How William Shakespeare (1564-1616), son of a provincial glover, became the world's most famous literary icon, is a story that's been told many times. Our appetite for biographies of Shakespeare is apparently insatiable: new lives of Shakespeare are always being written, as if we are still trying to find the key to understand the operation of his genius and the source of his literary immortality. This Great Writers theme focuses on the works themselves, with lectures, ebooks, and supporting material to find new angles and sources of critical analysis and enjoyment.
The biographical facts of Shakespeare's life can be easily recounted. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, a market town in the English midlands, in 1564: his father was a glover. We know little about his education but he almost certainly attended the town grammar school where he would have learned the standard Latin literary and rhetorical curriculum: we see some Elizabethan classroom staples in The Merry Wives of Windsor. There is no record of Shakespeare having attended university. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, and their daughter Susanna was born in 1583, followed by twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585.
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William Shakespeare
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| # | Title | Description | Contributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Death Masks of Macbeth |
In this short talk Professor Simon Palfrey explores the deathly afterlives of Shakespeare’s ‘... |
Simon Palfrey |
| 2 | Shakespeare, Mind and World |
Tom MacFaul discusses how Shakespeare’s age thought about thinking. In particular, he looks at... |
Tom MacFaul |
| 3 | Shakespeare's Animals |
Why are animals everywhere in Shakespeare's language? Only two actual animals definitely appear... |
Tom MacFaul |
| 4 | Venus and Adonis |
Professor Katherine Duncan Jones, Senior Research Fellow, Somerville College, gives a talk on... |
Katherine Duncan-Jones |
| 5 | Memorialising Shakespeare: The First Folio and other elegies |
Emma Smith (Professor of English Literature, Oxford), gives a talk on Shakespeare memorials. Ben... |
Emma Smith |
| 6 | 16.To Shakespeare and Beyond: a panel discussion. |
Cultural Connections discussion panel Casandra Ash, Peter Kirwan, Jose Perez Diaz and Emma Smith... |
Cassandra Ash, Peter Kirwan, José Pérez Díez, Emma Smith |
| 7 | Acting Masterclass: "Lend me your ears" |
A second Masterclass on how Shakespeare spins rhetoric for the actor, with Sam Leith, journalist... |
Gregory Doran, Sam Leith |
| 8 | Acting Masterclass: 'Pyramus, you begin' |
A practical Masterclass with Greg Doran from the Royal Shakespeare Company looking at what clues... |
Gregory Doran |
| 9 | The language of Shakespeare |
Actors and the director talk about how they have approached and worked with their student... |
Kate O'Connor |
| 10 | Understanding Shakespeare |
The actor Nick Lyons talks about the challenge of the language barrier and how he dealt with it... |
Nick Lyons |
| 11 | Two Gentlemen of Verona: The view from the Director |
The director talks about how she adapted the script and directed the student Shakespeare... |
Kate O'Connor |
| 12 | The Tempest: For you am I this patient log-man |
The director and actors talk about the log-scene in The Tempest and how they interpret and... |
Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley |
| 13 | The Tempest: Our revels now are ended |
The famous Shakespeare scene from The Tempest, performed by actors from an Oxford student drama... |
Dylan Townley |
| 14 | The Tempest - Our revels now are ended: Conveying Shakespeare's meaning |
The actor Dylan Townley talks about the language of Shakespeare. He describes how understanding... |
Dylan Townley |
| 15 | The Tempest: Prospero |
Actor Dylan Townley talks with director Archie Cornish about the character Prospero. They... |
Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley |
| 16 | The Tempest: Direction and interpretation |
Director Archie Cornish and actor Dylan Townley - Prospero - talk about adapting, directing and... |
Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley |
| 17 | Teaching Shakespeare in Schools |
A teacher talks about how she teaches Shakespeare in school, using video clips and references... |
Joyti Chandegra |
| 18 | Genre (pt.1) |
Video podcast with Dr Jane Rickard, The University of Leeds. Part 1 (of 2) + discussion forum... |
Jane Rickard |
| 19 | Shakespeare and the Stage |
Professor Tiffany Stern gives a talk on William Shakespeare and how his plays were performed in... |
Tiffany Stern |
| # | Title | Description | Contributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Key Critical Concepts: Authorship |
In this recording, Emma Smith introduces the concept of authorship as part of our... |
Emma Smith |
| 2 | Out of Silence 1: William Shakespeare |
From the Silence Hub Network. Professor Alexandra Harris discusses Shakespeare's sonnet 23,... |
Alexandra Harris, Kate McLoughlin |
| 3 | 1594: Shakespeare's most important year |
In the summer of 1594 William Shakespeare decided to invest around £50 to become a shareholder... |
Bart van Es |
| 4 | The Magic of Shakespeare |
This lecture will celebrate Shakespeare's immortality on the exact 400th anniversary of his... |
Jonathan Bate |
| 5 | Shakespeare and the Victorians |
