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Course name
As You Like It by William Shakespeare with Joseph Pearce
Recorded course taught by Joseph Pearce for High School Renaissance/Shakespeare Literature
Summary

Step into the enchanted Forest of Arden in As You Like It, one of Shakespeare’s most joyful and meaningful comedies. In this six-week course, Professor Joseph Pearce unpacks the play’s hidden depth—revealing its themes of exile, virtue, love, and redemption through a Catholic lens. A perfect blend of wit, wisdom, and wonder for high school literature students!

 

Course Description: A six-week course on one of Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies in which students will discover that As You Like It is much more than merely a comedy. None of Shakespeare’s comedies are simply comedies. There is always much that is serious within that which is merely fun or funny. Professor Pearce will show the deep religious and moral truths that emerge within the play. He will show how the heroes and heroines are those who have been forced into exile by corrupt and malevolent rulers. He will show how these happy outlaws, living in a remote forest, like Robin Hood and his merry men, embody the spirit of the Merrie England of the Catholic Middle Ages. He will show the foolishness of the rich and the wisdom of the poor, and the happy ending that comes with happy marriages but also surprising religious conversion.

 

Instructor: Joseph Pearce

Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. All quizzes are internally graded in this course. Optional papers will be completed via this page (click here) for an Instructor Access fee of $75.

https://caravel.homeschoolconnections.com/catalog/1404104226

Total classes

6

Duration

55 minutes

Prerequisites

The ability to read and enjoy the play

Suggested grade level

8th to 12th grade

Suggested credit

1/2 semester of Literature. Add another literature course for a full semester.

Outline

Course Outline:

Class 1: Introduction: Shakespeare and His Times

Class 2: Act One

Class 3: Act Two

Class 4: Act Three

Class 5: Act Four

Class 6: Act Five

Materials

Homework

Reading of the play and critical notes. Quizzes are automated and graded by the computer for immediate feedback. Expect to spend approximately two hours outside of the classroom on homework each week.

Course name
As You Like It by William Shakespeare with Joseph Pearce
Instructor
Joseph Pearce
Semester
Recorded
Category
Literature ➤ Renaissance/Shakespeare Literature
Grade levels
High School
Start time
November 5th, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET
Course type
Recorded, free with subscription
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.
Enhanced quiz security
Enhanced assignment security

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Joseph Pearce
jpearce.co@outlook.com

View courses I am instructing

About Joseph Pearce

A native of England, Joseph Pearce is the internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc.

His books have been published and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Croatian and Polish. He has hosted two 13-part television series about Shakespeare on EWTN, and has also written and presented documentaries on EWTN on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. His verse drama, Death Comes for the War Poets, was performed off-Broadway to critical acclaim. He has participated and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, Africa and South America.

He is Visiting Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University and a Visiting Fellow of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (Merrimack, New Hampshire). He is editor of the St. Austin Review (https://staustinreview.org/), series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions (www.ignatiuscriticaleditions.com), senior instructor with Homeschool Connections, and senior contributor at the Imaginative Conservative and Crisis Magazine.

His personal website is http://www.jpearce.co.  

Testimonies from students:

“I appreciated and enjoyed the class, I understood the teacher even with his accent.”

“I LOVE Mr. Pearce's British accent! I also greatly appreciated the email response that was given when I asked a question.”

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Click here for more info about Joseph Pearce!

© 2025 Homeschool Connections; Joseph Pearce. All Rights Reserved.

  • This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections or purchasers of the course. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment, and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
  • You may print or download to your own storage extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
  • Upon completion of the course, you must delete all copies of course materials from any storage on which you saved permissible extracts.

Violation of the above copyright policies may result in expulsion without any refund and/or legal action.