English 353 - Unnatural Shakespeare: The Eerie and the Strange

Gillian Kendall

Th 1:00-2:50

                                                       Ghosts, darkness, a forest that moves, gods who usurp the stage, more ghosts, uncanny

                                                       doubles, statues that come alive, a magic hankerchief.  Eerie and strange elements permeate

                                                       Shakespeare's plays, we will explore his use of the uncanny, and we will attempt to uncover

                                                       its function in plays that would seem to have little place for the enthrallments of magic.

                                                       We may look at A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth,

                                                       Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, Richard III and/or The Tempest, Hamlet, Othello.