| Unit name | Freud and Shakespeare |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL30020 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Mr. Donaldson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Normally, the successful completion of appropriate Level 2 English units |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences |
The founder of psychoanalysis had a lifelong interest in Shakespeare. Freud's theory of human psychology not only rivals Shakespeare's dramatic representation of human motive and action, in complexity, subtlety and depth, but also derives from his reading of the plays. This unit will investigate the usefulness of psychoanalysis in interpreting Shakespeare's plays, by looking at plays which Freud not only read but also wrote about - Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Macbeth and Hamlet, and at plays which Freud did not write about but which seem peculiarly susceptible to a psychoanalytic reading - Othello, Coriolanus, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. This unit will also investigate Freud's responses to Shakespeare, in his supposed person as well as in his plays, and the consequences for literary criticism of Freud's ideas about art and the artist, more generally.
