Course details

Name: ENGL - 353

Title: SHAKESPEARE: COMEDIES-HISTORIES

Section: 03

Semester: Spring - 2024

Credits: 3

Description:
You may have noticed from previous exposure that Shakespearean comedy isn’t very funny, and his history plays don’t quite stick to much actual history. There’s another agenda at work here. Like all comedy, even in our own time, Shakespearean comedy wants to correct our (or someone else’s) “bad” behavior, and to enforce a cultural codes (“majority rules”) of accommodation, which is really only funny when someone else is up for ridicule (the Banana Peel Theory of Comedy). In this course, we will consider what’s really at work in these plays, including theories of racial and gendered scapegoating, and comedy as the “genre of accommodation.” Among the questions we address that may of particular interest to students are: why isn’t Shakespearean comedy funny? Why is The Merchant of Venice considered a comedy? Why does Shakespeare offer scenes of domestic violence, dialogs of misogyny (as in The Taming of the Shrew or Much Ado About Nothing)? Why does Shakespearean comedy require marriage (or the promise of marriage) at the end of the play? These and similar inquiries form the core of our study; we challenge “traditional” narratives. You are encouraged to bring your own questions and (perhaps snarky) senses of humor. Those will work just as well when we turn to the “history” plays, where Shakespeare re-reads the accepted norms, asks questions we still want to ask in our own time about leadership and “rights,” and lets in some fresh air. This is not as simple as it looks—and it’s more important than we once thought. There are 2 papers (1 short, one longer and research-supported) or maybe just 3 short ones), and a midterm and final exam.

Last updated on 2023-11-01 By Liebler Naomi (lieblern)

Schedule: Monday,Thursday From 2:15 pm To 3:30 pm

Graduation requirements:

  • Any Literature (1e)
  • Genre Study (Drama)
  • Shakespeare (TE 1a)
  • Pre-1700 (1a)
  • Pre-1800 (1b)
  • Pre-1900 (1c)
  • Women and Gender Studies (3c)
  • Class Issues (3d)
  • Pre-1800 British (TE 1b)
  • Graduate (BA/MA)

Teaching Faculty: Liebler Naomi (lieblern)

Is course canceled: No