6 Best Shakespeare Courses on edX
We compared 6 Shakespeare courses currently listed on edX, priced from $139.00 to $536.40. 2 come from a named university or institution, including Harvard University and Adelaide University. They are ordered by our CourseAsk score, which is built from how thoroughly each course describes what it teaches, whether it comes from a named institution, and how it compares on price — not from star ratings, which our course data does not include.
- Courses compared
- 6
- Price range
- $139.00 – $536.40
- Providers
- edX
- Last updated
- 18 Sep 2026
How these 6 courses were chosen
Every course below is a real, currently listed course from edX, matched to "shakespeare" by our catalog and ordered by our CourseAsk score. Courses whose own title names the topic rank above those only tagged with it.
The grade on each entry scores how much the provider publishes about the course before you pay — the length and detail of the description, whether it lists learning outcomes and objectives — and whether a named university or institution stands behind it. A is fully documented and institution-backed; E is little more than a title and a price. Courses with almost nothing published are left ungraded rather than marked down, because an unknown course and a poor one are not the same thing.
There are no star ratings on this page — the course feeds we license do not include them, and we would rather leave a column out than fill it with a number we cannot stand behind. What we do have is price: these range from $139.00 to $536.40, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.
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1
Shakespeare's Life and Work
Offered by Harvard University
Learn how to read William Shakespeare's plays through his biography, Elizabethan and Jacobean history, and modern performance.
$149.00listed price -
2
Shakespeare's Life, Work, and Characters
Offered by Harvard University
This course offers a deep exploration of Shakespeare's life, work, and the array of characters that populate his plays. You'll get to understand the historical and cultural context in which he wrote, providing valuable i...
$536.40listed price -
3
Shakespeare’s Othello: The Moor
Offered by Harvard University
Explore acts of storytelling in Shakespeare's Othello alongside world-class artists who interpret Othello's story in new forms and contexts today.
$149.00listed price -
4
Shakespeare Matters
Offered by Adelaide University
Learn about iconic Shakespeare plays and their influence through a focus on emotions such as love, hate, and jealousy.
$139.00listed price -
5
Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice: Shylock
Offered by Harvard University
An exploration of the magnetic and ambivalent character of Shylock in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
$149.00listed price -
6
Shakespeare's Hamlet: The Ghost
Offered by Harvard University
Explore the haunting figure at the heart of one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays.
$149.00listed price
Best Shakespeare Courses on edX compared
| # | Course | Provider | Offered by | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakespeare's Life and Work | edX | Harvard University | $149.00 | View → |
| 2 | Shakespeare's Life, Work, and Characters | edX | Harvard University | $536.40 | View → |
| 3 | Shakespeare’s Othello: The Moor | edX | Harvard University | $149.00 | View → |
| 4 | Shakespeare Matters | edX | Adelaide University | $139.00 | View → |
| 5 | Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice: Shylock | edX | Harvard University | $149.00 | View → |
| 6 | Shakespeare's Hamlet: The Ghost | edX | Harvard University | $149.00 | View → |
Prices shown are the provider's listed price when we last updated this page. Confirm on their site before enrolling.
What the prices here tell you
The 6 priced courses on this page run from $139.00 to $536.40, with the middle of the range around $149.00 — a spread of $397.40. That is a wide gap for one subject. A higher price on this page usually reflects who is behind the course rather than how much material it contains, so it is worth opening two or three at different price points and comparing their syllabus before deciding.
Who is behind these courses
These courses come from edX. Everything on this page is sold on the one platform, so the buying experience is the same whichever you pick. 2 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including Harvard University and Adelaide University — which usually means a fixed syllabus and a recognised certificate, rather than an individual instructor’s own course.
Before you enrol
Open the provider’s own page and check three things this comparison cannot tell you: when the course was last updated, what the syllabus actually covers in its later sections, and what recent learners say. Prices shown here are the provider’s listed price when we last rebuilt this page on 18 September 2026 — they change often, and a promotion can move them substantially. We earn a commission if you enrol through our links, which costs you nothing and never affects the order courses appear in.