Shakespeare and Race

Catalog description

This course considers race in the Renaissance through Shakespeare's plays, five of which involve people of color: Cleopatra and the Egyptians at her court in Antony and Cleopatra; Aaron in Titus Andronicus; the Prince of Morocco (and, arguably, Shylock) in The Merchant of Venice; Othello in Othello; and Caliban in The Tempest. We may also read Shakespeare’s “dark lady” sonnets, literary criticism, and/or additional plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, including Christopher Marlowe.