Ad Maiora - English Literature
English literature, easy and immediate. Continuously updated lessons dedicated to the great authors of English literature. A literature course suitable for both beginners and experts. Official English Literature Podcast of Ad Maiora YouTube Channel by Sara Albanese. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1jS3rEXFQxO0wOo8Hmwn-CoD2KqZFbxo
Episodes
December 4, 2019 • 19 mins
The development of the novel took place in the 18th century in England, as a result of a social and historical background which changed the country into a Parliamentary Monarchy and an industrial power during and after the so-called Stuart Era.
The new values of the middle class are opposite to the main features of the previous romance, which is compared to the modern novel in terms of characters, plot, language and setting.
Robinson...
The new values of the middle class are opposite to the main features of the previous romance, which is compared to the modern novel in terms of characters, plot, language and setting.
Robinson...
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December 4, 2019 • 31 mins
William Shakespeare's works offer an incredible amount of perspectives we can get beyond his biography and the mere description of his plots, which most of the times represent just a limited intruduction to his genius.
In this video I explain one of the most fascinating interpretations of Shakespeare's theatre and poetry: the relationship between the balance/disbalance of the individual as a microcosm and the universe as a macrocosm...
In this video I explain one of the most fascinating interpretations of Shakespeare's theatre and poetry: the relationship between the balance/disbalance of the individual as a microcosm and the universe as a macrocosm...
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December 4, 2019 • 26 mins
Mary Shelley conveyed through her masterpiece "Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus" a very strong message about the responsibility of science and society.
Her gothic novel, written for a contest among intellectuals during a rainy summer at Lord Byron's mansion, represents now one of the deepest and most insightful analysis of the human being, his fears, his relationship with society and his inner dualism.
I'd like to leave behind ...
Her gothic novel, written for a contest among intellectuals during a rainy summer at Lord Byron's mansion, represents now one of the deepest and most insightful analysis of the human being, his fears, his relationship with society and his inner dualism.
I'd like to leave behind ...
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December 4, 2019 • 28 mins
Also called the "Age of Revolutions", the Romantic period (19th century) was deeply infuenced by political, social and economical events (American and French Revolution, Industrial Revolution,
Agricultural and Transport Revolution, social unrests, Adam Smith's work, Rousseau's philosophy...), developing a large and multifaceted movement, whose currences involved Literature and Arts throughout Europe.
In this video the main concepts a...
Agricultural and Transport Revolution, social unrests, Adam Smith's work, Rousseau's philosophy...), developing a large and multifaceted movement, whose currences involved Literature and Arts throughout Europe.
In this video the main concepts a...
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December 4, 2019 • 25 mins
William Wordsworth is considered as one of the most representative Romantic Poets of the first generation. Together with S.T. Coleridge he wrote the Lyrical Ballads, in which it is possible to find some of his main themes, together with a Preface where Wordswoth expresses his point of view about the concept of Poet Prophet, of Language and of topics that should be treated by poetry.
This video also gives a special insight into some ...
This video also gives a special insight into some ...
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December 4, 2019 • 29 mins
S.T. Coleridge is considered one of the most popular artist in the First Generation of Romantic Poets, especially for his collaboration with Wiliam Wordsworth in writing the Lyrical Ballads. The two authors and friends were two sides of the same coin: they represented an opposite perspective towards poetry and Nature (beautiful vs sublime) but they both shared a pantheistic view, which considers Nature as an organic living whole th...
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December 4, 2019 • 18 mins
William Blake is considered one of the major Romantic Poets of the first generation.
His "prophetic books", together with his engraving and painting, are amongst the greatest representations of the Romantic attitude towards nature, and also towards the negative effects of Industrial Revolution, such as urbanization, corruption and a physical as well as a metaphorical "pollution" of cities and souls.
The Lamb (from Songs of Innocence)...
His "prophetic books", together with his engraving and painting, are amongst the greatest representations of the Romantic attitude towards nature, and also towards the negative effects of Industrial Revolution, such as urbanization, corruption and a physical as well as a metaphorical "pollution" of cities and souls.
The Lamb (from Songs of Innocence)...
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December 4, 2019 • 21 mins
William Blake is considered one of the major Romantic Poets of the first generation.
His "prophetic books", together with his engraving and painting, are amongst the greatest representations of the Romantic attitude towards nature, and also towards the negative effects of Industrial Revolution, such as urbanization, corruption and a physical as well as a metaphorical "pollution" of cities and souls.
The Lamb (from Songs of Innocence)...
His "prophetic books", together with his engraving and painting, are amongst the greatest representations of the Romantic attitude towards nature, and also towards the negative effects of Industrial Revolution, such as urbanization, corruption and a physical as well as a metaphorical "pollution" of cities and souls.
The Lamb (from Songs of Innocence)...
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December 4, 2019 • 19 mins
The major Romantic Poets are often divided into two groups: the first and the second generation.
William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake and Sir Walter Scott belong tp the first one, while Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats are identified with the second one.
In this video I'm Going to explain the differences between thetwo groups and the common aspects, as far as language, style, attitude and biograph...
William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake and Sir Walter Scott belong tp the first one, while Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats are identified with the second one.
