Ever wondered what European dramatists were doing while Shakespeare and his contemporaries were writing plays which became world-famous and started a whole 'Bard' industry? Is Shakespearean drama in a league of its own, or are there hidden sources and connections which are needed to set it in proper context? Team-taught by Teresa Grant (English) and Rich Rabone (Hispanic Studies), this module will give students a chance to read a selection of the best plays of English and Spanish authors in the period c. 1590-1660. Some of the greatest playwrights of all time were writing during this well-named Golden Age, with Shakespeare and Calderon at their head. As the syllabus below reveals, there was some considerable overlap in themes and plots: Shakespeare was borrowed by the Spanish, and Shirley (and others) borrowed back heavily in return. However, the political and religious outlook of the two stages was very different, and this profoundly affected the mores depicted on stage and any possible lesson an audience is supposed to learn. We'll look at two plays a week (one English, one Spanish) chosen to show how similarity and difference can co-exist. We'll learn about the background of each theatrical space, in historical, physical, political, religious and social terms. We'll have a look at some of the most important theoretical writings on theatre from both countries in the long seventeenth century, investigating how genre is understood, how classical writers on drama were negotiated and what playwrights thought the point of writing for the stage was.

Seminars will be an interactive discussion rather than a lecture, and each week on rotation students will be asked to give short presentations which introduce the plays. Come to class prepared to talk but remember that we are not expecting you to come as an expert—questions are usually just as helpful as observations to a seminar so you mustn't feel you have to come with all the answers. The tutors are each expert in one country’s drama and are looking forward to learning from each other as well as from you.

If you don't do the essential reading set for the week, we'll find that the seminars quickly come unstuck. Usually, the primary texts are essential, and the secondary ones as recommended (though there may be weeks where a piece of secondary material is essential). Try to do all the essential reading, and at least one recommended piece each week please.

A NOTE ON TEXTS: All Warwick staff and students have access via the University Library to Drama OnlineLink opens in a new window, which has all the Arden Shakespeares and most of the Methuen/New Mermaid Early Modern Drama texts (as well as two of the Spanish plays in Nick Hern editions). We will use these for most of our set texts for the module, so if you want to buy your own paper copy you should choose these versions (*asterisked below) so we are all (literally) on the same page. Students should also secure access to a copy of The Golden Age of Spanish DramaLink opens in a new window, tr. G.J. Racz, ed. Barbara Fuchs (Norton Critical Editions, 2018), which contains Life is a Dream, Fuenteovejuna and The Dog in the Manger, as well as a wealth of critical material.

Preparatory Reading: if you want to read up ahead of time about English and Spanish Drama of the period, we recommend Peter Womack's English Renaissance DramaLink opens in a new window (Blackwells, 2006) and Jonathan Thacker's A Companion to Golden Age Theatre (Colección Támesis, Serie A, Monografías, 2023).

Representative Syllabus 2024-25 (Talis Aspire reading list will be available shortly)

Week 1: The Background. 'The Golden Age of Spain' (pp. 57-68) and 'Tudor and Stuart Periods' (pp. 113-64) in A. M. Nagler (ed.), A Source Book in Theatrical History (New York, 1959). From Theatre/Theory/TheatreLink opens in a new window, ed. Daniel Gerould (New York, 2000): Philip Sidney, selections from The Defense of Poetry (1583); Lope de Vega, The New Art of Writing Plays (tr. Marvin Carlson); John Dryden, selections from An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668). Please make sure you have read the plays for week 2 before week 1 because it's really hard to talk about theory without having some literary examples: Tirso de Molina (attrib.), El burlador de Sevilla/The Trickster of Seville (played 1616?; pub. 1630); *Christopher Marlowe, Doctor FaustusLink opens in a new window (1592; ed. Roma Gill and Ros King, Methuen/New Mermaid, 2008)

Week 2: Hell and how to get there. *Doctor FaustusLink opens in a new window, (1592; ed. Roma Gill and Ros King, Methuen/New Mermaid, 2008) and Tirso de Molina (attrib.), El burlador de Sevilla/The Trickster of Seville (played 1616?; pub. 1630).

Week 3: Imitation/Translation. *William Shakespeare, Romeo and JulietLink opens in a new window (1595?; ed. René Weis, Arden Shakespeare, 2012) and Lope de Vega, Castelvines y Monteses/Capulets and Montegues (1647).

Week 4: Punishment. *Thomas Heywood, A Woman Killed With KindnessLink opens in a new window (1603/1607; ed. Brian Scobie, Methuen/New Mermaid, 2003) and Calderón, El médico de su honra/The Physician of his Honour (1637).

Week 5: Get Real! Francis Beaumont, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607; ed. Barker and Hinds in The Routledge Anthology of Renaissance DramaLink opens in a new window, 2003) and Calderón, La vida es sueño/Life is a Dream (1636).

READING WEEK

Week 7: Revolt. *William Shakespeare, Julius CaesarLink opens in a new window (1599; ed. David Daniell, Arden Shakespeare) and Lope, Fuenteovejuna (1619). 

Week 8: Class. Lope, El perro del hortelano/The Dog in the Manger (1618) and James Shirley, The Gentleman of Venice (c. 1639; OUP Shirley, to be supplied).

Week 9: Gender. Ana Caro de Mallén, Valor, agravio y mujer (1620s or 30s)/Valour, Outrage, and Woman (translated as The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs) and *Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, PhilasterLink opens in a new window (c. 1610; ed. Suzanne Gossett, Arden Early Modern Drama).

Week 10: Sliding Doors. Calderón, La dama duende/The Phantom Lady (1629) and Samuel Tuke, The Adventures of Five HoursLink opens in a new window (1662; ed. Paul M. S. Hopkins, 2003)

Module aims

This Advanced Study module aims to equip students with advanced knowledge and understanding of Golden Age Drama in England and Spain. It provides an opportunity for students to extend their coverage of Renaissance Theatre while developing their research and writing skills. By the end of the course students will be able to:

demonstrate wide and deep knowledge and understanding of the set plays in their political, religious and social contexts

demonstrate wide and deep knowledge and understanding of the major dramatic trends and themes of the period 1558-1659

demonstrate wide and deep knowledge and understanding of early modern literary and dramatic criticism in theory and practice

demonstrate the ability to deploy research skills as appropriate to the chosen area of study

present material effectively in a scholarly written format