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A week by week guide to teaching the course

Week 1

An introduction to all the relevant contexts for coping with the texts and films. At all levels of study this should include

For undergraduates: Critical techniques may also be introduced at this stage. Feminism, masculinity, post-moderism, deconstruction, and post-colonialism will all be applicable to this course, as well as some aspects of film studies.

Week 2

Beowulf - only in translation: dealing with the language and the society it speaks about.

An introduction to alliteration as the distinctive form of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) poetry. Images of horror, of bravery, and of a society very different to modern society, with a set of personal and social values that may be regarded as good or bad. Discuss. Look at the images of horror and valour and discuss what makes the horror (consider the nouns, adjectives, etc. used to describe evil). Consider how good is constructed, what images are associated with it - in this poem - are they different to modern perceptions of 'good'? Can you tell who are the outsiders in the society for which the poem was composed, or what it is afraid of? Note Christian imagery as well as pagan. Ask what students like, dislike, and why. Show a bit of the original Old English text, or play a tape of the poem so they can hear the sound. The language, imagery of Hrothgar's hall, names, and social structure all influence Tolkien's vision in The Lord of the Rings.

Week 3

Dr Faustus- Drama and its Elizabethan contexts.

OR

The Faerie Queene - another epic poem. Look at the way the hero is depicted as a knight in this late Elizabethan poem. Is he a good knight? Is he always brave and effective? Does he need help? By whom is he helped? What does he discover about himself? How do students feel when they learn he is an 'elf'. How does this fit in with the story? What effect does it have on the story? Composed at a time when knighthood was no longer a real force in society except as a set of ideals to aspire to, and play out in recreations - a more ceremonial and honorific status. What is the effect of the story? Do you notice any religious content? The old dragon is another name for Satan in The Book of Revelations (The Apocalype). (Duessa is the Whore of Babylon and her beast is the beast of the apocalypse, but this need not be addressed). Spenser's allegory may be discussed with undergraduates. How is evil depicted and treated here? What kinds of language are used to describe it and what effect do they have? How many forms of evil are there and what is special about each one? How is the hero treated? Look at the poetic form and language. The form is known as the Spenserian stanza, a specific form. The language is often archaic, look for notes on archaic words. What effect does this have and how does it fit with the depiction of the hero? The archaising process was deliberate, Spenser was looking back to an earlier age of chivalry and adventure which was, in part, purely a fiction anyway. This can be compared to Tolkien's use of a medieval framework, and medieval echoes.

Week 4

Macbeth- another tragedy, see notes above to Faustus. The use of horror and the grotesque by Shakespeare. A great interest in witchcraft at the time when he was writing, a firm belief in the existence and power of witches. King James supervised a witch trial in Scotland and Shakespeare was writing to the king's interest. How is evil depicted in this play. Consider especially Act IV Sc 1 and its emphasis on horror (this will be relevant later as context for Tolkien's work). Who can be regarded as evil in the play, and why? How is nature implicated in the contest between good and evil? The storm and the 'moving wood' are natural images but only the storm is truly natural. How are women implicated in evil? What effect does evil have on (1) Macbeth, (2) his wife? Who are the outsiders (Other, marginalised groups) in the society for which the play is written, how can you tell? Look at the poetic form here. Mainly blank verse, but observe the rhythms of the witches speeches. The course has covered a variety of poetic forms so far because plays were always written in verse at this time. It was not confined to poems. What kinds of imagery are associated with evil? What kinds of vocabulary are used to create those images? What kinds of weapons are used against evil in this play and in the other texts studies so far? Is there anything other than armed conflict? Point out the use of a taboo - 'no man of woman born'. Note: The unexpected response against that taboo is reconfigured in The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Discuss: are the texts studied so far created for popular audiences, high status audiences, or both?

