ENH4230

Melodrama in three modes

B McFarlane

12 points
* 2 or (when films are screened) 4 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton

Objectives On successfully completing the subject, students should have acquired a good understanding of a popular genre, in relation both to theoretical concepts and to specific texts, and to be able to analyse such texts both orally and in writing. They should feel confident in dealing with melodramatic procedures and preoccupations as they are manifested in drama, fiction and film.

Synopsis This study focuses on the centrality of melodrama to a great deal of drama, prose fiction and film, especially at their most popular. The subject will consider such key periods of melodrama as nineteenth century drama, the nineteenth century novel, and the twentieth century cinema. It will examine: the historical bases of melodrama in theatre, literature and film; the identifying stylistic and structural characteristics of melodrama; the connections between melodramatic texts and the societies which produce them; the characteristic elements of melodramatic conflict and the ways in which the mode typically resolves these; the representation of women in melodramatic texts; and critical approaches to melodrama, including its rehabilitation in the last thirty years.

Assessment Two seminar papers (2000 words each): 25% each [breve] Essay (5000 words): 50%

Prescribed texts (subject to availability)

Allegret M Blanche fury*
Braddon D Lady Audley's secret
Crabtree A Madonna of the seven moons*
Collins W The woman in white
DuMaurier D Rebecca
Dickens C A tale of two cities
Hamilton P Gas light
Hitchcock A Rebecca*
Ophuls M Letter from an unknown woman*
Pinero A The second Mrs Tanqueray
Rapper I Now voyager*
Sirk D Written on the wind*
Stowe H Uncle Tom's cabin
Vidor K Stella Dallas*
Wilde O An ideal husband, The importance of being earnest
Wood Mrs H East Lynne
* Film text.

Recommended texts

Brooks P The melodramatic imagination: Balzac, Henry James, melodrama and the mode of excess, 1976
Bratton J et al (eds) Melodrama: Stage, picture, screen, 1994
Klinger B Melodrama and meaning: History, culture and the films of Douglas Sirk, 1994