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Fall 2008
English 210: Major British Authors, Chaucer to 1800 Instructor: Sarah Ellenzweig This course is the first sequence of the two British literature surveys offered in the English department. Our aim will be to familiarize ourselves with the major works of English literature from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century. This long period witnessed several significant transformations: In the beginning, texts were written for a small and educated audience and were often centered around leading aristocratic or royal figures. By the eighteenth century, writers were no longer entirely dependent on aristocratic patronage and readers were drawn from a larger and more literate public. Over the same period of time, English culture experienced two great watersheds: the Protestant Reformation and the beginnings of capitalism. We will examine how the major literary texts of the early modern period responded to and participated in these important changes. Our efforts will alternate between an investigation of the relationship between literature and history/culture and the close reading of literary form. Throughout, we will pay particular attention to how forms change over time and when and why new forms emerge. Major figures will include: Chaucer; Spenser; Sidney; Milton; Shakespeare; Donne; Herrick; Pope; Johnson; Gray; and others. |
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