Module overview
Has Shakespeare aged well? From the boys in wigs on the Elizabethan stage to the digital wizardry of the twenty-first century, the technology as well as the ideology that informs Shakespearean performance keeps evolving—sometimes in unexpected ways. This module gives you an opportunity to find out more about the theatrical culture of Shakespeare’s day, learn how to read Shakespeare’s plays with an eye for poetic detail as well as for staging possibilities, and tap into the rich history of Shakespearean performance and criticism. Our attitudes to Shakespeare might change with the times, but if we take a better look at where Shakespeare started and what his plays have meant to the generations of poets, actors, directors, and scholars that followed, we have a better chance of figuring out where we want to take him next.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Cognitive Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- critical tools and vocabulary needed to engage productively with recent scholarship and position your own reading within it
- critical tools and vocabulary needed to distinguish between different modes of reading and and assess their respective merits and shortcomings
- critical tools and vocabulary needed to examine and comment on various kinds of documents of performance
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- awareness of genre and the staging practices and possibilities of Shakespearean drama
- ability to analyse Shakespearean texts and other related material
- ability to work with the context of early modern culture
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- skills necessary to make the most of your independent research and articulate your own critical position in your written work clearly and accurately
- skills necessary to analyse complex written texts
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- general understanding of the scope and structure of the Shakespearean canon as a whole
- detailed understanding of the poetic as well as dramatic design of a selection of Shakespeare's plays
- awareness of the broad changes in our approach to Shakespeare’s works over the centuries
- awareness of the relationship between text and performance
Syllabus
Over the course of the semester you will explore a selection of Shakespeare’s plays and think about their structure, plotting, presentation of characters, and poetic texture. You will look at the plays from the point of view of the first actors who staged them and think about the conditions of performance in early modern London. Throughout the semester you will be encouraged to read Shakespeare's plays in a variety of different ways: as works of literature, as scripts for performance, as adaptations of older texts, and as texts that are themselves being constantly adapted and reinvented.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching provision for this module will be a combination of lectures and seminars, as well as workshops, individual meetings, feedback on written work, theatre trips if possible, and online streaming of performances.
Learning activities include work in small groups, micro-assignments, individual study and research with emphasis on close reading, and reflection on the plays in performance.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 110 |
| Revision | 35 |
| Teaching | 44 |
| Completion of assessment task | 56 |
| Wider reading or practice | 55 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
A "Complete Works" edition of Shakespeare's plays. Recommended edition for this module is the Norton Shakespeare (3rd edition), but the Riverside Shakespeare, the RSC Shakespeare, and the New Oxford Shakespeare are also good.
Internet Resources
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.
Holinshed's Chronicles Online.
OED.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
The assessment on this module will be both formative (a combination of group activities, micro-assignments, textual analysis, and individual meetings) and summative (two regular essays - one on Shakespeare's Elizabethan plays, the other on his Jacobean plays).
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Text analysisSummative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 50% |
| Final essay | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External