Shakespeare and the Ocean, with Steve Mentz

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today, we sail the seven seas with Shakespeare. In addition to being a dedicated swimmer, Steve Mentz is a professor at St. John’s University. His books, including 2009’s At the Bottom of Shakespeare’s Ocean, connect literary criticism with marine ecology. Mentz talks with Barbara Bogaev about Shakespeare’s oceanic metaphors, how much Shakespeare really knew about the ocean, and what plays like The Tempest, King Lear, and Twelfth Night can teach us as we face rising sea levels and more destructive storms. Steve Mentz is a Professor of English at St. John’s University. His new book, An Introduction to the Blue Humanities, is out now from Routledge. He is a former Folger fellow and a frequent participant in the Folger Institute’s scholarly programs. From the Folger’s Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published August 29, 2023. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. Leo Fernandez edits a transcript of every episode, available at folger.edu. We had technical help from Robert Scaramuccia in New Haven and Jenna McClelland at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	On this week's episode, we'll take a deep dive into Shakespeare's oceanic metaphors.
0:10.0	From the Folcher Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:16.0	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folcher Director.
0:18.6	Summer is coming to a close here in the Northern Hemisphere,
0:21.5	and that means the start of another academic year awaits us.
0:25.7	But before we have to leave the beach behind,
0:28.0	we thought we'd bring you a dispatch from the seaside,
0:31.1	specifically the part of Long Island Sound
0:33.4	where Professor Steve Ments of St. John's University
0:36.4	swims each day at high tide.
0:39.5	Mens' work draws our attention from the green world of the land to the blue of the ocean.
0:45.5	He's the author of several books of criticism that connect literature with marine ecology.
0:51.1	He wrote the volume, Ocean for Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series, as well as a critical study of shipwrecks.
0:58.0	His most recent book is called An Introduction to the Blue Humanities.
1:03.0	For Ments, the ocean represents an unforgiving, inhospitable environment.
1:08.0	We can visit it as swimmers, but we can't live there.
1:11.6	And as the sea level rises, it forces us to adapt or get out of the way.
1:17.6	Ments devoted his first book on this watery theme to Shakespeare.
1:22.6	Published in 2009, at the bottom of Shakespeare's Ocean picks up on oceanic themes at work in his plays.
1:30.4	As a new maritime power, England in the 16th and 17th centuries was gripped by sea fever.
1:37.3	In plays such as The Tempest, Othello, and King Lear, Mence finds traces of this oceanic obsession.
1:48.0	Mence has collaborated with the Folulger on several projects. In 2010, he curated an exhibit at the Folger called Lost at Sea,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Folger Shakespeare Library, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Folger Shakespeare Library and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.