18095 - English Literature

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will have acquired a sound passive knowledge of the English language; he/she will be able to read and comprehend a text in English and to learn the main forms and genres of English literature and drama. The student will likewise acquire the necessary tools for the analysis of a literary or dramatic text in English, in its historical and theatrical, as well as more strictly literary, aspects.

Course contents

Inter-play, meta-theatre and role-play in English theatre from the Early Modern to the Victorian period.

The course aims to explore the discursive and dramatic elements of comedy and tragedy written and staged in English theatres from the Early Modern  to the Victorian period. Disguises, deception, role interplay and metatheatre are part of the narrative and theatrical devices recurrent in the plays examined and used by writers in order to discuss and present issues of individual and gender identity in relation to and in contrast to the social sphere. Through satire, tragedy, wit and humour, playwrights of the various eras address political, social, cultural and gender issues in a controversial and dialogical manner. Using a perspective of historicist literary criticism and analysing the development of theatre (text, context and staging) from the 17th to the 19th century, plays presenting "manners", "cross-dressing", metatheatre and interplay written by English authors such as W. Shakespeare, C. Marlowe, J. Milton, E. Inchbald, J. Austen, and O. Wilde will be read and commented on.

Readings/Bibliography

PRIMARY SOURCES

Extracts from the Cycle of York (mystery play);

W. Shakespeare, Richard III and A Midsummer Night Dream;

C. Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (extracts);

J. Milton, Paradise Lost (extracts);

E. Inchbald, Lovers' Vows;

J. Austen, Mansfield Park (extracts: Vol I: dal cap. 13 al cap. 18)

P.B. Shelley, The Cenci;

O. Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest.

History of English literature and theater:

 L. M. Crisafulli e K. Elam (a cura di), Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bologna, BUP, 2009 [solo periodi e argomenti trattati durante il corso]

Paolo Bertinetti, Storia del Teatro Inglese dalla Restaurazione all'Ottocento, Einaudi, 2000.
Franco Marucci, History of English Literature, Volume 2, "Shakespeare", Peter Lang, 2018 (capitoli sui play in programma).

Giorgio Melchiori, Shakespeare. Genesi e struttura delle opere Edizioni Laterza, 1994 (capitoli sulle commedie in programma).

English Editions (Erasmus students):

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. I and II or The Oxford Anthology of English Literatue, vol. I and II (introduction to the literary periods and authors included in the syllabus).

The Cambridge History of English Literature, ed. J. Chandler, Cambridge UP 2009.

Critical reading (3 essays for students attending lectures, or 4 essays for students who do not attend classes)

Early Modern theatre:

Andrew Hiscock, "Gender" in The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare, Arthur F. Kinney (ed.) 2011;

Valerie Traub, "Gender and Sexuality in Shakespeare", in The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare, eds. Margreta de Grazia, Stanley Wells, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Sara E. Gorman, "The Theatricality of Transformation: cross-dressing
and gender/sexuality spectra on the Elizabethan stage" in CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, http://repository.upenn.edu/curej/11.

David Cressy, "Gender Trouble and Cross-Dressing in Early Modern England" in Journal of British Studies Vol. 35, No. 4 (Oct., 1996), pp. 438-465.

Romantic period:

Jeffrey N. Cox, "The Gothic Drama: Tragedy or Comedy?" in The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre, 1737-1832 ed. Julia Swindells and David Francis Taylor (ch. 23).

Paula R. Backscheider, "Retrieving Elizabeth Inchbald" in The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre, 1737-1832 eds. Julia Swindells and David Francis Taylor (ch. 34, Pages 601–618).

Elaine Jordan, "Pulpit, Stage, and Novel: "Mansfield Park" and Mrs. Inchbald's "Lovers' Vows" in NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 20, No. 2, (Winter, 1987), pp. 138-148.

Joseph Litvak, "The Infection of Acting: Theatricals and Theatricality in Mansfield Park" in ELH, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer, 1986), pp. 331-355.

Penny Gay, "Jane Austen’s Stage" in The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre, 1737-1832, Edited by Julia Swindells and David Francis Taylor (2014).

C. Farese, “Comedy in its worst form”? Seduced and seductive heroines in “A Simple Story”, “Lovers’ Vows”, and “Mansfield Park” in Parole Rubate/Purloined Letters (Fascicolo n. 16 / Issue no. 16 – Dicembre 2017) scaricabile da: http://www.parolerubate.unipr.it/indici_php/fascicolo_16.php

Victorian theatre:

Deaglán Ó Donghaile, "Civil Disobedience and The Importance of Being Earnest" in Oscar Wilde and the Radical Politics of the Fin de Siécle (2020);

Joseph Donohue, "Reception and performance history of The Importance of Being Earnest" in Oscar Wilde in Context Edited by Kerry Powell (2013)

Sos Eltis, "The Importance of Being Earnest" in Revising Wilde: Society and Subversion in the Plays of Oscar Wilde (1996).

Teaching methods

Online and frontal lessons; introduction of the literary period from late Medieval time to Romantic period; reading and analysis of the primary sources and critical essays during lectures.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the students' competencies and abilities acquired during the course consists in a written work at the end of the course for those students who attended classes regularly as well as for those who do not attend classes.

The 2-hour written test consists of open questions regarding the literary context, authors, and texts analysed during the course. Commentary on extracts in English from the plays to be read in full will also be required.

Those students, who are able to demonstrate a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered during classes, to use these critically and who master the field-specific language of the discipline will be given a mark of excellence. Those students who demonstrate a mnemonic knowledge of the subject with a more superficial analytical ability and ability to synthesize, a correct command of the language but not always appropriate, will be given a satisfactory mark. A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a ‘pass' mark. Students who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the program bibliography will not be given a pass mark.

Teaching tools

Online resourses available for student online; film and videos show during lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Serena Baiesi