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Unit 2 Thomas Kyd and the Evolution of Revenge Tragedy, Unit 3 the Dramaturgy of Christopher Marlowe Unit 4 Shakespearean Comedy

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Unit 2 Thomas Kyd and the Evolution of Revenge Tragedy, Unit 3 the Dramaturgy of Christopher Marlowe Unit 4 Shakespearean Comedy COURSE GUIDE ENG362 ENGLISH DRAMA Course Developer/Writer: Norbert Oyibo Eze Department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka E-mail: [email protected]. Course Editor: Professor Olu Obafemi National Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Plateau State Course Coordinator: Dr. Onyeka Iwuchukwu Department of Languages Faculty of Arts National Open University of Nigeria 1 National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters Plot 91, Cadastral Zone Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected] URL: www.nou.edu.ng Published by National Open University of Nigeria Printed: ……………….. ISBN: …………………. All Rights Reserved Printed and Bound in Nigeria by: ………………………… E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.expressimage.com.ng 2 National Open University of Nigeria Table of contents ............................................................................................. Introduction ..................................................................................................... What you will learn in this course .................................................................. Course aims ..................................................................................................... Course objectives ............................................................................................ Working through the course ............................................................................ Course materials .............................................................................................. Study units ....................................................................................................... Textbooks/Further Reading ............................................................................ Assessment ...................................................................................................... Presentation Schedule ..................................................................................... Assignment File ............................................................................................... Final examination and grading ........................................................................ Course Marking Scheme ................................................................................. Course Overview ............................................................................................. Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials ..................................................................... Conclusion ...................................................................................................... Summary ........................................................................................................ 3 Introduction English drama from the Elizabethan Age to the Present is fascinating. Its playwrights have created masterpieces. The plays crafted by the geniuses of English theatre are indeed wide-ranging in scope and universal in appeal, showcasing greatly the loves, joys and travails of our existence. It is in recognition of this fact that a popular American theatre director, Clurman (1974) declares that: Shakespeare and other masters of the past are, as Jan Knott and others have pointed our, our contemporaries. Their greatness transcends the limits of time and many cultural differences; in the theatre, they reveal their contemporaneity only when they are felt and projected in response to our innermost need (164-5). ENG. 362 – English Drama is a 3 credit units course. It focuses on the evolution and development of English drama from Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe through William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson to John Osborne. The course is intended to provide the students with adequate knowledge of the technicalities and themes of the playwrights and this will be achieved through painstaking analysis and interpretation of selected plays. The course consists of 20 units and each unit examines a specific theme within the scope of the course. The course guide tells you what the course entails, what you are expected to grasp in each unit; what course materials you will be using and how you can work your way through the materials. It includes tutor- marked assignments contained in a separate file to be sent to you. A knowledge of the English folk drama is a prerequisite for this course. What You Will Learn In This Course ENG 362 will enable you to gain understanding on variety of issues relating to the English Drama from its Golden Age to the present period often christened the “Anger period and After”. Course Aims The basic aim of this course is to familiarize the students with the background to the various traditions of English Drama embedded in this course, the different genres and their representative playwrights, as well as the principal themes of their dramaturgy. This will be realized by i) Examining the concept of the Elizabethan world picture; ii) Discussing the plays it fostered and their representative playwrights; iii) Providing information on the themes of selected plays; iv) Explaining the nature of the Restoration drama; v) Explicating the concern of the 18th century drama; vi) Throwing light on the Victorian dramatic taste; 4 vii) Highlighting the preoccupation of the English Drama of the present times; viii) Examining the nature of the English stage, its audience as well as the problematic of censorship in English Drama. Course Objectives The course has a general objective, and this overall objective is to make clear the trends of thought that guided English dramaturgic writings from the 16th century to the present. In addition, each unit has a specific objective at the beginning, and students are encouraged to read it before going through the main content of the unit. At the end of the course, the students should be able to: i) Define the concept of Renaissance as well as discuss the Elizabethan worldview; ii) Explain the themes and characters of English drama under survey; iii) Discuss the contributions of specific playwrights; iv) Explain the concerns of the Restoration drama; v) Point out the objective of melodrama; vi) Examine the influence of Ibsen on English drama; vii) Discuss the technicalities of the English playhouse, its audience and the problem of censorship; viii) The students should be able also to examine the contributions of Irish playwrights as well as the temper of the present period. Working Through The Course Students are advised to commence the study by reading the course guide, which gives a quick overview of the course. Read the units carefully starting from unit one. Before reading a particular unit, make sure that you have read its objectives as this will give you the overall picture of the unit. Try and read the recommended textbooks and other related materials in order to deepen your understanding of the course. Each unit has a self-assessment question, which you are expected to use in assessing your knowledge of the course. Note down questions that you may need us to elaborate and clarify during tutorials. Course Materials 1. Course guide 2. Study Units 3. Textbooks 4. Assignment file 5. Presentation schedule 5 Study Units ENG. 362 is a three credit units course comprising five modules. Each module is made up of four study units. On the whole, the course has twenty study units of varying length, depending on the content and scope of study. The modules and their units are as follows: Module 1 Elizabethan Drama I Unit 1 Background to the Elizabethan Drama Unit 2 Thomas Kyd and the Evolution of Revenge Tragedy, Unit 3 The Dramaturgy of Christopher Marlowe Unit 4 Shakespearean Comedy. Module 2 Elizabethan Drama II Unit 1 Shakespearean Tragedy Unit 2 Tragicomedy Unit 3 The Chronicle Play Unit 4 The Drama of Ben Jonson Module 3 17th – 19th Century Unit 1 Restoration Comedy Unit 2 The Heroic Drama Unit 3 18th Century and the Drama of Sensibility Unit 4 Victorian Drama Module 4 19th – 20th Century Unit 1 The Well-Made-Play Unit 2 George Bernard Shaw and the English Drama Unit 3 The Abbey Theatre Unit 4 Modern Poetic Drama Module 5 20th Century and After Unit 1 The Drama of Samuel Beckett Unit 2 The Anger period and After Unit 3 The English Audience and playhouse Unit 4 English Drama and the problematic of Censorship. Each module is preceded by a miniature table of contents, including introduction, unit objective, the main content, Self-Assessment Exercise (SAE), as well as one Tutor – Marked Assignment, (TMA) which you are required to answer and submit for grading. Textbooks/Further Reading At the end of every unit, you will find a list of books and other such materials that will enable you have a firm grasp of the course. The books required to aid your understanding of this course are by no means exhaustive here. You are, 6 therefore, expected to consult as many materials as possible. This will enable you to deepen your understanding of the course. Presentation Schedule The presentation schedule gives you the important dates for the completion of your tutor-marked assignments and when you will attend tutorials. Remember that you are required to submit your assignments according to the schedule. Assignment File The file contains the details of all the assignments you must do and submit to your tutor for marking. The mark you obtain from these assignments will form part of the final mark you will obtain in this course. Assessment The course has two types of exercises or questions you are expected to tackle. The first is the Self-Assessment
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