Interview, in groups of three, one of your
classmates
and prepare to report
the following information to the rest of the class:
-
Major
-
- Favorite
play
or movie
Course
Introduction
“Modern European Drama” :"
- What is the tragedy of the
modern family? How are family members expected to “perform”?
And can the theater even begin to portray the comedy and
tragedy (or tragicomedy) that is modern life?
- So-called Anti-Aristotelian dramas, or the plays written
and produced between ca. 1870 and 1930, address these and
many other questions. This course covers Naturalist Drama to
the roots of the Theater of the Absurd.
- We will read and consider the performance histories of
Scandinavian, Irish, French, and Italian theater: Ibsen,
Strindberg, Ernst Rosmer (Elsa Bernstein), Wilde, Wedekind,
and Pirandello. Students will leave with a profound
appreciation for the development of modern Europe and its
playhouses. Satisfies 1b (pre-1900); Drama; multinational;
gender
- Students will leave with a profound appreciation for the
turbulent world of the modern playhouse.
Unit I:
Drama before 1900 and the Naturalists
1. Henrik Ibsen, Doll's House
(Signet )
2. Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler
3. A. Strindberg, The Father
4. A. Strindberg, Miss
Julie
5. Elsa Bernstein, Twilight
6. Wilde, Importance of Being Earnest
Unit II:
Twentieth-Century Families and Performances
Brecht and
Artaud (pdf/online)
7. Wedekind, Spring
Awakening
8. L. Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author
Course
Objectives
(pre-1900, Drama, multinational, gender, 300-level course)
- Historical/Literary Epochs: Sophisticated
Command of “Modern European Drama” ca. 1870-1950 (Naturalist
Drama & Theater of the Absurd)
- Genre: Ability to distinguish between
Drama as Text and Performance
- Comparative Prowess: Contrasts and
Similarities between Scandinavian, French, Irish, English,
German and Italian Plays
- Appreciation for Gender Issues in Modern
Drama and Culture
- Scholastic Growth and Maturity (from
Consumer to Producer of Knowledge)
Course
Requirements:
- The Spirit
of a Democratic Classroom: Respect, Collegiality, and
Integrity
- Participation
(incl.
attendance,contribution
to class discussion, discussion questions)--10%
- Midterm
(Unit I: Pre-1900)--30%
- Performance
Paper--30%
- Journal
Portfolio (incl. pres. of work on day of final)--30%
- Optional
but strongly encouraged: attend a performance of one of
these plays
What do you like about
modern family life? What do you think could change about
modern family life? In what ways is your favorite movie or
play about family life, and what comment does it make on
(modern) family life?
Pros
- gender roles more flexible
- family unit is more unified
- family is more public (and so people can compare)
- equality in finances
- easier to keep in touch with family members through
technology
Cons
- families break up easily
- coddled children w/no independence (need for more balance)
- fears about children passed on through technology
- technology distracts family members > "I" more important
- extended families not together very often
- generational divide
Anti-Aristotelian drama
- time not unified
- character / action
- open-ended
- spectacle
- characters atypical
What qualities do you think good mothers have?
bad mothers?
+
being able to sacrifice for the family
spending time with children
being loving and caring
putting children's needs first
creating an environment in which children can learn (to be
independent)
patience
-
fail to discipline kids
neglectful
selfish
passive to needs of the child
overbearing
irresponsible
How important was love, and what role did love play in this
type of a family?
Nora / Torvald Helmer
Kristine Linde / Nils Krogstad
Dr. Rank / Nora Helmer
kitchen, church, children = mother/wife
What's going on outside the world of the stage that we don't
see?
- bank
- upstairs neighbors
- Rank's apt.
- Torvald's study
- mailbox
- bedroom
- nursery
Review
1. Why is the play called Hedda Gabler
and not Hedda Tesman?
> Yvonne, Jonathan, Renea, Krisy
2. Why does Hedda marry Tesman?
> Yvonne, Jonathan, Christina, Krisy
3. Why is Hedda so cruel to Aunt Julia and Thea Elvsted? What
aspects of femininity might they represent?
> Yvonne, Kristen P., Melissa (first part)
4. Similarities to Doll House?
> Sarah, Renea
5. Hedda's unhappiness
> Christina H., Renea, Megan, Melissa
6. Role of Scenery
> Kareem, Krisy
7. Hedda and Nora as New Women
>> more work needs to be done on this ques.
8. Hedda's Suicide
Krisy + Kristen P.
9. Death in Hedda Gabler
Christina H. + Kristin P.
Why is Laura set against the Captain's plans for their
daughter?
In what ways is Miss
Julie a New Woman?
