Show Notes
We have officially entered our Showgirl era, and we’re kicking it off with The Fate of Ophelia. Uncle Jerry teaches us all about Ophelia’s role in Hamlet, one of the Ophelia paintings Taylor may have drawn inspiration from, and a couple of feminist critics’ takes on Ophelia.
We then get into the song, Angela weaves in a few nuggets of Tay-lore, and they round it out by discussing the feminist issues with the track, watching the music video and listening to the voice memo of the writing of the song.
Works Cited: Hamlet – William Shakespeare – Affiliate Link What are Foil Characters? Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism – Elaine Showalter Hearing Ophelia: Gender and Tragic Discourse in "Hamlet" – Sandra K. Fischer Desolation Row – Bob Dylan The Story of Ophelia – The Tate Pre-Raphaelite Women – Jan Marsh Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Ash Russell The Essential Pre-Raphaelites – Lucinda Hawksley – Aff Link The Language of Flowers – Margaret Pickston – Aff Link The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady – Edith Holden – Aff Link The King’s Two Bodies – Ernst Kantorowicz – Aff Link
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More from The Swiftie and The Scholar
In this episode, we are taking it back to the very beginning with Tim McGraw from Taylor Swift’s debut album. Uncle Jerry finds plenty to discuss and is charmed by hearing both young Taylor’s early poetics and her country twang.
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Well, guys, we’ve really stressed Uncle Jerry out with this one. He went so deep on the folklore album as a whole that this episode focuses mostly on the prologue and how it sets up this new style of storytelling, different from all her previous albums. Hope you enjoy, and we’ll see you back here next week for Part 2!
We’ve made it to the end of the folklore road! Join Uncle Jerry and Angela as they discuss this is me trying, where the duo finds some Typical Taylor, ambiguity, paradox, multiple meanings, and so much more. Come back for the next two weeks as we wrap-up discussion of the album as a whole.