GOALS:
This course is designed to introduce you to the often-demanding texts of Shakespeare’s plays, their genres (history, comedy, tragedy, and romance), and their themes of state, subject, and family. Shakespeare’s literary career spans an increasingly troubled age that experienced the emergence of both the absolutist state and the deconsecration of the monarch, the construction of the subject (both political and psychological), and the interrogation of the patriarchal control of sexuality and the family. The lectures will suggest how Shakespeare reflects and contributes to these momentous changes at the dawn of the modern world.
FORMAT:
This is a lecture course. The lectures assume no prior knowledge of Shakespeare or his times and are designed to illuminate the texts of the plays. They focus closely upon the text and shall treat many passages in detail. The syllabus lists these focal passages; they must be studied before each lecture. The course web site (see below) contains essential background readings for the plays; you expected to have read the Histories section before reading Richard II; the Comedies before Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Tragedies before Hamlet. You will be tested on their contents. Although the lectures assume no specific familiarity with Shakespeare and his times, they do assume that you parse Shakespeare’s language and are comfortable analyzing poetry. Although the course is cross-listed with Theater, it is not a theater course but a course in literary history. It tries to understand the plays as they may have been understood when first performed. It approaches them as documents of their own time, not as timeless and universal creations that speak to us effortlessly across the centuries. They are written in an English that is four hundred years old and very different from modern English. The first step to understanding them is to understand the words. An invaluable resource is the Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, available on-line among the library databases (https://www-oed-com.ezproxy.wesleyan.edu). Please consult it. If you are not sure how to use it, please let me know.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Please bring the text of the play to class. You are expected to have read each play and have carefully studied the focal passages before each lecture. You must read the plays; watching or listening to them can help you follow the plays, but they are no substitute for reading Shakespeare’s words. Attendance is required, and three or more unexcused absences are grounds for dismissal. Phones must be turned off during class; computers may be used only to take notes.
EVALUATIONS:
Students will take two exams and submit one paper. The exams will cover the Histories and the Histories essays on the web site and the Comedies and the essays on the site. They will count for 50% of your final grade. The paper will cover Hamlet and/or Lear and also count for 50% of your grade. Your paper must develop a critical argument and demonstrate your mastery of Shakespeare’s language by analyzing passages from the plays; plot summary is not be acceptable. (For a discussion and example, please consult Advice to Paper Writers.) Extensions shall be granted only with the support of your class dean. Any missed work must be made up within one week. You must complete all written assignments to receive credit for the course. Using other people’s words or ideas without attribution is, of course, plagiarism, and the Honor Code requires that any suspicions be reported. If you have any questions about how or what to attribute, please ask me.
WEB SITE:
ENGLISH 205 has its own web site: engl205.blogs.wesleyan.edu. The site contains the course syllabus, a discussion of Shakespeare’s theater, and a Contexts section for the histories, comedies, and tragedies with documents and images from Shakespeare’s age and essays introducing them. The contexts sections will providing essential background to help you understand the lectures and write your papers by . You are responsible for the contents of these sections and will be tested on them. Your papers must show that you have used the web site.
TEXTS:
I have ordered individual volumes of the plays from the Pelican Shakespeare series, and I prefer that you use these texts instead of a single-volume Shakespeare; individual plays are a lot easier to carry to class, and there are sometimes substantial differences between different editions. If you want to use another texts, please check with me. I encourage you to use the Oxford Shakespeare series, available on line (https://www-oxfordscholarlyeditions-com.ezproxy.wesleyan.edu/view/10.1093/oseo/person.00000001). Its annotations are more complete and can help with difficult passages. Try to use the Oxford editions when writing your papers.