SURVEY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE I

Specific Foundation

Specific Foundation / Core

Upon successful completion of the course, students will have achieved the following: -familiarity with a broad spectrum of English literature from the Middle Ages to the early 18th C. -familiarity with the English language as it developed up to the 18th C--through the reading of the texts in the language in which they were originally written. -strengthening of the historical consciousness and the understanding that the literature of a people is related to that people's history--through the contextual study of literary texts and historical contexts. -strengthening of the theoretical and critical thought--through a comparative approach of the common issues faced by the various periods (love, marriage, relation between the two sexes, religion etc).

Course content/ syllabus Lit6-260 Session 1. General Introduction to the course. The Middle Ages: From the Romans to the Normans; feudalism; class structure of feudal society; family & marriage; the role of the church; development of literature. Read: “Middle English Literature” and “Medieval English” (Norton Anthology, 9th ed., pp. 13-24); “Feudalism – a Definition essay,” “Conquests of Britain- from Romans to Normans,” and “Medieval England – Social Structure” (all three in e-learning). Recommended viewing: video by Johanna Alemann* Session 2. Thomas of England, Le Roman de Tristran (Norton 9th); background on Romance, pp. 140-142, Norton 9th; “Romance and Courtly Love” (e-learning); Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love, trans. John Parry, pp. 28-36 & 184-186 (e-learning). Session 3. The nature of Middle English; introduction to Chaucer & “The General Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales (Norton 9th, pp. 19-25 & 241-244); Chaucer, “The Franklin’s Tale” (in Norton 6th ed, & in e-learning); Everyman (morality play), lines 1-204 (Norton 9th). Session 4. The Early Modern Age: Renaissance Humanism, Protestant Reformation, Tudor Politics; court & courtiers; patriarchy. Read: Erasmus, “Woman in childbed” (in e-learning); An Homily Against Disobedience & Willful Rebellion (Norton 9th, pp. 693-695); An Homily of the State of Matrimony (in e-learning); Queen Elizabeth, “Tilbury speech” (Norton 9th). Also read: Introduction to the 16th Century in Norton 9th ed., pp. 531-544; Κροντήρη, κεφ. 11: “Ουμανισμός.” Session 5. Renaissance courtly love & the Petrarchan sonnet. Read: summary of Book 4 of Castiglione’s Courtier (in e-learning); Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella (sonnets 1, 6, 9, 37, 41, 71); Spenser’s Amoretti (sonnets 1, 37, 64, 67, 74, 75). Session 6. Shakespeare’s Sonnets, 18, 130, 138 (all in Norton). Elizabethan Theatre: Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Session 7. Romeo and Juliet Session 8. Romeo and Juliet Session 9. The Early 17th Century: from female to male monarch, the strengthening of patriarchy; navigations & colonial aspirations, scientific discoveries, changes in mood and literary style; the “strong lines” of John Donne & his followers. Read: Donne, “The Flea,” and “The Good-Morrow”; Holy Sonnets 10 (“Death, be not proud”) and 14 (“Batter my heart”); Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” (all in Norton 9th). Also read “Literature and Culture 1603-40” (Norton 9th, pp. 1349-1360). Session 10. Genesis, from the King James Bible (in e-learning); Milton, Paradise Lost (Book I: lines 1-26; Book IV: lines 285-535, 610-775; & Book IX: lines 494-833; 990-1066); “The Revolutionary Era, 1640-1660” (Norton 9th, pp. 1360-1364). Session 11. Milton, Paradise Lost (Book X: lines 720-1104, & Book XII: lines 466-649); Session 12. The Late 17th & Early 18th Century: The restoration of the monarchy, libertinism, the change in taste and literary modes, the emphasis on Reason, international trade, satire. Read: Pepys, From the Diary, “The Deb Willet Affair” (Norton 9th, pp. 2265-2269); Wilmot, “The Imperfect Enjoyment” (Norton 9th, 2298-2300); Astell, from Some Reflections Upon Marriage (Norton 9th, pp. 2420-2424). Session 13. Locke, from “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” (Norton 9th, p. 2280—the first two paragraphs); Addison, “The Royal Exchange” (Norton 9th, pp. 2650-52); Dryden, from “A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire” (Norton 9th, 2257-2258); Swift, “A Modest Proposal” (Norton 9th, pp. 2633-2639). Also read from the Norton introduction to the Restoration and the eighteenth century, pp. 2177-2180 and 2182-2188. Important Note: The materials included in this syllabus can be found either in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Ninth edition, or in the course’s e-learning class. ________________________________________ *Video by Johanna Alemann, Europe in Transition, available from: https://archive.org/details/EuropeInTransition Recommended films to view: Shakespeare in Love (1998), dir John Madden Tristan and Isolde (2006), dir Reynolds, (produced by Ridley Scott)

Middle Ages, Renaissance, humanism, Reformation, 17th century, Restoration, English literature, poetry, drama, theatre, epic

24-09-2023