Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films

Containment and Play in “Jaws”

The Door Slam Heard ‘Round the World: Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” (Part 2)

The Door Slam Heard ‘Round the World: Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”

Anti-Mystery in “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (Part 2)

Anti-Mystery in “Picnic at Hanging Rock”

“The Indian to His Love” by William Butler Yeats

“Leda and the Swan” by William Butler Yeats

The Artifice of Eternity in Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” (Part 2)

The Artifice of Eternity in Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium”

The Evil of Banality in “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) – Part 2

The Evil of Banality in “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)

“Where the Meanings Are” – Four Poems by Emily Dickinson – Part 4

“Where the Meanings Are” – Four Poems by Emily Dickinson – Part 3

“Where the Meanings Are” – Four Poems by Emily Dickinson – Part 2

“Where the Meanings Are” – Four Poems by Emily Dickinson

The Weight of Memory in Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” (1940) – Part 2

The Weight of Memory in Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” (1940)

Possibility and Loss in the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke (Part 2)

Possibility and Loss in the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke

Irony as Anesthetic in Robert Altman’s “M.A.S.H” (1970) – Part 2

Irony as Anesthetic in Robert Altman’s “M.A.S.H” (1970)

Aesthetic Humility in Marianne Moore’s “The Jerboa” (Part 2)

Aesthetic Humility in Marianne Moore’s “The Jerboa”

Word and Image in “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) – Part 2

Word and Image in “Sunset Boulevard” (1950)

The Sublime Mundane in Conrad Aiken’s “Morning Song of Senlin” (Part 2)

The Sublime Mundane in Conrad Aiken’s “Morning Song of Senlin”

The Aesthetics of Death in “Beetlejuice” (1988) (Part 2)

The Aesthetics of Death in “Beetlejuice” (1988)

A Strange Fashion of Forsaking in the Poetry of Thomas Wyatt (Part 2)

A Strange Fashion of Forsaking in the Poetry of Thomas Wyatt (Part 1)

Formal Meets Feral in “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971) – Part 2

Formal Meets Feral in “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971) – Part 1

Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 6)

Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 5)

Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 4)

Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 3)

Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 2)

Love Dishonored in Euripides’ “Medea” (Part 1)

Love and Loneliness in “Arthur” (1981) – Part 2

Love and Loneliness in “Arthur” (1981) – Part 1

Courtly Reciprocity in “Laustic” and “Guigemar” by Marie de France (Part 2)

Courtly Reciprocity in “Laustic” and “Guigemar” by Marie de France (Part 1)

Sight and Solitude in Le Samouraï (1967) by Jean-Pierre Melville (Part 2)

Sight and Solitude in Le Samouraï (1967) by Jean-Pierre Melville (Part 1)

“Notes from the Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: An Anatomy of Human Self-Destructiveness (Part 2)

“Notes from the Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: An Anatomy of Human Self-Destructiveness (Part 1)

Staking Claims in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) (Part 2)

Staking Claims in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) (Part 1)

Psychedelic Regrets in “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (Part 6)