ENGL 416

Fall 2025 Part of Term 1

Part of Term 1
Aug 25-Dec 10

Topics in British Drama to 1660

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Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Advanced topics course devoted to dramatic practice in the medieval and/or early modern British Isles.

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary; Graduate students may repeat if topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

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ENGL 416 class schedule data for fall 2025
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	46736	Lecture-Discussion	1G	2:00PM -3:15PM	TR	215 Davenport Hall	Stevens, A	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Special Approval: Instructor Approval Required Credit: 4 hours Section Title: Sex, Vengeance & Tragedy Section Info: FA25 ENGL 416 - Topics in British Drama to 1660 - Andrea Stevens - Sex, Vengeance, and Tragedy - ‘For what’s a play without a woman in it?’ (Hieronimo, The Spanish Tragedy). Leonard Tennenhouse once described early modern tragedy as ‘turn[ing] on the body of an aristocratic woman’. In saying this, he acknowledges how frequently early modern plays stage scenes of violence against women, especially within the sub-genre of the revenge tragedy; in a handful of plays, however, women themselves turn revenger. Hieronimo’s question – what’s a play without a woman in it – furthermore reminds us that, as we consider such questions as the agency of tragic women on the early modern stage, no ‘woman’ actually appeared as a performer – instead, these women’s parts were played by painted boys up until the 1642 closing of the theaters. Adopting a twin focus on theater history and contemporary performance, this course surveys seven early modern tragedies, six of which are written by contemporaries of Shakespeare; to this sampling of non-Shakespearean drama we will, however, also read Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The plays covered thus include Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy; Shakespeare’s Hamlet; Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy; John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi; Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling; John Ford’s Tis Pity She’s a Whore; and William Heminge’s The Fatal Contract. NOTE: this course is open to undergraduates only. Graduate students wishing to take this course for graduate credit can only enroll with the written prior permission of the instructor. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
	30167	Lecture-Discussion	1U	2:00PM -3:15PM	TR	215 Davenport Hall	Stevens, A	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/25/25-12/10/25 Credit: 3 hours Section Title: Sex, Vengeance & Tragedy Section Info: FA25 ENGL 416 - Topics in British Drama to 1660 - Andrea Stevens - Sex, Vengeance, and Tragedy - ‘For what’s a play without a woman in it?’ (Hieronimo, The Spanish Tragedy). Leonard Tennenhouse once described early modern tragedy as ‘turn[ing] on the body of an aristocratic woman’. In saying this, he acknowledges how frequently early modern plays stage scenes of violence against women, especially within the sub-genre of the revenge tragedy; in a handful of plays, however, women themselves turn revenger. Hieronimo’s question – what’s a play without a woman in it – furthermore reminds us that, as we consider such questions as the agency of tragic women on the early modern stage, no ‘woman’ actually appeared as a performer – instead, these women’s parts were played by painted boys up until the 1642 closing of the theaters. Adopting a twin focus on theater history and contemporary performance, this course surveys seven early modern tragedies, six of which are written by contemporaries of Shakespeare; to this sampling of non-Shakespearean drama we will, however, also read Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The plays covered thus include Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy; Shakespeare’s Hamlet; Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy; John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi; Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling; John Ford’s Tis Pity She’s a Whore; and William Heminge’s The Fatal Contract. NOTE: this course is open to undergraduates only. Graduate students wishing to take this course for graduate credit can only enroll with the written prior permission of the instructor. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.