32 episodes
Approaching Shakespeare Oxford University
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4.4 • 133 Ratings
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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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The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Professor Emma Smith gives the last of her 2017 Shakespeare lectures on his early comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
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Henry VI, Part 2
Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a 2017 lecture on the early history play, Henry VI, Part 2. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
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The Merry Wives of Windsor
Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
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All's Well That Ends Well
Professor Emma Smith lectures on Shakespeare’s comedy All's Well That Ends Well. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
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Cymbeline
Professor Emma Smith continues her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on one of Shakespeare’s later plays, Cymbeline. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
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Timon of Athens
Emma Smith finishes her Approaching Shakespeare series with a lecture on the play Timon of Athens. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Customer Reviews
A fantastic resource
By asking a small, apparently trivial, question about each play, Emma Smith provides a different approach and gradually opens up the whole play. I have found these lectures fascinating, both for plays I know relatively well and (as she provides a plot summary at the start) for new plays too. She doesn’t only share her great knowledge but also asks questions for the audience to think about and suggests further avenues of investigation. I’ve returned to re-listen to these lectures several times over the last few years.
Fantastic for Shax lovers old & new
Wonderfully thoughtful lectures on all of the Shax plays. Love the unusual thematic approach and the lack of chronology/order so that you can discover the plays in a new sequence. Also suitable for new Shax fans as each lecture has a synopsis. Critical theory mentioned, but doesn’t go into it too densely. Funny too!
Excellent lectures
Really opening up my thoughts on Shakespeare. Prof Smith is such a learned and creative thinker. Sound quality not fantastic, but the relentless coughs are *very* evocative of undergraduate lectures at Oxford
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