This course studies
chronologically a variety of Shakespeare’s plays in all genres, all of which
have been given memorable cinematic (or even operatic) treatments
subsequently. It will enable you to
perceptively read and enjoy productions of these works. Video excerpts will be
interspersed with lectures and group and classwide discussions. You will be responsible for two papers on the
plays and one comparative analysis of a play and two video productions, as well
as a group performance of a scene and some digital responses to instructor and
student questions. By the end of the
course, we should all appreciate more fully the ways in which, as Ben Jonson
wrote in 1616, Shakespeare’s works were “not for an age / but for all
time,” even as we recognize how these plays reflect the values,
preoccupations, and limitations of the playwright’s own moment in time.
Course requirements
- Attendance
- In-class discussion participation (individual
and group) - Electronic class discussion
- Group performance of scene
- Mid-term exam
- Final exam
- Comparative video analysis paper
- Scene and character analysis
Required texts (Bantam Shakespeares)
Richard III
A Midsummer’s
Night’s Dream
Romeo and Juliet
Much
Ado About Nothing
Henry
IV, Part One
Henry
V
Hamlet
Othello
Julius
Caesar
The
Tempest
Shakespeare
Alive!