Undergraduate Course: Shakespeare's Comedies: Identity and Illusion (ENLI10279)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the range of Shakespeare's writing of comedy from the early romantic comedies, through the "mature" and "problem" comedies, to the tragicomic romance of the last plays. The course will consider early modern and recent ideas about comedy as a genre and mode, and trace the ongoing engagement of the plays with various interpenetrating thematic debates. |
| Course description |
This course explores the range of Shakespeare's writing of comedy from the early romantic comedies, through the "mature" and "problem" comedies, to the tragicomic romance of the last plays. The course will consider early modern and recent ideas about comedy as a genre and mode, and trace the ongoing engagement of the plays with various interpenetrating thematic debates. An early interest in illusion leads to a focus on the shifting and unstable nature of perception and identity, linked on the one hand to the effects of love and desire, and on the other to notions of the theatrical. These interests lead to a comic and comedic exploration of the nature and growth of the self, the problems of desire and of gendered identity, and the ways in which these may be addressed through the artifice of the comic form.
Course Description
Week 1: Introduction: What is Comedy?: Shapes and Ideas
Week 2: Classical Comedy and Confusions of Identity: The Comedy of Errors
Week 3: Comic Stereotypes: Love's Labour's Lost
Week 4: Identity and Gender: The Taming of the Shrew
Week 5: Illusion and Identity: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Week 6: Comedy and Race: The Merchant of Venice
Week 7: 'The Green World': As You Like It
Week 8: Essay Completion Week
Week 9: The Borders of Comedy I: Twelfth Night
Week 10: The Borders of Comedy II: Measure for Measure
Week 11: Comedy and Romance: The Tempest
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or other interdisciplinary classes, Freshman Year Seminars or composition/creative writing classes/workshops are not considered for admission to this course. Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having 4 literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
2000 word coursework essay (30%) submitted mid-semester;
plus 3000 word final essay submitted during exam period (70%). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate familiarity with the range and development of Shakespeare's writing of comedy.
- Engage with early modern and modern debates about comedy as a form and be able to use these critical tools in the interpretation of Shakespearean plays.
- Explore, evaluate and demonstrate how the plays engage with key themes, including questions of identity and illusion, both verbally and theatrically.
- Demonstrate sophisticated reading of Shakespeare's plays both as literary and as staged texts.
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Additional Information
| Course URL |
https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Numbers are limited and students taking degrees not involving English or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
2-hour Seminar once a week for 10 weeks; plus 1 hour a week attendance at Autonomous Learning Group - times to be arranged |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Greg Walker
Tel:
Email: Greg.Walker@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lina Gordyshevskaya
Tel:
Email: pgordysh@ed.ac.uk |
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