Essays
Write an essay of approximately 2,500 words on ONE of the following subjects, to be handed into the departmental office (Room 222) by 12 noon.
Essay One: Wednesday 30 November (week 9)
Essay Two: Monday 20 February (week 7)
Make sure your essay is only identified by your university number from your library card, and that a cover sheet is attached. Ensure that your pages are numbered and that you state a word-count. See dept handbook for further advice about writing and presenting essays.
Consult the individual bibilographies handed out at lectures/available online for guidance in your reading.
ESSAY One:
1. Why were German thinkers so interested in Greek tragedy?
2. Have Greek tragedies been useful or useless texts for feminism?
3. Assess the similarities and differences between twentieth-century historicist approaches to tragedy and nineteenth-century philosophical appropriations of tragedy.
4. Why has Greek tragedy been important for modern sexuality?
ESSAY two:
1. Is the ambiguousness of political meaning in modern revisions of Greek tragedy a problem or an advantage?
2. "In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare was most interested in exploring the relationship between history and tragedy". Discuss.
3. Why has ancient Christianity been so important in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature and film?
4. "Films like Ben Hur and Spartacus are trash entertainment, compared to meaningful films such as Sebastiane and Fellini's Satyricon". Discuss