Shakespeare A3 (Shakespeare In Context)

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: Dr Gillian Woods
• Assessment: a coursework exercise (35%) and assessed essay (65%)

In this module we introduce you to Shakespeare's plays in the context of the culture in and for which they were written. We will look at the plays through a consideration of the social, literary, publishing, economic, political and religious institutions and conventions of early modern England (c. 1585-1615), paying detailed attention to their production and performance in renaissance culture, along with a consideration of Shakespeare’s language and the status of the theatre.

Indicative syllabus

• Reformation and recusancy
• The world of publishing
• The place of the stage in Renaissance London
• Women’s agency in culture
• The creation of 'England'
• Popular culture
• Laughter, humour and wit
• Representing English history
• The court and politics
• The family, marriage and sexuality
• Humanism and education
• Elizabeth, James and the early modern understanding of kingship

We will be reading:

• The Taming of the Shrew
• Titus Andronicus
• Richard II
• Henry V, Hamlet
• Othello and Macbeth

By the end of this module, you will have:

• consolidated and broadened your knowledge of Shakespeare and Renaissance culture
• engaged critically with Renaissance literature and its cultural contexts
• developed skills of close reading and the capacity to locate these close readings within broad historical and critical narratives.