OR

Paradise Lost - Satan's fall and demand for freedom should be understood in the context of the English Civil War and Milton's political beliefs. Challenging God can be contextualised by understanding that Milton wrote at the time close to when the King was executed. What kinds of language does Milton use to depict Satan, his companion fallen angels, and their situation in Hell? Note the epic scale of the entire work. Discuss as one in a long line of epic poems. Consider what is different: PL is written in blank verse not in specially designed stanzas like FQ nor in alliterative verse like Beow. Milton looks to the mythology of the Bible where Spenser looked overtly to medieval romance (adventure stories). Comparisons with Spenser's allegory may be discussed with undergraduates. Milton is also heavily indebted to the Latin classics. Look at the imagery of Satan's fall. It may be compared later to the visual imagery of the fall of the balrog at the start of The Lord of the Rings second film The Two Towers. Consider the traditional depiction of Satan the archetypal devil, using images and stories from Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars. Compare Milton's Satan.

Week 5

Frankenstein classic horror. Discuss the imagery of creation. Written by a young woman in 'gothic' circumstances, after a frightening dream and during a thunderstorm, so it is said, this book engages with topics fashionable in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when electicity was being discovered and its uses explored. A sense that humanity could do almost anything was prevalent as (post-Cartesian) science propelled scientific discovery, invention, and the industrial revolution. Compare the ideas of nature and naturalness with the uses of science in this book. What is being depicted as evil, dangerous, and horrific in its consequences? The theme of science and the 'industrialisation' of natural creation can be compared later with Tolkien's images of industrialised and ruined landscapes. Look for images of human kindness in Frankenstein; the importance of language, and its absence. Selfhood and family, particularly the place of the man in relation to these should be considered. What is the relation between evil and human family bonds? Consider the depiction of monstrosity, what forms does it take, and what are their effects on the reader? For undergraduates: consider the traditional blame attached to mothers in the case of monstrous births. See bibliography.Is monstrosity the same as villainy in this text. Compare to earlier texts studied.

Week 6

Dracula offers a proliferation of heroes, all trying to save young women from the clutches of the vampire. The popularity of the late gothic tale rests on its creation of suspense and horror as well as in its overtly sexual imagery (this latter aspect may be withheld from younger students). Discuss the use of unnatural imagery such as the great form crawling down the castle wall; the count without a shadow; and the fate of the baby at the hands of the women. The story also contrasts the value of new technology and bourgeois values against ancient or arcane learning as the new machine age, typified by Mina's typewriter proves helpless against the ancient and mythic evil of the undead. Discuss other forms of 'modern life and science' such as the inclusion of an American hero, blood transfusions, and the insane asylum. Consider the ancient beliefs in werewolves, dracs, and vampires and how they are depicted initially as alien and rustic. In this book the alien and exotic Other is powerful, mythic, but firmly located in recognisable geography. The transferrance of the exotic Other to familiar locations such as London and Whitby suggests the imminence as well as the immanence of evil. The undead which preys on the living is useful as a context for The Fellowship of the Ring.

For undergraduates - this book also offers highly sexualised images of women, and a variety of images of masculinity which may be interrogated.

Week 7

Nineteenth-century fantasy poetry and the Celtic Twilight - This selection of poems from famous and less famous writers introduces nineteenth century and early twentieth century writers' reaction against industrialism in poetry, and considers their contributions to creating medieval fantasy and medievalism as a genre. Tennyson's Lady of Shallott and Robert Browning's 'Childe Rolande' relate stories of knights and chivalry, but from unusual perspectives, offering a sense of loss and foreboding, rather than outright evil. Tennyson's 'Blow Bugle Blow', and William Allingham's 'The Fairies' consolidate a Victorian interest in fairies and elves which seems at first at odds with the industrialisation of England and its massive investment in colonialisation. The fairy world as Other, as dangerous, and as diminishing in the face of the practical modern world was clearly popular when the poems became famous. The rather later selection from W.B. Yeats 'The Shadow Waters' ,'In Tara's Halls', and 'The Magi', address the Victorian and Edwardian interest in mythology, and again create impressions of doom and foreboding. The latent threat, rather than outright evil power, associated with elves, fairies, and myths, suggests a different scale of insecurity. Look at the imagery in the poems and the language used to create both it and the sense of threat, doom, or diminishment. To what extent is playfulness itself an indication of foreboding, or is a refusal to engage with serious issues an indication of a sense of being either overwhelmed or disinterested in the real social evils that accompanied industrialisation and colonisation? Extracts from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, such as 'The Chimney Sweeper', and from 'Jerusalem', although earlier, may be useful comparators, as may extracts from Dickens Hard Times and Oliver Twist, and from texts such as The Water Babies as all these offer vivid literary insights which are at odds with the 'fairy' poems, and yet impart additonal significance to them.

