It has been over 450 years since the world's most famous and well-respected playwright was born and to mark the anniversary there’s an abundance of celebrations and commemorations of Shakespeare and his work.
To honour this event, we've compiled a fantastic range of free resources on his plays, sonnets and more. In addition to this, The Open University has been involved in many different co-productions with the BBC on his life, work and legacy. To get started and 'cheer thyself a little' you can check out the FREE resources below.
See how Shakespeare is perceived across the globe
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Living Shakespeare: Dr John Kani on South Africa and Othello
Watch now to access more details of Living Shakespeare: Dr John Kani on South Africa and OthelloShakespeare's 'Othello' still makes people uncomfortable because it tackles racism, so what was it like for John Kani who played the play's lead role at the peak of Apartheid in South Africa?
Level: 1 Introductory
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Living Shakespeare: Kalki Koechlin on India's women and Ophelia
Watch now to access more details of Living Shakespeare: Kalki Koechlin on India's women and OpheliaOphelia's situation in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' bears a lot of parallels with Indian women and their place in society. Bollywood actor, Kalki Koechlin, explores her tragic story.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Living Shakespeare: Dame Evelyn Glennie on the UK and The Tempest
Watch now to access more details of Living Shakespeare: Dame Evelyn Glennie on the UK and The TempestThe United Kingdom's Dame Evelyn Glennie talks us through her unique way of hearing and interpreting Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Living Shakespeare: Hong Ying on China and the sonnets
Watch now to access more details of Living Shakespeare: Hong Ying on China and the sonnetsShakespeare's sonnets were once banned in China and are now popular with the gay community. Hong Ying, author of ‘Daughter of the River’ looks at Shakespeare’s sonnets as they relate to sexuality and love in China.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Living Shakespeare: Alissar Caracalla on Lebanon and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Watch now to access more details of Living Shakespeare: Alissar Caracalla on Lebanon and A Midsummer Night’s DreamChoreographer Alissar Caracalla reimagines A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the mountains of Lebanon.
Level: 1 Introductory
Read up on what Shakespeare's life was like
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Shakespeare's family
Read now to access more details of Shakespeare's familyPeter Thomson describes Shakespeare's family life.
Level: 1 Introductory
Dig into the details of Shakespeare's work
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Shakespeare: A critical analysis
Listen now to access more details of Shakespeare: A critical analysisIs Shakespeare still relevant today? How does his work influence pop culture today? Do the themes of his plays continue to resonate with modern audiences or as a result of his legacy has he become a caricature of himself? Stephen Regan, accompanied by experts from the world Shakespeare congress examine Shakespeare ‘s work from a critical ...
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Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It
Learn more to access more details of Reading Shakespeare's As You Like ItDo you enjoy watching Shakespeare's plays and like the idea of finding out more about them? This free course, Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It, will guide you through some of the most important speeches and scenes from one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies.
Level: 2 Intermediate
Explore various Shakespearean texts and genres
The The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s works, referred to by critics as the ‘First Folio’, appeared in 1623, seven years after his death. The Folio splits Shakespeare's plays into three categories: comedy, tragedy and history. You can explore each category in more detail in the tabs below. There's an additional tab conveying for Shakespeare’s notorious love poems, the sonnets (and for poetry in general). We've also provided the free eBook An Introduction to Shakespeare's First Folio to give you the low-down on the background to this amazing book.
Select a tab to begin...
Shakespeare was a master of comedy and audiences across the globe today still laugh out loud at the double-entendres, wit and confusion between characters that light up works such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It and Twelfth Night. It’s not all hilarity, however. Even Shakespeare’s sunniest comedies have their darker side, addressing topics that still worry us today: alienation; loneliness; sexual identity; madness; lust.
The rich and mysterious ‘late plays’ that Shakespeare wrote towards the end of his life, like The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale, are often described as ‘romances’ rather than as ‘comedies’. They are full of magic and special effects, taking full advantage of the sophisticated staging possible in the new indoor theatres of the period.
Use the resources below to explore the way Shakespeare used comedy in his plays and find out more about the genre of comedy itself. You can also discover the complexity of romance and marriage in Shakespearean comedy by listening to our podcast Midsummer Nights Dream: Love and Feminism and rediscover The Taming of the Shrew, the play that became a template for all the “battle of the sexes” comedies to follow.
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Outside the book: Comedy
Watch now to access more details of Outside the book: ComedyFind out how making fun of society and social mishaps allowed writers like Shakespeare to produce great comedy.
Level: 1 Introductory
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From the Sumerians to Shakespeare to Twain: why fart jokes never get old
Read now to access more details of From the Sumerians to Shakespeare to Twain: why fart jokes never get oldHow have fart jokes survived the times? Even the great William Shakespeare, used a flatulence pun in his play The Comedy of Errors...
Level: 1 Introductory
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The Birth of Comedy
Listen now to access more details of The Birth of ComedyTake the topical satire of Have I Got News For You and mix thoroughly with the adolescent humour of The Inbetweeners, add in a healthy dose of Monty Python-esque absurdity and finish off with lashings of songs and dances. Then serve it all up to a baying crowd in an atmosphere more like a football match than a theatre stage. Welcome to the world...
