English 90mc. Before the Novel: Medieval Romance

Instructor: Nicholas Watson
Spring 2027
TBD | Location: TBD
Spring 2026
Thursday, 9:45-11:45am | Location: TBD
Enrollment: Limited to 15 students

Medieval romances are ancestors of the modern novel, including the psychological novel and the fictions we call “fantasy.” In modern French, the word “roman” means “novel.” In this course, we read a series of romances from England and elsewhere written between the twelfth century, when this baggy genre developed, and the fifteenth century, when it entered the age of print. We consider why romances came into being where and when they did, where they found their basic ingredients—imagined worlds, protagonists, “adventures,” and the “marvels” that are the genre’s special spice—and how they shaped and were shaped by the rapidly-changing culture in which they were written. We also reflect on the purposes they served, which extended well beyond straightforward entertainment. Like novels, romances set out to create solidarity, articulating common values, defining in-groups against out-groups, laying out rules for competition and cooperation, and modeling that mix of ethics and manners that is a hallmark of “polite” societies. But they also question what it means to live in such a society and test the fault lines of the ideals and attitudes that underlie it, sometimes to breaking-point—exploring the experimental space opened up by the genre’s greatest invention, the mode of invented narration we call “fiction.” They pay particular attention to the tensions between sacred and secular, public valor and private desire, family origin and socio-economic status, as well as to the dynamics between king and subject, gender roles and gendered performance, elite and non-elite. While they often take the form of the bildungsroman, narrating the difficulties involved in fashioning the lives of individuals or couples, they can also depict the rise and fall of entire societies. In the first half of the course, we read (translated) texts originally written in French, including a number by two, remarkable women writers, Marie de France and Clemence of Barking, both of them from England and exploring how romances interact with other genres, including chronicle histories, saint’s lives, and lyrics. In the second, we move to texts written in Middle English, which we read in the original language (not difficult; no previous experience necessary), including Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and the great Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Although it is mainly designed for undergraduates, others are also welcome to submit petitions to join the course.

This course satisfies the “Pre-1700 Guided Elective" requirement for English concentrators and Secondary Field students.