ENG133

Description

This course examines a range of materials featuring women writers, narrators, and protagonists, ranging in date from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries. Medieval and early modern women were often constrained by complicated social, economic, and political forces, which intersected with activities we think of as historical, cultural, and religious. Through our readings we will confront a variety of questions: Are there recurring ways in which women's voices and modes of expression are portrayed? Do female-authored texts share any essential characteristics? Can we locate a female literary ethos in particular genres, or are we encountering a fortuitous selection of "typical" medieval and Renaissance literature? Much of our time will be spent on the ways women viewed themselves, their bodies, and their place in the world. Texts include works by Helo se, Marie de France, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Aemelia Lanyer, Margaret Cavendish, and Anne Bradstreet, along with select male authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer. For English majors, this course satisfies the B-1 requirement or the D-1 requirement.