All Courses

In this course, we explore The Revenger’s Tragedy, a play which was written in the early years of the seventeenth century, but whose author is unknown. In the first two modules, we think generally about the Early Modern stage, before...

In this course, we explore John Webster’s ‘The White Devil’, beginning by thinking about John Webster himself, before moving on to consider the play itself – its setting in Italy, and the presentation of the various male and female characters...

In this course, we explore the poetry of Thomas Hardy. Having introduced Hardy in the first module, we then go through eighteen of his poems in turn, reading each aloud, and providing in-depth, line-by-line commentary and analysis. The final...

In this course, we explore Philip Larkin’s 1964 collection of poetry, ‘The Whitsun Weddings’. Having introduced Larkin and his poetry in the first module, we then go through each poem in turn, reading it aloud and providing an in-depth,...

In this course, we explore the life, achievements, and legacy of Alexander the Great. In particular, we look at Alexander’s military career, his women and his relationship with the gods to ask the question, Alexander the Great – hero or...

In this course, we explore the prescribed section of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book 3.511-733). In particular, we think about the depiction of Pentheus and the humour contained in that episode, before exploring the many ways in which this section of...

In this course, we explore the poetry of John Donne, thinking in particular about poetic language and style, the issues that preoccupied him throughout his life and career, and the extent to which we can understand John Donne the man...

In this course, we think about the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, focusing in particular in the literary and historical background of this poems of the 1790s. In the first half of the course, we think about Coleridge’s religious views...

In this course, we explore the Wife of Bath’s Tale and Prologue in Chaucer’s in Canterbury Tales. In the first module, we consider the presentation of the Wife of Bath in the General Prologue, thinking about the extent to which...

In this course, we explore the poetry of Sylvia Plath: first, we think about what it means to describe Plath as a writer of Confessional Poetry; after that we look at the themes of motherhood and love in Plath’s poetry;...

In this course, we explore several aspects of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In the first module, we focus on some of the myths that lie behind the novel. After that, we think about the kind of knowledge that Victor engages with...

In this course, we explore several aspects of Shakespeare’s Othello, thinking in particular about the play in performance. In the first module, we explore the concept of racism in the play, before moving on in the following three modules to...