MPEN201 Major British and Irish Authors
Fall 2011
Dr. Ken Kirby

Syllabus
Critical paper (This will be a short paper responding to the ideas of one or two scholars writing about Milton or Yeats.)
Subjective paper (This paper will be about 5 pages, 1500 words, and will ask you to write about which authors in the course have meant the most to you in relation to your educational and other life goals.)

MPEN201 does not attempt to give a broad survey of British and Irish literature but rather selects a few of the most important figures who wrote in the major genres (epic poetry, lyric poetry, drama, and prose fiction) that have occupied authors since the Renaissance.   These are the authors we will look into, given from earliest to most recent.

William Shakespeare's King Lear ranks along with his other tragedies, such as Hamlet and Othello, at the pinnacle of English literature.  Like all of Shakespeare's best plays, King Lear has a good story, memorable language, and a fascinating cast of complex characters.

John Milton's Paradise Lost is widely regarded as the best and most influential single work in the English language; I certainly regard it as such.  The human and theological issues it deals with are some of the most fundamental of all--creation, marriage, knowledge and faith, sin and redemption.

Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein is one of those rare works that is accessible to jr. high students and yet fascinating to adults who are widely read and highly educated.  Dr. Frankenstein's passion and guilt are perhaps as moving as the loneliness and bitterness of the human monster he created.

Jane Austen's popularity continues unabated in the 21st century, as witnessed by the numerous editions of her novels and the popular and critically acclaimed films that her works continue to inspire.  Emma provides opportunity to examine most of Austen's important themes in the high comedy style that she commands perhaps better than any other author.  We will also watch the very fine 1995 film adaptation of Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee, with screenplay by Emma Thompson.

Considered by many to be the best poet of the 20th century, William Butler Yeats also wrote important dramatic and prose fiction works, most of which speak of his love for Irish history and culture.  Many important writers are productive for a relatively short period of time; Yeats is remarkable in that he wrote high quality literature for 50 years, producing world-class literature in his 20's and some of his best work when he was past 70.