Medieval Literary Themes

Some possible theme directions for essay writing:

• form and function in Middle English literature
• types of play and game
• entertainment and instruction
• humor and satire
• order and disorder
• types of love and their representation
• social moral economy and conduct
• emotion and piety
• play and earnest
• vision and insight
• images of women
• audiences
• problems for modern readers
• critical controversy
• Christian concepts and their expression
• representations of gentilesse
• the development of a theme across a number of works
• the relevance of medieval literature to a "modern"
• conduct of the hero in medieval works
• contexts for medieval works

In developing an essay, you may refer to works read in the first half of our class. The short answer and discussion quotations do not, however, include such works.