Random William Shakespeare Podcasts

King Henry IV, Part 1 is the second of Shakespeare’s eight Wars of the Roses history plays, with events following those of King Richard II. As the play opens, King Henry IV (formerly Henry Bolingbroke) and Henry Percy (Hotspur) argue over the disposition of prisoners from the Battle of Holmedon. The King’s attitude toward Mortimer and the Percy family prompts them to plot rebellion. In the meantime, his son Prince Hal is living the low life in the company of Sir John Falstaff. As the time of battle nears, Prince Hal joins his father and is given a high command. The play’s climax is the Battle of Shrewsbury, in which Prince Hal and Hotspur meet and fight, with Prince Hal and the forces of the King prevailing. The action continues in King Henry IV, Part 2. From the start this has been an extremely popular play both with the public and with critics.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, King Henry IV, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, William Shakespeare

Will@Warwick – a podcast featuring the latest academic insight into the work of William Shakespeare.

Categories: Education

Tags: capital, Education, higher education, university, warwick, William Shakespeare

Though it’s titled The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the man himself appears only in five scenes in the entire play! However, such is his impact on the events that surrounded him that he still remains the central figure in this psychological drama that combines politics, honor, assassination, betrayal, the lust for power, patriotism and friendship. Set in 44 BC in ancient Rome, it is one of William Shakespeare’s early Tragedies. First thought to have been performed in September 1599, William Shakespeare’s original text or script have long vanished. What we have today is taken from a prompt script that must have been used by stage managers in Elizabethan times. Shakespeare probably used the historical facts found in Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Life of Brutus and Life of Caesar. Whatever the source, the play remains a deeply moving, engrossing slice of history. The play opens with a street scene in which two Roman tribunes are depicted arrogantly dealing with the common people of the city. This sets the tone for what is to come—the huge public antipathy to a once celebrated war hero who now nurses ambitions beyond his status. Later scenes depict the agony of Marcus Brutus, the beloved friend of Caesar, who is also a supreme patriot above all the calls of friendship and love. The sinister warning of the soothsayer, the conspiracy scene, the brutal assassination and the events that follow are well known. Mark Antony’s famous speech “Friends, Romans, Countrymen….” and Brutus’ inflexible idealism and his far too measured tribute to the man whom he honored so greatly are the highlights of the play. Scholars have concluded that the inspiration for writing this play must have been the overwhelming anxiety felt in Elizabethan England regarding the royal succession. There were fears that the elderly Queen would die without naming a successor, leading to the outbreak of civil war, which is depicted in the play after the death of Caesar. Caesar himself is a charismatic, powerful and intuitive leader, who holds the empire together by sheer dint of his leadership qualities. He has strong premonitions of his own death. Though the crime is committed in full public view, it is sought to be justified as a political necessity. The play is also famous for not having either a real hero or a villain. Julius Caesar has been adapted extensively for stage, screen and television. Many notable actors have played the roles of Brutus, Mark Antony and Caesar with exceptional brilliance. The play is full of wonderful lines that have entered the realms of English literature over the centuries. Indeed a riveting read for young and old!

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, Julius Caesar, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, William Shakespeare

The Play’s the Thing is the ultimate podcast resource for lovers of Shakespeare. Dedicating six episodes to each play (one per act, plus a Q&A episode), this podcast explores the themes, scenes, characters, and lines that make Shakespeare so memorable. In the end, we will cover every play The Bard wrote, thus permitting an ongoing contemplation and celebration of the most important writer of all time. Join us.

The Play’s the Thing is presented by The CiRCE Podcast Network.

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Categories: Arts, Fiction

Tags: Close Reads, Literature, plays, Shakespeare, The Bard, theater, William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius’s brother and Prince Hamlet’s father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king’s widow and Prince Hamlet’s mother. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness – from overwhelming grief to seething rage – and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Myths/Legends, play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, tragedy, William Shakespeare

Written around the middle of his career, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s great festive comedies. The men are back from the war, and everyone is ready for romance. The dashing young Claudio falls for Hero, the daughter of Leonato, governor of Messina, and his friend Don Pedro helps him secure her affection. These youthful lovers are contrasted with the more experienced (and more cynical) Benedick and Beatrice, who have to be tricked into falling in love. Don Pedro’s bastard brother, Don John, provides the intrigue, and the dimwitted constable Dogberry provides the laughs.

