Renaissance Literature

I thought that must be a black girl who wrote that, "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,/ I all alone beweep my outcast state,/ And look upon myself and curse my fate." See? That's a black girl."
--Maya Angelou, about Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 on BBC's Everywoman program

Renaissance Literature will examine representations of race, gender, and culture present in the sonnet and romance genres as well as the in the court masque and on the popular stage. Primary emphasis will be on the writings of Sir Philip Sidney, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Lady Mary Wroth. There will also be attention to George Herbert's devotional writings, including poetry as well as prose. This research-intensive course will draw heavily on Kim F. Hall's Things of Darkness, a study of economies of race and gender in the English Renaissance, and James Shapiro's historicist analysis 1599: A Year in the life of William Shakespeare for cultural and theoretical positioning.

Renaissance Literature Syllabus

Course Resources

• Renascence Editions
• Internet Shakespeare Editions
• Open Source Shakespeare
• Shaksper: The Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference
• English Handwriting 1500-1700: an online course
• Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image
• Folger Shakespeare Library
• National Portrait Gallery
• Perspectives on Shakespeare and African Americans commentary from Kim Hall, Professor of English, and Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Professor of Theater, on the Folger Shakespeare Library's "Shakespeare in American Life" Web site

Last updated January 15, 2007
by Greg McNamara