DR 305/576: From Shakespeare to Sheridan:
The Irish in the Theatre, 1600-1775
Patrick B. Tuite, Ph.D.
This course examines how plays staged in London and Dublin between 1600 and 1775 represented Ireland, its
history, and inhabitants. The students will read the most important dramatic literature concerning Ireland written
during this period, including the works of: William Shakespeare, Roger Boyle, Thomas Shadwell, William
Congreve, George Farquhar, Oliver Goldsmith, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In addition to reading and discussing
the plays, the students will tour the city and learn firsthand how Dublin’s streets, walls, castles, churches, and greens
served as a backdrop for a social drama in which the kingdom’s subjects performed as different characters. We will
visit Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Christchurch and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Archbishop Marsh’s Library, the Old
Parliament Building, the Royal Hospital, and the Georgian homes along Merrion and Fitzwilliam Squares. We will
also tour the city’s theatres and attend at least two performances. We will visit the building that housed John
Ogilby’s Smock Alley Theatre and examine the theatre’s original foundation. This was the most important
playhouse in Ireland between 1662 and 1787.
Course Policies
1. Attendance at every class meeting and scheduled tour is required and your participation is mandatory. Two
absences from a class and/or tour will result in the lowering of your final grade. Any student missing a class is
responsible for all information and assignments given that day. There will be no makeup quizzes.
2. All work is due at the beginning of the class on the day indicated. Work not completed on time will cause the
grade for that project to lower one complete grade for each class meeting that it is late.
3. Students must be prepared to discuss the assigned readings on the day that the syllabus indicates.
4. We will meet each morning between 9:30 and 12:00. The students will have time for lunch. The class will meet
again anytime between 1 & 3 p.m. for a scheduled tour. Each tour will last two to three hours.
Assignments
1. Each student is responsible for 5 response papers (R1-5 on course calendar). Each paper must be 1 page & typed.
The draft of your paper that you use for your final presentation will count as R5.
2. Each student will give three presentations. Two presentations will outline a play’s plot and identify its characters,
give biographical information about the playwright, and briefly describe an early staging. Each presentation will be
20-30 minutes long and take place on the date each play is assigned.
3. The second presentation requires the students to: a. give a brief synopsis of an Irish history published between
1570 and 1775(** marked on the reading list- and included in the course calendar), b. include biographical
information about the author, c. explain how the history shaped popular perceptions of the Irish. In other words, how
does the text describe Ireland’s different inhabitants? You will give all of your presentations while you are in
Dublin. The classroom facilities will be equipped for PowerPoint slides, and I encourage you to include images in
your presentations.
4. You will use your paper proposal and notes to create the final presentation. You will write a paper that identifies
an important performance of the play that you selected for one of your two play presentations. In your paper you
must explain the significance of the performance; when, where, and for whom was the play staged? What social,
political, and historical circumstances made that performance special? You will submit a proposal for the paper to
Dr. Tuite by Friday, May 15 (R1). At the end of the two weeks in Dublin, you will use the course’s readings and
experiences to present a draft of the paper in class (R5).
5. You will submit your final paper by Monday, July 13. The paper must follow the Chicago Manual of Style. The
undergrads will produce a final paper 10-12 pages long. The graduate students will write a 20-25 page paper. You
can choose your subject, but Dr. Tuite must approve the first proposal (R1) before you travel to Dublin.
6. You will have 6 quizzes while in Dublin. The questions will come from the readings for that day.
Assignments
Response Papers (5x4)
Play Presentation (2x20)
History Text Presentation
Final Presentation
Quizzes (6x5)
Points
20
40
20
20
30
Your Score
Grades:
I use a point system to
determine your grade for
each assignment. The
assignments add up for a
total of 200 points.
Paper
Class Participation
Total:
30
40
200
Course Calendar and Itinerary
Date
Plays/Readings/Lecture
Tour
Sat. June 6
Gate Theatre: Play TBA
Mon. June 8
Introduction to 17th-century Ireland:
Christchurch &
The Battle of Kinsale and Flight of the Earls
Dublinia Museum
Play: Anon. Captaine Thomas Stukeley
History: Edmund Spenser & Fynes Moryson
R1*
Tues. June 9
Dublin’s growth within the Three Kingdoms
St. Audeon’s Church
Play: Shakespeare. Cymbeline
& City Walls
History: William Camden
Weds. June 10 The Irish in the early-modern imagination
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Play: Drayton. Sir John Oldcastle
& Marsh’s Library
Play: Shakespeare. Henry V
History: John Derricke
Thurs. June 11 Restoration Ireland – An Irish Othello
Dublin Castle
Play: Boyle. Mustapha
State Rooms Tour
R2
Play: Shakespeare. Othello
History: John Temple
Jane Ohlmeyer (?)
