9:30a-10:45a TR (30) 3 cr

This course will examine seven or eight of Shakespeare's early plays. We shall sample the different dramatic genres--comedy, history, tragedy, Roman plays--he was exploring at the time. It is likely that we shall be reading and discussing Midsummer Night's Dream , Two Gentlemen of Verona , Romeo and Juliet , The Merchant of Venice , As You Like It , Henry IV , Julius Caesar , Hamlet . We shall be looking at the plays on the one hand as dramatic literature, and on the other hand as stage plays for live theatre. Videotaped performances of the plays will be available, and I very much hope there will be a chance for the class to attend a live performance of at least one of the plays. There will be two papers and a final examination. Students will, I hope, complete this course having gained a genuine understanding and love of Shakespeare the thinker and of Shakespeare the man of theatre.