Introductory description

This module will trace the development of the drama of the early modern stage, from the accession of Elizabeth I to the end of the English republic. We will investigate the playing conditions of the time which were affected both by the physical resources of the stage and the political contexts into which these works intervened. We will also take note of early modern literary criticism to discover how playwrights interacted with these ideas in their work.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1, Early Comedy: Anon. Gammer Gurton’s Needle (c. 1562) and George Peele, The Old
Wives Tale (c. 1593).
Week 2, Comedy of Humours: George Chapman, A Humorous Day’s Mirth (1597) and Ben Jonson,
Every Man Out of His Humour (1599).
Week 3, War of the Theatres: Ben Jonson, Poetaster (1601) and Thomas Dekker, Satiromastix
(1601)
Week 4, Domestic Tragedy: Thomas Heywood, A Woman Killed With Kindness (1603) and John
Ford, Tis Pity She’s A Whore (c. 1629)
Week 5, City Comedy: Jonson, Chapman and Marston, Eastward Ho! (1604) and Thomas
Middleton and Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girl (c. 1607)
Week 6, Revenge Tragedy: Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, Gorboduc (1561) and James
Shirley, The Cardinal (1641)
Week 7, The Infernal: Thomas Middleton, The Witch (ca. 1613-6) and Ben Jonson, The Devil is an
Ass (1623)
Week 8, Tragicomedy: Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster (1609) and James Shirley,
The Royal Master (1638)
Week 9, Caroline Comedy: James Shirley, The Lady of Pleasure (1635/6) and Richard Brome, The
Sparagus Garden (1635).
Week 10, Drama of the English Republic: Anon., The Tragedy of the Famous Roman Orator
Marcus Tullius Cicero (1651), James Shirley, Cupid and Death (1653) and William Davenant, The
Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru (1658) in Janet Clare (ed.) The Drama of the English Republic
1649-60 (Manchester UP, 2002).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the set plays in their political, religious and social contexts - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the major dramatic trends and themes of the period 1558-1659- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of early modern literary and dramatic criticism in theory and practice

Indicative reading list

English Renaissance Drama: A Norton Anthology, eds Bevington, Engle, Maus and Rasmussen
(New York and London, 2002)
The Drama of the English Republic 1649-60, ed. Janet Clare (Manchester UP, 2002)
E.K. Chambers, The Elizabethan Stage (4 vols.; Oxford, 1923, repr. 2009)
G. E. Bentley, The Jacobean and Caroline Stage (7 vols.; Oxford, 1941)
English Renaissance Literary Criticism, ed. Brian Vickers (Oxford, 2003)
A Companion to Renaissance Drama, ed. Kinney (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002)
A Companion to Renaissance Literature and Culture (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003)
The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Drama eds Braunmuller and Hattaway (2nd ed.
Cambridge, 2003)
The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Tragedy, ed. Emma Smith (Cambridge, 2010)
Martin Butler, Theatre and Crisis (Cambridge UP, 1984)
Dale Randall, Winter Fruit: English Drama 1642-1660 (University of Kentucky Press, 1995)
Susan Wiseman, Drama and Politics in the English Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
Lisa Jardine, Still Harping on Daughters (2nd ed., 1989)
John Kerrigan, Revenge Tragedy (Oxford, 1996)
Brian Gibbons, Jacobean City Comedy (2nd ed., Methuen, 1980)

Subject specific skills

No subject specific skills defined for this module.

Transferable skills

No transferable skills defined for this module.