"Chandos" portrait (from the name of a previous owner). Attributed to John Taylor, c. 1610.

Used with the permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Required Texts:

• The Necessary Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington (2nd ed., Longman, 2005).
• Stephen Greenblatt, Will in the World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare ( W. W. Norton, 2004).
• Note: You must bring the assigned text to each class.

Required Films:

Throughout the semester several films will be shown on Clarkson's television network. You are required to see them.

Objectives:

To read Shakespeare's plays as texts, performances, and cultural productions, we shall:

1. Become familiar with Elizabethan and Jacobean verbal practices, and thus to read the plays closely and carefully.
2. Recognize specific passages and to place them in context.
3. Trace the development of Shakespeare's dramatic works.
4. Learn the conventions of London theatre productions, the history of the playhouses, the politics of theatre patronage, and the formal aspects of the plays.
5. Study the plays as performed art, through the stage history and the major film productions of the plays.
6. Learn Shakespeare's biography.
7. Learn the context of Shakespeare's plays, the cultural, political, and social forces at work in the Early Modern era of Europe in general and Tudor - Stuart England in particular. These include religious controversies, demographic shifts, shifting power alliances in Europe, social mobility, colonization of the Americas.
8. Learn the different cultural and political uses of the plays up to the present day.
9. Learn the major theoretical approaches to reading Shakespeare's plays and poetry.
10. Be aware of current controversies and new information about the plays.

Assignments and Grading:

To achieve these objectives, you will carefully analyze texts and their historical context, prepare each text carefully for class discussion, answer questions prepared for you in advance of class, and use selected websites for class preparation. To assess your progress toward these objectives, I shall require you to complete the following assignments: to write a 2-page problem paper on each play -- 6 papers ( 8% each); to take 2 hourly exams (11% each); to participate fully and enthusiastically in class discussion (10%); to complete a final project of producing a staged version of a scene (20%). Failure to produce any of the assigned requirements will result in a zero for the course.

Grading Summary:

• 6 two-page papers: 48%
• 2 exams: 22%
• class participation: 10%
• Final Project: 20%

Final Project:

Early in the semester students will choose group members (5 or so) and select a scene from one of the plays -- this will require you look ahead and skim around in the plays. Groups will choose a director and technical assistant, set up a production schedule very early in the semester, and work together to present the final scenes, lines fully memorized and staging carefully thought out. Productions will take place during the time allotted for our final exam during exam week. As usual, I shall try to reserve Snell Hall Auditorium for the week before and during exams, so that you may hold final rehearsals and performance on a stage.

Attendance Policy:

More than 3 absences will seriously affect your final grade. The Dean's office does not grant excused absences. If you have trouble making a class or an assignment, see me. You are responsible for all makeup work.

Class web site and assignments:

All assignments will be posted on the web. I will not pass out assignments in class. You are expected to refer to our web page daily, as I shall be updating it constantly. The assignment is due on the date it is posted.

Plagiarism Policy:

Any act of plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment and notification to your advisor and to the academic integrity board for recommended action.