Shakespeare’s Henry V
Explore Shakespeare’s insights into the exercise of power.
Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, tells the story of how the Dukedom of Milan was lost and regained, and prompts us to think about the role of the liberal arts in learning how to rule. We discover that Prospero’s study of the liberal arts contributes to his fall from power. But it also helps him preside over the small society of strange creatures on the remote island where the action of the play takes place. What does Prospero need to learn about nature, authority, love, forgiveness, and death in order to bring about the restoration of the rightful line of succession in Milan?
In this online seminar, led by Professor Jenna Storey, fellows will closely study one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays to meditate on the kind of education we need to engage well in political life.
Images: Scene from Shakespeare’s The Tempest | Miranda Observing the Wreck of the King’s Ship
Jenna Storey discusses Why We Are Restless
Faculty
Jenna Silber Storey
Jenna Silber Storey is a senior fellow in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute. She is the co-author of a book with Benjamin Storey: Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment.
Jenna Silber Storey
Jenna Silber Storey is a senior fellow in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she concentrates on political philosophy, civil society, classical schools, and higher education. She is also the co-organizer of a conference series on the future of the American university. Dr. Storey is concurrently a research professor at Furman University, where she was previously assistant professor in politics and international affairs and the executive director of the Tocqueville Program. For the 2022–23 academic year, Dr. Storey is also an alumni-in-residence at the University of Chicago.
In addition to Furman University, Dr. Storey has taught at the University of Chicago; the Buckley Program at Yale University; the Hertog Summer Studies Program in Washington, DC; and the Tikvah Fund in Princeton, New Jersey. Earlier she worked as executive assistant to the superintendent for the Boston University–Chelsea Schools partnership. She served as a board member of Veritas Preparatory School in Greenville, South Carolina, from 2019 to 2021.
Dr. Storey is the coauthor, with her husband, Benjamin Storey, of Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton University Press, 2021). Together, the Storeys are working on a book titled The Art of Choosing: How Liberal Education Should Prepare You for Life.
Download the Full Syllabus
Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session
Monday, June 14
Readings:
- Act I
Monday, June 21
Readings:
- Acts II and III
Monday, June 28
Readings:
- Acts IV and V
