Dana Gavre
dgavre@uchicago.edu
Syllabus (Tentative)
All’s Fair in Love and War?: Shakespeare and Ethics
Required texts: Romeo and Juliet (1595-6), As You Like It (1599), Macbeth (1606)
Course description: What makes someone’s character good – and what is a “good”
character? How do we distinguish between a hero and a villain, between a good deed and
an evil one? How do we anticipate and evaluate the consequences of our actions on
others? In this course, we will explore some of these questions through reading and
discussing three of William Shakespeare’s greatest plays. We will also read a variety of
supplemental texts – both modern and historical – about the role of ethics in society,
politics, and literature.
Online writing help:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/toc.shtml
http://www.oswego.org/staff/tcaswell/wg/index.htm
http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/hc/plagiarism.html
Week One: Love and Hate (April 7)
Reading assignment: Act I, Romeo and Juliet
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Activity: In the Beginning
1. Read the Prologue to Romeo and Juliet carefully.
2. Make one list of all words that have to do with love and make a second list of
all words that have to do with fighting. Are there more words about love or
fighting? Why do you think this is? How does this change your expectations
for the play?
3. Now find every example of the word “two” in the Prologue. Why is this word
– the very first word of the play – so important here?
Ethical response: Read “What is Ethics?” (1-7) and answer questions posted online
Vocabulary: Find five words in the text that are new to you. Using a dictionary – online
or otherwise – find their definitions. Post them online in our classroom glossary.
Week Two: Street Justice (April 14)
Reading assignment: Acts II and III, Romeo and Juliet
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Research: Read Francis Bacon’s “On Revenge” (1625) and answer the following
questions (in complete sentences): Why is revenge described as “a kind of wild justice?”
What does Bacon say is the “most tolerable” kind of revenge, and why do you think he
thinks this way? What does it mean to keep “wounds green?” What is the difference
between a public revenge and a private one? Which does Bacon think is better?
Activity: Pick one speech (15-20 lines) from the first three acts of Romeo and Juliet.
What is the context for this speech? Who (or what) is the character responding to? What
is the character’s main point in this speech? After answering these questions, translate the
text into modern English.
Vocabulary: Same as Week One. However, you cannot repeat any of the words that you –
or any of your classmates – have found and defined previously. Look through our online
glossary to check!
First Group Meeting: April 15
Week Three: Love Conquers All? (April 21)
Read: Acts IV and V, Romeo and Juliet
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Activity: Updating a classic
1. Rent and watch either West Side Story (1961) or Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo +
Juliet (1996). How is the story of the star-crossed lovers updated for the time
period in which the movie is set? Write at least two paragraphs comparing and
contrasting the “modern” version with Shakespeare’s play.
2. In another paragraph, how would you update the play for 2008? What changes
would you make to the setting, to the social issues, to the characters, etc?
Project: Online concordances
1. A concordance groups together all the uses of each word in a piece of
literature. Pick one word or group of related words that you think is important
in Romeo and Juliet – such as love, hate or “star-crossed”. Then, using the
concordance found here (http://shakespeare.clusty.com/) note how many times
you find your word or group of related words in the play.
2. Examine each use of the word in the context in the play in which it appears.
Can you find any patterns in the way a word is used throughout the play?
What does this information tell you about what Shakespeare is trying to say
with his word imagery?
Vocabulary: Same as Week Two.
Week Four: “Civil” Societies (April 28)
Read: Acts I and II, As You Like It
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Writing assignment: Write a 5-paragraph essay comparing and contrasting life at the
court with life in the forest in As You Like It. Your essay should include a thesis statement
and at least two quotations from the play to support or back-up your argument.
Ethical response: Read “Value and the Origin of Right and Wrong” by Richard Taylor
and answer the questions posted online.
Vocabulary: Same as Week Three.
Week Five: Boys Playing Girls Playing Boys (May 5)
Read: Acts III and IV, As You Like It
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Writing assignment: Make corrections and comments on another student’s paper. Then,
looking at the corrections and comments someone else gave you, make changes and edits
to your paper. We will continue work-shopping our papers at the face-to-face meeting on
February 27.
Research: Look through the following excerpt from Robert Cleaver’s A Godly Form of
Household Government (1603):
http://www.folger.edu/documents/UnitIrresp_Daughter5385p351new.pdf
http://www.folger.edu/documents/UnitIrresp_Daughter5385p352-53new.pdf
Next, answer the following questions about Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It
1. Which character leaves her parents and/or disrupts societal norms?
2. Why does this character leave?
3. How does the second female character assist the first in her decision?
4. If the characters would have followed Robert Cleaver’s rules, what would
they have done differently?
5. According to Cleaver’s standards, was the action of these two characters a
good or bad thing? Why?
6. How do modern ideas of society’s roles for women compare or contrast to the
roles presented by Cleaver?
Vocabulary: Same as Week Four.
Second Group Meeting: May 7
Week Six: Hope for the Future? (May 12)
Read: Act V and Epilogue, As You Like It
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Research: What is a “comedy” according to Shakespeare? Using examples from the play,
explain why As You Like It is a comedy under this definition. How does Shakespeare’s
definition of the genre differ, if at all, from our concept of a comedy?
