This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
In this module students will examine Shakespeare's representation of European countries, including France (e.g, Henry VI trilogy, All's Well that Ends Well), Italy (e.g, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar), Spain (e.g., Cardenio), Cyprus (e.g., Othello), and Greece (e.g., Timon of Athens). The module will consider what sources Shakespeare drew on to write about European locations. We will study the ways in which Shakespeare examines these European locations and what these plays reveal about Anglo-European relations in the period. In addition, we will explore how far and the reasons why Shakespeare uses Europe as a cipher to examine sensitive domestics events. Alongside investigation into early modern European and Shakespeare, this module will explore the Europeanization of Shakespeare. How has Shakespeare, as a cultural icon of British identity, been received in Europe? And what relevance does Shakespeare's critical reception have in a post-Brexit Europe?
Total Contact Hours: 20
Private Study Hours: 280
Total Study Hours: 300
Main assessment methods:
Assignment (5,000 words) – 100%
Reassessment methods:
Like-for-like
Indicative Reading List:
The New Oxford Shakespeare, eds. Gary Taylor et al (Oxford UP, 2016)
Warren Chernaik, The Myth of Rome in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries (Cambridge UP, 2011)
Andrew Hadfield, ed. Shakespeare and Renaissance Europe (Bloomsbury, 2005)
Richard Hilman, Shakespeare, Marlowe and the Politics of France (Palgrave, 2002)
Aneta Mancewicz, Intermedial Shakespeares on European stages (Palgrave, 2014)
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate a systematic understanding of Shakespeare's representation of Europe in key plays across his career and the shape of critical work in this field
2 Demonstrate a critical comprehension of the historic and political context of Shakespeare's engagement with European history, culture and locations;
3 Demonstrate skills in using and evaluating the key methodologies associated with analysis of Shakespeare's plays, as well as other early modern texts;
4 Demonstrate an understand and to critically evaluate Shakespeare's meaning in contemporary Europe as a symbol of British culture, particularly in light of recent Brexit debates.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Apply, evaluate and critique methodologies in the study of literary texts and incorporate these in their own research;
2 Demonstrate a conceptual and critical engagement with current research in the discipline
3 Convey new or complex ideas in written or oral form with greater clarity.
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