ENGLISH LITERATURE.

THE RENAISSANCE
(First year. Second semester February-June 2017)

COURSE CONTENTS
LECTURES
I. Sixteenth-century England. Historical and Cultural Background
II. Poetry in the Sixteenth Century
II. 1. Lyrical Poetry. The Early Sonneteers (Thomas Wyatt; Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey);
Sir Philip Sidney; Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare as Sonneteers.
II. 2. Narrative Poems. Edmund Spensers The Fairie Queene; William Shakespeares Venus
and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.
III. Drama in the Sixteenth Century. Early Developments.
III. 1. The Rise of the Secular Drama. Performances on the Elizabethan Stage. The First
Comedies (Henry Medwall; Nicholas Udall; Gammer Gurtons Needle). The First Tragedies
(Gorboduc).
III. 2. The University Wits: John Lyly; George Peele; Robert Greene; Thomas Kyd;
Christopher Marlowe
IV. Drama in the Sixteenth Century and the Early Seventeenth Century: William Shakespeare
IV. 1. Shakespeares Life and Work. The Shakespearean Controversy. Shakespeares
Sources.
IV. 2. Shakespeares Chronicle Plays: The Early Chronicle Plays (Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3;
Richard III). The Great Chronicle Plays (Richard II; Henry IV Parts 1 and 2; Henry V)
IV. 3. Shakespeares Comedies: The Early Comedies (The Comedy of Errors; The Taming of
the Shrew; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Loves Labours Lost). The Great Romantic
Comedies (A Midsummer Nights Dream; Much Ado about Nothing; The Merry Wives of
Windsor; As You Like It; Twelfth Night). The Problem Plays (Troilus and Cressida; Alls Well
that Ends Well; Measure for Measure)
IV. 4. Shakespeares Tragedies: From the Plays of Tragic Conception (Romeo and Juliet) to
the Great Tragedies (Hamlet; Othello; King Lear; Macbeth; Timon of Athens)
IV. 5. Shakespeares Roman Plays: Titus Andronicus; Julius Caesar; Antony and Cleopatra;
Coriolanus
IV. 6. Shakespeares Romances: Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Cymbeline; The Winters Tale; The
Tempest.

SEMINARS
The art of sonnet writing from Wyatt to Shakespeare.
o Texts for analysis: Thomas Wyatt I Find No Peace; Henry Howard The Soote
Season; Philip Sidney Sonnet XXXI; Edmund Spenser Sonnet LXXV; William
Shakespeare Sonnets XVIII, LX, CXXX, CLII.
The University Wits:
o Thomas Kyds revenge tragedy.
Text for analysis: The Spanish Tragedy. Act III, Scene 12.
o The art of Marlowes mighty line.
Text for analysis: The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus, Act 5.
Shakespeares arts of language in the chronicle plays and the early comedies.
o Texts for analysis: Henry VI, Part 3 Act II, Scene 5; Richard III Act I, Scene 1
Shakespeares arts of language in the early comedies.
o Texts for analysis: The Taming of the Shrew Act II, Scene 1; A Midsummer Nights
Dream Act V, Scene 1
 Three critical approaches to Shakespeares Hamlet (historicism; psychoanalysis;
archetypal criticism).
o Texts for analysis: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Act I, Scene 2; Act III, Scene 1.
Myths and archetypes in King Lear.
o Text for analysis: King Lear Act III, Scene 2.
Rhetoric and power in Julius Caesar.
o Text for analysis: Julius Caesar Act III, Scene 2 .
Interpretations of Shakespeares The Tempest.
o Text for analysis: The Tempest Act I, Scene 2.