English 117B

Other Readings and Media

The book(s) for this course will be available at University Press Books, on Bancroft Way, a little west of Telegraph Avenue.

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 veer imagined into the English language, and some of the most astonishing poetry. Students will be expected to keep up with the reading. There will be discussion sections on Fridays, and the Monday/Wednesday lecture meetings will include 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.