Literature   

The four play sequence known as the Henriad is considered by many to be the crown jewel of Shakespeare’s history cycle. In the Middle Ages having no royal male heir led to awkward moments but having too many heirs meant disaster: The five sons of Edward III brought England 100 years of usurpations, murders and civil war, ending only in 1485 with the new Tudor dynasty. The familial and national tragedies portrayed in the plays based on this era continue to rivet audiences—from Richard II’s fecklessness through Henry V’s fleeting moments of martial glory to Richard III’s melodramatic villainy. This course will examine the play “Henry IV, Part One” (in the OSF ’26 season) in the context of the BBC series “The Hollow Crown.”

NOTE: Students should have access to a copy of the play and “The Hollow Crown” video series. As an option to private viewing, the four plays in the video series will be shown at Campbell Center on successive Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m., Feb. 6-27.

The four play sequence known as the Henriad is considered by many to be the crown jewel of Shakespeare’s history cycle. In the Middle Ages having no royal male heir led to awkward moments but having too many heirs meant disaster: The five sons of Edward III brought England 100 years of usurpations, murders and civil war, ending only in 1485 with the new Tudor dynasty. The familial and national tragedies portrayed in the plays based on this era continue to rivet audiences—from Richard II’s fecklessness through Henry V’s fleeting moments of martial glory to Richard III’s melodramatic villainy. This course will examine the play “Henry IV, Part One” (in the OSF ’26 season) in the context of the BBC series “The Hollow Crown.”

NOTE: Students should have access to a copy of the play and “The Hollow Crown” video series. As an option to private viewing, the four plays in the video series will be shown at Campbell Center on successive Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m., Feb. 6-27.

“Prophet Song” is the 2023 Booker Prize winner by Irish novelist Paul Lynch. This gem of a novel, described as a “prophetic masterpiece” in the Washington Post, is a dystopian take on modern life. In lyrical prose Lynch slowly reveals a horrific scenario through the experience of his protagonist, Eilish, a scientist and mother of four whose husband, a union organizer, is “disappeared” at the beginning of a totalitarian takeover of the country. Described in the New York Times as coming “at a moment when the fear it addresses is daily in the news,” this novel is not an easy read and yet it is essential. The flow of the narrative revealing the process of Eilish’s awakening to horror as she struggles to care for her young family is deftly handled and riveting.

NOTE: Students are encouraged to read the entire novel before the course begins.

“The Lord of the Rings” ranks as one of the most popular works of fiction of the 20th century, both in terms of sales and in reader surveys. Why? In this course we will read and discuss Tolkien’s masterpiece within the context of his career and its predecessor stories: “The Silmarillion” (small selections only), which Tolkien began in his early 20s during World War I, and “The Hobbit,” a tale he wrote for his children that gradually became linked with his earlier work in “The Silmarillion” and led to “The Lord of the Rings.” We will consider the nature of fantasy as literature and what Tolkien’s work has to say about fate versus free will, hope versus despair, war, courage, sacrifice, compassion, mercy, power and the nature of evil.

NOTE: Any edition of “The Hobbit” or “The Lord of the Rings” will be fine. Participants should be prepared for a substantial amount of reading and may want to read ahead.