Episode 282: Best of - “Harry Potter” Book 1, Ch. 13-End

The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford

Education, Selfeducation, Classicaleducation, Reading, Literature, Homeschool, Arts, Books, Charlottemason, Homeeducation, Homeschooling

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 122 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on The Literary Life, Angelina and Thomas wrap up our encore series on J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter: Book 1. Angelina and Thomas begin the episode with some thoughts on their Aristotelian approach to literature as seen in this series of episodes. After sharing their commonplace quotes, they dive into their discussion of the last few chapters of the book. Some of the ideas they consider are how the entire plot is a series of symbols, alchemy and the allegory of the soul, and the figure of the “wildman” in the literary tradition. They also go over the characters of the centaurs, the significance of the unicorn, more references to Greek mythology, how Harry exemplifies the “chest” of the well-ordered man, and the great importance of the philosopher’s stone as a Christ symbol.

Visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com for classes with Angelina, Thomas, and other members of their teaching team.

To view the full show notes for this episode, including commonplace quotes, book links, and today's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/282.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Literary Life Podcast. We've grown quite significantly since our debut in 2019,
0:07.4	and we've had many requests to highlight older episodes that new listeners may have missed,
0:12.6	as well as revisit listener favorites. To honor that request, I present to you this episode of the
0:18.9	best of the literary life podcast.
0:21.9	This is not just another book chat podcast.
0:26.5	Lifelong reader Cindy Rawlins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks
0:31.0	for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well.
0:36.7	Explore the lost intellectual tradition and
0:39.3	discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature. Learn what books
0:44.7	mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. Each week we will rescue
0:50.9	story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute.
0:57.1	The literary life is for everyone because in the words of Stratford Caldecott,
1:01.6	to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into reality.
1:07.3	Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world.
1:13.3	This is the Literary Life podcast.
1:34.7	I'm Angelina Stanford, and with me is my partner in crime and part-time muggle.
1:40.0	Nicholas, the mail.
1:41.0	Oh, no, never mind, yeah.
1:42.8	Nice.
1:43.6	No.
1:44.1	Nice. You don't look at day over 650. Oh, no, no, right, never mind. Yeah. Nice. No. Nice.
1:45.1	You don't look at day over 650.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 3 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Angelina Stanford, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Angelina Stanford and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.