English & Irish Literature DVDs

#10924 English Literature - Seamus Heaney on the New Beowulf (Run time 12 min.) DVD $69.95

Recently re-translated by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, Beowulf has caused a sensation in both the U.S. and the U.K. In this program, NewsHour correspondent Elizabeth Farnsworth speaks with Heaney about his attraction to that epic poem, the probable background of the bard who created the original, similarities between Old English and bits of Anglo-Saxon that still crop up in rural Ireland, and the importance of meter and alliteration in driving the poem. A reading of a passage from the new text and the old demonstrates the poetic affinity between them while underscoring the poem's timeless appeal. (12 minutes)


#3268 Shakespeare - Tyranny (Run time 20 min.) DVD $69.95

Stalin and Hitler in the 20th century, the Industrial Revolution that turned workers into inhuman cogs in a machine, the slave trade-these are but more recent examples of the tyrannical forces that buffeted Macbeth and that he himself exercised. Tyranny, then, is a force as relevant and powerful in our day as in Shakespeare's-and in Macbeth's. (20 minutes)


#3269 Shakespeare - Loyalty (Run time 20 min.) DVD $69.95

It is easy to see that Macbeth was wrong in allowing his ambition to override his loyalty to his king. But loyalty may present issues of conflict. To whom is the loyalty owed? The Crown? the state? one's employer? oneself or one's family? As always when delving into the motivation of a Shakespearean character, one finds no simple answer. (20 minutes)


#3270 Shakespeare - Ambition (Run time 20 min.) DVD $69.95

Ambition was not in itself the characteristic that led to the events in the play, but rather the failure to channel ambition into creative, not destructive, ends. This program distinguishes between the drive for absolute power and the determination required to discover, build, and create. "See where the victor victim be" sums up a host of events and motivations and aftermaths. (20 minutes)


#3271 Shakespeare - Man and Woman (Run time 20 min.) DVD $69.95

It was not so simple as that she made him do it. This program looks at the roles of men and women and at the relationship between the two beyond the usual stereotypes. (20 minutes)


#3272 Shakespeare - The Supernatural (Run time 20 min.) DVD $69.95

This program looks at the distinctions between superstition and the supernatural, and why human beings so often feel the need to turn to the supernatural for motive or explanation. (20 minutes)


#818 English Literature - D.H. Lawrence as Son and Lover (Run time 56 min.) DVD $89.95

Lawrence's letters, essays, and autobiographical sketches provide the sound track of this biography of the man who is arguably the greatest and certainly the most controversial English novelist of our century, while the artifacts and scenes of his life provide the visuals. The ideas that permeate Lawrence's work are shown here as they develop through the dominant figures in his life-the father from whom he cannot distance himself, his possessive mother, and the young woman who cannot be the goddess of his desire. First-rate performances and deep literary insight combine to make this a program that truly adds to the perception of D.H. Lawrence's life and work. (52 minutes)


#899 English Literature - Jorvik (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

A fascinating chapter in the history of the English language is illustrated by the 10th-century Norse village excavated in present-day York. A careful, scholarly reconstruction of the site demonstrates life in England around the time of the Domesday Book-roughly equidistant between Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. The program explains the Norse element in the English language. (26 minutes)


#932 English Literature - Robert Burns: Love and Liberty (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

Where other early Romantic poets saw dialect and country subjects as quaint, for Burns they were the materials of his life and became the heart of some of the most frequently anthologized poems in the English language. A Man's a Man, John Anderson, my Jo, Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon, To a Mouse, Auld Lang Syne, and others are sung or read in this Scottish Television production. (38 minutes)


#960 English Literature - Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

The mood, the conflicts of character, and the contrasting sites of Paris and London are movingly realized in this screen presentation of the widely-read story. Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, and Donald Pleasence star. (117 minutes, b&w)


#961 English Literature - Dickens: Great Expectations (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

"It does for Dickens what Henry V does for Shakespeare-that is, it indicates a method for translating him from print to film," said James Agee of this superb rendering of the much-loved novel. With John Mills, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, and Martita Hunt. (118 minutes, b&w)


#962 English Literature - D. H. Lawrence: The Rocking Horse Winner (Run time 88 min.) DVD $89.95

This story of innocent imagination destroyed by greed is a school classic. With John Mills and Valerie Hobson. (90 minutes, b&w)


#999 English Literature - Dickens: Oliver Twist (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

David Lean's sensitive rendering of the story is memorable, beautiful, and superbly performed by a cast including Alec Guinness, Robert Newton, Anthony Newley, and Diana Dors. (116 minutes, b&w)


#1032 English Literature - Milton by Himself (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95

This program examines the life and times of John Milton through his major and autobiographical writings. The visuals-period art and location photography of the London and Cambridge sites associated with Milton-combined with the music of the time and Milton's own words, together trace the rise and fall of a tragic figure caught between the worlds of ancient glory and contemporary politics-a Renaissance man in the maelstrom of the Baroque. Produced by Hugh Richmond, directed by Paul Shepard. (27 minutes)


#1315 English Literature - Boswell in London (Run time 112 min.) DVD $89.95

Boswell's claim to fame rested on the character of Samuel Johnson until the publication of his London Journals, from which it became clear that Boswell was himself a writer of importance. This program shows the brash, well-born young Scot energetically seeking to crash London society, and the historic meeting with Samuel Johnson and their developing friendship. Through use of a video technique known as chromakey, the cast appears to move through lavish period paintings of London that bring the 18th century to life in this co-production of Yale University Films and BBC-Scotland. (1 hour 52 minutes)


#1360 English Literature - Wilfred Owen: The Pity of War (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95

Drawn from the poems, diaries, and letters of Wilfred Owen, this portrait is a moving testament to the cruelty, horror, and insanity of war. Owen fought, was wounded, and fought again during the murderous front-line conflicts of the 1916 and 1917 offensives; he was killed a few days before the Armistice was signed in 1918-the news of his death reached his parents just as the church bells began to ring out in celebration of peace. Peter Florence, who edited Owen's works for this program, is also their presenter. (58 minutes)


#1698 English Literature - Dylan Thomas: A Portrait (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95

A warm, insightful and informative portrait of the Welsh poet who spoke with the tongue of angels and looked like an unmade bed-or so said The New York Times. If poetry can be explained through an understanding of the poet, and if a poet can be understood through a knowledge of his childhood, his home environment, his schooling, his friends, his childhood memories, and the landscape he selected to write from and about, then this program is a genuine clue to the work of Dylan Thomas. At the very least, it provides the background that produced "Do Not Go Gentle," the site and sights of "Over St. John's Hill," the characters of "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and other landmarks on the trail of Dylan Thomas. (26 minutes)


#1704 English Literature - Thomas Hardy and Dorset (Run time 15 min.) DVD $89.95

The novels and poems of Hardy are set in the land of his birth, Dorset, which he called by its ancient name of Wessex. Far from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure all draw their characters, their daily activities, the locales in which they are set, from the farmers and farriers, shopkeepers and schoolteachers, from the towns and fields and coastline, from the sights and smells and mood of this part of England. Juxtaposing the scenes of today-barely changed from those of Hardy's day-with his poems and descriptive passages from the novels, this program provides an underpinning of the author's reality for his poetic and fictional creations. (15 minutes)


#1705 English Literature - The Yorkshire of the Bronte Sisters (Run time 15 min.) DVD $89.95

The Bronte sisters-Charlotte, Emily, and Anne-lived in Yorkshire the whole of their lives, and it is almost impossible to appreciate their work fully without knowing the landscape that forms the substance of their novels and poems. Almost every person they met, every place they visited, every scene they saw found itself in the work of one or more of the sisters. This program introduces those who have read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights to familiar territory: Haworth and its surrounding moors, the fields and streams and lakes of Yorkshire, the house in which Charlotte worked (and hated working!) as governess and which she portrayed in Jane Eyre. In all, it provides a remarkable look at three extraordinary English women authors. (15 minutes)


#1706 English Literature - William Wordsworth and the English Lakes (Run time 15 min.) DVD $89.95

The poetry of Wordsworth is filled with the landscapes of the English Lake Country, where he was born and lived almost all his life. Wordsworth was not simply a reporter or observer of this landscape, nor does this program simply illustrate his work. Rather, it walks in his footsteps, along the paths, across the fields, through daffodil-filled meadows, beneath the azure skies and lonely clouds. Perhaps the most startling benefit of this program is its lesson about Wordsworth's poetic language. Seeing the sights he saw and hearing the words with which he described them call particular attention to the simplicity of Wordsworth's language applied to landscape that is workaday for others-yet the poet's effect is music and magic. (15 minutes)


#1707 English Literature - The Wales of Dylan Thomas (Run time 15 min.) DVD $89.95

The images of Thomas's writing-poetry, prose, and drama-are the images of his native habitat, Wales. Shaped by his voice and gift for gab, fed as from an underground spring by the linguistic riches supplied by his Welsh-speaking mother, Thomas's lines, his memories and celebrations, are of the houses, landscapes, birds, and fishes, the characters and character of Wales. The sources of his work are given shape and sound in this program, the smell and feel added by superb photography and the inimitable words of Dylan Thomas. (15 minutes)


#1715 English Literature - John Millington Synge: Playboy of the Western World (Run time 140 min.) DVD $89.95

"The definitive Playboy" is how the Irish Times described this production. Mistaken for a celebration of drunkenness and violence at its Abbey Theatre premiere in 1907, the play's allegory and black humor came gradually to be understood and Playboy recognized as a classic of 20th-century theater. It is here presented in what the London Times called "a landmark production." (2 hours 20 minutes)


#2728 English Literature - George Orwell's 1984 (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95

Anthony Burgess examines Orwell's achievement, starting with the accuracy of his predictions for the future. Burgess shows how the novel 1984 sprang from the main concerns of Orwell's earlier work and suggests that Orwell identified areas in which human freedom has always been, and continues to be, threatened. (27 minutes)


#2801 English Literature - Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95

Graham Greene discusses the origins, writing, and initial reception of Brighton Rock in 1938; how he felt about it then and his feelings now; and explains its continuing popularity. He discusses the characters, their backgrounds and beliefs, and the symbolism with which he endowed the story. He also describes his work in remolding the narrative for the screenplay of the work. (26 minutes)


#2803 English Literature - Five Poems by Ted Hughes (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95

This program takes the form of an introduction to some poems by the British poet laureate: "The Jaguar," "The Thought-Fox," "Full Moon," "A Motorbike," and "The Contender." The poet provides his own introduction to the poems before reading them. (20 minutes)


#2997 English Literature - Beatrix Potter: A Private World (Run time 42 min.) DVD $89.95

This documentary portrait of the world's most widely read and perhaps least well-known children's author draws on the diaries she wrote in code as a young girl, her books, and the memories of those who knew her. Filmed largely in the Lake District, which was so much a part of her life and books, and drawing as well on the well-known illustrations, this program provides fascinating insights into the private world where Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin and Tom Kitten and all the others were created. (42 minutes)


#3245 English Literature - Poetic Voices of Thomas Hardy (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95

