SE2599: Medieval Romance: Monsters and Magic

School English Literature
Department Code ENCAP
Module Code SE2599
External Subject Code 100319
Number of Credits 20
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Liam Lewis
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2024/5

Outline Description of Module

Romance was the most popular secular literary genre in the Middle Ages, offering audiences of both women and men exciting narratives of adventure and travel, true love, knightly quests, chivalric combat, courageous princesses and spellbinding sorcery. With a penchant for the fantastical – featuring plenty of magic and monsters, from giants and dragons to unicorns and women with serpents’ tails – medieval romances also investigated pressing real-world issues, asking questions about gender roles, agency, family and race, and probing conflicts of loyalty and identity.

We will explore the thematic possibilities of this imaginative and interrogative genre through a selection of the best verse and prose romances in Middle English, such as Sir Launfal, Emaré, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur, Melusine, The Squire of Low Degree and Sir Isumbras. Our focus will embrace matters of identity – such as chivalry, gender and monstrosity – as well as magic and the supernatural, friendship, love, emotions, ethics, parody and heroism. The texts will also be illuminated in relation to their literary, social and historical contexts.

This module is suitable both for students who have never studied medieval literature and for those who already have some familiarity with Middle English. Guidance will be given on reading texts in the original Middle English.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  • demonstrate an ability to analyse the set texts closely and in terms of their contemporary contexts.
  • assess the texts in relation to key ideas such as gender, emotions, chivalry, monstrosity and the supernatural
  • evaluate chosen set texts in relation to medieval narrative practices and the expectations of the romance genre in particular
  • produce an informed critical argument in clear writing

How the module will be delivered

The module will be delivered through a variety of learning methods which may include a combination of digital learning activities to support face-to-face sessions. 

Skills that will be practised and developed

Academic skills: whilst studying this module, you will practise and develop a number of skills, including the cultivation of scholarly and contextualist research, the use of a range of critical methodologies, the ability to read Middle English confidently, and the ability to consider a range of texts when producing a critical argument. This requires careful scholarship, sensitivity to language through close reading and a broader historical awareness of social change.  

Employability skills: these include the ability to synthesise information, participate in group-based discussion, to negotiate different and conflicting standpoints, to communicate ideas and to produce clear, informed arguments in a professional manner. Student-led research will encourage skills of information collation, selection and synthesis. 

How the module will be assessed

Essay: 100%

Formative work to be submitted before summative assessment: you can choose between submitting, as appropriate, an essay plan/structure, synopses of essay topic options (if undecided) or sample paragraph/s; for creative assignments, you can submit working drafts of parts of your composition, as arranged with the workshop convenor.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:
As with School policy, failed or unsubmitted assessments can be retaken during the August resit period.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 100 Essay N/A

Syllabus content

Indicative Syllabus:

  • Sir Launfal
  • Emaré
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
  • Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (selections such as: ‘The Tale of Sir Gareth’, ‘The Roman War’, ‘Lancelot and Guinevere’, and/or ‘The Death of Arthur’)
  • Melusine
  • The Squire of Low Degree
  • Sir Isumbras

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