Keeping Faith & Breaking Ground

The modern crisis of the person in the West is the focus of Gil Bailie’s 1990 Reflections on Authur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Though written in the late 1940’s the story of Willy Loman’s life reads like a classical Greek tragedy, however without the protagonist ever coming to the knowledge of his fatal flaw. Mr. Bailie’s analysis displays his then recent exposure to René Girard’s mimetic theory bringing anthropological as well as psychological and spiritual insights to the text.

“The more people think they are realizing the utopias dreamed up by their desires, the more they will in fact be working to reinforce the competitive world that is stifling them.” – René Girard

The modern crisis of the person in the West is the focus of Gil Bailie’s 1990 Reflections on Authur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Though written in the late 1940’s the story of Willy Loman’s life reads like a classical Greek tragedy, however without the protagonist ever coming to the knowledge of his fatal flaw. Mr. Bailie’s analysis displays his then recent exposure to René Girard’s mimetic theory bringing anthropological as well as psychological and spiritual insights to the text.

“The more people think they are realizing the utopias dreamed up by their desires, the more they will in fact be working to reinforce the competitive world that is stifling them.” – René Girard

The modern crisis of the person in the West is the focus of Gil Bailie’s 1990 Reflections on Authur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Though written in the late 1940’s the story of Willy Loman’s life reads like a classical Greek tragedy, however without the protagonist ever coming to the knowledge of his fatal flaw. Mr. Bailie’s analysis displays his then recent exposure to René Girard’s mimetic theory bringing anthropological as well as psychological and spiritual insights to the text.

“The more people think they are realizing the utopias dreamed up by their desires, the more they will in fact be working to reinforce the competitive world that is stifling them.” – René Girard

Gil Bailie’s 1994 series entitled the Dionysian Revival examines the 5th century BC Greek drama The Bacchae by Euripides as well as the 20th century novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is interesting to note that The Bacchae reflects aspects of the historical reality of Athens in the period it was performed. In the decades prior to the drama’s premier in Athens, the city had been ravaged by both war and pandemic causing great social upheavals and was accompanied by a revival of primitive ecstatic Dionysian religious rites. Euripides’ play exposes the powerful forces behind the seemingly benign god of wine, ecstasy and drama. The same forces that Fredrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner celebrated in their respective works over two millennia later and have been ascendant in the West ever since. As an example of these influences the movie Cabaret, based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, is profiled.

In Lord of the Flies William Golding imaginatively explores how a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island with no adults during a time of war might organize themselves. Golding’s anthropological assumptions, without any influence from René Girard, show the power of sacrifice and the sacred in the incipient society around which the boys coalesce.

Gil Bailie’s 1994 series entitled the Dionysian Revival examines the 5th century BC Greek drama The Bacchae by Euripides as well as the 20th century novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is interesting to note that The Bacchae reflects aspects of the historical reality of Athens in the period it was performed. In the decades prior to the drama’s premier in Athens, the city had been ravaged by both war and pandemic causing great social upheavals and was accompanied by a revival of primitive ecstatic Dionysian religious rites. Euripides’ play exposes the powerful forces behind the seemingly benign god of wine, ecstasy and drama. The same forces that Fredrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner celebrated in their respective works over two millennia later and have been ascendant in the West ever since. As an example of these influences the movie Cabaret, based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, is profiled.

In Lord of the Flies William Golding imaginatively explores how a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island with no adults during a time of war might organize themselves. Golding’s anthropological assumptions, without any influence from René Girard, show the power of sacrifice and the sacred in the incipient society around which the boys coalesce.

Gil Bailie’s 1994 series entitled the Dionysian Revival examines the 5th century BC Greek drama The Bacchae by Euripides as well as the 20th century novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is interesting to note that The Bacchae reflects aspects of the historical reality of Athens in the period it was performed. In the decades prior to the drama’s premier in Athens, the city had been ravaged by both war and pandemic causing great social upheavals and was accompanied by a revival of primitive ecstatic Dionysian religious rites. Euripides’ play exposes the powerful forces behind the seemingly benign god of wine, ecstasy and drama. The same forces that Fredrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner celebrated in their respective works over two millennia later and have been ascendant in the West ever since. As an example of these influences the movie Cabaret, based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, is profiled.

In Lord of the Flies William Golding imaginatively explores how a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island with no adults during a time of war might organize themselves. Golding’s anthropological assumptions, without any influence from René Girard, show the power of sacrifice and the sacred in the incipient society around which the boys coalesce.

Gil Bailie’s 1994 series entitled the Dionysian Revival examines the 5th century BC Greek drama The Bacchae by Euripides as well as the 20th century novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is interesting to note that The Bacchae reflects aspects of the historical reality of Athens in the period it was performed. In the decades prior to the drama’s premier in Athens, the city had been ravaged by both war and pandemic causing great social upheavals and was accompanied by a revival of primitive ecstatic Dionysian religious rites. Euripides’ play exposes the powerful forces behind the seemingly benign god of wine, ecstasy and drama. The same forces that Fredrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner celebrated in their respective works over two millennia later and have been ascendant in the West ever since. As an example of these influences the movie Cabaret, based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, is profiled.

In Lord of the Flies William Golding imaginatively explores how a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island with no adults during a time of war might organize themselves. Golding’s anthropological assumptions, without any influence from René Girard, show the power of sacrifice and the sacred in the incipient society around which the boys coalesce.

Gil Bailie’s 1994 series entitled the Dionysian Revival examines the 5th century BC Greek drama The Bacchae by Euripides as well as the 20th century novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is interesting to note that The Bacchae reflects aspects of the historical reality of Athens in the period it was performed. In the decades prior to the drama’s premier in Athens, the city had been ravaged by both war and pandemic causing great social upheavals and was accompanied by a revival of primitive ecstatic Dionysian religious rites. Euripides’ play exposes the powerful forces behind the seemingly benign god of wine, ecstasy and drama. The same forces that Fredrich Nietzsche and Richard Wagner celebrated in their respective works over two millennia later and have been ascendant in the West ever since. As an example of these influences the movie Cabaret, based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, is profiled.

In Lord of the Flies William Golding imaginatively explores how a group of British schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island with no adults during a time of war might organize themselves. Golding’s anthropological assumptions, without any influence from René Girard, show the power of sacrifice and the sacred in the incipient society around which the boys coalesce.

Gil Bailie's exploration of Herman Melville's epic American tale. Melville's masterwork has been recognized as one of the major achievements of 19th century American literature influencing writers down to the present. As confirmed in the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature speech by Bob Dylan, who said, "Moby Dick is a fascinating book, a book that’s filled with scenes of high drama and dramatic dialogue. The book makes demands on you. The plot is straightforward...." Perhaps...but it is a mystery how a young man such as Herman Melville could have written a work of such profound spiritual and poetic depths as Moby Dick. Mr. Bailie helps the listener to begin to unpack some of these deep mysteries in this enlightening series of presentations.

Gil Bailie's exploration of Herman Melville's epic American tale. Melville's masterwork has been recognized as one of the major achievements of 19th century American literature influencing writers down to the present. As confirmed in the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature speech by Bob Dylan, who said, "Moby Dick is a fascinating book, a book that’s filled with scenes of high drama and dramatic dialogue. The book makes demands on you. The plot is straightforward...." Perhaps...but it is a mystery how a young man such as Herman Melville could have written a work of such profound spiritual and poetic depths as Moby Dick. Mr. Bailie helps the listener to begin to unpack some of these deep mysteries in this enlightening series of presentations.