ENG 130 CC: TIME-TRAVELING SHAKESPEARE

CC: TIME-TRAVELING SHAKESPEARE.  What does it mean to read, perform, or film a play by Shakespeare now? What did it mean in his own time? In this course, we will explore techniques to unlock the language of the plays and poems; build on those skills by investigating the cultural context of Shakespeare’s world; and trace the plays forward into our own culture. By doing so, we will gain a better understanding of Shakespeare’s plays, as well as a better understanding of their place in our world. Structured around several major works by Shakespeare (such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and selections from the Sonnets; along with a play to be chosen collectively by the class), the course will take us through units focusing on the urban playgoing in Shakespeare’s London, food culture in Renaissance England, music and other entertainment, Renaissance technology, Renaissance medicine, and other topics. Fast-forwarding to our own time, we will consider how Shakespeare’s works shape and are shaped by our own culture, in the form of films and live; art objects; online Shakespeares; and cultural artifacts such as Shakespeare bobbleheads. We will also consider the dual impulse to enshrine Shakespeare as the emblem of “high” culture and to cut him down to size.