ENGL257

Humanities (HU), Global Perspectives (GP)

Always part of popular culture, Shakespeare’s plays continue to appeal to contemporary audiences. Across a variety of adaptations and creative reproductions, from graphic novels to traditional performances, Shakespeare still holds remarkable cultural capital. Why such a persistent interest in these four-hundred-year-old texts, and what can they possibly mean for our own time? By exploring both Shakespeare’s own plays within the commercial theater of early modern London and the popular imaginings of these plays in the 20th and 21st centuries, this course invites students to examine topics including adaptation, Bardolatry, theories of mass culture, among others. Experience with Shakespeare is helpful but not required.