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Much Ado About Nothing, play, William Shakespeare

In seventeenth century Venice, a wealthy and debauched man discovers that the woman he is infatuated with is secretly married to a Moorish general in the Venetian army. He shares his grief and rage with a lowly ensign in the army who also has reason to hate the general for promoting a younger man above him. The villainous ensign now plots to destroy the noble general in a diabolical scheme of jealousy, paranoia and murder, set against the backdrop of the bloody Turkish-Venetian wars. This timeless tale, Othello The Moor of Venice was one of the ten famous tragedies that William Shakespeare wrote. It is also one of his plays that has the best documented performance history. First staged on 1st November, 1604 at Whitehall Palace, it was regularly performed at the playwright’s own Globe Theater and the Blackfriars Theater in London besides touring the country as part of the repertoire of the King’s Men which was the theatrical company that Shakespeare belonged to for most of his career. Such is the power and appeal of the play that it has remained completely unchanged or unrevised over the centuries, while many other Shakespearean plays were adapted, rewritten or trimmed during the Restoration and the eighteenth century. The doomed figure of the lovely Desdemona who is murdered so cruelly by the ill-fated Othello based on a tragic misunderstanding continues to haunt playgoers and readers the world over even today. Modern performances have explored the race and class aspects of the play. Famous actors like Laurence Olivier have given legendary performances, while opera, ballet, television, film, stage, graphic novels and animation versions have kept the magnificent story alive today for audiences all over the world. Shakespeare was probably inspired by the sixteenth Italian writer Cinthio’s story titled A Moorish Captain. Many scholars have deemed this to be based on a true incident that happened in Venice in around 1508. However, only the mere skeleton of the story has been used by Shakespeare and most of the characters and sub-plots are his own dazzling creations. He may have also been influenced by the delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England in 1600. For other details like location and manners, he probably used Venetian history books and contemporary sources. Whatever the history and inspiration of the play, it remains one of the most powerful, compelling and towering works in English literature. This tale of deception, heroism, love, hatred and the demonic obsession called jealousy sparkles with brilliant lines that have entered the English language and become immortal. A majestic work by a supreme artist – Prepare to be overwhelmed!

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Othello, play, tragedy, William Shakespeare

Banished from his own lands by a usurping brother, Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been living on a deserted island for years, until fate brings the brother within the range of Prospero’s powers. Will he seek revenge, or reconcilement? More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice was probably written between 1596 and 1598, and was printed with the comedies in the First Folio of 1623. Bassanio, an impoverished gentleman, uses the credit of his friend, the merchant Antonio, to borrow money from a wealthy Jew, Shylock. Antonio pledges to pay Shylock a pound of flesh if he defaults on the loan, which Bassanio will use to woo a rich heiress, Portia. A subplot concerns the elopement of Shylock’s daughter Jessica with a Christian, Bassanio’s friend Lorenzo. In its focus on love and marriage, the play shares certain concerns with Shakespeare’s other comedies. Yet its depiction of the tensions between Jews and Christians in early modern Venice – and its highly dramatic trial scene in Act 4 – create darker currents in the play.

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare’s most well-known play is more than most people realize. While it is the story of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, it is also the story of two families in the middle of a bitter feud. Many people avoid the story because they believe it will be too difficult to read, but this is not true at all. Within a few paragraphs, the play captures your imagination and attention. Juliet is 13 years old and is love with the son of her father’s enemy. Her father has promised that she will marry another boy when it is time, but she refuses to accept the suit. One night, Romeo sneaks into a ball in Juliet’s home (in hopes of seeing a girl he is in love with) when he overhears Juliet speaking of her love for him. He steps out of the shadows and they decide to marry. They are married the next day in secret. It is discovered that Romeo snuck into the ball and Juliet’s cousin is angry and challenges him to a duel. When Romeo refuses to fight, a man is killed and Romeo is banished from the country. Juliet is thrown into a depression and her father decides she needs to get married right away. However, the Friar who helped Juliet marry Romeo comes up with a plan to get Romeo back and to unite the families. The plan unravels quickly, though. The story of Romeo and Juliet has everything that a reader could want. Like many of Shakespeare’s works, it has comedy and tragedy, but it also has love, family, duals, good and evil. Do not pick up the book assuming that knowing about the tragedy will ruin the story. The tale of how both families got to this point is one that will not soon be forgotten. The lessons of love and forgiveness are ones that are just as important more than 400 years after the play was written.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, romance, Romeo and Juliet, tragedy, William Shakespeare

