Current Series

Dorchester County Public Library in Cambridge, MD

Where would we be without the scoundrels, monsters, murderers, and rascals that populate our fiction and drama? With no bad guy to beat, our heroes and heroines would lead dull lives, unable to prove their virtue.

And who hasn’t secretly sided with the bad guys every now and then? Fictional heroes may reflect an idealized image of society but it takes villains to reveal the failure of values and provoke both fear – and fascination. This series explores the dark side of some famous stories.

Please join us on these Wednesdays from 10am to Noon!

September 23 - William Shakespeare, Othello
The villain Iago destroys the Moor of Venice and his bride without any comprehensible motive.

October 7 - Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein creates a monstrous creature using modern science and then abandons him to an uncaring world.

October 21 - Edgar Allen Poe, William Wilson, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Cask of Amontillado
These four brief tales allow readers to explore what it feels like to be a villain as the tormented storytellers describe the minute details of their crime.

November 4 - Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler
A ruthless woman trapped in a loveless marriage manipulates those around her to get what she wants.

November 18 - Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs
Before there was Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, there was this book.

Meetings are free and open to the public. Sign-up is requested. Books may be picked up at the site at least two weeks before each session; participants should read the books in advance of the sessions.

This program is made possible by the Friends of the Dorchester County Library.