4. Romance and Tragicomedy

About this Lecture

Lecture

This module explores the growing popularity of the genre of tragicomedy in the first two decades of the 17th century, a genre which took the trials and tribulations of tragedy, but which extended the timeframe to explore the reconciliation that follows tragedy. At the same time, the need for an extended timeframe leads to potentially great difficulties for the playwright, whose aim is to maintain the Aristotelian unities. The module ends by looking at three different ways that Shakespeare deals with the problem of an extended timeframe - in Pericles, The Winter's Tale, and in The Tempest.

Course

In this course, Dr Charles Moseley (Cambridge) explores Shakespeare's last play, 'The Tempest'. The first modules concentrate on historical context, looking in particular at the influence of the accession of King James to the throne, and the importance of the Blackfriars Theatre. After that, we explore the growing popularity of romance and tragicomedy in Jacobean England, before thinking about how the original Jacobean audience would have understood the play. In the second half of the course, we explore two of the great themes of 'The Tempest' - power and education - before thinking about the structuring of the play as a whole, and its potential Christian subtexts.

Lecturer

Dr Charles Moseley is a Fellow and Tutor of Hughes Hall and has taught Classics and English Literature in the University of Cambridge for many years. He is General Editor (Literature Insights) of the unique and innovative academic e-book project - Humanities-Ebooks.co.uk.

The author of an extensive list of academic and other publications, Charles has lectured at universities, schools and societies in many countries around the world on topics as diverse as Shakespeare, the history of travel literature, the Norsemen, Medieval art and his own travels in the Arctic. Recent published essays range from Elizabethan painting to nineteenth century printing technology and the topographical drawings of Alfred Wainwright.

For many years Charles was Programme Director of the University's popular and respected International Summer Schools in English Literature and Shakespeare. He has planned and led study tours for parties of visiting scholars and teachers in several places, including Vienna, Prague and Florence. Charles and his wife recently led a seminar study group in Florence on Renaissance art and philosophy.

Charles is currently very much in demand as a lecturer and speaker, on both academic and non-academic subjects and has recently lectured on cruise vessels in the Arctic, Baltic and Antarctic.