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Professor of English Literature, Oxford, gives a talk for Shakespeare... |
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst |
| 6 | The Two Gentlemen of Verona |
Professor Emma Smith gives the last of her 2017 Shakespeare lectures on his early comedy, Two... |
Emma Smith |
| 7 | Henry VI, Part 2 |
Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a 2017 lecture on the... |
Emma Smith |
| 8 | The Merry Wives of Windsor |
Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. |
Emma Smith |
| 9 | All's Well That Ends Well |
Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s comedy All's Well That Ends Well. |
Emma Smith |
| 10 | Cymbeline |
Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on one of... |
Emma Smith |
| 11 | Timon of Athens |
Emma Smith finishes her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Timon of... |
Emma Smith |
| 12 | Love's Labour's Lost |
Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Love's Labour... |
Emma Smith |
| 13 | Julius Caesar |
This lecture on Julius Caesar discusses structure, tone, and politics by focusing on the cameo... |
Emma Smith |
| 14 | Romeo and Juliet |
This lecture on Romeo and Juliet tackles the issue of the spoiler-chorus, in an already-too-... |
Emma Smith |
| 15 | Coriolanus |
This lecture takes up a detail from Shakespeare’s late Roman tragedy Coriolanus to ask about the... |
Emma Smith |
| 16 | Why should we study Elizabethan Theatre? |
Professor Tiffany Stern of University College, Oxford, discusses her current research and... |
Tiffany Stern, Ilana Lassman |
| 17 | Why should we study Shakespeare? |
Dr Emma Smith of Hertford College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes why we... |
Emma Smith, Ilana Lassman |
| 18 | Acting Masterclass: "Lend me your ears" |
A practical Masterclass with Greg Doran from the Royal Shakespeare Company on how Shakespeare... |
Gregory Doran, Sam Leith |
| 19 | Acting Masterclass: 'Pyramus, you begin' |
A practical Masterclass looking at what clues Shakespeare puts into the verse for the actor.... |
Gregory Doran |
| 20 | The Merchant of Venice |
This lecture on The Merchant of Venice discusses the ways the play's personal relationships... |
Emma Smith |
| 21 | Taming of the Shrew |
Emma Smith uses evidence of early reception and from more recent productions to discuss the... |
Emma Smith |
| 22 | A Midsummer Night's Dream |
This lecture on A Midsummer Night's Dream uses modern and early modern understandings of... |
Emma Smith |
| 23 | Much Ado About Nothing |
Emma Smith asks why the characters are so quick to believe the self-proclaimed villain Don John... |
Emma Smith |
| 24 | Hamlet |
The fact that father and son share the same name in Hamlet is used to investigate the play'... |
Emma Smith |
| 25 | As You Like It |
Asking 'what happens in As You Like It', this lecture considers the play's... |
Emma Smith |
| 26 | Shakespeare and Voice |
Linda Gates, Professor of Voice at Northwestern University (USA) discusses how Shakespeare'... |
Linda Gates |
| 27 | Shakespeare Lectures |
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser's lectures on the life and work of William Shakespeare. Recorded in 1965... |
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser |
| 28 | Shakespeare and Medieval Romance |
Professor Helen Cooper, University of Cambridge, speaks about the continuities between the... |
Helen Cooper |
| 29 | King Lear |
Showing how generations of critics - and Shakespeare himself - have rewritten the ending of King... |
Emma Smith |
| 30 | King John |
At the heart of King John is the death of his rival Arthur: this fifteenth lecture in the... |
Emma Smith |
| 31 | Shakespeare and the Stage |
Professor Tiffany Stern gives a talk on William Shakespeare and how his plays were performed in... |
Tiffany Stern |
| 32 | Pericles, Prince of Tyre |
Pericles has been on the margins of the Shakespearean canon: this fourteenth lecture in the... |
Emma Smith |
| 33 | Richard III |
In this thirteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series the focus is on the... |
Emma Smith |
| 34 | The Comedy of Errors |
Lecture 12 in the Approaching Shakespeare series asks how seriously we can take the farcical... |
Emma Smith |
| 35 | Henry IV part 1 |
Like generations of theatre-goers, this lecture concentrates on the (large) figure of Sir John... |
Emma Smith |
| 36 | The Tempest |
That the character of Prospero is a Shakespearean self-portrait is a common reading of The... |
Emma Smith |
| 37 | Antony and Cleopatra |
What kind of tragedy is this play, with its two central figures rather than a singular hero? The... |
Emma Smith |
| 38 | Shakespeare and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) |
Professor Charlotte Brewer introduces the methodology behind the creation of the OED and how... |
Charlotte Brewer |
| 39 | Richard II |
Lecture eight in the Approaching Shakespeare series asks the question that structures Richard II... |
Emma Smith |
| 40 | Twelfth Night |
The seventh Approaching Shakespeare lecture takes a minor character in Twelfth Night - Antonio... |
Emma Smith |
| 41 | Titus Andronicus |
Focusing in detail on one particular scene, and on critical responses to it, this sixth... |
Emma Smith |
| 42 | The Winter's Tale |
How we can make sense of a play that veers from tragedy to comedy and stretches credulity in its... |