Right from its famous opening scene which begins, “Thunder and lightning. Enter Three Witches” The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare holds the reader fast in a stirring, monumental experience that plumbs the depths of the human soul and reveals its most morbid secrets. The play is set in medieval Scotland. It is based partly on historical facts and recounts the tale of Macbeth, who was a king in Scotland, according to The Holinshead Chronicles, a book published in 1577. This book was extensively used by contemporary playwrights like Shakespeare and Marlowe as inspiration for their themes, characters and events. Though Shakespeare did use some of the material found in Holinshead, the final product is entirely his own and he fleshed-out and created most of the principal characters himself in a play that is considered his darkest, most ominous and most powerful tragedy. The Tragedy of Macbeth is also one that explores the nature of the supernatural in our lives. The play begins with Macbeth and Banquo, two army generals in the employ of their king, Duncan, returning victorious from two different wars. As they cross a dark and lonely heath, they encounter three women who predict that Macbeth will be named Thane of Cawdor and one day reign as King of Scotland and that Banquo will beget an illustrious line of noble descendants who will one day rule the land, though Banquo himself will never reign. The two men are skeptical, but their disbelief begins to vanish when messengers arrive with the news that Macbeth has been elevated to the rank of Thane of Cawdor! This sets off a train of devastating events. Macbeth’s ambitious and evil wife, Lady Macbeth, is willing to go to any lengths to achieve her ends. Plots, treason, murder, ghosts, war and suicide follow, in a terrible mélange. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. It deals with issues that are relevant even today. The overarching greed for power at any cost, the breakdown of morality, corruption and unbridled ambition, cruelty and its effect on the soul, omens and portents, superstitions and violence are some of the dark themes explored. Since it was first performed in the 1600s, Macbeth has remained one of the most widely enacted plays in the world, been translated into hundreds of world languages, given contemporary twists, adapted for film, television, studied in schools and universities and been the subject of psychological, sociological and political research. Ultimately, it remains one of the most remarkable portrayals of the shadowy and unlit spaces of the human heart. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, tragedy, William Shakespeare

Considered to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, the tragedy King Lear portrays some of the darkest aspects of human nature that can be found in literature. The helplessness of the human condition, as we fall prey to our destinies, the injustice and random cruelties practiced by people, suffering and humiliation, the lust for power and the greed for wealth are all depicted in this magnificent play. And through it all, runs the golden thread of love and sacrifice, daughterly affection and the true nature of our relationship with our parents. Little is known about the writing of the play. It is thought to have been drafted some time in 1603 but the authorship of Shakespeare was finally attributed to it only in the 1623 First Folio. Early 17th century audiences disliked the gloomy aspects of the play and it was given a happy ending. However, in the 19th century, the original was brought back and with it, Shakespeare’s unerring grasp of human nature, love and family values. The almost fairytale quality of the opening scene can beguile the reader into a sense of familiarity. However, this is literally the lull before the storm! King Lear of Britain is aging and he wishes to divide his inheritance and the kingdom among his three daughters. However, he devises a strange test for each, based on which he will give the largest share to the winner. The daughters have to describe how much they love him. The elder two, Goneril and Regan heap praise on their father, layering their speech with fulsome compliments designed to please and flatter the old man. However the youngest, his favorite daughter, Cordelia remains silent, saying she has no words to express her love. Enraged and disappointed, the old king disinherits Cordelia and gives her share to her two sisters. Her lover, the Duke of Kent, objects, but he is banished. Lear then declares that he will spend the rest of his life with his two faithful elder daughters and here begins the kernel of the play. Said to be based on a legendary ruler of ancient Britain, Shakespeare’s brilliance turns the bland myth into a towering narrative, filled with wonderful quotations and dramatic elements, creating an immortal portrait of the human condition. Lear’s descent into madness and the final tragic aspects of the play make it an unforgettable read. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, King Lear, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Myths/Legends, play, tragedy, William Shakespeare

Summer nights, romance, music, comedy, pairs of lovers who have yet to confess their feelings to each other, comedy and more than a touch of magic are all woven into one of Shakespeare’s most delightful and ethereal creations – A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The plot is as light and enchanting as the settings themselves. The Duke of Athens is busy with preparations for his forthcoming wedding to Hippolyta the Amazonian Queen. In the midst of this, Egeus, an Athenian aristocrat marches in, flanked by his lovely daughter Hermia and her two suitors, Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, but she has given her heart to Lysander. The Duke rules that Hermia must obey her father or else face banishment or execution. Lysander and Hermia make plans to elope, but here the plot takes an interesting twist. Helena, a former sweetheart of Demetrius, learns about the lovers’ plan and decides that the way to get back into Demetrius’ good books is to tell him about this! The two pairs land up at the same time in a forest. This enchanted wood near Athens is where Oberon, King of Fairies rules. His queen, the imperious and very beautiful Titania and he have recently fallen out over the ownership of a little boy from India who was given as a gift to Titania. The wily Oberon sends his merry messenger, Puck, to cast a naughty spell on Titania. She promptly falls in love with Bottom the Weaver, one of a group of villagers who have come there to rehearse their act for the coming festivities. Bottom, courtesy the impish Puck, has been transformed into a ridiculous, donkey headed creature. And so winds on the captivating course of events in A Midsummer Night’s Dream! Some of the most immortal lines in English literature are to be found in this play. “Ill met by moonlight, Fair Titania.” “The course of true love never did run smooth…” “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” “The lunatic, the lover and the poet/Are of imagination all compact!” and a hundred others sparkle like bright gems throughout the play. As with most Shakespearean comedies, mistaken identity, twists and turns and hilarious comic interludes mark this one too. Reputed to have been written some time during the 1590s, when the playwright was still in his twenties, this play certainly captures not just a young person’s heart, but also appeals to the imagination of an older audience.

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: A Midsummer Night's Dream, audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, William Shakespeare