British Literature and Culture I (Origins-1700): The Court and the Wilderness (Pre-1800)

This course will offer a broad overview of the rich and varied British literature written between roughly 1400 and 1700. We will read a diverse body of material (romance, epic, lyric, prose), focusing on the development of certain key topics in the literature of this period: the rapidly changing conception of subjectivity, the role of the court, the representation of desire and sexuality, and the construction of gender. We will also consider why certain works are considered "canonical" while others remain marginal, looking in particular at the position of such early modern women writers as Aemilia Lanyer. Other authors to be studied will include the "Gawain" poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, Elizabeth I, John Donne, Katherine Philips and Aphra Behn. 3 hrs.lect.