Medieval and Renaissance Center, NYU Prof. A. Coller
Spring 2007
A History of Early Modern Drama (Italy, France, England)
A Renaissance best-seller, Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron proved highly influential not only as a model for prose but also as a primary ingredient for the first experiments with a ‘new’ genre: vernacular comedy. The Boccaccian novella and its French version, Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron, will be our point of departure; we will conclude with Shakespeare’s romantic comedies and Aphra Behn’s legacy to the English theater. We will also take note of early experiments with comedy’s close ‘cousin’, pastoral drama: authored by the first diva of international acclaim, Isabella Andreini’s pastoral play La Mirtilla will be read alongside Torquato Tasso’s Aminta, the genre’s chef d’oeuvre. The comedy that brought the ‘first romantic heroine’ to the European stage, The Deceived, will be read alongside Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and other romantic comedies, English and French. As we take stock of all these innovations, questions of genre and gender will be at the forefront of our discussions. While Italian actresses took to the stage as early as the 1550s, English actresses did not make an appearance until after the Restoration in 1660, one hundred years later! What role did the phenomenon of the first female performers play in the history of drama? In what ways may we distinguish the canonical texts from female-authored contributions? Do differerent vernaculars, national identities, author’s sex, political and social ideologies, as well as economics, have an impact on the creation and success of genres? Alternatively, to what degree is one’s (national) identity shaped by the genres represented here? Required Texts Boccaccio, Decameron Navarre, Heptameron Machiavelli, The Mandrake Root (La Mandragola)* Intronati, The Deceived* De Turnèbe, Satisfaction all around (Les contens)* Tasso, Aminta* Andreini, La Mirtilla* Guarini, Faithful Shepard (Pastor fido)* Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, All’s well that ends well, Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew Behn, The Rover, The Feigned Courtesans
*Some readings will be included in a course packet and available for purchase at La Guardia Place. Secondary readings and a selected bibliography will be available on Blackboard. We will conclude with a screening and discussion of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. **French and Italian majors and minors are encouraged to read the texts in their original version.