Course description: What I hope you will get from this course is a taste for the literature of the seventeenth century and some knowledge of its various contexts: political, religious, artistic, etc. Because it is a 600-level course and some of you are probably taking it primarily to prepare for an exam in the period, I have broadened it to include major writers of the pre-war era. On the other hand, I hope I have retained enough specialized material to give you some idea of what it would be like to do scholarly research in the period. As it is the first English period to overlap extensively with American literature, those who are planning to specialize in American literature are welcome to devise essay topics linking the two fields. I shall also be glad to get essays putting literature into other contexts that particularly interest you.

Note: Where a poem appears in both Fowler and the older Witherspoon and Warnke collection (WW, below), I have generally indicated which to read, but it doesn't really matter; you may find it useful to compare their notes and commentary.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Preliminary meeting: Richard II as prologue. Richard II (plus appendix to Gurr's ed.: "Homilie Against Disobedience"); James I's speech to Parliament in 1610 (xerox to be given out).

SEPT. 11 Prologue, part two: Publications of 1633 (Donne and Herbert). Read selections from both in WW and be prepared to speak about the assigned poem for 10 minutes only.

1. Taking sides

SEPT. 18 Style as politics. Milton, Lycidas, and Cleveland, "On the Memory of Mr. Edward King" (WW p. 36); Quarles (Fowler 360).

SEPT. 25 The Cavalier Image and Anglicanism. Ben Jonson, "To Penshurst" and "To the Immortal Memory" (Fowler); Donne, "At the Bier of a King" (WW, 106), "To the Honorable Company of the Virginia Plantation" (107-8); Herbert, "The Parson's Completeness" (WW 216); Fanshawe, "On His Majesty's Proclamation" (to be given out); Thomas Browne, Religio Medici (WW, 334-336); Herrick (Fowler 302-21); Suckling (selections in WW); Carew (selections in both Fowler and WW, except for the poem to Jonson).

[Reading and discussion of Perkin Warbeck Sept. 26, 9pm - midnight]

OCT. 2 Divided loyalties. Perkin Warbeck; Ann Fanshawe (xerox, beginning to p. 116); Lucy Hutchinson (TBA); Clarendon, xerox 249-54 and "Character and Death of Lord Falkland" (WW). [11 am: visit to Library Special Collections. ]

OCT. 9 The Puritan Image. Lucy Hutchinson, Memoirs of the Life of Col. Hutchinson (3-15, 31-57, 86-7); "The Zealous Puritan" (Fowler 554); Bunyan, extracts from Grace Abounding in WW; Sharpe (xerox); Rivers, "Reformation and Counter-Reformation" and "Protestant Theology". Milton, An Apology against a Pamphlet (in Complete Prose Works, on reserve, PR3569.W6, Vol I, pp 882, 1st para., to 893 btm.

2. The War

OCT. 16 Definitions of freedom. Milton, Areopagitica, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (CPW, Vol II, ch. iii (pp 248-50) and ix (pp 268-9); "To Fairfax" (WW); Parker (Fowler 465); Anon (Fowler 614); selections from Cromwell and pamphlets of 1640s (to be given out); Lovelace, selections in WW. [1st paper due at start of this seminar.]

OCT 23 [No class: FALL BREAK]

OCT. 30 1 hour exam. While you recover: Words and images (a slide lecture): Herbert, "The Altar" and "Easter Wings"; emblem poetry (Quarles in W&W, pp 831-3); Lovelace (Fowler 638), Marvell, "The Gallery", "The Nymph Complaining", and "The Picture of Little TC" (WW).

NOV. 6 The King's execution. "Charles I", Eikon Basilike (extracts to be given out); Herrick, "Good Friday: Rex Tragicus" (Fowler 348); Milton, On the Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, CPR III, pp 197-222; Eikonoklastes (chapters xv (497) and xix (528), answering the 2 chapters of Eikon Basilike already given out, plus 360-66, which comment on "Pamela's Prayer", and 342-44, which refer to the frontispiece of the Eikon); Marvell, "Horatian Ode"; A. Brome, selections in Fowler; Lucy Hutchinson, pp 228-36.