Emma Smith |
| 43 | Macbeth |
In this fourth Approaching Shakespeare lecture the question is one of agency: who or what makes... |
Emma Smith |
| 44 | Measure for Measure |
The third Approaching Shakespeare lecture, on Measure for Measure, focuses on the vexed question... |
Emma Smith |
| 45 | Henry V |
The second lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series looks at King Henry V, and asks whether... |
Emma Smith |
| 46 | The Bodleian Shakespeare: A treasure lost... and regained |
From the 2010 Alumni Weekend. Emma Smith reveals how Oxford University mobilised Alumni support... |
Emma Smith |
| 47 | Othello |
Othello - First in Emma Smith's Approaching Shakespeare lecture series; looking at the... |
Emma Smith |
| # | Essay Title | Description | Contributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English Renaissance Timeline: Some Historical and Cultural Dates |
This list offers an overview of some historical and cultural dates from the English Renaissance... |
Kate O'Connor |
| 2 | Why Shakespeare Was Shakespeare |
Since the release of the film 'Anonymous' in 2011, the odds have increased dramatically of being... |
Kate O'Connor |
| 3 | Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatres |
Elizabethan and Jacobean London contained a myriad of playhouses, indoors and outdoors. What... |
Kate O'Connor |
| 4 | Early Modern Drama on the Page and Stage |
Many books and university courses, trying to compensate for a history of the neglect or mistrust... |
Emma Smith |
| 5 | Renaissance Theatre |
When John Brayne built the Red Lion Theatre in London’s Whitechapel in 1569, he could hardly... |
Emma Smith |
| 6 | William Shakespeare |
How William Shakespeare (... |
Emma Smith |
| # | Title | Description | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Tragedy of Richard the Third: with the Landing of Earle Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth Field. |
ebook version of The Tragedy of Richard the Third: with the Landing of Earle Richmond, and the... |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 2 | The second Part of Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Good Duke HVMFREY. |
ebook version of The second Part of Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Good Duke HVMFREY. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 3 | A MIDSOMMER Nights Dreame. |
ebook version of A MIDSOMMER Nights Dreame. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 4 | The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing his Death: and the Coronation of King Henry the Fift. |
ebook version of The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing his Death: and the Coronation... |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 5 | Introduction to Shakespeare's plays, containing an essay on oratoryOrator |
ebook version of Introduction to Shakespeare's plays, containing an essay on oratoryOrator |
Gentleman, Francis, 1728-1784. |
| 6 | MEASVRE, For Measure. |
ebook version of MEASVRE, For Measure. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 7 | The Comedie of Errors. |
ebook version of The Comedie of Errors. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 8 | The Winters Tale. |
ebook version of The Winters Tale. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 9 | THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 10 | THE TEMPEST. |
ebook version of THE TEMPEST. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 11 | THE TRAGEDIE OF Troylus and Cressida. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF Troylus and Cressida. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 12 | The Life of Henry the Fift. |
ebook version of The Life of Henry the Fift. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 13 | THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 14 | The Tragedy of Coriolanus. |
ebook version of The Tragedy of Coriolanus. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 15 | The first Part of Henry the Sixt. |
ebook version of The first Part of Henry the Sixt. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 16 | The life and death of King Iohn. |
ebook version of The life and death of King Iohn. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 17 | THE TRAGEDIE OF IVLIVS CAESAR. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF IVLIVS CAESAR. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 18 | The Plays of William Shakespeare as published in the first folio of 1623 |
ebook version of The Plays of William Shakespeare as published in the first folio of 1623 |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 19 | Loues Labour's lost. |
ebook version of Loues Labour's lost. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 20 | The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. |
ebook version of The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 21 | The life and death of King Richard the Second. |
ebook version of The life and death of King Richard the Second. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 22 | The Famous History of the Life of King HENRY the Eight. |
ebook version of The Famous History of the Life of King HENRY the Eight. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 23 | The third Part of Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Duke of YORKE. |
