Shakespeare’s Rome

Shakespeare was looking in two directions when composing 1 Henry IV. He was looking back to Homer and the Iliad in order to view English history against the background of the classical heroic tradition. At the same time, he was looking at contemporary events in the court of Elizabeth. Essay

Kristol and Cantor discuss how Shakespeare used plays set in ancient Rome to explore themes such as republicanism, political greatness, and tyranny. Conversation

Cantor explains why we should study Shakespeare’s Roman plays, and interprets Coriolanus. Paul Cantor analyzes Julius Caesar, and the impact of philosophy on Roman politics. Conversation

Paul Cantor explains and debunks the prominent arguments suggesting that Shakespeare could not have written his plays. Cantor and Kristol discuss what the “Shakespeare Authorship Question” reveals about our own ideas about literary genius. Conversation

How could anyone have come up with works of the magnitude of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth in the space of a few seasons writing for the London stage?

If you really want to learn something about Shakespeare, go back to the plays. Book Review

In Shakespeare’s Rome, Cantor examines the political settings of Shakespeare’s Roman plays, Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra, with references as well to Julius Caesar. Book

Cantor analyzes the way Shakespeare chronicles the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire. Book

Paul Cantor provides a new and clearly structured introduction and groundbreaking analysis of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. Book

A study of the first example of “mass market” culture, and its intersection with aristocratic patronage. The importance of competition in artistic creation. Shakespeare as entrepreneur. The economics of the Globe Theater. Lecture 2