21L.021
Comedy
Surveys a range of comic texts in different media, the cultures that produced them, and various theories of comedy. Authors and directors studied may include Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Moliere, Austen, Wilde and Chaplin.
Spring 2022
Topics
- Introduction : Two (Many?) Sides to Comedy. When we compare comedy to other modes, such as tragedy, horror, or melodrama, it seems easy to define. We will find, however, that comedy is not so simple.
- Aristophanes, Lysistrata
- Aristophanes, Lysistrata , continued; Spike Lee, Chi-Raq (2015)
- Plautus, The Two Manaechmuses
- Billy Wilder, Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Research Workshop with MIT Libraries. Be prepared to start your in-class presentation.
- In-class Writing Workshop . Exchange papers with partner before class.
- Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
- Revision Workshop
- Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
- Behn, The Rover
- Austen, Pride and Prejudice
- In-class Workshop
- Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapters 1-23.
- Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
- Film: Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times (1936)
- Bechdel, Fun Home
- Video: Andy Kaufman on HBO ; Hannah Gadsby, Three Ideas ; Douglas
- Conclusion
Readings
- Aristophanes. Lysistrata . In Four Plays by Aristophanes . London: Plume, 1994. ISBN: 9780452007178.
- Spike Lee. Chi-Raq . USA, 2015.
- Plautus. The Two Menaechmuses . In Plautus. Translated by Wolfgang de Melo. Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library. ISBN: 9780674996786.
- Wilder, Billy. 1959. Some Like It Hot . United States: United Artists.
- Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew . In Four Comedies . Penguin Publishing Group, 1995.
- Zeffirelli, Franco. 1967. The Taming of the Shrew . United States: Columbia Pictures.
- Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night . In Four Comedies . Penguin Publishing Group, 1995.
- Trevor Nunn. 1997. Twelfth Night. New Line Home Video.
- Behn, Aphra. The Rover and Other Plays . Edited by Jane Spencer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199540204.
- Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World . Translated by Helene Iswolsky. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1971, pp. 66–96. ISBN: 9780262520249.
- Behn, Aphra. The Rover and Other Plays . Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199540204.
- Finish reading The Rover (Acts IV-V).
- Pacheco, Anita. “Rape and the Female Subject in Aphra Behn’s ‘The Rover’.” ELH 65, no. 2 (1998): 323-345.
- Corse, Taylor. “Seventeenth-Century Naples and Aphra Behn’s ‘The Rover’.” Restoration: Studies in English Literary Culture, 1660-1700 29, no. 2 (2005): 41-51.
- Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice . Edited by James Kinsley, and Christina Lupton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780198826736.
- Leonard, Robert Z. 1940. Pride and Prejudice . United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
- Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays . Edited by Peter Raby. Oxford England: Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199535972.
- Chaplin, Charles. 1936. Modern Times . United States: United Artists.
- Bergson, Henri. Excerpt from Laughter . In Comedy: Meaning and Form. Edited by Robert Corrigan, pp. 471–477. United States, Chandler Publishing Company, 1965. ISBN: 9780810200708.
- Freud, Sigmund. Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious . Translated by James Strachey. WW Norton & Company, 1960, pp. 221–236. ISBN: 9780393001457.
- Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic . Mariner Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780544709041.
- Aristophanes. Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Clouds / the Birds / Lysistrata / the Frogs . London: Plume, 1994. ISBN: 9780452007178.
- Plautus. “The Two Menaechmuses” in Plautus. Cambridge, MA: Loeb Classical Library. ISBN: 9780674996786.
- Shakespeare, William. Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew ; A Midsummer Night’s Dream ; as You like It ; Twelfth Night. Penguin Publishing Group, 1995. ISBN: 9780140434545.
- Behn, Aphra. The Rover and Other Plays . Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199540204.
- Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice . Edited by James Kinsley and Christina Lupton. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780198826736.
- Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays . Edited by Peter Raby. Oxford England: Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199535972.
- Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic . Mariner Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780544709041.
Spring 2016
This course is designed around analyzing what’s so funny and why is it that we laugh when we do. How is comedy characterized on the fictional page, the screen, and the stage? And what might the comic teach us about the self and culture(s), especially when we come to understand its patterns of transgression as confounding social norms through jokes and laughter? Tracking a history of comedy, beginning with the first Greek humorists, Aristophanes and Plautus, we will traverse genres, periods and cultures to reflect on various types of humor: satire, farce, slapstick, love, tragedy, parody, and screwball.
Readings
- [A] = Aristophanes. Lysistrata and Other Plays. Addison Wesley, 2008. ISBN: 9780140448146.
- [WS] = Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors. 1st edition. Edited by Charles Whitworth. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199536146.
- [MDC] = De Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote. Reprint edition. Translated by Edith Grossman. Harper Perennial, 2005. ISBN: 9780060934347.
- [CL] = Lennox, Charlotte. The Female Quixote: or The Adventures of Arabella. Edited by Margaret Dalziel. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199540242.
- [MT] = Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Dover Publications, 1994. ISBN: 9780486280615.
- [JM] = McBride, James. The Good Lord Bird. Reprint edition. Riverhead Books, 2014. ISBN: 9781594632785.
- [JL] = Leguizamo, John. Ghetto Klown. Illustrated by Christa Cassano and Shamus Beyale. Harry N. Abrams, 2015. ISBN: 9781419715181.
- [AB] = Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Reprint edition. Mariner Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780618871711.
- Freud, Sigmund. The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious. Translated by Joyce Crick. Penguin Classics, 2003. ISBN: 9780142437445.
- Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts. Utah State University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780874216424.
- Aristophanes, Lysistrata
- Lysistrata cont.
- Plautus, Menaechmi
- Plautus. “Menaechmi.” In The Comedy of Errors. 1st edition. Edited by Charles Whitworth. Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 188–220. ISBN: 9780199536146.
- Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors
- Harris, Joseph. “Introduction” and “Chapter 1: Coming to Terms.” In Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts. Utah State University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780874216424.
- The Comedy of Errors
- Twelfth Night
- Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote of La Mancha
- Don Quixote cont.
- Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote
- The Female Quixote , cont.
- Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn cont.
- James McBride, The Good Lord Bird
- The Good Lord Bird cont.
- Fey, Tina. Bossypants . Little Brown, 2011, pp. 3–10. ISBN: 9780316056861.
- John Leguizamo, Ghetto Klown
- Ghetto Klown cont.
- Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
- Fun Home cont.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2022
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2016
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.