ENGL 520

Studies in Renaissance Literature: Area Course

Units: 1.5

This year: At the Edge of the Human: Plant and Animal Life in Early Modern Literature

Study of the porous boundary between plants, animals, and humans in early modern English culture, and its presence in and influence on literature of the period. Will examine scientific, horticultural, and animal-husbandry treatises alongside plays, poems, and prose works of such notable authors as Shakespeare, Donne, and Marvell. Topics include athropomorphism, monstrosity, cuckoldry, the ability to reason, and the use of language. Will employ a range of critical methods from new historicism to ecocriticism.

Graduate course in the English program administered by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.