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IMC 2010: Sessions

Session 704: Beastly Drama: Animals in Early Modern Theatre

Tuesday 13 July 2010, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Medieval & Renaissance Drama Society
Organiser:Suzanne Westfall, Department of English & Theatre, Lafayette College, Pennsylvania
Moderator/Chair:Suzanne Westfall, Department of English & Theatre, Lafayette College, Pennsylvania
Paper 704-a'May her womb bring forth Monsters': Female Sexuality and the Liberation of Animal Lust in Renaissance Drama
(Language: English)
Julie Sutherland, Department of English, University of British Columbia / Durham University
Index terms: Performance Arts - Drama, Sexuality, Women's Studies
Paper 704-bThe Evolution of Bear-Baiting and Playing in Tudor London
(Language: English)
David Kathman, Independent Scholar, Chicago
Index terms: Architecture - Secular, Performance Arts - Drama, Social History
Paper 704-c'Nature, Re[a]d in Tooth and Claw': Animals on the Early Modern Stage
(Language: English)
Theodora Jankowski, Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes-Barre
Index terms: Mentalities, Performance Arts - Drama
Abstract

2009, which marks the sesquicentennial of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, has set off a flurry of investigations into evolution and animal studies in various disciplines. How do we define ourselves in relationship to the animal/human binary, and has that definition changed since the early modern period? This session will consider how we might interpret the interactions of animals and humans in theatre from the 14th to 17th centuries.