Beowulf to Aphra Behn: The Earliest British Literatures

Major texts and a few surprises from literatures composed in Old English, Old Irish, Anglo-Norman, Middle English, and Early Modern English. We will read texts in their historical and cultural contexts. Texts include anonymously authored narratives like Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , selected Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, and texts by Sir Thomas Malory, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Aphra Behn. Enrollment limited to 30.