Antics
of the Reduced Shakespeare Company Antics
of the Reduced Shakespeare Company
Comedy
Dr. Richard Regan
Spring 2005
Office hours: Mon 1:30-3, Wed 1-3, Thurs 1:30-3, and by appointment.
Texts: for editions of the works below, see the print syllabus
Three major papers, 7-10 pp. These may be rewritten after a conference. Late papers may be reduced in grade.
Reaction papers, 3-4 pp. Generally one a week, based on classroom discussion and video, and closely related to comic theory (handouts). These will be graded √+, √, √- and can raise or lower your average. Late papers may be reduced in grade.
Attendance: each cut lowers your average 1 point. Documented excuses only (Deans' office, Health Service, faculty advisor). Excessive absences may result in a failing grade.
Students with documented learning disabilities, please see me. Alternative methods of testing and evaluation are available.
Schedule (* indicates film/tape also)
January 18 - Theories of humor; working definition of comedy, parody/satire
January 25 - Origins
of comedy.
A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum*
Roman
Comedy and farce.
Literary
Romance
Read: "Introduction" (Corrigan),
Bergson, Freud, Bentley.
History, Lyrics and Sound Files
February 1 - Candide.
Types of comedy. Comic characters.
Origins of Camp.
Read: Frye, Sontag.
DEVELOP PAPER TOPIC
Resources for the Study of Candide
PBS "Candide" in Concert (January 2005)
February 8
- The Graduate*
Romantic (Shakespearian) Comedy.
Read: Sypher, Santayana (Mardi Gras)
February 15
- The Miser*
Moliere and
the comedy of the
mechanical.
Read: Lanson, Potts.
PAPER DUE
February 22 - Man
and Superman.
On Approval.*
Comedy of Manners.
Comic Closure.
Read: Santayana, Lehman, Park.
Bernard Shaw: A Brief Biography
G.B.S.: The Life of George Bernard Shaw
March 2 - Chocolat.*
Comic fable and allegory.
Journal Of Religion and Film review
SPRING BREAK
March 15 -
Absurdist and surrealist comedy.
Screwball comedy.
Monty
Python and the Marx
Brothers.
Read: Kerr, Watts, Grotjahn.
PAPER TOPIC.
Why a Duck? (Marx Brothers page)
for Screwball Comedy:
from the Modern Times film site
(includes audio files and film stills)
March 22 - Brave
New World
Utopia and dystopia.
Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb*
Read: Corrigan.
What Happened to Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
March 29 - Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead*
Read: Duprey.
PAPER DUE
Lecture on Stoppard (and Beckett)
April 5 - Catch-22.
Waiting for Godot.
Black comedy.
Grotesque. (Click
on "Go to Chapter 3" link for Heller.)
Read: Cohn
"Deadly Unconscious Logics in Joseph Heller's Catch-22"
Samuel Beckett Resources and Links
"BECKETT'S GODOT: 'A bundle of broken mirrors'"
April 12 - Fargo*
Read: Suzanne Langer, "Feeling
and Form."
April 19 - Sense and Sensibility*
April 26 - Conclusion. FINAL PAPER DUE (FOR REWRITE)
