The course will explore four Shakespeare plays – The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and Richard III – with particular focus on the characters that fulfil the structural role of the “monster.” We will first work out the characteristics of a literary “monster” before applying it to the characters in question. We will analyse to what extent they fulfil the trope and to what extent they subvert it. The course’s aim is to deepen the participants’ understanding of the plays and its characters and hone their skills of literary analysis.
