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Shakespeare in Italy

For the Elizabethan playwright, William Shakespeare, Italy was the stage on which to explore his greatest themes; love and war, fidelity and betrayal - above all, politics - and a treasure house of legend and stories that fueled his imagination. In this two part series, Francesco da Mosto travels to Verona, Venice and Rome, revealing the beautiful locations, myths and Italian stories that inspired some of Shakespeare's most well-known plays.
  • Title ID 95-SI
  • English, English Literature, Shakespeare, Art History
  • 2 Programs
  • 3 Supplemental Files
  • 10th Grade through Post Secondary
  • Published by The BBC
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Included Programs
Supplemental Files

Included Programs

Land of LoveRunning time is 52 minutes

Episode 1 examines some of Shakespeare's most well known plays set in Italy, including the tragedies Romeo and Juliet and Othello, as well as the romantic comedies - Taming of the Shrew and, Much Ado About Nothing, while meeting historians, actors, and exploring Verona, Venice and Palermo.

Land of FortuneRunning time is 52 minutes

Episode 2 reveals the debt Shakespeare owes to Italian theatre and explores how Italy acted as a cloak for Shakespeare's most dangerous observations about Elizabethan London in his plays The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest, located in the cities of Venice, Rome, and Naples.

Supplemental Files

MARC Records for SI
MARC records for the series Shakespeare in Italy
Transcription for Land of Love
Transcription for Land of Fortune