Middle English literature comprises the prose and poetry of England from the beginning of the fourteenth century to the late fifteenth/early sixteenth centuries. During this time English gradually became the pre-eminent literary language and took its place alongside French and Italian as the means by which sophisticated verse and prose could be written.
We'll read, in the first instance, the selected texts in translation but will also work with the original language in class, essentially reading critically for meaning and effect. No prior knowledge of Middle English is expected.
We'll begin with Chaucer, reading extracts from The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. We'll then enter the world of the Gawain poet, thinking about dream vision in Pearl, the subversion of romance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the vernacular theology of Patience. We'll also consider the materiality of the Gawain manuscript for what it might tell us about a late fourteenth century reading experience.
In our fourth week we'll concentrate on the devotional writing of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, thinking especially about gendered (or otherwise) nature of the writing. For our final class we'll immerse ourselves in prose writing, particularly the traveller's tales of Sir John Mandeville and the last gasp of Arthurian romance in Malory's Morte Darthur.