ENGL 4881 - Shakespeare and His World
Fall 2026 Syllabus, Section 01, CRN 41194,
Credit hours: 3
Course Meeting Times
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Instructor
Timothy Francisco
Email: tfrancisco@ysu.edu
Course Description
4881. Shakespeare and His World. Study of Shakespeare's works along with an exploration of the artistic and social forces that shaped his writing. Prereq.: ENGL 3700 with a grade of "C" or higher. 3 s.h.
Course Readings
| Group | Title | Author | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required | Shakespeare (texts in bookstore) : Sonnets and Poems, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra. |
Shakespeare (texts in bookstore) : Sonnets and Poems, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra.
The course readings are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, research developments, current events, and/or to ensure better learning.
Assignments/Assessments
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Schedule of Topics and Assignments
| Week of | Reading(s) | Proposed Topic | Due/To Prepare for Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/24 | Intro to course and discussion --share your Shax stories | Why Shakespeare? Seriously, why Shakespeare? | Google the question, filter your results and come to class with your favorite answer --read, listen to materials and podcast |
| 8/31 | Shakespeare's England (BB) Greenblatt, Will In The Word, Chapter 1 (PDF in BB) | Placing Shakespeare, religion, technology, and political upheaval | |
| 9/7 | Shakespeare's sonnets (section in BB) Sidney Defense of Poesy (section in BB) Plato, sections from The Republic and Newstok Imitation and Invention | Imitation and Invention--Shakespeare the poet | |
| 9/14 | Narrative poem: Venus and Adonis and Ovid, Venus and Adonis, | Transformation, poesy, and the pastoral sonnet comparison | |
| 9/21 | Shakespeare's Comedy: As You Like It | Pastoral comedy, boy actors, and the city/court binary | |
| 9/28 | A Midsummer Night's Dream, revisit Sidney's neoplatonism (handout) | Folklore, fantasy, and Shakespeare's modal pastoral | |
| 10/5 | Richard III, Holinshed's Chronicles | History, Tragedy, and Mythmaking | |
| 10/12 | Lucrece, No Class on Thursday | Roman death and tragic metamorphoses | |
| 10/19 | Titus Andronicus | Roman death and the revenge tradition | |
| 10/26 | Hamlet | Revenge refined and the psychological drama | |
| 11/2 | Macbeth | Placating the patron: Shakespeare, James I and Witchcraft | |
| 11/9 | Much Ado About Nothing | What comedy can tell us about tragedy: Shakespeare's confirmation bias. | |
| 11/16 | Othello | Tragic confirmation bias and Shakespeare's "American play" | All materials in blackboard (PDFs and film link) |
| 11/23 | Toni Morrison, Desdemona, Keith Hamilton Cobb, American Moor | Re-forming the American Pplay | |
| 11/30 | King Lear | Generational tragedy and the family as microcosm | |
| 12/7 | Antony and Cleopatra | Tragedy and the ends of empire |
The course schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, by mutual agreement, and/or to ensure better learning.