English 685: Shakespeare and the Art of Government Spring 2019 Professor Mark Netzloff 484 Curtin Hall Office hours -- TR 11:00-12:00 Email -- [email protected]
Texts and Materials (feel free to use other paperback editions): Shakespeare, Coriolanus (Oxford) ---. Henry V (Bantam) ---. Julius Caesar (Oxford) ---. Measure for Measure (Cambridge) ---. Richard II (Oxford) ---. Richard III (Arden) ---. The Tempest (Bantam)
Course packet available at Clark Graphics, 2915 N Oakland [abbreviated in syllabus as CP] -copy also posted on course’s D2L site
Course Description: Four hundred years ago, Shakespeare’s plays were performed in a unique venue: a public theater that brought together thousands of spectators to see and evaluate the decisions of political leaders from classical Roman and English history to contemporary political figures. In a period before the advent of journalism, political parties and other features of a modern public, the theater offered a political education for its mass audience. The unique dynamics of performance provided a medium for representing competing models of the political forms that organize communities. In recognizing the art of government, a critical public became equipped to imagine alternative political ideas and render their judgment on leaders who failed to govern well.
At the same time that theater outlined an art of government, political thinkers of the early modern period began to define many of the political ideas central to our modern era. Theater and political theory were in a mutually constitutive dialogue: like his predecessor Machiavelli, Shakespeare provided a descriptive, often cynical analysis of the workings of power. Theorists were similarly influenced by the framework of dramatic representation: Thomas Hobbes, for instance, figured the conferral of political right as analogous to dramatic performance; in assuming sovereign authority, a ruler assumes a persona and becomes an artificial person, like an actor taking on a role as “counterfeited on the stage.”
Grading: Your final course grade will be calculated as follows:
Response papers (8 in all) – 40% -1 response for each play, due by 8pm on the day prior to the first day of discussion of the text. See syllabus for schedule. -1 additional response on the early modern political theory readings. See syllabus and handout below for schedule. -length of 1 page (or 300 words) -post on class D2L site no later than 8pm on the day before discussion -please be sure to download/print out and bring responses to each class session -responses will be evaluated as a portfolio at the end of the semester. I will offer comments and prospective grades following your second responses in order to give a clearer sense of expectations
Final paper – 40% -Paper (10-12 pp.) selected from range of topics given several weeks in advance. Please note that failing to hand in a final paper will result in a final course grade of F.
Active participation (including attendance) – 20% -I calculate this component by giving 3 points for each class you attended and 5 points for each class in which you participated. In other words, if you do not actively participate in the class, you will receive a grade no higher than a C for this component of the course.
-In addition, more than three absences will result in a participation grade of F, and more than five absences will cause you to fail the course.
Screenings of performances – -Students are encouraged to attend the productions noted in the syllabus, but attendance is not required. I understand that you have busy schedules and may not be able to attend these events outside class. But in order to encourage attendance, you are able to submit a 1-page performance review to replace a missed response or low response grade. Please talk with me beforehand to discuss this option.
University Policies: Please see the following links for more information on university policies: 1) Academic misconduct: http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/policy/academicmisconduct.cfm 2) Students with disabilities: http://www4.uwm.edu/sac/SACltr.pdf 3) Observation of religious holidays: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S1.5.htm 4) Students called to military duty: http://www4.uwm.edu/current_students/military_call_up.cfm 5) Incomplete grade due to illness: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S31.pdf 6) Discriminatory conduct: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S47.pdf 7) Complaint procedures: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S49.7.htm 8) Grade appeal procedures: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S28.htm 9) Credit hour policy: https://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/faculty/2838_Credit_Hour_Policy.pdf
“House Rules” for Class: Students who repeatedly infringe these rules will receive a participation grade of F.
1) Bring a copy of the text to every class. 2) Do not use “bluffer” editions, which offer modernized, “translated” versions of the plays. 3) Turn off and store all phones and other electronic devices before class. If you are using a laptop, please refrain from using email or going online during class. 4) Obviously, please do not have private conversations, pass notes, text, or play with your phone in class!
Schedule
T 1/22 Course introduction
R 1/24 Introduction to Shakespeare’s theater Read introductory lecture on early modern theater and lecture on early publication of Shakespeare’s plays (CP/D2L)
T 1/29 Introduction to early modern political theory Responses due (Cusack, Dasari, Erickson) Read Machiavelli, from The Prince chapters 9, 15, 17, 18 and Hobbes, from Leviathan, Introduction and Chapters 13 and 16 (CP/D2L)
R 1/31 Class cancelled due to polar vortex!
