Fall 2008 Courses

English 310: Shakespeare: Histories and Tragedies (Weixel)

M/W/F 2:20-3:20pm HUM 227

Shakespeare's history plays were wildly popular in their time and, in the intervening centuries, have even been taken by some to represent "true" history. His tragedies have become iconic fixtures of both English literary history and popular culture around the world. This course will explore these two genres (including how Shakespeare develops and blends them) and will examine the relationship between history and fiction, the uses of history, and questions of moral conduct, leadership, loyalties, personal ambition, and social obligation. Plays may include Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Othello, Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V.

Fall 2008 Course Listings