Undergraduate Course: Comedy of Manners (LLLG07045)
Course Outline
| School | Centre for Open Learning |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
| Course type | Sandwich |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | THIS IS A FOR-CREDIT COURSE OFFERED BY THE OFFICE OF LIFELONG LEARNING (OLL); ONLY STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH OLL SHOULD BE ENROLLED.
This course will explore key features of the self conscious theatre which flourished after the Restoration of 1660, influenced by the plays of Molière. The satirical and enduringly popular works of Wycherley, Goldsmith, Congreve, Farquhar and Sheridan will be studied using film extracts followed by discussion of their influence on 19th and 20th century playwrights such as Wilde, Coward and Pinter. |
| Course description |
Week 1: Introduction to the theatre of the Restoration, the audience and its taste and conduct, the critics, acting conditions, the impact of Molière, by considering extracts from School for Wives.
Week 2: Wycherley: The Country Wife (1675) 'The most bestial play in all history' (William Archer). An investigation of Wycherley's adaptation of Molière's plotlines and satiric intent in this most popular of Restoration comedies.
Weeks 3 and 4: Congreve: The Way of the World (1700) An exploration of this popular satire in the light of Congreve's theories of comedy : 'Humour is the life - Humour shows us what we are'.
Week 5: Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer (1706) Discussion of the ways in which 'Our first pure playwright' (Archer) breathed new life into stock Restoration types and situations.
Weeks 6 and 7: Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer (1773) Another Irish playwright makes war of the new sentimental comedy in a play that some dismissed as a low farce, and creates a strong, 'Shakespearean' heroine.
Weeks 8 and 9: Sheridan: satirises his own life and times in The Rivals (1775) and School for Scandal (1778).
Week 10: The impact of Comedy of Manners on a variety of 19th and 20th century playwrights, including Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, Joe Orton and Harold Pinter.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
* express the achievement of Wycherley, Congreve, Goldsmith, Farquhar and Sheridan in the context of their times, theories of comedy and the conditions of the theatre in the 17th and 18th centuries;
* explain the impact of Molière and French theatre on the Restoration stage and the character types and situations which proved popular;
* discuss the impact of the theatre spaces, audience and critics on the theatre that developed during the Restoration;
* demonstrate the extent of the influence of Restoration theatre on 19th and 20th century playwrights such as Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, Joe Orton and Harold Pinter.
|
Reading List
Essential
Congreve, William 1994. The Way of the World. New York: Dover.
Farquhar, George 1995. The Recruiting Officer. Oxford: OUP.
Goldsmith, Oliver 2008. She Stoops to Conquer and Other Plays. Oxford: OUP.
Sheridan, Richard 2008. School for Scandal and other Plays. Oxford: OUP.
Wycherley, William 2003. The Country Wife. London: Methuen.
Recommended
Hirst, D. L. 1979. Comedy of Manners. London: Methuen.
Molière 1982. Five Plays. London: Methuen.
Muir, K., 1970. The Comedy of Manners. London: Hutchison.
Wilde, Oscar 2007. The Importance of Being Earnest. London: Penguin.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Collaborative working.
Group discussion.
Composition of discursive essays.
Understanding of interpersonal relationships. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Rachael King
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Marie Craft
Tel: (0131 6)50 3943
Email: |
|
|
University Homepage