Shakespeare: 'Richard II' and the idea of kingship

5 weekly sessions, on Thursdays at 2 - 4pm, starting from Thursday 22 January

Overview

Shakespeare’s Richard II is the first work in the Henriad tetralogy, followed by Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. The play charts the fall of Richard and the rise of Henry Bolingbroke - Henry IV. This course will examine how both characters discuss, express and act on their interpretations of kingship and the notion of the Divine Rite of Kings and how Shakespeare situates his characters both in their historic moment but also very much amidst the political upheavals of late Elizabethan England. We will also consider briefly how Shakespeare explores these themes in the Henry plays.

The course is accessible to anyone with an interest in, and preferably some experience of, Shakespeare

Syllabus

1. An introduction to the text - dates, history, reception, censorship, political unrest
2. The King’s two bodies: the body politic and the body natural
3. Medieval and Modern statecraft: Richard and Bolingbroke in a changing world
4. Blank verse, metaphor and heroic couplets: the architecture of Richard II
5.  ‘Sovereign trust’: the rise of the Henries

Course lecturer

Dr Kathleen O’Leary has taught on Continuing Education courses for almost nine years and in that time has offered courses on European literature, Jane Austen, poetry and Shakespeare. Her work focusses on the impact that early modern/medieval writers had on not only the development of the English language, but also on how character, irony and form influenced later writers, and indeed our modern perceptions of literature.

Course fee

• Standard fee: £80
• Concession fee: £40