How come Shakespeare is a billion dollar world-wide industry four hundred years after he wrote the plays, while other playwrights of his time and later are utterly unheard
of? Because Shakespeare’s plays still work on the modern stage. Educators regularly spoil them by slogging the through texts. This course aims to undo some of the damage done in classrooms by making a case for their genius. Week by week, we will talk about what we already know, the men (heroic and villainous), the women (good and bad), the plot lines, and then, “what you will”.