Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies Course No. 280 (36 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture) Taught by Peter Saccio Dartmouth College Ph.D., Princeton University "Professor Saccio goes well beyond merely introducing the plays of Shakespeare in 36 lectures. "First, he locates them in the context of their time and world, suggesting not only what their author might be doing in them but also why. Second, he gives us a solid grasp of each of the major plays in the three genres with a careful look at the critical issues surrounding each. Finally, he shares with us his intimate feel for the characters, their motivations, and the deep-seated passions which drive the play. "Sparkling with excitement, writer and award-winning teacher Peter Saccio converts his vast scholarship to breathing life. Though passion and love of the study never replace careful planning and organization, they permeate each lecture from start to finish, offering the listener an exciting challenge." —AudioFile® magazine "I have taught and loved Shakespeare for over 30 years and was captivated and stunned by Peter Saccio's eloquence and knowledge of the material." —Rayna Goldfarb, Philadelphia, PA Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies introduces the plays of Shakespeare and explains the achievement that makes Shakespeare the leading playwright in Western civilization. The key to that achievement is his "abundance," says Professor Saccio—not only in the number and length of his plays, but also in the variety of experiences they depict, the multitude of actions and characters they contain, the combination of public and private life they deal with, the richness of feelings they express and can provoke in an audience and in readers, and the fullness of language and suggestion. Introduction: Lectures 1 and 2 The first two lectures consider how Shakespeare's plays have been valued by four centuries of readers, and how they have been interpreted and reinterpreted by the generations who have read and seen them. The lectures also consider the kind of theater for which he wrote, the characteristic structures of his plays, and the way the plays easily mingle events from different realms: different social levels, different levels of realism, and different metaphysical contexts. The course then considers the plays in terms of genre. Four Comedies: Lectures 3–10 Twelfth Night offers an example of Shakespearean comic structure and subject: courtship. Renaissance courtship practices are discussed, with their implications about the place of romantic love in our lives. Shakespeare also includes in his survey of lovers Malvolio the ambitious steward, for whom courtship is a means of social advancement. The Taming of the Shrew provides a somewhat realistic look at bourgeois marriage customs and the place of a strong woman in a patriarchal society. It shows Shakespeare experimenting with an unusually sharp collision of romance and farce. The Merchant of Venice employs a particularly lofty form of romantic idealism in the courtship plot, but it confronts that idealism with the problematic, possibly tragic character of Shylock, who has forced generations of actors into reinterpreting Shakespeare. Measure for Measure shows Shakespeare on the verge of breaking out of comic conventions altogether. The characters marry at the end, as is customary, but the route to their unions is a gritty path entailing near-rape and near-execution via the courtrooms and the sexual underground of a corrupt modern society. Five Histories: Lectures 11–18 Richard III is followed through the arc of his villainous and entertaining career. Richard II raises constitutional problems that vex us still: What can be done with a ruler who is undoubtedly entitled to rule and is also damaging the realm? The two plays named after Henry IV show Shakespeare's widest scope in depicting the realm of England from throne room to tavern to countryside, and they introduce Shakespeare's most remarkable comic creation, Falstaff. In Henry V, Shakespeare kills Falstaff in a scene of extraordinary artistic skill and emotional effect, and then takes the king to a military victory that still arouses all our conflicted convictions about the morality of warfare. Seven Tragedies: Lectures 19–36 The lectures show Shakespeare taking Romeo and Juliet, who should be the leading pair of lovers in a comedy, and plunging their private bliss into the public violence of a city torn by feud. Why ancient Rome was important to Shakespeare (and to the Renaissance as a whole) is explored in two lectures on Julius Caesar. Two lectures on Troilus and Cressida show Shakespeare rewriting Homer into a bitter satire on vainglorious men and unfaithful women. Finally, three lectures apiece are devoted to each of the four greatest tragedies, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. As the richness of each play is explored, emphasis falls on the scope of the tragic effect: Shakespeare's acute development of the inner consciousness in his tragic soliloquies is placed within the far-ranging philosophical and theological implications. Professor Saccio is a trained actor. He has performed the Shakespearean roles of Casca, Angelo, Bassanio, and Henry IV, and has directed productions of Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Cymbeline. Course Lecture Titles 1. Shakespeare Then and Now 2. The Nature of Shakespeare's Plays 3. Twelfth Night—Shakespearean Comedy 4. Twelfth Night—Malvolio in Love 5. The Taming of the Shrew—Getting Married in the 1590s 6. The Taming of the Shrew—Farce and Romance 7. The Merchant of Venice—Courting the Heiress 8. The Merchant of Venice—Shylock 9. Measure for Measure—Sex in Society 10. Measure for Measure—Justice and Comedy 11. Richard III—Shakespearean History 12. Richard III—The Villain's Career 13. Richard II—The Theory of Kingship 14. Richard II—The Fall of the King 15. Henry IV—All the King's Men 16. Henry IV—The Life of Falstaff 17. Henry V—The Death of Falstaff 18. Henry V—The King Victorious 19. Romeo and Juliet—Shakespearean Tragedy 20. Romeo and Juliet—Public Violence and Private Bliss 21. Troilus and Cressida—Ancient Epic in a New Mode 22. Troilus and Cressida—Heroic Aspirations 23. Julius Caesar—The Matter of Rome 24. Julius Caesar—Heroes of History 25. Hamlet—The Abundance of the Play 26. Hamlet—The Causes of Tragedy 27. Hamlet—The Protestant Hero 28. Othello—The Design of the Tragedy 29. Othello—“O Villainy!” 30. Othello—“The Noble Moor” 31. King Lear—“This Is the Worst” 32. King Lear—Wisdom Through Suffering 33. King Lear—"Then We Go On” 34. Macbeth—“Fair Is Foul” 35. Macbeth—Musing on Murder 36. Macbeth—"Enter Two Murderers” Peter Saccio Dartmouth College Ph.D., Princeton University Peter Saccio is Leon D. Black Professor of Shakespearean Studies at Dartmouth College, where he has taught since 1966. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. He has also served as a visiting professor at Wesleyan University and at University College in London. At Dartmouth, Professor Saccio has been honored with the J. Kenneth Huntington Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching. Professor Saccio is the author Shakespeare’s English Kings, which was released in 1977 and has become a classic in its field. He is also the editor of Thomas Middleton’s comedy A Mad World, My Masters, for the Oxford Complete Works of Thomas Middleton. In addition to his writing and public speaking career, Professor Saccio is also an accomplished actor and theatrical director. He has directed productions of Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Cymbeline, and has devised and directed several programs of scenes from Shakespeare and from modern British drama. His acting credits include the Shakespearean roles of Casca, Angelo, Bassanio, and Henry IV, as well as various parts in the ancient and modern plays. Courses by this professor: Modern British Drama Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies Shakespeare: The Word and the Action
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