In-Person

Shakespeare's Star-Crossed Lovers

Thursday, March 19, 2026 | 12:00pm

Led by member Penny Cobey, Shakespeare’s Greatest Star-Crossed Lovers is a discussion group that aims to subvert the traditional lists of the Bard’s romantic pairings. No Romeo and Juliet here!

Our couples may at first appear unlikely, but a close look at them will, it is hoped, bring us to some fresh insights regarding their plays.

Richard III and Lady Anne (Richard III)
Olivia and Malvolio (Twelfth Night)
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)
Miranda and Caliban (The Tempest)

For the first meeting on February 5, we will discuss Richard III, focusing initially on Richard’s courtship of Lady Anne (indeed a high hill to climb given his murder of her husband). The emphasis in each meeting will be on character development as revealed by close analysis of the text.

The group meets every other week on Thursdays from noon to 1 pm at the Library beginning Thursday, February 5. Subsequent meetings are scheduled for February 19, March 5, and March 19. Participants should plan to attend the entire series, as cross-comparisons among the plays will be frequent.

Free to members. Registration required.

For a compilation of all Shakespeare’s plays that is particularly attractive to the general reader, “The Complete Works of Shakespeare,” ed. David Bevington, is recommended. For those interested in purchasing paperback editions of single plays, those published by Oxford as well as by Cambridge are recommended, as is the Arden Shakespeare series.

For those interested in comparing their own views to those of great Shakespearean character analysts of the past, the following is recommended:
Harold Bloom, “Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human” (1998). Bloom will point you to such renowned character critics as Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt, and A. C. Bradley. Emma Smith’s “This is Shakespeare” (2019) offers a thought-provoking modern take, with a chapter devoted to each of 20 plays; her corresponding lectures to Oxford students have been posted online. Recommended audio and video productions of each play will be included in the introductory notes for each group meeting.