Shakespeare in Italy

As far as we know, William Shakespeare never traveled to Italy. But the culture of Italy fascinated him. The dramatic action for one-third of all his plays takes place within an Italian setting, either ancient or contemporary. Five plays—all tragedies—are set in the ancient Roman world, from the time of the early Republic (Coriolanus) and down through the late republican and imperial eras (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus). Many of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays are also set within an Italian cultural context: Much Ado About Nothing (Sicily), Romeo and Juliet (Verona), Taming of the Shrew (Padua), Othello and The Merchant of Venice.

From the lovelorn and feud-vexed streets of Romeo and Juliet’s Verona and the ancient Roman forum in which Julius Caesar was assassinated, to the frothy mix of sex, money, and intrigue of Shylock and Othello’s Venice, Shakespeare’s fascination with Italy inspired his work as a playwright. His Italian settings are so crucial to his plots that the locations themselves seem to have become characters in their own right. We ourselves will take inspiration from Shakespeare’s fascination with Italy, at that time the acknowledged cultural center of the western world. By studying his plays, we can expand our own horizons and our own perspectives, while learning about the context within which their action occurs. Italy beats at the heart of Shakespeare’s poetic and dramatic imagination.

In this course, we will read and discuss several of these Italian plays, watch clips from film adaptations of these plays to see modern variations on the action, and conclude with a close reading of Shakespeare’s finest play of all, The Tempest—which is set on an unknown island in the Mediterranean where some Machiavellian Italians from Milan and Naples are stranded along with Prospero, who is the most accomplished of all the characters who people the world (or Globe!) created by Shakespeare’s plays.

Schedule

Monday, September 23, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Monday, September 30, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Monday, October 7, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Monday, October 14, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Tickets

$125 ICCC Members | $150 General Admission

Meet Your Instructor

Dr. Dustin Gish is a Professor of Humanities and Political Philosophy in the Honors College at the University of Houston, where he has taught courses in political theory, philosophy, and literature since 2014. He received his interdisciplinary Ph.D. from the Institute of Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas, and his M.A. in Liberal Education from St. John’s College (SF). For a decade, Dr. Gish lived in Rome, Italy, and taught courses there at two American universities focused on ancient Roman civilization as well as on the art, history, and philosophy of the Italian Renaissance. He has published extensively on the plays of Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson and the American Founding, Xenophon’s Socrates, and the visual rhetoric of Italian civic republicanism.

Cancellation Policy: Due to high demand for courses, tuition is non-refundable. We offer tuition credit toward a future group class if you cancel 48 hours in advance of the start of the first class. Tuition credit is valid for six months from the date issued. If you cancel less than 48 hours in advance, your tuition payment will be converted into a tax-deductible donation to the Italian Cultural & Community Center. No credits or refunds will be given to students who miss a portion of the class. To cancel your reservation, email us at [email protected].

This course is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

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