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M,W,F 10 a.m. | |
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English 304 |
Texts:
- Hamlet, The Arden Shakespeare, ed. Harold Jenkins
- Othello, The Arden Shakespeare
- King Lear, The Arden Shakespeare
- Macbeth, The Arden Shakespeare
- Antony & Cleopatra, The Arden Shakespeare
- Shakespeare's Middle Tragedies, ed. D. Young
Rationale and some ground rules:
One could argue for other inclusions under our heading of "major" - Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, perhaps even Richard the Second - but we are beginning with Hamlet and then proceeding chronologically through Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Antony & Cleopatra. This will enable us, among other things, to study Shakespeare's changing attitudes toward a genre that both attracted him and about which he had some interesting reservations. As is the case with his comedies, histories and romances, he is never quite willing to play within the rules, to accept the characteristics of a genre at face value; he never does the same thing twice when he is creating tragedy, and he never commits himself fully to the genre as he and his contemporaries understood it. Within the plays he creates crosscurrents and contradictions that make them both more interesting and more difficult to interpret.
Because we are studying just a few plays, we can go deeply into them and face the many questions of interpretation and meaning they pose. To do this, we need to maintain continuity. The fact that we may spend three weeks on a play does not mean, therefore, that you are only obligated to show up for a few of our discussions. The only way you can take in the play and form a cumulative understanding both of it and of the other plays we consider is by regular attendance, conscientious reading and study, and serious attention to the discussion topics for each session. If you commit to that, I can just about guarantee you a valuable educational experience; if you can't, you'll make me unhappy, shortchange yourself, hamper the progress of the class, and who knows what else? I want you to consider this commitment carefully, now, at the outset, and if you feel you can't make it or stick by it, it would be better if you found some other class than this one.
Some people seem to feel that 10 o'clock in the morning is unreasonably early and that they are doing me a personal favor by showing up at that time. I don't see it that way. Last spring I taught a Shakespeare class at this hour. People regularly showed up late, some students missed class frequently, and there was a good deal of coming and going during the hour, a practice that inevitably disrupts our concentration. I felt offended by this, but I didn't say anything because I hadn't warned people about it at the outset. So let's get some ground rules established before we have even begun: 1. Missing class because you overslept is not an acceptable excuse. 2. Showing up late to class is rude and will be construed as rudeness. 3. Leaving class during the discussion (presumably to go to the bathroom and/or get a drink of water) is also rude and should be done only in extreme circumstances. The class is only fifty minutes long; if you think you'll have to go to the restroom during that fifty minutes, plan ahead.
Besides showing up on time and staying put, I want you to think of yourselves as having a regular obligation to contribute to the discussion. The syllabus contains discussion topics for each class. We need not limit ourselves to these, but you should be prepared to say something intelligent about any one of the topics if called upon to initiate or continue a discussion. That will mean you have not only done the reading but some thinking about the reading. Again, if you don't think you can commit to that three times a week, you don't want to be in the class.
Because this is an advanced class, I am going to assume that you have a pretty good familiarity with the period in which the plays were written, the physical conditions of the playhouse, the organization of the dramatic companies, and the theatrical conventions that Shakespeare was using. If you feel you need to brush up on these topics, it should be easy to do so, and I can recommend some books and articles to anyone who asks for help in filling out gaps. I'm assuming too that you come into this class knowing how to read a play, a skill that's very different from reading a novel or a poem. Drama, and its medium, live theater, are a specialized form of literary production, and again, if you feel this is a skill you need to work on as the class gets underway, don't hesitate to ask for help.
We'll launch right into Hamlet, for an extended study, and we'll be able to take a great deal of what we learn from that encounter into our study of the subsequent plays. If you find you need to do quite a lot of reading, thinking and research to orient yourself in the first part of the course, remember that things will get easier as you go. It's as though we were going to scale six mountains; the first one will allow us to develop our techniques and get familiar with our equipment. Subsequent peaks, even if they're higher and more difficult, will still in some sense be duplications of the first experience.
Besides the requirements itemized above, I will expect you to write 4-6 page papers on four of the six plays. These papers are due right after we finish our study and discussion. If you want to propose alternatives to this basic requirement, e.g. double papers, research papers, etc., I am open to your suggestions.
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Assignments:
Mon. Feb. 8: Introductory.
