English 250/Introduction to Shakespeare
Spring 2022
This class will be held in person/on campus in Spring 2022!
Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:35 to 11:00 A.M.
in room H-308
William Shakespeare is one of the greatest authors in the English language, and this class serves as an introductory course to his life, times, plays, and sonnets. During our semester together, we will study six of Shakespeare’s plays (including at least one play from each of the four genres of comedy, history, tragedy, and romance) and many of his sonnets as we attempt to unravel some of the themes and elements that have made his works so timeless and compelling.
We will also mostly be reading the plays chronologically so we can trace the development of recurring themes, images, and ideas. Since Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be heard and seen onstage – in much the same way that film scripts are meant to be seen as movies and not just read aloud – we will also be watching clips from various film versions of the plays in class.
The two books for our class will be:
- David Bevington’s The Necessary Shakespeare
- “English 250 Lecture Notes” (which will only be available for purchase at the Palomar Bookstore)
I have ordered the newest edition of Bevington’s book for Spring 2022, but you can use an older edition of his book or individual copies of each play. We will be reading Much Ado about Nothing, Henry V, King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, and The Tempest, as well as some of the sonnets.
For a copy of our course syllabus, please visit our class Canvas website.
Film versions of Shakespeare’s plays:
- As of Spring 2017, our library now subscribes to the Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen database
- To access it, click on the link, and then look for the database on the right-hand side of the screen
Resources on the Publication of Shakespeare’s Texts:
- Folger Library discussion of the publication history, including images
- Project Gutenberg’s editions of the First Folio
- British Library information on the quartos
- Article on a new First Folio edition that was found in 2014
- Fun New York Times fake obituary about Shakespeare
Resources on Shakespeare’s Language:
- Pronouncing Shakespearean Names website — a key to pronouncing the characters’ names in Shakespeare’s plays
- Shakespeare’s Works — a glossary, language companion, and concordance put together by David and Ben Crystal that will help you make sense of Shakespeare’s plays and poems; this site also contains the entire text of each play
- Part of Michael Woods’ Biography In Search of Shakespeare (58:34 minutes)
- 2016 article from The Atlantic about puns in Shakespeare’s plays called “Such Ado: The Fight for Shakespeare’s Puns”
- “Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation” video with David and Ben Crystal (10:21 minutes)
- “Shakespeare’s Accent” video with Ben Crystal (6:30 minutes)
-
“Mapping the Heart of a Speech” from Explore Shakespeare with Ben Crystal (18 mins)
- “How Did Shakespeare’s Actors Show the Status of the Character They Were Playing Physically?” video with Ben Crystal
- Sample of Ben Crystal reciting the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet in the original pronunciation
- Clip of opening scene of Baz Lurhmann’s 1996 film Romeo + Juliet
- “Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter” — TED Ed Talk by David T. Freedman and Gregory Taylor (5:21 minutes)
- A fun sonnet generator
- Article from The New Yorker called “Why We (Mostly) Stopped Messing with Shakespeare’s Language”
- “Insults by Shakespeare” — TED Ed Talk by April Gudenrath
- “62 Insults” video
- “Hip-Hop & Shakespeare?” — Akala at TEDxAldeburgh
- “Shakespeare In The Classroom” video from the Shakespeare in Love DVD
- “Epic Rap Battles of History: Dr. Seuss vs. Shakespeare”
- A fifteen-minute video called “A Tour of Stratford-upon-Avon with the Editors of The Shakespeare Circle: An Alternative Biography”
- Article called “Why Do Americans and Brits Have Different Accents?”
Resources on Individual Plays:
- The Folger Library’s rap video “Insider’s Guide: The Comedy of Errors & Rhyming”
- The Folger Library’s video “Insider’s Guide: The Comedy of Errors & The Building Blocks of Comedy”
- Act 4, Scene 4 scene where Pinch tries to exorcise Antipholus of Ephesus — from a 1976 Royal Shakespeare Company production with Dame Judi Dench as Adriana
- “Thug Notes” version of Macbeth
- Peter Sellers’ lecture (runs 1 hour and 18 minutes) about his collaboration with Toni Morrison called “Desdemona Takes The Microphone: Toni Morrison and Shakespeare’s Hidden Women”
- A full version on Vimeo of Rupert Goold’s PBS version of Macbeth with Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood
- Interview with Sir Patrick Stewart about his role in this production of Macbeth
- Alan Rickman reads Sonnet 130
- A 2009 discussion of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (38 minutes) on the 400th anniversary of the sonnets’ publication with Professors Stanley Wells and Jonathan Bate
- A painting of Henry Wriothesley, the Third Earl of Southampton
Creative Projects from Spring 2018 Class:
Vanessa’s themed masks:
Killian’s collage about Ophelia:
Hannah’s “Out Damn Spot!” Cake:
Nicole P.’s re-creation of the Globe Theatre, with Lady Macbeth sleepwalking:
Nicole H.’s Birnam Wood and Dunsinane Hill cake:
Cassie’s digital art Ophelia:
Christianne’s clay figures from the tragedies (the characters of King Lear, Hamlet, the Weird Sisters, and Ophelia):
Bee’s Yorick’s skulls and Hamlet scrapbook:
Emily’s painting that was inspired by Beatrice and Benedick:
Katie’s portrait of Lady Macbeth:
Casey’s sonnet:
Nicole G.’s Facebook page for Beatrice:
Elizabeth’s Instagram for Ophelia:
Ali’s original short story “Avalon,” which is inspired by the themes of Shakespeare’s plays:
Gabrielle’s portfolio of work for the stage (costume design and lighting design):
Victor’s gel pen original drawing of Shakespeare:
Photos and Videos from Charlotte’s Visit to Our Class on 9/16/15:
To play the videos, click on the title of each one.