English 117A

Other Readings and Media

Any one of the following Complete Shakespeare editions: The Complete Pelican Shakespeare, Stephen Orgell and A.R. Braunmuller, eds.; The Riverside Shakespeare, G. Blakemore Evans, et al., eds.; The Norton Shakespeare, Stephen Greenblatt, ed.; The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, David Bevington, ed.

Description

"We'll read six plays from the chronological first half of Shakespeare?s output, considered loosely to allow us to end with a reading of Hamlet. We?ll include some of the sonnets as well, which were written and re-written in this period. Our approach will be to consider Shakespeare writing within, that is, shaping and shaped by, a lively theatrical and poetic tradition, as well as some of the historical and social issues put into ""play"" in the plays. Further, we?ll be conscious of Shakespeare as a cultural icon, specifically our critical sense that the chronological order of his plays represent a progression away from the very plays and poems that we?ll spend most of the semester reading. Here is a tentative reading list: The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, Midsummer Night?s Eve, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and the Sonnets. "