This program is devoted to some of Thomas Hardy's shorter poems and the different voices or personae Hardy uses. John Wain, formerly professor of poetry at Oxford University, shows how, despite their modern feel, the selected poems are rooted in the traditional labor-intensive rural environment of Hardy's youth, a way of life destroyed by mechanization. The poems, superbly read by Alfred Molina and Juliet Stevenson, are "The Man He Killed," "We Field-Women," "To Lizbie Browne," "Great Things," "The Ruined Maid," "I Look Into My Glass," "The Children and Sir Nameless," and "The Voice." (20 minutes)


#3406 English Literature - Tolkien Remembered (Run time 38 min.) DVD $89.95

This fascinating program presents Tolkien as somewhat of a literary renegade, who read few modern writers and believed that English literature had ended with Chaucer. A philologist out of place in this century, he created his own world with its own completely functional language. Readings by Tolkien fromThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings, and recollections by his children (to whom he read episodes of his work as bedtime stories) and his publisher, offer insights into his work. His biographer analyzes how Tolkien wrote, why he illustrated his writing, his friendship with C. S. Lewis, and the jealousy displayed by fellow dons at Oxford. All of the information combined provides an extraordinary and unique portrait of a true eccentric genius and worldwide literary cult figure. (38 minutes)


#3882 English Literature - Byron: Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95

The title is drawn from Caroline Lamb's description of the poet, who seems to stand just out of camera range as the program focuses on publisher John Murray, descended from the John Murray who first published Byron's works. His offices are filled with Byron memorabilia, including long tresses of Byron's mistress's hair and even one of the poet's shirts. Byron's letters to his publisher are filled with anecdotes, invention, wit, humor-with the slightly perverse intention of shocking his somewhat puritanical publisher. (26 minutes)


#3883 English Literature - The Bronte Sisters (Run time 52 min.) DVD $89.95

How did three women-who lived in almost total isolation from others and sought with every means at their disposal to avoid human contact-except with one another-manage to write some of the greatest fiction in the English language, and some of the most insightful into the human heart? This program goes far towards finding the explanation, as it shows how their writings were woven out of the relationships between the sisters, out of the scenes and people, the contemporary social and religious upheavals, and the unmet yearnings that underlie the works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte. The characters of their time walk through the still-unchanged scenes of death, desolation, industrial pollution, and haunting loveliness, while the voices of the sisters and of Mrs. Gaskell (their contemporary and Charlotte's biographer) lay bare the problems of the soul that beset these young women so desperate to express themselves in an age of enforced domesticity for women. (52 minutes)


#3939 English Literature - Gerald of Wales (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95

Historically accurate, cleverly written, and beautifully illustrated, this is the story of Gerald and his page as they seek to summon support for the Crusades. In the process, the program re-creates the people and places of 12th-century Wales. No costume drama has captured the spirit of the Middle Ages so well as this brilliant work of animation has. (25 minutes)


#4062 English Literature - The Quest for Olwen (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95

Destined by a spell, cast by his stepmother, to love only Olwen, Culhwch begins his quest to seek her hand, but the road to marriage is paved with seemingly insurmountable obstacles set by her father, the evil giant, Ysbaddaden. Thus begins one of the loveliest of the Tales of the Mabinogion, some manuscripts of which are at least 700 years old. The legends themselves are of course far older, though their spell is as powerful today as it was when rugged warriors and their ladies listened to the adventures of King Arthur and Merlin and giants and dragons, of the daunting adventures that pitted noble heroes against the powers of magic and evil. Outstanding animation is the technique for portraying the stirring tale of Culhwch and Olwen. (30 minutes)


#4082 English Literature - Writing The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95

This program focuses on the writing of Coleridge's poem, dramatizing the writing process in order to illustrate what might have influenced and informed the poem. Contemporary comment is elicited from a wide range of people who have interesting insights into different aspects of the poem: a woman who sailed around the world, a Unitarian minister, an artist whose work is inspired by the poem, the curator of Coleridge's cottage, and the local historian in Watchet, the harbor where the poem is set. (20 minutes)


#5195 English Literature - Rudyard Kipling (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95

Once considered among the greatest writers in the English language, Kipling has gradually been edged out of curricula and anthologies. The reason: his imperialist and racist politics, which are at the core of so much of his work. This provocative program examines the relationship between poetry and politics; readings of extracts from his poems and stories illustrate both his political views and the essence of his qualities as a writer. (26 minutes)


#5213 English Literature - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: Frankenstein: The Making of the Monster (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95

The Shelleys and Byron whiled away part of a rainy summer in Switzerland reading and writing ghost stories; Frankenstein was Mary Shelley's contribution. But Frankenstein is more than a great ghost story. Its theme-that we do not know the monsters our minds can create-is perhaps even more valid today. This program contains clips from the Boris Karloff film, the prototype of movie monsters, and authors Ann Rice and Ann Mellor add their insights into this book. A Discovery University Production. (50 minutes)


#6274 English Literature - Aldous Huxley: Darkness and Light (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95

This program looks back at the life and work of Aldous Huxley. Best known for Brave New World, Huxley left behind a large body of work, from his early novels which helped set the mood of the Roaring Twenties, to his essay "The Doors of Perception," which became the manifesto of the 1960s drug culture. The program evaluates Huxley's legacy with the poet Stephen Spender, close friends Yehudi Menuhin and Huston Smith, the late drug guru Timothy Leary, biographers Sybille Bedford and David Bradshaw, critic John Carey, geneticist Steve Jones, Huxley's widow Laura and his son Matthew, and in extracts from archival interviews with Aldous Huxley himself. Filmed in California, where Huxley spent most of his life, and in Maryland and England, the program features numerous extracts from Huxley's major works. (50 minutes)


#7296 English Literature - The Last Journey of John Keats (Run time 51 min.) DVD $89.95

In 1820, John Keats was advised by doctors to travel to Italy for a climate they hoped would help cure him of tuberculosis. In this program, Keats biographer Andrew Motion retraces the poet's tortuous trip to Naples and Rome, where he died at the age of 25. Extracts from poems and letters written by Keats create a realistic portrait of a young man of ideas, ideals, and consuming passions. A BBC Production. (51 minutes)


#7363 English Literature - D. H. Lawrence (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95

Certainly one of the most colorful and controversial writers of the 20th century, D. H. Lawrence's humble beginnings as a fragile child in a Nottingham mining town hardly foreshadowed the fame he would acquire through his writing. In this program, Lawrence biographer John Worthen and others who knew the writer discuss the author's life, his many love affairs, and his turbulent marriage to his wife, Frieda. A dramatization of scenes from the 1960 obscenity trial over the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover features passages from the novel. Actress Glenda Jackson discusses Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow within the context of Lawrence's purported disdain for women. The program contains some profanity and should be previewed before being shown to students. A BBC Production. (53 minutes)


#7365 English Literature - George Orwell (Run time 51 min.) DVD $89.95

Considered a prophet by many, George Orwell is best known for his satire of totalitarian ideologies, Animal Farm, and his prophetic novel, 1984. This program traces Orwell's career from the leftist ideologies espoused in his early novel, The Road to Wigan Pier, to his disillusionment with both capitalist and totalitarian systems as evidenced in the full range of his later works. Orwell's criticism of British society as repressive is also discussed by several associates and a journalist. A BBC Production. (51 minutes)


#7366 English Literature - Dylan Thomas (Run time 52 min.) DVD $89.95

No other poet in modern history matched the rhythmic drive and verbal flamboyance of the Welshman, Dylan Thomas, destroyed by alcoholism at age 39. In this program, poet Danne Abse, Thomas's wife Caitlin, and others speak frankly about his dissolute lifestyle and its influence on his writing. Readings from poems including "Return Journey," "Ceremony after a Fire Raid," "Old Garbo," and "Poem in October" underline the commentary. Scenes from the original BBC production of Under Milk Wood-a classic radio script for voices-are included, along with portions of the poet's farewell to his dying father, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night." Rare archival footage of interviews with Thomas appears in several places throughout the program. A BBC Production. (52 minutes)


#7367 English Literature - E. M. Forster (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95

In this program, Forster's biographer, friends, and literary critics paint a detailed portrait of this widely successful and accessible author. Forster's humanistic views promoting equality among races, classes, and nationalities are revealed in readings from his masterpiece, A Passage to India. Room with a View and Where Angels Fear to Tread-largely set in Italy-compare repressive middle-class English values with those of the more open Italian culture, which Forster greatly admired. Parallels are also drawn between events in Forster's life and those portrayed in the novels Howard's End and Maurice. The former traces Forster's coddled childhood; the latter reveals his unrequited homosexual affection for a working-class Indian pupil. A BBC Production. (53 minutes)


#7368 English Literature - William Golding (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95

William Golding's power to create contemporary myth is unparalleled in modern literature. In this program, Golding, his daughter, and others discuss his life as a child, father, and naval officer in World War II. They also summarize his views on human nature. Excerpts from several works-including The Inheritors and Pincher Martin-are used to illustrate those who inhabit Golding's fiction as anarchic, rootless, and with the capacity for evil. Golding provides insight into the characters in his most famous work-Lord of the Flies-as individuals "who saw evil as something external to themselves." Excerpts from an early work, Fables, illustrate Golding's revulsion for Nazi fascism and the Holocaust. A BBC Production. (53 minutes)


#7732 English Literature - Virginia Woolf (Run time 51 min.) DVD $89.95

Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, Orlando. All of these titles, written by novelist and essayist Virginia Woolf, stand at the forefront of 20th-century literature. In this program, those who knew Woolf trace her life and prolific career from her childhood in London to her final days as a victim of mental illness and eventual suicide. As a leading member of the Bloomsbury group, Woolf's impressionistic style and stream-of-consciousness techniques are examined through excerpts from some of her most famous works. A BBC Production. (51 minutes)


#11313 English Literature - George Orwell's 1984 (Run time 51 min.) DVD $89.95

Using powerful dramatizations of scenes from 1984, this program explores George Orwell's vision of a totalitarian future where only mindless conformity is rewarded. Orwell biographer Bernard Crick; social psychologist Philip Zimbardo; Marvin Rosenblum, executive producer of 1984; human rights advocate Robert Kirschner; futurists Ray Kurzweil and Kevin Warwick; and others scrutinize the novel while considering issues of contemporary concern, such as the power of the media and the intrusion of computer surveillance into daily life. Some content may be objectionable. A Discovery University Production. (51 minutes)


#7364 Irish Literature - James Joyce (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95

Born in Dublin, James Joyce first chose a medical career, then wandered through the singing, acting, and teaching professions before finally settling his fortunes on writing. His most controversial work, Ulysses, shocked early 20th-century readers and was banned in Britain and the U.S. until 1936. In this program, critics and those who knew Joyce trace events in his life through passages in Ulysses and other works, including Dubliners, his collection of short stories, and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Also included are portions of the hyper-symbolic work Finnegans Wake, where language itself becomes the plot, and every phrase a pun with multiple meanings that recall phrases elsewhere in the novel. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)


#772 Shakespeare - Olivier's King Lear (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

