This course explores some of the major plays in the genres of tragedy and romance in the latter half of Shakespeare’s career. After having examined how Shakespeare develops and deepens the conventions of tragedy in Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra, we will turn our attention to how he complicates and even subverts these conventions in three romances: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Throughout, we will treat the plays as literary texts, performance prompts, and historical documents. (D, E)