English 223a T. Festa MW 2:30 - 4 HU III
Through a close study of the poetry written in the English Renaissance, this course will introduce students to the varieties of self-presentation as well as religious and political forces at work in the court and city.
Emphasis will be placed upon the major poets, including Shakespeare, Sidney, Spenser, and Donne, in addition to less known figures.
Main Readings/Texts:
William Shakespeare, Sonnets and narrative poems
John Donne, Elegies and Songs and Sonnets
Edmund Spenser, Amoretti, Epithamion, The Faerie Queene (selections)
Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophil and Stella and An Apology for Poetry
Fulke Greville, Caelica
Christopher Marlowe, Hero and Leander and other poems
Poems by Petrarch, Wyatt, Surrey, Gascoigne, Raleigh, Askew, and others
Supplemental extracts from Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier
Course Requirements:
Two short essays (5pp)
class participation
final paper (10pp)