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Convenor: Dr Paul Prescott
LECTURES: AUTUMN TERM 2009
Mondays 2-3pm and Wednesdays 12-1pm in the ACCR
(Attendance at lectures is compulsory and is vital to participation in and enjoyment of the module.)
1. THE ELEMENTS OF EARLY MODERN DRAMA
(with reference to: HAMLET; HENRY IV, 1; TWELFTH NIGHT; A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM)
1 W 7 Oct 1pm Module Intro Paul Prescott / Jonathan Bate
2 M 12 Oct Historical Contexts Jonathan Bate
W 14 Oct Shakespeare's Multiple texts Carol Rutter
3 M 19 Oct The Scene Peter Mack
W 21 Oct Speech Acts Carol Rutter
4 M 26 Oct Twelfth Night in Performance Tony Howard
W 28 Oct Objects Carol Rutter
[W 28 Oct evening: Twelfth Night at RSC ]
5 M 2 Nov Endings (genre) Paul Prescott
W 4 Nov Section A / Recap Paul Prescott
2. MARLOWE AND SHAKESPEARE
7 M 16 Nov Christopher Marlowe Carol Rutter
W 18 Nov The Jew of Malta Jonathan Bate
8 M 23 Nov The Merchant of Venice Paul Prescott
W 25 Nov The Merchant of Venice Carol Rutter
9 M 30 Nov Edward II Jonathan Bate
W 2 Dec Richard II Peter Mack
10 M 7 Dec Dr Faustus Peter Mack
W 9 Dec Macbeth Carol Rutter
OVERVIEW
In this module we look at a selection of plays by Shakespeare and two of his most eminent contemporaries in the context of the theatres and cultures of their time and ours. In the first half of the Autumn Term we aim to write a ‘grammar’ of the Elizabethan theatre and to explore elements of text and performance in a concentrated body of four plays, all of which feature plays-within-plays and thus reflect self-consciously on the purpose of playing: Twelfth Night, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Henry IV, Part 1. In the second half of the term, we explore the plays of Christopher Marlowe, studying them both in their own right and as profound influences on Shakespeare's early dramaturgy.
CONTACT:
Lectures: Mondays 2-3pm and Wednesdays 12-1pm in the ACCR
(Attendance at lectures is compulsory and is vital to participation in and enjoyment of the module.)
Weekly Seminars: Various times throughout the week.
One of the great benefits of doing Shakespeare at Warwick is that a wide array of theatre trips, play-readings, ad hoc workshops and events take place throughout the year. Please regularly check your email and the CAPITAL Centre website (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/capital/) for news of these.
SET TEXTS:
These are the only editions you will be allowed in the open book exam so it pays to get them now. We have decided to give students the choice as to which edition of the Complete Works they buy. Both the Norton and the RSC will be used in lectures and seminars.
William Shakespeare, The RSC Complete Works of Shakespeare, ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen (London: Palgrave, 2007). Hardback or Paperback (2008) OR William Shakespeare, The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. (New York and London: Norton and Co, 1997) OR William Shakespeare, The Oxford Shakespeare, ed. Wells and Taylor (Oxford, 2005).
Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus and Other Plays, ed. David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen (Oxford: OUP, 1995).
Thomas Middleton, Women Beware Women and Other Plays, ed. Richard Dutton (Oxford: OUP, 1999).
Assessment:
i) 1 x 5000-word Essay OR Creative Project (50%) to be submitted by 3pm on Monday, Week 10 (Spring Term) [For examples of both essays and creaive projects see: Student Work 2008-09]
ii) 1 x 3h 15min exam in May (50%). Students must answer one question from both Section A and Section B.
Assessment remains the same for both traditional and practical ('Shax without chairs') modes of taking the module. It is important to state that the assessment is not in any way weighted in favour of either Mode of learning. EN301 essay titles and exam questions have always sought to elicit the widest variety of creative and critical responses. In the Assessed Essay, for example, students can choose from a very long list of titles or are free to devise their own title in consultation with their tutor. In theory and in practice, any learning experience – whether seminar- or workshop-based or even extra-curricular – might form the basis for Assessed Work. This remains the case.
Formative Assessment:
By the end of Spring Term, every student on the module will have submitted / presented and received tutor feedback on:
i) 1 x practice Section A response
ii) 1 x 1500 word passage or detailed plan of their Assessed Essay. (Important note: your tutor is not permitted to comment on a complete draft of the essay, so please do not ask him or her to do so.)
iii) At least 1 review (book, film, theatre, etc) and/or class presentation and/or a student-led seminar
Module aims:
By the end of the module, students should (be able to):
Have consolidated their skills in reading narrative, poetry and drama
Comment illuminatingly on a passage of dramatic poetry
Analyse the dramatic structure, appearance and effect of a scene
Comment on the ideas in a play and the way they are presented
Know enough about Elizabethan and Jacobean conditions of performance to think about how the dramatists use the resources of the stage and how the ensemble nature of theatrical companies influenced play composition and production
Have sufficient experience of live and film performances of the plays to be able to talk about the impact of particular scenes today
Have some familiarity with problems of textual transmission and editing in the plays
Know a group of plays well enough to understand how the separate scenes and speeches of the play contribute to the whole
Know a range of plays such that they can begin to ask questions about Shakespeare’s development
Know some plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson/Webster/Middleton so that they can address the issue of connections and dependencies between them
Have some critical awareness of the traditions of Shakespeare criticism
Use their knowledge of Shakespeare to think about problems which concern them
Understand how some of the major issues and themes dramatised in Shakespeare’s plays – love, war, sexuality, religion, law, civilization, race, etc – function in an early modern context while continuing to challenge readers and spectators today.
