Sections offered SPRING 2022:
#34611 |
HERBERT MARKS |
MW 6:30 PM–9:00 PM
|
BH 105 |
CLASS NOTES: IUB GenEd A&H credit; COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit
Class meets In Person. For more information visit https://covid.iu.edu/learning-modes/index.html
In the words of one life-long reader of Shakespeare, “Total immersion in the Sonnets—that is to say in Shakespeare’s mind—is a deranging experience” – Helen Vendler. This introduction to the world of Shakespeare and the reading of lyric invites you to risk this derangement. No less than the plays, the Sonnets deal with intense erotic passions—with jealousy, lust, ambition, and betrayal—but they are also arguably the finest instance in English of what words can do under maximal pressure. Our primary concern will be the interplay between literal and figurative language: when and how do poems mean what they say, and when and how do they mean something else? We shall be looking at the ways they are shaped, their ambiguous status as both private and public statements, and their relations to their readers, to tradition, and to one another. Written work will include brief responses as well as longer exercises in close analysis. As a help in internalizing the music of Shakespeare’s verse, memorization and recitation will be encouraged.