Hamlet

Everybody knows Hamlet - but you will be surprised how much there is to discover in what is arguably (at least with respect to dramatic structure) one of the worst plays of the period.
We will read the play switching techniques from close reading to distant reading, we will consider early modern and current stage conventions, we will discuss the cultural status of the play and address the presentation of explicit misogyny in the play.
One way of approaching the play and its iconic protagonist is to look at Hamlet as a young man overwhelmed by a changing world. Considering the early modern period as a period of expansive knowledge is helpful here:

During the early modern period [...] Europe experienced a kind of “information overload.” I emphasize the word “experience” as this is an essential element to the arguments presented here. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that during this period, the production, circulation, and dissemination of scientific and scholarly texts accelerated tremendously [...] But the fact of accelerated textual production and consumption is not what is principally at issue here. What is essential is the sense that such a phenomenon was taking place and the variety of responses to it.
Daniel Rosenberg. “Early Modern Information Overload.” (2003), 2.

When attending this course you must purchase a hard copy (paperback) of the following text:
William Shakespeare. Hamlet. London: Bloomsbury, 2016. [Third Arden Edition]

ISBN: 978 – 1- 4725-1838-5