Studies in Poetry: "What's the Use of Beauty?"
As taught in: Fall 2005
A scenic river view of Carthage as it is being built, overseen by Dido, its queen. (Image courtesy of WebMuseum [J.M.W. Turner's "Dido building Carthage, or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire," 1815, oil on canvas; National Gallery, London])
Instructors:
Prof. Noel Jackson
MIT Course Number:
21L.704
Level:
Undergraduate
Course Description
This course explores variations on the proposition that an adequate recognition of beauty could, however indirectly, make you a more humane person. Readings extend widely across literary and non-literary genres, including lyric poetry and the novel, philosophical prose and essays.
