AN32005BA Shakespeare’s Revenge Tragedies
The aim of this class is to introduce students to early seventeenth-century Shakespearean tragedy, and to provide them with the critical tools of analysis of (early modern) drama. We will focus on three of the revenge plays, namely The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1600-1), The Tragedy of Macbeth (1606) and The Tragedy of Coriolanus (1608). We will also cast a brief glance at the work of some of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, such as Webster and Middleton, and at some of the filmic adaptations of the plays. Additional readings will include (excerpts of) Jean Howard’s Theatre of a City, of James Shapiro’s 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, and Thomas Heywood’s An Apology for Actors.