PS-Surveying English Literatures: Early Modern City Comedy
Lukas Lammers
Comments
Do you remember Sex and the City? Are you intrigued by “deeds, and language, such as men do use; / And persons, such as Comedy would choose”? Perhaps you are even inclined to agree that “tragic passion / And such grave stuff, is this day out of fashion”? Then you might want to consider taking this course. The quotations are taken from two plays first staged around 1600. And while it is not quite true that tragedy was “out of fashion,” it is definitely true that a specific kind of comedy was very much in vogue: city comedy or citizen comedy.
In this course we will read four early modern city comedies: Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday, Ben Jonson’s Every Man In His Humour (first quotation), Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton’s The Roaring Girl, and Eastward Ho by George Chapman, Ben Jonson and John Marston (second quotation). The plays are diverse in many ways, but they are united by their portrayal of urban life. Unlike Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, for example, they are all set in a recognisable contemporary London, and deal with the “everyday” lives of “ordinary” people. “Money and sex, rather than Shakespearean courtship and romance, are central to these plays,” as Pascale Aebischer puts it. Tracing the steps of gallants, tricksters, prostitutes, citizen wives, and city merchants around early modern London, the plays virtually “map” the city – both geographically and socially.
By examining a range of critical texts, the course also aims to introduce students to the study of early modern literature and culture more generally. Among other things, we will discuss questions of class, gender, performance practices, and the emergence of capitalism and consumerism. Prior knowledge of early modern drama and theatre is certainly helpful but not a requirement – a willingness and interest to engage with the language and conventions of the time and genre are imperative.
TEXTS
Despite their often mundane subject matter, these texts can, at times, be difficult to read, as they abound with regional colloquialisms and allusions to specific places, people and fashions. Acquiring a good critical edition of the plays is therefore paramount.
Fortunately, all four plays are available in a single, reasonably cheap volume with an excellent introduction and helpful notes on the texts. Students wishing to participate in this course should get hold of the following edition as soon as possible before the start of the course (check book shops for delivery times):
Knowles, James. The Roaring Girl and Other City Comedies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001 (also available at the philological library [https://t1p.de/cnqvh] and as an ebook).
ASSESSMENT
Assessment will be based on short writing assignments, ultra short oral presentations in class (‘aktive Teilnahme’), and a final essay of 2.000 words to be submitted after the end of class. The course will offer guidance for academic writing. Those who have not written a term paper yet are advised to attend the tutorial on academic writing offered by Lilian Frielinghaus. Exchange students with a background in English and/or Cultural Studies are welcome; your proficiency in English should be at least B2.
16 Class schedule
Regular appointments