Shakespeare is the leading playwright, and probably the leading writer, in Western civilization. His works are one of the greatest achievements of the human mind and spirit. And yet, for many of us they remain a closed book. Why? Too often, we were force-fed Shakespeare as adolescents-when our own dramas were all-consuming. The language of Shakespeare is 400 years old: even as adults, reading or seeing a play may seem like listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and missing half the notes.
The crowds that filled the Globe to witness his plays in Elizabethan times enjoyed his words easily. Perhaps we've forgotten how to listen to his language, and we approach his works unaware of the larger cultural, political, and spiritual context that give them their full, rich meaning. Professor Peter Saccio is well suited to bring you back into Shakespeare's world, and tune you into what he calls "Shakespeare's wavelength."
The Teacher and His Plan
Teaching both as a lecturer and as a trained actor and director, and assisted by two Shakespearean actors, Professor Saccio brings the Bard's sonnets and plays to life with astute and passionate performances. As you hear him effortlessly deliver Elizabethan language with the proper meter, emphasis, intonation, and emotion, you'll experience the pleasure that comes with true mastery.Professor Saccio also prepares you to read or watch the plays by orienting you to Shakespeare's use of multiple plots, lines of action, and the sometimes outmoded forms of human behavior-such as courtship in Elizabethan England-that arise in the plays.
Pure Language, Pure Feeling
Professor Saccio devotes two of his lectures to Shakespeare's sonnets, fusing an understanding of their technical elements (meter, rhyme, alliteration, pacing) with an appreciation for the torrent of variegated feeling that underlies them.The sonnets are often misunderstood to be an autobiographical narrative of Shakespeare's personal life. Actually, they are something much greater than that. John Keats praised Shakespeare for his "negative capability," his capacity to inhabit and explore multiple moods, emotions, and perspectives, without committing to one. Only someone of his level of sensitivity and imagination could write on one occasion:
Kind is my love today, tomorrow kind, Still constant in a wondrous excellence
... and then fume in another sonnet:
Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action; and till action, lust Is perjur'd, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame.
Love's Language
Shakespeare had much more to say about love than could be contained in the space of a sonnet. Professor Saccio shows how he used comedies, romances, and even tragedies to reflect on love's every facet:
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the characters' speeches reveal love as absurd, irrational, changeable, wonderful, and dangerous. The characters woo in a distant forest, away from society, lest their foibles undo the conventions of society. Amid piquant barbs on sexual politics, we find farcical spectacle, as the goddess Titania pledges undying love to the peasant Bottom, who is transformed into a donkey! The Winter's Tale explores the dark side of our passions, as irrational affection becomes unreasoning jealousy and rage. King Leontes destroys his family with rash accusations of infidelity. Repentant, he must seek the love that expresses itself in forgiveness, and that contains a touch of magic.
As You Like It is a study of lovers themselves, and the different kinds that make the world go round. You'll meet the earthy Touchstone and Audrey, the witty and erotically charged Celia and Oliver, the Petrarchan formalists Phebe and Silvius, and our heroes Rosalind and Orlando, who know love is madness, but embrace the sweet nonsense nonetheless. Action and the Meaning of HistoryShakespeare was acutely aware of the importance of history, and not just of events but of ideas. His tragedies and histories are meditations on the changing world around him, and of the eternal issues of character and human nature.
Professor Saccio closely examines this world where actions and ideas intersect, and raises profound and unexpected questions: Richard III is a classic villain, but somewhat disturbingly, also a Renaissance figure. Schooled in Machiavellian tactics of self-promotion, deception, and betrayal, he is a cautionary example of what it means to be a "self-made" man. Yet he says he is "determinate" to be a villain. Is this a Calvinist nod to the limits of free will and responsibility? Henry V is often seen as the anti-Hamlet, a man of action and a military leader. But is he, or any king, really capable of making his own history? The son of a usurper, he is oppressed by the weight of history, of expectation, and by his own overwhelming sense of responsibility. In a famous scene he tries on the crown of his dying father-but is this ambition or an attempt to wrestle with his own inexorable fate...
Dr. Peter Saccio is Leon D. Black Professor of Shakespearean Studies and Professor of English Emeritus at Dartmouth College. He also served as a visiting professor at Wesleyan University and at University College in London. He earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University.
At Dartmouth, Professor Saccio was honored with the J. Kenneth Huntington Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Professor Saccio is the author of Shakespeare’s English Kings, which has become a classic in its field. He is also the editor of Thomas Middleton’s comedy A Mad World, My Masters, for the Oxford Complete Works of Thomas Middleton.
Professor Saccio is also an accomplished actor and theatrical director. He directed productions of Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Cymbeline, and devised and directed several programs of scenes from Shakespeare and from modern British drama. His acting credits include the Shakespearean roles of Casca, Angelo, Bassanio, and Henry IV, as well as various parts in the ancient and modern plays.
