Is Shakespeare History? The Romans
In Our Time
BBC
4.6 • 9.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 October 2018
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the second of two programmes marking In Our Time's 20th anniversary on 15th October, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's versions of history, continuing with the Roman plays. Rome was the setting for Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and parts of Antony and Cleopatra and these plays gave Shakespeare the chance to explore ideas too controversial for English histories. How was Shakespeare reimagining Roman history, and what impact has that had on how we see Rome today?
The image above is of Marlon Brando playing Mark Antony in a scene from the film version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, 1953
With
Sir Jonathan Bate Provost of Worcester College, University of Oxford
Catherine Steel Professor of Classics and Dean of Research in the College of Arts at the University of Glasgow
And
Patrick Gray Associate Professor of English Studies at Durham University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.9 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:07.5 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website and you can get news about our |
| 0:10.8 | programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:14.8 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:17.0 | Hello, it's almost impossible to imagine Antony and Cleopatra or Julius Caesar and ignore |
| 0:21.4 | Shakespeare's versions of their histories. |
| 0:24.0 | His accounts are clipped all on us with the power of his storytelling. |
| 0:27.7 | In not only retail the stories of Rome, he shaped the idea about Rome meant what his values |
| 0:32.3 | were and what we could learn from its example. |
| 0:34.6 | It is Shakespeare history and what you study make of the sources he had. |
| 0:39.2 | That's what we're discussing over the two programs marking the 20th anniversary of In Our |
| 0:42.6 | Time. |
| 0:43.6 | Now we have the Roman plays last week as a plantageness. |
| 0:46.5 | We'd need to discuss Shakespeare and his Roman plays are Sir Jonathan Bate, Provinced |
| 0:50.2 | of Worcester College University of Oxford, Catherine Steele, Professor of Classics at |
| 0:54.2 | the University of Glasgow and Patrick Gray, Associate Professor of English Studies at |
| 0:58.0 | Durham University. |
| 0:59.0 | Jonathan Bate, watch stage in his career with Shakespeare writing about Rome. |
| 1:03.9 | Well, he began writing about Rome very early with a play actually largely fictional called |
| 1:08.8 | Titus Andronicas. |
| 1:09.8 | So let's set that aside for today. |
... |
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