Shakespeare and the theatrical conventions of his time

Timetable

Timetable: as available in “Planer”

Module aim (aims)

This course is part and parcel of the Theatre and Drama in English Programme. The main aim of the course is to provide students with basic knowledge of William Shakespeare’s most well-known plays as well as the conventions of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre. The course will utilize previously learnt terminology in drama and theatre studies in practice. Theatre conventions and practices, the structure of playhouses as well as key themes in early modern drama will be discussed. Students will learn how certain dramatic conventions are presented on stage and how they can be translated into another medium (e.g. film). The ability to read early modern texts as well as reference literature will be practiced. Having completed the course students will be aware of the continuity of historical processes but also the overwhelming impact of political and ideological circumstances on the formation of human identity.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

n.a.

Syllabus

Week 1: "God ye good even, William": Welcome to the Rich World of Shakespeare's Theatre (As You Like It, 5.1.14). Presentation of the syllabus and the introduction to the course: introduction to the English Renaissance.

 

Week 2: "A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!": The Emergence of the Elizabethan Stage (Henry V, Prologue). The emergence of the Elizabethan stage: screening of Shakespeare in Love and its analysis, fragments from Anonymous (2011), introduction to Shakespeare’s life and works (1).

 

Week 3: All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts": Introduction to Shakespeare's life and the period (As You Like It, 2.7.146-49).

 

Introduction to Shakespeare's life and the period: introduction to Shakespeare’s life and works, fragments from The Merry Wives of Windsor (2).

 

 

 

Week 4: "I’ll find a day to massacre them all": Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Early (Roman) Tragedy (Titus, 1.1.459). Early Shakespeare or bad Shakespeare? Titus Andronicus and the introduction to early Shakespearean tragedy, introduction to revenge tragedy [You may watch the film adaptation by Julie Taymor or RSC staging of the play].

 

Week 5: Mature Shakespeare or Shakespeare at his greatest: Hamlet and the revision of revenge tragedy (1).

 

 

 

Week 6: Self-study and screening slot on Hamlet. Mature Shakespeare or Shakespeare at his greatest: Hamlet and the revision of revenge tragedy (2).

 

 

 

Week 7: Mature Shakespeare or Shakespeare at his greatest: Hamlet and the revision of revenge tragedy (3). "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears": Roman Shakespeare and Julius Caesar (Caesar, 3.2.82) (1).

 

Week 8: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears": Roman Shakespeare and Julius Caesar (Caesar, 3.2.82) (2).

Reading list

William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare, Richard II and Richard III (fragments as indicated in the syllabus)

William Shakespeare, As You Like It