The Literature of Identity

This course will explore various conceptions of personal identity, with an emphasis on Romanticism. We'll read Anglo-American philosophical and literary texts (mostly poetry) from the Renaissance through the 19th century, taking some excursions into contemporary theory (queer, feminist, post-structuralist). Writers may include Shakespeare, Montaigne, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Wordsworth, Keats, Emerson, Browning, and Wilde.