3. The Aftermath

NOV. 13 Post-war political debate: Milton (Fowler, 514-21); Hobbes, Leviathan (selections in WW); marginal voices: Winstanley, Abeizer Coppe and others (selections to be distributed).

NOV. 20 Retreat and retirement. Marvell: Fowler 665, 666, 667, 669, 670; "Upon Appleton House"; W&W ; Beaumont (Fowler 608); Vaughan, "The Bird", "The Night", "The Book" (WW); Cavendish (Fowler 696); Browne, Hydrotaphia, or Urn Burial (Book 5, in WW); Walton, Complete Angler (WW, chapter 1); Rivers, "The Golden Age and the Garden of Eden".

DEC. 4 TBA [Possibly: The Restoration and summing up: Evelyn (entries for 3 Sept 1658-21 Dec 1663). Dryden's Astrea Redux (extracts), Hudibras (extracts in WW); Waller, "On St James's Park" (Fowler 495); Bunyan, extracts from Pilgrim's Progress (first extract in WW, pp 503-9)]

Dec. 15: 2nd paper due--put it under the door in my office. I will be available on Tues. 19 Sept. to give them back and discuss them with you.

OTHER EVENTS

Tickets are now on sale in English dept. office (ground floor of Memorial Hall) for Macbeth (starring Stacy Keach) on Sept. 21 at the Lansburgh Theatre, Washington, DC (450 7th St. NW). Only 18 seats available, so buy yours early, preferably paying by check. Leave a contact address or phone number with the office, and please also let them know whether you would be willing to drive a carload of people down, and how many places would be available. Note that there will be no refunds; if you can't use your ticket, you'll need to make your own arrangements to get rid of it. If you can't go on this day, you may be interested in booking for another performance yourself. Call 202-393-2700.

Sept. 12 at 7 pm: playreading of Troilus and Cressida at 119 Manns Ave.

Sept. 20 at 4 pm: Lena Orlin (Folger Shakespeare Library) will be speaking on "The Tudor Long Gallery and the Progress of Privacy". Highly recommended.

Thurs. Sept. 21: Transportation leaves Memorial Hall at 4.30 pm for Macbeth at the Lansburgh Theatre in Washington. Play starts at 7.30 pm.

Thurs. Oct. 5: Rehearsed playreading of Wycherly's The Country Wife, 110 Memorial. A chance to get a first-hand taste of Restoration comedy.

Week of Nov. 6-11: ACTER, a superb group of English actors, will be giving 3 performances of Romeo and Juliet as well as attending classes and offering open workshops on acting. Do try to attend at least one of these events; they are splendid.

Throughout the semester: I generally hold a number of readings of plays and poems, which are open to anyone who is interested.

ASSESSMENT

Responses: one-page papers (max) based on the week's reading. They may take any form: close analysis of part of a text, questions about it, explorations of something that may lead to a longer paper. Almost anything is acceptable, provided that it shows evidence of genuine attention to the texts. If you think your questions are of general interest, you can bring them up in the discussion No responses will be due on the days when papers are due, in the week of the 1-hour exam, or at the final meeting. This means that the first one will be due Sept. 18, and you will do 7 in all. 5 of these should be resubmitted at the final seminar meeting with a covering note showing how they fit in with the development of your understanding of the course content. They will receive a single grade based on my over-all impression.

The exam: partly factual (I want to make sure that you know some basic history) and partly an opportunity to draw together some of the work we have done up to that point, as you will eventually have to do for Comps.

