USSY 236 - Romance--The Most Comic of Catastrophes

Institution:

Case Western Reserve University

Subject:

Description:

From ancient Athens to Hollywood, romantic comedies have enjoyed continuous widespread popularity in the theater. In this course we will read a broad spectrum of romantic comedies, from the genre's beginnings with the Greek New Comic playwright Menander to the Roman Plautus, and on to Shakespeare. We will also watch a modern romantic comedy, Pretty Woman. We will begin the course with some ancient and modern literary theories of intertextuality and metatheatre that shed light upon the relationship between Comedy and Tragedy. Some questions we will ask in this course are: What's the historic relationship between Comedy and Tragedy? What's the connection between sex and comedy? What can Romantic Comedies tell us about the audience that is addressed from the space of the stage or screen? Does laughter depend on personal and cultural values and variables? Does comedy have a personal and social function? Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSY, FSCC, FSNA, FSSO or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.case.edu

Phone Number:

(216) 368-2000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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