English Literature II

Code: LLT10876L

6 ECTS

Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours

Scientific Area: Literature

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Presentation

This course provides a survey of the theatre in England focusing on the analysis of four plays by William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Julius Caesar or The Tempest) where the notions of identity, love, power, free will and destiny are discussed.

Sustainable Development Goals

Educação de qualidade - Assegurar a educação inclusiva, e equitativa e de qualidade, e promover oportunidades de aprendizagem ao longo da vida para todos.

Learning Goals

This course provides a survey of the theatre in England, and focuses on the analysis of four plays by William Shakespeare where cultural and historical issues of the Elizabethan period and the notions of love, power, free will and destiny are discussed.

1. The Origins of the English Drama
1.1. A general perspective of the English theatre:From Medieval to Renaissance Plays
1.2. The Elizabethan Drama: Conventions, themes and ideologies
2. William Shakespeare:
2.1. The Shakespeare authorship problem
2.2. Shakespeare and the canon
2.3. Division of Shakespeare?s plays
2.4. The modernity of Shakespeare?s plays:
3. William Shakespeare and his plays:
3.1. Romeo and Juliet - More than a tragedy of coincidences:
- Cultural issues to a modern reader
- The politics of love
- Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet
3.2. King Lear - Tragedy out of nothing:
- Legitimacy and actual power (Lear's mistake)
- Filial and parental duties
- Kurosawa's Ran
3.3. Hamlet - Character and subjectivity:
- To be or not to be a hero?
- Philosophical principles
3.4. The Tempest - Magic versus reality:
- Prospero´s Utopia for a new world
- The triumph of reason or the failure of the dream (Does the tempest have a satisfactory ending?)

Teaching Methods

Theoretical and practical classes including lectures and using media contents that are uploaded in the beginning of every in the moodle. The students may choose between continuous assessment or exam. The continuous assessment consists of a written test and the production of a work to be developed throughout the term.