Shakespeare in Context
This Playlist brings together multiple courses which aim to provide in-depth context to Shakespeare's life and works.
What this playlist includes:
77 lectures across 16 courses.
All resources designed and delivered by university academics and researchers.
Courses and Lectures
1. Shakespeare and Disability
Prof. Katherine Schapp Williams
University of Toronto
University of Toronto
1.1. Introduction – 02:52
1.2. What is ‘Disability’? – 08:46
1.3. Disability in Shakespeare: Richard III – 13:32
1.4. Richard III on the Modern Stage: Teenage Dick – 10:31
1.5. Casting Disabled Characters – 08:32
2. Shakespeare and Food
Dr Joan Fitzpatrick
Loughborough University
Loughborough University
2.1. Food in Shakespeare's Time – 09:41
2.2. Food in Hamlet – 08:52
2.3. Food in Macbeth – 09:26
2.4. Food in The Winter's Tale – 09:13
2.5. Food in The Tempest – 07:52
3. Shakespeare and Imagination
Prof. Helen Hackett
UCL
UCL
3.1. The Early Modern Imagination – 09:38
3.2. A Midsummer Night's Dream – 11:13
3.3. Henry V – 12:20
3.4. Hamlet – 10:59
4. Shakespeare and Material Culture
Prof. Catherine Richardson
Kent University
Kent University
4.1. What is Material Culture? – 21:35
4.2. Material Culture in Macbeth – 16:45
4.3. Material Culture in Othello – 20:22
5. Shakespeare and Medicine
Prof. Mary Fissell
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
6. Shakespeare and Politics
Prof. Andrew Hadfield
Sussex University
Sussex University
6.1. Politics in Shakespeare's Time – 07:30
6.2. Macbeth – 13:55
6.3. Richard III – 09:17
6.4. Julius Caesar – 12:52
6.5. Hamlet – 09:17
6.6. Conclusion – 01:21
7. Shakespeare and Print Culture
Prof. Helen Smith
York University
York University
7.1. Printing in Shakespeare's England – 09:20
7.2. Books on Shakespeare's Stage – 10:59
7.3. Shakespeare in Print – 08:36
7.4. Shakespeare's Quartos and Folios – 10:57
7.5. Further Reading – 11:20
8. Shakespeare and Race
Prof. Miles Grier
Queens College, CUNY
Queens College, CUNY
8.1. Race in Shakespeare – 08:09
8.2. Race as a Plot – 06:30
8.3. Racialised Justice: Blushing, Blanching and Bla... – 07:55
8.4. Race, Kinship and Inheritance – 12:50
9. Shakespeare and Religion
Dr Beatrice Groves
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
9.1. Shakespeare and Catholicism – 14:27
9.2. Shakespeare and the Bible – 16:57
9.3. Shakespeare and Mystery Plays – 07:14
9.4. Claudio from Measure for Measure and the Raisin... – 11:37
10. Shakespeare and Sex and Gender
Dr Sophie Duncan
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
10.1. Sex and Gender in Early Modern England – 14:00
10.2. What is a Woman? – 09:48
10.3. Gender in the Early Modern Theatre – 10:29
10.4. Early Modern Marriage – 10:47
10.5. Same-Sex Desire – 09:29
10.6. Ageing – 10:25
11. Shakespeare and Witchcraft
Prof. Diane Purkiss
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
11.1. Why Were Witches in Macbeth? – 04:35
11.2. Witches In Shakespeare's Time – 05:09
11.3. Witches and Kitchens – 05:26
11.4. Witches and the Sea – 15:39
11.5. Witches and Bodies – 11:27
11.6. Lady Macbeth – 10:03
12. Shakespeare and the Environment
Dr Todd Borlik
Huddersfield University
Huddersfield University
12.1. Shakespeare and the Climate – 16:38
12.2. Thunder in King Lear – 17:35
12.3. Macbeth and its Weird Weather – 14:21
12.4. Climate in Othello – 15:44
13. Shakespeare and the Law
Dr Andrew Zurcher
University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
13.1. Sonnet 30 and the Language of Debt – 15:52
13.2. Richard II and the King’s Two Bodies – 11:35
13.3. Hamlet, Intention and Action – 24:18
13.4. King Lear and Inheritance – 24:12
13.5. From Legal to Natural Persons – 10:55
14. Family, Gender and Power in Shakespeare
Dr Emma Whipday
Newcastle University
Newcastle University
14.1. The Family in Shakespeare's Time – 07:00
14.2. Fathers and Daughters: Romeo and Juliet and Oth... – 06:24
14.3. Single Women: Measure for Measure – 09:16
14.4. Husbands and Wives: The Taming of the Shrew – 11:24
14.5. Mothers and Sons: Hamlet – 10:39
15. Shakespeare on Stage
Prof. Tiffany Stern
Royal Holloway, London
Royal Holloway, London
15.1. Parts and Rehearsals – 11:24
15.2. Parts of the Theatre – 05:33
15.3. Props – 07:15
15.4. Shakespeare's Theatres – 10:28
15.5. Shakespeare's Actors – 06:21
15.6. Time in Shakespeare – 11:18
16. Shakespeare and London
Prof. Duncan Salkeld
Chichester University
Chichester University
16.1. From Stratford to London – 24:21
16.2. The Cities of London – 13:24
16.3. North London: Shoreditch and Clerkenwell – 20:28
16.4. The South Bank – 11:48
16.5. The Tower of London – 09:58
16.6. West London: Blackfriars, Bridewell and Tyburn – 16:58
What Next?
Check out these other playlists within English Literature:
