Shakespeare and the Interpretation of History

A Certificate of Participation is awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/learning activities for the duration of the course. This tutor-led, cohort-based online course is 7-weeks in duration and is made up of 5 teaching units. Unit 1 - Richard II and the politics of English history (Richard II, Act One) Participants will be introduced to the official version of English history promoted by the Tudor dynasty, and will begin to consider why and in what version Shakespeare’s Richard II and its sequels set out to retell that familiar history to their original Elizabethan audiences. Learning objectives: - To understand why the period of English history from the reign of Richard II onwards was so important to the Tudor dynasty and so interesting to Elizabethan audiences. - To grasp how the opening act of Shakespeare’s Richard II alludes to key events in this history. - To discus what interpretation the play puts on those events, and how the principal characters in the play interpret their own roles as historical actors. Unit 2 - Richard II and the Renaissance monarch (Richard II, Acts Two and Three) Participants will be introduced to the diversity of political thinking in Elizabethan England, and will see how a range of distinct political views are appealed to by characters in Shakespeare’s Richard II.  We will consider how the play engages with a specific political issue which was important to its original audience and yet perilous to discuss, namely the nature and limits of a monarch’s authority. Learning objectives: - To encounter the range of contrasting ideas current in Shakespeare’s time concerning the basis of a monarch’s authority and the possible grounds for resisting it. - To consider why a history play might have been an apt vehicle for exploring such ideas. - To discus  with what dramatic function and what political aims some of these ideas are expressed by characters in Shakespeare’s Richard II. Unit 3 - Richard II as political dynamite — royal anger and state censorship (Richard II, Acts Four and Five) Participants will learn how Shakespeare’s Richard II proved politically controversial and even dangerous in its own time, both on stage and in print.  We will be introduced to the nature of Elizabethan censorship and propaganda, and to the delicate relationship between the professional acting companies and the monarchy. Learning objectives: - To learn about the involvement of Shakespeare’s play and acting company in a significant Elizabethan political crisis, the Essex rebellion, and seen how political censorship affected the text of the play as printed in the earliest editions. - To consider the relation of Shakespeare’s acting company with state power and propaganda. - To explore and debate the politics of the play itself, especially its closing acts, in light of these events and considerations. Unit 4 - Henry V — nationalist propaganda, subversive critique, or something in between? Participants will apply what they have learned in units 1 – 3 to another important Shakespearean history play, Henry V, focusing on some scenes which illustrate the complexity of its interpretation of history and the attendant difficulties it presents to criticism.  We will encounter, and debate the merits of, some seminal critical views of the play. Learning objectives: - To apply the learning content of units 1 – 3 to a second English history play, Henry V. - To Understand and assess some important critical views of the play. - To discuss the play’s exploration of the theme of the interpretation of history. Unit 5 - Henry V on film — Shakespearean history still open to interpretation Participants will be introduced to the modern production history of Shakespeare’s Henry V, with especial attention to film versions (which they will be encouraged to watch).  Discussion will focus on (1) how different productions adapt the play to convey a particular interpretation of history, and (2) how modern productions cope with the difficulty that modern audiences are unlikely to have the relevant historical background knowledge assumed by the playwright. Learning objectives: - To learn about, and encounter at first hand, some significant modern productions of Shakespeare’s play. - To consider how particular productions interpret the historical events represented by the play, and how they adapt Shakespeare’s text to that end. - To discuss the difficulties of staging Shakespeare’s history plays for modern audiences.