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English Literature   >   Shakespeare: The Tempest

Introduction – Genre

 
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Shakespeare: The Tempest

In this twenty-four part course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In the first six lectures, we provide a broad introduction to the historical, political, intellectual, cultural and artistic context of early 17th-century England. In the eighteen lectures after that, we go through the play scene-by-scene, providing close reading and detailed analysis, with commentary on character, plot, themes and motifs, language, symbolism, and more.

Note: We use the Arden edition of the play (Third Series, ed. Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan). Students using a different version of the play may encounter slight differences in both the text and line numbers.

Introduction – Genre

In this lecture, we begin our introduction to The Tempest, focusing in particular on: (i) where the play comes in Shakespeare’s career; (ii) the idea of the classical (or Aristotelian) unities: unity of action, unity of time, unity of place; (iii) the theory of the harmony of the spheres and the definition of tragedy and comedy; and (iv) the genre of the Tempest.

Cite this Lecture

APA style

McRae, J. (2024, September 17). Shakespeare: The Tempest - Introduction – Genre [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/shakespeare-the-tempest-mcrae/act-5-scene-1-the-rarer-action-is-in-virtue-than-in-vengeance

MLA style

McRae, J. "Shakespeare: The Tempest – Introduction – Genre." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 17 Sep 2024, https://massolit.io/courses/shakespeare-the-tempest-mcrae/act-5-scene-1-the-rarer-action-is-in-virtue-than-in-vengeance

Lecturer

Prof. John McRae

Prof. John McRae

Nottingham University