FRS 001M — Sec. 001
— (1 unit) — CRN 55879 — W 3:10 – 4:00pm — 1279
SSH
Shakespeare’s Politics
Instructor: Larry Peterman, Department of Political Science, College
of Letters and Science
Description: Shakespeare provides a poetic account
of the nature
and requirements of rulers in his various plays. His political philosophy, in
this respect, has long been the subject of scholarly interest. This
course will
attempt a comparison of what by Shakespeare's lights constitutes
good rule and
bad. In this respect, the course is a continuation of a seminar I
led last year
on Shakespeare's account of the transition between feudal and modem England
by way of an exploration of the Lancastrian Tetrology
("Richard II",
"IHenry IV", "IIHenry IV", "Henry V"). I had a
good reception for this course, but the students seemed generally
of the opinion
that it was too much work for one unit. For the sake of comparing
Shakespearean
good and bad rule, therefore, this time around we will consider
only two plays,
"MacBeth" and "The Tempest," which make a nice comparison
between tyrannical rule and about almost superhumanly good rule. In
the comparison,
I hope, we will be able to detect what for Shakespeare is entailed by ruling
excellence and ruling villainy. Students will read and discuss the two plays
- if time permits and there is no resistance, I may add another play or two
- and write a four to five page paper at the conclusion of the
course that will
address whether they detect a Shakespearean intention as regards
the requisites
of rule in the plays. On the final day of the course, students will
orally present
their papers.
Format:
The seminar
will meet for one hour each week. Students and instructor will
discuss the assigned
texts and at the end of the course students will write a four to
five page paper
(1200-1500 words) as described above. On the final day of the
course, students
will present their papers. The form of the presentation, e.g., an
oral summary
or a reading of a paper, will be decided after we determine the size of the
class. Grading: Students will be graded on
the quality
oftheir participation and oral presentations (50%), and their
papers (50%).
About the Instructor: Professor Peterman is a
long-time member
of the faculty of the Political Science Department. His research interest and
teaching area is political philosophy. Many years ago he taught an
undergraduate
course on Shakespeare's politics and three years ago he taught a
graduate seminar
on the same subject. Two summers ago he lectured on Shakespeare's "Henry
V" in the Publius Program of the Claremont Institute. Last
Spring quarter
he taught a one-unit freshman seminar e on Shakespeare's Politics that seems
to have been well received: we did the Lancastrian plays in that
seminar. Currently,
Peterman is teaching an upper division undergraduate course on
Classical Political
Thought and a lower division survey of The History of Political Thought. He
will be in Washington D.C. teaching a course on Shakespeare's Politics at the
DC Washington Center during Winter quarter.