Major Authors, Beginning to 1700: Shakespeare: Identity, Family and Society (Capstone eligible)

It is commonly said that William Shakespeare was a great writer because he understood an essential “human nature” in a “universally” applicable way. In this class, we will ask whether this is true. In fact, Shakespeare’s characters show a dynamic and sophisticated understanding of the ways that a person’s identity is flexible and constructed: dependent upon others as well as on ourselves. In this class, we will ask how Shakespeare depicts and questions the creation of individual identity as it relates to gender, social station, history, family, experience, and the other individuals that surround us. 

While such questions will provide a loose theme for the class, students will be encouraged to pursue their own interests and ideas as we read plays from three of Shakespeare’s main dramatic genres: comedies, tragedies, and histories. We will also examine film adaptations of select scenes. Running from slapstick humor to apocalyptic worldviews, plays are likely to include The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, King Lear and Henry IV, Part I. Work for the class will include daily discussions, quizzes, exams, and a literary analysis paper for which each student develops their own topic. 

Cross listed with MDVL_REN 4105-2 and 7105-03