English 117S

Shakespeare: Selected Plays

Book List

Shakespeare, William: The Riverside Shakespeare (2nd ed.);

Recommended: Greenblatt, Stephen: Will in the World; Gurr, Andrew: The Shakespearean Stage (3rd ed.)

Description

Shakespeare wrote a massive number of plays.  We'll consider the range of plays he wrote, and why this range was important to him.  We'll also explore how different dramatic genres affect Shakespeare's representation of plot, character, and the literary, social, sexual, religious, political, and philosophical issues he conceptualizes through plot and character.  Finally, we'll think about the range of Shakespeare's plays in relation to the disgust that many of his contemporaries expressed toward the range of social types and classes in his mass audience.

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