English 162W-3
TTh 4:15-6:05pm
160 B-35
Office hours: T 1:00-2:00pm, W 3:00-4:00, & by appt.
Jessica Beckman
beckman1@stanford.edu
Office:
The Sea and the Stage: Renaissance Pirates, Wenches, and Infidels
Short Description: “I am not what I am,” Iago tells us in the opening act of
Shakespeare’s Othello (1.1.67). Taking the villain at his word, this course investigates
how identity is constructed and transformed in English Renaissance drama. Using the
Mediterranean Sea as our landscape, we will dive into texts whose protagonists and
antiheroes attempt to reinvent themselves (and undo others) against cultural expectations
about religion, ethnicity, and gender. This course will focus on a slow reading of Othello,
alongside provocative and adventurous works by Shakespeare’s contemporaries
Marlowe, Massinger, and Heywood. Students will explore how the historical conditions
of navigation, cultural exchange, and piracy formed a backdrop onto which English
dramatists projected their concerns about “turning” from one identity to another. Along
the way we will be challenged to consider how these historicized issues of gender, class,
and East-meets-West continue to be relevant to our own rapidly globalizing time.
Primary Texts
1. Shakespeare, William. Othello: Texts and Contexts. Ed. Kim Hall. New York:
Bedford / St. Martin's Press, 2006.
2. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night: Texts and Contexts. Ed. Bruce R. Smith.
New York: Bedford / St. Martin's Press, 2001.
3. Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta: with Related Texts. Ed. Stephen J.
Lynch. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Co, 2006.
4. Philip Massinger, “The Renegado.” Three Turk Plays from Early Modern
England. Ed. Daniel Vitkus. New York: Columbia UP, 2000.
5. Heywood, Thomas. The Fair Maid of the West Parts 1 and 2. Ed. Robert K.
Turner. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P (Regents Renaissance Drama), 1968.
These texts are available at the Stanford bookstore. I strongly advise you to invest in hard
copies of the texts we read for class, for two reasons: 1) most of these editions have
supplementary texts that we will read for class or may aid your research for the second
and third papers; 2) these editions make the texts more accessible to modern readers by
explaining references, pointing out textual variations, and defining words that are no
longer in circulation.
All secondary scholarly texts will be available on Coursework.
Major Assignments
 Close reading paper: a short critical paper (2-3 pages) that examines a meaningful
detail, word, object, or passage in Shakespeare’s Othello. The purpose of this
assignment is threefold: 1) to encourage close and slow reading of the text; 2) to
develop close-reading skills that make meaning from textual patterns,
contradictions, parallels, and repetitions; 3) to demonstrate—using textual
evidence—how the play engages with a major question of cultural or personal
identity we have been discussing in class.

Primary source paper: a short critical paper (3-5 pages) that uses a cultural artifact
to illuminate or contextualize one of the primary literary texts. Students may
investigate historical documents that are mentioned in the scholarship we have
been reading, or explore digital and archival resources such as:
 The Holinshed Project
 Early English Books Online
 An entry from Hakluyt’s Principle Navigations
 Stanford Special Collections
 William Shakespeare in Quarto (British Library website)
 Ryhiner Map Collection (University of Bern)
 Race in Early Modern England: A Documentary Companion by
Jonathan Burton and Ania Loomba

Final paper: a mid-size analytical essay (12-15 pages) that answers, with the help
of scholarly and historical sources, a question raised by the student about one of
the assigned literary texts. Students are encouraged to develop their final paper
topic out of an observation recorded in the close-reading or primary source paper,
and class time will be devoted to turning these initial observations into
appropriately sized research questions.
Optional Movie Series:
The course includes screenings of films that offer modernized views of these historical
questions and texts. Such films might include:
1. Othello (1952), directed by Orson Welles
2. Othello (1995), directed by Kenneth Branagh
3. Captain Phillips (2013), directed by Paul Greengrass
Learning Goals
Skills: The assignments in this course will strengthen three major skills: 1) close textual
analysis; 2) the exploration primary sources and cultural artifacts in literary criticism; 3)
the careful incorporation of scholarly and historical material into an argument about a
literary text. The course will focus on developing research questions out of smaller
observations made earlier in the quarter, and making transparent the process that literary
scholars undertake to move from texts to questions to critical arguments.
Content: Students should begin to understand the Renaissance Mediterranean in its
historical context by engaging with cultural artifacts alongside literary texts. At the same
time, major course questions will challenge students to understand the Renaissance as an
era not unlike our own, in which increased social and global mobility resulted in cultural
confrontations and challenged expectations of class, gender, religion, and race.
