239461 Fools, Laughter, Wit and Fops: English Comedy 1660-1800 (S) (WiSe 2011/2012)

After the Puritans under Cromwell had banned public theatre performances for 18 years, theatre returned to the stages with the restoration of the Stuart monarchy to the throne in 1660. Comedy, we might say, returned with a vengeance: Restoration comedy satirized the manners and foibles of the upper classes, it explored the dramatic and social potential of intrigue and deceit, and it suggested an idea of the human being in which wit and lust reigned supreme. However, in the course of the 18th century, the character constellations, plot lines and evaluations presented in comedies changed, accommodating the value systems of the increasingly dominant middle classes.
Reading four plays, we will trace this unique shift of a theatrical genre in the social, ideological, and economic context of the development of 'modern' British society:
George Etherege: The Man of Mode (1676)
Aphra Behn: The Rover (1681)
Richard Steele: The Conscious Lovers (1722)
Oliver Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer (1773)

Requirements for participation, required level

Students should have finished BM3 before joining this course.

Bibliography

A reader containing all plays will be available at the beginning of the semester.