THE HERO IN AMERICAN DRAMA

Catalog description

The Hero in American Drama explores the development of the archetype in light of the development of an "American" national identity, from the early Federal period through the late twentieth century. Over the course of the semester, we will read a number of plays from different historic eras and consider the ways that the Hero character expresses and comments on the significant social issues of the time. We will also explore the way that the definition of "Hero" has evolved over time and has become, in contemporary American drama, a problematic issue in and of itself.