THE DELAWARE ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS

 

announces

 

"Shakespeare and the Racial and Religious `Other' "

 

Prof. Robert V. Young

North Carolina State University

           

Thursday, March 1, 2001

GORE 116

4.00 P.M.

 

            Shakespeare is widely regarded, by scholars and the public alike, as the Western world's greatest dramatist. He also embodies in a singular way many of the ideals of Western civilization.  It is not surprising, then, that Shakespeare's status has been challenged by academic literary scholars at the exactly the same time that Western civilization itself has been disparaged and even repudiated by many in the academic establishment. The West has especially been castigated for its attitude toward and treatment of the racial and religious "Other." These issues figure prominently in two of Shakespeare's most important plays, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and OTHELLO.

 

              Prof. Young will examine these plays and what they reveal about Shakespeare himself and the civilization which formed him, and which he helped to form. He will discuss the "critical spirit" as one of the central ideals of Western society, and the way Shakespeare made use of the characteristic feature of drama -- conflict -- to articulate this spirit.   He will show how this spirit led to a critique within Western society of its own racialism and intolerance, and to an awakening of conscience whose sources can be understood through a study of Shakespeare's plays.

 

 

Prof. Robert V. Young is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs, Dept. of English, North Carolina State University.    He is co-founder and co-editor of the JOHN DONNE JOURNAL.  His most recent books are Doctrine And Devotion In Seventeenth-Century Poetry (Boydell & Brewer, 2000),  A Student's Guide To Literature (ISI, 2000), and At War With The Word (ISI, 2000).   He is at work on a book, Shakespeare and The Idea Of Western Civilization, of which this afternoon's address will be a part.

           

This presentation is co-sponsored by the Department of English, the Department of Theatre, the University Honors Program, and the Hillel Student Center.