Shakespeare's Ghosts and Spirits

An episode of the Gresham College Lectures podcast, hosted by Gresham College, titled "Shakespeare's Ghosts and Spirits" was published on March 27, 2018 and runs 50 minutes.

March 27, 2018 ·50m · Gresham College Lectures

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Summary

Where do the ghosts in Shakespeare come from? And what about the magic? In this lecture, Jonathan Bate will summon up the ghosts of Old Hamlet, the victims of Richard III and Julius Caesar, revealing their origins in the bloody plays of Seneca. He will then show how such figures from classical mythology as Theseus and Medea provide a key to the association between supernatural powers and Shakespearean art. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham...

Episode Description

Where do the ghosts in Shakespeare come from? And what about the magic? In this lecture, Jonathan Bate will summon up the ghosts of Old Hamlet, the victims of Richard III and Julius Caesar, revealing their origins in the bloody plays of Seneca. He will then show how such figures from classical mythology as Theseus and Medea provide a key to the association between supernatural powers and Shakespearean art.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/shakespeares-ghosts-and-spirits

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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