If all we do is think about William Shakespeare’s reputation as the greatest playwright ever, perhaps the greatest writer ever, and an artist we should master and understand, we miss what makes him so ridiculously enjoyable, so full of life, and so shockingly good at what he does. In this overview of his major work (Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, etc.), we’ll pay special attention to what is actually happening in the plays (scene by scene) in order to engage in the imaginative act of thinking how these plays should be actually performed. And, of course, there are a thousand answers and we’ll attempt to explore them all.Historical Topics courses are designed for Writing and Literature Majors and Minors and are focused on the critical investigation of a specific historical topic, movement, style, or tradition of literary and performative production, typically before the year 1900. Students will read and write critically on these topics, including multi-modal responses, and will position the texts within a socio-historical context.

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