CLCS 181 - Love, Genre, and Gender: Plays and Poetry in the Renaissance

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

How are gender and genre blurred across literary, theatrical, and visual representation in the early modern period? This first-year writing seminar explores the intertwining themes of love, comedy, and imitation through Italian and English Renaissance poetry, prose, and plays, with a focus on the relationship between truth, ambiguity, art, and performance.

Texts include sonnets written by Petrarch and those who later imitated him, including female poets; Italian comedies that served as precursors to Shakespeare’s plays; and dialogues written by women on the topic of love. All texts are in English. We also connect the literary themes we explore to relevant art production in the Renaissance, especially painting and sculpture.

Students are given a range of options regarding their individual assignments, including presentations, creative writing projects, and short critical essays. Alexia Ferracuti.

Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS