It takes a special kind of literary skill to turn killing into an art form. Such writers are known as detective novelists, mystery novelists, or simply crime fiction novelists. They use characterization, plotting, and literary and figurative language to create worlds of murder and mayhem. They draw us in and invite us to identify with the protagonist (who tries to solve the whodunit) or—more unsettlingly—with the perpetrator (who sometimes commits unspeakable acts). 

 We will begin the course by examining the origins of the crime fiction form, using Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes as our archetype. Moving our attention to the United States, we will study Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon to get a sense of what constitutes detective fiction, comparing it with other examples of the type written both in England and Sweden. England becomes the site of our examination of the mystery novel, where we will analyze "high" forms of the type, written by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, comparing the two authors' styles and approaches. The final component of the course scrutinizes the crime fiction form, looking at the French-based American author Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley and the recent work of English novelist Ruth Rendell. There will also be a mini-unit on true crime and comic books. 

Women who behave badly in early drama take murderous revenge on their betrayers; manipulate their husbands; defy the wishes of their families; and deceive their communities. They also strive to choose their own paths in life, by whatever means they can, sometimes cutting truly frightening figures, sometimes showing admirable strength and fortitude. 

Reading and viewing a variety of tragedies and comedies, including Euripides's Medea, Shakespeare's Macbeth, Aristophanes's Lysistrata and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, we will scrutinize these women's actions and place them in their historical and social contexts. By examining women's roles in Ancient Greece, Roman Italy, and Renaissance and Restoration England, we will gain a sense of how these female characters' behaviors on the stage aligned with expectations in society at the time. What did it mean to society and to audiences of drama for a woman to choose her own marriage partner, or for her to reject the duties of a wife and daughter? And how do these women's dramatic actions help us understand our own actions more fully? 

 This course fulfills the pre-1800 requirement and the Capstone requirements for the Literary Studies major; it fulfills the Capstone requirement for English Teaching.