LITR342

(Formerly LITR 337) This course focuses on the literature of late 14th century England, taking Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales as a focal point. We will study a generous selection of the tales in some detail, along with a tale collection from Chaucer's contemporary John Gower, Confessio Amantis. In addition we will consider religious poetry (Langland's Piers Plowman, Pearl) and romance (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Chaucer's Knight's Tale), among other genres. We will read Chaucer, Gower, and Langland in the original Middle English, and will focus on the language as part of our study, as well as consider relevant social and political contexts of Chaucer's day, and some of the varying ways the differnet authors engage them.