Annotation
OBJECTIVES
To read and interpret Shakespeare´s monologues in relevant Shakespearean and cultural contexts. The seminar will be mainly (although not exclusively) focused on monologues in Shakespeare´s tragedies (Richard III. , Richard
II., Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra,
Coriolanus). Members of the seminar will read and interpret selected monologues, specify their meanings within the context of each play and within the wider contexts of the English and European renaissance. Comparative discussions of Shakespearean monologues (Hamlet/Macbeth, Hamlet/Brutus, Lear/Timon, etc.) will be encouraged. The seminar is an exercise in creative reading and interpretation whose aim is to understand more fully Shakespeare´s tragic imagination.
MATERIAL
Shakespeare´s monologues (and soliloquies). The selection of the monologues and theoretical studies relevant to the topic will be specified at the first session of the seminar.
ASSESSMENT
Active participation in the seminar discussions, one oral presentation, one essay. Further details including seminar topics for presentations and essays will be discussed at the first seminar.