About the lecture

In this module, we provide a brief introduction to Ben Jonson, before considering his decision to set the play in Venice. In particular, we think about the historical Venice, but also its status as a city of paradoxes: a city of great wealth but no land, of good government but cruel punishments, and of liberty and slavery.

About the lecturer

Matthew Steggle is Professor of English at Sheffield Hallam University. He is fascinated by the plays of Shakespeare and of Shakespeare's contemporaries, an area in which he has published many scholarly articles and written four books. He has edited Measure for Measure for the Norton Shakespeare, and is particularly interested in the work of Shakespeare's colleague Ben Jonson, whose comedy Cynthia's Revels he has edited for the Cambridge Works of Ben Jonson.