Shakespeare Then and Now
Shakespeare Then and Now In the1623 First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, rival playwright and poet Ben Jonson says that the world’s most famous author was “not of an age, but for all time.” Jonson might more accurately have said that Shakespeare was “for all time” because “of an age.” To see how this is so, we will study ten to twelve plays from the following list: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Othello, All’s Well that Ends Well, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra, and The Winter’s Tale. Lectures and discussions will emphasize historical context, staging, structure, character, authorial development, and performance and reception history, as well as social and political concerns important in both Shakespeare’s times and ours: sexuality, gender, race, property, censorship, and autocratic and collective power.
Shakespeare Then and Now In the1623 First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, rival playwright and poet Ben Jonson says that the world’s most famous author was “not of an age, but for all time.” Jonson might more accurately have said that Shakespeare was “for all time” because “of an age.” To see how this is so, we will study ten to twelve plays from the following list: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Othello, All’s Well that Ends Well, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopat …Read more
Prof. Berg is extremely enthusiastic about Shakespeare's works, which makes him an ideal teacher for the subject. However, he sometimes seems not to understand that his students lack the same familiarity with the plays. There were 2 quizzes per week where you had to remember who said specific lines, where characters entered onstage, etc. This never got easier to do as the semester went on. In addition, each student had to memorize a passage (~30 lines) of one of the plays and perform it the week we read that play. Regardless, this class is very interesting if you like Shakespeare.
Prof. Berg is extremely enthusiastic about Shakespeare's works, which makes him an ideal teacher for the subject. However, he sometimes seems not to understand that his students lack the same familiarity with the plays. There were 2 quizzes per week where you had to remember who said specific lines, where characters entered onstage, …Read more