Category Archives: Plymouth State University

Jeshua Biscalvert

“My heart is with another.” 

“Liar.” 

“I don’t lie.” He squeezed his left hand, willing the ring there to swallow him up. Maybe he would upset his husband by crashing his day, but he would rather that than having to deal with another second of this. 

“Who is this lover? How can she be fairer than I?” 

“I never said they were,” he replied, not even able to feign his lover was a woman. He had known that Authur’s court with its mix of Roman Christianity and Puppillandian noblemen’s standards would be a ghoulish place to be for someone like him, but Electra had asked, and he couldn’t say no. 

“You’re in love with a boy,” she hissed, her tone cruel and disgusted. She stepped away from him as though he were contagious. “My husband will have you executed for this!” 

“I–” Jay tried to answer, but his lungs choked and suddenly, everything was gone.

The Three Witches of “Macbeth”: Analyzing the Significance of the Number Three in “Macbeth”, Witchcraft, and Covens.

Here’s the link to my video essay in which I analyze the significance of the three witches within Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, along with analyzing the impact of the number three within the play and within witchcraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t49RlhELZNU

Water and Cognition in Early Modern English Literature

Water and Cognition in Early Modern English Literature, which I co-edited with Steve Mentz, is now out in print from Amsterdam University Press! Water and cognition seem unrelated things, the one a physical environment and the other an intellectual process. The essays in this book show how bringing these two modes together revitalizes our understandingContinue reading “Water and Cognition in Early Modern English Literature”

The Tempest 2023

Reflection My reaction to this scene from Shakespeare’s The Tempest Act 2, Scene 2 was simple: it was racist and I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. It makes sense considering Shakespeare wrote in a unique language back in the 16th Century. But as a modern audience that speaks in a simplistic and straightforwardContinue reading “The Tempest 2023”

Things that Work

Go home, 2020, you’re an apocalyptic cascade of oppressive systems freshly exposed (again) by a global pandemic, worldwide #BLM protests, and a corresponding surge in public conversations about Racial Justice and Disability Justice. In other news, I haven’t been blogging in awhile. I have been active on Twitter (@nrhelms), and I’ve been quite busy withContinue reading “Things that Work”