21L.421

Comedy

Undergraduate · Historical course

Spring 2008

This course looks at comedy in drama, novels, and films from Classical Greece to the twentieth century. Focusing on examples from Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Molière, Wilde, Chaplin, and Billy Wilder, along with theoretical contexts, the class examines comedy as a transgressive mode with revolutionary social and political implications. This is a Communications Intensive (CI) class with emphasis on discussion, and frequent, short essays.

Readings

Aristophanes. Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Clouds, the Birds, Lysistrata, the Frogs . Translated by William Arrowsmith. New York, NY: Plume Books, 1994. ISBN: 9780452007178. ( Download a version of the text from Project Gutenberg.) ↗
Required
Plautus, Titus Maccius. Four Comedies: The Braggart Soldier, The Brothers Menaechmus, The Haunted House, The Pot of Gold . Translated by Erich Segal. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780192838964.
Required
Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors . New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780671722579. ( Download a version of the text from Project Gutenberg.) ↗
Required
———. Four Comedies . Edited by G. R. Hibbard and S. Wells. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 1995. ISBN: 9780140434545.
Required
Moliere, Jean Baptiste Poquelin. The Misanthrope and Tartuffe . Translated by Richard Wilbur. Fort Washington, PA: Harvest Books, 1965. ISBN: 9780156605175. ( Download a version of the text from Bibliomania.) ↗
Required
Behn, Aphra. The Rover and Other Plays . Edited by Jane Spencer. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780192834515.
Required
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice . Edited by J. Kisley, with F. W. Bradbrook and I. Armstrong. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780192833556.
Required
Twain, Mark. The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson and the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins . Edited by Shelley Fisher Fishkin. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780195114157. ( Download a version of the text from Project Gutenberg.) ↗
Required
Wilde, Oscar, and Sylvan Barnet. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays . New York, NY: Signet Books, 1985. ISBN: 9780451525055. ( Download a version of the text from Project Gutenberg.) ↗
Required
Calvino, Italo. Cosmicomics . Translated by William Weaver. New York, NY: Harvest/HBJ, 1976. ISBN: 9780156226004.
Required
Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. ISBN: 9780618477944.
Required
2 · Aristophanes, Lysistrata
Listed reading
Aristophanes, Lysistrata (cont.)
Listed reading
Film screening: Some Like It Hot
Listed reading
4 · Plautus, The Brothers Manaechmus
Listed reading
5 · Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors
Listed reading
Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
Listed reading
Film screening: Bringing Up Baby
Listed reading
7 · Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Listed reading
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (cont.)
Listed reading
Film screening: Twelfth Night
Listed reading
9 · Molière, The Misanthrope
Listed reading
Behn, The Rover
Listed reading
Film screening: Ridicule
Listed reading
11 · Aphra Behn, The Rover (cont.) · Essay 2 (7 pages) due after two days
Listed reading
12-14 · Austen, Pride and Prejudice · Essay 2 revision (7 pages) due after two days of Ses #14
Listed reading
15-16 · Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson
Listed reading
Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
Listed reading
Film screening The Importance of Being Earnest
Listed reading
18 · Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (cont.)
Listed reading
20-21 · Calvino, Cosmicomics
Listed reading
Bechdel, Fun Home
Listed reading
Film screening Modern Times
Listed reading
23 · Bechdel, Fun Home (cont.)
Listed reading

Sources

Course catalogue ↗Historical OpenCourseWare
MIT OCW readings ↗
MIT OCW syllabus ↗
Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.