I could have kept going. This was a great class that covered several fantastic plays: Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, Henry IV, Romeo & Juliet. I didn’t appreciate Shakespeare in high school, but how can you really appreciate great literature without any life experience to connect you to the text? This time around I marveled at the language as well as Shakespeare’s understanding of the human condition. I now get why his name is synonymous with great literature. 3 years ago

The prof is very old & very knowledgable (did his dissertion on Troilus and Cressida). Thankfully, we are reading not T&C, but we are reading Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Merchant of Venice, King Lear, The Tempest, and Henry IV part 1. (Would have liked Othello & Midsummer to replace R&J and Hamlet, but no biggie.) We’re also spending some time with several of the sonnets and using Greenblatt’s, Will in the World to explain context. The class is small & chatty. It should be a good one! 3 years ago

I’ve enrolled (crazy money since I’m an out-of-stater) & bought my books.

I’m excited about the plays the professor’s chosen and that he’s included Shakespeare’s sonnets AND the book Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt—a book I’d wanted to read. Picked the paperback & audiobook up from the library and listened to Chapter 1 today while on my looooong commute to the store.

Looking forward to listening to lectures again, especially from a professor who loves his subject area (ratemyprofessor.com—invaluable source to use Before enrolling). 3 years ago

with this goal? Really?

This goal is also in line with beating the winter blues because it will force me out from hibernation & into an invigorating classroom where the undergrads will resent the “mature” student that’s too interested in class and ruins the grade curve. hahaha. This goal also will help me get recertified as a teacher. Obviously, studying The Bard is a no-brainer. 3 years ago