Aims of the course:
- To introduce participants to critical study of Shakepeare's King Lear.
- To show participants how this drama has a long history of challenging established ideas about tragedy, the wider aims of literature, and the human condition at large.
- To enable participants to assess the merits of some established critical views of the plays, and to engage critically with modern productions (including film versions).
Course content overview:
King Lear has often been regarded as the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies. But it is also a play which has frequently been seen as, in one sense or another, exceeding the conventional bounds of tragedy, and thereby challenging received definitions of what tragedy is or can be.
Participants on this course will see how the history of the play, both on the stage and in criticism, has been marked by attempts either to adapt the play to prevailing ideas of tragedy, or conversely to find an idea of tragedy adequate to describe what happens in the play as Shakespeare wrote it. They will also see how such a challenge to the idea of tragedy has necessarily involved a wider challenge to fundamental and often cherished ideas, not only about the wider purpose of literature, but likewise about the very nature of good and evil and of humanity's place in the world.
Particular attention will be given, through collaborative close reading, to the ways the play's text itself initiates such a profound challenge to conventional ideas about tragedy, and to our wider moral bearings in the universe, by the way it represents its characters themselves as grappling with such questions in the face of their often incomprehensible experience.
Each week will focus on a particular part of the play, as well as on one of the key themes the play holds up for scrutiny and on a corresponding aspect of the critical tradition. The five themes around which the five teaching weeks will be organised are: Justice, Nature, The Gods, Virtue and Vice, and Nothingness.
This course will refer to the following editions:
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Cambridge University Press, 2005. (paperback or Kindle edition)
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):
Orientation Week: 24 February-2 March 2020
Teaching Weeks: 3 March-6 April 2020
Feedback Week: 7-13 April 2020
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
What our students say - February 2016
"The discussion topics threw light on many interesting angles of the play. It was really enlightening in every way"
"The tutor was very thorough and attentive"
Terms and Conditions and ICE Fee Information and Refund Policy
