CMPL 304 - Shakespeare and Metamorphosis

FC ARHU WINT

4 credits
This course will examine several Shakespeare plays in conversation with classical myths and their major themes of transformation, sexuality, suffering, artistic creation, coming of age, wisdom, love, and loss. Shakespearean works include Venus and Adonis, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titus Andronicus, Cymbeline, and The Winter’s Tale, paired with myths by Apuleius, Plato, and Ovid; retellings by Rilke, Auden, Zimmerman, and Bidart; and works of visual art. We will also explore theoretical approaches to myth-making, and myths’ relationship to other “fictional” literary forms.

This course is cross-listed with ENGL-304