I'm a bit unclear if I liked this, loved it or only worked pretty hard to get through it before it was due back at the library. One thing Professor Saccio promises is Shakespeare and action, and this he delivers.
Because I've grown dependent on reading the transcripts of The Great Courses that I've bought, when there is no accompanying transcript I suffered kerfufflement. The public library copy of this course was sans text. (As a result the jagged line between my eyebrows deepened noticeably this past week.) Also--and here this is simple didactic oversight--the professor does not always provide locations of his reading choices (i.e. Act V, scene ii) so often I would spend frustrating hours combing through plays to find the correct section to read along with him.
Professor Saccio is a Shakespeare fanboy. He frequently giggles with glee when exposing Shakespeare's literary undergarments. He is good at what he clearly loves and he is good at what he teaches. Obviously his students get a lot out of his classes because he knows exactly what they don't understand and gives clarifying explanations (cultural, social, political, linguistic, culinary, poetic, etc.) for them to get the subtleties.
My complaint goes slightly beyond the public library issue. First: in sixteen lectures, he develops themes about fourteen different plays, and devotes two lectures to the sonnets. This is a problem because 45 minutes is not enough to talk about actions in any one of the plays, and as for the sonnets there are over a hundred of them. There just was not enough minutes for him to give an overview and an excursus. Why wasn't this a 48 lecture course? I want more, exclamation point; second, of the fourteen plays he covers how did he manage to pick out the four plays I have not read? I take that personally. Also, he jammed two plays into his fifth lecture, and one of them is "Much Ado about Nothing", which deserved a whole lecture and a half itself, so fie on ye!; three, he asked two actors to animate several of the parts and it was an unhappy experiment. (See, I'm being nice. I had a lot to say about one of the actors, who needs to learn how to listen in order to learn how to speak.) When Saccio reads the texts, however, his high, quavery stayed-inside-a-lot-as-a-child-rather-than-played-with-the-other-reindeer voice is so gigglingly excited it's downright contagious. Imperfect readings, but enjoyable.
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The morning after I finished the course I was staring at the pile of books to go to the library once again irrited by the lack of transliteration. Prof. Saccio made a remark I wanted to revisit about Renaissance magicians (alchemists) being the bona fide precursors of modern scientists--an observation which delights the mind with metaphoric syzygy. Moreover, he mentioned the appearance of "elementals" (my word, not his) as unseen things that were to the poetic fancy no less real than unseen atoms to the modern physicist. Not only does this support my theory that great writers have deep observational skills they also have imaginations unbound by what convention tells us. They see in their internal eye what many can only see with equipment built for special purposes. (And thus, my usual explanation for why acupuncture works.) Genius is in the linking of imagination and vision and I loved how Prof. Saccio said it, albeit more succinctly than I.
A lagniappe: In an episode of "Doctor Who" the Doctor and Martha meet Shakespeare who glances at the Doctor's psychic card and retorts, "That's just a blank piece of paper." Which is perfectly right or, in other words: Shakespeare can see true!
The lecture series is great. I found the title misleading. Compared to the previous series, How To read and Understand Shakespeare, this series wasn't about words and actions at all. It was more about "wavelengths" and broad rhythms. For example, a discussion of when characters use prose and when they use verse, when the verse is rhyming couplets and when it is regular open ended iambic pentameter. What are Cezuras and how are they employed (hint: when verse is interrupted in this way, something important is going on)? If you are looking to further understand Shakespeare, I can definitely recommend it. If you want a 26 hour lecture about the way Shakespeare uses certain words and the sometimes double and triple meanings of those words, this is not what you are after.
He covers a LOT of ground. Before listening to this, most of Shakespeare was mashed together for me in great lumps of plays. Now I feel like I know them separately. For example, "Cymbeline" has this precise, clockwork plot that is not found in any other plays. He often introduced lesser known plays in ways that made me think, "definitely skipping that one" and by the end of the lecture had me wanting to read it and study it more. He makes a lot of connections between modern productions of Shakespeare and the original plays to explain how so many scenes are left open to the interpretation of the directors and actors.
An accessible and general discussion of Shakespeare's plays. I especially liked the consideration of Machiavellianism in Richard III, and the topicality of subjects such as Coriolanus and Henry VIII to contemporary audiences. Professor Saccio reminded me of how much fun Renaissance English drama can be!
2018 Started listening to this, then found the Comedies, Histories and Tragedies at the library, so set it aside to listen to that first before returning to an old friend here.
************************************** 2015 This is a fantastic series. Because of it, I have read Peter Saccio's book "Shakespeare's English Kings" and listened to another of Saccio's Shakespeare lectures. I plan to listen to this series again. It is just excellent.
