ENGL 340, Restoration Drama, Spring 2014

Abstract

This course explores English drama after the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660. Topics include: the reopening of the theaters; the introduction of the actress to the stage in lieu of the boy actors who had played women’s roles in the Renaissance; the flourishing of drama after the interregnum when the professional theater had been suppressed; the culture of the playhouses; the figure of the libertine ‘rake’; the rise of ‘humane’ and sentimental drama late in the century, as an alternative to the once-dominant mode of satiric comedy. Prerequisites: Any 200-level literature course or permission from instructor.