• Course Overview:
  This course offers a brief survey into the nature and history of drama in the Western tradition, emphasizing the art’s history and essence in English literature and culture. Hopefully, the course will enhance the student’s understanding of the special nature of drama as a genre and its variety and power. It offers a detailed critical appreciation of the nature and effectiveness of dramatic methods within a number of great plays, selected from a range of different cultures and historical periods, from ancient Greece to contemporary Europe. During the course, the students will master a critical understanding of major terms – tragedy, comedy, poetic drama, naturalist theatre, and so
  on. This understanding will come from reading the plays and watching a few notable performances of pivotal plays in the Western tradition. Thus, the abstractions of general theories and terms will be accompanied by the practicality of performances and textual analysis. The plays have been chosen according to their connection to the terms and concepts under discussion in each session. Moreover, the textbook’s content, theory, or play will serve as our primary source of texts knowledge. Students are encouraged to compare and contrast different theatrical methods, terms, dramatic strategies, and plays. While the main concern of this course is not the history of English drama and the lives of the playwrights, historical facts, relations, and development will be discussed whenever necessary

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