Shakespeare For All

Shakespeare For All

episodes

Shakespeare For All is an engaging, accessible introduction to the life and work of William Shakespeare, featuring world-class scholars and performers. You’ll learn who Shakespeare was and what historical events shaped his writing. You’ll be guided through his most popular poems and plays by leading scholars, actors, and interpreters of Shakespeare. And you’ll find the tools you need to become an interpreter of Shakespeare yourself and join in the ongoing global discussion his works have inspired. Except where otherwise noted, the texts used for this course are from Shakespeare’s Plays, Sonnets and Poems, from The Folger Shakespeare, ed. Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine, Michael Poston, and Rebecca Niles. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Shakespeare's Sonnets Part 3

November 20, 2023

Shakespeare's Sonnets Part 3

Michael Schoenfeldt
Hosted by Zachary Davis

Part 3 starts with a discussion of general reading strategies to help you discover the poetic techniques and insights of any individual sonnet. It con…

Shakespeare's Sonnets Part 2

November 13, 2023

Shakespeare's Sonnets Part 2

Michael Schoenfeldt
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 2 focuses closely on the two major “characters” to whom the sonnets are addressed: a beautiful young man, and a woman described as black. You’ll …

Shakespeare's Sonnets Part 1

November 6, 2023

Shakespeare's Sonnets Part 1

Michael Schoenfeldt
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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The sonnet — a 14-line poem with a strict rhyme scheme, conventionally associated with love — was one of the most popular poetic forms in late Elizabe…

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Part 3: The Language

October 30, 2023

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Part 3: The Language

Laurie Maguire
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 3 features close-readings from Professor Laurie Maguire of some of the play’s key speeches: Caliban’s extraordinarily lyrical description of the …

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Part 2: Characters and Questions

October 23, 2023

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Part 2: Characters and Questions

Laurie Maguire
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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With Professor Laurie Maguire, Part 2 explores the play’s many ambiguities — its uncertain geography, mental space, and genre — and how they reflect t…

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Part 1: The Story

October 16, 2023

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" Part 1: The Story

Laurie Maguire
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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The Tempest, one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote, draws on themes and stories that fascinated him throughout his career while also taking his art …

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Part 3: The Language

October 9, 2023

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Part 3: The Language

Simon Palfrey
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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In Part 3, Professor Simon Palfrey offers close-readings of some of the play’s most significant scenes. You’ll hear the play’s dark energies emerge th…

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Part 2: Characters and Questions

October 2, 2023

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Part 2: Characters and Questions

Simon Palfrey
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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With Professor Simon Palfrey, Part 2 looks closely at the play’s characters, and especially at the intelligence and swiftness of Juliet. You’ll see ho…

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Part 1: The Story

September 25, 2023

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Part 1: The Story

Simon Palfrey
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Children of families who are locked in a fatal feud, Romeo and Juliet risk community, identity, and life to pursue an all-consuming love. Today, Romeo…

Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" Part 3: The Language

September 18, 2023

Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" Part 3: The Language

Emma Smith
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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In Part 3, Professor Emma Smith offers close-readings of some of the play’s most important scenes, which dramatize the wide range of relationships and…

Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" Part 2: Characters and Questions

September 11, 2023

Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" Part 2: Characters and Questions

Emma Smith
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 2 looks at the many instances of inversion and transgression, looking at how characters cross boundaries of gender, status, and social role, and …

Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" Part 1: The Story

September 4, 2023

Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" Part 1: The Story

Emma Smith
Hosted by Zachary Davis

Twelfth Night, named for the celebration that is both the culmination and the close of the Christmas festivities, is a bittersweet romantic comedy at …

Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" Part 3: The Language

August 28, 2023

Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" Part 3: The Language

Stephen Greenblatt
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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In Part 3, Professor Stephen Greenblatt offers close-readings of some of the play’s most significant scenes. You’ll get an in-depth look at the powerf…

Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" Part 2: Characters and Questions

August 21, 2023

Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" Part 2: Characters and Questions

Stephen Greenblatt
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 2 discusses the play’s central characters, their profound bonds of intimacy and animosity, and the effect of money on those bonds. Professor Step…

Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" Part 1: The Story

August 14, 2023

Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" Part 1: The Story

Stephen Greenblatt
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most gripping and challenging plays. Labeled as a comedy in Shakespeare’s First Folio, today it resonat…

Shakespeare's "King Lear" Part 3: The Language

August 7, 2023

Shakespeare's "King Lear" Part 3: The Language

Simon Palfrey
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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In Part 3, Professor Palfrey offers close-readings of some of the play’s most significant scenes. You’ll witness the king and the beggar in the heart …

Shakespeare's "King Lear" Part 2: Characters and Questions

July 31, 2023

Shakespeare's "King Lear" Part 2: Characters and Questions

Simon Palfrey
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 2 explores the way that Shakespeare revised the original Lear story and the way he revised his own play to create a uniquely wrenching form of tr…

Shakespeare's "King Lear" Part 1: The Story

July 24, 2023

Shakespeare's "King Lear" Part 1: The Story

Simon Palfrey
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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King Lear has perhaps the most expansive cosmic scope of any of Shakespeare’s tragedies. In this play, Shakespeare retells the story of an aging king …

Shakespeare's "Henry V" Part 3: The Language

July 17, 2023

Shakespeare's "Henry V" Part 3: The Language

Stephen Foley
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 3 features close-readings of some of the play’s most significant speeches, with Professor Stephen Foley. Through Henry’s private soliloquy, we tr…

Shakespeare's "Henry V" Part 2: Characters and Questions

July 10, 2023

Shakespeare's "Henry V" Part 2: Characters and Questions

Stephen Foley
Hosted by Zachary Davis
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Part 2 opens with a discussion of the history play genre and of how history shapes and constrains the plays’ protagonists. With Professor Stephen Fole…