Murder, war, adultery, revenge, suicide, revolution, ghosts and witches: this is the dizzying fabric of everyday life in Shakespeare's tragedies —iconic monuments of world culture such as Hamlet, Macbeth and Julius Caesar. These are plays that conjure up complex and shifting in audiences, as their attitudes to the characters on stage shift unpredictably from one character to another. Some, like Romeo and Juliet, have been reworked innumerable times over the years in films, ballets, books and many other forms.
Explore Shakespeare's tragedies in more detail in the free learning tools below. We also have links to Joseph Fiennes' take on the ultimate tragic love story Romeo and Juliet and to Kim Cattrall's revisiting of the role of the great Queen of Egypt in Antony and Cleopatra. Our podcast Shakespeare & Performance looks at the impact of different staging of his plays including Hamlet and King Lear.
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Hamlet: "To be or not to be..."
Watch now to access more details of Hamlet: "To be or not to be..."Alex Jennings performs one of the most famous soliloquies from Shakespeare; Act 3, scene I: To be, or not to be: that is the question.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Hamlet: Introducing the characters
Watch now to access more details of Hamlet: Introducing the charactersTony Hill of the Royal Shakespeare Company introduces the characters and plot of Hamlet to a group of New York high school students.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Outside the book: Tragedy
Watch now to access more details of Outside the book: TragedyDiscover how renaissance tragedies such as Hamlet and The Duchess of Malfi emit strong moral and political messages.
Level: 1 Introductory
Shakespeare addressed some of the hottest political topics of his time in his vivid dramatisations of English history. In a sequence of eight plays, he charted the turbulent years leading up to the arrival of the Tudor dynasty, introducing audiences to a dazzling variety of characters—from the impetuous Hotspur and the villainous hunchback Richard III to the subversive man-mountain Sir John Falstaff, one of world literature’s most memorable comic creations.
In the resources below you can get to grips with the details of Henry V in our free course Approaching Plays and look at the roles of dogs in the play. Or, you can watch the animation on the phrase 'I'll send him packing' from Henry IV part 1. We also have an animation on the well-known expression 'as dead as a doornail' from Henry VI part 2 in another Shakespeare Speaks video.
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English monsters
Read now to access more details of English monstersDr Tim Hammond takes a look at dogs and the poor on the English Renaissance stage, particularly in Shakespeare's history plays.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Approaching plays
Learn more to access more details of Approaching playsDo you want to get more out of drama? This free course, Approaching plays, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary plays. You will learn about dialogue, stage directions, blank verse, dramatic structure and conventions and aspects of performance.
Level: 2 Intermediate
The Sonnets
In 1609 a book appeared with the simple title ‘Shakespeare’s Sonnets’. Inside, accompanied by no introductions or explanations, were 154 powerful love poems: 126 to an unidentified young man and 28 to a woman, the notorious ‘dark lady’. For whom were these poems written? What relationship do they have to Shakespeare’s life? The biographical mystery behind the sonnets is fascinating, but the poems themselves are more extraordinary still: by turns romantic, cynical, ecstatic, guilt-ridden and vulnerable.
Find out more about Shakespeare's sonnets and about poetry in general with the learning tools below and listen to, perhaps, his most well-known sonnet (sonnet number 18). You can hear how the sonnets would have been pronounced in Shakespeare's day with the podcast Shakespeare: Original pronunciation.
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Shakespeare's sonnets
Read now to access more details of Shakespeare's sonnetsKatherine Duncan-Jones outlines the mystery behind Shakespeare's sonnets.
Level: 1 Introductory
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How a centuries-old poem hints at Shakespeare’s herbal ‘muse’
Read now to access more details of How a centuries-old poem hints at Shakespeare’s herbal ‘muse’Evidence from a poem and sonnett suggest that William Shakespeare drew at least some of his inspiration from cannabis.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Writing Poetry
Listen now to access more details of Writing PoetryPoetry is a delicate and intricate art form, practised by many people but rarely mastered. In this album, poets Jackie Kay, Paul Muldoon, W.N. Herbert and Jean Breeze talk about their respective approaches and attitudes to poetry. They explore many aspects of their craft, from the initial spark of inspiration and rewriting to more technical ...
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Approaching poetry
Learn more to access more details of Approaching poetryDo you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn ...
Level: 2 Intermediate
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What is poetry?
Learn more to access more details of What is poetry?Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This free course, What is poetry?, is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of poetry and free verse. You will learn how you can use your own experiences to develop ideas and how to harness your imagination.
Level: 1 Introductory
In 1609 a book appeared with the simple title ‘Shakespeare’s Sonnets’. Inside, accompanied by no introductions or explanations, were 154 powerful love poems: 126 to an unidentified young man and 28 to a woman, the notorious ‘dark lady’. For whom were these poems written? What relationship do they have to Shakespeare’s life? The biographical mystery behind the sonnets is fascinating, but the poems themselves are more extraordinary still: by turns romantic, cynical, ecstatic, guilt-ridden and vulnerable.
