350:303
Sixteenth-Century Renaissance Literature

This course will explore the diverse and remarkably vital literature of the sixteenth century in its literary and cultural contexts.  We will examine the major poetry, drama, and prose from a period now frequently referred to as "early modern," and try to understand why it has earned that label.  Readings will range from utopian vision to the love lyric, from romance/epic adventure to the formal "defense" of poetry, from a Shakespearean comedy to an anonymous "domestic" tragedy; authors will include Wyatt, Whitney, More, Marlowe, Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, etc. We will consider emerging languages of self and state, constructions and deconstructions of order and disorder, the engendering (and gendering) of authority and authorship, through writers engaged in the project of forging the idea of a nation and a national literary tradition.

Attendance: regular attendance required
Means of evaluation: papers and take-home exam(s)