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Download the syllabus as a pdf file here.

LIT 4930.03 / IDS 4920.04 
GC 287A 
Spring 2002 
T, R, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. 
Dr. James M. Sutton
Office: DM 462B
Office Hrs: T, R, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. or by appointment
Ph: 348-1270
E-mail: [email protected]

Queen Elizabeth I and her Representations

     Perhaps no woman has ever captured England's heart and soul in quite the same manner as Queen Elizabeth I did during her long and supposedly peaceful reign, stretching from 1558-1603. For 45 years, this self-proclaimed Virgin Queen successfully ruled her protestant nation at a time when the very right of a woman to be enthroned was being viciously attacked both at home and abroad. Her life and her reign continue to haunt the Anglo-American imagination even today: witness the large numbers of books, web-sites and even films dedicated to portraying this intelligent, compelling English monarch, fashioned variously as Gloriana, Astraea, Cynthia, and yes, the "Faerie Queene." 

     No matter what your background or motivation for enrolling in this interdisciplinary course, our broad objective will be to grasp the manifold images and representations this powerful, clever woman (and those men gathered about her) employed in order to dominate England for so many years, and to ask too how much mythology (both then and now) has become intertwined with the "facts" or "truth" of her life. Whether you are a Liberal Studies or an English major, or studying history, art history, advertising, public relations, political science, women's studies or the humanities, this course should help you think about the complex relationships between gender, sex, power and the arts, both in sixteenth century England and (I hope) in contemporary Miami. 

     The biggest challenge for many of you, initially at least, will seem to be the amount of reading I want you to do in this course. A quick look at the syllabus will indicate that I'm asking you to often read 75 - 100 pages of material for each class meeting, readings that encompass biography, political history, gender history, cultural studies, art history and pageantry, architecture, gardening and the decorative arts, and literature and poetry (we'll read widely from both Elizabeth's own writings and those of her subjects trying to respond to her). Do not let yourself become daunted by the sheer number of pages: you can and will keep up, and you might also like to know that my reading list is actually quite modest in comparison to what many history courses require. 


     Because your individual commitment to this reading schedule is important, and the success of most of our class discussions will depend upon your careful preparation and readiness to talk, I will ask each of you to keep a reading journal. It's size, shape, and color does not matter: what I want are your musings and ideas and reactions to each reading assignment. I'm not looking for notes, nor do I want jottings. Rather, upon finishing each reading assignment, I'd like you to find a quiet space, and spend anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour just responding to some aspect of the reading that struck you. Don't try to be comprehensive; rather, write about some specific detail or image or prayer or poem or speech or argument that caught your fancy. Ideally, at the end of the semester, I should see 27 such entries in your journal, but I'm nothing if not realistic. I'll give you a break six or seven times: I'll expect around 20 entries from each of you. Go ahead and personalize your journals-draw, make collages, write poems or mock-speeches of your own-but do respond, consistently and actively, to our readings. I will collect these at the end of the semester, on Monday April 22.

     I expect regular attendance and active participation. Most days I will take roll, and I will certainly try to foster spirited debate and discussion in class. I ask that you respect the opinions of your classmates, and that you listen carefully to them. I will lead our conversations, but it is up to each of you, individually and collectively, to give shape to our dialogue and indeed the course. Make sure you learn what you need to here, whether that information comes from me, a classmate, or yourself. Also, please arrive on time, and plan on remaining with us until 3:15 each and every day.

     Besides these activities, I'll ask each of you to write two essays and fashion or conduct some sort of wildly creative and personal project responding to Elizabeth and her representations. The first essay will be due in the middle of the semester, on Thursday, February 21. This paper should be about 5-7 pages in length, and should initiate a research project on some matter of Elizabethan representation that will span the whole semester. I expect this to be cogent, clever and well-written; you may approach our subject-Elizabeth I-from virtually any angle you wish. Your second essay, which will be due at the conclusion of the semester, on Monday April 22, will be at least 10-15 pages in length. This paper will be interdisciplinary and should involve secondary research: I expect each of you to spend some time in the library gathering resources related to your topic. I will not require individual conferences before or during your research and writing, but I highly recommend them. In a 15 - 30 minute conversation in my office, I should be able to help you find a topic and get a good start on your inquiry. I even welcome frequent visits, especially those that come during my office hours, which are immediately after this class.

     About the personal project: anything goes, and the more creative, the better. Cook up an authentic Elizabethan meal for me and your classmates. Play a madrigal, or dance in the court style (the young Elizabeth, especially, was an enthusiastic dancer). Don an Elizabethan robe that you've hand-sewn, or paint your own portrait or write your own sonnet sequence to Elizabeth. Perform one of her speeches, or, in a group, re-enact one of her pageants or progress visits. I really want you to have fun with this assignment, and too, I hope that many of you will be bold enough to present your work to me and your assembled classmates at a special session held in lieu of a final examination, on April 25 from 12:30 - 3:15 (and longer if necessary and possible).

