The Droeshout Engraving

The Portrait Controversy

Shakespeare - En 255 (Web)

Dr. Richard Regan

Summer 2005

Texts: Signet Classic editions of the plays listed below. These are wonderfully handy editions with clear notes, good introductions, bibliographies, and excellent short articles on the plays. They are available in the Fairfield U. bookstore. I'll ask you to include references to some of the critical articles as you write your papers on each play.

Students with documented learning disabilities, please see me. Alternative methods of testing and evaluation are available.


Modules - The course is arranged in eight modules, one for each play. Before the course begins, let's practice exchanging documents written in Microsoft Word. I'll send you an email with a suggestion for writing, and you can attach your reply to an email. Word has a feature called Track Changes which we can use to write comments on papers (in color). Click here to download a document that contains some suggestions for writing in Word and for emailing papers as attachments.

 

The Taming of the Shrew June 6
Richard III June 13
A Midsummer Night's Dream June 20
Henry IV, Part One June 27
Twelfth Night July 4
Hamlet July 11
King Lear July 18
The Winter's Tale July 25

As you can see, we have about a week to work on each play.

Evaluations and grades: The main work of the course will be done through papers of about five (5) pages written on each play. Topics will be developed as we go. The papers should be original, but I would like to see some reference to the articles in the Signet editions and to the web sites I provide. Papers can be rewritten in response to my comments, and the rewrite grade will replace the original one.

We will also use group emails (sent Reply All) to have daily discussions, Monday through Friday. I will send an email each day with a prompting question or topic, and everyone will Reply All so that the whole class participates in an ongoing discussion. Our class will be divided into two groups ("Stratford" and "London") to make the discussions easier to follow. You can set up a folder in your email to hold these Reply All messages.

The main feature of the course is the online Class containing my presentation and streaming video. The Class has a password, which I'll email to you. You must have a broadband internet connection to view the video clips, which are an integral part of the course we will refer to frequently. Instructions for viewing the video are found below, in blue print. The computer lab at the library entrance provides access to the video if you have difficulty with your personal computer.


Theater related websites

Shakespeare's Globe Online

"The Elizabethan Theatre": a lecture with slides

FESTE: Royal Shakespeare Archives in PADS Theatre Resources
(click on "Browse")

Shakespeare in Performance Institute Acting Exercises

Interactive Shakespeare Project

Shakespeare at Hampton Court


Internet MetaSites for Shakespeare

Terry Gray's Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet

SH:in:E

Early Modern Literary Studies

Was Shakespeare Shakespeare? The Authorship Controversy

The Shakespeare Discussion List Archive

Shaksper Website

Teachers First

Shakespeare and Other Writers


Schedule

Introduction. These are some background sites you may find helpful, in addition to the two groups of links just above. The first link is to my chart on the comedies.

Theory of Comedy

Read the Works of Shakespeare at MIT

The Internet Shakespeare Editions

RhymeZone Shakespeare Search Engine

Life in Elizabethan England

An Early Modern Chronology


Here are the instructions for viewing the Class pages and video clips. You'll need a password from Dr. Regan: rjregan@mail.fairfield.edu

Streaming video is an essential part of the course because I've written the classes to be interactive with excerpts from performances. You will need a broadband internet connection. Cable or DSL will work. Satellite is probably OK too. Dialup is too slow for video.

As you scroll down the course page, for each of the plays you will see a link called "Click." That will take you to the Class, and requires the password. The video streams for a Quicktime viewer, the best video format. Macs come with Quicktime, but Windows machines may need to download the application. The password page sends a signal to your computer to download iTunes/Quicktime if you don't have it, but that may not be enough. You can go to the Apple Quicktime website to download the Windows version of Quicktime.

Install it, then restart the video link. You will need to adjust the Preferences of Quicktime to make the video and audio work smoothly. Open Quicktime, and use the top menu to find QuickTime Preferences (in one of the drop-down menus).

If you have Quicktime 6 for Windows, choose Streaming Transport, then choose Use HTTP, Port ID 80.
If you have Quicktime 7 for Windows, set the Preferences by going to the Advanced tab, then choose Transport Setup, then Custom, then set Transport Protocol for HTTP and Port 80.

If you have Quicktime 6 for Mac, go to Quicktime Preferences, choose the Connection Tab, then the Transport Setup button.
If you have Quicktime 7 for Mac, go to Quicktime Preferences, click on the Advanced tab, select Custom under Transport Setup, double-click on the word Custom, and choose HTTP and Port 80.


June 6: The Taming of the Shrew

Read: the play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Mack, Greer, Bamber, and Slights

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

"Personations: The Taming of the Shrew..."

The Works of the Bard: including a SEARCH engine

Scanning Shakespeare's Lines

Shakespeare: Subject to Change (Cable in the Classroom)

 


June 13: Richard III

Read: the play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Rossiter and Kahn

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

Richard III Onstage and Off

Richard III Society Online Library

Thomas More's "The History of King Richard III"

"The Misogyny of Richard III..."


June 20: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Read: the play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Myers, Bamber, and Slights

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

"...Petrarch and Pyramus in the Woods of Athens"

A Study Guide to A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Web and MOO

A Hypertext Version of A Midsummer Night's Dream


June 27: Henry IV, Part One

Read: the play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Ornstein and Goldman

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

"The Education of a Prince"

"The Prudence and Kinship of Prince Hal..."

"Hal Imitates the Sun"(Part Two)

"Holy War in Henry V"(Henry V)


July 4: Twelfth Night

Read: the play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Bamber, Kimbrough, and Howard

Romantic comedy, with an inlay of literary romance

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

"The BBC Twelfth Night : Relationships Revealed"

A Film Website

"Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night:: Contemporary Film and Classic British Theatre"

"...the Nature of Shakespearian Comedy"


July 11: Hamlet

Read: the play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Mack, Ornstein, Heilbrun, and Belsey

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

"A Romance of Electronic Scholarship"

A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet

(Click on "COURSE" and/or "FORUM")

Enfolded Hamlet

"On Seeing Madame Bernhardt's Hamlet

Hamlet on the Ramparts (see "Films")

EnterText - Hamlet on Film

"'Too Much in the Black Sun': Hamlet's First Soliloquy, A Kristevan View

"An English Renaissance Understanding of the Word 'Tragedy'"

"Shakespeare and the Tragic Virtue"


July 18: King Lear

Read: the Play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Mack, Bamber, and Brown

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

"Two Lears for TV"

"King Lear in its Own Time: The Difference That Death Makes"

Joyce Carol Oates, "Is This the Promised End..."

"Faires and Gods: A Socio-Religious Context for King Lear

BBC Site on Ian Holm's Lear

"King Lear Beyond Reason: Love and Justice in the Family"

"Performing the Bodies of King Lear"

Furness Shakespeare Library

The Complete Text of Shakespeare's King Lear with Quarto and Folio Variations, Annotations, and Commentary

(see two articles on tragedy)

A Hypertext Version of King Lear


July 25: The Winter's Tale

Read: the Play and the Signet Introduction, and the articles by Tillyard, Knight, Neely, and Kahn

CLICK to go to the class on the play.

Literary Romance

"Poetry vs. Plot in The Winter's Tale"

"Teaching the Late Plays as Family Romance"


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