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Course
Introduction to Ibsen,
Strindberg, and Shaw
- 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?
- This course covers mostly Naturalist Drama, and ends with a
discussion of the Brechtian and Artaudian theater.
- We will read and consider the performance histories of
Scandinavian, Irish, French, and German theater: Ibsen,
Strindberg, Ernst Rosmer (Elsa Bernstein), Shaw (Mrs. Warren's Profession,
Candida), and Wedekind. Students will leave with a
profound appreciation for the development of modern Europe and
its playhouses.
Course goals:
- Historical/Literary Epochs: Sophisticated
Command of Naturalist Theater
- Genre: Ability to appreciate different
interpretive and research strategies when discussing drama
(texts) and performances
- Comparative Prowess: Contrasts and
Similarities between Scandinavian, Irish, and German Plays
- Appreciation for the Gender Issues in
Modern Drama and Culture
-
Writing: An ability to make an original argument, distinguish
your thinking from other scholars', and to show a
sophisticated understanding of scholarly debates and concerns
in
Naturalist Drama, and modern feminism
MLA
Citation
1. How to cite a review from Purdue
Online Writing Lab
- Review Author. "Title of Review (if there is one)."
Rev. of Performance Title, by Author/Director/Artist. Title of Periodical day
month year: page. Medium of publication.
2.
Indirect in-text citations
Ibsen planned for Nora to lose "faith in her moral right and
ability to bring up her children" (qtd. in Innes 79).
3. Dictionaries
In text: The OED definition of the tarantella explains that it
relates to a dance from Italy ("Tarantella").
Works Cited
Innes, C., ed. Cambridge Companion to George Bernard Shaw.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.
"Tarantella." Oxford
English Dictionary. 2011. Web.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites.
The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 25.
Jan. 2011
1. What causes hysteria?
- women with talent and energy living in oppressive
environments, caretakers
- Freud: repressed sexual feelings
- 19th: excess of masculinity (women) and femininity (men)
2. What does it signify
to identify a woman or a man as an hysteric? What's at stake
in being an hysteric?
- dismissive of other concerns / problems: grief, sexual abuse,
parenting anxieties/problems
- associated w/female body
3.
In what ways is the hysteric a solution (or not) to the
dilemmas of the New Woman?
Dilemmas: no career track,
relationships with men difficult as a result, caretakers,
usually isolated
4.
What is the scholarly debate around hysteria at the end of
the 19th century?
- To what extent is the hysteric an
expression of feminism and feminist thought?
* "feminization of madness"
* skeptical about to what extent hysteria empowered women, or
was an expression of feminist leanings
* what does the label of hysteria
mean in this context?
What's useful about this
genre of writing?
What's challenging about it?
What success(es) did you have
with it?
What is challenging about literary
research, and what ways did you find to help with those
challenges?
What is the best article or
book you found (and why)?
What scholarly discourse(s) did
you discover in researching your topic?