ENGL 4033/5113 X2 - Kevin Whetter

STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
“ROMANCE AND TRAGEDY IN CHAUCER AND THE GAWAIN POET”

This is a seminar in which we explore the generic, historical, and literary-cultural contexts of two of the greatest poets of the English Middle Ages: Geoffrey Chaucer and the (anonymous) Gawain-Poet.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Troilus and Criseyde these authors tap into some of the most important issues of late-mediaeval Europe: warfare, chivalry and courtly love, and ideas of tragedy and religion. For some modern scholars each poem exemplifies the genre of mediaeval romance; for others, each author interrogates the ideologies underlying romance; still others consider the poets’ focus on religion, gender, or homosocial relations. As this brief overview of the issues is meant to reveal, there is still much scholarly interpretation to be done on both texts. Our weekly discussions of the text and critics will allow us to re-examine these two tales, their literary and historical contexts, and their possible meanings, including ways in which that meaning might change for a modern versus mediaeval audience.

*This is a blended Honours and Graduate Seminar