June 12-14
NO CLASS:
Optional Tour to Kilkenny
Mon. June 15
Restoration Theatre in Ireland
Smock Alley Theatre
Play: Head. Hic et Ubique
With Patrick Sutton
R3
Play: Brome. Jovial Crew
History: Edmund Borlase
Tues. June 16
Play: Farquhar. Recruiting Officer
Trinity College,
Play: Congreve. Way of the World
Long Room &
History: William Petty
Book of Kells
Christopher Morash- Dublin’s Theatres
Weds. June 17 Play: Shadwell. The Lancashire Witches
Desiree Shortt’s home
Play: Goldsmith. She Stoops to Conquer
(Old Irish Parliament
History: William Molyneux
Building optional)
Thurs. June 18 Play: Lillo. The London Merchant
(Royal Hospital
Play: Sheridan. The Rivals
optional)
R4
History: Young. A Tour in Ireland
Conrad Brunstrom- Thomas Sheridan
June 19-21
NO CLASS:
Explore Dublin and Prepare for Final Presentations
Mon. June 22
Depart from Grand
Excursion to Malahide Castle
and dinner in Howth
Canal DART Station
Tues. June 23
Final Presentations by Students
Abbey Theatre
9:30-1:00
Backstage Tour
Weds. June 24 Final Presentations by Students
9:30-1:00
R5
(Show at Abbey if we do not get the preview)
Thur. June 25
Fly Back from Dublin (suggested date)
Tour
Time & Cost
7:30 Show
Mus. closes 5:00
Church closes 6:15
Marsh’s by 2:00
Church tour 3:30
Church closes 5:00
353 1 454 3511 Lib
2:00 p.m. tour
Tour is 1 hour
2:00-3:00
Free
Closes at 5:00
Tour is 1 hour
last tour at 4:30
Meet outside
housing 9:30 a.m.
3:45 p.m. Lobby
1 hour 15 minutes
Presentations
July 13, 2015
Final Paper Due to Dr. Tuite after you return
from Dublin
R1=Proposal
Due by May 15
Plays (listed alphabetically by author):
Anon. The Famous History of the Life and death of Captaine Thomas Stukeley. (1605)**
Boyle, Roger. Mustapha. (1665)*
Brome, Richard. The Jovial Crew, Or The Merry Beggars. (1652)**
Congreve, William. Way of the World. (use 1706 edition)*
Farquhar, George. Recruiting Officer. (1706)*
Goldsmith, Oliver She Stoops to Conquer. (1773)*
Head, Richard. Hic et Ubique. (1663)**
Shadwell, Thomas. The Lancashire Witches and Teague O’Divelly the Irish Priest. (1691)**
Shakespeare, William. Cymbeline.**
-----. Henry V.**
-----. Othello. (1622 Quarto or Smock Alley Prompt Book)**
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley. Rivals (1775 printed in Dublin)*
-----. St. Patrick’s Day (use 1788 Smock Alley edition)*
**Available on EEBO through your Aladin account.
*Available on ECCO through your Aladin account.
Grad: Graduate students must read both plays.
Academic honesty: Academic honesty is expected of all CUA students. Faculty are required to initiate the
imposition of sanctions when they find violations of academic honesty, such as plagiarism, improper use of
a student’s own work, cheating, and fabrication. The following sanctions are presented in the University
procedures related to Student Academic Dishonesty (from
http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrityprocedures.cfm): “The presumed sanction for
undergraduate students for academic dishonesty will be failure for the course. There may be circumstances,
however, where, perhaps because of an undergraduate student’s past record, a more serious sanction, such
as suspension or expulsion, would be appropriate. In the context of graduate studies, the expectations for
academic honesty are greater, and therefore the presumed sanction for dishonesty is likely to be more
severe, e.g., expulsion. ...In the more unusual case, mitigating circumstances may exist that would warrant
a lesser sanction than the presumed sanction.” Please review the complete texts of the University policy
and procedures regarding Student Academic Dishonesty, including requirements for appeals, at
http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrity.cfm and
http://policies.cua.edu/academicundergrad/integrity.cfm.
Accommodations for students with disabilities: Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation
based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss specific needs. Please
contact Disability Support Services (at 202 319-5211, room 207 Pryzbyla Center) to coordinate reasonable
accommodations for students with documented disabilities. To read about the services and policies, please
visit the website: http://disabilitysupport.cua.edu.