In 2016 the University will mark the four-hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare’s death by hosting a series of lectures, symposia, concerts, film screenings, workshops, performances, a rare-book exhibition, and other events exploring the ways in which Shakespeare continues to delight, provoke, and fascinate those who engage with his works. The series is entitled The Delighted Spirit, a phrase taken from Claudio’s speech in Act Three, Scene One, of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, in which Claudio gives an impassioned plea for “worldly life”—life which, he insists, is always, and no matter how full of hardships, to be preferred “To what we fear of death”. This series of commemorative events, then, will explore the life in Shakespeare’s works—how they continue to live on and inspire, stimulate, and give pleasure in “states unborn and accents yet unknown”.
