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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : English Literature

Undergraduate Course: Shakespeare's Comedies: Identity and Illusion (ENLI10279)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis 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
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( Literary Studies 1A (ENLI08020) AND Literary Studies 1B (ENLI08021) AND Literary Studies 2A: English Literature in the World, 1380-1788 (ENLI08024) AND Literary Studies 2B: English Literature in the World, post-1789 (ENLI08025)) OR ( English Literature 1 (ENLI08001) OR Scottish Literature 1 (ENLI08016) AND English Literature 2 (ENLI08003) OR Scottish Literature 2 (ENLI08004))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Essential course texts.
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
Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  30
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 )
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:
  1. Demonstrate familiarity with the range and development of Shakespeare's writing of comedy.
  2. 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.
  3. Explore, evaluate and demonstrate how the plays engage with key themes, including questions of identity and illusion, both verbally and theatrically.
  4. Demonstrate sophisticated reading of Shakespeare's plays both as literary and as staged texts.
Reading List
None
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
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Greg Walker
Tel:
Email: Greg.Walker@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Callum Lennie
Tel:
Email: Callum.Lennie@ed.ac.uk
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