Gender and Sexuality in the Early Modern Stage
Cross-listed with SPAN502
Commedia dell'arte troupe by unknown artist, c. 1580; in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris.
Expect to read some of the most outstanding theatrical plays of the early modern period from a comparative perspective, bringing together texts from various literary traditions. In this course students will explore both the common themes and diverging practices of the Spanish, French, Italian, English and Novohispanic stages. The seminar will examine baroque theatricality, meta-theatricality, stagecraft and the distinct treatment of women in the performance space, while paying particular attention to the varied ways that gender, sex and sexuality are represented. Readings might include plays by Shakespeare, Cervantes, Racine and Calderón; Caro Mallén de Soto, Sor Juana and Aphra Behn; Marlowe, Molière, Machiavelli and Tirso; Lope de Vega, Corneille, Ruiz de Alarcón and Middleton, among other.
Language of instruction: Spanish
Recommended prerequisites: SPAN 221; and SPAN 301 or equivalent expertise in written and spoken Spanish
- Ignacio Arellano, Historia del teatro español del siglo XVII. Madrid: Cátedra, 2008.
- Ignacio Arellano and José Antonio Rodríguez Garrido, El teatro en la Hispanoamérica colonial. Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2008.
- Francisco Ruiz Ramón, Historia del teatro español (desde sus orígenes hasta 1900). Madrid: Cátedra, 2011.
- Malveena McKendrick, Theatre in Spain, 1490-1700. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989.
- Teresa Scott Soufas, Dramas of Distinction: Plays by Golden Age Women. Lexington: The U of Kentucky P, 1997.
- Daniel Gerould, ed. Theatre/Theory/Theatre. Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corp., 2000.
- Henry Bial and Sara Brady, eds. The Performance Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2016.