Shakespeare's Friends and Rivals

Catalog description

Prerequisites: ENGL 3100 or equivalent or consent of instructor. This course studies the professional London stage from the 1580s to the 1620s with particular emphasis on the drama of Shakespeare's contemporaries. Though Shakespeare will not be the focus of this course, connections with his works will be discussed. Students will learn the conventions of dramatic genres and how to situate plays in their historical, cultural, and literary contexts. They will also explore how playwrights responded to the theater market in which they exhibited their dramatic wares and the extent to which they saw one another as rivals or collaborators.