I’ve just put out a free 75-minute lecture on Shakespeare’s sonnets, available with topic timestamps here: Thank you to everyone who has emailed me to recommend tons of great sonnet-related resources. I have so much to read now! Indeed, the journey never ends. And thank you to those who recommended poets for us to explore […]
Shakespeare’s Sonnets Podcast
Reading Shakespeare’s sonnets in sequence across a span of many weeks, ranking your favourites, then attempting to possess the best by memory is one of the greatest literary joys a book-lover can pursue. So today we’re kicking off the new year with a discussion on how to read the sonnets, why read the sonnets, and […]
My Favourite Shakespearean Sonnet (Video)
Did you know Shakespeare started writing the sonnets during Elizabethan lockdown? All the theatres were shut because of plague. So what’s a playwright to do? Well, he penned Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, and got started on his sonnet sequence. I say “get started” because Shakespeare wrote the 154 sonnets over 2 decades. […]
Shakespeare’s King Richard III – Hardcore Literature Podcast
King Richard III is a pivotal, bold stride towards the creation of the Shakespearean myth, the creation of character and the human. Literature was never the same again after Richard III. We go deep into the history, politics, language, and themes of Richard III, chartering Shakespeare’s influence and the time in which he was writing – a […]
Shakespeare Reading Challenge Update (Henry VI 1, 2, 3 & Richard III)
I’ve now read through the Henry Tetralogy. That’s Henry VI Parts One, Two, and Three, and have moved onto Richard III. Those Henrys are a slog. Finally arriving at Richard III is like a breath of fresh air. I rank each book, marking my grade – both on a sliding alphabetical scale and out of […]
King Lear Naked on the Heath (Shakespeare Deep Dive Analysis)
King Lear naked on the heath in the middle of a storm, berating the heavens, daring them to drown him and everybody else too. The scene haunts me. I’ve read it hundreds of times, watched countless actors tackle Shakespeare’s rabid poetry, and find myself replaying the scene in my mind, like a fever dream or […]
Reading Shakespeare Chronologically: The Journey Begins (Video)
I’ll be vlogging my journey reading Shakespeare chronologically in a year. There will be meta-commentary videos like this one along the way: There will also be long lectures, deep dives into each play, mini-documentaries, attempts to break specific scenes and language and characters and themes apart. I also have a secret project in store for […]
Boycott Academics
When you set out to read Shakespeare chronologically, you run into a few problems. First, and most obvious, no one can agree on the correct chronology for Shakespeare. Did he write the cycle of Henry VI plays first? Or did he write The Taming of the Shrew? Or, should we say, The Taming of A Shrew? […]
How to Read Shakespeare in a Year (Video)
I’ve talked about how to read the complete works of Shakespeare in a year. But I’ve recently decided to read everything Shakespeare wrote in chronological order and document my journey in video form, kicking off with this introductory video here: I’ve decided on reading Shakespeare chronologically because I want to know Shakespeare the man, the […]