Lingue, Culture, Letterature, Traduzione

The three primary texts you will be studying on this module in 2023-2024 are: Titus Andronicus (recommended edition: Jonathan Bate, ed., Titus Andronicus, the Arden Shakespeare either as originally published in 1995 or in the revised edition published in 2018) Twelfth Night (recommended edition: Keir Elam, ed., Twelfth Night, the Arden Shakespeare (2008) The Tempest (recommended edition: David Lindley, ed., The Tempest, the New Cambridge Shakespeare (2013), or Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan, eds, The Tempest (2011) You can alternatively read and study the primary texts online. The Cambridge Shakespeare (on the Cambridge Core Platform) is now available to Sapienza students: https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/collections/cambridge-shakespeare The other set text for this module is: Rocco Coronato, Letteratura Inglese: Da Beowulf a Brexit (Le Monnier, 2022), chapter 2. Fioriture e affioramenti. Le rinascenze in inglese medio (1066-1485); and chapter 3. Mappe. Riforme e rinascenze nella prima modernità (1485-1625) Weekly Schedule: Titus Andronicus 1: LECTURE (1x2hrs) Intro to the play; context: overview of critical / creative reception Titus Andronicus 2: CLOSE ANALYSIS (2x2hrs) Marcus’s speech; context and critical approach (Source and Gender Studies); critical extracts by Jonathan Bate and Pascale Aebischer (available on google classroom) Titus Andronicus 3: CLOSE ANALYSIS (2x2hrs) Aaron on Black; context and critical approach: early modern critical race studies; critical extracts by Ian Smith and Ayanna Thompson (available on google classroom) Titus Andronicus 4: CLOSE ANALYSIS (2x2hrs) The Pit and Upper Stage; context: early modern theatre history; critical extracts by Tiffany Stern and Dustagheer & Woods (available on google classroom) Twelfth Night 1: LECTURE Intro to the play; context: overview of critical / creative reception Twelfth Night 2: CLOSE ANALYSIS Viola/Cesario and Olivia in 1.5; context: Petrarchan Poetry (Blazon) and critical approach: early modern sexualities, homoeroticism; critical extract by Bruce Smith Twelfth Night 3: CLOSE ANALYSIS Viola/Cesario and Sebastian in 5.1; context and critical approach: early modern sexuality, homonormativity; critical extract by Laurie Shannon Twelfth Night 4: CLOSE ANALYSIS Malvolio in acts 3 and 4; words, signs, slippery signifiers and witty fool; critical extracts by Keir Elam, Catherine Belsey and Lorna Hutson (available on google classroom) The Tempest 1: LECTURE Intro to the play; context: overview of critical / creative reception The Tempest 2: CLOSE ANALYSIS the island in 1.2 and 3.2; context: voyages of exploration; critical extracts by Hulme and Sherman (available on google classroom) The Tempest 3 CLOSE ANALYSIS “this island’s mine”; critical approach: Caliban and colonial readings; critical extract by Paul Brown and Jyotsna Singh (available on google classroom) The Tempest 4 CLOSE ANALYSIS magic, conjuring and masques; context: James’s court and Jacobean masques; critical extracts by McManus and Knowles (available on google classroom)

No module-specific pre-requisites.

The five primary texts you will be studying on this module in 2025-2026 are: Titus Andronicus Richard III Twelfth Night Hamlet The Tempest You can read and study these primary texts online. The Cambridge Shakespeare (on the Cambridge Core Platform) is now available to Sapienza students: https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/collections/cambridge-shakespeare

In presenza

One written exam, consisting of: Multiple-Choice Questions about the history of English Drama from its origins to 1642 and the three main plays studied on this module.

This module consists of FIVE blocks of TWO weeks, each devoted to one primary play text by Shakespeare, plus ONE two-hour revision session in week 11. Each two-week block will begin with ONE two-hour introductory lecture, followed by THREE two-hour workshop. Workshops will be devoted to exploring different aspects of and approaches to the Shakespearean text, including: - the historical context within which these texts were first written and performed; - the material conditions of performance on the early modern stage; - significant intertexts (e.g. sources, analogues, adaptations, etc.) - a range of critical approaches drawn early modern critical race, gender studies, etc. - Shakespeare in contemporary performance. TOTAL DURATION OF “ENGLISH LITERATURE I”: 42 hours