Monsters, Heroes, Romance, and the Human Condition Through the Centuries

Catalog description

We hit the ground running with the bloodthirsty monster, Grendel, who roams the Danish countryside and cheer on the noble Beowulf who jumps in to save the day. Next, we move on to one of Chaucer’s bawdy tales and read about the pitiful competition between two lovesick knights. In Shakespeare’s “As you like it,” we witness an Elizabethan Rom-Com of tortured lovers who roll their eyes and sigh deeply. After aggressive cannibals face off against Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, we take on Mary Shelley’s greatest creation: Frankenstein. And still there’s more! Jane Austen and George Eliot pull back the curtain on the petty machinations, weaknesses, and hypocrisy of the upper class in 19th century England while Yeats, Woolf, and Orwell ask probing questions about society, morality, and our fellow creatures. Join us in ENGL311 for a rollicking fun adventure! (Pre-requisite: ENGL210 for English majors, or ENGL101 or ENGL110 for non-English majors)