THAR 281 1st Edition Lecture 11 Outline of Last Lecture I General Background on the England Restoration Period II Elizabethan vs Restoration III Characteristics of England Restored Theater IV Comedy of Manner V Aphra Behn VI William Wycherley VII William Congreve Recap Important themes in Triumph of Love 1 Love Triumphs Over All by any means necessary 2 Instinct Emotion vs Knowledge 3 Illusion vs Reality Commedia del Arte influence Could be episodic form but more climatic form Outline of Current Lecture I General Background of the 18th Century II Denis Diderot III Middle Class Tragedy IV Sentimental Comedy V Ballad Opera VI Strum and Drang VII The Emerging Director VIII Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe Current Lecture I General Background of the 18th Century a There is a philosophical movement i The Enlightenment ii Knowledge and philosophy are on people s mind b Age of Colonization i Moves to a global scale c Big surge in the middle class II Denis Diderot a French philosopher b Famous for his encyclopedia i Published in 1772 ii 17 volumes long c In his work The Paradox of Acting he called for actors to craft their parts get into them i Has influence on realism d Concept of the Fourth Wall i Performers are unaware of audience e Called for the formation of a new genre Drama Bourgeois i About and for the middle class ii Content sets middle class morals iii Allows for mixing of drama comedy and tragedy III Middle Class Tragedy a Make drama for middle class because they are the main audience b Content moves from upper class characters and plot c Morality is often a theme d Lean toward sentimentality and melodrama typical good and bad guy IV Sentimental Comedy a Becomes popular in England b Like Restoration Comedy except it is less amoral amoral no morals at all c It is moral d Reaffirms middle class values e Ex Full House or Home Improvement shows f Laughing Comedy i Attempted to set boundary for satire in Restoration and sweetness in Sentimental ii Ex She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith g Richard Brinsley Sheridan i Sentimental comedy playwright politician and theater director ii Most famous playwright of late 18th century iii Famous Works The Rivals and The School for Scandal iv Name of characters gives off idea of how their personalities are V Ballad Opera a Parody of Italian opera b Done by combining popular songs and dialogue i No recitative c Similar to Opera Comic French comedy type d Ex The Beggars of Opera by John Gay i Had over 69 short songs in it VI Sturm and Drang a Means storm and stress or storm and urge b A rebellion against neoclassical ideals c Leads into romanticism d Ex The Robbers by Schiller and some works of Goethe VII The Emerging Director a There s a lot of improvements in technical theater i Complexity in buildings ii Advancements in technology iii Causes need for an outside person to unify all aspects iv Director would be the playwright back then b David Garrick i English pre director who focused on stage positioning of characters props etc VIII Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe a German playwright theorist and early pre director b Trained actors really rigorously i Emphasized specificity and ensemble work c Established modern rules of etiquette in theaters i Some still used today like applause or no applause d Famous Works Faust
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