106-109 Shakespeare's Theatre

This subject introduces students to Shakespeare in his context as a Renaissance dramatist, alongside the work of contemporary playwrights like Marlowe, Tourneur, Jonson and Webster. It is primarily concerned with the material conditions and performance traditions of theatre in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. We will study the genres of comedy and tragedy, and focus on the plays' representations of power, sexuality, marriage, race and cultural difference. Students who successfully complete this subject will have a detailed understanding of selected plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries and will also acquire a background of relevant knowledge and methodologies on which to base further studies in English and Cultural Studies.

Class participation, and written work totalling 4000 words.

• B Jonson, Volpone. New Mermaid.
• C Marlowe, Dr Faustus. New Mermaid.
• W Shakespeare, Hamlet. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• WShakespeare, Othello. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, The Tempest. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• W Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Oxford Worlds Classics.
• C Tourneur, The Revenger's Tragedy. Revels.
• J Webster, The Duchess of Malfi. New Mermaid.