ENG 5510 Studies in Renaissance Literature

A study of the literature of the Renaissance, this course examines selected works of representative writers from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The course introduces students to the historical context of Renaissance England by relating literature to the period’s complex political, religious, economic, and social developments. Students may explore examples of prose, poetry, and drama, and authors may include William Shakespeare, Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe, Aemilia Lanyer, Thomas Middleton, Ben Jonson, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, Elizabeth Cary, Robert Greene, and others. Students will also engage with the modern critical approaches that have been especially influential in Renaissance studies, such as New Historicism and Cultural Materialism. The course will focus on a particular topic, genre, or writer based on the instructor’s interests.
Credits: 3.0