Over three centuries before Hollywood’s “screwball comedies”, Shakespeare presented his Merry Wives of Windsor—a play packed with farcical situations, witty dialogue, outrageous disguise, and slapstick humor: While Sir John Falstaff attempts to court two matrons —simultaneously! — he instead becomes the target of the women’s hilarious schemes for his comeuppance.

In this course, we will explore how Merry Wives — Shakespeare's only play set in his own milieu— depicts the everyday life and social norms of the middle classes, while also reflecting some of the cultural anxieties concerning women’s domestic and political roles.

Each class session will focus on an act (or part thereof), with excerpts of films and video-recorded stage performances. Following each class (gratis to course registrants), there will be an optional ½ -hour session, in which the participants may perform (or just listen to) a dramatic reading of the part that was discussed in class.

There will be an optional trip to Washington, D.C. (October 4-5), for a tour of the newly renovated Folger Shakespeare Library, and a performance of the national Shakespeare Theater Company (STC)’s “Merry Wives”—a joyful adaptation (by Jocelyn Bioh), in which the debauched Falstaff pursues the purses of two sharp-witted West African wives in the melting pot of modern-day Harlem.

Text:  All required texts and related materials will be supplied online by the instructor (at no additional cost).