Shakespeare's Heroes and Villains
"Since I cannot prove a lover… I am determined to prove a villain" (Richard III).
Our first reactions to plays have to do with the characters in them. We may be moved by compassion for the hero's suffering, by hatred for a villain's cruelty, or delighted by the successful coupling of a romantic hero and heroine, but as audiences and readers we are never indifferent to the characters. The relationship between Shakespeare's heroes and villains is full of tension and passion whether in tragedy, history, or comedy. This course moves across the genres using class discussion to study the plays in depth within the context of Renaissance culture.
The depiction of heroes and villains has a long literary history and the course begins by defining the terms "hero" and "villain" with reference to Classical drama and Judeo-Christian models. We also look at contemporary accounts of acts of heroism (e.g. the execution of Lady Jane Grey and Protestant martyrs) and villainy (e.g. The Gunpowder Plot and murder pamphlets). Building on this knowledge, we consider whether depictions of heroism and villainy shift according to the historical context by comparing Shakespeare's characters to the ideals of his own culture as well as to our own modern ideas. This exploration of the role of history includes a comparison of different film adaptations of some of the plays and discussion of topics such as whether Shylock in The Merchant of Venice is a hero or a villain, and how Shakespeare sets about creating historical heroes and villains (Henry V and Richard III) in contradiction to historical evidence.
The genre of a play (tragedy, history, or comedy) determines how the protagonists are depicted, but Shakespeare was never content to use stereotypes unquestioningly. As we assess Shakespeare's disruption and development of tragic, romantic, and historical heroes and their villainous counterparts, we discuss questions such as whether Richard III is the hero of his play; exactly how heroic Achilles is; whether Shakespeare despises "romantic" heroes; and why he dislikes Puritans so much.
Shakespeare's development of heroes and villains includes, of course, the roles he wrote for women, which are among the most memorable, complex, and controversial he created. His representation of heroic and villainous women prompts questions such as why Lady Macbeth is vilified when her excessively murderous husband is "pitied"; whether Cleopatra claims equal tragic status with Antony; if Isabella (Measure for Measure) is heroic when she chooses to preserve her chastity rather than save her brother's life; and whether the romantic couplings at the end of the comedies are as blissful as they first appear.
This course can provide an introduction to Shakespeare's drama as well as the opportunity to study his central tragic, comic, and historical characters in depth. It will include trips to performances at The Globe Theatre in London and by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford.
Course requirements
Students are required to write one paper of 1,500 to 2,000 words and deliver one oral presentation.
Tutor biography
Lynn Robson, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of Oxford
Field trips
The Globe Theatre, London, Stratford-upon-Avon
Reading list
Please try and ensure that you read Shakespeare's plays in annotated editions as they provide useful background information, often give a performance history, and have invaluable notes. Suggested editions: Arden Shakespeare, Oxford Shakespeare, or Cambridge Shakespeare. You will need to bring the books on the required reading list with you to Oxford. The supplementary reading list suggests other plays that are immediately relevant to the course and film versions that it would be useful for you to have seen. The further reading list contains background works and criticism. All books on the reading list are in print and most of them are in paperback.
Required reading
Macbeth
Antony and Cleopatra
Richard III
Henry V
The Merchant of Venice
Measure for Measure
Troilus and Cressida
Supplementary reading
Any of Shakespeare's plays are relevant to this course. Whether you're new to Shakespeare or more experienced the following would be particularly useful and if you don't have time to read them then there are film versions of each of them as indicated:
Titus Andronicus, dir. Julie Taymor (starring Antony Hopkins) BBC Shakespeare
Hamlet, dir. Olivier (and starring him); dir. Zeffirelli (starring Mel Gibson); BBC Shakespeare (starring Derek Jacobi)
Twelfth Night
dir. Trevor Nunn (starring Helena Bonham-Carter)
Much Ado About Nothing
(dir. Kenneth Branagh)
Other relevant texts
Sophocles
Oedipus the King
Antigone
Homer
The Iliad
Films
It's always useful to see plays as well as read them. The BBC Shakespeare (available on DVD) offers some excellent versions of the plays. Film adaptations used in class are:
Henry V, dir. Laurence Olivier
Henry V, dir. Kenneth Branagh
Richard III, dir. Laurence Olivier
Richard III, dir. Richard Loncraine (starring Ian McKellen)
The Merchant of Venice, dir. Michael Radford (starring Al Pacino);
dir. Trevor Nunn (starring Henry Goodman)
Macbeth, dir. Trevor Nunn (starring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench);
dir. Gregory Doran (starring Antony Sher); dir. Orson Welles
Measure for Measure, (BBC Shakespeare)
Further reading on film
Briggs, Julia. This Stage-Play World: Texts and Contexts 1580–1625. Oxford University Press, 1997.
Jackson, Russell. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Kastan, David Scott. A Companion to Shakespeare. Blackwell, 1999.
Shapiro, James. 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. Faber & Faber, 2005.
Credit and Enrollment Information
X426 (3 semester units in English)
(EDP 284182)