WMGST-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.
Standard Course (40)
Credits
1
Cross Listed Courses
LIT-237
Prerequisite
One course in literature; no prior experience with Middle English required.
Offered
Spring
Notes
(History or SSIH).