123042 PS PS Literary Studies (2022S)

In this course we will explore the representation of love in its various forms and expressions in William Shakespeare’s sonnet cycle and in the narrative poem ‘A Lover’s Complaint’ — both published in Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) —, as well as in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1597) and the comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost (1598). In their formal and thematic negotiations of gender relations, each of these works oscillates between tradition and invention. Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets, on the one hand, radically depart from the Petrarchan sonnet tradition by their male homoeroticism and parody of hyperbolic praise of female beauty. On the other hand, they abide by the rigid metrical and rhyme structures of this lyric genre. In contrast to the sonnets, ‘A Lover’s Complaint’ imagines a female voice relating the course and effect on her of the courtship and eventual abandonment by a voluble admirer. Romeo and Juliet and Love’s Labour’s Lost both feature several sonnets and explore/problematise early modern conventions of courtship. But lovestruck sonneteers do not fare well — whether they are teenagers or king and courtiers: hasty marriage leads to double suicide; ardent suitors are mischievously rebuffed. Just like the sonnets, these two plays flout and, thus, foreground the conventions of their respective genres. Throughout this course, we will employ concepts from literary theory in teasing out the relations between literary form and cultural context.

[A pandemic afterthought: Large parts of Shakespeare’s Sonnets was probably written during the shutdown of London’s theatres in an outbreak of the plague; in Romeo and Juliet, a sudden outbreak of the plague prevents the delivery of a letter, resulting in the tragic death of the eponymous couple; and in Love’s Labour’s Lost, a group of men self-isolate to shield their intellectual endeavours from female influence but are quickly ‘infected’ with love when women arrive at court, to comic effect.]

This course will familiarise students with key techniques of academic research and text production. During this course, students will plan a research project resulting in a short final paper. This course will rely on the theoretical concepts conveyed in the literary and cultural studies introductory lectures; students are expected to be familiar with these.