Without doubt the Lear of the century, this performance surpasses the skill of the critics to praise it; its all-star cast and crew have won every award that exists for performance and production. More important, the production makes a taut, compressed, and difficult play into a work that reaches out to modern audiences in its grip on the elemental human emotions-emotions common to ancient Celts and modern Americans, rowdy Elizabethan playgoers and today's Shakespearean scholars. (2 hours 38 minutes)King Lear......................................Laurence OlivierGoneril................................................Dorothy TutinRegan..........................................................Diana RiggCordelia.............................Anna Calder-MarshallCornwall............................................Jeremy KempKent........................................................Colin BlakelyGloucester.............................................Leo MckernFool................................................................John Hurt


#815 Shakespeare - Selected Sonnets (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

Four sonnets chosen to conform to a single classroom period: Sonnet 65 (read by Jane Lapotaire, commentary by Stephen Spender), Sonnet 66 (read by Michael Bryant, commentary by Arnold Wesker), Sonnet 94 (read by Michael Bryant, commentary by John Mortimer), Sonnet 127 (read by Ben Kingsley, commentary by A.L. Rowse). (40 minutes)


#931 Shakespeare - Shakespeare and the Globe (Run time 32 min.) DVD $89.95

This program artfully brings together a treasury of visual resources to retrace Shakespeare's life and work. Included are the landmarks of Elizabethan London associated with his plays; depictions of the structure and operations of the Globe Theatre (including scenes from Laurence Olivier's Henry V); historical sources of the plays in art and architecture surviving today; theatrical traditions that influenced the playwright, like folk festivals and medieval dances; and sites associated with Shakespeare's family and origins. Some of the major dramatic motifs, like the Braggart Warrior, are shown through reenactment of sections of the plays. Produced by Hugh Richmond, University of California-Berkeley; directed by Paul Shepard. (31 minutes)


#958 Shakespeare - Olivier's Hamlet (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

Winner of five Academy Awards, the International Grand Prix of Venice, the New York Film Critic's Award, and the Parents Magazine Award for Extraordinary Merit, Olivier's Hamlet is no doubt the premier teaching tool for Shakespeare classes-Olivier's breadth of view of both the protagonist and the entire play will be enjoyed again and again by the teacher, while making the text comprehensible and exciting to students. (2 hours 35 minutes, b&w)Hamlet......................................Laurence OlivierPolonius.........................................Felix AylmerOphelia.........................................Jean SimmonsGertrude........................................Eileen HerlieGravedigger.......................Stanley HollowayMarcellus................................Anthony Quayle


#959 Shakespeare - Olivier's Henry V (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

Is there a Shakespeare lover who does not know this superb film? Two entire generations were introduced to Shakespeare by this expansive production, which is as fresh and dramatic and deeply touching today as when first it ushered in the contemporary style of Shakespearean production and taught us to see the vast and rich panoply beyond the lines of Shakespeare's Henry V. (2 hours 16 minutes)King Henry V.....................................Laurence OlivierAncient Pistol...................................Robert NewtonKatharine...........................................Renee AshersonConstable of France..................................Leo GennThe Dauphin.................................................Max Adrian


#1235 Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet (Run time 138 min.) DVD $89.95

A brilliant video release and a particularly effective version for study of the play, with Laurence Harvey as Romeo and Susan Shentall as Juliet, with an unforgettable Flora Robson as the Nurse. (2 hours 18 minutes)Romeo.............................................Laurence HarveyJuliet...............................................Susan ShentallNurse....................................................Flora RobsonParis.............................................Norman WoolandFriar Laurence..............................Mervyn JohnsCapulet........................................Sebastian CabotBenvolio...............................................Bill TraversLady Capulet.............................Lydia Sherwood


#2247 Shakespeare - A First Look at Macbeth (Run time 31 min.) DVD $89.95

For those about to study the play and for those who will never see or read it, here is a superbly acted paraphrase of Macbeth that concentrates on showing the excitement of Shakespeare's plot without the difficulties of his language or the complexities of psychological shadowing. Thus this version stresses the very elements that made Shakespeare so popular with the groundlings in his own day: a great story, touches of the supernatural, and lots of violence (but not for the sake of violence, and with the criminal brought to justice in the end). The moral is that studying Shakespeare need not be just duty, but can be fun. (31 minutes)


#2748 Shakespeare - Shakespeare Workshop: The Tortured Mind (Run time 60 min.) DVD $89.95

This program offers an introduction to Shakespearean tragedy through analyses of key scenes from four plays. It shows how Shakespeare explores the minds (which are often under nearly intolerable stress) of his characters, the principals here being Ophelia, Othello, Lady Macbeth, and Lear. Insights are also offered into past and more recent interpretations and styles of presentation and acting. (60 minutes)


#2749 Shakespeare - Shakespeare Workshop: The Comic Spirit (Run time 59 min.) DVD $89.95

This program provides the opportunity to compare and contrast different styles and types of humor from Shakespeare's time to our own, and shows that what makes people laugh today is much the same as in the Elizabethan age. The program also explores the relationship between misfortune, cruelty, and humor, and between comedy and tragedy. Illustrations include examples from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. (59 minutes)


#2750 Shakespeare - Shakespeare Workshop: The Roman Tragedies (Run time 61 min.) DVD $89.95

With illustrations from Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus, this program provides an introduction to the Roman tragedies without assuming a detailed knowledge of the texts, examining Shakespeare's goals in his choice of subject matter, and his manner of achieving them. (61 minutes)


#2770 Shakespeare - Richard II (Run time 145 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (2 hours 25 minutes)


#2771 Shakespeare - Henry IV, part 1 (Run time 172 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (2 hours 52 minutes)


#2772 Shakespeare - Henry IV, part 2 (Run time 151 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (2 hours 31 minutes)


#2773 Shakespeare - Henry V (Run time 176 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (2 hours 56 minutes)


#2774 Shakespeare - Henry VI, House of Lancaster (Run time 150 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (The three parts of Henry VI have been adapted to Henry VI, House of Lancaster, and Henry VI, House of York.) (2 hours 30 minutes)


#2775 Shakespeare - Henry VI, House of York (Run time 178 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (The three parts of Henry VI have been adapted to Henry VI, House of Lancaster, and Henry VI, House of York.) (2 hours 58 minutes)


#2776 Shakespeare - Richard III (Run time 194 min.) DVD $89.95

Part of the series The Wars of the Roses. (3 hours 14 minutes)


#2868 Shakespeare - Olivier's As You Like It (Run time 96 min.) DVD $89.95

One of Shakespeare's most charming pastoral comedies, chock-a-block with famous lines and songs, was somehow selected by Hollywood as a vehicle for Laurence Olivier and Elisabeth Bergner. The result is a gentle introduction for those who don't know the play, a mixture of the exalted and the inane for those who do, and an inspiration for all students of the theatre, who can see the enormous leaps of conception, execution, style, and insight that Olivier achieved in the seven years between this Orlando and Henry V. (96 minutes, b&w)


#3886 Shakespeare - Who Wrote Shakespeare's Works? (Run time 90 min.) DVD $89.95

An intriguing look at a controversial topic, this program explores the centuries-old Shakespeare Authorship Question with an international panel of scholars from liberal arts, theater, and government. Moderated by William F. Buckley, Jr., the panel features Charles Vere, Earl of Buford, whose ancestor, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is considered by many to be the author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare. This is an intriguing way of demanding close attention to Shakespeare's style, vocabulary, characters, settings, knowledge of everything from science to politics-in short, the Shakespearean texts themselves. (90 minutes)


#33106 Shakespeare - The Business of Film (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95

In this program, Channel 4 commissioning editor John Richmond, producer Rachel Gesua, director Tim Supple, screenwriter Andrew Bannerman, and members of the cast and crew talk about the business of making a modest TV adaptation of Twelfth Night. Step by step, they walk viewers through scripting; budgeting for talent, crew, cameras, sound, sets, blue screen, lighting, and costuming; casting actors and hiring the principal crew; scouting locations; planning and building sets; and scheduling the shoot. (25 minutes)


#33107 Shakespeare - The Art of Film (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95

This program studies the art that underlies the craft of filmmaking-a painstaking process that culminates in the take, that shared moment of concentration when everything comes together. Twelfth Night director Tim Supple and his first assistant director, production designer, director of photography, costume designer, stunt coordinator, and others offer their insights into set design, the culture of the film set, creating a look through costuming, choreographing the action, creating moods with lighting, and the nature of directorial vision. (25 minutes)


#33108 Shakespeare - The Language of Film (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95

When Tim Supple directed the filming of Twelfth Night, he was a stickler for sticking to the words as the Bard penned them. Everything else, though, was up for grabs as he and screenwriter Andrew Bannerman shifted and intercut scenes and in general translated the play into the all-encompassing language of film. In this program, members of the cast and crew use snippets of the screenplay to demonstrate how scene, setting, character, action, and dialogue combine to communicate the essence of the story with all of its nuances, subplots, themes, and hidden meanings. (25 minutes)


#33109 Shakespeare - The Technology of Film (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95

Computers are changing everything, including filmmaking. This program illustrates the digital postproduction process through numerous editing examples taken from Twelfth Night. Key crew members-a film editor, sound designer, sound recording engineer, digital effects artist, and others-share their expertise with setting the film's pace and rhythm, constructing sequences with different types of shots, crafting the soundscapes that support the action and help tell the story, recording and mixing the music, creating skyscapes for the blue screen, and grading the lighting. (25 minutes)


#10030 English Literature - Joseph Conrad: The Secret Agent (Run time 60 min.) DVD $99.95

When an anarchist attempted to blow up the Greenwich Observatory, an idea exploded in the mind of Joseph Conrad. This program re-creates the world of The Secret Agent, the first great novel of political intrigue, in all its suspense and sinister irony. In addition, author and critic V. S. Pritchett and Keith Carabine, of Kent University (England), explore Conrad's concern that the very fabric of society was being jeopardized by the growing violence and moral corruption-a concern as timely today as it was then. (61 minutes)


#10039 English Literature - Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway (Run time 59 min.) DVD $99.95

Virginia Woolf pushed the boundaries of the novel as a tool for psychological inquiry through her experimentation with subjective and relativistic perceptions of time and events. This program intercuts scenes from a compelling dramatization of Mrs. Dalloway with a portrayal of Virginia Woolf-played by actress Eileen Atkins-who, based on entries from her diary, explicates the story. Literary critic Hermione Lee addresses topics in the novel such as the significance of shared external events and the theme of emotional bankruptcy, both of which propel this drama of the mind. (59 minutes)


#10034 Irish Literature - James Joyce: Ulysses (Run time 61 min.) DVD $99.95

Banned in 1920 yet subsequently lionized for its compelling characterization, breadth of humor, and use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, James Joyce's Ulysses expanded the literary possibilities of the novel. This program presents an extraordinary dramatization of Joyce's well-known rendering of the Odysseus epic. The late writer and critic Anthony Burgess and Professor Clive Hart, of Essex University, elaborate on the story's construction, innovative use of language, and themes. (61 minutes)


#3030 Shakespeare - Othello (Run time 187 min.) DVD $99.95

"John Kani's Othello is a fine and masterful performance that should make every white actor think twice before blacking up for the Moor," wrote The Guardian of this raw and powerful interpretation of the play. The production marked the first time an African actor had been cast in the title role opposite a white Desdemona before a multiracial audience in Johannesburg, South Africa. With Tony Award winner John Kani as Othello, Joanna Weinberg as Desdemona, and a contextual introduction by director Janet Suzman. (3 hours 7 minutes)


