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S1E5 The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare's shortest play, is discussed by Ash and guest co-host Ash. Discover the original sources for this twin-centric farce, how Shakespeare acoustically expresses theme through his verse, and find time for a little existential crisis too. 

Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E4 A game of Shrew or False, a discussion about ambergris, spontaneous Tesco observations, tampered with Shakespeare readings, and a famous face-off. All this and more in Ash and Adam's Content Week Special.

Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E3 The Taming of the Shrew remains a controversial comedy over four hundred years after it first appeared, thanks to its apparent celebration of patriarchal oppression. Today on Ear Read This, Ash discusses the origin of Shrew-Taming narratives, the traditions of farce and cross-gender acting and what life was like for the real women in Shakespeare's time. 

The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentleman of Verona, and A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (Quotes taken from Penguin Shakespeare, 2005-06).

Kidnie, Margaret Jane, 'Introduction', 'The Play in Performance' from The Taming of the Shrew ed. G. R. Hibbard (Penguin 2006).

Tillyard, E. M. W., Shakespeare’s Early Comedies (1965).

Harbage, A., Conceptions of Shakespeare (1966).

Burgess, Anthony, Shakespeare (1970).

Kiernan, Victor, Shakespeare: Poet and Citizen (1993).

The majority of critical quotations for this episode are taken from The Taming of the Shrew: Critical Essays edited by Dana E. Aspinall (Routledge, 2002). The individual essays/extracts and their authors collected in the volume which I quote from are:

Aspinall, Dana E., 'The Play and the Critics' (2002)

Quiller-Couch, Arthur, from his Introduction to The Taming of the Shrew (1928)

Heilman, Robert B. 'The Taming Untamed, or, The Return of the Shrew' (Modern Language Quarterly, 1966)

Coghill, Neville, 'The Basis of Shakespearean Comedy' (1950)

Wilson, Edwin, Shaw on Shakespeare (1961) Roberts, Jean Addison, 'Horses and Hermaphrodites: Metamorphoses in Taming of the Shrew' (Shakespeare Quarterly, 1983)

Daniell, David, ‘The Good Marriage of Katherine and Petruchio’ (Shakespeare Survey, 1984)

Bradbrook, M.C., 'Dramatic Role as Social Image: A Study of The Taming of the Shrew' (1958)

Burns, Margie, 'The Ending of The Shrew' (1986)

Mikesell, Margaret Lael, '"Love Wrought These Miracles": Marriage and Genre in The Taming of the Shrew' (1989)

Boose, Lynda E. 'Scolding Brides and Bridling Scolds: Taming the Woman's Unruly Member' (1991)

Underdown, David, 'The Taming of the Scold: The Enforcement of Patriarchal Authority in Early Modern England' (1985)

Stallybrass, Peter, 'Reading the Body: The Revenger's Tragedy and the Jacobean Theater of Consumption' (1987)

Greer, Germaine, The Female Eunuch (1970)

Van Doren, Mark, Shakespeare (1939)

Mack, Maynard, 'Engagement and Detachment in Shakespeare's Plays' (1962)

Billington, Michael (The Guardian, 1987)

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Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E2 With thanks to Mark Wahlberg. In the first Friday "books down" episode, Ash and Adam discuss James Hilton's Lost Horizon, the burden of fame, watching 950 heads explode and an invigorating new celebrity workout schedule. Inspire to be better. Get after it. 

Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

With thanks to Mark Wahlberg. In the first Friday "books down" episode, Ash and Adam discuss James Hilton's Lost Horizon, the burden of fame, watching 950 heads explode and an invigorating new celebrity workout schedule. Inspire to be better. Get after it. 

Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

S1E1 The Two Gentlemen of Verona is possibly the first play by William Shakespeare. Possibly. Today on Ear Read This, join Ash as he discusses the date of its composition, and argues with E. M. W. Tillyard and a rambunctious Dr. Johnson. 

Music: "Not Drunk" by The Joy Drops

Works cited. The Two Gentleman of Verona, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Penguin, 2005).

Tillyard, E. M. W., Shakespeare’s Early Comedies (1965).

Arthos, John, Shakespeare: The Early Writings (1972).

Quiller-Couch, Arthur, ed, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2010).

The majority of critical quotations are taken from Two Gentleman of Verona: Critical Essays edited by June Schlueter (Routledge, 1996). The individual essays and authors collected within the volume, and those referenced by Schlueter are listed below.

Pope, Alexander, ed. The Works of Mr. William Shakespeare (1723-25)

Small, S. Asa, ‘The Ending of The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ (1933)

Theobald, Lewis, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare in Seven Volumes (1733)

Asimov, Isaac, Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare (1970)

Upton, John, Critical Observations on Shakespeare (1746)

Johnson, Samuel, ed. The Plays of William Shakespeare (1765)

Sargent, Ralph M., ‘Sir Thomas Elyot and the Integrity of The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ (1950)

Bullough, Geoffrey, Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare (1957)

Hazlitt, William, Character of Shakespear’s Plays (1817)

Brooks, Harold F., ‘Two Clowns in a Comedy (To Say Nothing of the Dog): Speed, Launce (and Crab) in The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ (1963)

Campbell, Kathleen, ‘Shakespeare’s Actors as Collaborators: Will Kempe and The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ (1996)

Swinburne, Algernon Charles, A Study of Shakespeare (1880)

Kiefer, Frederick, ‘Love Letters in The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ (1986)

Perry, Thomas A., ‘Proteus, Wry-Transformed Traveller’ (1954)

Ewbank, Inga-Stina, ‘”Were Man But Constant, He Were Perfect”: Constancy and Consistency in The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ (1972)

Lusardi, James P., Review of Young Company Production of TGOV, first published in Shakespeare Bulletin, November 1984 Charlton, H. B., Essays and Studies (1963)

Haight, Gordon S., George Eliot: A Biography (1968)