Instructor:   Richard Dutton                                                       Class Meeting: M, W 9.30-11.18, DE 265

Office: DE 518   (Mailbox:  421 Denney )                                Office Hours:  M,W 3:30 – 4:30,

Email:  dutton.42@osu.edu                                                                           and by appointment   

Phone:  292 7661

Course Description and Objectives

One function of this course might be to explain the in-jokes in Shakespeare in Love, a movie which knowingly addresses many of the key issues in current Shakespeare studies: theatre and commerce; authorship and publication; cross-dressing, boy-actors and the all-male stage; censorship; patronage; the relationship of theatre to the centres of power. Using A New History of Early English Drama, ed. D. S. Kastan and J. D. Cox (Columbia UP, 1997) and A Companion to Shakespeare ed. D. S. Kastan (Blackwell, 1999), we will examine these and other key questions, focusing recurrently on key indicative plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream; As You Like It, Richard II, 1 Henry 4, Henry 5, Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest.

Required Texts

We will use the complete Norton Shakespeare (senior editor Stephen Greenblatt) throughout because, being based on the Oxford Shakespeare (ed. Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor), it most particularly raises the key issues in modern Shakespeare editing.

Please be sure to bring the Norton to each class.

We will also frequently refer to the A New History of Early English Drama and Companion to Shakespeare, mentioned above.

Secondary reading. This will depend on particular topics and assignments. There is so much written on Shakespeare that it is impossible to give you a guide to everything that is available. But a useful starting point are the four Companions to Shakespeare’s Works, ed. Richard Dutton and Jean Howard (Blackwell, 2003): The Tragedies, The Comedies, The Histories and Poems, Problem Plays and Late Plays. These have essays on everything Shakespeare wrote, and useful bibliographies. See also the New Casebook series, which have collections of recent essays, usually arranged play by play. The main journals devoted to Shakespeare are Shakespeare Quarterly, Shakespeare Survey and Shakespeare Studies, all of which can be found in the ETC section, 2^nd floor, of the Main Library.

Electronic Resources you should learn to know and love if you don’t already:

Early English Books Online

Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare

English Prose Drama

English Verse Drama

Literature Online

Literature Resource Center

MLA Directory of Periodicals

MLA International Bibliography

Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford Reference series

World Shakespeare Bibliography

Course Requirements

During the quarter, you will complete a class presentation, two shorter papers and a final research paper.

Class Presentation: Chosen from the weekly topics we will be pursuing (see below). The object is to produce a

        15-minute talk, based on secondary reading, which will direct the seminar’s discussion. You may, if you wish,

        Re-use material from this presentation for the final paper. 10%

Paper 1: A reading of a single scene of a Shakespeare play, examining its place within the overall work, and highlighting the interpretive challenges it poses. With proper bibliography. 5-6 double-spaced pages. 20%

Final Paper: A research-driven longer paper, on a topic discussed with me, arising out of the course. 12-20 pages, as nearly as possible in publishable form. 50%

All submitted work must be double spaced, typed, and formatted according to MLA guidelines with 1” margins and a 12-point standard font. Assignments should be handed to me personally in class (this avoids any later confusions) and will not be accepted by email, or on diskette. But I am always happy to answer questions by e-mail.

Course Policies

You are fellow professionals and teachers yourselves. I do not need to tell you that attendance and punctuality are matters of courtesy as well as requirements. Coursework should always be submitted on time and in the required format. I understand that occasionally there are extreme circumstances which make it impossible for you to comply with deadlines etc.: I would appreciate it if you could give me the earliest possible notification.

Plagiarism is, of course, unthinkable.

Issues

If you have any grievances, about grades or anything else, contact Professor Debra Moddelmog, Director of Graduate  Studies in English: she can be contacted via the English Graduate Studies office, Denney 425; phone 292-7919; web site http://english.ohio-state.edu/programs/graduate/; e-mail graduateenglish@osu.edu.

Day 1

M, 1/5/04

Introductions; explanation of course

Day 2

W, 1/7/04

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Texts and textuality.

Day 3

M, 1/12/04

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘If we shadows have offended’: theatres, audiences, the court. Censorship.

Day 4

W, 1/14/04

MONDAY, 1/19/04 – MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

Richard II and Elizabethan uses of history. What is theatrical patronage?

No class

Day 5

W, 1/21/04

Richard II, textualities and censorship.

Day 6

M, 1/26/04

As You Like It: Fools and their uses. 

Day 7

W, 1/28/04

As You Like It: Boys will be boys, and boys will be girls / It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook-up world. Assignment of Paper 1.

Day 8

M, 2/2/04

1 Henry IV: playing at kings? Patronage again.

Day 9

W, 2/4/04

1 Henry IV: censorship, religion, textuality

Day 10

M, 2/9/04

Henry V: compared with The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth (anon).   

                                          1st paper due.

Day 11

W, 2/11/04

Henry V: Q or F?                                              Assignment of Paper 2

Day 12

M, 2/16/04

Hamlet: Q1, Q2 or F?

Day 13

W, 2/18/04

Hamlet: why is it all about acting?

Day 14

M, 2/23/04

King Lear: History or Tragedy?                                  2^nd  paper due.

Day 15

W, 2/25/04

King Lear: fools, history, religion. ‘Is this the promised end?’

Day 16

M, 3/1/04

The Tempest. Public theatres, private theatres, court theatre.

Day 17

W, 3/3/04

The Tempest. Old world or New? ‘Our revels now have ended.’

Day 18

M, 3/8/04

The theatre as social engine. Retrospect & preparation for final paper.

Day 19

W, 3/10/04

The theatre as social engine. Retrospect & preparation for final paper.