English Literature
English Literature

In this course, Professor John Lennard explores Shakespeare’s most urban comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. As we move through the course, we think about a number of issues, including: the setting of the play and its impact on the action;...
5 lectures
0:48:10
Prof. John Lennard
Independent Scholar
English Literature

In this course, Dr Ross Wilson (University of Cambridge) explores the poetry of John Keats. In the first two modules, we think of Keats in terms of first reader, then writer, thinking about his engagement with both the texts of...
6 lectures
1:01:40
Dr Ross Wilson
Cambridge University
English Literature

In this course, Professor Gina Wisker (University of Brighton) explores Toni Morrison's 1987 novel, Beloved. We begin by providing a broad introduction to Black women's writing, focusing in particular on the works of Alice Walker, Zora Neale...
6 lectures
0:50:28
Prof. Gina Wisker
Brighton University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Will Abberley (University of Oxford) explores the influence of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species' on contemporary works of Victorian literature: 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, 'The Coming Race' by Edward...
4 lectures
0:40:37
Dr Will Abberley
Oxford University
English Literature

In this course, Professor Anne Varty (Royal Holloway, University of London) explores Oscar Wilde’s 1895 drama, An Ideal Husband. We begin by thinking about the structure of the play, focusing in particular on the ways in which Wilde both conforms ...
4 lectures
0:03:28
Prof. Anne Varty
Royal Holloway, London
English Literature

In this course, Dr Marion Turner (University of Oxford) provides an introduction to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The course begins with a discussion of the opening lines of the General Prologue, before going on to discuss Chaucer himself, the...
6 lectures
0:59:48
Prof. Marion Turner
Oxford University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Christopher Pittard (University of Portsmouth) explores Truman Capote's 1966 true crime classic, In Cold Blood. We begin by thinking about the genre of the novel, a genre which Capote referred to as 'the non-fiction novel'....
5 lectures
1:13:10
Dr Christopher Pittard
Portsmouth University
English Literature

In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. In the first three lectures, we provide a broad introduction to the play, thinking about the life and career of Oscar Wilde, as...
15 lectures
2:39:17
Prof. John McRae
Nottingham University
English Literature

In this course, Professor Nicole Pohl (Oxford Brookes University) provides an introduction to and overview of dystopian literature. In the first module, we introduce the concepts of 'utopia' and 'dystopia' themselves, as well as the idea of...
7 lectures
1:20:55
Prof. Nicole Pohl
Oxford Brookes University
English Literature

This course provides readers of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales with a broader context of Chaucer’s life and times as well as the kind of literature that was being written in the Medieval period that may have inspired Chaucer when it came...
5 lectures
0:29:08
Dr Carolyne Larrington
Oxford University
English Literature

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...
5 lectures
1:26:45
Dr Anna Caughey
Oxford University
English Literature
History

This course provides key historical context for John Milton's 'Paradise Lost', looking in particular at the figure of Charles I. The course is divided into nine parts. The first seven look at Charles' early years (1600-25), his early reign...
9 lectures
0:54:54
Prof. Diane Purkiss
Oxford University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Ross Wilson (University of Cambridge) explores the poetry of the great Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. We begin in the first module by providing a brief overview of Shelley's short life and career with an emphasis on ...
6 lectures
1:08:11
Dr Ross Wilson
Cambridge University
English Literature

In this course, Professor Max Saunders (King’s College, London) explores the literary movement of modernism in the context of the broader concept of modernity. We begin by introducing the terms ‘modernism’ and ‘modernity’ and think about the...
5 lectures
0:46:30
Prof. Max Saunders
King's College London