A survey of significant American dramatic literature. Touching on the 18th and 19th century contributions from Royal Tyler's The Contrast (1787) to George Aiken's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1853) and Steele MacKaye's Hazel Kirke (1880), the course moves quickly to Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon (1920), which many historians consider the first truly indigenous American drama of international import, and examines the significant work of playwrights such as Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, and David Mamet.