THEA 2330

Shakespeare in History

The plays of William Shakespeare are examined, as they emerged from the cultural context which shaped his world and the forms of theatre available to his audience. Involves textual analysis and other types of critical scrutiny across various forms of communication-oral, written, and theatrically embodied-both as individuals and as a group working collaboratively, as they explore the political, social, religious, philosophical, and aesthetic currents which stamped the plays. In addition to examining Shakespeares work, students read representative examples by his contemporaries so as to further contextualize the material, and study the particular technologies of the Renaissance theatre so as to better understand how the plays may have been originally staged. The thrust of the course is that in uncovering what Shakespeare was, students start to construct notions of what he may yet become. Involves the writing of several short essays.

Units: 3.0