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We’re glad to announce that, back by popular demand, we will be offering a second “How To Read Shakespeare” course this July. Whereas Dr. Taylor guided students through Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing during the first term, this time Dr. T. (as he is respectfully known around here) will be teaching Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew.
Here is the course description:
The unique difference in this Shakespeare class – just the same as the one before – is the direct confrontation we have with the text with no secondary sources. That places us as close to Shakespeare’s intention as we can get without watching a live performance. Furthermore, reading the play together carefully, we find that we can rely on our own intelligence and intuition to reveal meaning, mood, nuance and theme. We simply do not read books about the plays; instead, the class follows the approach of reading Great Books, that is, to trust the original text to reveal its delight and knowledge to the average but focused students. All these things of “doing Shakespeare” are revealed in the twice-a-week live, spontaneous and unrehearsed conversation about the plays.
Our tragedy for this session is Macbeth, and the comedy, The Taming Of The Shrew. Brief explanations of Shakespeare’s poetics and metrics to demonstrate his artistry are presented. However, the emphasis will remain on the experience of enjoyment and appreciation rather than advancing technical and narrow academic pursuits.
Texts: Highly recommended are the paperback Folger series of Shakespeare’s plays easily obtainable from amazon.com or other book seller outlets. Using the same texts – that contain some interesting notes – allows us to be “on the same page” when quoting passages in class.
Details:
This course will take place July 12 – August 12, every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm.
It costs $250.
To apply click here.
