Welcome to OLLI at the University of Minnesota > Arts

10771 OLLI SCHOLAR Everybody but Shakespeare

Revenge plots, scorned fathers, cross-dressing lovers––It sounds like Shakespeare, but not quite. In this course, we’ll study the greatest playwrights of the Renaissance stage … just not Shakespeare. We’ll read Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy (an inspiration for Hamlet), Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (a rival to The Merchant of Venice), and Thomas Dekker’s Roaring Girl (a variation of Twelfth Night). Learn about the playwrights that inspired, challenged and emulated Shakespeare, and answer for yourself: was Shakespeare really the best?

Some Title

Your Cart