LibGuides: Texts for Shakespeare's Tragedies and Romances: Home

Comprehension Help

Shakespeare can be intimidating; however, there are so many resources out there to help you understand his works. If you feel you are struggling with the written word alone, please remember that his plays were written to be performed--viewed and heard. I'm including here several topic and work overviews that will help you understand Shakespeare's texts. I encourage you to read them before you read the works, but you are welcome to dip into them any time or not at all. It's important to remember that it's NOT cheating to find out what's going on in a play. Once we are unencumbered by confusion, we can really enjoy the language and begin to engage the ideas.

Foreigners in Shakespeare's Works
Introduction to Hamlet
Introduction to Titus Andronicus
Introduction to Othello
Introduction to Antony and Cleopatra
Introduction to The Merchant of Venice
Introduction to The Tempest

If you're interested in reading more about genre, please feel free to explore widely. Here are a few links from the same resource as above:
Tragedy
Comedy
History (and Succession, if you're interested)

And, finally, if you'd like some more basic information about the bard, here is a link to the eponymous entry:

Shakespeare

Literature Resources From Gale This link opens in a new window
Now known as Artemis Literary Sources, this is a searchable online collection offering access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analysis of authors and their works from every age and literary discipline.

Required Readings

"Race" - from Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Shakespeare, Race, and Colonialism by Ania Loomba
ISBN: 9780198711742
Publication Date: 2002-11-07
Did Shakespeare and his contemporaries think at all in terms of "race"? Examining the depiction of cultural, religious, and ethnic difference in Shakespeare's plays, Ania Loomba considers how seventeenth-century ideas differed from the later ideologies of "race" that emerged during colonialism, as well as from older ideas about barbarism, blackness, and religious difference. Accessible yet nuanced analysis of the plays explores how Shakespeare's ideas of race were shaped by beliefs about color, religion, nationality, class, money and gender.

Alternate Media Options

Audio Books

Hamlet (YouTube)
Titus Andronicus (YouTube)
Othello (YouTube)
Antony and Cleopatra (YouTube)
The Merchant of Venice (YouTube)
The Tempest (YouTube)
The Tempest (Professional Audiobook)

Film Productions

Please note that it's very rare for a film production to reproduce all of the play. You should use your study guide and the actual text to prepare for your quizzes, but these films and shows may help you get a better idea of what is going on in the play. I have not watched all of them, nor would I want to, so please all the trigger warnings and watch at your own risk.

What is Tragedy?
Hamlet
Titus Andronicus
Othello
Antony and Cleopatra
Merchant of Venice
The Tempest

Secondary Sources

I highly encourage you to do your own research on Shakespeare! We have a lot of resources to help with research, including Peer Research Tutors, the ability to chat with Research Librarians, and our own dedicated liaison, Jake Vaccaro. If you're just diving in on your own, this amazing resource collaboration between the Folger Library and JSTOR is a wonderful place to start.

The JSTOR Understanding Series: Shakespeare

I suggest working towards articles that have been published in this millennium, and we can talk more about why in class. I'm going to break that rule all over the place.

Works for Assignments

(You may choose your own criticism, but please run it by me first.)

Hamlet
Patricia Parker's "Black Hamlet: Battening on the Moor"

Titus Andronicus

Othello

Antony and Cleopatra

The Merchant of Venice

The Tempest

Dr. Romanelli

Tina Romanelli

She/Her

Email Me

Contact:

Carlyle Campbell Library 020 or Park 117

(919) 760-8554

Librarian Jake Vaccaro

Jake Vaccaro