A Year of Shakespeare

The new year is about to begin and I couldn’t be more excited. Othello and Peter Ackroyd are waiting to be started and this blog will officially kick off with the descent of the mirror ball in Times Square. I’ll probably be the only person thinking Shakespeare at the stroke of midnight…

I have created a syllabus the merges chronology with theme and allows for a reasonable 52-week pace. Like any form of physical travel, there will be some adjustments once wheels leave the ground. But I love the plan!

Most months call for ONE major play with accompaniment beginning with Othello and ending with the Tempest. I’ll explain my reasoning as the year unfolds.

But if you’re thinking ahead, here is the lineup for January:
Othello
Titus Andronicus
A Comedy of Errors
Two Gentlemen of Verona

Othello and Titus pair a seasoned tragedy with Shakespeare’s first attempt, while Comedy and Gentlemen are considered two of the earliest extant plays period.

Chronology and attribution are two thorny Shakespeare issues that must be dealt with at some point, but not here and not now.

All that really matters is that the blog officially begins in less than 12 hours with the greatest Shakespeare play I’ve never read.

Can’t wait!

This entry was posted on 2013/12/31 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Asides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.