English Taster Lecture

William Shakespeare’s career was shaped by the plague in London. One particularly severe outbreak killed perhaps fifteen per cent of the population of the city, and even during the milder plague years the playhouses were closed and Londoners lived in terror.

Perhaps because of this fear, the plague does not appear often in Shakespeare’s plays, but when it does it has a particular force.

What can Shakespeare’s plays – and the writings of his contemporaries – teach us about how to understand the experience of living through a pandemic, and what happens when pandemics end?

This taster will also include an introductory overview of studying at NCH, and there will be ample time for Q&A with Faculty and Student Ambassadors.