nonsense: it could conceive of a spherical Earth, for example. But the medieval scholar discerned both natural and supernatural forces at work in the cosmos, reading an eclipse as a sign from God as well as the result of planetary movement, and populating even the most rigorous maps of the era with sea monsters. This program explores that fascinating conceptual dichotomy and the ways in which it evolved as the Dark Ages unfolded....
Language
English
Description
Written in the 14th century, The Canterbury Tales has stood the test of time as a landmark in the development of English literature. This innovative "frame story" owes its classic standing and impact to the diversity both of the narrators and of the styles of tales they tell. In this program, expert commentators Dr. Christiania Whitehead and Dr. Peter Mack, both of the University of Warwick, discuss the tradition of 14th-century poetry, the General...
49) Frankenstein
Language
English
Description
Frankenstein: the doctor who created life! Was the famed character invented in the mind of novelist Mary Shelley, or was Dr. Frankenstein based in reality, as some argue? This episode of Ancient Mysteries explores Shelley's possible influences. Had she learned of the 18th century German doctor who experimented on dead as well as live bodies; or was her inspiration the Britisher Andrew Crosse, who claimed to use electricity to create life?
Language
English
Description
This program from the Famous Authors series begins by contextualizing W.B. Yeats' early life in 19th century Ireland and introducing the Yeats' artistic family and the Irish legends that were so influential in his life and work. Yeats eventually became a ring leader of a group of artists in London called the Tragic Generation. Yeats became known as a political and literary voice of Ireland and an advocate for the performance of Irish drama.
Language
English
Description
The rebellious artist, the attraction to the dark side, love and death, and the primacy of nature-all of these are themes that suffused the artistic and ideological revolution known as Romanticism. This program vividly conveys how new ways of thinking and seeing reshaped the humanities in the 18th and 19th centuries. The writings of Holderlin, Emerson, Poe, Whitman, Byron, Wordsworth, and Keats, as well as the paintings of Turner and Goya and the...
Language
English
Description
When Death comes to take Everyman to his final judgment, Everyman attempts to bribe Death-and when that fails, Everyman instead tries to find a companion to accompany him on the fearful journey. In this adaptation of The Summoning of Everyman by Douglas Morse, a cast of classically trained actors, period music, opulent costumes, and captivating cinematography breathe new life into an enduring 15th-century morality play. A bittersweet story of the...
Language
English
Description
As a playwright, George Bernard Shaw created many unforgettable characters, but the most intriguing was his own. Shaw claimed to be a philosopher, novelist, socialist, statesman, dramatist, theologian, vegetarian, fanatic, and fluent liar. This Perspectives documentary sets the facts straight.
54) Charles Dickens
Language
English
Description
A collection of critical essays on Dickens and his works.
Language
English
Description
The 1970s and '80s were a time of turmoil and dislocating change in Britain as customs and values were repeatedly challenged-a period in which, as Angela Carter put it, there was nothing sacred. This program examines the evolution of the British novel during the period 1970-90, spotlighting Fay Weldon, Angela Carter, Penelope Fitzgerald, John Berger, Malcolm Bradbury, Hanif Kureishi, Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, Martin Amis, Margaret Drabble, Jeanette...
Language
English
Description
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table inspired legends, best sellers, and movies. Romantic and magical, the tales of Merlin the magician and the inhabitants of Camelot continue to fascinate after centuries. But could such a wondrous place as Camelot have once existed in reality? Was King Arthur merely a legend, or in fact a real historical figure? This episode of Ancient Mysteries interviews prominent British archaeologists and historians...
Author
Language
English
Description
This volume contains all the plays and poems; the plays are arranged in the chronological order of their composition. This volume also contains John Aubrey's 'Brief life of Shakespeare'; a biography of Sir John Gilbert; an account of 'The Shakespeare Head Press ed.', and a glossary.