| Unit name | Revenge Tragedy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL29008 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Lesel Dawson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Revenge has been a central preoccupation from Aeschylus to Tarantino. Acts of vengeance raise perplexing questions about the ethical meaning of retribution, the responsibilities of the living to the dead, and the relationship between mourning and memory. This course will explore the representation of revenge across a wide selection of literary texts, some of which will be read in translation. Among the topics investigated will be: tensions between the vengeance of the individual and the operations of law, the moral and emotional transformation of the revenger, the haunting presence of the dead, and ideas about pollution and expiation. Starting with plays from the classical period which form an essential background to revenge tragedy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we will study a range of tragedies, relating individual texts to dramatic ideas of genre, to traditions and conventions of stage representation, and to the historical contexts of the period.
Aims:
This unit aims to introduce a principal dramatic genre of Englihs Renaissance drama. Starting with plays from the classical period which form an essential background to revenge tragedy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, students will study a range of tragedies, relating individual texts to dramatic ideas of genre, to traditions and conventions of stage representation and to the historical contexts of the period.
By the end of the unit, students should be able to recognise, describe and analyse formal and generic characteristics of revenge tragedy, show an understanding of how revenge tragedy develops and changes of different historical periods, and be able to relate texts of the conventions and contexts which conditioned them.
1 x 2 hour seminar per week in one teaching block, plus 1-to-1 discussion in consultation hours where desired.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Seneca, Phaedra
Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
Middleton, The Revenger’s Tragedy
Margaret Atwood, Cat’s Eye
Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven
