Required Texts

• Individual volumes of the Signet/Penguin Shakespeare (these are available in the UCSB bookstore, if you are in the area; if not, you can order them online from the Signet/Penguin website or Amazon). Ideally, you would order a hardcopy, so you can carry it anywhere and read it anywhere. If you prefer to buy an ebook of the editions. A hardcopy and ebook can be found at on the Penguin/Signet website at:
• Taming of the Shrew:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/326571/the-taming-of-the-shrew-by-william-shakespeare-edited-by-robert-b-heilman/
• Richard II:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/326602/richard-ii-by-william-shakespeare/
• Midsummer Night's Dream:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/326580/a-midsummer-nights-dream-by-william-shakespeare/
• Merchant of Venice:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/326577/the-merchant-of-venice-by-william-shakespeare-edited-by-kenneth-myrick/
• Hamlet:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/326572/hamlet-by-william-shakespeare-edited-by-sylvan-barnet/
• As a very last resort, you can download an edition from the Folger Shakespeare Library at https://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/?chapter=4. Be aware, however, that line numbers and scenes will differ in the Folger edition from those used officially in the class. If I quote from a Shakespeare text on a test or exam, it will thus be from the Signet/Penguin edition, NOT from the Folger edition.

Films on Reserve 

The following films of the plays we are reading this quarter are available in the course's Gauchospace, under "Gauchocast." That is also where the taped lectures will be made available. "None of the films below is Shakespeare's play, but they are all interesting film adaptations and can help to suggest the possibilities of the plays."

• Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, The Taming of the Shrew (1967). Interesting, if strange, parallels with their dramatic real-life marriage. Captures well the rough-and-tumble exuberance of the Native Festive comedic tradition.
• BBC production of The Taming of the Shrew (1981), directed by Jonathan Miller. John Cleese is a deadly serious Petruchio and the play moves toward a taming that is about Puritanical self-control.
• William Woodman, Richard II (1992)
• BBC/Time-Life Shakespeare, Richard II (1981). The best of a pretty mediocre lot of films of the play. Still waiting for an imaginative director to turn it into a hit.
• Michael Hoffman, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999). Bicycles and phonographs replace the exoticism of the East in this 19th c modernization of the play. Kevin Kline steals the show as Bottom.
• Max Reinhardt, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). Classic, though peformed in a sentimental Victorian vein, with hundreds of pretty fairies, lots of music, etc..
• Peter Hall, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981). Royal Shakespeare Company, including Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, and Judy Dench. Smart and unsentimental revisionist version of the play.
• Actor Shakespeare Theater segments of The Merchant of Venice (1986), featuring Patrick Stewart (reading versions of speeches of Shylock) and Lisa Harrow (reading versions of speeches by Portia). Excellent for gaining different perspectives on the roles.
• Laurence Olivier, The Merchant of Venice (1973). Filmed version of a stage production with setting in Edwardian England.
• Michael Radford, The Merchant of Venice (2004). Star-filled cast (Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio). Shylock as a "heavy."
• Michael Almereyda, Hamlet (2000). Takeover of a medieval Danish throne is rendered as corporate takeover in modern New York. Ethan Hawke plays a muted Hamlet. Interesting use of technology.
• Laurence Olivier, Hamlet (1948). Classic. Expressionistic film style with Freudian interpretation.
• Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet (1996). Brilliant recent Hamlet which plays entire Hamlet text uncut. Clearly the most important film Hamlet since Olivier's.
• Franco Zeffirelli, Hamlet (191), with Mel Gibson as hunky, pent-up Hamlet and Glenn Close as his mother, Gertrude. Heavy on Freudian interpretation.

Online Resources

• Shakespeare in Quarto. 93 facsimiles of the 21 plays by Shakespeare that were printed in quarto; mounted online in the British Library's Treasure's in Full site. The site allows you to compare pages of different editions side by side.
• Furness Shakespeare Library. Facsimiles of a growing number of texts from the time of Shakespeare or relevant to the study of Shakespeare, as well as facsimiles of critical texts. (U. Penn.)
• Folger Shakepeare Library. Information on the collections, current exhibits, theatre productions, and the institute and library itself. You can now access Hamnet, the Folger Library Catalog, online.
• Shakespeare in Quarto. 93 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare prited in quarto, British Library.
• Database of Early English Playbooks
• Early Modern Hub ( collection of many online early modern resources)
• Background on the English Renaissance
• Index of Other English Renaissance Sites 

First Paper

(2-3 pp.; due Monday, May 18, at 2 pm. in your TA's mailbox and uploaded to Gauchospace)

Instructions for paper:

• Choose one of the topics offered below on A Midsummer Night's Dream. (You may only choose a different topic with the consultation and approval of your TA.)
• Make an original and interesting argument (a thesis) about the topic.
• Back up your thesis with solid evidence. Quote the play frequently and pay attention to the details of the language you quote (telling words, repetitions, meter, rhyme, imagery, tone, punctuation, etc.)
• You need not answer every question posed in the topic suggestions. They are there to provoke thought.
• Read the more detailed guidelines below to ensure that you write a good paper:
• Hints for Writing a Good Paper
• Paper Thesis
• Introductions and Conclusions
• Organizing Papers
• Quoting Correctly
• Citing Secondary Materials
• Comprehensive Checklist
• Grading Guidelines

Possible Topics: