Reading Groups

Everyday Villains with Donna Raskin

$225

Five Sessions

Out of stock

Fridays, 7:00 pm EDT - 8:30 pm EDT March 4 to June 24, 2022

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Meeting Dates:
3/4, 4/1, 5/6, 6/3, 6/24

Satan. Grendel. The wrath of the Greek gods. Before Shakespeare, stories of sin and immorality relied on culture and religion to set up conflict; danger often looked like a monster. Then, the face of evil became human: Iago. King Claudius. Lady MacBeth. Later, in genre fiction, villains wore black hats or were obvious criminals. Now, literary villains are often masked by a kind face or a respected place in society. We will explore the character of five villains and how their particular traits are personifications of societies’ worst accepted practices, such as superstition, slavery, classism, and gender discrimination.

Session I: Precious Bane by Mary Webb
Session II: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Session III: Kindred by Octavia Butler
Session IV: Never Mind by Edward St. Aubyn
Session V: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller

Led by

Donna Raskin

Donna Raskin

Donna Raskin loves to talk about books and never turns down a cocktail! She is an adjunct professor of writing, history, and literature at The College of New Jersey, and is the author of numerous non-fiction books. She is furiously trying to finish her first novel, which is due to an agent this spring.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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