SONIA MASSAI

Cari Studenti,
I miei corsi di Letteratura Inglese I (triennale, primo anno) e di Letteratura Inglese II (magistrale, secondo anno) si svolgeranno nel primo  semestre dell'anno accademico 2026-2027.
 
Per contattarmi, potete farlo tramite email istituzionale: sonia.massai@uniroma1.it.
 
Orari di Ricevimento:
Dal 1 Ottobre al 10 Dicembre:
Lunedì, 12.30-13.30
Giovedì, 12.30-13.30
Online, su richiesta via email.
 
Per dettagli su Letteratura Inglese I, usate il codice google classroom cicesvom (qui sotto troverete una breve descrizione del corso).
 
Per dettagli su Letteratura Inglese II, usate il codice google classroom hvkjbsr7 (qui sotto troverete una breve descrizione del corso).
 
&
 
Dear Students,
My English Literature I (triennale, first year) and my English Literature II (magistrale, second year) will take place in Semester I, 2026-27.
 
To contact me, please send an email to my institutional address: sonia.massai@uniroma1.it.
 
Office Hours:
From 1 October to 10 December:
Monday, 12.30-13.30
Thursday, 12.30-13.30
Online: please email me to book a date and time.
 
For more information about English Literature I, please use this google classroom code: cicesvom (see also brief module description pasted below). 
 
For more information about English Literature II, please use this google classroom code: hvkjbsr7 (see also brief module description pasted below).
 
 
 
Letteratura Inglese I / English Literature I 
A World Elsewhere: A Rough Guide to Shakespeare
 
Timetable and Classrooms (semester I 2026-27)
Mondays, 16:00-18:00, classroom RM021 (Marco Polo)
Tuesdays, 14:00-16:00, classroom RM021 (Marco Polo)

Classes will begin on Thursday, 1 October, and will end on Thursday, 10 December

 
 
Exam Dates and Classrooms
Appelli di Settembre 2026:
Monday, 14 September, Marco Polo (classroom tbc); start-time 12:00.
Thursday, 25 September, Marco Polo (classroom tbc); start time 14:00.

 
Sample Exam Script
A sample exam script is posted on google classroom.
 
Brief Module Description

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 guided screening, ONE two-hour introductory lecture, followed by TWO 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

The FIVE primary texts you will be studying on this module are:  

Titus Andronicus
Richard III
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
The Tempest
 
Essential Reading:
Please try to use good modern editions of these six play texts, such as the New Cambridge Shakespeare, the Oxford Shakespeare, or the Arden Shakespeare. PS: The Cambridge Shakespeare is now available to Sapienza students, so you can read these plays online:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/collections/cambridge-shakespeare

If you find reading Shakespeare in English challenging, feel free to read these six play texts first in Italian, but please be aware that we shall study and discuss them in English. You can also find good cinematic adaptations of these six plays online. You might find it easier to watch ‘the film of the play’ first to then move on to reading the text, perhaps first in Italian and then in English.

 
 
Recommended Secondary Reading
Any reputable introduction to medieval and early modern English literature (e.g. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature, The Short Oxford History of English Literature, etc.)

Assessment
One written exam consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions about the five play texts and about the historical and literary contexts within which these texts were originally written and performed.

 
 
 
English Literature II
Shakespeare 2.0
 
Timetable and Classrooms
Thursdays, 08:00-10:00 and 10:00-12:00, classroom RM021 (Marco Polo)
Mondays, 14:00-16:00 and 18:00-20:00, classroom RM021 (Marco Polo)

Classes will begin on Thursday, 1 October, and will end on Thursday, 10 December
 
2024-25 & 2025-26 Assessment Dates
Appelli di Settembre 2026:
Monday, 14 September
Thursday, 25 September

(please register on InfoStud and submit your essay to me via email within the dates specified for each exam date under 'periodo di prenotazione')
 
Please note:
Essays for each of the assessment dates listed above should be submitted to me by email (sonia.massai@uniroma1.it) as single-spaced word documents on the dates specified on InfoStud under 'Periodo Prenotazione'. Late submissions will not be accepted because I need time to mark all submitted essays by any of the assessment dates listed above.

