106-414 Medieval Representations

Formerly available as 106-075. Students who have completed 106-075 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in English or English language, see Honours entry.

This subject examines forms of representation and textuality in late medieval English writing and culture. We will focus on the representations of love, gender and war in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and on the representations of class violence and the monarchy in the texts surrounding the Uprising of 1381. Students will be introduced to some medieval theories of verbal and visual representation, but we will also test some modern theories of representation and the gaze in relation to medieval texts and the afterlife of those texts in renaissance and later literature. No prior knowledge of Middle English is assumed in this subject, which is designed as an introduction to late medieval culture.

Written work totalling 5000 words for 4th year, 6000 words for masters students.

A subject reader containing texts associaed with the Uprising, or 'Peasants' Revolt' of 1381, and other medieval texts, will be available.

• L Benson (gen. ed.), The Riverside Chaucer.
• Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida. Oxford.