ENGL 232 The Warrior and the Poet: Gender Identity in the Middle Ages
An introductory course focusing on exploring the complex nature of gender and identity in the Middle Ages through a close examination of two figures found in a number of literary works and genres from the medieval period in Western Europe: the warrior and the poet. In the Middle Ages, both of these figures were more complex and contested than the modern stereotypes imply. Through close reading of a number of major works-including the Celtic epic The Tain, the Old English poem Beowulf, the Old French Lais of Marie de France, the Middle English lai Sir Orfeo, and the Icelandic saga Egil Skallagrimsson's Saga-students will explore some of the rich and complex cultural diversity of societies in the Middle Ages.