Description and Objectives

The course objective is to acquaint the students with  trends and movements in the Modern English drama. The course focuses on the representative works of the prominent 20th century  playwrights. The students will learn to differentiate between the techniques, structural and thematic aspects of earlier plays and the modern drama. By the end of the course ,students will familiarize themselves with the predominant trends, genres as well as the main representatives of the British drama and assess their contribution to the European tradition of the 20th century drama.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

i. Identify the elements of drama, such as form and scenic contrast, symbol and myth, theme and message, language and dialogue, staging and performance, character and conflict.

ii. Articulate their understanding of the relationship between literature and the historical/cultural contexts in which it was written. Absurdism in drama was an aftermath of WWII. Students would understand the effect the war had on people at the time but also why some people may have felt it necessary to create theatre like this.

Course Outline

• T .S. Eliot         Murder in the Cathedral

• Anton Chekov   The Cherry Orchard

• Samuel Beckett   Waiting for Godot

• Sean O’ Casey    Juno and the Paycock

Further Readings

Bennett, M. (2011). Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd: Camus, Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter. Springer.

Flynn, T. (2006). Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Pilling, John.(1994) The Cambridge Companion to Beckett. Cambridge UP.

Class Timings (Spring 2020)

MA IV (r) Wednesday-Friday 8-9 am

Assesment

• Mid Term :30
• Project :10
• Presentation: 05
• Class participation:05
• Final exam:50