Lectures on Shakespeare

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Princeton University Press, Oct 8, 2019 - Literary Criticism - 432 pages

From one of the great modern writers, the acclaimed lectures in which he draws on a lifetime of experience to take the measure of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets

"W. H. Auden, poet and critic, will conduct a course on Shakespeare at the New School for Social Research beginning Wednesday. Mr. Auden . . . proposes to read all Shakespeare's plays in chronological order." So the New York Times reported on September 27, 1946, giving notice of a rare opportunity to hear one of the century's great poets discuss at length one of the greatest writers of all time. Reconstructed by Arthur Kirsch, these lectures offer remarkable insights into Shakespeare's plays and sonnets while also adding immeasurably to our understanding of Auden.

 

Contents

Henry VI Parts One Two and Three 3
3
13
13
The Comedy of Errors and The Two Gentlemen of Verona 23
23
Loves Labours Lost
33
A Midsummer Nights Dream
53
The Taming of the Shrew King John and Richard II
63
Henry IV Parts One and Two and Henry V
101
The Merry Wives of Windsor
124
Alls Well That Ends Well
181
Antony and Cleopatra
231
Timon of Athens
255
Pericles and Cymbeline
270
Concluding Lecture
308
APPENDIX I
321
Fall Term Final Examination
341
Audens Markings in Kittredge
347

Troilus and Cressida
166

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About the author (2019)

Arthur Kirsch is the Alice Griffin Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia and the author of books on Shakespeare as well as Auden.

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