Shakespeare and the Category of the Human
ENGL 259
Spring 2014 not offered
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The Renaissance has been described as the historical moment that marked the "birth of the individual" (Burckhardt), while Shakespeare has been dubbed the inventor of the human (Bloom), or at least of modern "subjectivity effects" (Fineman). This seminar will explore these claims, and recent poststructuralist and cultural materialist challenges to them, through an examination of the category of the human in Shakespeare's poems and plays. In particular, we will consider the ways in which the human is constructed through that which is opposed to or excluded from it (e.g., the divine, bestial, supernatural, monstrous, alien, etc.). How do representations of the more-than-human (gods, kings, heroes), inhuman (ghosts, fairies, monsters, witches, villains), and less-than-human (slaves, strangers, victims, children, animals) participate in the definition of humankind? This question will be approached historically (by examining how the human, inhuman, subhuman, and superhuman were defined in Shakespeare's time), theoretically (by examining recent critical debates surrounding these issues), and formally (by analyzing the tropes and technologies of character-writing, such as personification, speech prefixes, pronouns, titles, proper names, etc.). Other questions we will consider include, How did the emergence of humanism and the Protestant Reformation in England affect the contours of the human? How did humoral psychology shape Shakespeare's depiction of the human psyche? How did debates surrounding the divine right of kings shape the humanity of Shakespeare's monarchs? What produces the literary effect of personhood or subjectivity? How is the "interiority" of Shakespearean characters (the illusion of "that within which passeth show") created through text and performance? What are the functions and politics of Shakespeare's quasi-human and subhuman characters? What dramatic roles do animals play as social metaphors or utilitarian instruments? How do such attributes as status, gender, race, and nationality affect a character's inclusion in/exclusion from the category of the human? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
VENUS AND ADONIS
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
RICHARD II
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
HAMLET
OTHELLO
KING LEAR
THE TEMPEST
THE TEMPEST
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two short papers (5 pp.), one class presentation, one final research paper (10pp.). Students choosing the Research Option will write a single, semester-long 20 pp. research paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course may be taken to fulfill the English Department's Literary History I, Literature of Difference and Research Option requirements; it contributes to the fulfillment of the British Lit concentration requirements. |
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