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English 353: Advanced Sudies in Shakespeare This seminar on Shakespearean tragedy will move chiefly in the interrogatory mood; for engaging and understanding Shakespeare's tragic drama requires that we continue to ask questions-expanding and refining our various queries about form, theme, and historical distinctiveness as we proceed. The course will be guided by a "concentric bibliography," one that moves around but is always attuned to the immense challenge posed by what many regard as Shakespeare's most profound effort in the genre, King Lear. Indeed, in an important sense the seminar will be a sustained meditation on the meaning of King Lear, the tragedy I find most literarily compelling, most disturbing, most…"tragic." These are judgments, or prejudices, that may be freely rejected; but that rejection will be meaningful only if it proceeds from an understanding of what is at stake in the play, and this understanding (or deepening of such) will be our initial, collective goal. I would urge that all enrolling in the seminar read, re-read, and read yet again King Lear before our first seminar meeting in January. As we begin to get our bearings within the canon of Shakespearean tragedy, and think about the way the canon might be situated in a broader context, I'll want us always, as a group, to have a common point of reference-a common, deep, and intimate dramatic experience of King Lear. I strongly recommend a viewing of the BBC production of the play (starring Lawrence Olivier, John Hurt, and a generally all-star cast; video available in Non-Print). Requirements: several brief meditative essays; a 15-minute class presentation; and a longer, culminating essay at semester's end. |
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