You may wonder, "What is early Shakespeare?"  Conventionally, "early Shakespeare" indicates the plays and poems Shakespeare composed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.  It points us to the tragic Titus Andronicus and Rape of Lucrece, both of which were much more popular in the 1590s than they are in 2006; the majority of Shakespeare's history plays and his first gender-bending comedies; as well as that touchstone of dramatic literature, Hamlet.  We will read many of these texts in this course, giving particular attention to ways Shakespeare reworked the sources and conventions that he inherited from medieval and classical writers.  At the same time, we will consider Shakespeare's use of new modes of theatrical performance and textual production that were only developing at the turn of the seventeenth century. Just as Shakespeare adapted the works of his predecessors and contemporaries, subsequent dramatists and poets, actors and scholars have adapted his works to emerging technologies and changing tastes. Therefore, we will also examine modern productions and interpretations of Shakespeare's early writings. Students should expect discussion to constitute a large portion of class meetings; therefore, participation will factor considerably into final grades.