Module Descriptors
READING IN CONTEXT : REVENGE DRAMA
ENGL50250
Key Facts
Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies
Level 5
15 credits
Contact
Leader: Barry Taylor
Email: B.P.Taylor@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 22
Independent Study Hours: 128
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
  • COURSEWORK -ESSAY weighted at 100%
Module Details
Module Indicative Content
The aim of this module is to examine one of the key genres of the early modern stage in its social, political, intellectual and ideological contexts. Students will analyse some of the principal texts of the Revenge genre in relation to its conventions of form, scenario and characterisation, and some of its key thematic concerns: Justice and monarchical rule; the family and individual freedom; Machiavellian politics; critiques of Courtly culture; women as victims and villains. Texts may include: Thomas Kyd The Spanish Tragedy, William Shakespeare Hamlet, Thomas Middleton The Revenger's Tragedy, John Marston The Malcontent John Webster The Duchess of Malfi, Thomas Middleton Women Beware Women.

Module Additional Assessment Details
Coursework Essay (100%): 2500 words, relating to two or more texts.

Module Resources
OHP
Library
VCR
Internet
Module Texts
Jonathan Dollimore Radical Tragedy (2004)
J W Lever The Tragedy of State (1987)
Julia Briggs This Stage-Play World (1997)


Module Learning Strategies
Contact hours will be taken up with Lectures, seminars, and small-group tutorials to support coursework planning.