LIT-237 Medieval Women: Writing and Written

How did medieval women authors engage with a literary tradition that too often, as 14th c. writer Christine de Pizan lamented, declared that "female nature is wholly given up to vice"? Readings from English and French authors including Christine, Marie de France, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, and Geoffrey Chaucer; anonymous tales of women saints, cross-dressing knights, and disobedient wives; "authoritative" writings about women (inc. religious and medical tracts and a manual on courtly love). We will investigate how these texts both created and challenged gender roles in the Middle Ages.

Maximum Enrollment

Standard Course (40)

Credits

1

Cross Listed Courses

WMGST-237

Prerequisite

One course in literature; no prior experience with Middle English required.

Offered

Spring

Notes

(History or SSIH).