Victorian Novel II Syllabus

English 41    T Th 2:00-3:20, Webster 217   

Office Hours: T Th 11-11:30, W 2-4

Office: Johnson Chapel 17, (413) 542-2232 

VICTORIAN NOVEL II


A selection of later nineteenth-century British novels approached from a variety of critical, historical, and theoretical perspectives.  In Spring 2008 the course will focus on novels concerned with empire and with the nature of femininity (in women as well as men).

Course requirements include active participation in class and the timely completion of all assigned readings and written work.  Late papers will not be accepted without prior permission.

The written work for this course will include 1) weekly pass/fail quizzes—you may fail one of these without penalty; 2) two 7-page papers (each roughly 1750-2000 words); and 3) a final self-scheduled exam.  Students will team up in pairs to lead class discussion throughout the semester.

Required Texts:
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret (Penguin 0140435840)
Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone (Penguin 0140434089)
Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (Penguin 0140434976)
George Eliot, Daniel Deronda (Penguin 0140434275)
Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Penguin 0141439599)
Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Penguin 0141439734)
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin 0141439572)


All texts are available for purchase at the Amherst Books, 8 Main Street (256-1547).  Please use these most recent Penguin editions, whether you purchase them new or used.

The course reader may be obtained during business hours from the English department office in Johnson Chapel (542-2231).  Students will be billed directly through the Comptroller’s office. 

Whitney Wade (wwade09) is the Writing Assistant for this class.


    Syllabus


Tu 1/29    Introduction

Th 1/31    Linda K. Hughes, “1870,” in Herbert F. Tucker, ed., A Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture (Blackwell 1999) 35-50 (reader)
        Lady Audley’s Secret 7-154    


Tu 2/05    Lady Audley’s Secret 157-302

Th 2/07    Lady Audley’s Secret 305-437
        Mary Ann O’Farrell, from Telling Complexions: The Nineteenth-Century English Novel and the Blush (Duke UP 1997) 111-122 (reader)


Tu 2/12    The Moonstone 3-149
        Daniel Poole, from What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew (Simon & Schuster 1993) 19-45 (reader)

Th 2/14    The Moonstone 150-271


Tu 2/19    The Moonstone 272-396
    
Tu 2/21    The Moonstone 397-472
        D. A. Miller, from The Novel and the Police (U California P 1988) 33-57 (reader)


Tu 2/26    Our Mutual Friend 13-171

Th 2/28    Our Mutual Friend 171-303


Tu 3/04    Our Mutual Friend 303-455

Th 3/06    Our Mutual Friend 456-589


Tu 3/11    Our Mutual Friend 589-723

Th 3/13    Our Mutual Friend 723-800
        Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, from Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (Columbia UP 1985) 161-179 (reader)

Fr 3/14    Midterm paper due


        Spring break


Tu 3/25    Tess of the D’Urbervilles chapters 1-15
        Stephen Arata, “1897,” in Herbert F. Tucker, ed., A Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture (Blackwell 1999) 51-65 (reader)

Th 3/27    Tess of the D’Urbervilles chapters 16-34


Tu 4/01    Tess of the D’Urbervilles chapters 35-52

Th 4/03    Tess of the D’Urbervilles chapters 53-59
        Claire Tomalin, from Thomas Hardy (Penguin 2006) 218-232 (reader)
        Elizabeth Maddox Dillon seminar (4:00pm, Babbot Room)


Tu 4/08    The Picture of Dorian Gray preface and chapters 1-11
        Michel Foucault, “The Perverse Implantation,” from The History of Sexuality, Volume One: An Introduction (Vintage 1980) 36-49 (reader)
        
Th 4/10    The Picture of Dorian Gray chapters 12-20        
        Matt Cox, from London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914 (Cambridge UP 2003) 95-111 (reader)


Tu 4/15    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Th 4/17    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
        Elaine Showalter, from Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siècle (Viking 1990) 105-126 (reader)


Tu 4/22    Daniel Deronda 7-155

We 4/23    Screening of part one, Daniel Deronda (BBC 2002), 80 minutes, Johnson Chapel 20, 4:00 and 7:30pm
        
Th 4/24    Daniel Deronda 156-295


Tu 4/29    Daniel Deronda 296-430
        
Th 5/01    Daniel Deronda 431-546
        F. R. Leavis, “Gwendolen Harleth,” from The Critic as Anti-Philosopher (U Georgia P 1982) 65-75 (reader)

Tu 5/06    Daniel Deronda 547-682
                                                
Th 5/08    Daniel Deronda 683-810
        Edward W. Said, from The Question of Palestine (Vintage 1979/1992) 56-82 (reader)


Mo 5/12    Final paper due 9am