Shrews: Unruly (Wo)men in Premodern English Literature

This course explores the premodern emergence of the "shrew," or the unruly woman, in relation to issues of domestic government in medieval and early modern literatures. By considering a host of literary and non-literary works, we will think through the differences between shrews and tyrants, particularly as these distinctions were invoked to govern aspects of gender in the premodern household. What is a household tyrant? What does it mean to exercise sovereignty over domestic space? Can shrews be represented in positive terms? What is the role of "taming" in household government? What does it mean that men were described as shrews in early accounts of spiritual and political disorder? Through works by Boccaccio, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and their contemporaries, we will explore the ways in which household literatures provide social commentary on different forms of sovereignty, shrewishness, tyranny, and rebellion. Fulfills pre-1700.