Undergraduate

Shakespeare: text and performance

On this page

• Summary
• Course content
• Entry
• Qualifications
• If you have a disability or additional requirement
• Course materials
• Teaching and assessment
• Students also studied
• Future availability
• How to register

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

Summary

This intensive study of nine Shakespeare plays 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 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 content

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 andThe 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 Approaching literature (A210) 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 Block 4 of A210, Shakespeare, Aphra Behn and the canon

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.

Qualifications

AA306 is an optional course in our

• BA (Honours) Literature (B02)
• BA (Honours) Humanities (B03)
• BA (Honours) Humanities (B03) (with Literature)
• Diploma in Literature (D65)
• Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing (E25)
• BA (Honours) English Language and Literature (B39)

It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it is suitable for a BA. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.

Excluded combinations

Sometimes you will not be able to count a course towards a qualification if you have already taken another course with similar content.  To check any excluded combinations relating to this course, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.

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 course materials are available on audio in DAISY Digital Talking Book format or in comb-bound format. The course 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. If you have concerns about taking this course or the support that you would have, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service or the Disability Resources Team for advice. 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 ican download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

You can also find information about accessible course 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.

Course materials

What's included

Course books, other printed materials, DVDs, audio CDs, course 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 2002 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 course 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 can choose whether to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) on paper or online through the eTMA system. You may want to use the eTMA system for some of your assignments but submit on paper for others. This is entirely your choice.

The last TMA is of double length. The examination can only be submitted on paper. Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all. But if you unavoidably miss or do badly in an assignment, some courses allow you a ‘substitution score’. In AA306 this rule can apply to one of the first five assignments only. You will be given more detailed information when you begin the course.

Students also studied

Students who studied this course also studied at some time:

• Approaching literature (A210)
• The nineteenth-century novel (AA316)
• Creative writing (A215)
• 20th century literature: texts and debates (A300)

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2010. We expect it to be available at the same time once a year.

How to register

To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.

About this page

An undergraduate course in Arts and Humanities.

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