Attendance and Participation:
Because the class is small and participatory in nature, attendance is essential. If you must
miss a class for religious holidays, medical reasons, or valid University-related activities
(such as varsity athletic competitions), you must let the instructor know as far in advance
as possible to arrange the make-up of any missed work. In the event of a sudden illness or
family emergency, contact the instructor as soon as possible to notify her of the situation.
It is always the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor of absences and to inquire
promptly about opportunities to make up missed work.
Full credit for participation will not be granted solely on the grounds of good attendance,
but must include active and regular participation in the discussions, writing exercises, and
workshops taking place in the classroom.
Deadlines and Late Papers:
Legitimate requests for extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and should
be submitted at least 48 hours before the assignment’s deadline. Late papers will be
penalized 1/3 of a letter grade per day. For example, a strong paper that is submitted on
time may receive the grade of an A-. The same paper, submitted a day late in draft and
one day late in final form would receive a B.
Grades:
In determining your course grade, assignments will be weighted as follows:
Close Reading Paper
Primary Source Paper
Final Paper
Participation
15%
25%
45%
15%
We’ll discuss evaluation criteria and your personal writing goals throughout the quarter.
Below, however, are general grading guidelines that apply across assignments:
A range: The submitted work is outstanding in form and content. It is original, or
it expands in a new way on ideas presented in the course. The evidence presented
in support of the claims is carefully chosen and fully considered. The analysis or
interpretation is not only unified and coherent, but also complex and nuanced.
B range: The submitted work meets the requirements for the assignment, is clear
and coherent and presents evidence in support of its points. It shows
comprehension of the material and manifests critical thinking about the issues
raised in the course. It does not demonstrate the complexity, the insight, or the
integrated structure of A-range work.
C range: The submitted work has some, but not all of the basic components
required; for example, it may offer an argument but it presents no evidence to
support the argument; or it may repeat concepts presented in seminars without
demonstrating understanding or expanding on them.
D range or below: The submitted work lacks more than one of the basic required
components.
Students with Disabilities:
Students with Documented Disabilities: Students who may need an academic
accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the
Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional staff will evaluate the request with
required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an
Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is
made. Students should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed
to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 7231066, URL: http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae).
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:
Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with and following the University’s
Honor Code (http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/communitystandards/policy/honor-code).
Violations of the Honor Code, even when unintentional, constitute serious offenses that
are subject to action by the Stanford Office of Judicial Affairs. Violations of the Honor
Code include but are not limited to receiving or giving unpermitted aid in class work,
unpermitted collaboration, representing someone else’s work as your own, and
plagiarism. The Office of Judicial Affairs defines plagiarism as “the use, without giving
reasonable and appropriate credit to or acknowledging the author or source, of another
person's original work, whether such work is made up of code, formulas, ideas, language,
research, strategies, writing or other form(s).” If you are not sure about whether
something constitutes plagiarism, consult your instructor. See also for detailed examples:
Lunsford, Andrea. Easy Writer. 3rd ed. Bedford: St. Martins Press, 2006. 187, 190-192.
Weekly Syllabus
Week 1
January 6 (T):
January 8 (Th):
Week 2
January 13 (T):
January 15 (Th):
Week 3
January 20 (T):
January 22 (Th):
Week 4
January 27 (T):
January 29 (Th):
Week 5
February 3 (T):
February 5 (Th):
Week 6
February 10 (T):
February 12 (Th):
Week 7
February 17 (T):
February 19 (Th):
Week 8
February 24 (T):
February 26 (Th):
Week 9
March 3 (T):
March 5 (Th):
Introduction
Othello
Othello: Edward Said, selections from Orientalism (Coursework)
Othello: Ania Loomba, “Religion, Color, and Racial Difference”
(Coursework)
Othello: First Paper Due
The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta: Stephen Greenblatt, “Introduction” and
“Marlowe and the Will to Absolute Play”, from Renaissance SelfFashioning (Coursework)
The Jew of Malta: Machiavelli, selections from The Prince.
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night: Stephen Orgel, “The Eye of the Beholder” from
Impersonations (Coursework)
Twelfth Night: Ania Loomba, selections from Gender, Race,
Renaissance Drama (Coursework)
The Renegado: Second Paper Due
The Renegado
The Renegado: selections from Richard Hakluyt, Principle
Navigations (Coursework)
The Renegado: Barbara Fuchs, “Faithless Empires: Pirates,
Renegadoes, and the English Nation” (Coursework)
The Fair Maid of the West
The Fair Maid of the West: selections from Richard Hakluyt,
Principle Navigations (Coursework)
The Fair Maid of the West: reading TBD
Week 10
March 10 (T):
March 12 (Th):
Paper workshops
Paper workshops
FINAL PAPER DUE: March 19, 2015 by 5:00pm (via email beckman1@stanford.edu)