Shakespeare's Politics
Fall 2004
Tuesdays 2:30-4:00 pm
Wednesdays 2:15-3:45 pm
Professor Joseph R. Reisert
office: 020 7580 1138
home: 020 7483 3372
Many of Shakespeare's plays, including a number of his greatest, are explicitly about politics. And the political settings of the plays are not mere window-dressing: his characters are kings, queens, bishops, tyrants, generals and nobles -- and their deeds and their fates are intimately tied to the fates and principles of the polities of which they are a part. By attending carefully to the speeches, actions, and motives of Shakespeare's characters, we can learn much about human nature and about how it can be shaped by different forms of political life.
Classes will be conducted primarily in a seminar format, with an emphasis on class discussion. It is, therefore, essential that students will have read and thought about the assigned reading before class.
For each play we read, every student will be assigned a "focus character" (major characters may get more than one student; minor characters may be grouped together for ease of examination).
Attendance. You are required to attend every class. One missed class will result in a reduction of your participation grade by a full letter grade (e.g., A to B). Two missed classes will result in a reduction of your participation by another full letter grade (e.g., B to C). A third absence will result in your failing the course. Accommodation will ordinarily be made for students who must miss a class session due to the requirements of another CBB course.
Grades will be determined according to the following formulas:
• Class participation -- 30%
• Two short papers (approx 1500 words each) -- 40%
• Final examination -- 30%
Each of the short papers should examine a single character, issue, or theme in a single play (e.g., Shakespeare's attitude towards Roman virtue in Coriolanus; is Duke Valentino a wise philosopher-king or a sadist and voyeur in Measure for Measure? Is Henry V the ideal Christian king, or a perfect Machiavellian?) Paper topics should be approved by me before you write, and each paper must include reference to at least two works in the secondary literature. You may write about any two plays you wish; papers are due in class one week after the last day on which we discuss the play (e.g., if we finish Coriolanus on Sept 21, the paper will be due on Sept 28). However, you must write at least one paper prior to the fall break.
Late Papers will be penalized one third of a letter grade for each day (24 hour period) that they are late. No extensions will be granted, except when they are necessitated by critical and verifiable emergencies (e.g., an illness requiring hospitalization). All students are responsible for keeping copies of their papers until graded submissions are returned.
Greenblatt, et al. The Norton Shakespeare. 4 vols. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1997.
Machiavelli, The Prince. Trans. by Harvey C. Mansfield. University of Chicago Press.
Readings from Aristotle and Plutarch are available on-line from the Internet Classics Archive at MIT (classics.mit.edu)
Readings from Aristotle, Plutarch, Livy, and Shakespeare are available on-line from the Perseus Project (www.perseus.tufts.edu)
We will read eight plays during the semester, plus some works of political theory and one or two chapters or articles of secondary material per play. The schedule of readings below is, however, somewhat tentative, and may be subject to revision depending upon the availability of tickets to performances and upon interest.
Sep 1: Introduction: The political thought of Shakespeare?
Aristotle, Poetics 1-15 (Handout)
Sep 7: Aristotle: Rule in accordance with virtue
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, books 1-2
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.1.i.html
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.2.ii.html
Sep 8: The Challenge of Machiavelli
Machiavelli, The Prince (entire)
Sep 14: A Comedy of Christian Virtue and Christian Vice
Measure for Measure
Sep 15: Divergent Views of Valentino's Vienna
Secondary Works (read at least one):
Behnegar. "The Political and Theological Psychology of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure."
A. Bloom, "Measure for Measure" (in Love and Friendship)
H. Bloom, "Measure for Measure" (in The Invention of the Human)
Dollimore, "Transgression and Surveillance in Measure for Measure"
Jaffa, "Chastity as a Political Principle: An Interpretation of Shakspeare's Measure for Measure" (in Shakespeare as Political Thinker)
Lowenthal, "Measure for Measure" (in Shakespeare and the Good Life)
Riefer, "'Instruments of Some More Mightier Member': The Constriction of Female Power in Measure for Measure"
Tovey, "Wisdom and the Law: Thoughts on the Political Philosophy of Measure for Measure" (in Shakespeare's Political Pageant)
Tovey, "The Golden Casket: An Interpretation of The Merchant of Venice" (in Shakespeare as Political Thinker)
Sep 21: Human Justice and Divine Justice in Measure for Measure
Sep 22: Venice: Shakespeare's Multicultural City
Othello
Sep 28: Bloom v. Burckhardt on Othello
Required Secondary Works:
A. Bloom, "Cosmopolitan Man and the Political Community: Othello" (in Shakespeare's Politics)
Burckhardt, "English Bards and APSR Reviewers" (skip the parts about King Lear)
Recommended (the rest of the debate):
A. Bloom, "Political Philosophy and Poetry."
Burckhardt, "Political Philosophy and Poetry: On Reading Ordinary Prose: A Reply to Allan Bloom."
A. Bloom, "Political Philosophy and Poetry: A Restatement"
Sep 29: The Tragedy of Othello
Recommended Secondary Works:
H. Bloom, "Othello" (in The Invention of the Human)
Jensen, "'This is Venice': Politics in Shakespeare's Othello" (in Shakespeare's Political Pageant)
Oct 5: Judaism and Christianity in Venice
Oct 6:
Shylock's Tragedy and Portia's Triumph
Secondary Works (read at least one):
A. Bloom, "On Christian and Jew: The Merchant of Venice" (in Shakespeare's Politics)
H. Bloom, "Merchant of Venice" (in The Invention of the Human)
Lowenthal, "The Merchant of Venice" (in Shakespeare and the Good Life)
Zuckert, "The New Medea: On Portia's Comic Triumph in The Merchant of Venice (in Shakespeare's Political Pageant)
Oct 12: Coriolanus: exemplar of Roman virtue
Coriolanus
Recommended Secondary Works:
Plutarch, Coriolanus
Machiavelli, Discourses
on Livy
Oct 13: Shakespeare's view of the Roman Republic in its prime
Secondary Works (read at least one):
Adelman, "'Anger's my meat': Feeding, Dependency, and Aggression in Coriolanus"
Alvis, "Coriolanus and Shakespeare's Magnanimous Man Reconsidered"
H. Bloom, "Coriolanus" (in The Invention of the Human)
Cantor, Shakespeare's Rome, Introduction, Preface, chapters 1-3.
