>From history, legend, and his own imaginative powers, Shakespeare has fashioned superlative warriors: Hotspur, Othello, Macbeth, Antony, and Coriolanus are larger-than-life soldiers on the battlefield. They are, however, frequently undone by love and politics. Hotspur is no match for the shrewd political maneuvering of Prince Hal; Othello's love for Desdemona turns to hate through the machinations of the Machiavellian Iago; Macbeth is pushed to regicide by his wife; and Antony is twice undone-made "a strumpet's fool" by Cleopatra and defeated by a mere "boy" in the supreme politician Octavius Caesar. This course will examine six plays by Shakespeare, where the virtues and weaknesses of the warrior and the politician are seen to be in tension: Henry IV, Part I, Othello, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Troilus and Cressida. In the last two plays, Shakespeare portrays the convergence of sex, war, and politics with a new cynicism that leaves no character unscathed. Format: discussion/seminar. Requirements: twenty pages of writing in the form of four essays, ranging in length from 3-7 pages, and several short journal style writing assignments, as well as active participation in class. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 per section (expected: 19 per section). Preference to first-year students. Two sections. This course is writing intensive.