This course examines the presence of women in literature as both authors and subjects. How do literary works represent and challenge the traditional social roles assigned to women? How have novels, poetry, and plays shaped powerful cultural myths of femininity? The historical period(s) and genres to be covered in this course will vary: medieval and renaissance authors might include Marie de France and Shakespeare; eighteenth-century writers might include Aphra Behn and Mary Wollstonecraft; Romantic, Victorian and modern authors might include Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and Virginia Woolf.