Fulfills General Requirement in Arts & Letters

This course provides an introduction to Shakespeare's works and his world. We will read representative plays from Shakespeare's corpus in order to gain a working knowledge of the dramatic genres in which Shakespeare wrote, including comedy, tragedy, and history. In addition to closely examining the texts themselves, we will study Shakespeare in the cultural context in which his plays were written and performed, and we will pay attention to their subsequent histories on the stage and on the screen. Requirements will include a class presentation, short written assignments, a longer paper, and a final exam.