Courses

This course will introduce some of the most fascinating texts of the first eight hundred years of English literature, from the period of Anglo-Saxon rule through the Hundred Years’ War and beyond—roughly, 700–1500 CE. We will proceed by exploring the role of some crucial figures in medieval writing: heroes, lovers, and visionaries. These key players relate in complex ways to the major genres of the Middle Ages, such as epic, romance, and spiritual writing; part of our work will be disentangling these relationships. We’ll hit on some texts you’ve heard of – Beowulf and selections from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – while leaving time for some you may not have encountered – Marie de France’s Lais and Margery of Kempe’s Book. Along the way, we’ll also hone skills of reading, writing, and oral expression crucial to appreciating and discussing literature in nuanced, supple ways. 

If you take this course, you’ll discover how medieval literature is both a mirror and a foil to modern literature. You’ll explore the plurilingual and cross-cultural nature of medieval literary production and improve (or acquire!) your knowledge of Middle English. You’ll discover sources for famous texts, like King Lear, and see the posterity of other famous texts, like the Aeneid. Plus, you’ll flex your writing muscles with two short textual analyses (2-4 pp.) and one longer research paper (8-10pp).