By Cynthia Chung [This is a transcript of an RTF lecture that was delivered as part of the “Storytelling, Myth-making and the Shaping of Universal History” Symposium.] So the subject of this class, as the title would suggest, is on James Fenimore Cooper’s ‘The Bravo,’ and I am sure many people here are probably aware of…
Category: drama
Schiller’s Ghost Seer, Intelligence Methods and a Global Citizenry
A Study of Schiller’s The Ghost Seer By Cynthia Chung [The audio version of this article can be listened to here.] The Ghost Seer first appeared in several instalments in Schiller’s publication journal Thalia from 1787 to 1789, and was later published as a three-volume book. It was one of the most popular works of…
Spenser and Marlowe – God’s Spies
By Gerald Therrien “Come, let’s away to prison:We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage:When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down,And ask of thee forgiveness: so we’ll live,And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laughAt gilded butterflies, and hear poor roguesTalk of court news; and we’ll talk with them…
To What Purpose are We Drawn to Tragedy: A Study of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
In this lecture, Cynthia Chung discusses whether there is a purpose to tragedy beyond merely being tragic and whether this was the intention of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Along with a study of the play, two performances are compared and juxtaposed to determine what Shakespeare intended for his audience. Featured Cover Image: “Hamlet’s Vision” by Pedro Americo
Dante’s Commedia, or How to Escape a Modern Inferno
By David Gosselin This is the accompanying article to a lecture given by the same author, as part of the RTF Lecture Series “The Renaissance Principle Across the Ages“. Many today would consider Dante Alighieri a “Dead White European Male” of dubious relevancy. However, Dante is in fact alive and well, as are so many…
Germany’s Stockholm Syndrome and the Firing of Valery Gergiev
By Cynthia Chung “No, there is a limit to the tyrant’s power! When the oppressed man finds no justice, When the burden grows unbearable, he appeals with fearless heart to heaven, and thence brings down his everlasting rights, which there abide, inalienably his, and indestructible as stars themselves. The primal state of nature reappears, wherein man…
The Battle for the Mind: How to Exit an Artificial Reality
By Cynthia Chung [This is a transcript of a Rising Tide Foundation lecture delivered December 18, 2022 which can be viewed here.] The above is a picture from George Cukor’s movie ‘Gaslight’ (1944) which is what originated the term “gaslighting.” [The definition of gaslighting is to manipulate someone using psychological methods into questioning their own…
Poe and Beethoven Debunk Artificial Intelligence Cult
Edgar Allan Poe and Beethoven were not only artists, but both men expressed an extremely matured sense of creative identity that transcended the bounds of all deductive-inductive forms of logic, and embraced a rigorous use of metaphore and irony that no computer could ever approximate. In this RTF Lecture, Matt Ehret showcases the roots of…
An Introduction to Friedrich Schiller: Theater Considered as a Moral Institution
by Cynthia Chung I know of only one secret to guarding man against depravity, and that is: to arm his heart against weakness. – Friedrich Schiller’s Theater Considered as a Moral Institution As within any period of time, the question is repeatedly asked “What is the Role of the Artist?” That is, what is the…
Mary Stuart and the Geopolitical Realities of 19th Century England
In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture, Nicholas Jones explores the universal method of analysis and transformative artistic composition of the great poet of freedom Friedrich Schiller. Nicholas begins by setting the stage of the period in time in which Schiller himself lived and worked. This was a late 18th century Europe clamoring for liberty from…