This course examines Shakespeare's history plays and those of his contemporaries - including Fletcher, Ford, Marlowe, and Munday. The plays will be studied alongside recent critical and theoretical readings of the genre.

1 x 2hr seminar per week over ten weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in English Literature and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

ENGLIT4019 Playing with History: Shakespeare and his Contemporaries

Essay (2000 words): 35%

Essay (3000 words): 50%

Seminar presentation of 7 minutes: 15%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ study a range of plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries  

■ consider these texts in the light of dramatic approaches to history 

■ understand the relationship between early modern drama and history

■ develop independent research skills through formulating and researching essay topics with appropriate guidance

■ develop skills in the art of critical writing at the appropriate level.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ write an assessment of available critical and theoretical approaches to the early modern history play, and identify the approaches that they find most convincing 

■ critically assess the language and themes of the literature of the early modern history play 

■ develop an autonomous research interest in the field of the early modern history play 

■ communicate responses to the material studied on the course both orally and in written form through coherent and sustained argument.

■ demonstrate resilience and time management through effectively planning, undertaking and submitting coursework.

■ deal with change and new challenges by applying their disciplinary skills and knowledge to previously unfamiliar research areas and questions.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.