This class will focus on Shakespeare’s plays, and Shakespeare’s politics, through the lens of Washington, D.C. In this discussion-based seminar, we will be reading selections from plays written by Shakespeare between the years of roughly 1589 and 1616. In reading these texts, we will explore and discuss not only the original political contexts of his work—the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras—but also how Shakespeare’s political thought has continued to remain relevant more than 400s years later, notably in contemporary Washingtonian political discourse. The class may cover some of the following themes: early modern understandings of the body politic; the tension between authoritarian tyranny and populist insurgency; the contemporary echoes of Shakespeare’s plays in modern geopolitics; the politics of gender, sexual, religious, and ethnic identity; and Shakespeare’s evolution as a political thinker. Each of our six sessions will focus on a different play, with a second related play. Each class participant can elect whether to read all of the relevant readings for that week or a subset of designated highlights.

Because each production will have a different approach to the play (potentially including cuts and rearrangements of the text), our conversations will draw on our shared experience of the text we’ve read and our varied experiences of the productions we’ve watched.

The only formal course requirement is regular attendance and participation in our group discussions; there are no written assignments. That said, because we think it would be helpful to organizing our discussions to have a sense of the issues and questions that you find most interesting and challenging, we encourage (but again, do not require) you to email Drew Lichtenberg a brief note before each session offering some preliminary questions, thoughts, or observations on political themes in the play to be discussed that week. I will use these submissions to help organize our discussion plan for each meeting.


COURSE FORMAT
This course is an interactive in-person seminar course in Washington D.C.. This course will meet once a week for 6 classes and will be held in-person at the following location: The Shakespeare Theatre (610 F Street NW Washington, D.C.) – Harman Hall- Orchestra Level (2nd Floor)


Weekly reading or other forms of materials may be assigned. There are no papers or grades. This course does not offer any credits or certificates. This course is intended for learning for the love of learning.

COURSE MATERIALS
This course requires participants to purchase/rent reading materials as well as viewing materials.
Before each session, you should read and watch the play we will be discussing at that meeting.

You can read any version of the play that you would like. The Folger Shakespeare Library has produced low-cost editions, as have Penguin and other publishers. You can also get all the plays for free online. (Both the Folger and MIT provide convenient full-text versions.) If you would like an edition with extensive scholarly annotations, consider The Arden Shakespeare, Cambridge, or Oxford editions.

You can also watch any version of the play that you would like, but to make this easier, I will provide, in the syllabus, a list of certain productions that are available on video. Those with hyperlinks will give you access to Yale-licensed videos of the productions (or, in some cases, versions available for free on public platforms). You can watch whichever version you choose, or another version that was not included in our list. If you have seen a stage production of the play relatively recently, you do not need to watch one of the videos.

Course Materials

Week 1 – Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, Richard III (selections)
Week 2 – Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure
Week 3 – The Merchant of Venice, Othello
Week 4 –Julius Caesar, Hamlet
Week 5 –King Lear, Macbeth
Week 6 – The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest

Registrants will receive access to the course website about two weeks before the course starts.

COURSE CANCELLATION POLICY
Registrants can cancel and receive a full refund up to March 25. After March 25, there will be no refunds issued.
Yale Alumni College courses are subject to schedule changes as well as cancellations. If Yale Alumni College must cancel any course prior to its start due to low enrollment, you will be notified of this by the cancellation date. Upon cancellation of a course, registrants may transfer their registration to another available course or have the registration fee fully refunded.

In the event of a disruption to the original course schedule, including but not limited to; Professor absence, hazardous weather conditions, or local travel restrictions, Yale Alumni College will do its best to reschedule the missed class for the week immediately following the original end date at the same course time and day.