#5862 Shakespeare - Royal Shakespeare Company: Great Performances (Run time 80 min.) DVD $99.95

This unique program features excerpts from four RSC productions, King Lear, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Coriolanus. The program includes key scenes from each play intertwined with interviews and explanations of the play with both actors and directors. Featured in the program are: from King Lear, actor Robert Stephens and director Adrian Noble; from Twelfth Night, actor Desmond Barrit and director Ian Judge; from Coriolanus, actor Toby Stephens and director David Thacker; and from A Midsummer Night's Dream, actor Desmond Barrit and director Adrian Noble. (80 minutes)


#929 English Literature - William Wordsworth: William and Dorothy (Run time min.) DVD $129.95

A sensitive and insightful program about the poetry of William Wordsworth and the landscape and personality that lay behind and within it. With David Warner playing Wordsworth, this dramatization by Ken Russell presents some of the major poems against the background of Wordsworth country, and shows us his intense and troubled relationship with his talented sister Dorothy, who is the subject (or object) of many poems and whose specter and editorial influence hover over many others. (52 minutes)


#3246 English Literature - Alfred, Lord Tennyson: The Lady of Shalott (Run time 20 min.) DVD $129.95

This program plumbs the depths of what may appear to be a simple narrative poem as actress Charlotte Cornwell reads the complete text of "The Lady of Shalott" over illustrations by Charles Keeping. Then a range of people-an artist, a historian, a former prison inmate, among others-offer their differing responses. (20 minutes)


#7891 English Literature - A Tale of Two Cities (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times...." Dickens' tragic tale of love, friendship, and sacrifice begins against the backdrop of the French Revolution. Using affecting dramatizations of key passages, Dickens experts Professor Margaret Reynolds and Professor John Rignall analyze the many nuances and themes of this work. Topics discussed include dualism in characterization and plot; the impact of the ideas of the French Revolution; the rights of women in 18th-century England and France; and society's ambiguous attitude toward violence. Dickens' dual personality is revealed in the characters of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay. Although Dickens takes aim at both aristocratic tyranny and revolutionary excess, it is the latter that is precisely conveyed by the character Madame Defarge. The work's lasting importance is analyzed within the context of its emphasis on the irreplaceable value of each human life. (30 minutes)


#7961 English Literature - Great Expectations (Run time 32 min.) DVD $129.95

Cultural historian Dr. David Parker and Thelma Grove of the International Dickens Fellowship analyze the characters and plot of Dickens' popular and enduring novel. Using dramatized key scenes from the work, Parker and Grove discuss the behavior of the characters and speculate on Dickens' intentions when he placed them in the various predicaments depicted. Several of these situations are associated with actual people and events in Dickens' hometown of Rochester, England. Parker and Grove offer different views on Pip's unique relationship with each of the characters, including Mrs. Havisham, Estella, Abel, Joe Gargery, and Magwitch. Themes discussed include penal reform, chains of events leading to catastrophic and unforeseen circumstances, unrequited love, and the human tendency of Dickens' characters to learn things the hard way. (32 minutes)


#8671 English Literature - Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre (Run time 31 min.) DVD $129.95

Through the character Jane, orphan and governess, Charlotte Bronte introduced a style of heroine that markedly departed from the previous norm in Victorian literature. In this program, Dr. Tom Winnifrith-Bronte expert and author of The Brontes-and Dr. Sally Poulson of the University of Warwick discuss a variety of topics, including whether Jane Eyre is feminist literature, the theme of the Gothic novel, the Victorian education system, and 19th-century social structure. In addition, they compare and contrast the author with her shy and intense heroine to determine how much of the novel is autobiographical. (31 minutes)


#10395 English Literature - Peter Ackroyd's Charles Dickens (Run time 66 min.) DVD $129.95

Arguably the greatest of English novelists, Charles Dickens was also one of the outstanding personalities of his age-and preeminent Dickens biographer Peter Ackroyd is just the person to capture his essence. This vintage program merges interview, dramatization, and reenactment to explore the author's life story, spotlighting the recurrent influence of Dickens' childhood on his obsessive vision of darkness and light. The mercurial actor John Sessions plays Dickens in a bravura performance, while extracts from A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers, and other stories, plus passages from the writer's correspondence and memoranda, complete the process of bringing the writer to life. (66 minutes)


#10818 English Literature - The York Mystery Plays: The Death of Christ (Run time 29 min.) DVD $129.95

This production is part of the historic 1998 staging of the Corpus Christi Cycle in York, England, and captures the majesty and color of the original 14th- to 16th-century plays. Sponsored by the Company of Butchers, performed on a story wagon on the streets of York amidst an enraptured crowd, and using medieval materials and techniques, the performance strives for authenticity. The affecting play portrays the impact of the crucifixion on several very different people: Pilate, members of the Sanhedrin, the two thieves, Christ's mother, and the Roman centurion who accepts Christ as God's son. (29 minutes)


#10922 English Literature - Jonathan Swift: The Troubled Dean (Run time 39 min.) DVD $129.95

This program is a definitive treatment of the life of Jonathan Swift, the foremost prose satirist in the English language. Passages from Swift's correspondence and astute commentary by Swift biographers Joseph McMinn and Robert Mahony and other experts provide keen insights into Swift's phenomenal successes and embittering humiliations-plus his enduring works, such as Gulliver's Travels-while firmly anchoring his writings in the socio-historic context of his times. His lifelong crusade against hypocrisy and injustice and his pivotal relationships with his two ladyloves, "Stella" and "Vanessa," are thoroughly analyzed. (39 minutes)


#30343 English Literature - Malory's Le Morte Darthur: Anatomy of a Legend (Run time 26 min.) DVD $129.95

The richly embroidered story of King Arthur as set down by Sir Thomas Malory during the Middle Ages has unfailingly intrigued generations of readers. P. J. C. Field, one of the world's top authorities on Malory and president of the British branch of the International Arthurian Society; Helen Cooper, editor of the Oxford World's Classics edition of Le Morte Darthur; and medievalist Kevin J. Harty, of La Salle University, begin this survey by assessing the historical and apocryphal underpinnings of the Arthurian legend. Then, supported by reenactments, location footage, and works of art, the program examines each section of Malory's archetypal Le Morte Darthur. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (26 minutes)


#30344 English Literature - Understanding Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95

Like Malory's Le Morte Darthur, the anonymously authored Sir Gawain and the Green Knight represents a watershed in the development of the Arthurian tradition. Drawing on insights from Nicholas Perkins, a specialist on medieval English literature and manuscripts at the University of Cambridge; Arthurian expert Kevin J. Harty, of La Salle University; and Helen Cooper, authority on medieval literature at the University of Oxford, this program explicates this complex alliterative poem, examines its treatment of familiar Arthurian themes, and illustrates why it is considered one of the finest romances of the Middle Ages. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (24 minutes)


#30345 English Literature - The Legend of Arthur in Literature and Popular Culture (Run time 26 min.) DVD $129.95

What makes the promise of Camelot still resonate in the 21st century? In this program, Barbara and Alan Lupack, authors of King Arthur in America and Arthurian Literature by Women; Debra Mancoff, author of The Arthurian Revival in Victorian Art; and Kevin J. Harty, author of King Arthur on Film, New Essays on Arthurian Cinema, discuss the enduring fascination with King Arthur in Britain and America since the Victorian era. Tennyson's Idylls of the King, Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, and writings of John Steinbeck, T. H. White, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and others are featured. In addition, Hollywood and pop culture's continuing infatuation with Arthur is explored. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (26 minutes)


#897 Irish Literature - The World of James Joyce (Run time min.) DVD $129.95

The authoritative documentary on the man who single-handedly transformed English literature in the 20th century. Produced by Ireland's National Television with the assistance of Richard Ellmann, the program was shot in Joyce's tracks in Dublin, Trieste, Zurich, Rome, London, and Paris; it draws on the reminiscences of numerous associates, friends, and relatives, and shows the role in Joyce's development of such figures as Harriet Weaver and Sylvia Beach. (116 minutes)


#814 Shakespeare - Shakespeare's Sonnets (Run time min.) DVD $129.95

Fifteen sonnets selected for what they tell us about Shakespeare-because of the individual addressed, or references to people or events, or because of their metaphors. The sonnets (numbers 8, 18, 25, 35, 53, 64, 65, 66, 87, 91, 94, 107, 127, 128, and 144) are read by Ben Kingsley, Roger Rees, Claire Bloom, and Jane Lapotaire, then analyzed by a noted critic or writer (analysts include A. L. Rowse, Leslie Fiedler, Stephen Spender, and Arnold Wesker). (2 hours 30 minutes)


#3973 Shakespeare - Shakespeare and His Theatre: The Globe (Run time 28 min.) DVD $129.95

A fifth of London's population in the year 1600 were regular playgoers. Examination of the Globe Theatre shows where they stood, how the stage was constructed, and how the special effects so beloved by the audience were achieved, from thunder and lightning to fairies flying through the air and ghosts emerging from the earth. Rehearsals were minimal and there was no producer or director-just the play, the actors, and the audience of two to three thousand, which could be kept under control only by the interest of the play itself. The program points out that Shakespeare himself wrote the plays to be adaptable to different theaters when the company was on tour, and to different audiences. (28 minutes)


#6071 Shakespeare - The Comedy of Errors (Run time 77 min.) DVD $129.95

One of the earliest and perhaps crudest of his plays, The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare's adaptation of the Menaechmi of Plautus. This romantic comedy from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival tells of the complications which follow when the merchant Aegeon, played masterfully in this production by Nicholas Pennell, enters the enemy state of Ephesus in hopes of reuniting his family years after a shipwreck separates him from his twin sons, their twin slaves, and his wife. (77 minutes)


#6072 Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet (Run time 160 min.) DVD $129.95

This special production of the play was produced to celebrate the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's 40th anniversary. Director Richard Monette has set the play in the time of Mussolini, giving added pathos to the senseless hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets. Megan Porter Follows, known worldwide for her starring role in Anne of Green Gables, gives a stellar performance as Juliet. The production is produced and directed by Emmy Award-winner Norman Campbell. (2 hours 40 minutes)


#6073 Shakespeare - The Taming of the Shrew (Run time 153 min.) DVD $129.95

From the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, this production of Shakespeare's rollicking classic battle of the sexes stars Len Cariou as Petruchio, the strutting male chauvinist suitor who sets out to undermine the spirit of young Katharina. Taped before a live audience, this production is treated in a solidly traditional fashion by British stage director Peter Dews, retaining the integrity of Shakespeare's original text. (2 hours 33 minutes)


#6544 Shakespeare - The Great Hamlets, Program 1 (Run time 56 min.) DVD $129.95

In the first program, each actor comments on the major scenes of the play, and, through excerpts from productions that range from the silent film era to the modern stage, we see various interpretations of those scenes. Trevor Nunn then interviews each actor about the source of his interpretation. The program includes both traditional and avant-garde productions. (56 minutes, b&w/color)


#6545 Shakespeare - The Great Hamlets, Program 2 (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95

