"Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature. . . . Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirrour of manners and of life. . . . Shakespeare's plays are not in the rigorous and critical sense either tragedies or comedies, but compositions of a distinct kind; exhibiting the real state of sublunary nature, which partakes of good and evil, joy and sorrow, mingled with endless variety of proportion and innumerable modes of combination; and expressing the course of the world, in which the loss of one is the gain of another; in which, at the same time, the reveler is hasting to his wine, and the mourner burying his friend; in which the malignity of one is sometimes defeated by the frolick of another; and many mischiefs and many benefits are done and hindered without design." Samuel Johnson, 1765

Course description: This is first and foremost a course in reading: developing the skills requisite to meet the challenges of reading--with comprehension, appreciation, and pleasure--highly artificial work written by a genius in antique English. In order to achieve this comprehension, we’ll look at the language itself, the figures of speech, themes, and the literary conventions and cultural context of the works. We’ll attend both to the ways in which Shakespeare is our contemporary as an early modern and the ways in which his work and culture are utterly alien. In particular, we’ll discuss the ways in which Shakespeare experiments with the genres of comedy, tragedy, and romance, and the innovative techniques he uses in order to produce subjectivities susceptible to modern analysis. Readings of six plays (three comedies, a tragedy, a history, and a romance) will be supplemented with screenings of a variety of productions. Discussion and informal lecture format. Regular attendance and timely completion of assignments essential. Students will keep reading journals and a commonplace book, respond to study questions, participate in an email discussion list between class meetings, take quizzes, and complete midterm and final examinations. THIS COURSE SATISFIES THE FOUR-HOUR DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT IN LITERATURE.

Texts: Shakespeare, Richard III (Folger); The Comedy of Errors (Folger); Much Ado About Nothing (Folger);Measure for Measure (Signet); King Lear (Signet); The Winter’s Tale (Folger).

Policies: Faithful attendance and regular participation in class are expected. To provide motivation when it is lacking, unannounced quizzes may be given. Quizzes cannot be made up without prior permission or documentation of a legitimate excuse for absence. No quiz grades will be dropped. Students with special needs are welcome to discuss them with me. Some services for students with special needs are available through the Office of Disability Support Services, 157 NFH, x3266. No alternative examination dates will be available. The grade of Incomplete is available only to students who have demonstrated regular and steady progress in the course but for whom unforeseeable and uncontrollable circumstances make impossible the timely completion of the course. Students suspected of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Students for consideration of the Academic Conduct Committee of the University Senate. Cheating on any course assignment may result in failure for the course and suspension or expulsion from the University. Representing anybody else's work as your own is a form of academic dishonesty. For further information, please see the section on "Academic Conduct" in the undergraduate catalogue.

Classroom Decorum: Everyone in the class is responsible for ensuring that the classroom supports learning: Please arrive on time; try not to distract others; turn off your cell phone; address your comments to the class at large. You are encouraged to participate vigorously, even passionately, in class discussion, but always respectfully to your classmates and your instructor. Please plan to remain in class for the entire class meeting each day.

Major Assignments:

The following simple formula will determine your final grade for the course:

Some links of interest:

Visit the University of Reading's Globe Theatre Research Site.

Study Guides for each play are available from Spark Notes. These won't substitute for actually READING the plays, but they may be helpful.

Historical, cultural, and biographical information, along with plot synopses, is available at The Shakespeare Resource Center.

Schedule: Unless we get very tired very fast, we will adhere to the following schedule. If a class meeting is canceled for any reason please continue reading according to the schedule.

May

1 Orientation; Matters Logistical; Who/what was/is Shakespeare? Practice in reading; screening of Pacino's Looking for Richard.

Below: David Garrick as Richard III by Francis Hayman, 1760; David Garrick as Richard III, by William Hogarth.

2 Subscribe to email discussion list: Send email, without subject line or signature, to majordomo@oakland.edu, with the message, Subscribe britlit370-L followed by your email address.

Read Richard III, Act 1; “Shakespeare’s Richard III ” and “Reading Shakespeare’s Language,” Folger R3, xiii-xxv. You may wish to consult the geneological chart of “The Line of Edward III on pp. 2-3. Material on the War of the Roses is available at The War of the Roses; For the backstory for R3, you might visit The Wars of the Roses home page or the very brief synopsis at the Richard III Society website.

6 Read Richard III, Acts 2-5; “The Publication of Shakespeare’s Texts” and “An Introduction to This Text,” Folger R3 xliii-lix. Send a message to the discussion list (address it to britlit370-l@oakland.edu): a.) a question about R3, or b.) an answer to someone else’s question, or c.) a passage from your commonplace book and a brief comment on why you think the passage remarkable.

8 Read “Richard III: A Modern Perspective,” in the Folger R3, 337-349; and “The Publication of Shakespeare’s Texts” and “An Introduction to This Text,” Folger RIII xliii-lix.;“Biographical Sketch,” “A Note on the Anti-Stratfordians,” and “The Shakespeare Canon” in the Signet Measure for Measure, vii-xviii. For a more extensive statement of the Anti-Stratfordian case, see The Shakespeare Oxford Society Page; for the rebuttal, see The Shakespeare Authorship Page

9 Read “Shakespeare’s Theater,” “Shakespeare’s Dramatic Language,” “The Play Text as Collaboration,” in the Signet Measure for Measure, xxvi-xlix

13 Read Comedy of Errors, Acts 1-3.

15 Read Comedy of Errors, Acts 4-5.

16 “The Comedy of Errors: A Modern Perspective,” in the Folger CE, 179-195.

20 Read Much Ado About Nothing, Acts 1-3.

22 Read Much Ado About Nothing, Acts 4-5. Journal and commonplace book will be collected. (5 journal entries/35 lines expected.)

23 Read Gail Kern Paster’s “Much Ado about Nothing: A Modern Perspective” in the Folger Much Ado (213-230).

27 Memorial Day -- no class meeting. Midterm examination ahead!

Below: Claudio, Deceived by Don John, Accuses Hero by Marcus Stone

29 Midterm examination. Bring a blue examination booklet to class.

30 Read Measure for Measure, Act 1.

June

3 Read Measure for Measure, Acts 2-5

5 Read Marcia Riefer Poulsen, “‘Instruments of Some More Mightier Member’: The Construction of Female Power in Measure for Measure,” Signet MM 153-172; Ruth Nevo, “Complex Sexuality,” Signet MM 173-179.

5 Read King Lear, Act 1. For fun (or comic relief), see Richard Nathan's parody of King Lear, "How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth"

10 Read King Lear, Acts 2-5.

12 Read A.C. Bradley, from Shakespearean Tragedy, in KL 190-207;

13 Read Winter’s Tale, Acts 1-3.2. Journals and commonplace books will be collected. (7 entries/45 lines)

17 Read Winter's Tale, Acts 3.3-5.

Below: John Fawcett as Autolycus in "The Winter's Tale" by Thomas Charles Wageman, 1828

19 Read "The Winter's Tale: A Modern Perspective, in the Folger WT, 257-272.

20 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Final examination. Bring a blue examination booklet.

21 and afterwards: Have happy literate lives!

Return to Brian Connery's Home Page