Approaches to Teaching English Renaissance Drama (Approaches to Teaching World Literature)

Many college students are familiar with the works of William Shakespeare but may know little about other playwrights of his era. This volume explores the compelling dramatic techniques and rich language found in a wide variety of both well-known and less-familiar Renaissance plays. A series of reading, performance, and research strategies is outlined for teachers who wish to encourage students to understand the English Renaissance from a fresh perspective.

Like the other volumes in the Approaches to Teaching World Literature series, this one offers classroom advice from experienced teachers. The first section, “Materials,” surveys classroom practice and discusses the resources available to teachers, including editions, historical information on performance conditions, films and videos of productions, and related Internet sites. The second section, “Approaches,” offers strategies for teaching the plays as performance, for introducing students to the language of Renaissance drama, and for demonstrating the collaborative nature of Renaissance authorship. Contributors also consider the plays in the context of racial, gender, religious, and class issues in the Renaissance and compare the dramas to Stuart masques, festive practices, and other art forms such as painting.

Karen Bamford is associate professor at Mount Allison University and the author of Sexual Violence on the Jacobean Stage (St. Martin's, 2000). Alexander Leggatt is professor of English at University College, University of Toronto. He has written many books and articles on Renaissance drama. His most recent titles include Introduction to English Renaissance Comedy (Manchester UP, 1999), English Stage Comedy, 1490-1990 (Routledge, 1998), and Jacobean Public Theatre (Routledge, 1992).