The Presentation: about half an hour. You should present one of the texts in the day's reading, or (if there are many texts) show how they can be linked coherently. Use of illustrations, whether visual or aural, is welcome. If two of you choose to work on the same day, you may EITHER devise a joint presentation (of about an hour's length) OR work on your own. If you wish to involve the rest of the group in any activity that needs advance preparation, be sure to give out the necessary materials in the previous class or make arrangements for getting these to the group shortly thereafter. Presentations that go grossly over the allotted time will be penalized. (The shorter presentations on Sept. 11 will not be graded; they are intended to give you practice.)

Papers: The first (due Oct. 16) should be 7-9 pp; the second (due at the end of the semester) 10-12 pp. You have a free choice of topics but here are suggestions which may help you get started:

A comparison, for instance: Donne, "The Funeral" and Carew, "The Ribband"; Lycidas and another elegy (not necessarily from the seventeenth century: e.g., you might use Auden's "In Memoriam W.B. Yeats"); Marvell's and Beaumont's "The Garden"; Herbert and Vaughan; Lovelace and Cowley on the grasshopper (Fowler).

Popular responses to the execution of Charles I

Political theory and poetry

The transformation of religious poetry

Problems of discussing prose style

Fuller exploration of an author or text of the period, whether on the course or not

A project drawing on the University's special collections from this period

I normally like to discuss your topic with you beforehand and will be happy to suggest secondary reading.

Misc.: This category exists, frankly, so that I can give grades that may not correspond exactly to the arithmetical total of your grades for the course. Those who wish may also earn an extra 5% by writing a poem of at least B quality, in the metaphysical manner, on the subject "Love and the U.S. Congress", due at the last seminar of the course.


READING LIST

At present I am not planning to put any books on reserve, because the seminar is small enough for everyone to find plenty of secondary reading. However, I suggest that you report to the rest of the seminar when you take a relevant book out of the library, so that anyone who wants it can go directly to you rather than recalling it. I'd also be pleased if those of you who find books that you consider particularly useful could let the rest of us know about them.

What follows is a very brief list of the most basic books under several headings:

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

S.R. Gardiner's multi-volume history is still the standard detailed one, along with C.V. Wedgwood's history, the two volumes of which are called The King's Peace and The King's War (there's also a volume on the trial of Charles I). These should be consulted if you want to go into a particular episode in detail. A good short book, by a Marxist historian, is Christopher Hill's Century of Revolution. Most people tell me that they find this the best book on the field, so why not order it for yourself? I also recommend reading more fully in the works of those who lived through the period themselves (we shall be looking at extracts from Hyde and Fanshawe, and a good deal of Hutchinson). Try exploring the DA 400 section of the library for yourself. See also, for more detailed aspects of the history:

Hill, Christopher, Society and Puritanism; Puritanism and Revolution; The World Turned Upside Down.

Morrill, John, ed. Reactions to the English Civil War, 1642-1649.

Thomas, Keith, Religion and the Decline of Magic.

Underdown, David, Revel, Riot, and Rebellion, Popular Politics and Culture in England 1603-1660.

LITERARY BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF IDEAS

See the full, excellent and up-to-date reading list at the back of I. Rivers, Classical and Christian Ideas. An important recent anthology: K. Sharpe and S. Zwicker, Politics of Discourse: the Literature and History of Seventeenth-century England. Wider in chronological scope but particularly interesting for this period is Annabel Patterson's Censorship and Interpretation: the conditions of writing and reading in early modern England. A great deal has been written on seventeenth-century poetry, much of it very good, so I shall let you find it for yourself. Two classic studies of the prose writers of the period are Stanley Fish, Self-Consuming Artifacts, and Joan Webber, The Eloquent "I": Style and Self in Seventeenth-Century Prose. The only really comprehensive account devoted exclusively to literature of the civil war era is Nigel Smith's very recent Literature and Revolution in England, 1640-1660. See also the anthology by T. Healy and J. Sawday, Literature and the English Civil War, and Michael Wilding, Dragon's Teeth, Literature in the English Revolution.