We will immerse ourselves in reading Shakespeare’s Sonnets and his Neoclassical poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. Shakespeare invented his own style of the sonnet, originally popularized by Petrarch in the 14th century. In the 154 sonnets published in 1609, Shakespeare dazzles us with his lexical, semantic, aural, syntactic, and rhetorical virtuosity. Nevertheless, he was not immune to a bad romance. As we expand our understanding of Shakespeare’s persistent themes, narrative strategies, ekphrastic innovations, and poetic techniques, we will examine the critical reception of these works, including biographical, Feminist, Queer Theory, and Post-structural approaches. Our most pressing objective is to become more agile, precise, and imaginative close readers of—and writers about—Shakespeare’s poetry.
Learning Outcomes:
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Prerequisites: At least one 2000-level or 4000-level Literature class. Please submit a critical writing essay to Camille Guthrie by Wednesday, Feb. 22nd to be considered (if you were not already enrolled in Shakespeare's Problem Plays).
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 4
M/Th 8:00AM-9:50AM (Full-term)
Maximum Enrollment: 16
Course Frequency: One time only
Categories: 4000 , All courses , Four Credit , Fully In-Person , Literature , Updates
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