Brief description
This module will challenge the myth that medieval literature was much more straightforward and reactionary than modern literature by looking at the way in which society, orthodoxy, gender and sexuality are constructed within the set texts and by considering the extent to which certain of these texts are socially subversive, sexually transgressive or potentially heretical. It will also introduce a range of approaches to Medieval English poetry and prose from more traditional criticism to Marxist, deconstructionist, feminist and postmodern readings. Such reading illustrate that medieval literature remains of relevance to the 1990s.