Approaching Shakespeare

Oxford University

Each lecture in this series focuses on a single play by Shakespeare, and employs a range of different approaches to try to understand a central critical question about it. Rather than providing overarching readings or interpretations, the series aims to show the variety of different ways we might understand Shakespeare, the kinds of evidence that might be used to strengthen our critical analysis, and, above all, the enjoyable and unavoidable fact that Shakespeare's plays tend to generate our questions rather than answer them.

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20 episodes
Avg 46 min
English

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Feb 12, 2024 · 48 min
Love's Labour's Lost
Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Love's Labour's Lost.
- Transcript
Dec 15, 2017 · 44 min
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Professor Emma Smith gives the last of her 2017 Shakespeare lectures on his early comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona.
- Transcript
Nov 9, 2017 · 47 min
Henry VI, Part 2
Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a 2017 lecture on the early history play, Henry VI, Part 2.
- Transcript
Oct 25, 2017 · 48 min
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor.
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Oct 25, 2017 · 48 min
All's Well That Ends Well
Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s comedy All's Well That Ends Well.
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Oct 25, 2017 · 50 min
Cymbeline
Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on one of Shakespeare’s later plays, Cymbeline.
- Transcript
Jun 23, 2015 · 54 min
Timon of Athens
Emma Smith finishes her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Timon of Athens.
- Transcript
May 18, 2015 · 49 min
Julius Caesar
This lecture on Julius Caesar discusses structure, tone, and politics by focusing on the cameo scene with Cinna the Poet.
- Transcript
May 5, 2015 · 44 min
Romeo and Juliet
This lecture on Romeo and Juliet tackles the issue of the spoiler-chorus, in an already-too-familiar play. This podcast is suitable for school and college students.
- Transcript
May 5, 2015 · 52 min
Coriolanus
This lecture takes up a detail from Shakespeare’s late Roman tragedy Coriolanus to ask about the representation of character, the use of sources and the genre of tragedy. This podcast is suitable for school and college students.
- Transcript
Nov 20, 2012 · 43 min
The Merchant of Venice
This lecture on The Merchant of Venice discusses the ways the play's personal relationships are shaped by models of financial transaction, using the casket scenes as a central example.
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Nov 9, 2012 · 43 min
Taming of the Shrew
Emma Smith uses evidence of early reception and from more recent productions to discuss the question of whether Katherine is tamed at the end of the play.
- Transcript
Nov 5, 2012 · 40 min
A Midsummer Night's Dream
This lecture on A Midsummer Night's Dream uses modern and early modern understandings of dreams to uncover a play less concerned with marriage and more with sexual desire.
- Transcript
Oct 30, 2012 · 41 min
Much Ado About Nothing
Emma Smith asks why the characters are so quick to believe the self-proclaimed villain Don John, drawing on gender and performance criticism to think about male bonding, the genre of comedy, and the impulses of modern performance.
- Transcript
Oct 23, 2012 · 46 min
Hamlet
The fact that father and son share the same name in Hamlet is used to investigate the play's nostalgia, drawing on biographical criticism and the religious and political history of early modern England.
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Oct 23, 2012 · 49 min
As You Like It
Asking 'what happens in As You Like It', this lecture considers the play's dramatic structure and its ambiguous use of pastoral, drawing on performance history, genre theory, and eco-critical approaches.
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Feb 22, 2012 · 47 min
King Lear
Showing how generations of critics - and Shakespeare himself - have rewritten the ending of King Lear, this sixteenth Approaching Shakespeare lecture engages with the question of tragedy and why it gives pleasure.
- Transcript
Feb 10, 2012 · 45 min
King John
At the heart of King John is the death of his rival Arthur: this fifteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series looks at the ways history and legitimacy are complicated in this plotline.
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Feb 1, 2012 · 40 min
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles has been on the margins of the Shakespearean canon: this fourteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series shows some of its self-conscious artistry and contemporary popularity. This podcast has been re-recorded due to technical problems with the original recording. There is no accompanying eBook for this lecture as Pericles is not included in the First Folio.
- Transcript
Jan 25, 2012 · 45 min
Richard III
In this thirteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series the focus is on the inevitability of the ending of Richard III: does the play endorse Richmond's final victory?
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