LIT 79 — Shakespeare: Exploring Gender and Power in Five Plays
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Abigail Heald
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Class Meeting Time: 6:00—7:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $550
Refund Deadline: Jan 17
Unit(s): 2
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 6:00—7:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $550
Refund Deadline: Jan 17
Instructor(s): Abigail Heald
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
With its strict social codes and courtly manners, Elizabethan England was a society bound by rigid norms. But Shakespeare’s women—intelligent, witty, passionate, and powerful—are richly developed and multidimensional, and they often subvert these expectations. This course explores five plays that place women at the heart of the action: The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra. The course will start with Kate’s rebellious resistance to marriage in The Taming of the Shrew, then move to Twelfth Night, where Viola, disguised as a man, navigates a complex web of love and identity, challenging gender roles and societal expectations. Next, we’ll examine Isabella’s moral struggle against corrupt authority in Measure for Measure. From there, we will delve into Volumnia’s tragic ambition in Coriolanus and Cleopatra’s complex blend of power and vulnerability in Antony and Cleopatra. We will spend two weeks on each play, analyzing the characters, exploring their modern relevance, and delving into Shakespeare’s language. The course will blend lectures, discussions, and close readings, with stage and film adaptations highlighting the lasting impact of these remarkable characters.
Familiarity with Shakespeare's work is not required.
ABIGAIL HEALD
Lecturer in Literature, UC Santa Cruz
Abigail Heald teaches courses on Shakespeare, early English literature, and film. She taught for three years in Stanford’s Introduction to the Humanities Program. Heald received a PhD in English from Princeton and is writing a book on the relationship between art and emotion in Shakespeare’s work.
Textbooks for this course:
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.) , The Taming of the Shrew (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-0743477574)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Twelfth Night (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-0743482776)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Measure for Measure (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-1982157418)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Coriolanus (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-1982157371)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Antony and Cleopatra (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-1982157340)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Twelfth Night (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-0743482776)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Measure for Measure (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-1982157418)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Coriolanus (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-1982157371)
(Required) William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat(ed.), Paul Werstine Ph.D.(ed.), Antony and Cleopatra (Folger Shakespeare Library) (ISBN 978-1982157340)