For one member of English 2201, hours of painstaking labor culminated in a stunning work of art. OSU Senior Devon Priess offers a collection of four embroidered hoops, each representing a period of British literary history. Beyond the beautiful craftsmanship, each hoop is encoded with symbolic meaning and allusions to the literature studied throughout the course.
Below we are pleased to showcase Devon’s work as well as her insightful commentary on each piece! We hope future members of the course will be inspired by her creativity and consider the capacity for all sorts of materials to convey the lessons of English 2201.
Hoop 1: Pre-Conquest Medieval Britain
My first hoop for pre-conquest Britain depicts the Rood, from The Dream of The Rood. I wanted to capture the rood speaking to the Dreamer. I think it looks like a biblical descriptions of Angels, which adds to the representation of something that would come in a dream vision. I added the crossing over pattern on the cross to represent the interlace that was often seen in carpet pages in pre-conquest medieval literature. The reddish spikes represent the blood of Christ that turned the rood into its current golden, bejeweled state. I added the rhinestones to match the description of the Rood as gem encrusted. Christianity and the monasteries in Britain were crucial for the development of early literature in Britain, and I would like to think a nun might doodle something like my hoop in the margins of their manuscripts.
Hoop 2: Post-Conquest Medieval Britain
For my second hoop on post-conquest medieval Britain, I chose an element from each week to incorporate. Each of these concepts shaped not only the literature of the time, but still can be seen in Britain to this day. I included the crown to represent King Arthur and the romantic poets of the time. Their stories are still told to this day and are what I would call the “king” of medieval literature. The skull represents the black plague that brought so much death, but also allowed middle class people like Geoffrey Chaucer to rise to prominence. Without it, we would not have writings like The Canterbury Tales. The final part depicts the view of an Anchorite through their walled windows, and how they view the world. I made the window cross shaped, not only to represent their narrow path in life and outlook on the world, but how the worlds of these women were completely shaped by Christianity.
Hoop 3: The Renaissance
My third hoop on the Renaissance takes inspiration from Paradise Lost. In Milton’s work, we see a different interpretation of Satan, one that humanized him. Taking what we discussed in recitation that week, I wanted to create a different representation of Satan, in a way that hasn’t been seen before. I tried to make the colors soft and pleasant, in opposition to how we usually depict Satan. I also was inspired by Margaret Cavendish’s fascination with the natural world and her Eco-poetry, as well as the general beauty of the art during the Renaissance. With this, I combined these disparate ideas to create a natural Satan, or a “Soft Satan” as I like to call it.
Hoop 4: The Restoration
Finally, my last hoop on the restoration represents the culmination of what we learned throughout this semester. In this section, we finally caught up to a Britain I recognized from my historical knowledge and previous experience in literature. I also wanted to represent the multitudes of ideas and perspectives that are contained within this island, and how much diversity we see. From former slaves, to women, to people with disabilities, this class showed me that what you find in the literary history of Britain is much more than what most people are familiar with. Before taking this class, I had a very narrow understanding of British literature. I never even studied it in high school. At the end of this class, however, I have realized early British literature is much more than just a few white men.
Devon Priess is a senior double majoring in business and English from Mansfield, Ohio. She is currently the Chief Outreach Officer for Best Food Forward, a student organization battling food insecurity on OSU’s campus. While she’ll be pursuing a career in Supply Chain Management, her passion for literature and English will never be forgotten. She learned to embroider through the COVID-19 Pandemic and thought it was a great way to relieve anxiety during quarantine. For the future, she hopes that she can continue to hone her skill and apply it to the things she loves.