EL2011: ENCOUNTERS WITH SHAKESPEARE (2014-2015)

So you think you know Shakespeare? This course invites you to think again. Studying a range of plays we seek to get behind the mythology of Shakespeare, and rediscover the dynamic inventiveness of the Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare and his contemporaries were the principal players in a period of literary experimentation that reinvented the possibilities of literature. The playhouse was a new cultural venue in Shakespeare's time, and the language itself was a rapidly evolving medium to which drama gave voice. Building upon study of the language of Shakespeare and the conditions of the Elizabethan playhouse, this course examines the ways in which the theatre imagined and debated key issues of the period. What was the place of Shakespeare's theatre within the culture of his time? How did his plays engage with controversial questions of politics, religion and gender? And how did he bridge the demands of a form that was both popular entertainment and a leisure activity of the elite? Encounters with Shakespeare is your chance to find out.

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

View EL2011 Timetable

More Information about Week Numbers

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (50%), in-course assessment: written exercise (5%), 1,200 word first essay (15%), 1,500 word second essay (20%) and tutorial work (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

There are no assessments for this course.

Assessed coursework will be returned to students within two weeks of submission with detailed comments and students will have the opportunity to discuss their work with tutors in specified office hourse. Generalised feedback on coursework highlighting issues needing attention, will be delivered in class as part of preparation for each successive assignment.

None.