Course homepage: http://blackboard.bowdoin.edu/
English 2200 / Theater 2823. English Renaissance Drama T/Th: 10:00 - 11:25 AM Instructor: Aaron Kitch Office: Mass. Hall 201 email: ([email protected]) Office Phone: 725-3483 Office Hours: M/T/Th 2:30-3:30 PM and by appointment
Course Description: This course traces the proliferation of new modes of theater during the English Renaissance (c. 1485-1660), a period of extraordinary cultural and aesthetic activity. We study examples from some of the central theatrical genres, including liturgical drama, morality plays, tragedy, comedy, domestic tragedy, city comedy and the court masque. Topics include the evolution of dramatic form; the political, religious, and cultural contexts of the theater; the representation of racial, gendered, and national identity; the use of language as a form of action; and the culture of theatricality in the period. Working in small groups, students will study, memorize, and perform a scene or section of one play. Note: This class fulfills the pre-1800 literature requirement for English majors
Course Texts (not available on Chegg so must be purchased from another source): Everyman and Other Miracle and Morality Plays (Dover) Christopher Marlowe, Four Plays (New Mermaids) William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (Folger) Plays on Women, ed. Kathleen McLuskie and David Bevington (Revels) Ben Jonson, Volpone (New Mermaids) John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi (Norton) Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling (Revels) Additional readings on Blackboard (marked with an “*” below). Please print these out so you can read and mark them, then bring them to class for discussion.
Course Goals: To gain a greater appreciation for some of the most enduring and beautiful drama in the English language. To identify different genres of theater and to understand central structures, themes, styles, and modes of characterization of individual playwrights of the period. To read, think, and write critically and analytically about the texts we read. To engage Renaissance drama from the perspective both of a reader and performer…to memorize and embody the text.
Course Assignments: Regular attendance and active participation in class discussion and exercises. This is a kinetic classroom. Be prepared to use your voice and bodies in class. Please bring questions and comments with you about the readings for each class and be ready to share them. 1 pp. response papers. Periodically, I will ask you to respond to the reading on a given class day by writing a one-page, single-spaced response to some particular question or passage in that reading. Bring your essay with you to class on the day that we are discussing the reading you are writing about and be prepared to share some of your thoughts with us. 2 Essays (6-8 pp. each). The first essay will focus on play of your choice from the first half of the semester, while the second essay will focus on a play from the second half of the course. Successful essays will have a clear argument (thesis) supported by sufficient textual evidence, using clear and concise prose. All essays should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 pt. font, with 1” margins. Please include page numbers, your name, and a short, informative title. Must be 2
printed out, stapled, and handed in to my office by due date and time. No emailed copies accepted without prior permission. Late essays will lose 10% of the grade per day late. Midterm Exam. 7-8 Identifications of passages from readings + 1-2 short essays. 1 Presentation / Worksheet. Each student will select and read one chapter from the Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theater. You will fill out a worksheet on your chapter and present a brief summary and response to that chapter for the class on an assigned day. (Both the worksheet and the “Table of Contents” for the book will be under the “Assignments” tab on Blackboard.) Scene study. This class satisfies the VPA requirement at Bowdoin, which in our case means that we both study and emulate some performance techniques. To this end, all students will participate in staged readings during class. You will also join a scene group with at least one other students and select, prepare, and present one short section (7-8 minutes of stage time) of a play we have read. You will memorize the lines and present the scene in a clear and insightful way. To help you along in this process, we will engage in several brief acting exercises over the course of the semester, and groups will present their scene as a work in process (not necessarily memorized) in class on one of the days when we study the play on the syllabus. Scene presentations in the final week of class will be graded on the basis of the clarity of presentation, including memorization, movement, and interpretation of the scene, not on acting ability.
