Renaissance City Comedy

About this course

The course examines how Renaissance city comedies use satire, comic exaggeration, disguise, metatheatre, character contrasts and complex plotting to represent social life, politics and changing gender relations. Sessions combine tutor presentation with small-group and whole-class discussion, including close study of key passages from Eastward, Ho!, The Roaring Girl and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. Discussion considers the plays’ historical context, theatrical conventions, character types and treatment of subjects including marriage, family, social status, corruption and inheritance.

What you'll learn

• Explain how the city-comedy tradition develops across the three plays
• Analyse the use of satire to depict individual and collective experience in Renaissance society
• Identify dramatic techniques used to represent social customs and politics
• Relate the comedies’ themes and plotting to their contemporary historical and social context

Is this course right for you?

The course is intended for Improver-level learners, with some experience of studying dramatic literature described as useful. Participation involves reading substantial dramatic texts, considering different interpretations and contributing to small-group and whole-class discussions.

• Learners should be open to contrasting approaches to interpretation and willing to listen to others’ views.

Before you go

• Learners need to read the three plays in full: Eastward Ho!, The Roaring Girl and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside.
• Guided reading materials and key extracts are provided to support independent study and preparation.
• Learners should borrow or buy the specified editions of the three plays.