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An exploration of the great variety of women's roles in Shakespeare's plays, exploring the challenges facing the women in The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, As You Like It, Macbeth, and Othello.
No previous knowledge required.
1. Binary female opposites in Shakespeare’s Henry VI pt 1 (c.1592): Queen Margaret, a powerful French queen in England; and Joan of Arc, a religiously sanctified female leader in France.
2. Empowered, disempowered, cursing and lamenting queens in Richard III (1593).
3. Struggling female voices in Richard II (1596) – Isabella, the Duchess of York, Hotspur’s wife.
4. The noble Roman matron: Portia and Calpurnia in Julius Caesar (1599).
5. ‘Frailty thy name is woman’: Gertrude and other weak queens in Hamlet (1600).
6. Shakespeare’s greatest female ruler, Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, (1606)..
7. The great redemptive queens in the Last Plays: Thaisa in Pericles (1608) and Hermione in The Winter’s Tale (1610).
Discussion-based seminars.
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
Understand the historical context of attitudes towards women in the period;
Appreciate the complex psychology of gender relationships in the plays;
Describe the constraints on women in Shakespeare’s world and on the stage;
Interpret the gender values encoded within modern productions of Shakespeare.
Essential:
The course plays to be studied in any of the following editions: Norton, Arden, New Cambridge, Oxford.
Recommended:
Dusinberre, Juliet. Shakespeare and the Nature of Women. London: Macmillan, 1975.
Woodbridge, Linda. Women and the English Renaissance. Brighton: Harvester, 1984.
Good general Renaissance website
Handouts will be provided.
10 credit courses have one assessment. Normally, the assessment is a 2000 word essay, worth 100% of the total mark, submitted by week 12. To pass, students must achieve a minimum of 40%. There are a small number of exceptions to this model which are identified in the Studying for Credit Guide.
If you choose to study for credit you will need to allocate significant time outwith classes for coursework and assessment preparation. Credit points gained from this course can count towards the Certificate of Higher Education.
If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.
If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.