The MASSOLIT video essay competition in partnership with Brasenose College, Oxford is back for 2025!
We’re excited to introduce a new ‘Shakespeare in Context’ series on MASSOLIT. This series consists of 19 courses, creating a comprehensive backdrop against which Shakespeare’s works can be understood.
Whether it’s unpacking the political tension reflected in Macbeth, the societal anxieties in Othello, or the commentary on gender roles in Twelfth Night, this series offers students and teachers an opportunity to gain a richer perspective on Shakespeare’s works.
This series consists of 19 courses covering a broad range of topics designed to deepen your knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare’s plays. Here are some highlights:
- Shakespearean Tragedy – the ultimate English Teacher CPD, this course details the very cutting edge of scholarship on Shakespeare.
- Shakespeare and Politics – this course provides key historical context for four of Shakespeare's most famous plays; Macbeth, Richard III, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet.
- Shakespeare and London – step into 16th century London and see the city from Shakespeare's perspective.
- Shakespeare and Religion – a broad introduction to the religious context of Shakespeare’s plays covering, Catholicism, biblical references, mystery plays, and a key allusion in Measure for Measure.
View the entire playlist here.
Meet some of our expert academics
Prof. Rhodri Lewis – senior lecturer in the Department of English at Princeton University, with a special interest in literary, cultural, and intellectual histories of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Dr Sophie Duncan – Fellow in English at Christ Church, University of Oxford and an expert on Shakespeare in performance, and in the broader fields of theatre history and the performance of gender and race.
Dr Beatrice Groves – Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Faculty of English at the University of Oxford, focusing on early modern literature and drama, including Shakespeare.
Access Shakespeare in Context Today
The Shakespeare in Context series is available now to all subscribing schools and colleges on our new all-inclusive subscription plan, and those with a private subscription.
If you would like to discuss MASSOLIT for your school or college, please contact us at subscriptions@massolit.io or request a quote here.
You can also sign up for a private subscription here, which includes a 7-day free trial.
