English Literature

In this course, Professor Matthew Steggle explores Ben Jonson's early 17th-century comedy Volpone. The course begins by thinking about the setting of the play in Venice, and what associations that city might have evoked for Jonson's original...

In this course, Dr Martin Wiggins (The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham) explores Shakespeare's Coriolanus. We begin by thinking about the political circumstances in which the action of the play takes place, focusing in particular...

In this course, Professor Cedric Watts (University of Sussex) explores Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. We begin by thinking about the strangeness of the play: is it a history, a comedy, or a tragedy? was it performed in Shakespeare's lifetime?...

In this course, we explore several aspects of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, thinking in particular about the play in performance. In the first module, we think about how Shakespeare manipulates, fuses, and pays with genre, before moving on to...

In this course, Professor John Roe (University of York) explores Shakespeare's As You Like It – a play that was written in 1599, first performed in 1603, and first published in the First Folio, 1623. We begin by thinking about...