- independent
- single
- dominant
- provocative
- behaves wildly, doesn't care about etiquette
- hysterical
- suicide
- tries to befriend Kristin
- did men's work, not women's work
- engages in physical (not ladylike) activity
In what ways is Miss Julie a "naturalistic" drama (as
described by Strindberg p. 58-9, 64, 66)?
- environmental influence
- no breaks in time > no breaks for acts
- current day
- real props
- complicated characters
What does it mean that Hedda, the Captain, and
Miss Julie die at the end of the dramas? Does it make them
heroic, or not so much?
- epic ending?
- tragic ending?
- poisoned environment
- Hedda : strong
- Captain + MJ : weak willed?
Questions on Twilight:
A. Comprehension
- Marlene:
What was Sabine inferring when she states, "You
were married at-at age twenty-seven. I assume that
previous to this you lived like young people do_____."
And then again, "Such an extended period of engagement
usually does not present an obstacle."?
B. Interpretation
-
Krisy, Christopher, + Paula: What is the significance
of Isolde’s blindness? Bernstein specifically choose to make
her blind. How does this connect to Isolde’s transformation?
-
Yvonne: Do you think Isolde and Sabine are both "New
Women?" Provide some character traits that support
your view.
-
Kristin S.: Why do you think Ritter decided to choose
Isolde instead of Sabine?
- Kareem: Why do you think Isolde has such a fear of
letting Ritter know the full extent of her failing eyesight.
She says, "I can't tell him. I'd rather be killed... It'll
break him, really, it'll break him---" (Bernstein 76). Does
this show love, or rather fear?
-
Kristin S., Maureen + Melissa: Do you think Carl's
love for Isolde was out of pity or do you think he really
meant it?
-
Kristin S.: What kind of man or father do you think
Ritter is? + Krisy: What is expected of Ritter as Isolde's
father? Why does he feel that he has failed her?
Other New-Woman Plays:
- George Bernard Shaw, Candida & Mrs.
Warren's Profession
- Any of the plays in Modern Drama by Women 1880s -
1930 (see Blackboard > Readings)
What qualities do you
associate w/traditional fatherhood?
- economically stable
& supports the family
- uninvolved
emotionally
- authority figure
- disciplinarian
- protects the family
and the house
- more protective of
daughters than sons
- commands respect
from the family
In what ways is
Earnest similar to the Naturalist dramas we've been
reading?
parentage
Why is Lady Bracknell
played by a man? How does it change the performance?
- What do you think
can be tragic about childhood?
- loss of someone you
love
- learning about
societal and cultural truths (death)
- shielding children
from truths leads to tragedy
- innocence vs.
ignorance
- lack of affection
- being unwanted
- forced to grow up
too quickly
- abuse
How many different tragedies occur in the play?
- Moritz's suicide
- Wendla's death
- rape of Wendla
- Martha's abuse
- Ilse's debauchery/runaway
Free write (5-10
min.): Why do you think Pirandello constructs his
play in such an abstract manner? Consider how you might, as
an audience member, react to the family's "painful drama" if
it were dramatized in the Naturalist style.
Writing Drama Exercise
1. Father (Torvald Helmer, the Captain, the Count,
Ritter)
2. Mother (Nora, Hedda, Laura)
3. Daughter (Bertha, Miss Julie, Isolde)
4. Nurse
5. Pastor
6. Doctor (Rank, Sabine Graef)
7. Visiting/returned friend male (Eilert Lovborg, Carl)
8. Visiting/returned friend female (Mrs. Linde, Thea
Elvsted)
A. Come together as a Cast
Find enough classmates to constitute a kind of cast, and then
decide who wants to read, and who wants to write. Everyone should
generate ideas, but it's more efficient if each group has 1 or
2 scribes to write out the dialogue for 3-5 readers,
which may include someone to read the action. Those
without roles should write out the dialogue. Kill off one of the
characters at the beginning (is the mother alive? the father?),
freeing at least one student to write the dialogue; eliminate more
characters as needed for the plot.
B. Come together as Screen Writers
Write one brief scene (not nec. the beginning) that you'll prepare
to share with the class. Perhaps the plot involves introducing
the the visiting friend to the audience. Your setting
can be a 21st-c. living room, but consider including a tragic
social issue that we have discussed such as.
- forging a check
- incest
- lying to one's spouse
- sexually transmitted disease
- impregnating a minor
- rape
- trying a new way of life after being widowed
- sleeping with an employee
- sleeping with a boss
- suicide
7pm Curtain Time
What did you find
helpful about the close analyses?
Which was your best one
and why?
Did you have any
favorites of your classmates'?
Writing Pitfalls
- You/we is not okay
b/c it's not academic writing
- Eliminate all to be
verbs (passive + colloquial)
- Don't use semicolons (;) = period
- Nineteenth-century
women includes a dash, but the nineteenth century, a noun,
does not.