Late Medieval to Early Modern Literature

Course Content:

This module provides an introduction to the literary culture of England during the years
1380-1650. This module considers medieval and early modern English texts in relation to
influential works from the Continent (mostly from Italy, the ?birthplace of the
Renaissance?) and by situating canonical literature in relation to non-canonical writings
of the medieval and early modern periods. You will begin by examining poetry and drama
written in the late-Medieval period, including some of Chaucer?s Canterbury Tales.

The rest of the autumn semester will focus on medieval drama ? from mystery plays to
morality plays ? highlighting continuity and change with later, Renaissance drama. It will
also study English literature and culture in the fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries in
relation to Continental influences. Because Shakespeare?s Richard II is a Renaissance play
whose action takes place in the medieval period, this play provides a pivotal middle point
between the autumn and spring semesters.

The second semester considers the mid-sixteenth century and continues with plays,
poetry, prose and cultural documents framed on one side by the Edwardian Reformation
and on the other by the English Civil War.

AUTUMN SEMESTER LECTURES:
Introduction and Medieval Lyrics, Breton Lays, Chaucer I, Chaucer II: Representing
Women, Chaucerian Intertexts, Medieval Drama: Introduction and Mystery Plays,
Medieval Drama: Mystery Plays, Medieval Drama: Morality Plays I, Morality Plays II,
Transmitting the Renaissance.

SPRING SEMESTER LECTURES:
Envisioning the Renaissance, fashioning a Gentleman, The Humanist Household,
Petrarchism I, Petrarchism II , Petrarchism III, The Limits of Petrarchism, Women and the
Religious Lyric, Elizabethan Epyllia, Jacobean Drama and the End of Things, Last Things.

Teaching:
Lectures/workshops and seminars

Assessment:
STUDY OPTION 1: Portfolio of written exercises:
1) Two take-home exams, one per semester, each of approximately 1,000 words
(each 25%)
2) A 2,000-word Final Essay that considers one or more of the texts studied in the
module (50%).
STUDY OPTION 2: portfolio (some elements as those for Study Option 1).
STUDY OPTION 3: portfolio (some elements as those for Study Option 1).

Study Option 1 = Whole Year
Study Option 2 = Autumn
Study Option 3 = Spring/summer