31031 - English Literature 1 (A-E)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students should know the general outline of literary history. They should be able to read, understand and translate texts from English into Italian and they should also be acquainted with the methods and analytical tools they need to interpret the works of the main authors, contextualising them within their cultural and historical period.

Course contents

Wizards and witches in the English Renaissance theatre: knowledge, power and gender identity

 

Magic played a key role in early-modern society and culture. Suffice it to think of figures such as Cornelius Agrippas or John Dee, who was astrologer and mathematician at the court of Queen Elizabeth. King James's obsession with witches is also well-known. The persecution of 'witches' commenced in Scotland around 1590, under the reign of James VI (later James I of England), and was followed by the publication of his famous treatise Daemonologie (1597). Moving from this historical background the course will focus on the analysis of five plays, where figures of necromancers, alchemists, astrologers, magicians and witches play a major role.

The cultural representation of magic enables us to deal with subjects of great interest, such as the way in which knowledge was articulated between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, when new experimental disciplines developed, marking the transition towards modern science. Moreover, this theme also enables us to assess some of the forms of control to which knowledge was subject, notably on the part of ecclesiastical authorities, for knowledge and power – as the French philosopher Foucault reminded us – are closely connected. Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (ca 1588-92) is a case in point, since in this play faith and knowledge are contrasted according to the Biblical archetype of the tree of knowledge, whose fruit caused the exile of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. The protagonist of this tragedy is a theologian from the University of Wittemberg, the city where Luther lived and where the Protestant reformation started. Faustus' decision to make a deal with the devil in order to gain access to unbound knowledge, however, results only in damnation.

The course will also delve into the gender dimension of these plays, where two forms of 'magic' can be identified: a masculine and a feminine approach to esoteric knowledge, whose treatment in Renaissance drama differs considerably. In Macbeth (ca 1603-6) and The Masque of Queens (1609) witches are depicted as repugnant and abominable beings. The importance witches acquired in the British imagination of those years is proved by Ben Jonson's choice to include these figures precisely in a masque, that is to say in an allegorical spectacle that was staged at court to celebrate royal power. Here witches embody disorder and are vanquished by the harmonious authority of the sovereigns – James I and his wife Anne of Denmark.

On the other hand, in The Tempest (ca 1610-11) Prospero is portrayed as a benevolent patriarch. Thanks to his magic powers, Prospero has imposed his authority on the island which had been previously governed by the evil witch Sycorax, Caliban's mother, and he will also ultimately shape the destinies of all the other characters in the play. In the epilogue, Prospero is even presented as an alter ego of the dramatist, strengthening the analogy between magic and theatre that was a recurring theme in Renaissance drama.

Another aim of the course is to approach a variety of theatrical genres, ranging from tragedy (Dr. Faustus and Macbeth) to romance (The Tempest), the masque (The Masque of Queens) and the domestic tragedy (The Witch of Edmonton), with its combination of crime and the supernatural.

With the intent of meditating on the performative dimension of drama, on the remediation between theatre and cinema and on the reception of Shakespeare in the late twentieth century, we will also view and discuss some film versions of these plays, such as Roman Polanski's Macbeth and Peter Greenaway's Prospero's Books.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary sources

Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (ca 1588-92)

William Shakespeare, Macbeth (ca 1603-6)

Ben Jonson, The Masque of Queens (1609)

William Shakespeare, The Tempest (ca 1610-11)

William Rowley, Thomas Dekker e John Ford, The Witch of Edmonton (1621)

 

Critical sources

Anzi, Anna, introduzione a The Masque of Queens, a cura di Anna Anzi, Bari, Graphis, 2006, pp. v-xxxvii.

Coronato, Rocco, introduzione a William Shakespeare, La tempesta, con testo a fronte, cura, introduzione e note di Rocco Coronato, trad. di Gabriele Baldini, Milano, Rizzoli, 2008, pp. 5-44.

Di Michele, Laura, Postfazione in William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, John Ford, La strega di Edmonton, traduzione, introduzione e cura di Manuela Rastelli, Napoli, Liguori, 2005, pp. 353-73. (Biblioteca Dip. Lingue)

Eco, Umberto, “La pansemiotica cabalistica” e “La lingua magica di Dee”, in La ricerca della lingua perfetta, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1993, pp. 31-40, 200-205. (Biblioteca Dip. Lingue)

French, Peter, “John Dee and the Hermetic Philosophy”, in John Dee: The World of an Elizabethan Magus, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972, pp. 62-88. (Biblioteca Dip. Filosofia)

Rastelli, Manuela, “Introduzione”, “La storia, l'attribuzione e le fonti”, in William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, John Ford, La strega di Edmonton, traduzione, introduzione e cura di Manuela Rastelli, Napoli, Liguori, 2005, pp. 5-30, 91-96. (Biblioteca Dip. Lingue)

Thompson, Edward H., “Macbeth, King James and the Witches”. (Testo disponibile sul sito AMS Campus)

Yates, Frances A., Cabbala e occultismo nell'età elisabettiana, Torino, Einaudi, 1982, pp. 3-29, 37-62, 86-118, 146-54, 201-07. (Biblioteche: Sala Borsa, Archiginnasio, Discipline Storiche, Filosofia, Scienze dell'Educazione, Italiana delle donne)

Literary history

Students are expected to show a basic knowledge of the history of English literature between its origins and the end of the seventeenth century. Our reference text is Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, a cura di Lilla Maria Crisafulli e Keir Elam, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2009, pp. 1-138.

Further reading (not compulsory)

Those who are not familiar with philosophical concepts can also read these entries from Nicola Ubaldo, Atlante illustrato di filosofia, Firenze, Giunti, 2005:  “Musica delle sfere”, “Neoplatonismo”, “Gnosi”, “Teurgia”, “Auctoritas”, “Dio geometra”, “Microcosmo/macrocosmo”, “Anima del mondo”, “Magia” “Simpatia cosmica”, “Ermetismo”, “Cabala”, “Gematria”, “Arte combinatoria”

Teaching methods

Since the course is addressed to first year students, it will consist mainly of frontal lessons, aiming to provide students with some basic tools to approach literary texts, both in terms of linguistic analysis and of historical/cultural contexts. To facilitate the understanding of theatrical texts in their performative dimension, therefore avoiding the risk that individual reading might obscure their originary nature of plays intended for staging, we will utilise films based on Shakespeare's works. This will also enable us to meditate on the problems involved in the film adaptation of Shakespeare's texts.

Assessment methods

The exam will be oral and lasting an average of 20/25 minutes.

Teaching tools

The Powerpoint files that will be used during the course will be available for students on the AMS Campus website.

Office hours

See the website of Maurizio Ascari