literature, education, and early modern drama // the words, words, words of a (former) English teacher // all views are my own and do not represent those of my employer // Dr James Alsop (@readtheshakey)
In this paper, I argue that throughout Antonio's Revenge Marston establishes a clear relationship between the appearances of ghostly characters and glaring shifts in his play’s tonal register. Specifically, ghosts – primarily the recurring figure of Andrugio – appear to both signpost and facilitate a gloriously self-aware metatheatrical undercurrent designed to entertain and emotionally unsettle the audience in equal measure.
The following paper was originally presented at the “Making Connections” London Shakespeare Centre Graduate Conference, held at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, February 2018 (the location of the conference is relevant to the content of the paper!). It's one of the most enjoyable things I've written in many years, and I'm proud of what it represents. Enjoy!
Friends, readers, countrymen - lend me your ears! In what follows I will attempt to link the tragedy of Julius Caesar to: a grammar school education and rhetorical devices, the death of Queen Elizabeth, the lives of a penniless troupe of actors, early modern medical theory, and tenuous references to Donald Trump’s “alternative facts”. Let’s see how this goes.
In this paper I discuss the ways in which Shakespearean performance can be used to promote student wellbeing in education. Originally presented at the BritGrad conference, June 2018.
In "Hamlet," Shakespeare’s depiction of man-eating in forces his audience to confront their own unsavoury distinctions between “acceptable” and “unacceptable” forms of cannibalism...
A summary of my PhD thesis: featuring ghosts, gore, and a spooky review of Michael Boyd's 2011 "Macbeth"...