In this program Trevor Nunn probes the underlying dynamics of the play. He examines the psychological dynamics of Hamlet, the oedipal conflict and Hamlet's madness, feigned or real. Nunn also explores the political questions that are raised in the play. The viewer learns that Hamlet is the most coveted of all performances in the classical repertoire, because, as Nunn says, "To act Hamlet requires nothing less of the actor than everything he's got." (57 minutes)


#7076 Shakespeare - Macbeth: A Critical Guide (Run time 33 min.) DVD $129.95

In this program, the major themes of Shakespeare's most popular tragedy are investigated by noted experts. Analyzing key scenes from an award-winning film production, Professor Robert Smallwood of the Shakespeare Centre and Professor Stanley Wells of the Shakespeare Institute examine how the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth changes during the course of the play; how Banquo's character serves as a counterpart to Macbeth's; whether Macbeth's character is at all admirable; and whether the play confirms that all tragedies are uniformly pessimistic. Host Graham MacTavish, an actor with the Stratford Shakespeare Company, establishes context and background for the play. (33 minutes)


#7707 Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet: A Critical Guide (Run time 29 min.) DVD $129.95

Shakespeare's tragic story of love, family feud, and double suicide is a masterwork woven with conflict, crisis, and counterstroke. In this program, prime scenes are dramatized and Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespearean experts Russell Jackson and Robert Smallwood dissect them and their major topics and themes. Discussed are the play's popular appeal; the importance of the balcony scene as core to the work; how the lovers' youth plays with modern audiences; and whether the twin suicides of Romeo and Juliet secure the play's mythical status. Character analysis considers Juliet's nurse's role both as comedic and as contributing to conflicting notions about love that strengthen the play. Mercutio's role and the effect of his murder by Tybalt on the overall plot are examined. The Friar is discussed as both the moral center of the play and as a fumbling, misguided agitator of certain action. (29 minutes)


#7708 Shakespeare - Julius Caesar: A Critical Guide (Run time 33 min.) DVD $129.95

This work-the only Shakespeare tragedy considered to have its roots in the classics-is a study in contradiction. Though it is about the character of Brutus, it has Caesar as its dominant figure. This and other complexities and themes of the drama are investigated through the performance of key scenes by noted Shakespearean experts from the Shakespeare Centre and the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon Avon. Themes and topics include politics and the corruption of power; the play as drama, history, and art; the persona of Brutus as noble but self-deluded; Cassius as an opportunistic prime mover; the rhetorical skills of Brutus and Antony as pivotal to the action; and Shakespeare's use of dramatic effect in key scenes, such as the appearance of Caesar's ghost. (33 minutes)


#7709 Shakespeare - Hamlet: A Critical Guide (Run time 31 min.) DVD $129.95

Shakespeare's troubled character comes to life in this program in the capable hands of leading scholars, as they discuss the major themes of the play, its plot, and the actions of its main characters. Analyzing key scenes, scholars Russell Jackson and Stanley Wells of Stratford-upon-Avon offer insights into the underlying meaning of Hamlet's eloquent soliloquies, as well as the play's eight violent deaths, adultery, ghostly haunting, and ultimate tragic end. Death and revenge are explored as major themes of the work, as well as Shakespeare's playful inclusion of comedic relief. An analysis of Hamlet's relationships with his mother and Ophelia provides interesting insights into his multifaceted character. (31 minutes)


#7710 Shakespeare - Othello: A Critical Guide (Run time 33 min.) DVD $129.95

Compelling dramatizations of key scenes from Shakespeare's tragedy are analyzed by two noted Shakespearean experts-Stanley Wells and Russell Jackson of the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon. Themes and topics include the motives of Iago, and whether his evil is as complete as most commentators suggest; Victorian objections to the interracial relationship between Othello and Desdemona; evidence of racism within Shakespeare's characterization of Othello; the role of opposing forces (good and evil) in relationships and events; Desdemona as victim or manipulative conniver, responsible for her own downfall; Othello as victim, ruled by emotion rather than logic; the conflict between Othello's identity as a Christian commander of the Venetian force and as a social and racial outsider; and the use of women as characters vital to plot development. (33 minutes)


#7711 Shakespeare - King Lear: A Critical Guide (Run time 29 min.) DVD $129.95

While King Lear has again and again been described as Shakespeare's greatest work-the tragedy in which he exhibits most fully his multitude of literary powers-it is the least read, and for many, the most difficult to analyze. In this program, key scenes are dramatized. Noted Shakespearean experts, Professors Robert Smallwood and Stanley Wells, take on the task of examining Lear's enigmatic character and the often obscure topics and themes that comprise the play. Topics include the passing of time and growing old; reconciliation; insensitivity of the characters; the meaning of tragedy; and trust and betrayal. This program represents an excellent starting point for students attempting to comprehend the essence of King Lear as Shakespeare's most challenging and esoteric work. (29 minutes)


#8152 Shakespeare - As You Like It (Run time 160 min.) DVD $129.95

Shakespeare's fanciful play, embued with a fairy-tale quality, stresses, in the words of Ben Jonson, "words above action, matter above words." Filmed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival before a live audience, this production features Roberta Maxwell as Rosalind, the speculative and thoughtful heroine, and Andrew Gillies as Orlando, her sweetheart. It is directed by John Hirsch. (2 hours 40 minutes)


#762 English Literature - George Orwell (Run time min.) DVD $149.95

This documentary biography offers a perceptive look at the George Orwell who saw through the temptations of Communist propaganda, behind the promises of Utopia. Analysis of his work, visits to the places where he lived and worked, interviews with those who knew and understood him best, and footage of the author himself explore and explain the development of Orwell as a thinker and stylist. (2 hours)


#895 English Literature - The Legend of Arthur (Run time min.) DVD $149.95

An examination of the blend of history, mythology, religion, and prophetic dreams that constitutes the Arthurian legend. The program shows us Glastonbury and other sites where the legend is set, illuminations and other illustrations of the Arthur stories, and covers both the principal stories and their meanings, particularly the search for the Holy Grail and for purity-a search that must end within the searcher himself. (26 minutes)


#930 English Literature - Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Run time min.) DVD $149.95

This program draws a parallel between Coleridge's best-known poem and the poet's own life, haunted by his addiction to opium. It shows his desperate attempt to free himself from his demon; tells us about Coleridge's time and friends-especially his relationship with Wordsworth-and about the tortured life transformed in his subconscious into "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Coleridge and his poem are brought to magnificent life in this dramatic film by Ken Russell which stars David Hemmings. (52 minutes)


#998 English Literature - A Prologue to Chaucer (Run time 30 min.) DVD $149.95

A scholarly program that reaches out to students of The Canterbury Tales to relate its characters and themes to everyday life in late-14th-century England. Period art of exceptional richness is combined with location photography that retraces the April pilgrimage to Archbishop Becket's shrine at Canterbury; excerpts are read from various tales; and the famous beginning is heard in Middle English. Written by Velma B. Richmond, produced by the University of California, Berkeley. (29 minutes)


#1313 English Literature - Boswell for the Defence (Run time 90 min.) DVD $149.95

This insightful portrait of 18th-century Scotland shows Boswell after the reluctant student of law has become a practicing attorney. He defends a butcher against charges of theft, not completely convinced of his client's innocence. When the man is convicted and sentenced to hang, Boswell works frantically for a pardon or commutation of sentence; failing both, he plots with a physician to revive the man after his hanging. (90 minutes)


#1742 English Literature - Chaucer Reads Chaucer: The Miller's Tale (Run time 80 min.) DVD $149.95

In Queen Victoria's day, this is the one they expurgated from the complete Canterbury Tales; fortunately, the modern sensibility responds with the intended laughter at the most notoriously misdirected kiss in European literature. Here the tale is told as Chaucer might have told it-in Middle English (with modern English subtitles) and appropriate costume, to an audience of contemporaries who shared Chaucer's own astonishing combination of grossness and delicacy. An excellent lesson in both literature and language. (80 minutes)


#2141 English Literature - Gerard Manley Hopkins (Run time 58 min.) DVD $149.95

A portrait of the life and work of the great English poet-lush word painter of the intensities of beauty and faith, craftsman of intricate rhythms within rhythms and rhymes within rhymes-who recaptured the patterns of Old English while he foreshadowed the formulations and feelings of the 20th century. Written and performed by Peter Gale, this one-man show provides an eminently human and carefully analytical picture of the Victorian who was the first modern English poet. (58 minutes)


#2802 English Literature - D. H. Lawrence: Odour of Chrysanthemums (Run time 20 min.) DVD $149.95

This analysis of Lawrence's widely read story first examines the genre of the short story itself and the constraints and possibilities of the genre, and then looks in detail at the style, structure, and content of "Odour of Chrysanthemums." The program features footage of Jack Shepherd as D. H. Lawrence telling parts of the story. It also includes a biography of Lawrence and details how his life experiences influenced this and his other works. (20 minutes)


#3031 English Literature - The Bronte Connection (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95

The truth behind the enigmatic love story of Cathy and Heathcliff has long intrigued and long eluded readers of Emily Bronte's classics. Now it has been shown that the characters and events of Wuthering Heights are based on actual events recorded-and concealed-in the personal papers of the Heatons, a family of Yorkshire gentry. This program traces the discovery of the papers and the identification of the true-life Heathcliff, the uncovering of the turbulent relationship between the Brontes and the Heatons, and the story of how Emily came to write one of the greatest of all Romantic novels. (53 minutes)


#3244 English Literature - William Blake: Songs of Innocence and Experience (Run time 20 min.) DVD $149.95

"The Chimney Sweeper" poems-one from Songs of Innocence and the other from Songs of Experience-are the principal focus of this program, which compares the two poems, exploring their social context and style and returning again and again to the language in order to help the viewer penetrate into the poems themselves. The program also looks at "A Poison Tree," "The Sick Rose," and "Little Girl Lost." (20 minutes)


#3881 English Literature - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Run time 26 min.) DVD $149.95

Not the Valentine's Day cliche "How do I love thee?" nor the ever-loving half of The Barretts of Wimpole Street, this is the actual young Elizabeth Barrett, emotionally brutalized by an unbending father, who appeared to use her verses to distance herself from reality, the Mrs. Browning who in failing health continued to try to define herself and her feelings. The program, cast as an interview between Elizabeth Barrett Browning's most recent biographer and an actress speaking lines drawn from the poet's journals and poems, examines some of the inconsistencies between her poetic voice and her real-life persona. (26 minutes)


#4081 English Literature - Chaucer: The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (Run time 20 min.) DVD $149.95

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote / The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote," we meet Chaucer and some of his fellow Canterbury pilgrims. Our attention is drawn to Chaucer's sharply drawn descriptions of these characters and to the language of 14th-century England in which Chaucer wrote his verse. There follows a dramatization of part of "The Pardoner's Tale" by a group of students who have been examining some of the tales, the characters, and the language ofThe Canterbury Tales . (20 minutes)


#6278 English Literature - William Blake (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95

