Herman Melville- Video (41 minutes) Recommended by Booklist
	Scholars: Walter Bezanson, John Bryant, Merton Sealts, and many others Contexts and Videos On: Influences of Thomas Browne, Carlyle, and Plato; Melville's Youth and Travels Also available on CD-ROM

 Moby Dick, Melville’s classic sea tale of revenge and spiritual depravity, has earned its exalted status and its ranking as one of the most studied works in the canon of American literature. This program brings together leading Melville scholars to analyze this important work, and investigates the life of the man who wrote it from literary, philosophical, and social perspectives. Topics include the influence of the Bible, Shakespeare, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville’s own conflicted life, from his father’s bankruptcy to his adventures as a sailor in Polynesia. Themes include the universal brotherhood of man, the malignancy lurking within nature, and the nihilistic quality of the color white. (41 minutes, color)