ENG 445 William Shakespeare TR 1:30–2:45, Professor Mark Heberle
Books required:
Bantam Edition paperbacks of Shakespeare Alive!, Richard III, Henry IV, Part One; Henry V, Troilus and Cressida, Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus
Outline of course and subjects:
In studying the plays in this course, we will come to see how, in Ben Jonson’s words Shakespeare “was not of an age, but for all time,” even as we consider biographical, historical, religious, literary, and cultural contexts of these eight plays that make them very much products of their time.When Shakespeare began his career, England had become involved in what would become a twenty-year political, religious, commercial, and proto-imperialist war against the Spanish Empire. Shakespeare’s early career capitalized significantly on the English public’s interest in war, and his later plays deepened his (and their) interest in the origins and consequences of organized, state-sanctioned violence. The U.S. has also been involved in a series of wars lasting more than twenty years that continues to this day. Close study of each play will be the focus of this course, but in our study we will necessarily need to consider problems of political authority; justice in war; nationalism, ethnicity, and race; masculinity, patriarchy, and the “woman’s part” in war, issues that the plays variously treat and encourage us to consider further.
I will introduce each play with one or two interpretive lectures or commentaries, which will be followed by group and then general class discussion as well as some showings of videos.
Course requirements:
Attendance and class participation (15%)
Written essays: video report (10%)
scene analysis (15%)
comparison paper involving 2 plays and some research on a
war-related subject (25%)
Exams: Mid-term exam on history plays and Troilus & Cressida(15%)
Final exam on Roman plays and course as a whole (20%)
Extra credit Up to 5% for report(s) on a ninth, war-related play