Rachael Hodge (UK)

Rachael Hodge
MSt in English (1550-1700)

During my time as an Ertegun Scholar and MSt student, I worked on a number of research projects related to early modern drama. I completed papers on self-determination and the nosce teipsum topos in Shakespeare’s Richard III, the political and practical implications of a staged beheading in a little-known but once notorious manuscript play called Sir John van Olden Barnavelt, and the annotated almanacs of an avid seventeenth-century play reader, Frances Wolfreston. My MSt dissertation explored the relationship between trauma and tragicomedy in two of Shakespeare’s so-called “late plays,” Cymbeline and Pericles, illuminating patterns of repression and repetition in the structure and language of these plays. I feel immensely privileged to have been given the opportunity to be an Ertegun scholar, for the House, the cultural events and, above all, the vibrant Ertegun community.

 

Life After Ertegun House

Since completing my MSt, I have begun an AHRC-funded DPhil here at the University of Oxford. I am pursuing my interest in early modern dramatic genre, exploring generic playfulness and experimentation in plays written and performed in the early years of the professional London theatres.

Alongside my research, I am also a part-time assistant for the Oxford-based charity ReLit, which promotes the therapeutic use of slow reading in the management of stress, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. My work for the charity includes updating the website and social media accounts, and helping to organise workshops and an annual Summer School.

As an active member of the Ertegun community still based in Oxford, I am very happy to be contacted by other scholars and alumni, as well as by prospective applicants.