ENGLISH LITERATURE 3

The course, part of the curriculum related to the languages taught in the LCSL degree programme, expands students’ knowledge of the literary and cultural heritage of Great Britain by focusing on the main features of early modern drama and its social and political context. Students will also become familiar with early modern English and further develop their knowledge of the language.

Students will develop skills in textual analysis and in relating dramatic texts to theatrical practice, as well as to their historical and cultural contexts and their contemporary relevance.

Advanced proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing in English.

OUTSIDERS: THINKING THE PRESENT WITH MARLOWE AND SHAKESPEARE

Environmental crisis, geopolitical conflict, cross-cultural encounters and interreligious strife, fake news and paranoid thinking, scientific breakthroughs and new challenges, and a society of the spectacle in which entertainment is used to distract and manipulate—all cut across nations, communities, families, and even individual subjectivities. Are we in the late sixteenth century or the early twenty-first? Or both?
Analogies can be both illuminating and misleading unless we approach them critically and self-consciously, reflecting on the present through the mirror of the past. We will read dramatic texts written four centuries ago that, for complex reasons explored in the course, remain central to contemporary theatre and education.
The course begins with an overview of late Elizabethan England through a vivid study that reconstructs an entire society around the life of the writer, spy, atheist, and subversive playwright Christopher Marlowe. We will then focus on two key figures of outsiderness: Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare’s Shylock. Through these texts, we will examine how stage dialogue generates and contests ideas—how language can fascinate, deceive, provoke, and persuade.

Stephen Greenblatt, RENAISSANCE DARKNESS (Norton & Company, 2026)
Christopher Marlowe, DR FAUSTUS (recommended editions: Second Norton Critical edition 2023 or IL DOTTOR FAUST. Testo originale a fronte, Mondadori 2017)
William Shakespeare, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (recommended editions: Arden edition, Bloomsbury 2010 or IL MERCANTE DI VENEZIA. Testo inglese a fronte, Rizzoli 2025).
Additional material will be available on Moodle.

The final written exam will consist of six open questions (two for each of the required texts), covering the mandatory readings, class discussions, and activities. Emphasis will be placed on the main events and concepts of the period, as well as on key scenes from the plays.

written

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

The maximum achievable score is 30/30. Honors (distinction) may be awarded for excellent performance across all assessed areas. Students who fail to answer more than two questions will not pass the exam. Familiarity with authors’ names, titles of texts, and key themes will be essential for the final evaluation. Students are expected to adhere to the recommended length of their answers.

Lectures and class discussion

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development