Sometimes spiritual and omnipotent, sometimes comically powerless and obscene, the gods have been significant figures in theatre from Ancient Greece onwards. How can the divine be physically represented by a human on stage?  How should the gods speak?  How should they be shown interacting with the human?  Should they be shown at all?  Concern about the impropriety of representing God lies behind many historical objections to theatre. This lecture series will explore the representation of divinities in a variety of contexts: the biblical God who motivates the great Mystery Cycles of medieval drama; the humanist God who is discussed in secular interludes; the pagan gods who reappear on the stage when early modern drama looks back to the theatre of classical antiquity. 

Syllabus

Feb 20^th:      God at the creation of the world: the Mystery Plays
Feb 27^th :     God made man: the Mary Play Annunciation
March 5^th :   Divine suffering, divine power: Passion Plays and Last Judgement
March 12^th   Objections to presenting God as man
March 19^th    The Humanist God: Medwall’s Fulgens and Lucres
March 26^th
and April 9^th : Divine and Human Kings: Heywood’s Play of the Weather
April 16^th  
and 23^rd :      The divine Legislator: John Bale’s Three Laws
April 30^th
and May 7^th   The pagan gods at University: William Gager’s Dido
May 14^th :     The pagan gods and boys: Marlowe’s Dido
May 21^st :      The gods descending: Shakespeare’s Cymbeline
May 28^th :      EXAM

• An understanding of the broad narrative of the development of early English drama, including both its scriptural and classical sources
• An understanding of the particular nature of drama as a genre, and developing ability to discuss it as such
• An understanding of the circumstances and material practices of early English drama
• An understanding of the lively historical debate about the validity of theatre
• Developing ability to read Middle English and early Modern English