“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”
This course is an intensive study of the works and literary milieu of William Shakespeare, the most adapted author in the world. Shakespeare’s plays offer a pivot in understanding early modern England, contemporary culture, and academic scholarship of literary texts. Some of the most challenging plays to understand on a theoretical and dramatic level are what have been called Shakespeare’s tragicomic romances, or at other times Shakespeare’s late romances. We will be exploring the dramatic and literary contexts of two of these tragicomic romances, Cymbeline and The Winter’s Tale, including Robert Greene’s Pandosto and Boccaccio’s Decameron.
In conjunction with exploring the sexual, political, and literary implications of Shakespeare’s late romances, we will analyze some of Shakespeare’s most devastating tragedies. Macbeth, King Lear, and Titus Andronicus and the adaptations of those plays have shaped some of our most popular actors and defined directors. How does Shakespeare understand the causes and consequences of political insurrection? To what extent does Shakespeare tailor his portrayal of the supernatural to the expectations of the audience? Why are contemporary audiences still drawn to cinematic adaptations of tragedies, and seem to avoid the tragicomic romances? These are some of the questions we will explore in this class.
Richard Burt and Julian Yates have argued that “The worst thing you can do to Shakespeare is not to read him.” In this course, we will closely analyze the text of the plays, the literary sources that influenced Shakespeare’s composition, and contemporary scholarship that seeks to understand Shakespeare and his legacy. We will explore theoretical considerations of genre, feminist attitudes toward adaptation, and the political significance of Shakespeare in contemporary America. We will also consider the strategies different editors use in presenting Shakespearean texts to readers today.