Ignored during his lifetime, the artist and poet William Blake is now a literary institution. How did this reversal come about? How did a republican, dissident printer, who was considered insane by his contemporaries, become transformed into an icon? The author Peter Ackroyd, Blake's latest biographer, is the guide as this program explores late-Georgian London: a world of political ferment and religious dispute, where the winds of revolution were blowing across the sea from America and France and a mad king sat on the English throne. The program examines Blake's artistic achievement and assesses his continuing appeal. (52 minutes)


#6560 English Literature - The War Poets (Run time 60 min.) DVD $149.95

The futility and madness of the First World War was the spur for some of the most moving poetry ever written, but the young men who brought the voice of reason to the Great War were themselves part of a long tradition of war poetry. This program traces the development of the art of war poetry from Anglo-Saxon times to the early 20th century and the works of Brooke, Owen, and Sassoon. Using extensive feature film footage as well as contemporary images, the program brings a new vitality to the checkered tales of heroism, cowardice, luck, valor, and misery which together form the experiences of war over the centuries. Jon Stallworthy of Oxford University, one of the world's foremost authorities on war poetry, analyzes the works. (60 minutes)


#7065 English Literature - Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Critical Guide (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95

Filmed entirely in Wessex, where the novel is set, this program examines the themes and images of Thomas Hardy's classic novel. The analysis focuses on Hardy's ability to interpret nature, and on the power of his characterization. In the novel, sudden changes in nature portend danger, while nature at rest seems indifferent to the human condition. Hunting images support Tess's identity as a victim; images of winding country roads symbolize her difficult journey through life. Hardy's rustic characters reinforce images of men and women ruled by natural instinct. (57 minutes)


#7066 English Literature - Wuthering Heights: A Critical Guide (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95

Imagery and narrative style are examined in this critical analysis of Emily Bronte's classic novel of passion and death on the Yorkshire moors. Imagery in the novel springs directly from the wild landscape of Haworth-Bronte's birthplace. "The eternal rocks beneath" are compared to Catherine's love for Heathcliff; moths on the heather and flowering harebells reflect Catherine's peaceful resting place in "heaven." "Barrier" images of windows, doors, and gates convey the geographical, spiritual, and emotional isolation of the characters-their rising passion accompanied by narrative descriptions of wild streams and windy cliffs. An interesting segment explains Bronte's use of double narrators to move back and forth in time. (52 minutes)


#7298 English Literature - Thomas Middleton and William Rowley: The Changeling (Run time 92 min.) DVD $149.95

Famed British actor Bob Hoskins gives a triumphant performance in this Jacobean parody of Shakespeare, written in the 17th century by Elizabethan playwrights Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Beatrice (Elizabeth McGovern) is contracted to marry Alonzo (Peter Darling), but is in love with Alsemero (Hugh Grant). She hires the deviant DeFlores, played to the hilt by Hoskins, to kill Alonzo. DeFlores, enamored of Beatrice, is blind to the terrible price he will pay. Directed by Simon Curtis. A BBC Production. (92 minutes)


#7889 English Literature - Paradise Lost (Run time 30 min.) DVD $149.95

Patterned on Greek and Roman classics, yet achieving a voice of its own by defying the strict dictates of classical subject matter, Milton's epic poem is a masterpiece of monumental proportions. His diverse and often awesome use of language creates an effect as surreal and powerful as Dante's Inferno. This program features probing analysis by Professors Thomas Winnifrith, University of Warwick, and Robert Wilcher, University of Birmingham. Topics include Milton's creation of hell as one of the great imaginative accomplishments of literature. Also examined are the poem's anti-Catholic tone; the use of the Narcissus myth; the weak, headmaster-like characterization of God; Eve as the strong, archetypal woman; Satan as hero; and criticism of Milton as a misogynist. A brief biography of Milton highlights philosophical debates of the period. (30 minutes)


#7944 English Literature - A Portrait of Katherine Mansfield (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95

Filmed in five countries, this program traces the life of New Zealand's most beloved writer from her birth in Wellington in 1888, to her untimely death in France in 1923. Mansfield's extraordinary ability as a writer was influenced by the many fascinating aspects of her complex and often enigmatic personality. The courage she displayed in flaunting many of the conventions of her day places her firmly in the category of "women ahead of their time." Her friendships with fellow members of the Bloomsbury Group-Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Bertrand Russell-are closely examined, as is her marriage to critic John Middleton Murray. (53 minutes)


#8589 English Literature - Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness (Run time 30 min.) DVD $149.95

Joseph Conrad's compelling novella, marked by an ominous tone and a sense of unspeakable menace, is a literary introduction to the savage 20th century. In this program, noted Conrad scholars Bruce Harkness, Frederick Karl, Jerome Meckier, and Dwight Purdy examine the author's life within the context of his times: the pervasive influence of his Polish background, the impact of the sense of isolation he experienced as a merchant marine, and the nightmarish conditions in King Leopold's Belgian Congo. Historic photos and maps help set the tale in the context of time and place. In addition, experts analyze Marlow, Kurtz, the Accountant, the Manager, and Kurtz's fiancee; discuss the importance of literary techniques such as juxtapositioning; interpret the meaning of Kurtz's last words and Marlow's lie to the fiancee regarding them; and consider the story's bleak implication that it is only the knowledge of one's own perversity that separates humankind from the darkness. (30 minutes)


#8657 English Literature - Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (Run time 33 min.) DVD $149.95

Written in the 14th century, The Canterbury Tales has stood the test of time as a landmark in the development of English literature. This innovative "frame story" owes its classic standing and impact to the diversity both of the narrators and of the styles of tales they tell. In this program, expert commentators Dr. Christiania Whitehead and Dr. Peter Mack, both of the University of Warwick, discuss the tradition of 14th-century poetry, the General Prologue, Chaucer's social grouping of the pilgrims and the themes they explore, and the poem as a reflection of Medieval English society. Dramatic reenactments of the pilgrims on horseback and numerous period images help bring the tales to life. (33 minutes)


#8668 English Literature - The Metaphysical Poets (Run time 30 min.) DVD $149.95

In a reaction against Elizabethan-period poetry, 17th-century English poets such as John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, and Andrew Marvell began writing in a new style. Although derisively dubbed "metaphysical" because of its unseemly-that is, intellectual-nature, metaphysical poetry soon became appreciated for its remarkable blend of emotion and erudition, as evidenced by complex conceits, unconventional imagery, and the avoidance of smooth and regular meter. This program spotlights the works of the genre's founder, John Donne, as Dr. Daniella Havenstein of Oxford University and Judith Aldridge of the University of Central England interpret and analyze some of his best-known poems, along with the works of other metaphysical poets. (30 minutes)


#8669 English Literature - Beowulf and the Roots of Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Run time 31 min.) DVD $149.95

Beowulf is the oldest written epic in English literature. In this program, Dr. Robert DiNapoli-teaching fellow in Old and Middle English at the University of Birmingham, England-and Professor John Burrow of Bristol University examine the symbolism and the influence of Christianity in Beowulf and other masterpieces of English and Germanic poetry. The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Dream of the Rood, and The Battle of Maldon are also analyzed. The program is an indispensable aid in teaching this watershed period in Western literature. (31 minutes)


#8673 English Literature - William Golding: Lord of the Flies (Run time 32 min.) DVD $149.95

Stranded on an island by a plane crash that leaves all the adults dead, a group of schoolboys establish a primitive society in order to survive. However, their tribal community, begun on moral terms, decays into savagery and ends in a brutal murder. This allegorical novel, now a classic of 20th-century literature, probes the dark side of human nature that lurks beneath the thin veneer of civilization. In this program-enriched by footage from the 1963 black-and-white film directed by Peter Brook-literary experts discuss the novel's religious imagery and use of irony. In addition, the principles of law and order, role of society and culture, and effects of political unrest are explored. (32 minutes)


#9259 English Literature - Lewis Carroll: Curiouser and Curiouser (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95

As mysterious, paradoxical, and witty as the immortal characters he created, Lewis Carroll, author of the Alice books, was also Charles Lutwidge Dodgson-brilliant mathematician, Oxford don, and amateur photographer. Why did he avoid being identified with the works that brought him his greatest fame, and how could a lifelong bachelor write such enduring children's literature? This intriguing program presents Carroll's poignant story, including new research on his relationship with the children of the Liddell family and the mystery surrounding his journal's missing pages. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)


#10334 English Literature - Doris Lessing: A Life Considered (Run time 54 min.) DVD $149.95

An author who defies classification, Doris Lessing has plowed both wide and deep, combining acute observation of everyday life with a concern for broad issues such as how society should be organized, the value of politics, the role of women, and the nature of individuality. In this vintage program, biographer and critic Claire Tomalin and science fiction author Brian Aldiss talk with Lessing about her life and her work, with a special focus on her chilling novel The Fifth Child. Dramatized extracts from that novel and from Memoirs of a Survivor, The Good Terrorist, and The Sentimental Agents, read by actresses Janet Suzman and Susan Fleetwood, are included. (54 minutes)


#10397 English Literature - Anthony Burgess on D. H. Lawrence (Run time 46 min.) DVD $149.95

D. H. Lawrence: a polemicist against his country and his age, petty materialism and class conflict, militarism, and sexual repression. In this vintage program, the late novelist Anthony Burgess appraises the life of a literary iconoclast ironically dubbed an icon of the 20th century. With a focus on Lawrence's dissidence, Burgess analyzes the influence of his provincial childhood in Eastwood; studies his parents, polar opposites; and traces his flight from parochialism-first to nature, then to the metropolis, and finally into exile. Readings by Sir Ian McKellen from Lawrence's novels, essays, and poems flesh out this larger-than-life personality. (46 minutes)


#10431 English Literature - The Brontes: Three Muses and Their Men (Run time 51 min.) DVD $149.95

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte were a trio whose writings rocked Victorian England and yet who lived, suffered, and died far from mainstream British society. Featuring dramatizations, excerpts from their letters, and period illustrations, this elegiac program explores the England that they knew and portrayed, their familial relationships, and the men-both real and invented-who loomed large in their lives: their father, Patrick; their brother, Branwell; Professor Constantin Heger; Charlotte's husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls; and Heathcliff, Zamorna, and Rochester. Bronte biographer Dr. Juliet Barker adds authoritative insights. (51 minutes)


#10673 English Literature - Hardy's Wessex (Run time 62 min.) DVD $149.95

Although Thomas Hardy is interred at Westminster Abbey, his heart is ever in his native Dorset. In this timeless program, Hardy experts James Gibson, Mike Murray, and Martin Seymour-Smith study the life of England's foremost regional novelist and poet par excellence while discussing many of his works, including Under the Greenwood Tree, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Location footage of Hardy's beloved Dorset, fictionalized in his writings as Wessex, and excerpts from his novels and poems offer deep insights into the people and places that defined his world. (62 minutes)


#10918 English Literature - The Lake Poets (Run time 62 min.) DVD $149.95

Tucked away in arguably the most lovely corner of Great Britain, a poetic revolution took place around the turn of the 19th century that did much to define the nature of modern poetry. Using the atmospheric scenery of the Lake District as a backdrop, this program focuses on the literary development of William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. Expert commentary is provided by some of the greatest authorities on British romanticism, including Robert Woof, Jonathan Wordsworth, Grevel Lindop, Molly Lefebure, and Pamela Woof. The late poet laureate Ted Hughes reads from the works of Wordsworth. (62 minutes)