Find out more about Shakespeare's sonnets and about poetry in general with the learning tools below and listen to, perhaps, his most well-known sonnet (sonnet number 18). You can hear how the sonnets would have been pronounced in Shakespeare's day with the podcast Shakespeare: Original pronunciation.
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Shakespeare's sonnets
Read now to access more details of Shakespeare's sonnetsKatherine Duncan-Jones outlines the mystery behind Shakespeare's sonnets.
Level: 1 Introductory
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How a centuries-old poem hints at Shakespeare’s herbal ‘muse’
Read now to access more details of How a centuries-old poem hints at Shakespeare’s herbal ‘muse’Evidence from a poem and sonnett suggest that William Shakespeare drew at least some of his inspiration from cannabis.
Level: 1 Introductory
-
Writing Poetry
Listen now to access more details of Writing PoetryPoetry is a delicate and intricate art form, practised by many people but rarely mastered. In this album, poets Jackie Kay, Paul Muldoon, W.N. Herbert and Jean Breeze talk about their respective approaches and attitudes to poetry. They explore many aspects of their craft, from the initial spark of inspiration and rewriting to more technical ...
-
Approaching poetry
Learn more to access more details of Approaching poetryDo you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn ...
Level: 2 Intermediate
-
What is poetry?
Learn more to access more details of What is poetry?Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This free course, What is poetry?, is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of poetry and free verse. You will learn how you can use your own experiences to develop ideas and how to harness your imagination.
Level: 1 Introductory
Gauge what society was like during Shakespeare's life
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Tremors - The Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I
Read now to access more details of Tremors - The Virgin Queen, Elizabeth IOne of the great figures of British history: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen
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Tremors - James VI / I and the Union of Crowns
Read now to access more details of Tremors - James VI / I and the Union of CrownsJames Stuart moved two nations closer together through the Union of the Crowns
Discover the original pronunciation of Shakespeare & his impact on the English language
Shakespeare wrote "All the world’s a stage" - but how did the "players" pronounce the Bard's words on stage 400 years ago? Find out in the video below then use the links further down to discover how Shakespeare'swords, phrases and idioms changed the English language.
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The History of English in Ten Minutes
Watch now to access more details of The History of English in Ten MinutesWhere did the phrase ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ come from? And when did scientists finally get round to naming sexual body parts? Voiced by Clive Anderson, this entertaining romp through 'The History of English' squeezes 1600 years of history into 10 one-minute bites, uncovering the sources of English words and phrases from Shakespeare and the...
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Getting to grips with Shakespearian language
Watch now to access more details of Getting to grips with Shakespearian languageTony Hill of the Royal Shakespeare Company assists young people in accessing Shakespearian language by working through lines from Hamlet and understanding the meaning behind the text.
Level: 1 Introductory
Discover the reception to Shakespeare's work after his death
Over the past 400 years, Shakespeare’s works have been rewritten, adapted, parodied, translated and distorted in innumerable different ways. They have been turned into novels, musicals, ballets, films and advertisements, and been used to support diametrically opposed political views. Explore some of this rich variety of response to the world’s greatest dramatist using the links below.
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Shakespeare: Our contemporary?
Read now to access more details of Shakespeare: Our contemporary?Gill Stoker considers to what extent Shakespeare would be at home in our contemporary world.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Imagining the Bard: William Boyd Interview
Read now to access more details of Imagining the Bard: William Boyd InterviewAcclaimed novelist and screenwriter William Boyd wrote a drama about William Shakespeare entitled "A Waste of Shame". His drama is based on academic research and clues in the sonnets. It brings to life the inner thoughts of the world’s greatest wordsmith, presenting Shakespeare to us as a man rather than a myth.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Fakespeare: Rewriting the bard
Take part now to access more details of Fakespeare: Rewriting the bardRewrite Shakespeare’s best bits for the 21st Century and reveal your inner wordsmith.
Level: 1 Introductory
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Othello and apartheid
Watch now to access more details of Othello and apartheidCan a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues? Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white inhabitants by the minority white population. In ...
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Collecting Shakespeare: Crowd funding and rediscovered plays
Read now to access more details of Collecting Shakespeare: Crowd funding and rediscovered playsA benefit gig, a rediscovered lost play and a beef with Alexander Pope: Lewis Theobald's 18th Century edition of Shakespeare plays could have fitted comfortable in the social media age.
Level: 1 Introductory
Look back on previous Shakespeare small screen series
Discover our exhibition: Shakespeare at the OU
Head over to our exhibition in our digital archive that celebrated the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth in 2014. OU Associate Lecturer Brendan Jackson selected a collection of clips that illustrate the way in which The Open University has been able to use visual media to teach Shakespeare. Twenty-one video clips have been selected around six themes, spanning forty-three years of archived OU study materials.
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