DHS Literature of Period-Renaissance

In this semester elective, we will explore the richness of the literary and theatrical achievement of Elizabethan England by reading three of Shakespeare’s plays in the broader context of the Renaissance. Through three different genres (history, tragedy, and comedy), and by viewing films, we will appreciate how Shakespeare’s plays unfold as spectacle and what they reveal about the Elizabethan stage and people. The authors that students will explore include Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser, Jonson, Marlowe, the speeches and poems of Queen Elizabeth herself, Raleigh, Bacon, Howard, Holinshed, Castiglione, Machiavelli, etc. Finally, exposure to the visual arts and music will round out an exciting, enriching study of a remarkable period in western civilization.