HP2xx Staging Sin: Golden-Age Drama in England and Spain

Is murder moral? What happens when you want what you ‘can’t’ have? And how should you feel about a tragedy?

Plays were the most popular early modern art form: playwrights were celebrities, and everyone went to the theatre. And ethical questions were often central to these plays’ appeal, condemning their characters to death or to hell, while also asking: what exactly is wrong, here? And what could you really have done differently, if this had happened to you? In this module, you’ll see how these ethical challenges could produce completely different answers in two of the richest periods of drama in world history, as playwrights in England and Spain asked many of the same questions and often riffed on the same plots. By reading four carefully chosen pairs of English and Spanish plays, we’ll explore why sins can be so tempting, and why behaving morally can be so difficult; and we’ll ask how individuals should respond in situations where it’s really society that is to blame, from a ruler’s abuse of power to the social barriers that divide lovers like Romeo and Juliet. And – spoiler – we’ll see why those lovers don’t always die!

This module will allow you to explore Spanish drama in detail, and compare it to English tradition. However, if you prefer to focus your assessment only on the Spanish, that is absolutely fine and there is no disadvantage at all. The module is delivered in English, and all primary texts will be available in English translation.

External students from departments across the University are welcome on this module. If you do not have Spanish, please register for EN2/3XX Staging Sin. This is the same module and all teaching is identical. If you are a joint English/Hispanic Studies student, you cannot take both versions!

Course Outline