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John Gray: Shakespeare’s Henry V: The Persons of the Play
All the characters in Shakespeare’s Henry V are discussed here in the order of the cast list in Gary Taylor, ed. Henry V (Oxford: The University Press, 1982): 89-90. Some characters that an audience may consider to be minor turn out to reward close study, not only because they illuminate the protagonist King Henry from their different perspectives, but also for their intrinsic interest. Although some minor characters have few lines–one has none!–they exemplify the infinite variety of human nature. (more…)
Macbeth’s Dark Journey
This basic interpretation of Macbeth deals with structure, ethics and characterisation. (more…)
A Study Guide to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
This Guide offers brief introductions to the composition, early performances, genre, structure and major characters of Shakespeare’s comedy. References are to M.M. Mahood’s Penguin edition introduced by Michael Dobson. (more…)
Shakespeare’s Henry V: Introductory Lectures
These four lectures cover the aspects of Henry V outlined below. Each lecture includes detailed discussions of one or more passages from the play.
Lecture One: The late Medieval and Elizabethan contexts; the play’s structure and development.
Lecture Two: Henry’s characterization in relation to heroism, war, and patriotism.
Lecture Three: How other aspects of Henry V relate to these three issues.
Lecture Four: The significance of secondary figures (i.e. everyone except Henry). (more…)
As You Like It: Two Approaches
The first approach is a traditional textual analysis of As You Like It, which tries not to deaden the comedy with too much earnestness. However while As You Like It appeals to all audiences, including those who enjoy on-stage comic action and rude jokes, it does have serious things to say about love, sex, marriage, morals and the clash of human temperaments.
“Approach Two,” livens things up by demonstrating that As You Like It invites interpretation as a witty attack on many of the conventions that governed love, marriage and literature in the middle and upper social levels of Shakespeare’s England.
King Lear Study Guide
In this Study Guide, we’ll approach King Lear by interweaving an Act-by-Act reading, based on exercises and questions, with discussions of themes, language and characters.
A Companion to Shakespeare’s Richard III
This friendly scene-by-scene guide may help you to keep up with events, characters and themes as you read your way through Richard III. It includes historical background to events and people in Shakespeare’s play, and some simple interpretations.