Shakespeare: His world, our world (IEEL042)

This module will explore how Shakespeare has become central to our way of thinking about ourselves and about others. His work permeates cultures across the world, where his writings are translated into the familiar, whether it be social, psychological or political.

Module leader: Dr Kate O’Leary

Dr Kate O’Leary has been a tutor at the University for a number of years in the department for Continuing Education, and Renaissance literature has been central to her teaching and her research. She has also worked in theatre as a director and actor and, on this module, hopes to bring together both academic and practical ideas to Shakespeare’s plays.

Aims

To develop confidence in understanding and communicating complex ideas in written language
To develop skills in research and collaborative thinking
To provide students with the ability to critically examine a variety of complex texts and to present competing ideas about Shakespeare’s work.

Content

Why is Shakespeare important? A brief introduction to his most famous works
Shakespeare and politics: leadership, power and treachery
Shakespeare and identity
Shakespeare and love.

Structure

The module will be delivered over a three-week period, with two two-hour sessions per week. Each session will take the form of a mini lecture, film extracts and discussion of Shakespeare's most famous works. The students will demonstrate an awareness of how Shakespeare has become important to our cultural lives and to his position in our collective imagination. Students will have opportunity to demonstrate an increased mastery of research, communication, and analytical skills through the tasks and group discussions completed throughout the course.

The course will be both theoretical and creative in nature, with the sessions focused on giving the students the opportunity to discuss and analyse given texts and encouraging them to engage in imaginative and inventive thought. Students will also have the opportunity to present new approaches to selected moments/speeches/scenes through a piece of writing.

In addition, it is expected that students will spend 34-38 study hours outside of the classroom contact hours on activities including assigned reading, optional reading of areas of personal interest, homework tasks, web research and preparation for assessment.

The indicative schedule is as follows:

Week one: Shakespeare and politics

Text: Julius Caesar

Session one: Why is Shakespeare important?

A brief introduction to his most famous works. In this class we will discuss Shakespeare’s work, including individual contributions on past experiences in school/theatre/film. Through power-point the class will be introduced to the world of Shakespeare and how the Reformation and Renaissance contributed to the flowering of England’s most fruitful literary period.

Session two: Shakespeare and politics: leadership, power and treachery

In this session we will consider why Shakespeare’s political plays are still rehearsed today. By examining a selection of films/theatre productions of Julius Caesar, we will understand how different cultures adapt and transform Elizabethan and Jacobean intrigues into comments on modern political and social concerns.

Week two: Shakespeare: Who are we?

Text: Hamlet

Session three: Shakespeare and identity

Who are we? Why do we think the way we do? Do others think like us? In this session we will look at Shakespeare’s most famous character, Hamlet, and consider why this creation tells us so much about ourselves today. By examining extracts from the play and looking at comments on the character from critics and psychologists we can explore how Shakespeare has ‘invented the human’ (Harold Bloom).

Session four: Shakespeare and identity: Female characters in Hamlet

In this class we will consider the female characters in Hamlet and how these reflect contemporary and modern interpretations of women. By examining Gertrude and Ophelia, we will explore how different ages imaging these two dramatic creations.

Week three: Shakespeare and love

Text: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Session five: Shakespeare and love: passion, practicality and persuasion

This class will focus on Shakespeare’s complex attitude to love. It will examine and critique extracts from a selection of plays how love can take various forms, from the glorious to the ridiculous and from the unwise to the possessive.

Session six: Shakespeare and love

In this session we will continue to examine Shakespeare’s treatment of love. What different kinds of love can be expressed? How many different types of love are found in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and how can these be interpreted to a modern audience?

Teaching methods

The teaching approach will include the following:

Taught sessions
Group discussions.

Assessment

Assessment will be by written essay, or other written piece, of 1,000-1,200 words (directing/acting/design folder) - worth 100% of the overall mark.

Standard University policies apply with regard to late submission of assessments.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

Understand and communicate complex ideas in written languge
Research a topic and work collaboratively in this research to produce a written essay/reflection in academic suitable style, including the appropriate use of reference and source material
Demonstrate knowledge of how to critically analyse a variety of complex texts to present competing ideas about Shakespeare’s work.

Skills

Key skills that will be developed:

Collaboration and teamwork, through group discussions, activities and tasks in class, and research
Communication, developed orally in group discussions, activities and tasks in class, and in writing by production of assessed assignment
Analytical skills, through analysing a range of primary and secondary sources, evaluating decisions, and present findings in small group discussions
Creative thinking - students will be encouraged to think creatively about the topic of the written assignment.

Books, ebooks and websites

The University Library website provides access to many relevant books and electronic books, as well as academic journals and databases.