     I would also like to find a time at some point this semester to screen at least one, if not two films depicting Elizabeth's life. These screenings, if they occur, will be strongly recommended but not required, and I'll try to arrange them at a time and place when many of us will be able to attend.

     Finally, about grades. The final distribution will be as follows: 10% each for attendance and participation; 15% for your first essay; 25% for your final essay; 20% for your reading journal; and 20% for your creative assignment. I am tough and challenging, but ultimately fair. Work hard, read carefully, speak up often, write well: you might just get an A! More importantly, you will learn tons, about Queen Elizabeth, about Elizabethan England, perhaps even about yourself. 
Have fun, and thanks for enrolling in this new course: please help me make it a success!

Syllabus

Tues. January 8: Introduction to the Course, Class Expectations, Assignments, Grading Policies 
Thur. January 10: Elizabeth's Life; please read Weir, 1 - 109.

Tues. January 15: Elizabeth's Life; please read Weir, 110 - 201.
Thur. January 17: Elizabeth's Life; please read Weir, 202 - 310.

Tues. January 22: Elizabeth's Life; please read Weir, 311 - 400.
Thur. January 24: Elizabeth's Life; please read Weir, 401 - 488.

Tues. January 29: The Queen and Structures of Power; please read Haigh, 1 - 89.
Thur. January 31: The Queen and Structures of Power; please read Haigh, 90 - 181.

Tues. February 5: Elizabeth, Sex and Power; please read Levin, 1 - 90; Walker, 30 - 59.
Thur. February 7: Elizabeth, Sex and Power; please read Levin, 91 - 172; Walker, 77 - 95.

Tues. February 12: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., xi-xxiv, 1 - 48. 
Thur. February 14: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 51 - 110.

Tues. February 19: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 111 - 163. 
Thur. February 21: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 167 - 204.
First Essay, 5 - 7 pp., due in my office or mailbox by 5 p.m.

Tues. February 26: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 205 - 266.
Thur. February 28: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 266 - 321.

Tuesday March 5: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 325 - 377.
Thursday March 7: Elizabeth Speaks; please read Marcus, et. al., 377 - 427.

Tuesday March 12: The Portrait of Elizabeth; please read Strong, 14 - 55.
Thursday March 14: Elizabethan Portraiture; please read Strong, 56 - 112.

Tuesday March 19: NO CLASS-SPRING BREAK
Thursday March 21: NO CLASS-SPRING BREAK (use this break to catch up on your reading, and /or to move ahead in our readings; at the least, buy the coursepack and start looking at this)

Tuesday March 26: The Portrait of Elizabeth; please read the first half of the coursepack (which I suggest you purchase before Spring Break); also, read Walker, 229 - 276.
Thursday March 28: Poetry on Elizabeth; please read second half of the coursepack

Tuesday April 2: Poetry on Elizabeth; please complete your reading of the second half of the coursepack; also, read Walker, 153 - 225 and Frye, 97 -147.
Thursday April 4: The Queen of Pageants; please read Frye, 22 - 55.

Tuesday April 9: The Queen of Pageants; please read Strong, 114 -191.
Thursday April 11: The Queen of Pageants; please read Frye, 56 - 96 and Mowl, 71 - 103.

Tuesday April 16: Elizabethan Styles; please read Mowl, 11 - 69. 
Thursday April 18: Elizabethan Styles; please read Mowl, 105 - 193.

Monday April 22: 
Final Interdisciplinary Essay, 10 -15 pp., due in my office or mailbox by 5 p.m. 
Reading Journal due in my office or mailbox by 5 p.m.

Thursday April 25, 12:30 - 3:15 p.m.: In-class Presentations of Your Creative Assignments

Books

Eight books are required for this course. You should purchase them immediately in the FIU Bookstore downstairs, and begin your reading. Later this semester, shortly before Spring Break, I will ask you to purchase a course pack that I will prepare (here you will find more material on Elizabeth's portraits, plus generous and fascinating selections of poetry written to, on, or about her: rest assured, there will be some Spenser here, plus Davies, Gascoigne, Raleigh, Shakespeare, and many others-the age was, as you will come to find out, obsessed with images of their queen). This coursepack will be available for purchase in the GC Copy Center. My sincere apologies for the steep price of these books, but I trust that you will find all of them interesting in their own right, and hopefully you will choose to keep them at the semester's end. 

The eight books, in order of their use in the course, are:

• Alison Weir, The Life of Elizabeth I
• Christopher Haigh, Elizabeth I: Profiles in Power
• Carole Levin, The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power
• Julia M. Walker, ed., Dissing Elizabeth: Negative Representations of Gloriana
• Leah S. Marcus, Janel Mueller, and Mary Beth Rose, eds., Elizabeth I: Collected Works
• Susan Frye, Elizabeth I: The Competition for Representation
• Roy Strong, The Cult of Elizabeth: Elizabethan Portraiture and Pageantry
• Timothy Mowl, ElizabeThan Jacobean Style