British Library
British Library: Poetry & Performance: Robert Browning
Audio performances of select poems written by British poet Robert Browning, including "My Last Duchess." With transcripts of each poem read, a biographical note on the writer's life and career, literary analysis of his work, and...
British Library
British Library: Poetry & Performance: William Butler Yeats
Audio performances of select poems by Irish poet W. B. Yeats, including "Easter 1916," read by Bob Geldof. With a transcript of each poem, a biographical note about the writer's life and career, literary commentary on his work, and...
British Library
British Library: Poetry & Performance: Emily Dickinson
Audio performances of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" and other poems by Emily Dickinson. With transcripts of each poem, a biographical note of the writer's life and career, literary commentary on her work, and teacher's notes.
British Library
British Library: Poetry & Performance: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Audio performances of select poems-"Ozymandias," "Love's Philosophy," and "The Mask of Anarchy"-by British poet Percy Shelley. With transcripts of the poems read, biographical notes about the writer's life and career, literary analysis...
British Library
British Library: Poetry & Performance: Sylvia Plath
Audio recordings of select poems by American poet Sylvia Plath. With transcripts of the poems read, a biographical note about the writer's life and career, literary analysis of her work, and teacher's notes.
British Library
British Library: William Blake's Printing Process
Michael Phillips demonstrates William Blake's printing process, explaining how it relates to his work as a poet and artist. [8:09]
British Library
British Library: The Middle Classes
Kathryn Hughes explores the role of the middle class in Victorian society. From economics and social structures to Christian values and life in the home, discover how the Victorian class system operated and what was expected from each...
British Library
British Library: The Origins of a Christmas Carol
Professor Michael Slater MBE explains the background to Charles Dickens's novel, A Christmas Carol, reveals his reasons for writing it, and discusses its monumental success. [12:29]
British Library
British Library: 20th Century: Wilfred Owen, 'Dulce Et Decorum Est'
Dr. Santanu Das explores the manuscript for Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est', revealing new insights into the composition of one of World War One's most well-known poems. [9:34]
British Library
British Library:20th Century:oh What a Lovely War:an Interview With Murray Melvin
"Oh What a Lovely War" changed the landscape of British theatre and had a major impact on perceptions of the First World War. Here actor Murray Melvin discusses his memories of the original Theatre Workshop production and describes Joan...
British Library
British Library: 20th Century: Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway
Professor Elaine Showalter explores modernity, consciousness, gender, and time in Virginia Woolf's ground-breaking work, "Mrs. Dalloway". The film is shot around the streets of London, as well as at the British Library and at Gordon...
British Library
British Library: 20th Century: Interview With Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi explores suburbia, pop culture, race, and the fluidity of identity in relation to some of his most famous literary works. [15:40]
British Library
British Library: 20th Century: George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four
Professor John Bowen explores truth, fiction, repression, and freedom in George Orwell's iconic 1949 novel, "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The film is shot at Senate House in London, formerly the Ministry of Information, and the building on...
British Library
British Library: Breaking Barriers: Murray Melvin on a Taste of Honey
Actor Murray Melvin talks about how he went from being the tea boy at Theatre Royal Stratford East to playing the role of Geof in the original production of Shelagh Delaney's "A Taste of Honey" in 1958. He sheds light on the challenges...
British Library
British Library: Poetry & Performance: Christina Rossetti
Audio recording of "Goblin Market" by British poet Christina Rossetti. With a transcript of the poem, a biographical note about the writer's life and career, literary analysis of her work, and teacher's notes.
British Library
British Library: Listen to Nature: Explore Wildlife Sounds in the World
Explore wildlife sounds across the globe through an interactive world map. Listen to quality sound recordings made in a number of locations.
British Library
British Library: Wuthering Heights: Who Is Heathcliff?
Professor John Bowen discusses the enigmatic Heathcliff, from his early appearance as a rejected child, to his return as a powerful and violent antihero. [3:46]
British Library
British Library: Wuthering Heights: Violence and Cruelty
Professor John Bowen explores Emily Bronte's extraordinary use of violence in "Wuthering Heights". [4:12]
British Library
British Library: Gender in 19th Century Britain
Kathryn Hughes explores the repressive and often contradictory expectations of women in middle-class Victorian society while examining how women such as Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning managed to challenge those...
British Library
British Library: The Governess
Kathryn Hughes explains the role of the governess in 19th-century society and literature. Find out more about the duties of a governess, the types of women employed, who employed them, and why their position in middle-class households...
British Library
British Library: Class Mobility in Great Expectations
Professor John Bowen discusses class and social mobility in Charles Dickens's novel, Great Expectations.
British Library
British Library: Wuthering Heights: Fantasy and Realism
Professor John Bowen considers Emily Bronte's combination of fantasy and reality in Wuthering Heights and the way in which fairy tale and Gothic elements 'haunt the edges' of the novel.
British Library
British Library: William Blake's Spiritual Visions
Iain Sinclair visits William Blake's grave and discusses the spiritual visions that made up such a significant part of his life and work. [6:24]
British Library
British Library: William Blake's Radicalism
Iain Sinclair explores the historical background of William Blake's radical writings. [7:27]