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Welcome back to The Invisible College, my series of literature courses for paid subscribers. The introduction to and schedule for the 2025 season is here. The 2024 archive is here. This episode, of which the first 20 minutes are free, is the final in an eight-week sequence on the plays of Shakespeare. It concerns Shakespeare’s valedictory romance, The Tempest, which I treat as epilogue and summation of Shakespeare’s art. I also conclude my reading of Ted Hughes’s Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being. Along the way, we solve the Eleusinian Mysteries and the vexed relation of art to magic. Please like, share, comment, and subscribe! The slideshow corresponding to the episode can be downloaded behind the paywall: