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The recommended text for this course is any good modern text of the plays with explanatory notes. Copies of The Essential Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington, are on order in the Bookstore.
Note: All line references in the commentary to this course are to the Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare. If you use some other edition you may have to hunt for references to act, scene, and line, because in prose passages the lines are different.
The seven modules give you the equivalent of a semester of classroom lectures. Each concentrates on a single play: the modules outline learning objectives, direct your reading and study, explain key concepts, and provide an illustrated commentary on the plays. Within the modules you will find highlighted questions and exercises to help you prepare for discussion in the tutorials. These are designed to provoke thought and help you gauge your understanding of the text and commentary; they provide you with opportunities to apply information, and alert you to the need for review.
Each module includes readings to assist you in becoming familiar with the critical approach under discussion. In addition there will be a progressive introduction to the history of Shakespeare criticism from his contemporaries to the present day. Much of the discussion in the tutorials will deal with questions raised by the readings.
You should also get a copy of A Writer's Guide, a text published by the Department of English to assist you in preparing your essays and assignments. You will be expected to follow the conventions of usage and punctuation outlined in the Guide. An on-line version of the Guide is available at<http://www.clearcf.uvic.ca/writersguide/welcome.html>.
This page last updated on 1 December 2003.
Send queries to Michael Best, English Department, University of Victoria, Victoria B.C. V8W 3W1, Canada.
mbest1@uvic.ca