Week 8

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring Images of security are contrasted with those of insecurity. Suspense and horror define the presence of evil. Its limits and its lack of effect on some characters should be discussed. The particular imagery used to construct evil has echoes in texts studied earlier in the course: dracs and Gollum; the undead and the ringwraiths and barrow wight. Associations between darkness, fire, and monstrosity link back to traditional concepts of Hell, echoing imagery found in Dr Faustus and Paradise Lost. Elves and their powers may be considered in relation to the poems studied earlier. Tolkien's own scholarly interests should be noted, including his essay Tree and Leaf: On Fairy Stories. The language and imagery used to create a sense of security and peace should be compared to language used to create a sense of threat, suspense, and fear.

Week 9

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Much of the language used in this part of the story relates back to Beowulf, but the construction of evil takes different forms. What effect does the use of the Anglo-Saxon source have on the atmosphere of the story while it is centred on Rohan? Is there any sense of mythical evil here? Define the forms of evil specific to this part of the story, what actions characterise them? Students should consider the ents in relation to Macbeth's prediction concerning Birnan (Birnam) Wood, and discuss the treatment of the orcs in general, and other evil characters. Does evil justify the use of any means to defeat it? How is good defined here? Book 4 Chapter 1 offers an echo of Browning's Childe Rolande. Discuss the language used to create a sense of threat, danger, or horror wherever evil is encountered in this part of the story. How is the language different in each case, e.g. compare the hobbits' encounter with the orcs with treatment of Gollum and his conduct, and the debate with Saruman. Compare the passage of the marshes with the arrival at the Black Gate and the condition of Orthanc before and after the battle. Discuss Tolkien's apparent views on ecology and industry.

Week 10

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King The rhythms and rhymes of poetry are significant in this part of the story. The rhythms of the Authorised Version of the Bible (King James) can be discerned in some of the prose, particularly the descriptions of the great battle. The power of evil is a significant topic in contrast to the apparent weakness of the forces of good. Consider images of apparent evil, horror, and suspense in this part. Are they all evil in effect? The major example is the undead army, which though traitors and horrific become part of the forces for good. Consider the circumstances attending this transition. Consider the images associated with evil and its opponents, also the role of kingship in relation to evil. What special qualities do the heroes have that help them defeat evil. Consider these special qualities in relation also to Macbeth, e.g. Macbeth cannot be killed by any one 'of woman born', i.e. any normally born man. Compare the defiant speech of the Lord of the Nazgul during the battle. Compare the way the injured are healed with the tradition disliked by King James I of 'touching for the king's evil' (people really believed that kings could heal scofula). To what extent is myth and legend a source for the actions and events leading to the defeat of evil in this part of the story? Discuss battles of good against evil, heroes against villains, epic stories. Ask students to name and compare any stories they know already that fall into these categories.Consider Tolkien's biography in relation to the construction of evil.

Week 11

The Lord of the Rings - the film versions: consider the adaptation of heroes in the films. What does this suggest about the society for which the films are made. Are the same kinds of changes made to the forces of evil? If not, why not? Which evil characters, or good characters are left out of the films? Discuss why this may be. Is the depiction of evil more or less effective on film. Discuss why. Discuss the different techniques required to create tension, suspense and horror in the films and in the books. Does the visual depiction of evil in the films echo any earlier literary depictions of evil, or does it 'tap into' stereotypes of evil in Western European and other societies? To what extent does it borrow from earlier films? Explain the ancient tradition of associating evil with darkness - evil hiding itself from the light and Lucifer the brightest of archangels becoming blackened in the fires of hell when he fell from heaven after challenging God. Discuss the association of blackness (Black Riders), deformity (Gollum, orcs, Uruks), violence, with evil in the film. Compare imagery of light, chivalry, as aspects of goodness. Consider in relation to e.g. Beowulf - Grendel as monster; Mephistopheles - as too ugly, Frankenstein's creature, Dracula and darkness/blackness. Also Red Cross defeating the forces of evil, though imperfect. Other depictions of knights killing deformed and monstrous beings. Discuss the problems of such depictions in modern society and consider the special case for the mythic dimension in the construction of the appearance of evil. Where possible, compare depictions of evil in other cultures and visual forms.

