What made Shakespeare's dramas of love phenomenal popular successes as well as enduring works of art? After viewing Shakespeare in Love, students in this course will read, analyze, and discuss in depth Shakespeare's sonnets, three comedies (A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Twelfth Night) and three tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Anthony and Cleopatra). We will examine the ways in which attitudes toward love, sexuality, gender, subjectivity, dialogue, society and performance evolve as Shakespeare's poetic style and dramatic technique mature, and the genre shifts from lyric to tragedy and comedy.

Format: discussion/lecture. Requirements: active participation in class discussion, Blackboard postings, and a final 10- to 12-page research paper. Prerequisites: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 20). (Pre-1700)