Shakespeare and the Middle Ages
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LecturesFaith Acker, Liam Daley
Though often spoken of as the greatest writing of the English Renaissance, Shakespeare’s plays are both shaped by and directly comment on medieval literature, history, and culture in profound ways which are frequently overlooked. “Shakespeare and the Middle Ages” examines significant Shakespearean plays in light of these medieval connections. The course examines Shakespeare’s Comedies in the context of their medieval literary sources, his History plays in light of Tudor views of the recent medieval past, and his Tragedies in the context of medieval beliefs and cosmologies which, if no longer wholly credited, continued to hover (like King Hamlet’s ghost) on the periphery of belief in early modern England.
  • Lecture01 An Introduction to the Course
    01:27:41
    01:27:41
  • Lecture02 Sir Orfeo and Sir Laufal
    01:27:52
    01:27:52
  • Lecture03 A Midsummer Night's Dream 1
    01:31:11
    01:31:11
  • Lecture04 A Midsummer Night's Dream 2
    01:17:01
    01:17:01
  • Lecture05 The Knight's Tale
    01:05:40
    01:05:40
  • Lecture06 The Knight's Tale and A Midsummer Night's Dream
    01:23:31
    01:23:31
  • Lecture07 The Two Noble Kinsmen 1
    01:13:15
    01:13:15
  • Lecture08 The Two Noble Kinsmen 2
    01:24:52
    01:24:52
  • Lecture09 Richard II part I
    01:11:08
    01:11:08
  • Lecture10 Richard II part II
    01:23:02
    01:23:02
  • Lecture11 Henry IV part I
    01:30:10
    01:30:10
  • Lecture12 Henry IV part II
    01:28:24
    01:28:24
  • Lecture13 Henry V part I
    01:27:21
    01:27:21
  • Lecture14 Henry V part II
    01:27:05
    01:27:05
  • Lecture15 King Lear part I
    01:31:57
    01:31:57
  • Lecture16 King Lear part II
    01:29:16
    01:29:15
  • Lecture17 King Lear part III
    01:30:24
    01:30:24
  • Lecture18 Medieval Drama
    01:41:57
    01:41:57
  • Lecture19 Macbeth part I
    01:28:31
    01:28:31
  • Lecture20 Macbeth part II
    01:31:52
    01:31:52
  • Lecture21 Measure for Measure
    01:50:41
    01:50:41
  • Lecture22 Hamlet part I
    01:16:58
    01:16:58
  • Lecture23 Hamlet part II
    01:25:52
    01:25:52
  • Lecture24 Review
    01:28:37
    01:28:37