||Course objectives|| ||Required reading|| ||Useful references|| ||Required
viewing|| ||Shakespeare on
video|| ||Methods of
evaluation|| ||First term schedule||
||Second term schedule|| ||The examination: information||
||Useful web sites|| ||Your instructors|| ||Admin:
late penalties, handing in work, etc.||
We'll read the following works by Shakespeare, in this order. First term:
Romeo and Juliet (Signet), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oxford),
Richard II (Signet), Henry IV, parts I and II (Oxford),
Henry V (Oxford). Second term: Twelfth Night (Oxford),
Hamlet (Oxford), King Lear (Signet), Measure for
Measure (Oxford), Antony and Cleopatra (Oxford), The
Tempest (Oxford).
The University of Toronto Bookroom at the Koffler Centre has `bulk ordered' the editions listed above in order to save you money: I've been told that you can buy the first texts in September, the last texts in December/January.
However, any other editions with adequate notes are acceptable: if you're interested in comparing editions, have a look at Ann Thompson & T.L. Berger, Which Shakespeare? a user's guide to editions (1992, PR 3071 T48 1992, ROBA & TRIN). If you're cash-strapped, you might want to check out second-hand bookstores, or wait for the Trinity College and UC book sales in mid-October.
We'll study each play for approximately 2 weeks. Please bring your text to each class.
I'm also scheduling screenings of the following videos at the AV library (basement of Sig Sam/Gerstein), room 153, on Tuesday October 12th, from 1010 until 12: Pageants of Delight: Theatrical Influences on Shakespeare (V2904), Using the [Shakespearean] Verse (V002515). If you're unable to make the times (I will occasionally use the 11 o'clock slot on Tuesday), you can watch it when it's convenient for you. The script for `Using the verse' is reproduced as chapter 2 of John Barton's Playing Shakespeare (PR 3091 B32 TRIN STL, PR 3091 B37 UC). You're responsible for doing the worksheets for each video.
In-class essay (close reading of a passage)
written in class on Tuesday
November 16th (10%), open-book test on Henry V and
Twelfth Night on Thursday
January 27th
(10%), two 2,000 word essays due on
Monday December 20th and
Friday March 17th (40%), second term
tutorial exercise (10%),
informed participation in class discussion and on the class e-list (5% - and I
take this mark seriously), final examination (25%).
Sept 14 Introduction: Shakespeare's theatre, Shakespeare's texts
MacD. P. Jackson, "The transmission of Shakespeare's text" and Peter Thomson, "Playhouses and players in the time of Shakespeare", in The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare studies, ed. Stanley Wells (Cambridge University Press, 1986)
Sept 16 Romeo and Juliet (Signet)
Oct 5 A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oxford World's Classics)
Oct 12, 10-12 Screening of Pageants of delight
(V2904) and Using the verse (V 2515), AV library, room 153.
You're responsible for doing the worksheets.
Oct 19 Richard II (Signet)
Nov 2 Henry IV, Part 1 (Oxford World's Classics)
Nov 16 In-class essay. Pick one of (a)
Romeo and Juliet
1.4.53-94, (b) Midsummer Night's Dream 2.1.81-132, (c) Richard
II 5.5.1-66. Write a coherent, complex, clear essay on how
the content and style and stage context of the passage contribute to
character, plot, and/or
theme. For help with terminology, check out the handout or the UVic Writer's
Guide for lists of Poetic
terms and Literary
and rhetorical terms
.
Nov 18 Henry IV, Part 2 (Oxford World's Classics)
Nov 30 Henry V (Oxford World's Classics)
Dec 20 Essay #1 due.
Rob has written a handout on Writing
an Essay. Prof Percy's admin
page has other links to guides to writing academic
essays
After you have read each play, you might want to watch a production of it on
video at the AV library (basement of the Gerstein/Sigmund Samuel library).
Groups of you might want to get together and book a room to watch it in. I've
given you the call numbers of the BBC Shakespeare, but the library has many
other productions: have a look at the catalogue!
Romeo and Juliet (V 002001), Midsummer Night's Dream (V
002018), Richard II (V 002004), Henry IV part 1 (V 002010),
Henry IV part 2 (V 002007), Henry V (V 002017), Twelfth
Night (V 002009), Hamlet (V 002011), King Lear (V 002008),
Measure for Measure (V 002003), Antony and Cleopatra (V
002016), The Tempest (V 002047).
If you're interested in general subjects like the London theatre,
Renaissance comedy, etc., Cambridge University Press has published some useful
resources:
The Cambridge companion to English Renaissance drama. Ed. A.R. Braunmuller and Michael Hattaway. Cambridge University Press, 1990. PR 651 C36 1990 Gerstein (STL), SMC, TRIN, VIC.
The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare studies. Ed. Stanley Wells. Cambridge University Press, 1986. PR 2976 C29 1986 ROBA, SMC, TRIN, UC, VIC.
Early in second term, the bibliography exercise will help you find and
evaluate primary and secondary texts. General guides to Shakespeare scholarship
include
Bergeron, David Moore and Geraldo U. de Sousa, Shakespeare: a study and research guide (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, c1993). PR 2987 B4 1995 ROBA, Z9911 B44 1995 VICREF.
Champion, Larry S. The essential Shakespeare: an annotated bibliography of major modern studies. 2nd ed. G.K. Hall, c1993. Z 8811 C53 1993 (ROBA, VIC REF), PR 2894 C47 1993 (TRIN REF).
Wells, Stanley. Shakespeare: a bibliographical guide. Oxford: Clarendon, 1990. Z 8811 S5 1990 (VIC REF), PR 2893 S445 1990 (SMC REF, TRIN REF).
`Mr. William Shakespeare and the
internet'
Early modern English
language and literature links
Search individual Shakespeare plays for
particular words!
Search
all of Shakespeare's works, or individual plays, with filtering and
selection features!
Look those words up in the Oxford English
Dictionary!
The UVic Writer's Guide has a useful web site with lists of literary
terms
Prof Percy's administrivia page has links to sites with guides to essay writing
Professor Percy's administrivia page
Rob Ormsby's email address is robert.ormsby@utoronto.ca