Theatre Arts 248 - Shakespeare's Roman Plays

Institution:

Hiram College

Subject:

Description:

Shakespeare's career began during England's first neoclassical age, theTudor period, during which the study of classical Latin served as the cornerstone of education. Having enjoyed such schooling in his youth, Shakespeare's "little Latin and less Greek" was sufficient to inform his playwritinglife from earliest comedies ( The Comedy of Errors) to late tragedies ( Coriolanus). Shakespeare recognized his contemporaries' fascination with ancient Rome as political prototype for England, which was building its first empire in Ireland and in the New World. Such works as Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra allow reflections upon how the early modern English played the role of Romans both on and off the stage. Revivals of these plays in today's Britain reveal the extent to which the dream of a British Empire and of rapprochement with worldwide citizens in a Commonwealth has changed since World War II. While considering the double context of ancient Rome and Renaissance England, students will concentrate on three masterpieces ( Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra). The course's setting in present-day Britain offers opportunities to consider the relevance of these plays to today's British audiences, filled with Englishspeaking tourists from Britain's former imperial possessions around the world. This course is also listed as English 248.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

WWW.HIRAM.EDU

Phone Number:

(330) 569-3211

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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