LIT 4603: Shakespeare in a Word
4 advanced liberal arts credits
Can attention to a single word or phrase enhance our understanding of entire works by Shakespeare? Which words “matter” most in Shakespeare’s poems and plays, how do we identify them, and how can we analyze them in ways that illuminate broader questions, issues, and relations essential to the work at hand? In this course, we will consider how Shakespeare encourages us to think at the level of the word, as well as how thinking at the level of the word can help us approach and better understand his canonical works. To do so, we will read four major plays: As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Romeo & Juliet, and Richard III, and, along with selections from the Sonnets. To enhance our appreciation of these works, we will also routinely review modern film and stage adaptions of the plays we read, as well as relevant works of literary criticism. Throughout, we will discuss the relevance of these works to our understanding of how words accrue meanings in various contexts; how and whether such meanings can be contested, by whom, and what ends; and how the stage drama allows us to think in unique ways about the various processes through which bodies become meaningful in language. No prior experience with Shakespeare is necessary to enroll.
Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 Intermediate Liberal Arts (HSS, LTA, CSP)