Ian Hunter
Dr. Ian Hunter holds degrees in political science (B.A.) and law (L.L.B and J.D.) from the University of Toronto. From 1974 to 1996 he was a Professor of Law at Western University: he also taught at other Canadian and English Universities, and was a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Cambridge. His latest book is That Time of Year (Justin Press).
Bio last updated April 30th, 2018.
Articles by Ian Hunter
The Tempest of the Times
By Ian Hunter
June 1, 2016
On the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Professor Ian Hunter explores how The Tempest, among other things, shows us fools mistaking the trappings of power for power itself
Prospero tells Miranda how the faithful Gonzalo (counterpart to Kent in King Lear) provisioned them with some supplies and, more important, books: “He furnished me / From mine own library with volumes that / I prize above my dukedom” – the bibliophile’s creed down succeeding centuries! All this had happened 12 years before; now “bountiful fortune” has conspired to bring the Court party within range of Prospero’s magic There follows a long, rather clumsy scene in which Prospero (a careful student of time, having decided “the time has now come”) explains to Miranda their shared past and how they came to be on Caliban’s Island
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Lear, Cordelia & The Cross
Ian Hunter
July 1, 2012
Ian Hunter asks his literary friends, The Wrinklings—and Convivium readers—to decide whether King Lear is a Christian play.
Now suppose that some humane person said to Shakespeare while he was writing King Lear: "Why do you make this old man suffer? Why do you torment him, drive him mad, loose him naked on the heath to abide 'the pelting of this pitiless storm'?" And Shakespeare answers by saying, "Well, yes, believe me,...