Interesting Literature

Mrs Malaprop, Dogberry, and the Misuse of Words

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Which word is being described here? Ultimately inspired by a play (a comedy) by a well-known playwright whose surname begins with S, the word was derived from the name of a comic character in that play who often uses the wrong word to describe something, with ludicrous results. This word first turns up in print (according to the OED) in the 1830s, although the play which inspired the word was written some time before that.

Cupid Playing Bo-Peep in Stella’s Breasts: Sidney’s Sonnet 11

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

I’m fond of debunking widely believed but factually erroneous ‘truths’ about literature. It’s one reason I began this blog, some years ago when I still had my youthful bad looks. There’s a wonderful word for such truths-that-turn-out-to-be-not-so-true, and it was coined by Norman Mailer in his biography of Marilyn Monroe. It is the word factoid.

A Summary and Analysis of O. Henry’s ‘A Service of Love’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The joy of reading an O. Henry story largely resides in the fun of trying to guess the twist in the tale before the end. No other writer of short stories made the plot twist such an integral part of his art, and he kept this up over numerous stories. The big, fat, cheap collection of 100 of his short stories which I own is only a ‘selected’ stories: he wrote many more.

13 of the Best Songs about Cars and Driving

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Songs about the open road have been around since … well, at least since Walt Whitman wrote his ‘Song of the Open Road’ in 1856. In popular music, too, songs in praise of cars, roads, driving, and the power and speed of automotive engineering have a pretty considerable pedigree.

Where Does the Phrase ‘Poetic Justice’ Come From?

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The phrase ‘poetic justice’ is well-known, but its origins are perhaps less familiar to most people. The expression refers, of course, to a situation whereby someone gets what they deserve for their actions. But the ‘poetic’ part of the phrase also suggests that there may be an ironic aspect to the justice served (and deserved).