Undergraduate Course: Early Modern Comedy (ENLI10367)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on comic writing for the English stage during one of its most exuberantly creative periods. Beginning with the romantic comedy of Shakespeare and concluding with some of the most daringly sceptical drama of the Restoration period, the course explores the varieties of comic theatre developed over the seventeenth century, including festive comedy, the carnivalesque, fable, city comedy, and different modes of satire. In doing so, it examines the comic engagement with a range of moral, social and political debates and conflicts. It also reads the plays in the light of theories and critical accounts of the purposes and workings of comedy, as well as in the context of the very different social and staging conditions obtaining at either end of the century. |
| Course description |
This course focuses on comic writing for the English stage during one of its most exuberantly creative periods. Beginning with the romantic comedy of Shakespeare and concluding with some of the most daringly sceptical drama of the Restoration period, the course explores the varieties of comic theatre developed over the seventeenth century, including festive comedy, the carnivalesque, fable, city comedy, and different modes of satire. In doing so, it examines the comic engagement with a range of moral, social and political debates and conflicts. It also reads the plays in the light of theories and critical accounts of the purposes and workings of comedy, as well as in the context of the very different social and staging conditions obtaining at either end of the century.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having four or more literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Course Essay 30% (2,500 words); class participation assessment 10%; exam 60% (2 hours) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- In their work for this course, students will develop their knowledge of the variety and kinds of comic writing for the English stage prevalent in the seventeenth century
- In their work for this course, students will demonstrate a developing understanding of the formal properties and characteristics of early modern comedy
- In their work for this course, students will analyse comic writing in the context of changing social and theatrical conditions
- In their work for this course, students will analyse comic writing in the light of theories of, and critical reflections on, the workings and purpose of comedy
- By the end of the course students will be able to demonstrate the ability to reflect constructively on the development of their own learning and research practice
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Reading List
Compulsory
William Shakespeare, As You Like It (Oxford)
David Bevington, gen. ed. English Renaissance Drama: an Anthology (Norton)
Aphra Behn, The Rover (New Mermaids)
Gamini Salgado, ed. Three Restoration Comedies (Penguin)
Recommended
Matthew Bevis, Comedy (OUP)
Simon Critchley, On Humour (Routledge)
Dustin Griffin, Satire: a Critical Reintroduction (UP Kentucky)
Penny Gay, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies (CUP)
Alexander Leggatt, The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy (CUP)
R. W. Maslen, Shakespeare and Comedy (Thomson)
Alexander Leggatt, Introduction to English Renaissance Comedy (MUP)
Rick Bowers, Radical Comedy in Early Modern England (Ashgate)
Adam Zucker, The Places of Wit in Early Modern English Comedy (CUP)
C. L. Barber, Shakespeare's Festive Comedy (Princeton)
Richard Bevis, English Drama: Restoration and Eighteenth Century, 1660-1789 (Longman)
Deborah Payne Fisk, The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre (CUP)
Elizabeth Howe, The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660-1700 (CUP)
Steven Zwicker, The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1650-1740 (CUP)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Comedy, Early modern literature, Renaissance, Restoration, theatre, English |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof James Loxley
Tel: (0131 6)50 3610
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Mason
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: |
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