English 200 - The English Literary Tradition I

A selection of the most engaging and influential works of literature written in England before 1800. Some of the earliest survived only by a thread in a single manuscript, many were politically or religiously embattled in their own day, and some were the first of their kind in English. Fights with monsters, dilemmas of chivalry, a storytelling pilgrimage, a Faustian pact with the devil, a taste of the forbidden fruit, epic combat over a lock of hair: these writings remain embedded in our culture and deeply woven into the texture of the English language. Enrollment limited to 20.