English Literature

In this course, Dr Adam Stock (York St John University) explores George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The first four modules cover historical and literary context, including the genre of the novel, the life and career of George Orwell himself,...

In this course, we explore the poetry of John Donne, thinking in particular about poetic language and style, the issues that preoccupied him throughout his life and career, and the extent to which we can understand John Donne the man...

In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores Carol Ann Duffy’s 1999 collection, 'The World's Wife'. After a brief introduction to the collection as a whole, the course continue with a read-through and analysis of each...

In this course, Ms Karen Hewitt (University of Oxford) explores Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. As we move through the course, we think about the social context of the novel—particularly Victorian ideas about female sexuality—and the...

In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores the fifteen poems that make up the ‘Conflict’ cluster for GCSE English Literature (Edexcel). Each poem is read in full, with a short commentary highlighting aspects ...

In this course, Professor John Bowen (University of York) explores Emily Brontë’s 1848 novel, Wuthering Heights. In the first module, we provide an introduction to the novel as a whole, focusing in particular on Brontë’s life, her character, and...

In this course, Professor Jon Mee (University of York) explores the life and poetry of the great Romantic poet, John Keats. We begin by looking at Keats’ background, including his family, early education, and his career, before exploring Keats’...

In this course, Professor John Roe (University of York) explores Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, a play in which a Duke’s decision to put his power in the hands of the fascinating character of Angelo goes catastrophically wrong. It’s a miracle...

In this course, Professor Stephen Morton (University of Southampton) discusses Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. The course begins by introducing the author himself and the publication on the novel, before moving on in the second...

In this course, Dr Katie Halsey (University of Stirling) explores Jane Austen's 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice. We begin by providing a broad introduction to the historical, literary, social and cultural context of the novel including the early...

In this course, we explore the poetry of Sylvia Plath: first, we think about what it means to describe Plath as a writer of Confessional Poetry; after that we look at the themes of motherhood and love in Plath’s poetry;...

In this course, we explore several aspects of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, thinking in particular about the play in performance. In the first module, we think about how Shakespeare manipulates, fuses, and pays with genre, before moving on to...

In this course, Professor Marion Turner (University of Oxford) explores the historical, literary and cultural context for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. In the first module, we think about the literary and linguistic culture of 14th-century England,...

In this course, Professor Grace Ioppolo (University of Reading) explores Shakespeare’s King Lear. We begin in the first module by thinking about Shakespeare’s sources for King Lear – what he took from earlier versions of the ...