School of English
Module manager: Dr José A. Pérez Díez
Email: J.A.PerezDiez@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module explores the representation of non-European peoples in selected plays and court masques written by English writers in the Elizabethan and Stuart periods between the 1580s and the 1640s. It focuses on their stereotyping of alien races and the scandalous behaviour attributed to them: violence, sexual excess, religious heresy, and the unrestrained pursuit of wealth and power. It explores the social, political, and economic anxieties that gave rise to these stereotypes, and the process of national and global self-definition to which they contributed. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
Students will acquire detailed critical knowledge of a selection of plays and court masques written by early modern English dramatists that deal with the European enterprise in the Mediterranean, and that explore the ideology of trade and empire by focusing on encounters with Jews, Moors, Turks, and other Arabic nations whose cultural, religious, and ethnic differences challenge or reinforce the dominant European world-view. This selection may typically include plays by William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, and others.
By looking at plays set on the margins of Europe, it explores how definitions of self and other, home and alien were being negotiated and redefined in this period. Through studying the way that the theatres staged values and customs radically different from those of the home culture, it aims to understand how the literary texts recognized, processed, and managed the impact of economic change. The lectures will provide cultural and historical framing to the study of these plays, while seminars will guide students through their critical reading of them. The two assessed essays prompt students to consider the issues that the module addresses in depth, producing analyses of these plays in their cultural, ethnic, and religious contexts, and to consider how these relate to crucial modern debates about race, identity, religion, sexuality, warfare, and international politics.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Engage critically with the representation of national, ethnic, and religious differences in the early modern period.
2. Analyse how early modern drama stages and interrogates the values associated with different societies and communities.
3. Evaluate current debates in early modern studies around race, politics, religion, sexuality, and literary form.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
4. Conduct independent research, gathering information from a range of sources, and engaging in good academic practice.
5. Produce independent arguments demonstrating advanced proficiency in critical thinking and writing skills.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Formative feedback will be delivered in weekly seminars, in lectures and during one-to-one consultation with the tutor is available before and after the first essay. Detailed written feedback on the first essay will be formative for the second essay.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Essay | 30 |
| Coursework | Essay | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 30/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team