Shakespeare’s Greatest Comedies

Unlike his tragedies, William Shakespeare’s comedies generally revolve around themes of love, mistaken identity, and social disruption, almost always culminating in the celebratory union of marriage. While modern audiences may find the humor evolves beyond simple "laugh-out-loud" moments, these plays remain masters of witty wordplay and complex plotting.  We begin our journey by analyzing the battle of the sexes in The Taming of the Shrew, followed by a descent into the magical fairyland of A Midsummer Night's Dream. We then tackle the darker, complex social layers of The Merchant of Venice (yes, it's a comedy) and investigate Shakespeare’s dedication to Christopher Marlowe within the pastoral world of As You Like It. We conclude the course by decoding the intricate anagrams and subplots of Twelfth Night. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.