ENGL 340-01, Restoration Drama, Fall 2009

Abstract

This course explores English literature after the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660. Topics include: the reopening of the threaters; 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 drame, especially comedy, after the interregnum. Our focus will be on plays by important dramatists, including Wycherley, Etherege, Dryden, Otway, Cibber, Vanbrugh, and Congreve, and on the unique conditions of the theater they wrote for between 1660 and 1700. We will examine royal sponsorship of the theater of this period and the dissolute atmosphere of Charles II's court, as depicted in penetrating satires by the king's godson, and the Earl of Rochester.