Mysticism, Faith, and Science

This course is a survey of British literature that takes students from the early works of chivalry and romance in the Middle Ages through the major playwrights, metaphysical poets, and storytellers of the 17th century. This is the first course of a two course sequence that gives students of literature, writing, or any discipline a sense of the sweep and development of thought and experience in a turbulent and transformative time. Students read stories of monsters and bravery in works such as <i>Beowulf,</i> and chivalry, romance, and bawdiness in <i>The Canterbury Tales</i>. The course culminates in Milton's story of the fall of man and the great love sonnets of Donne, Herbert, and Shakespeare.