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In 1603, James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I to the English throne, thus marking the advent of the early Stuart period. Covering the reigns of James I and his son Charles I, this period lasted until 1649 when England became a (short-lived) republic after Charles I had been tried, sentenced to death and executed. During those almost 50 years, England underwent immense social, religious and political changes triggered by a fast-growing consumer society, a burgeoning news culture, financial crises, the question of England’s involvement in the Thirty Years’ War, ongoing disputes about the relation between monarch and parliament, and the upheavals of two civil wars (1642-46, 1648-49) which cut across social classes, communities and families.
In this seminar, we will closely read and contextualize various dramatic texts which negotiate the developments outlined above. We will discuss three stage plays written for the public theatres: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (c. 1613) and the notorious A Game at Chess (1624), both by Thomas Middleton; and Richard Brome's The Queen and Concubine (1635-36). We will also read two masques (multimedia entertainments written for and performed at the court), created in collaboration by Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones: News from the New World Discovered in the Moon (1620) and Pan’s Anniversary (1621). The last group of texts we will analyse belongs to the genre of the pamphlet play. A mixture of news pamphlet and stage play, this fascinating genre emerged after the closure of the theatres in 1642, channelling the energies of a rich theatre culture and putting them to the use of political journalism. We will read the three pamphlet plays The Committee-Man Curried (1647), Mistris Parliament Brought to Bed of a Monster (1648) and The Terrible, Horrible Monster of the West (1649).
Please note that this seminar will start on 16 April with a kick-off meeting in which we will discuss all relevant structural, organisational and administrative questions. The kick-off meeting will be followed by two weekend seminars on 2-3 June and 16-17 June in which we will discuss the dramatic texts listed above. Students who want to gain credit for this seminar are expected to take part in all three parts of the seminar (kick-off meeting plus 2 weekend seminars). Managing the reading assignments for each meeting is obligatory for all seminar participants. A detailed seminar schedule will be made available at the kick-off meeting.
Texts:
Students must use no other than the following editions:
Middleton, Thomas. A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. Ed. Alan Brissenden. London: Methuen Drama, 2007. ISBN 978-0713650686.
Middleton, Thomas. A Game at Chess. Ed. T.H. Howard-Hill. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997. The Revels Plays. ISBN 978-0-7190-1634-9
Brome, Richard. "The Queen and Concubine." Modern Text. Ed. Lucy Munro. Richard Brome Online. Royal Holloway, University of London, 2010.
https://www.hrionline.ac.uk/brome/viewTranscripts.jsp?play=QC&type=MOD&act=1.
The masques and pamphlet plays will be made available at the beginning of the semester. |
