Seminar 15: Renaissance Tragedy as a Mirror to Disintegration of Social and Moral Values

TOPIC DESCRIPTION

The seminar’s topic addresses  three renaissance tragedies: The Jew of Malta, The Merchant of Venice, and the Duchess of Malfi  as a specific mirror(s) set up to the Tudor society on the one hand, and a possible mirror applicable to our contemporary social scene. The historical ‘truth’ may be available only as a partial reconstruction based on our knowledge and understanding of the political, economic, and ideological factors responsible for social processes and constraints. Our special attention will be focused on the dramatic representation of women and their possible interpretetions especially in regard to acting.

The critical-scholarly literature I quote beneath is for you to choose from, by no means are you expected to read all of it. Suit your interests and preferences. But I insist on your good knowledge of the plays. The three texts are attached and you can download them. It is also advisable to get hold of a good critical introduction to each play. It will be necessary to have all three texts in front of you during our sessions.

Relevant reading:

A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture, ed. M. Hattaway;2003: 

“The Arts of the drama” by A.R, Braunmuller,pp.53-90

“Drama and society” by M. Hattaway, pp. 91-126

“Political Drama” by Margot Heinemann, pp.161-206.

A Companion to Shakespeare , ed. David Scott Kastan 2000:

“Shakespeare and the ‘Element’ he lived in” by David Scott Kastan, pp.3-8

“Shakespeare’s England” by  Norman Jones, pp.25-42

“Religious Identities in Shakespeare’s England” by Peter Lake,pp.57-84

“The Family and the Households” by Susan Duyer Amussen, pp. 85-99

“Political Culture” by David Harris Sacks, pp. 117 - 138

SCHEDULE

Session 1:  Discussion  and analysis of  the dramatic conventions, the space (all three plays are located far away from England), the choice of characters, their social and racial positions, family relations, etc., as the elements of the fictional worlds’ social and moral profiles. All three plays will be the discussed.

Session 2: The analyses of the three plays will  be referred to and studied in the context of the Tudor and our contemporary societies and scales of values.  The expectation at the outcome of the session is formulation of possible modern application of the fictional worlds in a short paper (up to 300 words).

Session 3: The final presentation as the outcome of the seminar will be discussed. 
Students  can work on, e.g.,

1.a staging relevant to contemporary social and/or moral problems;

2. A critical review of an imaginary theatre production;

3. An introduction to a modern edition;

 4. A university lecture.

 

ASSESSMENT

There are two grades for the performance in the seminar and a separate grade for the final essay (written only in one of the selected seminars and including the participation in the electronic discussion and posting the essay on the publication platform).  The first seminar grade expresses the activity in the seminar discussion and the standard of the short talks (5 minutes maximum, concluded by a question / questions) by which each student will open the discussion on Days 2 and 3. The second seminar grade assesses the quality of paper proposals (300 words minimum), the share of the student in the preparation of the final presentation, its contents and standard. Each of the two seminar grades is expressed in points from 0 to 10, the pass limit is 5 points. The final essay grade is expressed in points from 0 to 20, the pass limit is 10 points.