Professor Peter Saccio Teaching Company’s course “Shakespeare: The Word and the Action” features 16 individual courses. Professor Saccio’s lectures are each 45 minutes long and exceptionally well done. He is a noted Shakespearean professor at Dartmouth College where he taught for 41 years. He also was a Shakespearean play actor and a well recognized theatrical director. His lectures focus on the way Shakespeare uses play actions and words to create a “wavelength” of conventions that bring audiences into a deep understanding of Elizabethan enlightenment and European social values. These values underpin his understanding of love, family values, governance, nature, and art. Saccio’s course also features how Shakespeare constructed his 154 sonnets using poetic structures such as iambic pentameter quatrains, and closing couplets. His course and wonderful guidebook dramatically improved my understanding of Shakespeare’s insights that have endured for over 430 years. (P)
One of my favorite Great Courses that I've listened to. The way that Saccio approaches the text, with attention to the tone and pace of language and action, has helped me in my own engagement with these texts. I was delighted when we hit several days straight of lectures that addressed the plays I'm currently reading in my personal bard-a-thon, and those lectures helped to focus my reading and understanding as a keep chugging along. Looking forward to hearing other Shakespeare lectures by Saccio.
I think I enjoyed Saccio’s series on Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies just a little bit more, but nonetheless, exploring some of his other plays (plays Saccio didn’t go over in the other series, so that was nice that there wasn’t any crossover) through the lens of what characters and Shakespeare himself did or didn’t do was truly fascinating. Having two other actors with him to perform excerpts of some of the plays was helpful as well - granted a better understanding (in my opinion) to some of the points he was making, to hear them read out in multiple voices.
I love learning about Shakespeare, how much he influenced so many other novels/writers and how much of his work and especially his word/writing is embedded in everyday life today.
Best investment are the Great Courses lectures - so glad I own this as I'll have to go back to it everytime I read another play or about to read a play.
Although there is no doubt in Saccio's unique understanding of the works of Shakespeare, this series seems a bit messy... one doesn't feel much of a structure or a scheme, just a lot of insights on various plays.
To lead a fully enriched life, you have to go on a major Shakespeare binge at least seven times. Saccio's lectures are a must have when you do so. His knowledge and insights will vastly improve your undertstand of the bard. The more you understand the bard, the more rewarded you will be.
When I started on this, I was expecting a biography of sorts, but soon realized that this was 16 abridged dissections of his plays. I have to admit that my first thought was in the realm of WTF! But I got drawn in and ended up truly enjoying this unexpected journey.
This is a superb series of lectures on several works of Shakespeare. The lecturer is very smart and relies on several actors to perform certain pieces of the works of the Bard. It is a fine addition to anyone's education to listen to these lectures.
I really appreciate these "Great Courses" and "Master Courses" with professors from the 90's. Feels like I'm back in college and gives me the intellectual simulation I need in small doses. This one was helpful in making Shakespeare a little easier to untangle.
Hamlet: I'll have grounds More relative than this—the play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.
Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 603–605
You would not be reading this review if you did not think you already have a pretty good handle on Shakespeare. You have probably already seen a few plays (at the movies or in the theater) and or read several of his plays. You might even be familiar with some of his sonnets. Yet as most of us have to be told that our shoes are untied there is much more to Shakespeare than what we can extrapolate on our own. Now it is time to have a second set of eyes or ears as you would show us depths that we may not have attained in understanding Shakespeare the word and the action.
This is a great set of lectures by Prof. Peter Saccio. One thing you have to watch out for in great courses is religious fanatics disguising themselves as professors. In this case, you do not have to worry that you have the real thing.
It is sort of ironic that his first statement is that most people don’t like Shakespeare because their first encounter was with the teacher that wanted to pull everything apart until the students how it works instead of just enjoying themselves with observations. Then he turns around and uses this course to pull everything apart. But you will find that his polling is a lot more enjoyable.
He suggests that this course can be taken from someone who has not heard any of his previous lectures and that might be so; however, if you’re just coming into Shakespeare with no background you may be lost in some of the quotes and points that he makes.
You don’t have to get everything out of these lectures however there is something in them for everybody and re-watching them after having time to think and read will add more richness to their second viewing and third and fourth.
Contents: Lecture 1: Shakespeare’s Wavelengths Lecture 2: The Multiple Actions of “a Midsummer Night’s Dream” Lecture 3: The Form of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Lecture 4: Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets Lecture 5: love and artifice in “Love’s Labor’s Lost” and “Much Ado About Nothing” Lecture 6: “As You Like It” Lecture 7: the battles of “Henry VI” Lecture 8: “Richard III” and the Renaissance
Within a couple of months of my first "read" (actually I listed to this as it is a lecture series), I was already ready for a repeat. This was a rich resource for me as I wrote the Shakespeare segment of a training manual for adult scholar projects. Each of the lectures concludes with a launch propelling the listener into deeper thought and a greater understanding of humanity.