Shakespeare's Troublesome Endings

Aims of the course

This course aims to:
1. Explore why so many Shakespearean plays end unconventionally;
2. Investigate the causes, meanings, and effects of such endings;
3. Situate the plays as much as possible in the contexts of their original productions.

Content

Shakespeare could be a terrible tease. The theatre-world in which he lived and worked was competitive, and many auditor repeat attenders, so engaging them as fully as possible was necessary, and one of his most dangerous but successful tactics was not delivering what was expected; or sometimes, not quite what was expected. Sometimes that refusal to conform to modal expectation was overt, as with the abrupt postponement of romance in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Isabella’s silence about the Duke’s intimations of a proposal in Measure, for Measure, and the stubborn failure of Troilus and Cressida to die, as they tragically ought. Sometimes it is an upending of known stories, as with King Lear and The Winter’s Tale, where Shakespeare radically reshapes the received course of events. And sometimes it is odder, as with the disappearing frame of The Taming of the Shrew, Malvolio’s angry last exit in Twelfth Night, the deep dubiety of All’s Well, that Ends Well, the seemingly unfinished Timon of Athens, and the strangely perfunctory cessation of The Tempest.

There is no single explanation, but many that cohere. In some cases vagaries of transmission may be in play, and in others issues of theatrical production or topicality, but there is also running through all Shakespeare’s restless and brilliant engineering of theatrical modes and metatheatrical awareness. To make an audience laugh is good, and to make one cry even better; but Shakespeare was best pleased when audiences don’t know whether to laugh, or cry, or scream— and what he did and didn’t do, to and with endings, plays a large part in that extraordinary quest.

This course looks at ten plays that in one or another way end with dissatisfactions as well as satisfactions, and takes them in closely chronological order or composition, to chart the course of Shakespeare’s troublesome endings.

Presentation of the course

Each session will begin with a presentation of 30-40 mins, including where appropriate PowerPoint images, before opening to questions and answers and wider discussion. Questions may be asked at any time, and consideration of performance/s and theatrical opportunities and constraints will matter as much as text/s.

Class sessions

1. The Taming of the Shrew – which has in the Folio only half of a frame-play featuring Christopher Sly. Where did the other half go?

2. Love’s Labour’s Lost – which once had a pair-play, Love’s Labour’s Won, but comes down to us as a freestanding postponement of comedic ending.

3. Twelfth Night – where if Orsino is to be believed, no more marriages will be happening until Malvolio is ‘entreated to a peace’. Really?

4. Troilus and Cressida – who in Shakespeare’s savage condemnation of warfare persistently choose not to die, an indecorum that appalled John Dryden.

5. Measure, for Measure – where one marriage occurs before the play begins, and of the final three, two are shotgun and one by no means certain, while a confessed murderer goes scot-free.

6. All’s Well, that Ends Well – which, notoriously, does not obviously end well at all, amid a welter of reluctant conditionals and a very unexpected reformation.

7. King Lear – by the end of which, done well, almost everyone is dead and actors as much as audiences in great need of a stiff drink.

8. Timon of Athens – which is probably collaborative, apparently incomplete, and dramaturgically extraordinary, as close to Beckett as anything contemporary.

9. The Winter’s Tale – in the source for which there isn’t a bear or a statue that comes to life. Say what?

10. The Tempest – in which it seems everybody thinks everybody else is dead while actually no-one is, very little happens, and they all lived happily ever after … save that one cannot be sure of almost anything

Learning outcomes

1. To learn to consider what makes for a/n un/satisfactory ending, and the power of dissatisfaction;
2. To appreciate the theatrical contexts and imperatives Shakespeare faced;
3. To understand Shakespeare’s persistent modal engineering and the importance to it of nuanced or uncertain endings.

Required reading

The only required reading is the ten set plays, and students will find it helpful to have copies available. Given the weight of complete Shakespeare plays, e-texts are fine, though small screens make the use of annotated editions very awkward, so tablet-size is much preferable; as is any text already owned. Recommended editions can be found on the VLE.

Typical week: Monday to Friday

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students. 

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to the learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events.

Evaluation and Academic Credit 

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses. 

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay.

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit.

Certificate of attendance

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.