Approaching Shakespeare artwork

Approaching Shakespeare

32 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 294 ratings

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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Episodes

Love's Labour's Lost

February 12, 2024 11:23 - 48 minutes - 44.1 MB

Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Love's Labour's Lost.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

December 15, 2017 12:06 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MB

Professor Emma Smith gives the last of her 2017 Shakespeare lectures on his early comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Henry VI, Part 2

November 09, 2017 17:49 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MB

Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a 2017 lecture on the early history play, Henry VI, Part 2.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

October 25, 2017 15:40 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor.

All's Well That Ends Well

October 25, 2017 15:31 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MB

Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s comedy All's Well That Ends Well.

Cymbeline

October 25, 2017 13:48 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MB

Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on one of Shakespeare’s later plays, Cymbeline.

Timon of Athens

June 23, 2015 11:40 - 54 minutes - 37.8 MB

Emma Smith finishes her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Timon of Athens.

Julius Caesar

May 18, 2015 15:44 - 49 minutes - 34 MB

This lecture on Julius Caesar discusses structure, tone, and politics by focusing on the cameo scene with Cinna the Poet.

Romeo and Juliet

May 05, 2015 11:39 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MB

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.

Coriolanus

May 05, 2015 11:03 - 52 minutes - 36.1 MB

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.

The Merchant of Venice

November 20, 2012 16:55 - 43 minutes - 20 MB

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.

Taming of the Shrew

November 09, 2012 16:16 - 43 minutes - 20.2 MB

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.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

November 05, 2012 10:39 - 40 minutes - 18.7 MB

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.

Much Ado About Nothing

October 30, 2012 12:15 - 41 minutes - 19.3 MB

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.

Hamlet

October 23, 2012 17:08 - 46 minutes - 21.2 MB

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.

As You Like It

October 23, 2012 17:02 - 49 minutes - 22.6 MB

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.

King Lear

February 22, 2012 17:43 - 47 minutes - 21.8 MB

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.

King John

February 10, 2012 17:12 - 45 minutes - 20.8 MB

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.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

February 01, 2012 16:15 - 40 minutes - 18.7 MB

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.

Richard III

January 25, 2012 15:27 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MB

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?

The Comedy of Errors

January 23, 2012 15:58 - 46 minutes - 43 MB

Lecture 12 in the Approaching Shakespeare series asks how seriously we can take the farcical exploits of Comedy of Errors, drawing out the play's serious concerns with identity and selfhood.

Henry IV part 1

November 16, 2011 17:06 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MB

Like generations of theatre-goers, this lecture concentrates on the (large) figure of Sir John Falstaff and investigates his role in Henry IV part 1. Lecture 11 in the Approaching Shakespeare series.

The Tempest

November 14, 2011 17:15 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MB

That the character of Prospero is a Shakespearean self-portrait is a common reading of The Tempest: this tenth Approaching Shakespeare lecture asks whether that is a useful reading of the play.

Antony and Cleopatra

November 10, 2011 11:17 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MB

What kind of tragedy is this play, with its two central figures rather than a singular hero? The ninth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series tries to find out.

Richard II

November 01, 2011 16:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB

Lecture eight in the Approaching Shakespeare series asks the question that structures Richard II: does the play suggest Henry Bolingbroke's overthrow of the king was justified?

Twelfth Night

October 20, 2011 17:46 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MB

The seventh Approaching Shakespeare lecture takes a minor character in Twelfth Night - Antonio - and uses his presence to open up questions of sexuality, desire and the nature of romantic comedy.

Titus Andronicus

October 19, 2011 18:54 - 49 minutes - 57.1 MB

Focusing in detail on one particular scene, and on critical responses to it, this sixth Approaching Shakespeare lecture on Titus Andronicus deals with violence, rhetoric, and the nature of dramatic sensationalism.

The Winter's Tale

November 09, 2010 16:50 - 42 minutes - 39.5 MB

How we can make sense of a play that veers from tragedy to comedy and stretches credulity in its conclusion? That's the topic for this fifth Approaching Shakespeare lecture on The Winter's Tale.

Macbeth

November 02, 2010 12:02 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MB

In this fourth Approaching Shakespeare lecture the question is one of agency: who or what makes happen the things that happen in Macbeth?

Measure for Measure

October 26, 2010 22:00 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MB

The third Approaching Shakespeare lecture, on Measure for Measure, focuses on the vexed question of this uncomic comedy's genre.

Henry V

October 20, 2010 19:37 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MB

The second lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series looks at King Henry V, and asks whether his presentation in the play is entirely positive.

Othello

October 18, 2010 18:26 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MB

First in Emma Smith's Approaching Shakespeare lecture series; looking at the central question of race and its significance in the play.