Celebrated as the greatest of English writers, Shakespeare continues to influence world culture. This course employs a variety of critical strategies to read and discuss several plays. Topics discussed include authority and ethical government, art and the shaping of history, social unity and the influence of the theatre, staging and performance, music and costume, superstition and magic, identity and the self, honor and cowardice, and obedience and the conscience. Students will attend a professional performance of a selected Shakespeare play.