2012 AM Violence on the Early Modern Stage: King Lear and other Plays

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• Time: Thu, 10-12
• Venue: TBA
• Lecturer: Daniel Sip
• Combination:: AM 2a 3a, 11

Course Description

Violence on the Early Modern Stage has been an ambiguous phenomenon for the contemporary audience as well as for modern literary critics. We will analyze the form and function of violence in three Early Modern plays: Shakespeare's King Lear (1608), Titus Andronicus (1594) and John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1633). In a second step our course will contextualize the analysis by looking at the adaptations to King Lear, analyzing contemporary scholarly perspectives and have a look at a contemporary movie adaptation. The aim of this course is to gain an understanding of the function of violence on the Early Modern stage and its meaning for the reception of the plays.

Students should purchase and read in advance:

• William Shakespeare. King Lear. Ed. R.A. Foakes. London: A & C Black (3rd Series), 1997.
• William Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus. Ed. Jonathan Bate. London: A & C Black (3rd Series), 1995.
• John Ford. 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and Other Plays. Ed. Marion Lomax. Oxford: Oxford UP (Oxford World Classics), 2008.

[All three are available at the CvO Bookshop]

We will also provide a screening of Julie Taymor's Titus (1999).

Additional materials for preparation, as well as the detailed syllabus, will be made available here.

Course Requirements: for 3 KP: regular attendance and an oral contribution in the form of a presentation

Requirements for 6 KP: as above, with a term paper of ca. 10 pp. based on the topic of the presentation.

Requirements for 9 KP: as above, with a term paper of ca. 15-20 pp. based on the topic of the presentation.

As part of the "Aktive Teilnahme" regulation:

Die aktive Teilnahme besteht aus folgenden Komponenten

• regelmäßige Anwesenheit: max. 3 Abwesenheiten und gegebenenfalls Nacharbeit
• Vor- und Nachbereitung des Seminarstoffs (z. B. Protokolle, Aufgaben, Vorbereitung/Lektüre von Texten)
• Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Fragestellung aus dem Problembereich des Seminars, z.B. durch:

• Übernahme von Impulsreferaten und
• (nur falls Seminararbeit angestrebt, verschriftlicht, ansonsten als Teil der Präsentation) Entwicklung einer Research Paper Outline im Laufe des Semesters (die Zeitangaben verstehen sich als Empfehlungen): Wahl eines Themenbereichs (3.-5.Woche), Eingrenzung (ca. 8.-10.Woche), Abstract mit Fragestellung inkl. Forschungsbibliographie (RPO) (ca. 12.Woche), Vorstellung der Fragestellung in der letzten Semestersitzung.

Bibliography

Primary Material:

• William Shakespeare. King Lear. Ed. R.A. Foakes. London: A & C Black (3rd Series), (1608) 1997.
• William Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus. Ed. Jonathan Bate. London: A & C Black (3rd Series), (1594) 1995.
• John Ford. 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and Other Plays. Ed. Marion Lomax. Oxford: Oxford UP (Oxford World Classics), (1633) 2008.

• Titus. 1999. Julie Taymor (dir.), 26 December 1999 (USA).

Secondary Material

Tools

• Handout: Rhetoric
• Handout: Analysing Dramatic Communication
• Handout: Film Analysis

14.06.12:

• Staines, John D. "Radical Pity: Responding to Spectacles of Violence in King Lear." Staging Pain, 1580-1800: Violence and Trauma in British Theater. Eds. Allard, James Robert and Mathew R. Martin. Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2009. 75-92. Print.

28.06.12:

  Film Screening: Titus; Time and Place: TBA.

19.06.12:

Concluding Discussion