Watching and Reading Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Class Description

Learn about Shakespeare’s most magical comedy through lively discussion of film versions and an in-depth, weekly exploration of the play’s text. This class offers an engaging introduction to Shakespeare’s sublime command of poetic styles and the extraordinary legacy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in art, music, global culture, and performance—particularly the magical performance of reading.

All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.

Steven J. Venturino, PhD, the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, has taught classes at the Newberry Library since 2015 and is a former Adjunct Professor of English at Loyola University Chicago.

What to Expect

Format: Virtual

Class Capacity: 30

Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged

Materials List

Required

• William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Penguin, 2016. ISBN: 9780143128588

• One of the following films:
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935). Directed by Max Reinhardt. Available to rent on Prime, Apple TV, or Fandango. DVD available to borrow from Chicago Public Library.
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999). Directed by Michael Hoffman. Available to rent on Prime or Fandango, or to buy on Apple TV. DVD available to borrow from Chicago Public Library.

First Assignment

• For the first session, watch either one of the two films.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Session One: Film discussion.
2. Session Two: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (text), Act I
3. Session Three: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (text), Acts II and III
4. Session Four: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (text), Acts IV and V

Cost and Registration

4 Sessions, $220 ($198 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($220), Community Supported ($205), and Sponsor ($235). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.

The views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.

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Questions?

Call us at (312) 255-3700 or send us an email at adulteducation@newberry.org.

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