ebook version of The third Part of Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Duke of YORKE. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 24 | The Merchant of Venice. |
ebook version of The Merchant of Venice. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 25 | The tragedie of HAMLET, Prince of Denmarke. |
ebook version of The tragedie of HAMLET, Prince of Denmarke. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 26 | The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of HENRY Sirnamed HOT-SPVRRE. |
ebook version of The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of HENRY Sirnamed... |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 27 | THE TRAGEDIE OF CYMBELINE. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF CYMBELINE. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 28 | ALL'S Well, that Ends Well. |
ebook version of ALL'S Well, that Ends Well. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 29 | THE Merry Wiues of Windsor. |
ebook version of THE Merry Wiues of Windsor. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 30 | THE LIFE OF TYMON OF ATHENS. |
ebook version of THE LIFE OF TYMON OF ATHENS. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 31 | THE TRAGEDIE OF Anthonie, and Cleopatra. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF Anthonie, and Cleopatra. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 32 | THE TRAGEDIE OF Othello, the Moore of Venice. |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF Othello, the Moore of Venice. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 33 | Much adoe about Nothing. |
ebook version of Much adoe about Nothing. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 34 | THE TRAGEDIE OF ROMEO and IVLIET |
ebook version of THE TRAGEDIE OF ROMEO and IVLIET |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 35 | An essay on the character of Hamlet: As performed by Mr. Henderson, at the Theatre Royal in the Hay-Market. |
ebook version of An essay on the character of Hamlet: As performed by Mr. Henderson, at the... |
Pilon, Frederick, 1750-1788. |
| 36 | Twelfe Night, Or what you will. |
ebook version of Twelfe Night, Or what you will. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 37 | As you Like it. |
ebook version of As you Like it. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 38 | An essay on the learning of Shakespeare: addressed to Joseph Cradock, Esq; The second edition, with large additions. By Richard Farmer, ... |
ebook version of An essay on the learning of Shakespeare: addressed to Joseph Cradock, Esq; The... |
Farmer, Richard, 1735-1797. |
| 39 | THE Taming of the Shrew. |
ebook version of THE Taming of the Shrew. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 40 | THE Two Gentlemen of Verona. |
ebook version of THE Two Gentlemen of Verona. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
| 41 | Venus and Adonis | William Shakespeare | |
| 42 | The Rape of Lucrece | William Shakespeare | |
| 43 | Shakespeare and Stage Costume |
Text upon which this Online Edition is Based: “Shakespeare and Stage Costume,” in The... |
Oscar Wilde |
| 44 | Shakespeare and Music | Christopher Wilson | |
| 45 | 'Spenser, Johnson, and Shakspeare' |
Chapter taken from Issac Disraeli's 'Curiosities of Literature'. Edited, with Memoir and Notes,... |
Issac Disraeli |
| 46 | The Preface to Shakespeare |
'The preface to Shakespeare' by Samuel Johnson. Together with selected notes on some of the... |
Samuel Johnson |
| 47 | 'A Talk for Twelfth Night' |
This essay on Shakespeare's play 'Twelfth Night' by Arthur Machen forms chapter fifteen of the... |
Arthur Machen |
| 48 | On 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' |
This essay on Shakespeare's play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is by Arthur Machen, and forms... |
Arthur Machen |
| 49 | Shakespeare, Bacon and the Great Unknown |
'Shakespeare, Bacon and the Great Unknown' by the literary critic Andrew Lang. |
Andrew Lang |
| 50 | 'Spenser, Jonson, and Shakespeare' |
Chapter taken from Issac Disraeli's collection of essay entitled 'Curiosities of Literature',... |
Issac Disraeli |
| 51 | The Sonnets | William Shakespeare | |
| 52 | The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | William Shakespeare |
| # | Resource Title | Description | Contributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Second Globe Theatre |
Globe Theatre - second Globe Theatre, from Hollar's View of London (1647).
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| 2 | Shakespeare's Birthplace2 | ||
| 3 | Shakespeare's Globe |
By Aldo Ardetti (Own work), October 2007.
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| 4 | Shakespeare's Birthplace |
William Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
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| # | Resource Title | Description | Contributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakespeare & the plague |
When he was in quarantine from the plague, William Shakespeare wrote “King Lear”, but what's the... |
Emma Smith |
| 2 | Commerce and Culture, Lecture 2: Shakespeare's Theater | ... | Paul A. Cantor |
| 3 | Science of Shakespeare (visualisations) |
Diagrams (static and moving) showing various ways of illustrating speaker turns, speech lengths... |
Patrick Lockley |
| 4 | Open Source Shakespeare |
The Open Source Shakespeare website includes the 1864 Globe Edition of the complete works. ... |