ENGLISH 320

Victorian Literature

Please note: this is archived course information from 2017 for ENGLISH 320.

Description

This course begins with discussion of the cultural and social concerns that shaped the Victorian era – religion, education, poverty, the politics of gender, as well as philosophical and intellectual ideas that influenced the thinking of the general population. In studying the literature of the period we tackle a range of texts, grouped according to their interest in these concerns and ideas. We discuss novels by Dickens, Thackeray and Hardy in the context of the Victorian reading public and publishing practices. With Bronte and Eliot we focus on the narrative possibilities open to and deployed by women. Finally, we read Conrad and Schreiner, in order to investigate Victorian attitudes to empire, its policies and practices. The course concludes with discussion of "the new imperialism", exploring how colonialism and its brutal effects continue to shape contemporary attitudes to indigenous people and their culture.

Availability 2017

Not taught in 2017

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Dr Claudia Marquis

Reading/Texts

Vanity Fair (Thackeray)

Hard Times (Dickens)

Jude the Obscure (Hardy)

Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)

Mill on the Floss (Eliot)

Heart of Darkness (Conrad)

Story of an African Farm (Schreiner)

Assessment

Coursework + exam

Points

ENGLISH 320: 15 points

Prerequisites

30 points at Stage II in English