English Renaissance Drama: Theatre and Society in the Age of Shakespeare

Calendar

SES #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
1	Introduction and Course Overview
2	Wrightson, Keith. English Society.
The Spanish Tragedy
3	Kyd, Thomas. The Spanish Tragedy.
4	Bacon, Francis. “Of Revenge.” In The Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. 1625. Amussen, S. D. “Gender, Family, and the Social Order.” Rubin, Gayle. “The Traffic in Women.” Orgel, Stephen. “Shakespeare and the Kinds of Drama.”
Hamlet
5	Shakespeare. Hamlet.
6-7	Moretti, Franco. “The Great Eclipse.” Dollimore, Jonathan. From Radical Tragedy. Derrida, Jacques. From Dissemination. Carruthers, Mary. From The Book of Memory. Goldberg, Jonathan. “Hamlet’s Hand.”
The Jew of Malta
8	Marlowe, Christopher. The Jew of Malta.
9	Machiavelli. Discourses on the first Decade of Titus Livius. 1636. Agnew, Jean-Christophe. Worlds Apart. Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars. 1992.	Paper 1 due
The Alchemist
10	Jonson, Ben. The Alchemist.
11	Mullaney, Steven. From The Place of the Stage. Yachnin, Paul. From Stage-Wrights. Stubbes, Philip. From Anatomie of Abuses. Jonson, Ben. Epistle to Oxford and Cambridge in Volpone.
The Duchess of Malfi
12	Webster, John. The Duchess of Malfi.
13-14	Castiglione, Baldesar. From The Book of the Courtier. Jardine, Lisa. “The Duchess of Malfi: A Case study in the Literary Representation of Women.” Whigham, Frank. From Ambition and Privilege. Extracts from Renaissance Courtesy Manuals.
The Broken Heart
15	Ford, John. The Broken Heart.
16	Sawday, Jonathan. From The Body Emblazoned. Other secondary readings to be decided later.
Arden of Faversham
17	Arden of Faversham.
18-19	Source in The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed. 1587. Ballad entitled “The Complaint and Lamentation of Mistresse Arden,” and “An Homily of Marriage.” 1633. Bacon, Francis. “Of Marriage and the Single Life,” and “Of Love.” 1625. Heywood, Thomas. An Apology for Actors. 1612. * Baker, John. On marriage and divorce in Introduction to English Legal History. Belsey, Catherine. “Alice Arden’s Crime.”	Paper 2 due for those choosing 3 paper option (session #19)
The Witch of Edmonton
20	Thomas Middleton/William Rowley. The Witch of Edmonton.	Paper description and annotated bibliography due in class for those choosing long paper option
21	McLuskie, Kate. From Renaissance Dramatists. Henry Goodcole’s account of Elizabeth Sawyer (Appended to play text). Levine, Laura. From Men in Women’s Clothing. From the Hic Mulier tracts. 1620.
The Knight of the Burning Pestle
22	Beaumont, Francis. The Knight of the Burning Pestle.
23	Agnew, Jean-Christophe. From Worlds Apart. Wheeler, John. From A Treatise of Commerce.
The Island Princess
24	Fletcher, John. The Island Princess.	Long paper draft due for those choosing 2 paper option
25-26	Argensola. From The Discovery and Conquest of the Maluco and Philipine Islands. Hakluyt, Richard. From Principal Navigations (The “Epistle Dedicatorie” and from “Divers Voyages”). Brenner, Robert. From Merchants and Revolution. Raman, Shankar. From Framing ‘India’.	Final paper due (One day after session #26)