English 452: Shakespeare Spring 2019 Professor Mark Netzloff 484 Curtin Hall Office hours -- TR 11:00-12:00 Email -- [email protected] Texts (feel free to use other paperback editions): Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (Bantam) ---. Four Tragedies (Bantam) [for Hamlet and King Lear] ---. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bantam) ---. Richard II (Oxford) ---. Troilus and Cressida (Oxford) ---. The Winter’s Tale (Oxford) Course packet available at Clark Graphics, 2915 N Oakland [abbreviated in syllabus as CP] -copy also posted on course’s D2L site Course Description: This course provides an introductory survey of Shakespeare’s works through a study of his Sonnets along with seven plays: Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Richard II, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, and The Winter’s Tale. Our selections cover the major genres of Shakespearean drama as well as the stages of his theatrical career. Complementing our close reading of the plays, we will also be situating the texts in relation to their literary, theatrical, and historical contexts. Because Shakespeare wrote his plays for performance rather than publication, we will pay particular attention to the cultural importance of the early modern theater. In addition, we will examine the ways these texts have been reinterpreted over time by looking at the plays in performance and on film. This semester our discussion of individual plays will be coordinated alongside live screenings from the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, including the NT production of Antony and Cleopatra with Ralph Fiennes (February), the RSC production of Troilus and Cressida (February), the NT production of Richard II with Simon Russell Beale (March), along with the optional RSC production of As You Like It (April). Grading: Your final course grade will be calculated as follows: Reading quizzes (7 in all) along with 1 performance review – 40% Reading Quizzes: -6 identification questions (including an extra credit question): 4-5 questions relating to the text (identifying characters, key passages, and textual cruxes) along with 1-2 questions drawn from handouts and other contextual material from previous play or section -Quizzes given at beginning of first day of discussion of each play -Make-up quizzes will not be given, but you will be allowed to drop your lowest quiz score -Questions do not appear in online summaries; in other words, you do indeed have to read the plays! Performance review: -You will write a 1-page (500 word minimum) analysis of one of the productions or screenings accompanying our readings. Your discussion should focus on what you take to be the most significant interpretive choice(s) of the production. -As a special option, you can write a second review of a production/screening. This paper will replace a missed quiz or your lowest quiz score. -Production reviews are due within one week following the performance. Late reviews will not be accepted. -I would encourage you to see as many productions as possible, of course. In addition, a list of productions available on DVD or streaming services is provided on a separate handout, below. Final paper – 40% -Paper (8-10 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 4 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. 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 (CP/D2L) T 1/29 Shakespeare’s Sonnets, introduction and # 42, 62, 129, 130, 135, 138, 144 (CP/D2L) R 1/31 Class cancelled due to polar vortex! T 2/5 Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (ca. 1606-07): reading quiz Topic(s): Orientalism; Representing Cleopatra Performance: 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 AC Topic: Global Histories Read Cicero, “Fourth Philippic” (CP/D2L) T 2/12 AC Topic: Poetics and the Style of Shakespeare’s Late Plays Read extract from Plutarch, “Life of Antonius” (CP/D2L) R 2/14 Hamlet (ca. 1600-01): reading quiz Topic: Hamlet and Modern Subjectivity T 2/19 HAM Topic: Tragedy and Gender R 2/21 HAM Topic: Revenge and Dramatic Form, or, why is Hamlet 4 hours long? T 2/26 Troilus and Cressida (ca. 1601-02): reading quiz Topic: TC as Comedy Performance: The Downer Theatre will be screening a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Troilus and Cressida on Tuesday, 2/26 at 7pm R 2/28 TC Topic: TC as 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 Richard II (1595): reading quiz Topic: Modernity and the History Play R 3/7 R2 Topic: Representing Historical Change T 3/12 R2 Topic: Tragedy and Sovereignty R 3/14 HAM (final session on play, originally scheduled for 2/19) Topic: Shakespearean drama, from performance to print Read lecture on early publication of Shakespeare’s plays (CP/D2L) Read extracts from The First Quarto and First Folio versions of Hamlet (CP/D2L) Spring break – no classes on T 3/19 and R 3/21 T 3/26 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ca. 1595-96): reading quiz Topic: Festive Comedy R 3/28 MND Topic: Puck and Folklore T 4/2 MND Topic: The Rude Mechanicals, Class, and Performance R 4/4 King Lear (1605): reading quiz Topic: Patriarchy and the History of the Family T 4/9 KL Topic: The Heath Scenes R 4/11 KL Topic: Tragedy and Early Modern Capitalism T 4/16 Sonnets, part 2: read sonnets 10, 20, 77, 82, 86, 111, 122 (CP/D2L) 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 Winter’s Tale (ca. 1610-11): reading quiz Topic: The Late Romances T 4/30 WT Topic: Representing Time R 5/2 WT Topic(s): Tragicomedy and Act 5; the play in art and ballet T 5/7, R 5/9 Conferences on final papers (schedule tbd) Final papers due by Monday, May 13 at 5pm *Please e-mail me your papers as word attachments Film Versions and Stage Productions on Video [Call numbers refer to availability at Media Services desk, Gold Meir Library] Antony and Cleopatra Dir. Charlton Heston (1972) (DVD 1222) Royal Shakespeare Company, dir. Trevor Nunn (1974) (with Janet Suzman, Patrick Stewart) (DVD 6696) BBC, Dir. Jonathan Miller (1980) (DVD 5569) Globe Theatre (2014) (DVD 8863) Stratford Festival, Canada (2015) (DVD 9296) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/stratford- festival/antony-and-cleopatra Shakespeare Uncovered II, section on play (2015) (DVD 8146) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/bbc- studios/shakespeare-uncovered-kim-cattrall-on-antony-and-cleopatra Royal Shakespeare Company, dir. Iqbal Khan (2018) (DVD 9275) https://www-digitaltheatreplus-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/education/collections/rsc/antony-and- cleopatra Hamlet Dir. Svend Gade, with Asta Nielsen (1920) (DVD 0499) Dir. Laurence Olivier (1948) (DVD 0070) https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=958&tScript=0 Dir. John Gielgud (1964), w/ Richard Burton (DVD 0030) Hamlet at Elsinore, w/ Christopher Plummer (1964) (DVD 7181) Dir. Grigori Kozintsev (1964) (DVD 6843) Dir. Tony Richardson, w/ Nicol Williamson (1969) (DVD 7747) BBC, w/ Derek Jacobi (1980) (DVD 2310) Dir. Franco Zefferelli, w/ Mel Gibson (1990) (DVD 0463) Dir. Kevin Kline and Kirk Browning (1990) (DVD 0282) Dir. Kenneth Branagh (1996) (DVD 6154-55) Dir. Michael Almereyda, w/ Ethan Hawke (2000) (DVD 0166) Dir. Peter Brook (2000), Hamlet by Brook/Brook by Brook (2004) (DVD 1564) Dir.