The course is designed to offer a deep understanding of major authors, periods and
genres in English literary culture in their historical contexts. Main issues in literary
theory are considered and analytical and interpretive strategies are introduced to
enhance critical reading and evaluation.
W. Shakespeare, Sonnets, testo inglese a fronte, a cura di A. Serpieri, Milano,
Rizzoli, 1992.
W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. Philip Edwards, New Cambridge Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1985.
W. Shakespeare, Richard II, ed. Andrew Gurr, New Cambridge Shakespeare (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Learning Objectives
Module A (prof. Pallotti and prof. Clare)
The course (36 hours) will focus on the study of William Shakespeare’s works, both poetry and drama.
Aims of the course:
a. to expand students’ knowledge of early modern poetry and drama;
b. to give students an in-depth knowledge of the cultural milieu as well as of the
critical instruments required for the analysis of complex poetic and dramatic texts;
c. to enable students to consolidate a critical consciousness and an awareness of
critical and culture theory through detailed analyses of the texts.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for the admission to the course are those established by the Corso di Laurea in Lingue e Letterature Europee e Americane
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminars.
Further information
The course consists of two modules: module A (6 cfu) will be taught by Prof. Pallotti in collaboration with Prof. Janet Clare (University of Hull); module B will be taught by Prof. Fantaccini. Further information will be given at the beginning of the course.
Type of Assessment
Oral exam.
Course program
Module A (prof. Pallotti and prof. Clare)
The course will focus on the study of William Shakespeare’s poetry and drama. Through a close and critical reading of a wide range of texts, the course aims to make students obtain a sophisticated appreciation of
Shakespeare's poetic and dramatic work, seen in relation to the vibrant historical
and cultural context of early modern England.
READING LIST
A) Key Texts: (including prefaces, introductions, afterwords, and notes)
*F. Petrarca, dal Canzoniere: sonetto 190
*T. Wyatt, “Whoso list to hunt”;
W. Shakespeare, Sonnets: 1; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 26; 29; 33; 55; 60; 65; 68; 116; 127; 129; 130
W. Shakespeare, Hamlet
W. Shakespeare, Richard II
Editions:
W. Shakespeare, Sonetti, testo inglese a fronte, a cura di A. Serpieri, Milano, Rizzoli, 1992
W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. Philip Edwards, New Cambridge Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1985.
W. Shakespeare, Richard II, ed. Andrew Gurr, New Cambridge Shakespeare, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003
B) Background readings:
*C. BURROW, “The Sixteenth Century”, in in A.F. Kinney (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1500-1600, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 11-28.
*C. BURROW, “Introduction”, in W. Shakespeare, The Complete Sonnets and Poems, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 1-158.
*A.F. MAROTTI and M. FREIMAN, “The English Sonnet in Manuscript, Print and Mass Media”, in A.D. Cousins, ed, The Cambridge Companion to the Sonnet, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 66-83.
*S. WELLS, “ ‘My Name is Will’: Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Autobiography”, Shakespeare Survey, 68: Shakespeare, Origins and Originality, edited by P. Holland, 2015, pp. 99-108.
Further readings:
On Hamlet's editions:
W. SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, ed. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, Arden Shakespeare, Third Series (London: Arden Shakespeare, 2006)
W. SHAKESPEARE, ‘Hamlet’: The Texts of 1603 and 1623, ed. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, Arden Shakespeare, Third Series (London: Arden 2006)
On Authorship in Shakespeare and early modern England:
Journal of Early Modern Studies, 1, 2012: On Authorship, ed. Donatella Pallotti and Paola Pugliatti (http://www.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-jems/issue/view/816)
Journal of Early Modern Studies, 5, 2016: The Many Lives of William Shakespeare. Biography, Authorship and Collaboration, ed. William Leahy and Paola Pugliatti (http://www.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-jems/issue/current/showToc)
On the history of the sonnet:
M. SPILLER, The Development of the Sonnet. An Introduction, London and New York, Routledge, 1992
On English Renaissance Theatre:
A.R. Braunmüller and M. Hattaway (eds), The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Drama, Cambridge, Cambridge, University Press, 1990.