Shakespeare's Majesties

About this course:

Early in his career, perhaps with his very first play, Shakespeare embarked on a pageant of a dozen dramas which interrogated the nature of kingship, legitimate royalty, and the limits of regal authority. These plays followed the tumultuous course of English history from 1199 to 1533—the Plantagenet Age, which ended with the establishment of the Tudor dynasty under Henry VII. During this period, England was torn by factionalism, vendettas, religious strife, and civil war. This course sifts through five of these plays against the backdrop of English history as the playwright found it in the chronicles of Hall, Holinshed, and others. The plays to be read and discussed are King John, Richard II, Henry V, Richard III, and (of all things) The Tempest. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.