Leggatt, "Coriolanus"(in Shakespeare's Political Drama)
Oct 19, 20: No
class sessions -- Fall Break
Oct 26: Julius Caesar and the decadence of the Republic
Julius Caesar
Recommended Secondary Works:
Plutarch, Caesar, Marcus Brutus, Crassus
Oct 27: Brutus: the last of the republican Romans
Secondary Works (read at least one):
Blits, The End of the Ancient Republic: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Burckhardt, "How not to Murder Caesar" (in Shakespearean Meanings)
A. Bloom, "The Morality of the Pagan Hero: Julius Caesar" (in Shakespeare's Politics)
H. Bloom, "Julius Caesar" (in The Invention of the Human)
Leggatt, "Julius Caesar"(in Shakespeare's Political Drama)
Lowenthal, "Julius Caesar" (in Shakespeare and the Good Life)
Nov 2: The spirit of Caesar and the death of the republic
Nov 3: Eros and the Tragedy of Mark Antony
Antony and Cleopatra
Recommended Secondary Work:
Plutarch, Mark Antony
Nov 9: The Triumph of Octavian, the 'universal landlord'
Secondary Works
(read at least one):
A. Bloom, "Antony and Cleopatra" (in Love and Friendship)
H. Bloom, "Antony and Cleopatra" (in The Invention of the Human)
Cantor, Shakespeare's Rome, chapters 4-6
Leggatt, "Antony and Cleopatra" (in Shakespeare's Political Drama")
Nov 10: Shakespeare on Republic and Empire
Nov 16: 'This earth, this realm, this England'
Recommended Secondary
Works:
A. Bloom, "Richard II" (in Shakespeare as Political Thinker)
H. Bloom, "Richard II" (in The Invention of the Human)
Jensen, "Beggars and Kings: Cowardice and Courage in Shakespeare's Richard II"
Leggatt, "Richard II" (in Shakespeare's Political Drama")
Nov 17: The restoration of legitimacy?
Recommended Secondary
Works:
1 Henry IV
2 Henry IV
Nov 23: Henry's Christian Virtues
Secondary Works
(read at least one):
Burckhardt, "'Swoll'n with some other Grief': Shakespeare's Prince Hal Trilogy"(in Shakespearean Meanings)
A. Bloom, "Interlude on Hal and Falstaff"(in Love and Friendship)
H. Bloom, "Henry IV" and "Henry V" (in The Invention of the Human)
Nov 24: Henry's Machiavellian virtu
Nov 30: Henry V: Machiavellian or Christian King?
Rabkin, "Rabbits, Ducks, and Henry V"
Dec 1: Conclusion:
A comprehensive final examination will be held at the scheduled time
Selected Bibliography
Adelman, "'Anger's my meat': Feeding, Dependency, and Aggression in Coriolanus"
John Alvis. "Coriolanus and Aristotle's Magnanimous Man Reconsidered," Interpretation 7 (Sept., 1978): 4-28.
John E. Alvis and Tomas G. West, Shakespeare as Political Thinker. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2000.
Joseph Alulis and Vickie Sullivan, Shakespeare's Political Pageant. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996.
W.H. Auden, Lectures on Shakespeare. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2000.
Nasser Behnegar. "The Political and Theological Psychology of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure." Interpretation 29 (Winter, 2001-2): 153-169.
Jan H. Blits, The End of the Ancient Republic: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1993.
_____.
"Manliness and Friendship in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar," Interpretation 9 (Sept., 1981): 155-168.
Allan Bloom, "Political Philosophy and Poetry." APSR 54 (June, 1960): 457-464.
_____. "Political Philosophy and Poetry: A Restatement." APSR 54 (June 1960): 471-473.
_____. Love and Friendship.
Allan Bloom and Harry V. Jaffa, Shakespeare's Politics. New York: Basic Books, 1964.
Harold Bloom. Shakespeare and the Invention of the Human.
Sigurd Burckhardt. "English Bards and APSR Reviewers." APSR 54 (Mar., 1960): 158-166.
_____. "Political Philosophy and Poetry: On Reading Ordinary Prose: A Reply to Allan Bloom." APSR 54 (June, 1960): 465-470.
_____. Shakespearean Meanings. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1968.
Paul Cantor, Shakespeare's Rome: Republic and Empire. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1976.
Stanley Cavell. Disowning Knowledge in Six Plays of Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1987.
Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield, eds. Political Shakespeare: New Essays in Cultural Materialism. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1985.
Pamela K. Jensen. "Beggars and Kings: Cowardice and Courage in Shakespeare's Richard II." Interpretation 18 (Fall 1990): 111-1
Constance Jordan. Shakespeare's Monarchies: Ruler and Subject in the Romances. Ithaca. Cornell UP, 1997.
Alexander
Leggatt, Shakespeare's Political Drama: The History Plays and the Roman
Plays. New
York: Routledge, 1988.
Mary Anne McGrail. Tyranny in Shakespeare. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2001.
Michael Platt, Rome and Romans According to Shakespeare, revised edition. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1983.
Rabkin, "Rabbits, Ducks, and Henry V"
Peter Saccio, Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.