FRS 002N —
Sec. 001 —
(2 units) — CRN 65540 — W 6:10 - 8:00 pm — 109 Olson
Shakespeare In-Depth: The Merchant of Venice
Instructor: Andrew Majeske, Department of English, College of Letters
and Science
Description: This course will consist of the
in-depth treatment
of a single Shakespeare play. The class will involve a very close
reading of the
play interwoven with lectures and readings addressing the relevant political,
legal, historical, and cultural contexts in which the play was first
written and
performed. In addition, the performance history of this most
difficult play will
be examined. The various film adaptations will also be discussed. At the end of
the course the students will perform various scenes from the play.
The objective
of this course is to delve into the deeper levels of the play in
order to explore
Shakespeare's treatment of justice—particularly its
relationship to mercy.
Format: The class will meet one night a week for two
hours. The
format will consist largely of group discussion augmented with
informal lectures.
There will also be a student presentation and performance component. The texts
for this course are
The Merchant of Venice (Oxford School Paperback Series) by Roma Gill
(Editor), et al (Paperback - June 2002). Understanding The
Merchant of Venice:
A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents
(The Greenwood
Press "Literature in Context" Series) by Jay L. Halio
(Author). Grading:
Students will be required to research and write a 5-6 page paper on a topic to
be chosen in consultation with the instructor. They will also be required to do
a class presentation. The course grade will be based on the quality
of their written
(1/3) and oral (1/3) presentations and on the frequency and the
quality of their
participation in class discussion (l/3).
About the Instructor: Andrew Majeske is a
Postdoctoral Teaching
and Research Fellow in the Department of English. His research
involves the intersection
of 1aw and literature in the English Renaissance. He came to UC Davis
to perform
his Ph.D. work following an 11-year career as an attorney in Chicago
and Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. He is currently working on the final chapter of the
book he is developing
out of his dissertation. This chapter addresses Shakespeare's
treatment of justice
in The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure, particularly the roles mercy
and equity play in an expansive notion of justice.