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English 417 Shakespeare:
Machiavellian Politics and the Ethics of Comedy, History, and Tragedy
Dr. Michael Bryson
Sierra Tower 832
818-677-5695
michael.bryson@csun.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will explore
the sonnets and twelve of Shakespeare's plays, drawn from early, middle, and late periods of
his writing career.
In
Shakespeare’s time the threat of political chaos was often personified in
the figure of the stage-Machiavel. This kind of figure is portrayed as being
capable of any and all nefarious schemes and duplicitous actions.
Elizabethans held a notion of the Machiavel as a soulless creature dedicated
to endless manipulation, betrayal, and violence as means to power and
advantage (not, of course, that such tactics were wholly unfamiliar in
England). The question Shakespeare's history plays ask, is how different are the
tactics (both onstage and in the realm of “real life”) of the Machiavel from
those of the King (or the lover, the lawyer, the lieutenant, etc.)?
Far beyond the purely political, however, the
questions that Shakespeare raises in his history plays are often the same
questions he raises in his comedies and his tragedies: what are the ethics
of power (in relationships and in government), what is the real nature of
love, of morality, of jealousy, of forgiveness? This course will explore
these questions through Shakespeare's works and the multiple answers
proposed therein.
EVALUATION METHOD:
Discussion, midterm
essay, final essay.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Midterm: in
the range of 6-8 pages, this will be comprised of responses to essay questions, and will require you to present an analysis of characters from the
blocks of plays we will have read to that point. These essays will not require
secondary sources, but will require you to read the plays closely, and cite
evidence from the plays (using
MLA citation)
to back up your arguments.
Final: In
the range of 8-10 pages, this will be an essay tackling a question of your
own choosing. This essay will be a researched argument paper that makes use
of secondary sources.
Excellent
sources for journal articles include JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/),
Project Muse (http://muse.jhu.edu/),
and Academic Search Elite (http://library.csun.edu/restricted/ebsase.scr).
These databases must be accessed from the CSUN campus, or from
off-campus with your activated library card bar code ID and last name. Quotations
from the works you deal with—and quotations from secondary
sources—should follow MLA format.
The final quiz/essay will be due by the end of
finals week.
READING LIST:
Complete Pelican Shakespeare,
Machiavelli—The Prince
Statement on Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism is a serious offense that will be treated seriously. Please read
the CSUN policy
here.
Weekly Preview
Week 1) Introductions
Week 2) Machiavelli—The Prince,
Shakespeare, Sonnets (1-20, 55, 60, 62, 93-94, 116,
121, 130, 138, 141)
Week 3)
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Week 4)
Richard II
Week 5)
Henry IV, part 1
Week 6)
Henry IV, part 2
Week 7)
Henry V
Week 8)
Richard III
Week 9) Julius Caesar (midterm assigned)
Week 10)
The Merchant of Venice
(midterm due)
Week 11) Othello
Week 12) Hamlet
Week 13) King Lear
Week 14)
Measure for Measure
Week 15) The Winter’s Tale
Final due at end of finals week
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