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Individual Course

Shakespeare’s Life and Work

Course Length

4 weeks

5-7 hours per week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences LogoHarvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Enroll as Individual

Certificate Price:

$ 149

On demand

Enroll on edX

Enroll as Individual

Certificate Price:

$ 149

On demand

Enroll on edX

Explore relationships between Shakespeare’s world and present day, and learn literary analysis tools to better comprehend and enjoy his works.

How do we read Shakespeare? Do his plays belong to the past or the present? To a famed dramatic genius or to readers and audiences around the globe? What do his plays really mean?

Moving between the world in which Shakespeare lived and the present day, this course will introduce different kinds of literary analysis that you can use when reading Shakespeare. With short videos filmed on location in England and readings covering topics like Shakespeare's contemporaries and the politics of modern performance, you will learn a range of critical tools that you can use to unlock the meaning and relevance of Shakespeare’s plays.

Join us as we visit Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born in 1564; London, the lively city where he began as an actor; and the Globe Theater, where his first plays were performed. This journey through Shakespeare’s life will transport you to another era and will give you a new perspective on his timeless work.

Self-Guided

edX

Certificates:

  • Individual Certificate
  • Free Audit Learning
  • Almir M.

Global Learning Community

  • Learn from Harvard faculty
  • Do it on your own time
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Program in this topic

Shakespeare's Life, Work, and Characters

These courses can be bundled together to receive a professional certificate at a discounted price.

See program

3 Courses available

Faculty

Your Instructor

Stephen Greenblatt

Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University

Stephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is the author of twelve books, including The Swerve: How the World Became Modern; Shakespeare's Freedom; Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare; Hamlet in Purgatory; Marvelous Possessions; and Renaissance Self-Fashioning. He is General Editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and of The Norton Shakespeare, has edited seven collections of criticism, and is a founding editor of the journal Representations.

As a Professor of English Language and Literature, I regard this certification not merely as an academic credential, but as a distinguished milestone that has deepened my interpretative insight into Shakespearean scholarship. Being instructed by the eminent Professor Stephen Greenblatt—whose pioneering contributions to literary criticism and cultural theory have shaped modern understandings of the Renaissance—was an absolute privilege of the highest order. His erudition, clarity, and pedagogical brilliance invigorated my analytical approach to Shakespeare’s texts, inspiring a renewed commitment to both teaching and research excellence. The program’s rigorous exploration of historical, philosophical, and performative dimensions of Shakespeare’s oeuvre has profoundly expanded my intellectual horizons, affirming Harvard University’s unparalleled legacy in fostering scholarly distinction and advancing the global study of English literature.

Almir M.

Professor

Ways to take this course

Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate

A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.

⁠Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.

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