Overview
Why the fascination today with nineteenth-century
culture? From Merchant/Ivory films to Masterpiece Theater, from Jane
Austen as Hollywood's hottest property to Charles Dickens Christmas celebrations,
from A. S. Byatt's neo-Victorian novels to the commercialization of Victoriana--nostalgic
trips back to the prior century are a major growth industry in the 1990s.
In this course we will read six
important nineteenth-century novels against the backdrop of today's revival
of "Victoriana." Films, web-based research sites, and cultural studies
articles will be used to set the contemporary context for the literature
of the prior century. Today's popular misappropriations of the past
have much to teach us--both about the real nature of the nineteenth century
and about ourselves.
Reading
(A few copies of these books are available
at the VU Bookstore trade department, Tower Books, Davis Kidd, or Bookstar.
You may order the books shipped direct to you from Amazon.Com, using the
links provided below. Amazon books are generally discounted in price.)
-
Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818)
- Penguin Classics. Order
online.
-
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
(1847) - Penguin Classics. Order
online.
-
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
(1847) - Bantam Classics. Order
online.
-
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
(1860-61) - Penguin Classics. Order
online.
-
Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone
(1868) - Oxford World Classics. Order
online.
-
Anthony Trollope, The Eustace Diamonds
(1873) - Oxford World Classics. Order
online.
Requirements
-
Two papers (each counts for
25% of the final grade)
-
Midterm (counts for 20% of the
final grade)
-
Final exam (counts for 20% of
the final grade)
-
Class participation (10% of
the final grade)
Class Meeting Times
and Office Hours
-
Class: TR 2:35-3:50 - Calhoun Hall
413
-
Office Hours (Benson 314) - Please
call my secretary (at 22541) to arrange an appointment during the following
times:
-
Wednesday, 1:30-3:00
-
Friday, 2:00-4:00