Introduction to Shakespeare (234-0-01)
Instructors
Jeffrey A Masten
Meeting Info
555 Clark B03: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
We'll read a range of Shakespeare's plays: comedies, histories, tragedies, and tragicomedies, from early in his career to his final works. The course will introduce the plays by introducing them back into the context of the theatre, literary world, and culture in which Shakespeare originally wrote them. We will think about Shakespeare's contexts and how they matter: a theatre on the outskirts of ever-expanding Renaissance London; a financially successful acting company in which he played the simultaneous and often overlapping roles of writer, actor, and co-owner; a world of reading and writing in which words, plots, and texts were constantly being re-circulated into new plays; the rich possibilities of the English language around 1600. We will centrally consider the ways in which these theatrical, literary, and cultural questions register within the plays themselves. What do words, plays, stories do—how do they work—in Shakespeare's plays? Who or what is an audience or an actor in these plays? How do Shakespeare's plays stage issues such as gender, race, religion, sexuality, social class, entertainment and the media -- and how does his approach to these issues continue to speak to our own era?
Teaching Method
Lectures with discussion; required weekly discussion section.
Evaluation Method
Papers, midterm, final, discussion participation.
Class Materials (Required)
We'll use the high-quality, inexpensive Folger Library annotated paperback editions of the following plays, ed. Mowat and Werstine (these editions only):
A Midsummer Night's Dream (978-1501146213);
The Merchant of Venice (978-1439191163);
Henry V (978-0743484879);
As You Like It (978-0743484862);
Hamlet, Updated edition (978-1451669411);
The Tempest, Updated edition (978-1501130014);
The Two Noble Kinsmen (978-1982170165);
additional critical readings on Canvas.
Texts will be available at: Norris Bookstore.
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Associated Classes
DIS - Harris Hall L05: Thurs 4:00PM - 4:50PM
DIS - University Hall 418: Thurs 5:00PM - 5:50PM
DIS - University Hall 318: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - University Hall 118: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM