Reading Early Modern Drama (Introduction)

The texts I recommended for this semester all contain good, scholarly introductory material. I strongly suggest that you read the introductions before (and after) you read the play--especially for difficult texts.

For each play I want you to write one paragraph in response to each of the following two questions. You should be prepared to share this with the class:  

1.     Is the historical context of the play necessary to find meaning?

2.     Is there an overarching grand philosophical theme in this play?

 

When reading the plays you should refer back to the dramatis personae periodically and pay attention to the annotations in the editions – these will be very helpful to you. Reading aloud also helps.

I suggest you take notes and write yourself a plot-outline to keep in your records. 

You should ask yourself the following questions: a) what is the plot?; b) who are the main characters?; c) how do each of the characters relate to each other and what is their purpose (especially for minor characters). **NB: Index cards are great for this purpose.

We will be doing a close reading of each play and I want you to look for meaning via some of the following theoretical approaches (I have provided a very brief sentence for each one but you should look these up):

Historicist: thinking about the social context – the author, the time, the place & the circumstances
Structuralist: how the play is signposted – “the semiotics”; i.e. how it is put together
Marxist: socio-political perspective; thinking about the material conditions of the text

Post-Modern: How does the play subvert ideologies of the period?

Feminist: Looking at gender representations in the plays

Post-Colonial: Looking at representations of the new-world or race in the plays.