Shakespeare: fusions of Comedy and Tragedy

Shakespeare learned early to be a great generic engineer, testing forms to breaking-point and playing with audience expectations. This course looks closely at four plays from different stages of his career, tracing his radicalism of experiment from the mid-1590s to 1610, in Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus & Cressida, Measure For Measure, and Cymbeline, as he explored the boundaries of tragedy and comedy, relentlessly pulled in the punters, and faced the challenge of a new venue — while always providing challenges that actors and directors as well as audiences still relish. This is a 10-session course and must be taken with W110Pm02 in Week 1.