The Simpsons and Literature

[Slangalang18ca]

What about the one where Maggie is sent to the Ayn Rand nursery? I don't remember the name of the episode, but it was pretty funny.

[optimisticnad]

is this thread new? ive just discovred it!!!!!!!! yayyy!!!!!

im sorry i have no contribution to make.

[metal134]

I don't know about literature but I passed my confirmation cause the priest asked me who wrote the evangels and I remembered because flanders once said when he was on a scout trip with his son and Homer and Bart the names of them to choose witch way to go, (they ended adrift in the ocean near Krusty burgers).

Oh my God, that literally had me holding my sides!

BTW, your avatar is hilarious. Where did you find that picture?

[Geoff Shipley]

I recall an episode mentioning Homer's failed attempts at "Plado Theatre" and the scene cut to a plado man brandishing a knife at a horse with "Equus" lettered above them. Which is a play by Peter Shaffer.

[kotori]

Simpsons Episode Season 12 Episode 9 "Homr" is a reference to Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and the related movie Charly.

[varnish7]

1. The Raven
2. Mutiny on the Bounty
3. Count of Monte Cristo
4. Lord of the Flies
5. Macbeth
6. Ayn Rand one (don't know specific title)
7. Flowers for Algernon
8. Moby Dick
9. Godfather
10. Hamlet
11. Odyssey
12. The Monkey's Paw
13. Frankenstein
14. Dracula
15. The Shining
16. The Devil and Daniel Webster
17. Bible
18. The Green Mile
19. Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn

[OrphanPip]

The Ayn Rand nursery is from the same episode as when Marge was in Streetcar Named Desire.

Edit: It didn't spoof a particular novel, the nursery was run by the principles of Objectivist philosophy, so the babies were taught to be selfish etc.

Haha, while looking for the nursery, I came up with a reference to the Fountainhead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z47h3AGih-g

[varnish7]

Actually, I was thinking of the recent Simpson's episode where they were telling stories in the hair salon, and Maggie was apparently the main character in their parody of The Fountainhead.

[pandorama]

there is one more allusion ....
Joe Namath appears in season 9 episode, Bart Star. When Bart is practicing throwing his football, he says he needs a miracle for him to be good. With luck, Joe Namath appears saying his car has just broken down, due to vapor-lock, in front of his house. He is just about to give Bart the one tip that will provide ultimate success for Bart in Pee-Wee football when his car starts running again and forgets to tell Bart his secret.

At the end of the episode he breaks the forth wall to warn the viewers about the dangers of Vapor-lock. -------------------
this scene alludes to the novel "ragtime".

In Ragtime,Harry Houdini's car breaks down in front of the little boy's house , and he meets the little boy, who admires him greatly.

[Sebas. Melmoth]

Not exactly a literary but rather a textual reference: the episode wherein Homer gets the crayon removed from his brain and becomes an intelligent person.
Listening to FM classical music while diddling a Rubic's cube, the music announcer says, 'not quite Gould--but one might say "as good as Gould"'--referring of course to the great Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's Bach readings.

[OrphanPip]

There's an episode where Homer makes a bat out of a tree hit by lightning and names it Wonderbat, that's an allusion to Malamud's The Natural, where the baseball bat was named Wonderboy.

[JuniperWoolf]

I love their version of Hamlet. "Hey, I didn't use that much poison! ...I mean, I didn't use that much poise... on... at the royal luau."

[OrphanPip]

I love their version of Hamlet. "Hey, I didn't use that much poison! ...I mean, I didn't use that much poise... on... at the royal luau."

Or Ralph as Laertes, using his "practice stab" on himself.

[Mr. Pedantic]

Brilliant episode. Although, Lisa playing Ophelia in that episode made me feel a little bit squeamish...

[spookymulder93]

That episode helped me when I was reading Hamlet.