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.

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

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

Jonathan Dollimore Radical Tragedy (2004)
J W Lever The Tragedy of State (1987)
Julia Briggs This Stage-Play World (1997)

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