Topic for Fall 2025: The Myth of Elizabeth

The only unmarried queen in British history, Elizabeth I maintained her controversial authority through a complicated balancing act, simultaneously playing the roles of nurturing mother, warlike father, alluring lover, and cruel, chaste mistress to her subjects. This course will consider literature of the Elizabethan age by Sidney, Spenser, Ralegh, Shakespeare, and others: poems, prose, and plays that respond to the Virgin Queen. It will also examine Elizabeth's own works (letters, speeches, and poetry), consider the fascinating visual representations of the queen from her lifetime, and survey some later portraits of her and her world in works such as Shekhar Kapur's film Elizabeth (1998) or the musical Six (2017).

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 20

Prerequisites: Open to all students who have taken two literature courses in the department, at least one of which must be 200 level, or by permission of the instructor to other qualified students.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature; ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall

Notes: This is a topics course and can be taken more than once for credit as long as the topic is different each time.