ENGL 44236 - Shakespeare in London: Then and Now

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

When Shakespeare came to London in the early 1590s, he found an already thriving theatre business - playhouses, companies, audiences and a hunger for entertainment shared by court and city. The bar was already set high by the spectacular success of men like Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe, but the newcomer, described as "an upstart crow," soon turned out to be the ultimate "Shake-scene" of the profession. What is often forgotten in the study of Shakespeare is that he could not have realized his full potential without the theatrical business being already in place, i.e., his achievement is best understood in the context of his time. The "Then" in the title of this course positions Shakespeare's plays among those of his contemporaries and attempts to uncover the dynamics of a culture, marked by material and political tensions. "Now," Shakespeare studies and his plays are part of global culture, but this does not apply to his contemporaries. Hence, students will grapple with the question why this is so. Another contemporary aspect is performance. Where possible, performances of the studied plays will be attended and discussed. In the case of Shakespeare, there is also rich film material.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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