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Academic Year 2002/2003

Early Modern Feminism
ENGL 212 SP
Crosslistings:
WMST 210

This course is designed to introduce students to a broad range of texts from the late 14th to the early 17th centuries surrounding what is known to literary history as the "questione della donna" or "querelle des femmes." Its primary aim will be to encourage critical thought about the history of concepts and categories that continue to define the boundaries of feminist inquiry in the present. The term "feminist" will thus serve not as a guiding principle or presupposition, but as an object of critical and historical inquiry. We will first situate the medieval framework for the debate by glancing at the long tradition of antifeminist literature and its roots in classical and Biblical narratives and then consider the oppositional strategies of Chaucer's "Wife of Bath" and Christine de Pizan. Next, we will look at the tradition of rhetorical praise and dispraise of women during the Renaissance. Readings will include courtesy manuals, political treatises, canonical as well as noncanonical plays. These texts will be analyzed in light of women's real social, political, and economic role in early modern society.

MAJOR READINGS

Major texts. Geoffrey Chaucer. THE WIFE OF BATH'S PROLOGUE AND TALE Christine de Pizan. Selections from THE BOOK OF THE CITY OF LADIES Baldassare Castiglione. Selections from THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER William Shakespeare. THE TAMING OF THE SHREW Ben Jonson. EPICOENE, or THE SILENT WOMAN Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker. THE ROARING GIRL.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Short weekly papers for first half of semester, and a final paper.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course counts toward the department's Pre-1800 and historical knowledge requirements. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: ENGL201 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-18-2003

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