Spike Heels

Iliad by Homer

In Spike Heels, Andrew gifts Georgie a copy of Homer’s Iliad, an ancient Greek epic about the demands of masculinity and warrior culture through the lens of the decade-long Trojan War.

• Iliad on SuperSummary

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

In Spike Heels, Lydia gifts Georgie a copy of Pride and Prejudice, a subtly satiric novel of manners, set at a time when marriage evolved from a primarily financial transaction to a union based on love and mutual respect. Austen’s heroines do their best to negotiate matches that will ensure their financial security and also bring emotional satisfaction.

• Pride and Prejudice on SuperSummary

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (1913)

In Spike Heels, Andrew makes a reference to Pygmalion, a play based on the Greek myth of a sculptor who despised women so much that he crafted an ideal woman out of marble, and then prayed to Aphrodite to give his statue life so he could marry this being entirely under his control. Shaw transfers the story to Victorian London, where Professor Henry Higgins transforms the Cockney Eliza Doolittle into a duchess on a professional dare and as a commentary on the shallow nature of class.

• Pygmalion on SuperSummary

“Pygmalion” from Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Publius Ovidius Naso, known more commonly today as Ovid, originally composed his Metamorphoses in Latin and completed the work around 8 CE. The Metamorphoses combines hundreds of Greco-Roman mythological tales into 15 books of poetry, brief summaries of which follow.

• Metamorphoses on SuperSummary

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen (1879)

A Doll’s House is a well-known problem play released in 1879 by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. Composed of three acts, the play is set in a Norwegian town of the author’s present day and mainly concerns Nora and Torvald Helmer, whose marriage implodes under the weight of Nora’s emotional, social, and political subjugation by Europe’s regressive gender norms. The play is well known for exploring the married woman’s bleak plight in a world dominated by men, shedding light on a problem that was underexposed in the late nineteenth century. The play also stirred outrage from dissidents who viewed its arguments as profane.

• A Doll’s House on SuperSummary

Shakespeare’s Problem Plays

All’s Well That End’s Well by William Shakespeare (1623)

One of Shakespeare’s three well-known “problem plays.” All’s Well That Ends Well is classified as a “problem play” because it is not truly a comedy or a tragedy. The plot focuses on characters who have seemingly endless problems, but they turn out okay in the end. The play was originally published in Shakespeare’s First Folio, a collection of his dramatic works, in 1623.

• All’s Well That End’s Well on SuperSummary

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare (1623)

Measure for Measure is a play by British playwright William Shakespeare, first performed in 1604 and collected in the First Folio of 1623. Classified as a comedy, it is considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays due to its darker themes for a comedy and the way it is not easily classified.

• Measure for Measure on SuperSummary

Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare (1623)

Another problem play in Shakespeare’s First Folio, Troilus and Cressida is frequently cited as one of Shakespeare’s most difficult plays, as its tone varies wildly, and the characters are presented in an opaque manner, rendering them difficult to analyze and understand. The story’s timeline parallels the Iliad.

• Troilus and Cressida on SuperSummary

The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare (1623)

The Winter’s Tale is a late romantic play by William Shakespeare. Originally published in the First Folio of 1623 but debuted onstage in 1611, the play follows a man’s reckless jealousy as it destroys his family and his own conscience. The Winter’s Tale is sometimes considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays because it has elements of both comedy and tragedy.

• The Winter’s Tale on SuperSummary