T 2/5 Julius Caesar (1599): responses due Topic: The Roman Plays Extracts from Plutarch’s Lives (to be distributed)
Performance (FYI): The Downer Theatre will be screening a National Theatre production of Antony and Cleopatra (with Ralph Fiennes), Sunday, 2/3 at 11am and Tuesday, 2/5 at 7pm
R 2/7 JC Topic: Performing the Funeral Orations
T 2/12 Class cancelled due to weather
R 2/14 JC Topic: Legacies of Rome Responses due (Flannery, Gilding, Hoh) Read Machiavelli, from Discourses on Livy chapter 2 (CP/D2L)
T 2/19 Richard III (ca. 1592-93): responses due Read soliloquies from 3 Henry VI 3.2 and 5.6 (CP/D2L) Topic: The English History Plays
R 2/21 R3 Topic: Gender and History
T 2/26 R3 Topic: Tyranny and Resistance
Performance (FYI): The Downer Theatre will be screening a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Troilus and Cressida on Tuesday, 2/26 at 7pm
R 2/28 Richard II (1595): responses due Topic: Modernity and the History Play
Performance: The Downer Theatre will be screening a National Theatre production of Richard II (with Simon Russell Beale) on Sunday, 3/3 at 11am and Tuesday, 3/5 at 7pm
T 3/5 R2 Topic: Representing Historical Change
R 3/7 R2 Topic: Tragedy and Sovereignty
T 3/12 Henry V (1599): responses due Read extracts from 1 Henry IV (1.2) and 2 Henry IV (4.5 and 5.5) (CP/D2L) Topic: War
R 3/14 H5 Topic: Nationalism Extracts from critical work on the history of nationalism, including Anderson’s Imagined Communities (to be distributed)
T 3/26 H5 Topic: British History
Spring break – no classes on T 3/19 and R 3/21
R 3/28 Measure for Measure (1604): responses due Topic(s): Jacobean Shakespeare; Dark Comedies/Problem Plays
T 4/2 MM Topic: #MeToo Shakespeare
R 4/4 MM Topic: The History of Sexuality Extracts from Foucault, History of Sexuality (to be distributed)
T 4/9 Coriolanus (ca. 1607-08): responses due Topic: The Psychology of War
R 4/11 COR Topic: Democracy and the Multitude Responses due (Krakow, Nitz, Papara) Read Machiavelli, from Discourses on Livy chapters 3-7 and 58 and extracts from Spinoza, Political Treatise (296-97, 313-18, 328-32) (CP/D2L) T 4/16 COR Topic: Gender and Militarism
Performance (FYI): The Downer Theatre will be screening a Royal Shakespeare Company production of As You Like It on Wednesday, 4/17 at 7pm [tentative date, tba]
R 4/18 Class cancelled
T 4/23 Paper topics distributed and discussed
R 4/25 The Tempest (1611): responses due Topic: The politics of Shakespeare’s late plays Additional responses due (Perkins, Schrader, Valdes) Read Locke, “Of Slavery” and “Of Property” (CP/D2L)
T 4/30 TEM Topic: Shakespeare’s sources and the history of colonialism Responses due (Wallender, Weseman, Westphal) Read extracts from two sources: Montaigne, "Of Cannibals" and Strachey, "True Report" (CP/D2L)
R 5/2 TEM Topic: Theater history and Shakespearean legacies
T 5/7, R 5/9 Conferences on final papers, in my office, 484 Curtin (schedule tba)
Final papers due by Monday, May 13 at 5pm *Please e-mail me your papers as word attachments
Schedule for responses on political theory readings:
In addition to your responses on each of our seven Shakespeare plays, you will submit an additional response on our readings from early modern political theorists. The format and schedule will remain the same as with our other responses.
For the sake of convenience, I’ve assigned you into groups so as to ensure that we have three responses for each of these sessions.
