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Classics/Comparative Literature/Theatre Film and Dance 223
The Comic Theatre
Monday-Wednesday-Friday, 12:20-1:15, Kaufmann Auditorium, Spring 2006

Jeffrey Rusten (instructor)

The origins of comic drama in ancient Greece and Rome, and its subsequent incarnations especially in the Italian renaissance (Commedia erudita and Commedia dell' arte), Elizabethan England, 17th-century France, the English Restoration , and Hollywood in the 30's and 40's. Chief topics will be 1) the growth of the comic theatrical tradition and conventions; 2) techniques and themes of comic plots (trickster, parody, farce, caricature); 3) the role of comedy in society: is it disruptive or unifying? Insightful or malicious? When is censorship necessary?
All readings in English.

Monday, Jan 22 Introduction: Approaches to Comedy; 7 Ages of the Comic Theater
Wednesday, Jan. 24: Anthropology and the Origins of Comedy (slides)
Friday, January 26, The Greek and Roman Theater (slides)

I. THE TRICKSTER

Monday, Jan. 29: Athenian Old Comedy (Aristophanes, Lysistrata)
Wednesday, Jan. 31: Greek and Roman New Comedy (Terence, Phormio)
Friday, Feb.. 2: The Parasite (Terence, Phormio)
Monday, Feb. 5: The Slave (Plautus, Pseudolus)
Wednesday, Feb. 7: The Valet (Molière, Scapin)
Friday, Feb. 9: From ancient Rome to the Italian Renaissance (slides)
Monday, Feb. 12: Women as prey (Machiavelli, The Mandragola; first short essay due)
Wednesday, Feb. 14: Woman as Hunter:The Lady Eve (dir. Preston Sturges, 1941)
Friday, Feb. 16: The Commedia dell' arte (Lucky Isabella)
Monday, Feb. 19: The Fox and the Crow-and the Fly: Jonson, Volpone
Wednesday, Feb. 21: The Restoration Theater: an Introduction to The Way of the World (slides)
Friday, Feb. 23: Congreve, The Way of the World (second short essay due)

II. FARCE: COMEDIES OF ERRORS

Monday, Feb. 26: The Mistakes of a Day: Menander, The Girl from Samos
Wednesday, Feb. 28: Plautus, The Menaechmus Twins
Friday, Mar. 2: Molière, The Doctor In Spite of Himself
Monday, Mar. 5: 'Screwball' farce: Bringing Up Baby (1938, Hepburn, Grant, dir. Hawks)
Wednesday, Mar. 7: The Elizabethan Stage (slides)
Friday, Mar. 9: Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream
Monday, Mar. 12: The End of the Clever Slave: Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro
Wednesday, Mar. 14: After Hours (Griffin Dunne, dir. Martin Scorsese, 1985)
Friday, Mar. 16: Savage Farce (Joe Orton, What the Butler Saw)
Monday, Mar. 19-Friday, Mar. 23: NO CLASS (Spring Break)

III. SELF-PORTRAIT: PARODY OF THE THEATER

Monday, Mar. 26: Comedy and Censorship (18th century England) (comic scenario due)
Wednesday, Mar. 28: This is Spinal Tap (dir. Rob Reiner, 1983)
Friday, Mar. 30: The purpose of theater: Aristophanes, The Frogs (slides)

IV. THE COMIC FLAW: COMEDY AND CHARACTER

Monday, Apr. 2: Menander & Psychological Comedy: Menander, Dyskolos
Wednesday, Apr. 4: Husbands & Wives: Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
Friday, Apr. 6: Theodora Goes Wild (Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas, dir. R. Boleslavsky 1936)
Monday, Apr. 9: Menander & Psychology II: Terence, Brothers (= Menander's Adelphoe)
Wednesday, Apr. 11: Husbands & Wives II: The Philadelphia Story (Hepburn, Grant, Stewart, dir. Cukor 1940)
Friday, Apr. 13: The Theater of Molière (Molière, Misanthrope; slides)
Monday, Apr. 16: Honesty and Arrogance: Rousseau's critique of Molière, The Misanthrope

V. THE LORD OF MISRULE: COMEDY OF REBELLION

Wednesday, Apr. 18: Festivals and Fools: Comedy and Misrule (Duck Soup [The Marx Brothers, dir. Leo MacCarey, 1933]) (6 pp. essay due)
Friday, Apr. 20: Adam de la Halle, The Play of the Bower
Monday, Apr. 23--Wednesday, Apr. 25 Falstaff and the Prodigal Prince: Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I
Friday, Apr. 27: National Lampoon's Animal House (John Belushi, dir. John Landis, 1978)
Monday, Apr. 30: Aristophanes at War: Aristophanes, The Acharnians (slides)
Wednesday May 2: Conclusions: Comedy and Society
Friday May 4: (Slope Day)

Tuesday, May 15, 2-4:30pm Final Exam room TBA

Aristophanes, Four Comedies (Lysistrata, The Congresswomen, Acharnians, The Frogs), tr. D. Parker and R. Lattimore (Ann Arbor Paperbacks)
Menander, Plays and Fragments, tr. Balme (Oxford)
Plautus, The Menaechmus Twins and Two Other Plays, tr. L. Casson (Norton)
Terence, The Comedies, tr. B. Radice (Penguin)
Molière, The Misanthrope and Other Plays, tr. D. Frame (New American Library)
Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville and the Marriage of Figaro, tr. J. Wood (Penguin)
OPTIONAL: Orton, The Complete Plays (Grove Press)
(NOTE: The volumes of the Folger Shakespeare on sale at the Bookstore are also optional; any edition you have is acceptable.)
AVAILABLE ONLINE: SOURCEBOOK Readings on the Comic Theater (= SB in the list of assignments)

(in Classics Dept Office, Goldwin Smith 120)
Mondays 2-3pm; Thursdays 3-4pm; Fridays 3:30-4pm (or by appointment, email is best: jsr5@cornell.edu).

One copy of all the required books and sourcebook will be available on reserve in Uris Library; optional books need not be purchased, since several copies will be available on reserve .

Containing background readings and texts of several required plays; available online at the course website, (a printed copy may be purchased from the instructor).

Videotape copies of films required will be on reserve in Uris Library, and can be checked out for viewing. Uris will also have several additional films on reserve for possible paper topics.

Examinations (no preliminary examination)
Quizzes (ca. 10% of course grade) to test factual knowledge of the plays; unnanounced, at intervals throughout the term.
Final examination (ca. 25%) on Tuesday, May 15, 2-4:30pm (study questions will be distributed at the end of the semester)

Papers
2 Short Essays (ca. 20%) on Machiavelli's Mandragola and Congreve's Way of the World; 3 pp., due Mon., Feb. 12. and Wed., Feb. 23.
Comic Scenario (ca. 15%) 4-5 pp. (graded pass-fail) due Mon. Mar. 26.
1 term paper (ca. 30%) 6 pp. minimum due Wed. Apr. 18. A list of suggested topics will be distributed several weeks in advance.