Dr. J's Shakespeare

Episode 22: The General Challenger 15.07.2023 17:43 ↓

The match between Orlando and Charles the Wrestler considered as a metaphor for the confrontation between every individual human being and the world.

Episode 21: Hector & Achilles 15.06.2023 19:34 ↓

Shakespeare portrays the combat between Hector and Achilles differently that it's portrayed in Homer's Iliad. Shakespeare is cynical about Achilles, cynical about Hector, and cynical about the Trojan War. There is no heroism and no dignity.

Episode 20:What a King is This! 24.05.2023 12:37 ↓

Hamlet relates to his friend Horatio how he sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths.

Episode 19: A Pound of Flesh 11.05.2023 32:25 ↓

The Merchant of Venice weighs justice and mercy in the balance, but does it also betray Shakespeare as antisemitic?

Episode 18: Kill Claudio 27.04.2023 14:43 ↓

A woman asks her lover to kill his best friend.

Episode 17: Not Alone Unhappy 12.04.2023 11:44 ↓

Society depends on human sympathy, including sympathy for those who are unhappy, who can also find companionship in literature and art.

Episode 16: Love-In-Idleness 22.03.2023 12:39 ↓

The flower Love-In-Idlesess, and particularly its juice dropped on a sleeper's eye, is the source of all erotic love and woe.

Episode 15: We Are Two Lions 09.03.2023 0:11 ↓

Julius Caesar waivers over whether to visit the Senateon the Ides of March.

Episode 14: Cakes and Ale 22.02.2023 14:07 ↓

The disapproval of moralists cannot suppres the fun of others.

Episode 13: A Comedy? Really? 08.02.2023 18:02 ↓

Shakespeare seems to bungle a play.

Episode 12: Reason Not The Need 25.01.2023 14:08 ↓

Human dignity requires more than our purely physical needs

Episode 11: We Stand Up Peerless 11.01.2023 12:10 ↓

In Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra we find two worlds: Egypt and Rome. Egypt stands for life and Rome the denial of life. The tragedy is the triumph of Rome and the denial of life overe Egypt and the affirmation of life.

Episode 10: Things Dying and Things Newborn 28.12.2022 15:57 ↓

Ann infnt girl is rescued from the fate her jealous father inends for her.

Episode 09: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 14.12.2022 18:15 ↓

A giant green knight intrudes on the yuletide festivity of King Arthur and his Round Table.

Episode 08: Love’s Not Love 23.11.2022 15:12 ↓

The masculine toxicity of Shakespeare's Othelloo isn't Shkespeare's, but Othello's; similarly the racism in Othello isn't Sakespeare's, but Iago's.

Episode 07: Two Holy Palmers 09.11.2022 19:13 ↓

The artifice of art and the reality of love

Episode 06: Falstaff and Prince Hal 26.10.2022 11:06 ↓

What is the cost of growing up? All the world?

Episode 05: The Weird Sisters 12.10.2022 16:36 ↓

Do we choose our fates? Are our fates somehow determined? Are we just the victims or beneficiaries of the world's whims?

Episode 04: Helena 28.09.2022 15:52 ↓

Is the irrational, feeling mind dominant over our rational mind?

Episode 03: Let’s Kill All the Lawyers 14.09.2022 15:12 ↓

A demagogue stirs up a violent revolt by appealing to the mob's resentments.

Episode 02: Servants Good and Bad 24.08.2022 14:45 ↓

In this life, we all are servants. But whom or what do we serve? And what kind of servant are we?

Episode 01: Rosalind and Jacques 10.08.2022 15:50 ↓

The essential conflict in Shakespeare and in life: withdrawal from life/engagment with life

Launch Announcement 29.07.2022 3:00 ↓

Announcingtwo new podcasts: Dr. J's Shakespeare and Dr. J's American Passages