Shakespeare’s Great Tragedies Explained

Who could do a better job of explaining the structure of a complex play from the Elizabethan era than a home designer who also has a degree in literature from Columbia University? Bob Rumsey will lead participants/ readers in a course at the Taconic Learning Center on three Shakespeare plays: “Hamlet,” “Twelfth Night” and “King Lear.”

The class will be offered on Zoom by the Taconic Learning Center on Fridays beginning Sept. 16, from 1 to 3 p.m. There will be eight sessions, ending Nov. 4.

Of the plays that he selected for the class, Rumsey says, “‘Hamlet’ and ‘King Lear’ have been called ‘the twin peaks of Shakespeare’s achievement in tragedy.’ Madness is central to both plays, in Hamlet’s case pretended, in Lear’s actual.

“In ‘Hamlet,’ the dramatic pressure is internal, in Hamlet’s response to his intolerable personal situation. In ‘King Lear,’ the pressure is more external and Lear responds to a world that is evil.

“For light relief, the tragedies will bookend ‘Twelfth Night,’ the most musical of all Shakespeare’s plays, in which the anti-hero Malvoglio, who is ‘sick of self-love,’ gets his comic comeuppance.”

Shakespeare plays are widely available at libraries, bookstores and online, but Rumsey will also put the text up on the Zoom screen.

Taconic Learning Center offers classes taught by area residents with special interests. This semester there are five classes; there is a set fee to join the program (the requested donation is $60) and then all classes are free. To register, go to https://taconiclearningcenter.org.

— Cynthia Hochswender