
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.
47mins
22 Feb 2012
Rank #1

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.
46mins
23 Oct 2012
Rank #2
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Twelfth Night
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.
47mins
20 Oct 2011
Rank #3

Measure for Measure
The third Approaching Shakespeare lecture, on Measure for Measure, focuses on the vexed question of this uncomic comedy's genre.
40mins
26 Oct 2010
Rank #4
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Julius Caesar
This lecture on Julius Caesar discusses structure, tone, and politics by focusing on the cameo scene with Cinna the Poet.
49mins
18 May 2015
Rank #5

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.
40mins
5 Nov 2012
Rank #6

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.
43mins
20 Nov 2012
Rank #7

Richard II
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?
45mins
1 Nov 2011
Rank #8

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?
45mins
25 Jan 2012
Rank #9

Henry IV part 1
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.
50mins
16 Nov 2011
Rank #10

The Winter's Tale
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.
42mins
9 Nov 2010
Rank #11

The Tempest
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.
48mins
14 Nov 2011
Rank #12

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.
43mins
9 Nov 2012
Rank #13

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.
41mins
30 Oct 2012
Rank #14

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.
45mins
10 Feb 2012
Rank #15