12:20P-1:10P MWF (30) 3 cr

Some of the most influential and provocative approaches to
Renaissance drama in recent years have taken gender and sexuality
as central categories of analysis.  This critical focus is by no
means narrow, as questions of gender and sexuality informed major
developments in Renaissance England: the emergence of a
capitalist economy, the long reign of a "virgin queen,"
colonialist expansion, changing perceptions about love and
marriage, the rise of female authorship, the persecution of
witches, and the rapid growth of London as a major urban center.=20
In this course, we will examine these topics in a variety of
plays from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.  Although the
course focuses on non-Shakespearean drama, we will read
Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT for purposes of comparison, and any
familiarity with his work will be useful.  We will consider the
relationship between gender and genre by reading comedy, tragedy
(including the first play published by an English woman),
tragicomedy, and court masque.

Approximately ten plays will be chosen from the following list:
Lyly, GALLATHEA; Marlowe, EDWARD II; Heywood, A WOMAN KILLED WITH
KINDNESS; Anon., ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM; Tourneur, THE REVENGER'S
TRAGEDY; Jonson, THE MASQUE OF BLACKNESS, EPICOENE; Middleton and
Dekker, THE ROARING GIRL; Middleton, THE CHANGELING; Elizabeth
Cary, THE TRAGEDY OF MARIAM; Webster, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI; Ford,
'TIS PITY SHE'S A WHORE; Rowley et al., THE WITCH OF EDMONTON.=20
We will also read non-dramatic texts (Puritan marriage manuals;
anti-theatrical discourse; attacks on and defenses of women;
legal, medical, and political tracts) that provide historical
contexts for the drama, as well as historicist, feminist, and
lesbian/gay critical texts that provide theoretical models for
analyzing gender and sexuality.  In order to develop an awareness
of our own position as readers of Renaissance culture, we will
consider the powerful images of gender/sexuality produced by
American popular culture (murderous women, transvestites, etc.) =20
The requirements are two papers (one short; one longer, more
comprehensive), a class presentation, in-class writing, a final
exam, and active participation in class discussion.  Critical
essays and historical documents will be available in a course
reader.=20