King Lear - tragedy and beyond University of Cambridge

Overview

The King Lear - tragedy and beyond course offered by University of Cambridge participants will also see how such a challenge to the idea of tragedy has necessarily involved a wider challenge to fundamental and often cherished ideas, not only about the wider purpose of literature, but likewise about the very nature of good and evil and of humanity's place in the world.

Particular attention will be given, through collaborative close reading, to the ways the play's text itself initiates such a profound challenge to conventional ideas about tragedy, and to our wider moral bearings in the universe, by the way it represents its characters themselves as grappling with such questions in the face of their often incomprehensible experience.

Each week will focus on a particular part of the play, as well as on one of the key themes the play holds up for scrutiny and on a corresponding aspect of the critical tradition. The five themes around which the five teaching weeks will be organised are: Justice, Nature, The Gods, Virtue and Vice, and Nothingness. 

Key facts:

• become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
• tested their ability to access files and sorted out any problems with the help of the eLearning team
• learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
• used the Forums to introduce themselves to other students
• contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out their studies and also to respond to a question set by tutor aimed at initiating critical discussion of the set text