Grading: Participation: 15% Assignments: 10% Essay #1: 15% Midterm: 20% Scene Study: 20% Essay #2: 20%
Classroom decorum: Please be on time and ready to participate. Please turn off cell phones and refrain from bringing tablets or laptop computers to class. Please treat others in a respectful manner. Please visit the bathroom before class so that you do not need to leave class to go.
Academic Honesty: All written work for this course must be your own. You should be careful to give full credit to words and/or ideas of others. Any violations of the College honor code will be taken very seriously (see the Student Handbook, p. 56). Students suspected of academic dishonesty will be referred to the office of the Dean of Student Affairs. For more information, see the “Academic Honesty” link on the course homepage (on Blackboard).
Schedule of Readings August
31 Th Introduction
September
SACRED AND POPULAR ANTECEDENTS
5 T *David Bevington, “Liturgical Beginnings” *“The Visit to the Sepulchre” (Visitatio Sepulchri) Noah and the Second Shepherd’s Play (in Dover ed.)
7 Th Everyman (in Dover ed.) *David Bevington, “The Morality Play” MARLOWE’S “MIGHTY LINE” 3
12 T Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (Acts 1 – 3) *Stephen Greenblatt, “Who Killed Christopher Marlowe?”
14 Th Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (Acts 4 & 5)
19 T Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta (Acts 1 – 3) *Evelyn Tribble, “The Moving Body”
21 Th Marlowe, The Jew of Malta (Acts 4 – 5)
SHAKESPEAREAN REVISION OF THE JEW OF MALTA
24 Sun ***Special Screening of The Merchant of Venice at 7:45 PM (location TBA)
26 T William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (Acts 1 – 3) *Andrew Gurr, from The Shakespeare Company
28 Th Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (Acts 4 – 5)
October THE BUSINESS OF PLAYING
3 T *Andrew Gurr, “Styles of Acting” and “The Repertory System” *W.R. Streitberger, “Personnel and Professionalization”
5 Th *Andrew Gurr, “The Laws of Playing,” “Government Control,” and “Social Divisions in the Playhouses”
7 Fri ****Essay #1 (6-8 pp.) due in my box by 5 PM****
10 T ****Fall Vacation***
DOMESTIC TRAGEDY
12 Th Anon., Arden of Faversham (scenes 1 – 5) Introduction to Plays on Women (pp. 1-15 only)
17 T Anon., Arden of Faversham (scenes 6 – epilogue) *Catherine Belsey, “Alice Arden’s Crime”
CITY COMEDY
19 Th Ben Jonson, Volpone (Acts 1 & 2)
24 T Jonson, Volpone (Acts 3 – 5) *Susan Wells, “City Comedy and the Ideology of the City”
4
26 Th ***Midterm Exam in class covering all material to date***
31 T Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl (Acts 1 – 3) Introduction to Plays on Women (pp. 15-27)
November
2 Th Middleton, The Roaring Girl (Acts 4 – 5) *Marjorie Garber, “The Logic of the Transvestite”
THE ROYAL COURT MASQUE
7 T *Ben Jonson, The Masque of Blackness *Stephen Orgel, “Theatres and Audiences”
JACOBEAN TRAGEDY
9 Th John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi (Acts 1 & 2)
14 T Webster, The Duchess of Malfi (Acts 3 - 5)
16 Th *Russell West, “Stage-Space in the Jacobean Age”
21 T Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, The Changeling (Acts 1 & 2)
23 Th ****Thanksgiving Vacation****
28 T Middleton and Rowley, The Changeling (Acts 3 & 4) *Jonathan Dollimore, “Subjectivity and Social Process”
30 Th Middleton and Rowley, The Changeling (Act 5)
December
SCENE PRESENTATIONS
5 T ***Scene Presentations (first 4 groups) in Kresge***
7 Th ***Scene Presentations (second 4 groups) in Kresge***
8 Fri ***Scene Presentation worksheets due in my box by 4:10 PM ***
***Final essay (6-8 pp.) due in my box in Mass. Hall by 5 PM on Friday, December 15th***