Comparative analysis of characters who reappear in literature from different periods and cultures. These include the quester, the lover, the artist, the trickster, the rebel, and the outsider. Readings come from diverse genres and national traditions. Comparative analysis of themes and motifs that reappear in literature from different periods and cultures. These include friendship, madness, self-sacrifice, the relationship of parents and children, the relationship of men and women, and the relationship of individuals and society.
Readings come from diverse genres and national traditions.
Such considerations as the individual in society, the outcast as hero, and the artistic sensibility examined in selected works of occidental and oriental literature from ancient to modern times. Study of literature by women from different ages and societies. Consideration of such issues as the relationship to literary tradition and cultural context, the creation of an authoritative voice, or the representation of women in literature. Major philosophical themes, such as Platonism, Stoicism, skepticism, and mysticism, that appear and reappear in Western literature. Religious literature of the later Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the baroque, and the transformation of its themes and forms in more recent writings.