Learning in Department of British and American Studies Seminar

English playwright William Shakespeare wrote many plays for audiences who visited London theaters around 1600. Many of these plays, which are still performed around the world, feature plots that are reminiscent of current politics and society. For example, the scene in "Richard III" in which the cunning protagonist Richard pretends to be religious and appears before the citizens to gain their support in order to become king is very realistic and reminiscent of the actions of Donald Trump in recent years. Similarly, many of the video content and games that we are familiar with today are based on plays and literary works from Shakespeare's time. If you read a work that you thought was an old story that had nothing to do with you, thinking that it was written for us here and now, you will be able to see the background of the entertainment work you are familiar with and appreciate it more deeply.
A play is a blueprint for a stage performance. Just as we can look at a blueprint and imagine the completed building, we can think about the direction and use of space while reading a play. Furthermore, we can analyze the work from the perspective of historical background, gender, race, and class at the time. In terms of the story, unlike a novel where the author controls the work, each character acts independently, and multiple voices flow within a single play, and the direction changes depending on which character you focus on when reading, which is what makes it interesting.

In the seminar, we will study plays by British and Irish playwrights such as Shakespeare. After watching the stage footage to deepen our understanding of the world of the work, we will read the play in English. We also provide an opportunity for those who wish to go to the theater and experience the actual stage. While prioritizing the enjoyment of the stage in this way, our teaching policy is to cultivate "good citizens, good audience, and good consumers." A good citizen is someone who can think and act on politics for themselves. A good audience is someone who can enjoy the artistic merits of content while evaluating them for themselves. A good consumer is someone who can make purchasing decisions based not only on the price and quality of the product, but also on the production process, such as the working environment and environmental impact. We hope that by learning about politics and discrimination from the background of classical works, we can also think about the environment in which the plays we watch are produced, such as the harassment that is a problem in the theater world.