106-109 Shakespeare's Theatre

This subject introduces students to Shakespeare in his context as a Renaissance dramatist, alongside the work of contemporary playwrights like Marlowe, Tourneur, Jonson and Webster. It is primarily concerned with the material conditions and performance traditions of theatre in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. We will study the genres of comedy and tragedy, and focus on the plays' representations of power, sexuality, marriage, race and cultural difference. Students who successfully complete this subject will have a detailed understanding of selected plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries and will also acquire a background of relevant knowledge and methodologies on which to base further studies in English and Cultural Studies.

• acquire skills in the following areas:

• research: through competent use of library, and other (including online) information sources; through the successful definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research;

• critical thinking and analysis: through use of recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion; through the questioning of accepted wisdom and the ability to shape and strengthen persuasive judgments and arguments; through attention to detail in reading material; and through openness to new ideas and the development of critical self-awareness;

• theoretical thinking: through use of recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion; through a productive engagement with relevant methodologies and paradigms in literary studies and the broader humanities;

• creative thinking: through essay writing and tutorial discussion; through the innovative conceptualising of problems and an appreciation of the role of creativity in critical analysis;

• social, ethical and cultural understanding: through use of recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion; through the social contextualisation of arguments and judgments; through adaptations of knowledge to new situations and openness to new ideas; through the development of critical self-awareness in relation to an understanding of other cultures and practices;#

• intelligent and effective communication of knowledge and ideas: through essay preparation, planning and writing as well as tutorial discussion; through effective dissemination of ideas from recommended reading and other relevant information sources; through clear definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research; through confidence to express ideas in public forums.#

A text-based exercise of 800 words 20% (due early in semester), an essay of 1200 words 30% (due mid-semester) and an essay of 2000 words 50% (due at the end of semester).

A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop.

• B Jonson, Volpone. New Mermaid.
• C Marlowe, Dr Faustus. New Mermaid.
• W Shakespeare, Hamlet. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, Othello. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, The Tempest. Oxford Worlds ­Classics.
• W Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• C Tourneur, The Revenger's Tragedy. New Mermaid.
• J Webster, The Duchess of Malfi. New Mermaid.