2017/18 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL32994 Shakespeare's Histories

20 creditsClass Size: 20

School of English

Module manager: Professor Martin Butler
Email: M.H.Butler@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2017/18

Pre-requisite qualifications

Please note: This module is restricted to Level 2 and 3 students. Enrolment priority will be given to Level 2 students for a restricted period (as detailed in the School's Module Handbook).

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Objectives

-To explore Shakespeare's eight principal history plays as a consolidated body of work.
-To examine the plays' relationship to the politics and literature of the Elizabethan period.
-To read drama critically as a representation of the historical past

Learning outcomes
-Detailed familiarity with a major component of Shakespeare's output.
-Understanding of Shakespeare's techniques in shaping and managing historical memory.
-Awareness of the critical literature examining the plays' meaning and relationship to their times.

Syllabus

Shakespeare's history plays have attracted less attention than his comedies and tragedies, but they are just as exciting in the theatre and no less challenging to read. The eight principal plays in the two 'tetralogies' are epic in scope. They cover an astonishing sweep of English history - from the assassination of Richard II in 1400 to the accession of Henry Tudor in 1485 - and give an unrivalled portrait of the political nation, from monarch to lowly foot-soldier. Together they constitute Shakespeare's most sustained exploration of the public world, and by mirroring contemporary events across a gulf of time, they engage with issues that were crucial to the 1590s and remain urgent in our own society. They examine the ethics of rule, the concept of the 'just war', the problem of political legitimacy, the limits of obedience, and the theatrical charisma of power. And they contain some of Shakespeare's most memorable characters: the heroic warrior Henry V, the demonic usurper Richard III, the cowardly knight Sir John Falstaff, the peasant rebel Jack Cade, and the terrifying Amazons Margaret of Anjou and Joan of Arc.

In addition to the two tetralogies, we shall read Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, which explores similar territory in ways strikingly different from Shakespeare, and we shall look at some of the films which have been made from these plays, including Lawrence Olivier's Henry V, Ian McKellen's Richard III, and Orson Welles's Chimes at Midnight.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Meetings	5	1.00	5.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

- Teaching will be through weekly seminars (10 x 1 hour) plus up to 5 additional hours (content to be determined by the module tutor).
- The 5 additional hours may include lectures, plenary sessions, film showings, or the return of unassessed/assessed essays.

Private Study: Seminar preparation, reading, essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Contribution to seminars.

- 1st assessed essay.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1,700 words	33.30
Essay	2,750 words	66.70
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 26/04/2017

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