#11321 English Literature - Highlights of the York Mystery Plays (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95

This enchanting program revives the drama and pageantry of the medieval mystery play as performed by the venerable guilds of York, England. Perched atop pageant wagons in the streets of their home city, guild members and townspeople in period costumes enact scenes from eleven plays of the Corpus Christi Cycle: Creation to the Fifth Day, The Creation of Adam and Eve, The Fall of Adam and Eve, The Flight into Egypt, The Temptation, The Agony in the Garden and the Betrayal of Christ, The Death of Christ, The Harrowing of Hell, The Incredulity of Thomas, The Ascension of Jesus Christ, and The Last Judgment. An introductory segment sets the stage. (57 minutes)


#30105 English Literature - Wordsworth's Spots of Time (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95

Filmed at the major locations of the poet's life, this program traces Wordsworth's development by focusing on his famous "spots of time," touchstones of place and experience immortalized in his autobiographical poem, The Prelude. Along with readings and dramatizations of works, key ideas in Wordsworth's poetry are analyzed in the context of 18th-century thought by such leading scholars as Professor James Butler of La Salle University, Pamela Woof of the University of Newcastle, and Nigel Leask of Queen's College, Cambridge. Pictures and manuscripts owned by the Wordsworth Trust at Dove Cottage complement a wealth of primary archival material. A 10-minute coda explores the relevance of Wordsworth's poetry today. (57 minutes)


#32688 English Literature - Dylan Thomas: Portrait of the Artist in a Passing Cloud (Run time 47 min.) DVD $149.95

In hindsight, Dylan Thomas' precocious use of romantic but morbid imagery-epitaphs, worms, an early death-proved a self-fulfilling prophecy. This program traces the poet's life and works, artfully blending manuscripts, first editions, family photos, and location footage with interviews and readings of his poems and letters. Highlights include Thomas reading many of his poems, such as "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"; interviews with actress Nancy Wickwire and childhood friend Daniel Jones; and clips from the film version of Under Milk Wood with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Peter O'Toole. (47 minutes)


#32760 English Literature - William Blake: Singing for England (Run time 51 min.) DVD $149.95

Simply stated, William Blake "regarded himself as marked out by fate," says Blake biographer Peter Ackroyd. In this outstanding program, Ackroyd, art historian William Vaughan, Tate Britain's Michael Phillips, and poets Tom Paulin, Kathleen Raine, and Adrian Mitchell discuss Blake's works and examine the events and attitudes that shaped the self-styled prophet of Albion. Excerpts from Blake's writings and images of his paintings and etchings, along with dramatizations of the visionary poet and artist at key moments of his life, underscore his enduring appeal. Though scorned in his own times, today he is hailed as a pillar of Romanticism. A BBCW Production. (51 minutes)


#33391 English Literature - Ben Jonson (Run time 22 min.) DVD $149.95

As arrogant and brash as he was talented and innovative, Ben Jonson lived a life as rife with drama as any of his many plays. He was jailed more than once for staging dramas that satirized the powers that be, and nearly had his ears and nose mutilated after collaborating on a play that lampooned King James I. Friend and colleague of Shakespeare, he is considered by many to have been the first poet laureate of England. This program examines how Jonson's poetry, masques, and plays brought a level of humor, intellect, and formal discipline to English letters that had rarely been seen before. Excerpts from The Alchemist; Every Man in His Humor; Volpone, or the Fox; and Jonson's poetry are included. (22 minutes)


#34638 English Literature - The Two Loves of Anthony Trollope (Run time 61 min.) DVD $149.95

How did Anthony Trollope, master of the English novel of manners, achieve his prodigious output, and how did the loves of his life-his wife, Rose, and a young American named Kate Field-influence his writing? This illuminating Trollope biography reveals the inner man through reenactments of milestone moments, film clips from He Knew He Was Right and Barchester Towers, and dramatized readings from such works as Can You Forgive Her?, Castle Richmond, and An Autobiography, as well as from intimate correspondence. Pamela Neville-Sington, of The Trollope Society; Margaret Markwick, author of Trollope and Women; and Harrow School's Anne Hall-Williams are featured. A BBCW Production. (61 minutes)


#39549 English Literature - The Summoning of Everyman (Run time min.) DVD $149.95

When Death comes to take Everyman to his final judgment, Everyman attempts to bribe Death-and when that fails, Everyman instead tries to find a companion to accompany him on the fearful journey. In this adaptation of The Summoning of Everyman by Douglas Morse, a cast of classically trained actors, period music, opulent costumes, and captivating cinematography breathe new life into an enduring 15th-century morality play. A bittersweet story of the human condition performed with a moving earnestness. A commendable resource for courses in medieval studies, drama, and literature. (53 minutes)


#2925 Irish Literature - Oscar Wilde: Spendthrift of Genius (Run time 60 min.) DVD $149.95

This portrait of the multi-talented and self-destructive fin de siecle genius follows Wilde's meteoric rise and fall. Portraying the many circles-academic, social, theatrical, literary-in Dublin, Oxford, London, and Paris-in which Wilde circulated, and generously sprinkled with Wilde's infamous bons mots, the program also includes the only known recording by Wilde (of "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"). Written by Richard Ellmann, produced by Radio Telefis Eireann. (60 minutes)


#3029 Irish Literature - Joyce, Yeats, and Wilde (Run time 39 min.) DVD $149.95

Seamus Heaney, one of the finest poets writing in the English language, and the late Richard Ellmann, biographer of Joyce and Wilde, and critic of Yeats, in literary dialogue about these three brilliant Dublin writers. The literary dialogue between Heaney and Ellmann uses documentary material pertaining to Joyce, Yeats, and Wilde, and was filmed at such literary landmarks as the Hill of Howth, Sandymount Green, Trinity College, and the Joyce Tower at Sandycove. (39 minutes)


#3295 Irish Literature - James Joyce: A Painful Case (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95

The impossibility of a pure relationship and the "soul's incurable loneliness" are the major themes of this short story, perhaps the most widely read of Joyce's Dubliners. The story of the chance meeting of a bank clerk and a sea captain's wife, though small in incident, is universal in context. Sian Phillips and Ray McAnally star in this Radio Telefis Eireann dramatic production. (53 minutes)


#10396 Irish Literature - Seamus Heaney: Looking Back (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has been judged by Robert Lowell to be the most important Irish poet since Yeats. This classic program looks back over Heaney's career at the time his best-selling collection Seeing Things-a return to the rural childhood territory of his very first book-was published, offering a rare opportunity to hear the poet read and discuss his work. Through poems including "Death of a Naturalist," "The Toome Road," "Wheels Within Wheels," "The Strand at Lough Beg" and "Seeing Things," he describes his efforts to balance losses with life's marvels, the lyrical with the elegiac, and social responsibility with creative freedom in a society divided by religion and politics. (52 minutes)


#10923 Irish Literature - W. B. Yeats: Poetry, 1910-1939 (Run time 66 min.) DVD $149.95

Around 1910, William Butler Yeats discarded the Pre-Raphaelite elements and certain Celtic and esoteric influences of his earlier poetry, transitioning to a tighter and harder verse line, a more sparse and resonant imagery, and a new directness. This classic program focuses on six of Yeats' poems from his mature years: "No Second Troy," "September 1913," "The Fisherman," "Sailing to Byzantium," "Among School Children," and "The Circus Animals' Desertion." Each segment consists of a dramatized reading intercut with interpretive commentary, followed by an uninterrupted replay of the reading. (66 minutes)


#34861 Irish Literature - Under a Coloured Cap: Sean O'Casey, His Life and Work (Run time 82 min.) DVD $149.95

This program paints an intimate and fascinating portrait of Sean O'Casey: a controversial playwright, a prolific memoirist, and one of the great figures of the Irish literary renaissance. Narrated and directed by Shivaun O'Casey, his daughter, the program profiles the renowned writer's life of hardship and triumph, idealism and disenchantment. Topics under discussion include O'Casey's grim formative years; his activities in various socialist movements and in the movements for Irish independence; his satiric and often violent tragicomedies The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, and The Plough and the Stars; and his later years in self-imposed exile in Britain. (82 minutes)


#6559 Shakespeare - William Shakespeare (Run time 46 min.) DVD $149.95

This program tells the story of Shakespeare and his works. Featuring delightful dramatized extracts from some of Shakespeare's best-known plays, the program also includes memorable depictions of life in Elizabethan times. The program also features expert commentary and critical analysis by Stanley Wells, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, and Robert Smallwood, Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon. The well-regarded Shakespearean actor Brian Blessed also makes a special appearance in this program. (46 minutes)


#8992 Shakespeare - The Stage: Set Design and Construction (Run time 25 min.) DVD $149.95

It can take more than 100 specialists working 8,000 hours to create the set for a single stage production. How is it done? In this extraordinary program, the dynamic process of set design for RSC productions of Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure is described by the people who make it all happen. From creating a full-size tree for Benedick to climb that can be removed quickly between acts to fabricating a giant conch shell for Caliban to inhabit, no creative or engineering challenge is beyond the abilities of this talented team of prop makers and set builders. (25 minutes)


#8993 Shakespeare - The Players: Costumes and Makeup (Run time 25 min.) DVD $149.95

Over the course of a single year at the RSC, 150 actors play 500 different roles, each requiring authentic period costuming and makeup. In this remarkable program, master costumers and makeup artists demonstrate their crafts as expressed in productions of The Tempest, Measure for Measure, and Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. How does cleverly designed clothing help make Pompey more arrogant and Isabella look both chaste and alluring? How is Caliban's speckled hide created, and how does Hieronimo seem to actually bite off his tongue? With subtlety and finesse, this powerhouse team works miracles of stage magic. (25 minutes)


#10927 Shakespeare - Sonnet Variations: A Performance of Selected Sonnets by Shakespeare (Run time 46 min.) DVD $149.95

Witty, sensual, and poignant, Shakespeare's sonnets are perhaps the greatest love poems ever written. In this ingenious program, 29 of the Bard's best are delivered in various pastoral settings-as well as at the breakfast table, over the telephone, and even as a standup comedy routine. Divided into Prelude, The Young Friend, The Dark Lady, and Epilogue, the performances include the following sonnets: 1, 3, 12, 15, 18, 20, 29, 33, 34, 35, 57, 60, 73, 87, 90, 94, 97, 116, 126, 129, 130, 135, 138, 143, 144, 146, 147, 153, and 154. An afterword provides comments on the history and enduring relevance of the sonnets. (46 minutes)


#32637 Shakespeare - The Shakespeare Enigma (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95

Long considered the world’s greatest writer, Shakespeare the man all but eludes biographers—leading some scholars to doubt they are one and the same. Filmed at salient locations around England, this program explores the four main theories of the Bard’s true identity. Professor Stanley Wells of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust defends Shakespeare’s authorship. Francis Carr and Mark Rylance, artistic director of The Globe Theatre, argue for Francis Bacon. A. D. Wraight of the Marlowe Society proposes that poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe is the real author, while Elizabeth Imlay champions Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Manuscripts, excerpts, and scenes from the plays are used to support each theory. (51 minutes)


