Module description

From quarrelling birds to a London poet’s account of mental illness and a father’s conversation with his dead child in heaven, this module aims to deepen students’ appreciation of poetry, prose, and drama 1100-1500. Building on their first-year introductory module, EN121 Medieval and Early Modern Literature, students will expand their knowledge of medieval literature in a range of modes including romance, lyric and ‘autobiographical’ poems, saints’ lives, animal fables, and dream visions. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which the texts engage with the social, political, and religious anxieties and controversies of the period. Major works studied include the writings of the Gawain-poet, William Langland’s poem of social and spiritual inquiry, Piers Plowman, and Thomas Malory’s English version of the Arthurian legend, written from prison during the Wars of the Roses at the close of the Middle Ages.

Further information

Module convenor

Dr Sarah Wood

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