ENG 324 - Shakespeare II: Histories and Tragedies (1)

Shakespeare’s “graver labor” brings to the stage love and betrayal, tragedy and humor, the elation and decay of political power. This is power writ large, as wielded and contested in royal courts, the Senate House of Rome, and on battlefields; it is also power performed and negotiated in daily circumstances, in alehouses and households. We will attend to the violent and sometimes gory action, but above all, to the multivalent and often irreverent language of the plays, as well as to performance choices that bring out diverse and even contradictory interpretations. Discussions, acting exercises, formal papers, and a final creative project, in which you will be challenged to interpret a short scene from one of the plays for a modern audience by reading closely and unleashing your creative imagination. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W), or ENG 201, ENG 202, or ENG 215. Alternate years.
(Humanities) (Writing Encounter)