In this video I'm Going to explain the differences between thetwo groups and the common aspects, as far as language, style, attitude and biograph...
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December 4, 2019 • 22 mins
The Victorian Age, also called "Age of Empire" is considered one of the most flourishing periods in English Literature, besides being a time of change as far as politics, society and economics are concerned. The Industrial Revolution influences urbanization as well as Agricultural/Transport Revolution and it causes social unrests and reforms. The main cell of the Victorian patriarchal society is a stereotype of family ased on hard ...
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December 4, 2019 • 13 mins
Charles Dickens is considered one of the universal and highest talents of English Literature. His novels are a dramatic and ironic portrait of the Victorian Society, analyzed and criticized through the use of flat characters and a reinterpretation of realistic environments.
Some of his main themes are the exploitation of children's labour, the awful conditions of workers in factories, the alienation of industrial cities, the injust...
Some of his main themes are the exploitation of children's labour, the awful conditions of workers in factories, the alienation of industrial cities, the injust...
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December 4, 2019 • 20 mins
Robert Louis Stevenson is considered one of the most talented storytellers of the Victorian era.
Among his most famous works there is "The strange case of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde", an exploration of the dual nature of the indiviual, which is compared in this video to the main themes of Freud's psychoanalysis.
Among his most famous works there is "The strange case of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde", an exploration of the dual nature of the indiviual, which is compared in this video to the main themes of Freud's psychoanalysis.
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December 4, 2019 • 30 mins
Modernism is a cultural, phylosophical and artistic movement that develops in the first half of the 20th century. It is influenced by an historical, political and econpmical background that shatters the certainties of the human being: the two World Wars, the rise of totalitarianisms, the depression and the increasing unemployment are only some of the major dramatic events of the time.
While Ireland and suffragettes fought for their ...
While Ireland and suffragettes fought for their ...
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December 4, 2019 • 23 mins
James Joyce is the most representative author of English Modernism.
The Irish writer used new narrative techniques in order to properly display the individual crisis, the disgregation of identity and the disorientation of the human being.
He developed the concept of "anti hero" that was displayed in a interior plot, completely different from the traditional external plot based on action.
Some of the new techniques he used were the str...
The Irish writer used new narrative techniques in order to properly display the individual crisis, the disgregation of identity and the disorientation of the human being.
He developed the concept of "anti hero" that was displayed in a interior plot, completely different from the traditional external plot based on action.
Some of the new techniques he used were the str...
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December 4, 2019 • 24 mins
Virgina Woolf wan't just one of the most representative writers of Modernism, but also one of the most complex, unconventional, sensitive and courageous personalities of the time.
She has changed the literary pattern of her time, using new techniques (like Stream of Consciousness, Random association and interior plot) and expressing a new point of view about the human being. Her revolutionary perspective concerned also the role of w...
She has changed the literary pattern of her time, using new techniques (like Stream of Consciousness, Random association and interior plot) and expressing a new point of view about the human being. Her revolutionary perspective concerned also the role of w...
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December 4, 2019 • 11 mins
Jane Austen is considered one of the major Romantic writers. Her novels are often focused on romance and marriage, but the background of her fictional works describes the "small world" in which she lived: the conventions of her social class (the gentry) are displayed and also criticized with elegant irony and a smart insight into the mechanisms of her time. For this reasons her works are also defined ad "Novel of Manners" and her s...
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December 4, 2019 • 17 mins
T.S. Eliot is the avantgarde poet of English Moderism who invented the "objective correlative" and who was able to create a web of references in his works, in order to link tradition and experientation, mythology and modern elements, realistic and classic aspects.
One of his main works in "The Waste Land", which can be read on many different levels.
One of his main works in "The Waste Land", which can be read on many different levels.
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December 4, 2019 • 17 mins
George Orwell believed in literature as an instrument to tech and to let people become more aware about society. Using dystopia and science fiction, he warned his readers against totalitarianism with its techniques such as propaganda, brain washing, manipulation of the language and suppression of memory.
His most popular novels are Animal Farm and 1984.
His most popular novels are Animal Farm and 1984.
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December 4, 2019 • 28 mins
An introduction to Charlotte Brontë and a detailed analysis of her masterpiece, Jane Eyre, which can be considered one of the most representative novels of the 19th century.
The work gives a special interpretation of Romantic and Gothic elements and it represents an important step in the development of the Victorian novel. in "Jane Eyre", the writer expresses her passionate nature and her point of view as far as reality is concerned...
The work gives a special interpretation of Romantic and Gothic elements and it represents an important step in the development of the Victorian novel. in "Jane Eyre", the writer expresses her passionate nature and her point of view as far as reality is concerned...
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December 4, 2019 • 23 mins
Genius and originality characterize Emily Brontë as a woman and as a writer. Her most famous novel, Wuthering Heights, was at first rejected because it was considered immoral, morbid and violent.
The true meaning of this innovative and unconventional work has been appreciated throughout the centuries and it is now one of the most representative and powerful symbols of the English Literature. It partially belongs to Romanticism, par...
The true meaning of this innovative and unconventional work has been appreciated throughout the centuries and it is now one of the most representative and powerful symbols of the English Literature. It partially belongs to Romanticism, par...
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