30.340 Shakespeare II

Prerequisite: 6 credit hours in first-year English literature (ENGL) or permission of Instructor.

By means of extensive readings of Shakespeare’s plays and poetry – both close and aloud – we will analyze the plays and poems that have become so foundational to English literature. Paying attention to current criticism and analysis of Shakespeare, we will also consider what our understanding and use of Shakespeare says about our own society. We will consider various genres of drama in the Shakespeare canon, reading representational comedies, tragedies, histories, and tragicomedies, in addition to selections of his poetry. Shakespeare II will not duplicate the texts studied in Shakespeare I. The course will consider Shakespeare’s plays and poetry in connection with a particular critical “theme” that may change from year to year. Themes may include, but are not limited to, gender/sexuality, ecocriticism, animal studies, music, etc.

Credit cannot be held for both this course and 20:330 or 30:330.
Cross-registered with (Drama) 20:340.
3 lecture hours per week, one term.