The course aims to study the different ways by which Shakespeare was received in England by the discourse of literary criticism and theory in the 20th Century. Students will become familiar with the ideological assumptions that determine these approaches and will learn to see that his plays can be used to produce, reproduce or challenge historically specific relations of power as regards gender, race, social class, religion and other cultural categories. The plays will be read as intricate compositions inviting multiple interpretations and participating in the field of the cultural debates of the modern world.

Student evaluation will be based on class participation, oral presentations, short written assignments, and finally a longer research paper. The course is evaluated anonymously at the end by the students.

Instructor: Maro Germanou