The storytelling trope “it was all just a dream” appears frequently in modern media, where its usage may be celebrated or derided. Poetic texts centering on the narration of a dream as a means to ponder situations and challenges experienced in the waking world were also popular with audiences and authors in medieval England. Poet Geoffrey Chaucer, best known for his Canterbury Tales, wrote a number of “dream vision” poems, some of which remain unfinished. In this intro proseminar, we will read and discuss Chaucer’s Middle English poems written in the “dream vision” genre, including The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and passages from The Legend of Good Women. Alongside these texts, we will discuss medieval considerations of love and death, humor and sorrow, dreams and reality, readers and writers, and tradition and experimentation. Course evaluation will include class participation, a short oral presentation, and a short essay written in MLA style.
- Dozent/in: Kristen Haas Curtis