This literature and theater course will study two of the most sublime and gut-wrenching plays in the English language: Othello and King Lear. We will try to understand the reasons for their centrality to literary history as well as their continuing power to mesmerize audiences in theatres and cinemas across the world.

As we explore the genius of the plays on the page, we will also study the lives of the plays in performance, from Shakespeare's own theatre to the stages and screens across the globe today. To help us further, actors will occasionally join our effort to demonstrate ways of bringing the text alive as living theatre.