ENGL 201
Shakespeare, Blood and Guts Spring 2014
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

In 1600 a Londoner looking for distraction could stroll to Tyburn and, for a small fee, secure a seat at a public execution. Or he could swing by Southwark to see a blind bear attacked by dogs. Or he could drop in at the Globe for a play of Shakespeare’s. In this course we will consider works that address an audience primed for cruelty. The plays we read will include, Titus Andronicus, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Othello, Lear, and Hamlet. We will also watch films adaptations – Julie Taymor’s Titus, Richard Loncraine’s Richard III— and discuss the differences between early modern and contemporary ideas about violence.