Opinion: As You Like It ends by looking optimistically towards the future, with the youth
in the story being able to improve upon the world that their parents left them. After
looking over the following study done on teenagers and ethics
(http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/Survey2002/survey2002-pressrelease.htm), do you
think we should be optimistic for the future? Why or why not? Be sure to refer both to the
findings of this study and your own personal experiences in your answer.
Project: You are responsible for “dusting off” Shakespeare’s As You Like It by updating
the music that he has written into the play. Pick one of the five songs in the play (2.5.1-8,
36-43, and 48-5; 2.7.182-201; 4.2.11-9; 5.3.16-39; or 5.4.146-51). Summarize the song’s
main point in two or three sentences. Next, pick one modern song that captures
Shakespeare’s original emotional intent (not necessarily his original content). What song
did you pick and why? Justify your choice with reference to the play’s text.
Vocabulary: Same as Week Five.
Week Seven: War and Peace (May 19)
Read: Act I, Macbeth
Respond: Journal prompt posted online
Research: Read the 51st act of the 11th parliament: The laws and actes of Parliament…
under King James I, which deals with the crime of "murder under trust":
http://www.folger.edu/documents/Murder%20Under%20Trust%20New.pdf
This website contains both the image of the primary source document and a transcription
below. Please try to read the primary source document first!
1. Compare this law with Macbeth’s opening soliloquy in 1.7 (focus in particular
on lines 12-6). What are some of the relationships between the two texts?
2. Why do you think this crime is considered “treason” rather than “murder”?
3. Write one paragraph on how you think this law directly or indirectly influences
the character motivations, actions, and themes of the play. Please cite lines from both the
play and the law.
Ethical Response: Read “Morality and Self-Interest” (599-601) and answer the questions
posted online.
Vocabulary: Same as Week Six.
Week Eight: The Machiavellian Prince (May 26)
Read: Acts II and III, Macbeth
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Research: One famous philosopher from the Italian Renaissance was Nicolo Machiavelli.
His most famous work was a book titled The Prince, which gave advice to political
leaders. Read the following excerpts from this book and respond in complete sentences:
1. “In general, people are ungrateful, unreliable, false, cowardly, and greedy.
They will promise you anything, and then turn their back on you if things go
wrong. And don’t think that the person who is closest to you is more reliable.
Friendship is based on obligations, and people break obligations most easily”
(The Prince, Chapter XVI Simplified).
What do you think? Is Machiavelli right? Why or why not? Be sure to back up
your opinion with evidence (historical information, personal experience, etc).
2. “Everyone says that the leader should be honest and trustworthy and not
sneaky. But it’s easy to see that in the past leaders who get things done have
paid little or no attention to this idea. They have simply outsmarted the others,
especially those who keep their word. We all know that there are two ways of
getting what we want. The first is through the rules, and the second is through
force. The leader should do both. The leader should be half-lion and half-fox.
The lion can’t see the traps and the fox can’t fight off the wolves. Great
leaders don’t rely on one or the other but use both. Therefore, the wise leaders
do not keep their word if it will hurt them or prevent them from getting what
they want.
If people were good, this rule would not hold. But, because they are bad, and
will lie and cheat you, you are not obligated to be fair and honest with them.
But it is necessary to disguise your dishonesty and pretend to be good. People
like to think that they are upright, and they are very easy to trick. You must
appear to be virtuous, but only a fool actually is virtuous. Pretend to be kind,
reliable, fair, honest, and loyal. But be ready to do the exact opposite, as long
as you don’t get caught. It’s always best to stay with the good if you can, but
only if it works, if not, you must be ready to change tactics.” (The Prince,
Chapter XVIII Simplified)
What is Machiavelli’s advice for rulers? Machiavelli believes that rulers
should not have to play by the same “rules” as ordinary citizens. Do you
agree? Why or why not? Do you think that Machiavelli would think that
Macbeth was a good ruler? Why or why not? Find at least one quotation from
the play that backs up your opinion.
Project: Randy Cohen writes a column called “The Ethicist” for the New York Times
magazine, in which he answers questions from readers about ethical problems (one
example is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/magazine/30wwln-ethicist-t.html).
Pretend you are either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. Write a letter to “The Ethicist”
detailing one ethical dilemma that you are currently facing. Then pretend to be Randy
Cohen and answer the letter with your advice.
Vocabulary: Same as Week Seven.
Also in Week 8: The Tragic Hero?
Read: Act IV, Macbeth
Response: Journal prompt posted online
Research: Using the internet (online dictionaries or other websites), define both “tragedy”
and “tragic hero”. Based on your reading of Macbeth, is the play a tragedy? Is Macbeth a
tragic hero? Why or why not? Answer these questions in a five paragraph essay, using at
least three quotations from the play to support your thesis statement.
Ethical response: Read “What Difference Does Ethics Make?” by Elizabeth McGrath and
answer the questions posted online.
Vocabulary: Same as Week 8.
Last Group Meeting: May 30