Topics
Part I: The production of commercial drama in the age of Shakespeare
Part II: The reception of Shakespeare: stage and page

Essential Reading: Hamlet
Please try to use good modern editions of Hamlet, such as the New Cambridge Shakespeare, the Oxford Shakespeare, or the Arden Shakespeare. PS: The Cambridge Shakespeare is now available to Sapienza students, so you can read the play online:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/publications/collections/cambridge-shakespeare

Methodology
I will give introductory lectures on (Part I: production) the material conditions of theatrical production in the age of Shakespeare, focusing on the rise of commercial drama, on the influences of earlier theatrical forms and traditions, and on the interplay between theatrical and print cultures in early modern London; and (Part II: reception) the reception of Shakespeare's works in historical and contemporary performance, across national, linguistic and cultural borders, and (Part II: reception) the reception of Shakespeare on the page, starting with an overview of the transmission of Shakespeare into print and the history of Shakespearean editing and ending with an overview of the adaptation of Shakespeare by contemporary novelists.
 
My introductory lectures will be followed by workshops aimed at honing independent research skills. These workshops will be structured around preliminary readings made available via google classroom and practical group exercises that reflect (and will help you prepare for) this module's assessment.

TOTAL DURATION OF “ENGLISH LITERATURE II”:  84 hours

Assessment
One 3,000 word max. end-of-semester essay consisting of a 'close analysis' - or editing - of a specific extract from any of the primary texts studied on this module, supported by a 'thick description' of relevant contexts, including original composition, staging and printing and / or contemporary reception in any given location, language or theatrical tradition of your own choice. 

The term 'thick description' is a research methodology borrowed from the social sciences, but now widely used by literary critics too, which helps researchers focus not only on the linguistic, theatrical, textual or bibliographical make-up of an early modern playbook (or poem) but also on the cultural practices and social agents (including but not only Shakespeare as author) that collaboratively produced the corpus of works now known as 'Shakespeare'.

Alternative Assessment (open to attending students only)
One portfolio consisting of at least 5 out of the 10 written exercises included in our weekly workshops. I will mark these exercises by the end of each teaching week; your cumulative mark for these exercises will be your final mark for this module. The advantage for attending students is ongoing feedback on your work and no further assessment for this module.
 

Massai, Sonia, PhD, FEA, OMRI
(Sapienza, University of Rome, and King's College London)

Massai is Professore Ordinario (PO) in Shakespeare Studies at Sapienza, University of Rome, and Visiting Professor of Shakespeare Studies at King’s College London.

She is General Editor of the New Cambridge Shakespeare (CSE) series and of the New Variorum Shakespeare (NVS). Other current and recent projects include a new Arden edition of Richard III (forthcoming in 2026) and the co-curatorship of the Shakespeare and War exhibition at the National Army Museum, along with the co-editorship of the companion exhibition book Shakespeare at War (Cambridge UP, 2023).

Massai has published widely in the fields of Shakespeare, Editing and Textual Studies, Shakespeare in Performance, Book History and Global Shakespeare. Her main publications range from her books on Shakespeare’s Accents (Cambridge UP, 2020; CHOICE Best Academic Books, 2021) and Shakespeare and the Rise of the Editor (Cambridge UP, 2007), to collections of essays on The First Folio at 400 (IASEM, 2023), Hamlet: State of Play (Bloomsbury, 2021), on Ivo van Hove: from Shakespeare to David Bowie (Bloomsbury, 2018), Shakespeare and Textual Studies (Cambridge UP, 2015) and on World-Wide Shakespeares (Routledge, 2005). Her critical editions include The Paratexts in English Printed Drama to 1642 (Cambridge UP, 2014) and John Ford's ’Tis Pity She's a Whore for Arden Early Modern Drama (Bloomsbury, 2011).