Theatre Arts 275
The Seeds of Modern Drama
Professor Mazer
Spring 2012
519
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30-2:30, and by
appointment
January 12: Introduction
January 17: Alexandre Dumas, fils, The Lady of the
Camelias (Camille)
(Blackboard)
January 19: Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin (in Norris Houghton, The Seeds of Modern Drama); “Naturalism in the
Theatre” (Blackboard)
January 24: Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House
January 26: A Doll
House (cont.); G. Bernard Shaw, “Ideals and Idealists” and “The Technical
Novelty of Ibsen’s Plays,” from The
Quintessence of Ibsenism (Blackboard)
January 31: Ibsen, Hedda Gabler; Shaw, “Hedda
Gabler,” from The
Quintessence of Ibsenism (Blackboard); Arthur Ganz, “Miracle and Vine Leaves: An Ibsen Play Rewrought”
(Blackboard)
February 2: Ibsen, The Master Builder
February 7: Gerhart Hauptmann, The Weavers (in
Houghton)
February 9: August Strindberg, Miss Julie (including the Preface).
February 14: Miss
Julie (cont.); Una Chaudhuri,
“Private Parts: Sex, Class, and Stage
Space in Miss Julie” (Blackboard)
[Approximate due date: first take-home assignment]
February 16: Ibsen, Peer
Gynt
February 21: Georg Büchner, Woyzeck
February 23: Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening
February 28: Strindberg, A Dream Play
March 1: Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya
[Spring Break]
March 13: Uncle Vanya (cont.)
March 15: Uncle Vanya (cont.)
March 20: The
Cherry Orchard
March 22: The
Cherry Orchard (cont.)
March 27: The
Cherry Orchard (cont.)
[Approximate due date: second take-home assignment]
March 29: G. Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Profession (including “The Author’s Apology,”
Blackboard; also available for free on Kindle.)
April 3: Shaw, Major
Barbara (including the Preface).
April 5: Major
Barbara (cont.); Sidney P. Albert, “‘In More Ways than One’: Major
Barbara’s debt to Gilbert Murray” (Blackboard).
April 10: H. Granville Barker, The Voysey Inheritance (Blackboard)
April 112: The Voysey Inheritance (cont.)
April 17: Elizabeth Robins, Votes for Women!
(Blackboard)
April 19: John Millington Synge, Playboy of the
Western World (Blackboard; also available for free on Kindle.)
April 24: Catch-up and conclusions.
There will be TWO take-home
essay assignments (approximately 5 pages), plus ONE final paper (approximately
10-12 pages), due at a date to be announced during reading and exam period, on
a topic that must MUST BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE. Attendance in class is crucial; CHRONIC
ABSENCE OR LATENESS WILL BE COUNTED AGAINST YOU.
The following books can be
purchased at the
Henrik
Ibsen, Four Major Plays
v. I
August Strindberg, Miss Julie and Other Plays
Henrik
Ibsen, Peer Gynt
Georg
Büchner, Complete
Plays
Frank Wedekind,
Spring Awakening
Anton Chekhov, Four Plays & Five Jokes
G. Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara
The listserv for this course is
THAR275-402-12a@lists.upenn.edu. Several
electronic scripts and articles are available on the Blackboard website, to
which you have been automatically subscribed.
The syllabus for this course is
available at http://www.english.upenn.edu/~mazer/2750sp12.htm. Make a bookmark on your web browser for this
site.