William Shakespeare

The title of the course reveals much of what a student should expect from it. It is designed to offer proper introduction to Shakespeare's works and the world he lived in. This means that we will try to reconstruct the historical context of England in the 15th and 16th centuries. Also, since our author is renowned for his contribution in the English theater, we will review the history of theater from the 11th century to the days of Shakespeare. This historical interest of the course is minor compared to what we will be doing for the majority of the course. We will get close and personal with at least two major plays by our author, and a handful of his sonnets. In our discussion of the reading we will try to connect the text to its history and culture.