English 117B

Shakespeare

Description

English 117B is a course in the last ten years or so of Shakespeare's career. It is a chance to read the tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra; at least one of the problematic late comedies, Measure for Measure; and the three plays that the critics have described as "romances," Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. These are among the most brilliant, corruscating, and magical stories ever imagined into the English language, and some of the most astonishing poetry. Students will be expected to keep up with the reading. The format will be lecture plus some conversation plus some informal staging and a bit of memorization. You'll know, when you're through, the "To be or not to be" speech and the "out, out, brief candle" speech and perhaps a couple of others.

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