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Nowaday, a lot of English professors would rather impose their own politically correct agendas onto the great literature of the past or drop many of the best writers altogether in favor of current hacks with left-wing views. Elizabeth Kantor’s Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature, a survey of the great English and American works from Beowulf to Flannery O’Connor’s fiction, will delight both literary aficionados and novices by her intelligent discussion of their central questions, and her punchy, engaging style. The first part of the book provides an analysis of each major period in English literature and a general overview of American literature. Kantor details both the stylistic excellence of the great writers and the lessons about life, morality Kantor's examination of Shakespeare's greatest plays and sonnets contains insights to deepen the understanding of those who have already read them, and should effectively whet the appetite of anyone who has endured queer or feminist interpretations in school. Her treatment of Jane Austen is also extensive and "politically incorrect." She argues convincingly that Austen sympathized with the patriarchal theory of her day and was definitely not a feminist: "The fact is, Jane Austen’s novels show the failure of female self-control…and men’s abdication of their proper responsibilities…as among the chief causes of women’s unhappiness." The second and third parts of The Politically Incorrect Guide explain how some English professors distort the literature they teach, what we are really supposed to get out of literature—truth, beauty and goodness—and how to better appreciate English and American literature. Structural analysis, scanning poetry and learning it by heart, seeing plays, and discussing novels with friends are all ways to develop a critical reading faculty without spending money or taking classes. Kantor’s book provides valuable assistance in developing these skills by her practical advice, her thoughtful literary analysis, and her own infectious love of great literature. (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2006, 288 pp, $19.95) |
and God that so many liberal professors try to ignore. About Beowulf, for example, she writes, "The virtues of the heroic age have always been necessary… Bravery is preeminent among the things the Beowulf poet continually brings to our attention as deserving our respect. It’s the quality that determines the worth of a man… Our intellectuals tend to ask why our soldiers’ lives are spent in vain, or who benefits from the glorification of the military hero. The Beowulf poet was interested in a different question: What’s wrong with the man who won’t give the hero the glory he’s earned?"
