ENGL 150   Dangerous Selfies: Division, Disorder, and Psychic Disruption in Early Modern England

The early modern period (1485-1640) was marked by turbulence and change, and those in England experienced various kinds of division, disorder, and psychic disruption as ideas embedded in the medieval world contended with newly-invigorated classical concepts, shifting social constructs, and the new science. Moreover, the continual worries raised by social ills–such as the threat of foreign invasion, the upset of the Reformation and its aftereffects–coupled with the persistent dangers of famine, plague, mental illness, and early death–created a climate of anxiety that found its way into literature of the period, and particularly into tragic drama. Students explore, using materials written by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the ways in which the emotions, perceptions, and psychological states found expression within a climate stricken with anxieties concerning the self, the family, the community, and the nation. Questions include: "How do the passions work?" "How does a mind become 'diseased'?" "How is evil manifested in psycho-physiological terms?" "What mental states were associated with witches and what states did witches produce in others?" "What behaviors ought to govern kings, other rulers, and their subjects?" "How does self-involvement lead to spiritual, psychological, and social problems?" A variety of literary sources, primary historical materials, and secondary critical readings are used to contextualize the readings. Emphasis is placed on techniques of close reading and critical writing skills.