Vote + to improve this toplist's ranking
Report Abuse

Pre-18th Century Must-Reads for English Majors

20 items ranked

Here are some of the works every English major specializing in pre-18th-century literature should know.

Rated 0 points - posted 14 years ago by phdlist in category Books.
Click on up and down arrows to affect item's ranking
Visit our Books forum



1.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Paradise Lost – John Milton Report Abuse
This epic poem is an important touchstone for British literary studies.
3 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

2.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Faerie Queene – Edmund Spenser Report Abuse
1 point - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

3.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – William Shakespeare Report Abuse
Of course, one Shakespeare play isn’t possibly enough, so try this romantic comedy as well as Hamlet.
1 point - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

4.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Every Man Out of His Humour – Ben Jonson Report Abuse
1 point - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

5.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Hamlet – William Shakespeare Report Abuse
Well, you should be familiar with everything Shakespeare wrote, but if you must only choose one, make it this most-referenced tragedy.
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

6.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Essais – Michel de Montaigne Report Abuse
The father of the personal essay, Montaigne started writing so that his loved ones would have a clear sense of him after he died.
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

7.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Beowulf Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

8.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Canterbury Tales – Chaucer Report Abuse
This 14th-century road trip story provides a fairly thorough and very entertaining critique of English society.
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

9.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Doctor Faustus – Christopher Marlowe Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

10.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

11.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Book of Margery Kempe – Margery Kempe Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

12.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Absalom and Achitophel – John Dryden Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

13.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Epithalamion – Edmund Spenser Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

14.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Holy Sonnets – John Donne Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

15.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
“To His Coy Mistress” – Andrew Marvell Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

16.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Anatomy of Melancholy – Robert Burton Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

17.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
Complete Essays – Francis Bacon Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

18.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Lais of Marie de France – Marie de France Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

19.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Temple – George Herbert Report Abuse
0 points - added 14 years ago by phdlist -

20.

Vote + to improve this item's ranking
Vote - to decrease this item's ranking
The Misanthrope – Moliere Report Abuse
-1 point - added 14 years ago by phdlist -
ShareRanks is about ranking things that are top, most, greatest, or even worst in all categories.
Use arrows to rank one item in versus another.
Top 10 Pre-18th Century Must-Reads for English Majors are especially marked