Shakespeare
MIT OpenCourseWare's Shakespeare course examines a selection of the plays through multiple critical lenses, asking why his work still dominates English literature, theater, and film three centuries after his death. Sessions work through questions of textual meaning in Shakespeare's own historical context against modern readings, performance choices, and the problem of which text of a given play counts as authoritative given the era's competing printed editions. The course includes a syllabus, reading assignments drawn from the plays themselves plus critical essays, and guidance on watching filmed or staged performances critically. Materials come from MIT's OpenCourseWare archive, free to access, with no certificate offered. It suits anyone wanting a structured, university-level introduction to reading Shakespeare's language and stagecraft rather than a survey of plot summaries.