Chemnitz University of Technology Anglistische Literaturwissenschaft/ English Literature(s) Department   English Literature(s)     SS 04     History of English Drama

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History of English Drama: From Its Mediaeval Beginnings to the Death of Christopher Marlowe

Course Description

This lecture course will offer a historical survey of English drama from its beginnings in the Middle Ages to its first flowering in the Age of Shakespeare. In the history of English drama two traditions merge shortly before Shakespeare comes on the scene (i.e. in the late 1580s). On the one hand, we have the native tradition, which is largely that of religious drama; on the other hand, the forms and conventions of classical drama are being re-discovered and revived during the Renaissance (beginning in England in the early 16^th century). Some of the better-known plays and playwrights of the Elizabethan Era – esp. Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) and the early Shakespeare (1564-1616) – partake of both traditions and can only be understood against the double nature of this background and heritage.
The keywords and main themes to be discussed are: mystery plays, morality plays, interludes, Renaissance, Humanism, pre-Shakespearean comedies, history plays, Seneca and mediaeval tragedy, Elizabethan revenge tragedy, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan World Picture, the history of the English stage, theatre history.
NB: A tutorial in which in-depth analysis and the close reading of a play will be practised is also offered to go with this lecture course.

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