Wed. Feb. 10: Hamlet, Act I. Discussion topics: Starting with a ghost. Revenge tragedy as a genre. Structure of Act I. Use of poetry and the language-textures so far. Read Lanham, States.
Fri. Feb. 12: Hamlet, Acts I & II. Discussion topics: Polonius and his family. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Arrival of the players. Implications of metadrama. Read "Sources" in Jenkins.
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Mon. Feb. 15: Hamlet, Acts II & III. Metadrama, continued. Hamlet's soliloquies. The scene with Ophelia. Performance of the play within a play. Performance choices for director and for Hamlet. Try to view at least one performance of the play (Jacobi, Gibson, Olivier, Branagh) over the weekend.
Wed. Feb. 17: Acts III & IV. Feminist issues and approaches: Read Adelman and Showalter.
Fri. Feb. 19: Acts I-V. Plot as shape and as meaning. Read Rose and Seltzer.
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Mon. Feb. 22: Acts I-V. Hamlet as hero, anti-hero and trickster. Review "Saxo" in "Sources."
Wed. Feb. 24: The graveyard scene.
Fri. Feb. 26: The climax and ending. Is this a tragedy? Is it a revenge tragedy? Production choices and actor choices. Read Fly and Girard.
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Mon. March 1: Hamlet papers due. Othello, Act. I. Another night opening. How is it different? Why? Othello and the Senate. Iago and the audience.
Wed. March 3: Othello, Acts I and II. Why Venice? Cyprus? Iago's character. Read Auden.
Fri. March 5: Othello, Acts II and III. The 'temptation' scene. Issues of character and performance. Read Calderwood.
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Mon. March 8: Othello, Acts III and IV. Desdemona, Emilia. Feminist readings. Read Neely.
Wed. March 10: Othello, Acts IV and V. Issues of race. Read Neill.
Fri. March 12: Othello, Acts I-V. Source issues and text issues. Read handout.
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Mon. March 15: Othello, I-V: Iago, a final assessment.
Wed. March 17: Othello, I-V: Othello, a final assessment.
Fri. March 19: Student presentations of Othello papers. Othello papers due.
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SPRING BREAK
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Mon. March 29: King Lear, Act I. The opening scene. Why the love test? Why does Cordelia refuse to speak? What kind of story is this? What kind of world is this play set in? Read Mack.
Wed. March 31: Act I, cont. Discussion of Mack, cont. The old play, 'King Leir' is on reserve.
Fri. April 2: Acts I & II. Why is the Fool in the play? Why the double plot?
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Mon. April 5: Act II. Staging issues. Read Rosenberg.
Wed. April 7: Act III. The storm and heath scenes. Madness and sense. Review Mack.
Fri. April 9: Acts III & IV. Poor Tom, the Bedlam Beggar. The blinding of Gloucester. Read Carroll.
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Mon. April 12: Act IV. 'Cliff' scene, 'beach' scene. Read Cavell.
Wed. April 14: Reunion with Cordelia. Feminist readings. Read Boose.
Fri. April 16: The final scene. 'Is this the promis'd end?' Last lines of the play.
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Mon. April 19: Lear papers due. Macbeth, opening scenes.
Wed. April 21: Macbeth, Act I. Why witches? Nature of this play's poetry.
Fri. April 23: Acts I & II. The murder scenes.
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Mon. April 26: Act III. Banquo's murder & the banquet scene.
Wed. April 28: Acts IV & V. Visiting the witches. Sleepwalking. Lady Macduff. England scene.
Fri. April 30: Acts I-V. Death of Lady Macbeth. Death of Macbeth, Final speech. Issue of tragedy.
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Mon. May 3: Macbeth papers due. Antony & Cleopatra, Act I. Opening scene. World of the play. Dual protagonists.
Wed. May 5: Acts I & II. Rome vs. Egypt. Antony's return. Barge scene.
Fri. May 7: Act III. Geopolitics and love. Whom to believe? Actium.
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Mon. May 10: Act IV. Death of Antony.
Wed. May 12: Act V. Death of Cleopatra
Fri. May 14: Acts I-V. Final assessments. Last class. Course evaluations.
Papers on Antony and Cleopatra due by 4:30, May 18.
RESERVE BOOKS AND VIDEOS
Note: There is also a general Shakespeare Reserve which has useful collections of criticism, sources, etc.
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