Shakespeare Resources
Why do William Shakespeare’s plays still touch us today? This Renaissance playwright, poet, and actor had a unique way with words and a timeless grasp of human nature. His works are considered to be...
Tagged: video
Hermitage Video Tour
Gary Bembridge offers a short video tour of the beautiful Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world,...
Fitzgerald Audio Recordings
F. Scott Fitzgerald Audio Recordings Listen to these 1940s recordings of F. Scott Fitzgerald reading and reciting famous literature — he has a magnificent, magical voice that seems to give insight into his works...
Silence by Edgar Allan Poe
Silence by Edgar Allan Poe There are some qualities — some incorporate things, That have a double life, which thus is made A type of that twin entity which springs From matter and light,...
Ian McKellen Analyzes a Shakespearean Soliloquy
How should a soliloquy be performed? It starts with reading thoughtfully and with understanding; then thinking about the text and what the audience will need to understand. In this clip from British television, c....
Dr. Mahfood Dante Videos Index
Dr. Sebastian Mahfood has kindly shared these Dante videos with us: he has made a short video reflection on each canto of Dante’s Inferno. We hope you find these helpful in your studies. If...
Cantos 32 to 34 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 32-34, which cover Circle 9 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video explanations contain...
Cantos 18 to 31 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 18 – 31, which cover Circle 8 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video...
Cantos 12 to 17 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 12 – 17, which cover Circle 7 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. (See the end of Canto 11 for the entrance into Circle 7.) Please be aware that this...
Cantos 4 to 11 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 4 – 11, which go through Circles 1-6 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional...
Cantos 1 to 3 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood shares his insights on the first three cantos (the Dark Wood and Gate of Hell) in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes....
Dante’s Inferno: The 1911 Silent Movie
When the movie industry was young, moviemakers turned to literary classics to find stories to tell. Even as a silent film, Dante’s Inferno offered plenty of drama to thrill moviegoers, so it was one of...
Dickinson and Copland Poems and Music
Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, set to music by Aaron Copland This musical approach to Emily Dickinson may help you hear her poems anew. Performed for the recital “For love of earth and sky”...
Julius Caesar Video Resources
Shakespeare was, of course, a master of the written word.It’s precisely because of this, though, that people forget that much of his work was originally meant to be performed, not merely read. Sometimes it...
Composers in Death Comes for the Archbishop
Among the composers mentioned in Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop are Giuseppe Verdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Stephen Foster. Here are a few works of theirs to enjoy; your library may have other...
“A White Heron” Audio
Listen to “A White Heron” “A White Heron,” an 1886 short story by American author Sarah Orne Jewett, features Sylvia, a young girl who comes from a big city to live in the country...
The Purloined Letter Dramatized
Although suspenseful music accompanies this 1952 dramatization, “The Purloined Letter” by American author Edgar Allan Poe lacks the element of horror found in most of Poe’s other short stories. Instead, this is one of...
“The Diamond Necklace” Audio
“The Diamond Necklace” (La Parure) is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant, considered a master of the form. A 19th-century Naturalist author, de Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and...
1995 Pride and Prejudice Fan Trailer
I recommend the 1995 BBC/A&E version of Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It incorporates much of Austen’s incomparable dialogue and remains generally faithful to the novel. Below, this brief “trailer”...
Don Quixote 2000 film clip
I have not seen any of the many Don Quixote movies available, but I have heard that the 2000 Hallmark version with John Lithgow in the title role is a good choice—unfortunately, it is...
Mark Twain House Video
Where did Mark Twain live? The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. Designed by Edward Tuckerman...
Opera Eugene Onegin Scene sung by Netrebko at Metropolitan Opera
The opera Eugene Onegin is based on Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin’s famous novel in verse, with a musical score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. You may watch the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko perform a scene from...
To Ireland Sea Shanty sung by Bounding Main
The musical re-enactment group Bounding Main sings the sea shanty, “To Ireland.” A sea shanty, also spelled chantey, or chanty, is a type of rhythmic work song. These songs were once sung to synchronize...
Cooper and Berlioz Overture “Le Corsaire Rouge”
Berlioz commemorates the death of James Fenimore Cooper Composer Hector Berlioz was a great admirer of James Fenimore Cooper and commemorated Cooper’s death by renaming one of his overtures Le corsaire rouge, translated from...
Victor Hugo Poem Read Aloud
Listen to one of Victor Hugo’s poems in French (Demain dès l’aube), read aloud by Lorenzo Diprossimo. If you want to read the English translation, it scrolls along the bottom–this is easiest to view...
Videos Referenced in Excellence in Literature
Here are lists of the videos referenced in the EIL curriculum, organized by level. Introduction to Literature videos Literature and Composition videos American Literature videos British Literature videos World Literature videos
Tchaikovsky’s Tempest Overture
Tchaikovsky and Shakespeare One of the most influential composers of the 19th century and the first Russian composer to achieve lasting international fame, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is best known today for his ballets Swan...
American Literature Videos
Videos referenced in American Literature (E3): Module 1 William Zeitler plays the glass armonica (an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin) Module 2 Poe’s poem “The Raven” read aloud by Christopher Walken, combined with Gustave...
Literature and Composition Videos
Videos referenced in Literature and Composition (E2) Module 1 1927 silent film of Robinson Crusoe Theme Music from the 1970s TV show The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe Opera Excerpt Module 2 Walden...
Faust Opera Performance Video Excerpt
This is an old black and white film clip of Faust, a melodramatic performance of Faust – A German Folktale. The images and characters may be disturbing, so these clips are totally optional. You...
