Module Descriptors
POWER AND DESIRE IN ENGLISH RENAISSANCE CULTURE
ENGL60238
Key Facts
Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies
Level 6
15 credits
Contact
Leader: Barry Taylor
Email: B.P.Taylor@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 22
Independent Study Hours: 128
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
  • COURSEWORK -ESSAY weighted at 66%
  • COURSEWORK - REVIEW weighted at 34%
Module Details
Module Indicative Content
This module explores representations of sexual and other forms of 'worldly' desire in English Renaissance culture, with a focus on literary texts from a variety of genres, in relation to a range of non-literary texts and discourses (eg philosophical, devotional, legal). Students will be invited to explore thematic connections between these different kinds of material, and the interaction between literature and a range of cultural and social contexts: themes will include sexual desire and the godly subject, desire as an instrument of rule, desire and social disorder, sexual desire and the demonisation of women.
Module Additional Assessment Details
Coursework Essay, relating to two or more texts. [Learning Outcomes 2, 3, 4]

Critical/Theoretical Review [Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4]
Module Resources
OHP
Library
VCR
Internet
Module Learning Strategies
Contact hours will be taken up with Lectures, seminars, and small-group tutorials to support coursework planning.
Module Texts
Selected lyric poetry
Edmund Spenser The Faerie Queene (extracts)
Christopher Marlowe EdwardII
John Webster The White Devil
William Shakespeare Measure for Measure