BUFVC Search
Current Search
Previous Searches
A detailed examination of the nature of this Shakespearean tragedy given its rare feature of having two central characters.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
The 2017 series of Shakespeare lectures concludes with an exploration of one of the Bard’s early comedies.
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...
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.