Syllabus

English 473: Shakespeare   Spring 2011  2:10-3:25 TTh  ATM 222

Instructor: Michael Sexson  Office: 2-183 Willson Hours: 10-12: 1-2 Tu Thurs. Or by appointment.

Texts: The Pelican Shakespeare (ed. Orgel) 

The School of Night, online essay by Frederick Turner  http://frederickturnerpoet.com/?page_id=145

                                                 "Shakespeare: Mything the Point"

"The microcosm can not only reflect, but control, the macrocosm. With correct mnemonic technology, the whole universe can be stored in one man's memory: here the levers are the commonplaces, the topoi of the memory theatre system of recall. Modern science tells us that the information storage capacity of the human brain is many orders of magnitude greater than the amount of information in the physical universe, so the idea is in principle quite sound." Turner, School of Night, 59-60.

In the service of seeking how the macrocosm may be reflected in the Shakespearean microcosm,  (and how this is related to the theme of the "Mythic Shakespeare") we will, in this course, touch briefly on all of the major works and consider four or five in some detail.  In addition to specific assignments regarding the works, each student will conduct his/her own research into the poems and plays primarily through internet sources and links.  Synopses and summaries of plays abound on the net as do essays, explications, analyses, and interpretations. This way, everyone should have in the end a general if minimal working knowledge of the corpus. To gain in-depth understanding of specific works, each student, in addition to reading plays chosen by the instructor for in-depth study, will be assigned a single play to explore, research, own.  Additionally, each student will be asked to read a single substantive work of secondary criticism related to Shakespeare (suggestions will be given in class). Also, each student will be part of a school of night group dedicated to meditating on themes, issues, and concerns detailed in Turner's essay listed above as well as making presentations to the class.

The quote from Turner above sets the parameters for approach to Shakespeare. It suggests that there are two primary levels on which Shakespeare can be understood---the Mythic (the Macrocosm) and the Historical (the microcosm). These two levels are present in all the plays and poems and our task in this class is to see how they interact. That Shakespeare drew from mythology, particularly the Roman filtering of Greek material, is indisputable. As with most of his artful contemporaries, Shakespeare's works are rich in reference to Ovid, Plautus, Virgil, and through them to the great ocean of stories that makes up the Greek corpus, extending backwards from late novels to the canonical Greek dramatists (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes), Homer, and into the formative energies of the oral tradition. It is not enough, however, to know that Shakespeare made references to classical mythology. His plays and poems, it may be argued, are themselves profoundly mythological, suggesting a deep interiority as opposed to external ornamentation. This class will be devoted to an investigation into this other interior use of myth by a person of "capable imagination." 

Conventionally, Mythology has to do with ancient tales of gods, goddesses, heroes, creations of worlds, and other themes that, however entertaining, are regarded by the rational mind as fantastic and improbable. Some myth theorists, however, suggest that mythology, properly understood, leads us not away from "reality," but into a richer, deeper, stranger, and more powerfully transformative sense of that word where it may exist without the quotation marks it "wears like claws." (thanks to V. Nabokov for that phrase).

Shakespeare's interest in and use of mythology in all the senses in which that word may be understood is present in the complete works, and in each separate poem or play. Given time restrictions, we are limited to looking at a few poems, a handful of scenes from a variety of plays, and, when we are fortunate, a close and considered reading of works that seem to relate particularly well to the theme of the "mythic Shakespeare." Ideally, each student should read all of Shakespeare in the Pelican volume. The view from this perspective is immense, and few reach these heights, but the effort will be enthusiastically encouraged.

All term papers for this class will have the same title: "Mything Shakespeare." Far from being restrictive, this title opens up myriad possibilities for understanding Shakespeare in what your instructor insists is a deeper and more interesting way, a "both/and" way which sees Shakespeare simultaneously from the macroscopic and microscopic perspective. Details concerning this assignment will be explained in class.

To continue the goal of understanding the mythic/microcosm/macrocosm theme, each student will create an online journal consisting basically of the following: (1) diary entries from each class period reflecting on lectures, discussions, themes and issues; (2) an on-going account of the students relationship with the Shakespeare work assigned; (3) an on-going conversation with the work of secondary criticism chosen; (4) an on-going meditation on the theme of Shakespeare's connection with myth  (5) conversations with other online journalists; (6) links to helpful websites; (7) googlings of class terms and concepts (such as negative capability); (8) Class notes and bookmarks of classmates ejournal sites  (9) miscellaneous images, findings, thoughts, revelations. Samples of previous online journals will be supplied in class by our resident net wizard Rio Gonzalez.

All students will be expected to make oral presentations to the class both individually (final essay) and collectively (as part of a school of night group

Grades will be given based on two exams (100 pts each); a final (50 pts); the journal (150 points); 3-4 pp term paper (100 pts); attendance, presentations, participation & miscellaneous (100). Total: 600. Final Exam:

Initial assignments. Ideally, each student should read all of Shakespeare. A chronological approach to such a reading, while having the virtue of showing the artistic development of the writer, tends to privilege early work over later, given the fact that few will complete the daunting task of a complete reading. Therefore, any arrangement of readings will be approved.

Although we will only be looking at a handful of plays and poems, having a complete works edition---in particular the Pelican edition, to assure that we're all on the "same page"----will allow us to make reference to brief passages from many plays and poems. Please purchase the Pelican edition either through the bookstore or at considerable discount online.

The work of secondary criticism you choose may either be a book approved by the instructor or a substantive work found online.  Since online sources on WS (as with the Bible) are notoriously unreliable, it is important to get approval from the instructor as you survey your choices. Here is a partial list of books which have at worst guarded approval from the instructor: (1) Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being--Ted Hughes  (2) Northrop Frye on Shakespeare  (or Fools of Time by same author)  (3) Shakespeare's Festive Comedies-- CL Barber  (4) Sexual Personae-- Camile Paglia (5) Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human- H Bloom (6)   (7) Shakespeare Our Contemporary-- Jan Kott (or The Bottom Translation by same author). (8) Shakespeare After All--Majorie Garber. (9). Shakespeare and Ovid by Jonathan Bate (or The Genius of Shakespeare by same author). It should come as no surprise that often the best insights into Shakespeare are not by literary critics but by fellow artists. Your instructor recommends reading the following on the Bard: Virginia Woolf, John Berryman, W.H. Auden.

A schedule will be distributed after the first two weeks of class meetings which will shoe test dates and approximate dates for consideration of works to be explored in detail. Until then, 1) Purchase the Pelican Shakespeare at the bookstore  2) Read the poems "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece" as well as sonnets 15, 18, 30, 55, 60, 63, 65, 73, 129, 130. The plays we are most likely to consider in detail are: 1) Midsummer Night's Dream  2) As You Like It  3) Alls Well That Ends Well 4) King Lear 5) Antony and Cleopatra  6) Cymbeline 7) Pericles 8) Winter's Tale  9) The Tempest. 3) Read the online essay by Frederick Turner titled "The School of Night." 4) By February 1, all blogs should be up and running and a choice of secondary criticism made.