Undergraduate

Shakespeare: text and performance

On this page

• What you will study
• Entry
• If you have a disability or additional requirement
• Study materials
• Teaching and assessment
• Students also studied
• Future availability

This intensive study of ten Shakespeare plays and the Sonnets takes close account of the social and political circumstances in which they were written and performed. This broad historicist approach is complemented by a strong emphasis on the diversity of twentieth-century critical responses to the plays and on modern productions of them, both on stage and on screen. The course will develop your knowledge of the range and variety of Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic work; examine how its reception and status has been shaped by cultural and institutional factors; and explore themes such as questions of genre, politics, sexuality and gender.

Course facts

Register for the course

This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.

What you will study

The course enables you to develop a critical understanding of performance issues, appropriate to Level 3. It is in two parts: the Part 1 course book, Shakespeare: Texts and Contexts, is designed to be read in conjunction with nine plays that together demonstrate the range and variety of Shakespeare’s dramatic work. The course moves broadly from the Elizabethan to the Jacobean phases of Shakespeare’s career: you will study A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard II, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, King Lear and The Tempest. You will study detailed readings of the individual plays, exploring questions of genre and also considering how particular performances of the plays have influenced critical opinion and interpretation. The first twenty weeks of study are designed to promote a confident grasp of Shakespeare’s language, and to develop skills in reading and interpretation.

The Part 2 course book, Shakespeare 1609: Cymbeline and the Sonnets, broadens the critical perspectives of the course by introducing two texts, Cymbeline and the Sonnets, which are often neglected in the study of Shakespeare’s work. We consider how the status and reception of the two texts have been shaped by cultural and institutional factors. You will also develop your understanding of some of the key issues introduced in Part 1: Shakespeare’s use of different genres and histories, and his representation of political conflict, sexuality and gender. A collection of primary and secondary readings included in A Shakespeare Reader: Sources and Criticism accompanies the course, helping you to develop an understanding of the competing critical and theoretical interpretations of the Shakespeare texts. In Part 2, you will orientate your own views on Shakespeare in relation to the critical tradition, and develop further skills of close reading, historical contextualisation and comparative analysis.

Accompanying the printed teaching material is a collection of performance-related DVDs and audio CDs. As well as full-length recordings of selected plays, there are many illuminating interviews with notable practitioners, including Sir John Gielgud, Fiona Shaw and Jonathan Miller. All this material is concerned with showing how an informed understanding of performance issues can deepen and enhance your response to the plays.

Entry

This is a Level 3 course. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at Levels 1 and 2. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject, preferably at the OU. 

Our course Reading and studying literature (A230) is highly recommended as preparation. It is a wide-ranging introduction to literary texts and how they are studied, essential if you have little or no experience of literary criticism. AA306 builds on Part 1 (Chapters 1 and 2) of A230.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

Preparatory work

It is essential to read as many of the plays as you can before the course begins. You should also take opportunities to listen to audio recordings and to watch productions of Shakespeare’s plays, either on screen or in the theatre.

If you have a disability or additional requirement

This course includes considerable study of a lot of print and audio and visual material. If required alternative assignment questions can be provided when extensive audio-visual analysis is required. The printed study materials are available on audio in DAISY Digital Talking Book format or in comb-bound format. The study materials are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Some PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and scientific, mathematical, foreign language, musical or graphic materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Written transcripts are available of the audio-visual material. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting Your Needs.

You can also find information about accessible study materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.

Study materials

What's included

Course books, other printed materials, DVDs, audio CDs, website.

You will need

Television, DVD player, audio CD player. If you are using video versions of ‘King Lear’ and/or Polanski’s ‘Macbeth’ then you will also need a video player.

Computing requirements

This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.

You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2005 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. We may also be able to offer group tutorials or day schools that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course. 

Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.

You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper. The examination can only be submitted on paper.

The last TMA is of double length. 

Students also studied

Students who studied this course also studied at some time:

• The nineteenth-century novel (AA316)
• Creative writing (A215)
• The arts past and present (AA100)
• Children's literature (EA300)
• 20th century literature: texts and debates (A300)

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2012. We expect it to be available once a year.

Fees 2012

See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.

Study explained

Financial support

- find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.

Study explained

- all you need to know about distance learning with the OU.

Student Reviews

This is an excellent course. It is both stimulating and demanding in equal measure. My understanding of Shakespeare's work, and ...
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If you're reading this you probably already know that you have to do this course. It is an absolute revelation, ...
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