Machiavelli and Hobbes (1/29) Eve Cusack Akanksha Dasari Destiny Erickson
Machiavelli (2/14) Bailey Flannery Sawyer Gilding Abigail Hoh
Machiavelli and Spinoza (4/11) Samantha Krakow Hailey McLaughlin Jessica Nitz Aliah Papara
Locke (4/25) Valerie Perkins Sam Schrader Brendaliz Valdes
Montaigne and Strachey (4/27) Emily Wallender Ethan Weseman Pamela Westphal
Film Versions and Stage Productions on Video [Call numbers refer to availability at Media Services desk, Gold Meir Library]
Coriolanus BBC, dir. Elijah Moshinsky (1984) (DVD 7210) Dir. Ralph Fiennes (2012) (DVD 0855) Royal Shakespeare Company (2018) (DVD 9703) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/rsc/coriolanus
Henry V Dir. Laurence Olivier (1944) (DVD 0028) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=959&tScript=0 Age of Kings, BBC (1960) (DVD 6678-79) BBC, Dir. David Giles (DVD 2265) English Shakespeare Company, Dir. Michael Bogdanov (1986) (DVD 7746) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=2773&tScript=0 Dir. Kenneth Branagh (1989) (DVD 0057) The Hollow Crown, with Tom Hiddleston (2012) (DVD 7199; disc 4) Globe Theatre (2012) (DVD 7180) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=53273&tScript=0 Shakespeare Uncovered, section on play with Jeremy Irons (2013) (DVD 7189) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/bbc- studios/shakespeare-uncovered-jeremy-irons-on-the-henrys Royal Shakespeare Company (2016) (DVD 8849) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/rsc/henry-v
Julius Caesar Dir. Joseph Mankiewicz, with Marlon Brando (1953) (DVD 6497) Dir. Stuart Burge (1970) (DVD 1931) BBC, dir. Herbert Wise (1978) (DVD 2307) Royal Shakespeare Company, dir. Gregory Doran (2012) (DVD 3475) Globe Theatre (2014) (DVD 8868) Royal Shakespeare Company (2018) (DVD 9316) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/rsc/julius-caesar Shakespeare Uncovered 3 (2018) [section on play] (DVD 9679)
Measure for Measure BBC, dir. Desmond Davis (1978) (DVD 7211) BBC, adapt. David Thacker (1994) http://fod.infobase.com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=128915
https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/bbc- studios/measure-for-measure-0 Globe Theatre (2016) (DVD 8869) Shakespeare Uncovered 3 (2018) [section on play] (DVD 9679) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=166900&tScript=0
Richard II BBC, w/ Derek Jacobi (1979) (DVD 2255) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=58743 English Shakespeare Company (1990) (DVD 5518) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=2770 Richard II: Character of a King (1990) [Jeremy Irons and Michael Pennington perform and discuss role] (VHS 3398) Dir. John Farrell (2004) (DVD 1480) The Hollow Crown, with Ben Whishaw (2012) (DVD 7199; disc 1) Shakespeare Uncovered, section on play with Derek Jacobi (2013) (DVD 7189) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/bbc- studios/shakespeare-uncovered-derek-jacobi-on-richard-ii RSC, with David Tennant (2013) (DVD 7680) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/rsc/richard-ii Globe Theatre (2016) (DVD 8864)
Richard III Dir. James Keane (1912) [earliest film in US!] (DVD 1364) Dir. Laurence Olivier (1955) (DVD 4984) BBC, Dir. Jane Howell (1982) (DVD 2268) English Shakespeare Company, dir. Michael Bogdanov (1990) (DVD 5396-98) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=2776# Dir. Richard Loncraine, with Ian McKellen (1996) (DVD 0027) Dir. Al Pacino, Looking for Richard (1996) (DVD 5059) Dir. Kevin Spacey, Now: In the Wings of a World Stage (2013) (DVD 8147) Shakespeare Uncovered 3 (2018) [section on play] (DVD 9679) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=166903&tScript=0
The Tempest Adaptation: Forbidden Planet (1956) (DVD 5019) Bard productions, dir. William Woodman (VHS 0398-99) Dir. Derek Jarman (1979) (DVD 0036) BBC, Dir. John Gorrie (1980) (DVD 2248) Adaptation: The Tempest, dir. Paul Mazursky (1982) (DVD 7130) Adaptation: Prospero's Books, dir. Peter Greenaway (1991) (VHS 3365) Dir. Julie Taymor, with Helen Mirren (2010) (DVD 6702) Stratford Festival, with Christopher Plummer (2011) (DVD 6960) Shakespeare Uncovered, section on play with Trevor Nunn (2013) (DVD 7189) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/bbc- studios/shakespeare-uncovered-trevor-nunn-on-the-tempest Globe Theatre (2013) (DVD 8151) Royal Shakespeare Company (2017) (DVD 9287) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/rsc/the-tempest