OR The Lord of the Flies - Twentieth century evil is allegorised in this book, but the first point of contact should be its construction as a story about school boys who face danger and experience the emergence of evil. The forms of evil should be discussed, including the war which endangers the boys first. Their strategies for coping should be compared with the decline into savagery. Evil as the absence of authority should be considered. Language is important in its own right in this story: its changing forms in association with evil and the descriptions of the imagery of evil should all be discussed. The scale of the 'heroes' should be discussed - does the fact that they are schoolboys increase or alter the sense of evil. Can comparisons be made between the ordinary life of a schoolchild and this extraordinary depiction? Issues of bullying, rejection of authority, violence, and special kinds of vulnerability are all raised and problematised. Special attention should be paid to the demonic imagery in the book for comparison with other texts studied on this course in which demonic imagery has appeared. The size of the boys and their early innocence can be used in comparison with the size and innocence of the young hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, and similar issues of enhanced vulnerability to evil arise while consequences and responses clearly differ.

Week 12

A choice of films:

Star Wars - discuss the transition of the young Hero and Dark Lord into space fantasy. Consider the relationship between fantasy and the depiction of evil. How does fantasy contribute to the exploration of society's deepest anxieties or most long-lasting fears? Black against white again, innocent youth against perverted maturity. The role of the wise and almost supernatural councellor - where have we met this kind of character before? What does this suggest about the importance of such a character? What happens in texts/films where he is absent? Are there any female counsellors in the texts/films studied? Discuss the importance of self sacrifice in this text and any other where self sacrifice can be identified. Obi-Wan can be compared to Gandalf on the bridge in Moria. Other examples may be found. The role of the female in the depiction of evil - vulnerability or strength?

OR

Independence Day - a particularly post-modern space/disaster pastiche preoccupied with the proliferation of evil. Note allusions to old films such as War of the Worlds in the crooked lamp post as well as Top Gun and Mad Max echoes. Discuss the rise of the post-colonial hero in conjunction with the 'all-American' WASP and Vietnam vet character of the President. Consider the cult status of The Lord of the Rings during the 1960s/70s among the American student counter-culture, and the 'loss of the all-American hero', with the recuperation of the hero-president. Consider the depiction of the female, not just women, in the context of evil: For undergraduates only - consider the specifically sexualised imagery of the space ship opening above the skyscrapers, and the symbol of patriarchal power The White House. Consider the shape of the small alien ship, and consider the conventional naming of the 'mother-ship' in the context of male sexual anxiety. Consider if this is 'over-reading', or culturally specific interpretation.

OR

Harry Potter, any of the films- the boy hero in a post-modern and highly literate world. Students should discuss the effect of the many influences from literary and other sources on the depiction of good and evil in the film. Which evil or unsettling or aggressive images echo others studied earlier in the course? Consider the power of language in the fight against evil. Compare Gandalf's verbal defiance in Moria. Discuss which kinds of language are effective, and discuss why they should be, e.g. Dog Latin in Harry Potter, or real Latin for spells 'taps into' the traditional status accorded to Latin as the ancient language of learning. However, nowadays it simply 'sounds' impressive, although it may still give the impression of being a learned language because it is not widely taught. The special sound and form of a language was anciently considered to be enough to make it effective as a spell or charm. See any book on RUNES for insights into this ancient belief. Spells against evil became prayers for protection in the Christian religion. Discuss the use of children as opponents of evil in the film, and the use of comedy as well as horror and suspense. What is the effect of comedy in these circumstances?

ALLOW TIME IN THE FINAL WEEK TO DISCUSS THE THEMES, ISSUES, AND INSIGHTS GAINED BY THE STUDY OF THE TEXTS/FILMS, DRAW OUT STUDENTS OVERALL INTERESTS AND RESPONSES, LIKES AND DISLIKES, AND REASONS FOR EACH OF THESE.