Magic in Early Modern Drama
Professor: Jean Graham
Course meetings:Tuesday/Friday 2:00pm-3:20pm
In this seminar, we will read early modern drama including Macbeth, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, and lesser-known plays along with relevant historical documents such as pamphlets recounting witchcraft trials. The course will reflect a range of approaches including feminist, Marxist, and (post)colonial. Learn the European history leading to Doctor Faustus, Macbeth, and the Salem witch trials. Explore the relationship between witchcraft and Shakespeare’s monarchs: Elizabeth I and her astrologer, Dr. John Dee, and James I, who presided over witch trials and wrote a book on the topic (Daemonologie).