English 190

Other Readings and Media

More, T.: Utopia; Shakespeare, W.: Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Henry IV, Part I, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Pericles, The Tempest, and The Winter’s Tale

Description

Shakespeare’s plays often project stereoptic visions of worlds set apart from the geographical center of the dramatic action. These removed places, like Arden forest in As You Like It, the realm of fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or romantic Belmont in The Merchant of Venice, for example, are, among other things, spaces of exile, fantasy, or promise—sometimes all at once. In later plays, remote geographies frequently appear as non-European locales that represent the exotic, sensual, mysterious, and dangerous, like Egypt in Antony and Cleopatra, Cyprus in Othello, and the south Mediterranean and Caribbean in The Tempest. But these exotic places also offer a doubled perspective on the European worlds from which they are set apart, either as contrasting other or as reflecting mirror. As a prelude to our study of Shakespeare, we will first read selections from Homer’s Odyssey, several essays by Montaigne, and Thomas More’s Utopia. We will then explore peripheral worlds in a number of Shakespeare’s plays, and the critical views that their distance from the center affords.

English 190 replaced English 100 and 150 as of Fall '09. English majors may fulfill the seminar requirement for the major by taking one section of English 190 (or by having taken either English 100 or English 150 before Fall '09). Please read the paragraph on page 2 of this Announcement of Classes for more details about enrolling in, or wait-listing for, this course.