Studies in Shakespeare (339-0-20)

Topic

Hamlet: That is the Question

Instructors

Jeffrey Masten

Meeting Info

University Hall 112: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

We will spend the term delving deeply into the meaning and significance of a play often said to be at the heart of Shakespeare's canon and of modern Western culture more generally. Devoting a full course to one play will allow us to read this enduringly important, exceptionally enigmatic tragedy intensively, scene by scene, sometimes line by line. At the same time, it will allow us to see the many and sometimes conflicting Hamlets that have existed since about 1600, when it was first written and performed. We will read the three early (and different) printed versions of the play from Shakespeare's time. We will also encounter the play through the lenses and tools of several modern critical approaches that have sought to address the mystery of the play and its central character: psychoanalytic Hamlet, post-structuralist Hamlet, Marxist Hamlet, new historicist Hamlet, feminist and queer Hamlets, Hamlet and race, alongside the critical perspectives of some film versions and Tom Stoppard's ingenious revision. "To be or not to be," as we will see, is not the only question.

Teaching Method

Seminar with some mini-lectures.

Evaluation Method

Thorough preparation and participation in our discussions; essays.

Class Materials (Required)

Shakespeare, Hamlet (Arden edition, ed. Thompson and Taylor, ISBN 9781472518385, this edition only); Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (ISBN 9780802126214); critical, theoretical, and historical articles.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area