Why should we study Shakespeare?

Dr Francis Leneghan of St Cross College, Oxford, discusses his current research around Beowulf and proposes why we should still study Old English Literature. 

Further information about the educational resource: http://writersinspire.org. 

Professor Tiffany Stern of University College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes why we should still study Elizabethan Theatre. 

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

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

We learn phrases from Shakespeare that are still used today. 

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

English professor Stephen Brown offers a passionate lyrical take on Shakespeare’s continued prevalence in our culture. This talk was filmed at TEDxStMaryCSSchool. All TEDx events are organized independently by volunteers in the spirit of TED's mission of ideas worth spreading. To ... Show More

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. 

In this episode I talk to my parents about the topic of William Shakespeare. We discuss the enduring appeal and significance of William Shakespeare's work, biographical details of his life, the key themes in Shakespeare’s plays, and the impact of his language on modern English. W ... Show More

No single writer has shaped the way we speak and think more than William Shakespeare. Whether we’re being cruel to be kind, wearing our hearts on our sleeves, or spotting the green eye’d monster — it’s almost impossible to use the English language without quoting him. But who was ... Show More

As we all know, the text of a book can possess incredible powers, transporting readers across time and space. But what about the books themselves? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Emma Smith (This Is Shakespeare) about her new book, Portable Magic: A History of Books and Th ... Show More

William Shakespeare is the most famous writer in the English language. He lived more than 400 years ago, but people still read his poetry and plays today. Christy VanArragon and Colin Lowther look at Shakespeare’s life.