- Teacher: I. Bakmeedeniya
- Teacher: S. Marasinghe
- Teacher: Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan
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Course Description/Content: The Renaissance and Restoration periods in England were noted for dramas that were variegated and excellent. This course examines individually and comparatively some of the major dramatists of the time and their work excluding William Shakespeare who will be studied as a figure in year four. The course encourages students to evaluate these dramas in the light of socio-historical and cultural contexts of the two periods. While some of the themes and plots are similar and playwrights unapologetically “borrow” from each other on occasion, in depth analyses reveal that each individual offers something unique to the theatre. In Elizabeth comedy, the celebratory and patriotic strain in some plays is mocked at in others while the period also includes examples of dark comedy. In tragedy, “the great property-room of Elizabethan tragic devices,” The Spanish Tragedy, establishes the revenge theme, the play within a play, the theme of madness and further concerns which are replicated in others, whereas a play like The Malcontent though set up like a “regular” tragedy of blood does not include a single fatality. Playwrights did not revert to the Elizabethan/Jacobean tradition after the Restoration but were greatly influenced by French and Italian models. The popular theatrical mode of the age was the comedy of manners which provided writers the facility to strengthen or challenge contemporary conceptions of sexuality, courtship, marriage, property deals and much more. Consequently, this section of the course will foreground the social tensions animating life after the restoration as evidenced in the drama. In a given semester, the Instructor teaching the course could choose a reasonable mix of texts and topics from the following list and other relevant primary texts and topics not included below:
Thomas Kyd: The Spanish Tragedy Thomas Dekker: The Shoemaker’s Holiday Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher: The Knight of the Burning Pestle Cyril Tourner: The Revenger’s Tragedy Thomas Middleton and William Rowley: The Changeling Philip Massinger: A New Way to Pay Old Debts John Marston: The Malcontent John Webster: The Duchess of Malfi John Ford: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore William Congreve: The Way of the World William Wycherley: The Country Wife George Etherege The Man of Mode |
- Teacher: I. Bakmeedeniya
- Teacher: S. Marasinghe
- Teacher: Prof. Walter Perera
Laying the critical and theoretical foundation of English Studies and enabling the student to understand the foundational and critical aspects of English Studies from Classical times to the end of the 19th century through the study of a selection of political, philosophical, social and literary texts.
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FORM C-1 |
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Course Code |
ENG 2008 |
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Course Title |
Theory and Practice I |
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Department |
English |
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Medium |
English |
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Semester |
I, 2020 |
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Day of the Week |
TBA |
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Time |
TBA |
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Venue |
TBA |
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Credits |
3 |
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Status (Compulsory/Optional) |
Compulsory for students specializing in English |
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Prerequisites |
NONE |
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Maximum Number of Students Allowed |
30 |
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Primary Instructor’s Name |
Sumathy Sivamohan |
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Supporting Instructors’ Names |
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Method of Evaluation |
50% continuous assessment; 50% final examination |
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COURSE OUTLINE
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COURSE OBJECTIVES: Laying the critical and theoretical foundation of English Studies and enabling the student to understand the foundational and critical aspects of English Studies from Classical times to the end of the 19th century through the study of a selection of political, philosophical, social and literary texts.
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Week |
Lecture Topic |
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1 |
Introduction; Selections from Plato’s Republic |
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2 |
A perusal of Poetics by Aristotle and the concept of Tragedy |
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3 |
Discussion of Oedipus Rex and its political and theoretical resonances. Group Presentations 10% |
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4 |
Early modernity ( Group/Individual Presentations 10%): |
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5 |
Selections from The Prince by Machiavelli |
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6 |
Utopia by Thomas More ( Group presentations 10%) – Mid Semester Examination – 20% |
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7 |
Discussion on the Enlightenment- What is Enlightenment by Immanuel Kant |
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8 |
Alexander Pope – An Essay on Man |
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9 |
Selections from The Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft; Frances Harper’s story : “Minnie’s Sacrifice” and/or W. E. B. Dubois’s Souls of Black Folks. |
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10 |
Week 9. Ctd. |
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11 |
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray – understanding The Picture as a novel and literature. Proposal for the long paper due |
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12 |
Discussion on Understanding The Picture as a theoretical work. |
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13 |
Discussion on paper |
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14 |
Draft Papers submitted and discussed. |
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15 |
Wrap up. Long paper due. Proposal and Paper – 20% |
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REFERENCES
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David Held. Political Theory and the Modern State. London: Polity Press, 1989.
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Forest E. Baird. 6th edition. From Plato to Derrida. Upper Saddle Valley, NJ: Pearson Education, 2010.
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Paul Gilory. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. |
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NOTE: This is the C-1 form received on the first day of class from me. This might go through certain modifications given the volatile condition of our existence, but I will keep you updated on it.
- Teacher: Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan
- Lecturer: I. Bakmeedeniya
- Lecturer: Nishani Jayaweera
- Lecturer: Ranga Kalugampitiya
- Lecturer: S. Marasinghe