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Theater of Power: Staging Revolt in European Drama
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This Course is Available through these Programs:
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Academic Institution: CEA GlobalCampus: Paris
Location: Paris, FrancePrimary Subject Area: English Language & Literature
Other Subject Area(s): Theater Arts, History, Political Science
Level(s): 300
UNH Course Code: ENG363
Instruction in: English
Recommended Semester Credits: 3
Contact Hours: 45
Prerequisites: Two semesters of English composition
Description
All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. From Athenian Democracy to Absolute Monarchy and from revolutionary and imperial regimes to the modern State, both power and revolution have held center stage across the pages of European drama. Just as the art of politics has always been about show and spectacle, so too has the theater been a stage for political intrigue and dark conspiracy. Playwrights craft their lines and direct their characters in clever ploys dramatizing the subtle truths of the politics and power in place. And the plot is always thick: shall the legitimacy and exercise of power incite audiences into thunderous applause or provoke satirical laughter and jeering ridicule? In short, will the theatrical presentation conclude as a political catalyst: either helping consolidate authority or, fomenting revolution, draw the curtain down upon it?
Therefore, through a selected reading and viewing of over 2000 years of playwriting and acting - from "Oedipus the King" to "Don Juan" and from "Richard III" to "The Marriage of Figaro" - you set out on a dramatic walk across the rebellious stages of European theater. It is a journey that has drama as its basis; power, conflict and revolution as its themes; political thought and ideology as its perspectives; the boundaries of Europe as its geographical framework; art, history and philosophy as its methods of analysis; film and play viewings as instructional supports; and a unique critical reflection upon the current political order as it purpose.
You will textually explore fourteen masterpieces of the European stage each in its historical, ideological, literary, aesthetic, philosophical and theatrical context. In short, this course will provide you with general background material in European literature, drama and history, serving as a complement to your area of concentration or as an introduction to further work in arts, drama, history or related fields.
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