StephenPallas

Milton wrote two interesting pamphlets on the same subject you discuss here. ‘The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates’ of 1649 promotes republicanism and a commonwealth government. He also published ‘Eikonoklastes’ in 1649, which argued for the execution of Charles I. Throughout his work, Milton corresponds monarchical rule to satanic rule on earth. Since these pamphlets predate ‘Paradise’ by almost two decades, Milton certainly had some time to consider their principles in more poetic ways than he had previously.

Nice read. Thanks for the post.

Apparently Syfy will be adapting ‘The Man in the High Castle’ so that seems to be the closest we’ll get to realizing your desires for more dystopian cinema. The cover of the novel reminded me of Phillip Roth’s 2004 novel, ‘The Plot Against America.’ The alternate history includes a version of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping where the baby Charles is raised by the Hitler Youth. I’d like to see that in film as well, but as much as pundits and politicians relate everything they disagree with to Hitler, we still don’t want to be entertained by anything relating to the man (sorry, History Channel constituents).

Zola’s naturalistic writing makes excellent use of food.

I do think this list needs to be five-long, and include Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast.’ This is a really delectable sample:

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”

I think Paris, and especially its food, has a unique ability to bring out the best and worst of writers and maybe normals as well. That was definitely the case for Hemingway, although I think the city’s delicacy too tame for Papa.

If Marlowe hadn’t died at the age of 29 we might today consider his career greater even that of Shakespeare’s. It is interesting to note that until very recently, Marlowe’s ‘The Jew of Malta’ was rarely produced and the film version was only released in 2012 with very little public or critical interest and with no real celebrity interest in the cast. Shylock and Jessica in ‘Merchant’ have their predecessors in Barabas and Abigail in ‘Malta,’ and that the thematic content has clear overlaps. Both plays have been incredibly difficult to analyze and perform since and because of the Holocaust. People famously consider Shylock’s so-called “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” speech a point at which the audience sympathizes with the play’s villain. Marlowe’s play lacks such a speech, and his Jew is much a much more difficult character with whom modern audiences can sympathize. The truth is that in Elizabethan England, neither Shylock nor Barabas would have been considered sympathetic and the “If you prick us speech,” Shylock would have inspired more rage than pity or empathy.