#33353 Shakespeare - The Winter's Tale (Run time 124 min.) DVD $149.95

Half a tragedy centered on the mad jealousy of King Leontes and half a romance of young love triumphant and old love restored, The Winter's Tale is arguably one of Shakespeare's most captivating dramas. This highly acclaimed production by The Royal Shakespeare Company was performed at the Barbican Theatre in London. Interviews with key members of both the cast and the RSC production team offer insights into the play and its staging. (2 parts, 62 minutes each)


#35522 Shakespeare - Shakespeare's Globe (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95

An intimate look inside a living time capsule, this program explores the planning and reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, presenting a day in the working life of the unique artistic institution. The video guides viewers through the facility, painstakingly designed and built to resemble the original Elizabethan playhouse, and offers commentary from the actors, artisans, and educators who practice their craft there. Illustrating how the Globe's productions breathe life into the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the program features thrilling performances from Romeo and Juliet, including the balcony scene and the death of Mercutio. (50 minutes)


#3084 English Literature - Gawain and the Green Knight (Run time 76 min.) DVD $159.95

This beautifully dramatized version of the late-14th-century poem offers a bonanza to the English teacher: one of the best known of the Arthurian legends, a portrait of life in Arthurian days as the Pearl poet imagined it, a baker's dozen of discussion topics about human virtue and human imperfectibility-and a fascinating plot involving a challenge by the Green Knight (green is of course the color of magic), who departs Arthur's castle holding his own head, which Gawain has just lopped off; Gawain's quest to keep his word and prove his worthiness while remaining alive; and the very moral surprise ending. (76 minutes)


#3032 English Literature - The Brontes of Haworth by Christopher Fry (Run time 270 min.) DVD $179.95

The connection between works of fiction and their authors' lives is rarely as clear as in the case of the Bronte sisters, whose lives were as turbulent and fraught with tragedy as those of their heroines and heroes. Under the influence of their father, Charlotte, Anne, and Emily wrote a number of jewels of English literature while experiencing disappointment in love and the death of loved ones. This dramatization of the lives of the Brontes, their lifestyle, and the environment of Haworth, is both painstakingly accurate and brilliantly presented and performed. (4 hours 30 minutes)


#35473 English Literature - John Osborne and the Gift of Friendship: A Film Directed by Tony Palmer (Run time 130 min.) DVD $189.95

With his 1956 play Look Back in Anger, British dramatist John Osborne renewed the emotional and rhetorical intensity of English theater. Unfortunately, misunderstanding and controversy surrounded most of his career. This program reconstructs Osborne's life and artistic journey using rarely seen archival films and firsthand accounts from the author's inner circle. A veritable who's who of the London stage appears here-including Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, Nicol Williamson, Richard Burton, and director Tony Richardson-in personal interviews and in lengthy excerpts from Look Back, Luther, Inadmissible Evidence, and other Osborne plays. The result is a dynamic portrait of English drama as it developed in the latter half of the 20th century. (2 parts, 56 minutes and 73 minutes)


#38691 Irish Literature - The Rivals (Run time 114 min.) DVD $199.95

Richard Brinsley Sheridan's witty comedy of manners The Rivals is one of only a small handful of 18th-century plays that continues to be produced-and studied-to this day. This classic BBC film adaptation from 1986 launches Captain Absolute, Lydia Languish, Mrs. Malaprop, Sir Lucius O'Trigger, and the rest of the audacious cast into action once again as they pursue their conflicting agendas against a backdrop of romantic rivalry. A BBCW Production. (113 minutes)


#10192 English Literature - Jane Eyre (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

When Jane Eyre debuted on the literary scene in 1847 with its surprisingly unconventional characters, it was an immediate success. This video/CD-ROM combination offers a detailed analysis of the novel that raised eyebrows in Victorian England.


#10193 English Literature - A Tale of Two Cities (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

Few stories of the French Revolution can match the vividness of A Tale of Two Cities. This video/CD-ROM combination offers penetrating insights into Dickens' memorable novel of love and sacrifice.


#10194 English Literature - Great Expectations (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

Originally published serially, Great Expectations was an immediate critical and popular success. This video/CD-ROM combination scrutinizes Dickens' popular coming-of-age story.


#10185 Shakespeare - Julius Caesar (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

Immortalized by the Bard, Julius Caesar has achieved a transcendent stature in the modern imagination. This video/CD-ROM combination provides a well-rounded assessment of Shakespeare's tragedy of ancient Rome.


#10186 Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

The names Romeo and Juliet are synonymous the world over with tragic love and doomed youth. This video/CD-ROM combination offers a detailed analysis of a provocative play that warns and encourages in equal measure.


#10187 Shakespeare - Hamlet (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

In the milieu of Hamlet, death and revenge make the world go 'round. This video/CD-ROM combination thoroughly analyzes this perennial staple of drama and film.


#10188 Shakespeare - Othello (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

Machiavellian machinations set the stage for the impassioned tragedy of Othello. This video/CD-ROM combination critically examines the complexities of Shakespeare's powerful story of love and betrayal.


#10189 Shakespeare - King Lear (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth...!" This video/CD-ROM combination neatly deconstructs Shakespeare's notoriously difficult yet commensurately rewarding masterpiece of misplaced affections.


#10190 Shakespeare - Macbeth (Run time min.) DVD $229.9

Ill-starred ambition and righteous retribution drive the course of events in Macbeth. This video/CD-ROM combination provides a comprehensive look at Shakespeare's most popular tragedy.


#6543 Shakespeare - The Great Hamlets (Run time min.) DVD $259.9

Hamlet changes in meaning from generation to generation, from decade to decade, and from actor to actor. In these programs, Trevor Nunn, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, talks with some of the greatest actors of the 20th century about their interpretations of Hamlet-John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Vittorio Gassman, Richard Burton, Mandy Patinkin, Nicol Williamson, Ben Kingsley, Jean Louis Barrault, Maximilian Schell, and the great Russian actor Innocenti Smoktunovsky. The Great Hamlets is invaluable to students of the play and to all actors, not just those studying to play the noble Dane. 2-part series, 56 minutes each.


#10183 English Literature - Beowulf and the Roots of Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

Beowulf, The Finnesburgh Fragment, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood. This video/CD-ROM combination scrutinizes the best of the surviving poetry of the Anglo-Saxon Age.


#10184 English Literature - The Canterbury Tales (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

This video/CD-ROM combination offers penetrating insights into Chaucer's well-loved masterpiece, spotlighting his memorable characters and tales against the intriguing backdrop of medieval England.


#10191 English Literature - Paradise Lost (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

This video/CD-ROM combination skillfully elucidates Milton's epic poem, an unparalleled triumph of rhythm and sound.


#10195 English Literature - Heart of Darkness (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

"The horror! The horror!" For Kurtz and Conrad alike, these words sum up their experience of the brutality and exploitation that characterized life in the Belgian Congo. This video/CD-ROM combination offers penetrating insights into a literary classic.


#10196 English Literature - The War Poets (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

From patriotism, glory, and honor to cynicism, horror, and simple survival, the themes of war poetry underwent a radical about-face during World War I. This video/CD-ROM combination scrutinizes the evolution of Great Britain's martial poetry.


#8991 Shakespeare - Behind the Scenes at the Royal Shakespeare Company (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

This indispensable two-part series-guaranteed to generate enthusiasm-allows theater and drama students a glimpse of the world behind the theater curtain. 2-part series, 25 minutes each.


#3267 Shakespeare - Reflections on Macbeth (Run time min.) DVD $349.75

This series of thought-provoking programs examines some of the principal themes and issues in Macbeth. Combining news footage of 20th-century events, a contemporary young couple strongly (and not coincidentally) reminiscent of Macbeth and his Lady, and appropriate textual quotes, the programs serve not only to deepen understanding of the play, but to encourage viewers to relate to their own lives and our own time what Shakespeare has taught about human character, its flaws, and its potentials.5-part series, 20 minutes each.


#33105 Shakespeare - 21st-Century Bard: The Making of Twelfth Night (Run time min.) DVD $359.8

When the decision was made by Britain's Channel 4 to film a TV adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the result was a gloriously irreverent, deliciously colorful production in which the twins Viola and Sebastian-Parminder Nagra and Ronny Jhutti-are re-imagined as shipwrecked asylum seekers adrift in a surreal contemporary London. In this fascinating four-part series, the people who made it all happen explain how it was done. Clips from the movie are included throughout. 4-part series, 25 minutes each.


#30342 English Literature - Tracing the Arthurian Tradition (Run time min.) DVD $389.85

The legend of King Arthur holds a place of honor in the collective imaginations and mythic traditions of both Britain and America. In this captivating three-part series, some of today's leading Arthurian experts discourse on the history, literature, and cultural impact of one of Western society's most pervasive icons-a ubiquitous symbol of mystery, honor, enchantment, and passion. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. 3-part series, 24-26 minutes each.


#2769 Shakespeare - SHAKESPEARE: THE WARS OF THE ROSES (Run time min.) DVD $629.65

From Richard II through Richard IIIShakespeare's history cycle recounts the story of two great dynasties, the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York, who contested their rights to the crown across nearly two centuries of murder, intrigue, rebellion, counter-rebellion, and bloody battle culminating at last in the Battle of Bosworth and the accession of Henry Tudor to the throne.The great battles of Agincourt, Tewkesbury, and Bosworth; the poetry of love, the treachery of power politics, and the unease of crowned heads-in short, Shakespeare's history plays-are here presented by the English Theatre Company in performances hailed for bringing to life the history as well as the plays:"... the complete and indispensable Shakespearean event... a monumental achievement." (New York Times) "...achieves the rare feat of making Shakespeare sound like real interchanges between real people while keeping the power and the glory of the poetry." (Newsweek)"...models of the way the most sweepingly cinematic, bold contemporary approach to Shakespeare can be grafted to a splendidly traditional devotion to language and crystal clear story-telling." (Chicago Sunday Times)The performers, all experienced and versatile Shakespearean actors and actresses, include: Michael Pennington (Richard II, Henry Prince of Wales, Henry V, Earl of Suffolk, Jack Cade, Duke of Buckingham); Michael Cronin (Bolingbroke, Henry IV, MacMorris, Warwick, Stanley); Paul Brennen (Bagot, Peto, Pistol, Vernon, Cambridge, Henry VI); Barry Stanton (Falstaff, Chorus in henry V, Richard of York); Andrew Jarvis (Hotspur, the Dauphin of France, Richard Duke of Gloucester, Richard III)The seven plays (the three parts of Henry VI have been turned into Henry VI, House of Lancaster and Henry VI, House of York) run approximately 21-1/2 hours.


#7706 Shakespeare - Critical Guide to Shakespeare (Run time min.) DVD $779.7

This six-part series, filmed on location in Stratford-upon-Avon, comes from the Emmy Award-winning Cromwell Production team. Programs feature commentary by several noted Shakespearean scholars and include performances of key scenes of the most popular tragedies by some of the best Stratford actors. Expert analysis accompanies each key scene, to provide an outstanding educational resource for the study of plot, character, and the universal truths embodied in these enduring dramas. 6-part series, 29-33 minutes each.