DRLIT-UA 235 - Restoration and 18th-Century Drama

Institution:

New York University

Subject:

Description:

The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 brought an end to a 20-year period of civil war and military rule in England. As a postwar culture, Restoration England was a divided society, but also a Major/Minor in Dramatic Literature society ripe for social change and cultural innovation. The London public theatres in this period, reopened after twenty years of prohibition, can be variously characterized as progressive vanguard and conservative rearguard, both an open forum for new ideas and subversive critique of the dominant culture, and a bastion of aristocratic privilege and state hegemony. This course considers the cultural activity of the Restoration public theatres from both outlooks. Embracing the divided nature of the art and culture of this period, the readings are organized into a series of unlikely pairings: urban comedies and classical tragedies, closet dramas and box-office successes, propaganda pieces and broad satires, puritan reform and libertine excess. Playwrights include Dryden, Davenant, Cavendish, Etherege, Wycherley, Rochester, Milton, Centlivre, Shadwell, Otway, and Farquhar.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nyu.edu

Phone Number:

(212) 998-1212

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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