In this class, we’ll read six of Shakespeare’s comedies (i.e., the plays where no one dies at the end) and romances (the plays where things get a little weird). Likely plays include As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. The primary focus of the class will be on reading Shakespeare’s texts, and talking about the way he uses humor, irony, wordplay, and so on to build a world. We’ll also look at film adaptations of some of the plays, as a way of thinking about (among other things) how Shakespeare’s comedies might be useful to us now, as writers, makers of theater, and citizens.
Learning Outcomes:
• To become familiar with six of Shakespeare’s comedies and romances;
• to pay close attention to Shakespeare’s language;
• more generally, to the consider ways in which wordplay and other non-literal uses of language shape our understanding of what a text means and what it’s doing;
• to put these skills into practice in critical writing about the plays, which will take the form of short(ish) papers and discussion prompts.
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Course Level: 2000-level
Credits: 4
T/F 10:30AM - 12:20PM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Course Frequency: Every 2-3 years
Categories: All courses , Fully In-Person , Literature , Updates
Tags: Comedy , literature , plays , romances , shakespeare