ENGL 2107 - Tragedy

Students will undertake a critical exploration of the theories and practices of tragedy from classical times to the present. Areas of investigation include but are not limited to: the history of tragedy and changing notions of the tragic; the formal qualities of tragedy; kinds of tragedy; the `death of tragedy; tragedy and discourses of the mind and body. Texts will be selected from the following list: Sophocles' Oedipus, Marlowe's 1Tamburlaine; Shakespeare's Hamlet; Goethe's Faust Part 1; Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children; Anouilh's Antigone; Miller's Death of a Salesman; Vickers' Where Three Roads Meet. Selected extracts from theoretical texts and additional materials will encourage students to explore tragedy in practices and theories (and countries and artistic movements) beyond those represented by the set texts.